Sorry it took me so long to update, guys! Hope this chapter makes it up to you!
Greg sat down in the break room to think about what Russell said. The Neil Novak attacks were replaying in his mind as well. He didn't get panic attacks thinking about this anymore like he occasionally did before, but it was still a very unsetteling thought. Nick sat down next to his friend without saying a word. Greg had something to say, though, as he was staring at his hand. "Did Hodges find out what the stains on my fingertips were?"
Nick looked at him rather confused. "Printer ink. Why are you asking?"
"How did it get on my fingers?" he asked thoughtful.
"We didn't give it too much thought, really. Are you alright?"
"You know, Mrs. Douglas has a printer in her living room..."
"Like many people have. Greg, what are you getting at? Do you think Randall Worthington was lying?"
"She knew a lot about the Neil Novak case. ...She also told some lies, but she knew a lot of things she claimed she heard on the news back then. But why would she remember unimportant details about this case?"
Nick raised an eyebrow. "You think you were inside the house before you got attacked?"
"No. I think I was in there when I got attacked. The couch, it had new covers. I just remembered. When I was there the last time, it was beige. Today it was a dark brown."
Nick nodded. "Yeah I remember the beige couch, too. Why would she... You're thinking blood drops?"
Greg sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "I was on my way to her place. I must've gotten there and Randall attacked me in the living room, on the couch. Not only did she know about this... She even tried to cover it up, make us believe Novak was behind this..."
Nick didn't know what to say to comfort his friend, so he just put his hand on his shoulder in silence.
Nick had to stay away from Mrs. Douglas home, there was still the sexual harassment allegations, and Greg was the victim, so he wasn't able to search the house, either. But Sara and Russell were. Lucky for them, Mrs. Douglas wasn't home at the moment. "I got blood," Sara exclaimed while searching the house with blue light. She had put the covers off of the couch, revealing some blood stains.
"Let's get this to Robin ASAP and find out whether it's Greg's or not." Russell walked over to her.
"Even if it isn't, I think I might have something to prove her involvement..." Hodges said from the bathroom. When Russell and Sara joined him in there, he went on. "Look at these bottles. I bet it's what they used to drug Greg with."
"These documents were printed three days ago." Archie was sitting in front of Mrs. Douglas' computer. They had enough reason to take it to the lab with them.
"They're all about Greg's abduction. What does she want with that?" Sara asked confused.
"She used the same they used to drug Greg with. This also explains the ink on his fingertips. He probably found the printings and started asking questions... It definitely explains the pictures and the note. She knew everything about the Novak case and tried to pin this on him. And since she printed these sheets out days before Greg was attacked, we can prove premeditation."
Greg tried to forget about the recent news and go on with his workday as usual when Nick walked into the evidence room he was working in at the moment. "Hey, how are you doing?"
"Good," Greg mumbled without looking up from the evidence he was just working on. "We're not going over this again, are we?"
Nick smiled. "Not if you don't want to."
"Great. Because I don't." After a short pause, he went on. "Besides, I'm trying to see the positive side of things. This is good news for the sexual harassment suit."
"I suppose so. But don't you wonder why they did it?"
"Of course. But unless they tell us we won't find out. No need to waste too much time thinking about it."
Nick sat down on a chair. He received a rather annoyed look by Greg. He didn't talk for a moment, but then decided to say what was on his mind. "Do you blame me for this?"
"...What?" Greg was laughing over this thought a bit. "How could this be your fault?"
"Come on." When Greg raised his eyebrows questioning, Nick went on, "This wouldn't have happened to you without me. She's mad at me, not you."
"Does it make you feel any better blaming yourself? I don't blame you, nobody else does. If it's anyones fault, it's mine."
"...How come?"
"Well let's face it, I'm obviously cursed." Greg playfully threw a glove at Nick.
He laughed for a moment, too, then had the serious, guilt-stricken look again. He left the room before Greg could notice that.
The CSIs had a lot of questions to ask Mrs. Douglas. Only problem was, she was nowhere to be found. Russell and Sara were starting to get nervous about this as they were running around the lab. Greg noticed them from inside the DNA lab as they kept passing it by. He decided to ask them what was going on. "Hey, Sara. What's wrong?"
"Have you seen Nick?" she asked without stopping.
"I believe he was on his way to a witness, why?"
"Follow me!"
"His cell phone is turned off, as well as his radio," Russell said while sitting down in his office.
"I just talked to him an hour ago. What do you think happened?" Greg asked rather nervous.
"We can't reach Mrs. Douglas, but we're pretty sure she knows about our findings in her home. Her sister was there when we searched the house, she sure told her about it."
"Well, what do you think she'll... do to him?"
"We don't know. We're not even sure she's with him, it could all be a coincidence but... We're worried..." Sara had a frown on her face.
"So, what should we do?"
"I'm sorry!" a young man screamed desperately.
"Wasn't I specific enough for you, you useless piece of shit?!" Mrs. Douglas yelled while throwing books at the man. "Only use as many force as necessary! He looks like he was hit by a train!"
"Calm down, Cheryl. He only needs some washing up and then he'll look fine! He was fighting back, what else was I suppose to do?!"
"How about use the drugs I gave you?! Huh?! Is there anything you can do right, Travis?!" Nick was lying on the ground, his face beat up pretty badly, blood all over him. He was unconscious at the moment. "Are you even sure he's still alive? I'm telling you, if he's dead you..."
"He's fine! Don't worry. He'll wake up soon, I'm sure." Travis wasn't sure at all. He feared Nick might be dying right now, but he was afraid to tell her. He knew Nick needed some medical attention soon. "Come on, just do whatever you wanted to do while I go outside. Let's get this over with."
"Oh no, you're not getting off just like that. Help me tie him up."