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Another Chapter for all you guys! Thanks for reading!
It didn't take the CSIs long to get a search warrant for Randall Worthington's home. They found surprising evidence like Greg's kit and cell phone. Also, the ring Randall was wearing was a match to Greg's bruise but, more importantly, his blood was found on it. There was no way for Randall to deny the allegations, with or without a judge as an uncle.
"He said he saw you driving up to Mrs. Douglas' house and thought you were Nick. He tried to talk to you, but you were acting aggressively. He acted in self defense when he hit you, then panicked. He went through your stuff and found your ID, and when it turned out you weren't Nick, he decided to drug you and drive your car away from the house," Russell explained to Greg what Randall claimed happened as they were sitting in his office.
"That's ridiculous. Why should he have to defend himself against me?" Greg shook his head.
"I don't believe him, either. Luckily, the way he tried to handle this, a sane jury won't, either."
"What about Mrs. Douglas? Is she involved in this?" Nick asked, leaning against a wall.
"Both claim she didn't even know about this."
"Hard to believe the way she acted in the interrogation room..."
"It's a difficult situation. With Greg's lost memory, Randall's word is all we have. We can prove he did it, but we can't prove what exactly went down. There's no evidence linking Mrs. Douglas to it."
The CSIs were happy they were able to get Randall Worthington for attacking Greg, but couldn't quite believe Mrs. Douglas was innocent in this. Since Randall admitted to sending the pictures of Nick and Spencer and writing the note signed with Neil Novak, neither Russell nor Nick thought it was necessary to tell Greg about this. They feared it might only tear up the old wounds. He would later find out, though. Russell asked him to come by the office. "What's up, Russell?" he asked rather upbeat as he walked in. He felt quite good since his attacker was behind bars. He sat down opposite his boss.
Russell put his glasses down. "You look good." He smiled.
"I am," he replied. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, Mrs. Douglas, she, uh... She called earlier and asked me to send you over."
"...What? Why?"
"She wants to apologize for everything."
Greg raised an eyebrow. "Is she still suing Nick for sexual harassment?"
Russell nodded.
"She's one crazy lady, huh?" He shook his head.
"So you're not going?"
"Why should I? I don't want to have anything to do with her. Once the case about her husband is closed and Nick's suit is dismissed, she'll be out of all our lives for good."
"Nick's the only reason I'm even telling you about this, actually. I think it could work in his favor if you went."
"What are you talking about?"
"I figured if we give her what she wants, maybe she'll drop the case. You could talk with her about it, try to convince her..."
"What?! No! No, I can't. I resent her for suing Nick. I can't act friendly around her anymore! Plus, she's the reason this Worthington guy attacked me! And she was probably in on it!"
"It's very likely she was just trying to protect her friend. Just the way you could protect yours now." Russell stayed calm, contrary to Greg. "You could save him a lot of trouble."
"But I..." Greg really didn't want to face Mrs. Douglas ever again. But he caved in eventually. "Alright..." He sighed. "If it could really help Nick, I'll go and try to convince her to drop the charges. But that's it, right? After that I'm done?"
Russell nodded. He knew it wasn't an easy task, but he had high hopes for Greg being able to do it.
Greg tried to convince Mrs. Douglas over the phone to come by the lab later today to talk, but she insisted he stopped by her place. Since they still didn't have any evidence to link her to any crime, Greg thought it would be safe to go there. When he approached the house, chills were running down his spine. Deep down inside he remembered what happened last time he was there. Still not knowing what his subconsciousness was trying to warn him about, he went straight into the dragon's lair.
His hand was shaking as he knocked on the door. Again, his subconsciousness was trying to warn him, but he didn't listen. He thought he was simply scared because of the attack, and that he was being ridiculous since it was Randall Worthington who attacked him, not Mrs. Douglas. He felt like he needed to ignore this fear.
When Mrs. Douglas invited him in, she had a faint smile on her face. "Hello Greg. It's wonderful seeing you."
He nodded as he walked in, trying to fake a smile. He somehow managed to do it, but anyone who knew him better would know it wasn't a sincere smile.
"Please, sit down," she said after leading him into the living room. He sat down on the exact same couch Mrs. Douglas tried to seduce Nick on.
"...You sent him to Mrs. Douglas' home?" Nick said outraged to Russell. They were standing in front of the DNA lab. "Russell, are you out of your mind?!"
"Calm down and keep your voice down, will you? There's no need to worry. We have absolutely no evidence to even suggest she had anything to do with him being attacked, aside from her behavior in the interrogation room. We have enough evidence to link Worthington to it, though."
"...So? That doesn't mean he's safe with her! What were you thinking?"
"I talked this through with Greg and I frankly don't feel like I have to justify my decisions to you." Russell walked inside the DNA lab to talk with Robin about a case.
Nick followed. "Oh yeah? Well I feel like I deserve an explanation when your decision could endanger one of the team!"
Russell talked with Robin, then turned to Nick again. "You should know me well enough to know that I wouldn't do anything to put anyone of you in danger." He knew Nick wouldn't like to hear that Greg was over there to talk in his favor so he tried to avoid saying this.
"Doesn't look like it at the moment!"
Right when Nick said that, Greg walked in. "Hey guys. Russell, you got a minute?"
"Sure," he said while giving Nick a look. Him and Greg walked out and inside the office.
"Any luck?" Russell asked while closing the door.
Greg sighed as he sat down. "If I didn't know better, I think I'd believe her, too. She won't drop the case, she was very determined. She even started crying."
"What do you mean, you'd believe her, too? Does she have any evidence?"
Greg shook his head. "The way she's telling the story is just too believable. I think she believes it actually happened. She started shaking when she talked about it, the details she was able to give, she... she sounds like a typical victim of sexual abuse."
"It would definitely help to get a psych evaluation but we don't have any legal backup to ask for this at the moment." Russell made a pause, then went on, "I hate to ask but... Any chance she's telling the truth about this? Maybe he acted inappropriate without even noticing and..."
"No. No way, Russell. Nick's not that kind of guy. She's lying, I'm sure about that."
"Alright. So how did it go in general?"
"She's always fun to talk with..." Greg replied sarcastically with a smile on his face.
"Are you alright, Greg?" Russell asked quite bluntly. When Greg gave him a confused look, he went on. "You don't look too good. Plus, I know you didn't want to do this, but did it anyway for your friend and it didn't even help."
"Are you trying to frustrate me or what?" Greg chuckled.
"I'm trying to look out for you." Russell had a very soft, genuine smile on his face. "You were worried to go there, how was it for you?"
"It was alright," he obviously lied.
"Great, because I need you to go there again."
"...Again?! Why?!"
"...Relax. I just wanted to see if you were lying. You obviously dread the thought of going back there. Why? Did something happen?"
"No, everything was fine... I... I don't really want to talk about it."
"Are you scared of her?"
"What?!" Greg had a very uncomfortable look on his face. "I'm not scared of her! ...It's the house, you know? I don't feel comfortable going there. I don't know why, though..."
"Well it's no surprise. Worthington attacked you in front of it, maybe your subconscious remembers, causing the discomfort."
Greg nodded thoughtful. "I guess I..." he stopped talking once he noticed a piece of paper on Russell's desk. It was a copy of the note Mrs. Douglas and Worthington had sent to make it look like Novak was responsible for the attack. "...What is this?"
Russell grabbed it and put it in a file, one where it didn't belong in, he just wanted to get it out of Greg's sight. "Just something from a case..."
Now it was Greg who knew Russell was lying. "Let me see it."
"I'll fill you in on the case later. I have to meet with Brass in..."
Greg interrupted him. "What is this, Russell?! Why are you lying to me?!"
"...I didn't mean for you to see this. I'm sorry. It's nothing to worry about, really."
"...H-He's still in a coma, right? You would tell me if..."
"Of course. No, it's nothing like that..." He then went on to explain everything. "...And since we knew that Randall Worthington was the one sending this, we didn't feel the need to tell you about it."
Greg was able to calm down a bit. "You should've told me."
"Why? To reopen old sores? Now that you know, does it make you feel any better?"
"Well, no, but..."
"You and Nick need to understand that I need to make some decisions for the sake of you guys or the team sometimes you won't always agree with. But you can trust me."