AN: Thanks for the reviews and support, it really means a lot to me. Here is the next chapter.
Chapter 5: A Chance encounter changes everything
Once Kevin walked out of Nicole's house, he got into his vehicle, started it up and drove away, and since he wasn't ready to head back to his apartment, he just drove around for about 15 minutes before he headed towards a bar, needing a drink after the day he had.
When he arrived at one of the more calmer bars, he got out of his vehicle and walked inside the medium-sized building, then after arriving at the bar counter, the mid-40's, light-haired, male bartender asked. "What are you having this evening?"
He was almost going to order something strong, but decided against it. "A Bud light, please." As he sat down.
The bartender nodded before grabbing a glass and filling it up, then after setting it down in front of him, he asked the person who had stopped next to Kevin's chair. "And you ma'am?"
She smiled as she replied, still a little surprised to see Kevin here. "What ever this gentleman is having."
Kevin's heart sped up a little at the sound of her voice, and he looked over at Lizzie as she sat down next to him, then she gave him a small sympathy smile as she nodded towards his glass. "I take it things didn't go so well with Nicole."
He sighed as he took a sip of his drink before setting it down on the napkin. "Let's just say I walked out of her place with more uncertainty then I did going in."
She frowned a little as she started to say. "You? But I thought..."
He cuts her off as the bartender placed Lizzie's drink in front of her before going to a
male customer that was sitting across from them. "I know what I want, and I told her as much, but she." He paused for a second before finishing after a sigh. "Hasn't quite gotten around to tell me exactly how she feels."
She takes a drink of her beer before whispering while looking down at it. "Maybe she feels too guilty to say it out loud right now." They looked into each other's eyes, which he looked at her with confusion so she continued. "Think about it, from everything you've told me, Jason was her first true love. Then after he dies, her best friend tells her that he loved her long before Jason even entered the picture, so what if it got her thinking about how she really felt about you all this time, and it turns out Jason wasn't the first man she fell in love after all, it's been you all along. So, while she loved Jason, and always will, it wasn't as strong as she first thought it was. And she can't talk to him about it because, well, he's not here."
He looked at her with wide-eyes as his heart started to race in a different way while he asked, hope clearly in his voice. "You really think..."
She cuts him off softly. "I can't give you the answers that you want to hear, only she can. But I saw the way she was looking at you, she loves you too. Just give her a little more time to come to terms with her feelings."
She knew after this conversation there was little chance she'll get him back, but she knew she lost him the minute she walked away. Things probably could have been different had she stayed, at least for a little while, but she knew where his heart would eventually lead to, and sadly it wasn't her.
Her thoughts get interrupted when she felt his hand land on top of hers. "Lizzie, I..."
She cuts him off as she placed her other hand on top of his with a smile. "I know Kevin."
He sighed before continuing. "Please, let me speak."
She nodded as she removed her hands from his, but she started to tune him out a few seconds later when she looked across the bar and the male customer that the bartender had just helped was staring at her, and the look in his eyes the second they made contact with one another made her aware of exactly who it was, and it triggered something in her memory that happened the last night Jennifer was alive.
Flashback
12 years ago
After arriving at the club with her boyfriend and best friend, they went to get a table while Lizzie headed for the serving area to get them some drinks, and as she was standing at the counter waiting for them to come, an early to mid 20's, close to 6'0, attractive man with short, small spiked, brown hair and brown eyes, walked up to her with a smile and asked. "Can I get you a drink?"
Lizzie smiled out of politeness before replying. "Thank you, but I already did."
He then placed his hand on top of hers and whispered in her ear. "Then how about I get the next one?"
She immediately slipped her hand out from under his as she replied, still being polite, but she was ready to walk away from him. "I don't think my boyfriend would take to kindly to that."
Something in his eyes shifted as he cleared his throat and stepped back a little. "That's really a shame, I was hoping I could get to know you better."
Lizzie grabbed the glasses of the non-alcoholic drinks, and gave him a little smile before finishing. "I hope you have a good evening, anyways."
He gives her a sweet smile, which if she was honest with herself, if she was a little older and didn't have a boyfriend she adored so much, she probably would have allowed this man to sweep her off her feet, then he replied with a nod. "I intend to, enjoy your evening too."
After she nodded back, and with the drinks in her hands, she turned and walked away, not aware that during the whole time in that club, a pair of brown eyes was watching the group with keen eyes, and not realizing that by the time she woke up the next morning, her life will be changed forever because of those pair of brown eyes.
End of Flashback
She mentally gasped as she came back to the present, she had forgotten about that moment, mostly because she didn't think nothing of it after the fact since she didn't see him at all for the rest of the evening. But it also sent a sick feeling through her that maybe because she had rejected his advances, she was the reason her best friend was killed, and she was the reason he became the serial killer he was. Or maybe that instinct was already in him, and she was just the lucky one that got away, although that last thought didn't make her fell any better.
She mentally shook her head while they continued having eye contact with one another, then when she felt Kevin's hand on her arm, she visible stiffened as the other man's eyes grew darker, making Kevin look at her with worry as he asked. "Lizzie, what's wrong, are you ok?"
Snapping out of it, and not wanting to let the man flee if he knew she was going to say something, she turned her head and gave Kevin a smile. "I'm fine, just lost in thought, and I just reacted from the unexpected touch."
Kevin removed his hand, but he still had a slight frown on his face. "Lizzie..."
But she cuts him off as she placed money on the counter. "I'm fine." Then while Kevin was still looking at her, she took a hold of her necklace and moved it slightly as she stood up, and said with another smile. "Really, I'm fine. I'll uh, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Knowing there was no stopping her when she got like this, he nodded with confusion written all over his face about her wanting to leave so abruptly. "Alright, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded one more time while her hand was still around her necklace, then with her shoulder bag in place, she turned and started walking out of the bar, hoping he recognized her signal and that he would follow her, or she doesn't think there will be a tomorrow for her.
With confusion still on his face, he turned his attention to his beer, but then as he was picking it up, something clicked inside of him as he realized what she had been doing before walking away from him. 'it's a thing I do when I'm anxious, nervous, or upset about something ' He cursed as he slammed his glass back down on the counter as he got the bartender's attention. "Excuse me."
The other man walked so he was in front of him and asked. "Yes, are you ready for another one?"
Kevin shook his head before speaking and pointing to the other side of the bar counter, vaguely remembering someone had been sitting there just a few seconds ago. "Someone was sitting there, do you remember what they looked like?"
The other man paused slightly and looked back to where he was pointing, then looked at him again as he started to speak. "I'm sorry, but a lot of people come in here, especially during this time, I can't ke..."
Kevin cuts him off, feeling very impatient and worried. "Please just try and remember."
Seeing the look in his eyes, the other man nodded, then after a second, he spoke again. "Uh, yeah, ok, a male that could be in his early to mid 30's, dark hair, brown eyes, and I'm sure women would say he's attrac..."
Before he could continue, Kevin cursed again as he stood up quickly, then after dropping money on the counter and saying his thanks, he rushed out of the building and into the parking lot just in time to see a vehicle peel out on to the street, like it was in a hurry, and he had no doubt on who was driving the vehicle.
Almost with his hand shaking, he takes his phone out of his pocket before dialing a familiar number at the lab, Leon Myers, their Audio/Visual expert. "Myers."
"Hey Leon, it's Kevin, I need you to track a phone."
"Alright, just give me the number."
After he did, Leon was a little shocked to see who it was. "Uh, Kevin you know this is..."
Kevin cuts him off. "Agent Thompson's number, I know, just do it."
He cleared his throat before finishing. "OK, I'll send you the coordinates once I have it."
"Thank you, and as quickly as you can, please."
"You got it."
He hung up just in time to see Malcolm get out of the vehicle he was driving, and when he saw Kevin walking his way with purpose, he asked in confusion. "What's going on?"
"I need you to drive."
He smiled a little, thinking the slightly older man might of had a few too many drinks. "Ok, where to?"
They get into the vehicle just as Kevin's phone bings, so he looks at it before looking at Malcolm again. "The docks."
A little shocked about the destination, he asked again. "Why there?"
With a slight tremble in his tone, he whispered. "He has her."
Immediately knowing what he was talking about, Malcolm cursed slightly under his breath and started the vehicle before wasting little time getting out of the parking spot and lot, then with Kevin's directions, they headed toward the docks, both hoping they'll get there in time.
When they made it to the parking lot to the docks, Malcolm spoke with wide-eyes as he saw the familiar vehicle in a parking spot. "There, that's the vehicle she rented." Usually they would use only one car, but Malcolm wanted a cooler sporty car for once so he splurged a little with his own money.
"Ok, park so we can get out."
He nodded before pulling in a parking spot a few empty spaces down, then after turning the vehicle off, they get out and started walking towards the right entrance of the ramp that led to the docks and closer to the boats, and just as they reached the bottom of the ramp, they see a man on the far right drop a body in the water, and Kevin immediately shouted. "Lizzie!"
The man who dropped her body in the water looked their way before starting the boat and driving away, before Kevin could run towards the place Lizzie was dropped, Malcolm stopped him and said. "You go after him, I'll get Lizzie, I promise."
Knowing she would never forgive him if he didn't try everything he could to get the suspect, which he would never forgive himself for that matter, he nodded before Malcolm ran to the right, and after Kevin looked around the somewhat empty docks, he saw a boat that had occupants on it, so he rushed to the far left, then spoke breathlessly when he reached the end of the dock "Excuse me, but I need to borrow your boat, it's an emergency."
With the occupant's back toward Kevin, he wasn't fully aware on who he was talking to until an unexpected face turned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "And why do you need the boat, Mr. Woods?"
He looked at his boss with wide-eyes as he said. "Boss, he's here and he's getting away, he dropped Lizzie in the water."
Sara gasped and looked at Grissom, who had just came up from the cabin, and he nodded in acceptance, so after she nodded back and he got in quickly, him and Sara untied the boat from the dock before Grissom put it in gear and started going in the direction Kevin was pointing.
After a minute or two, still not seeing him, Sara spoke loud enough so Kevin can hear her. "Do I even want to know how this happened?"
He took a breath and looked at her before speaking. "I'll uh, I'll tell you about it later."
Knowing that probably was for the best, she nodded before Grissom spoke up, seeing them coming closer to another boat who was going equally fast, like it was on the run. "Is that him?"
Kevin turned his head forward before nodding after a second. "Yes, now get as close to it as you can."
Grissom nodded while Sara gasped and looked at him like he had two heads, knowing exactly what he was planning on doing. "Are you crazy? You realize this isn't the movies, right?"
"What other choice do I have? We want him in one piece after all."
Knowing she wasn't going to talk him out of this, she nodded with a sigh before replying. "Ok, but be careful, I don't want to explain to Nick why we are a CSI short." Then she smirked a little, but her eyes still showed him that she was serious. "And I would hate to break in a new second in command."
He nodded with a smile. "It won't happen, I give you my word."
"You better, or I'll kill you myself."
After a warm look between the two, Kevin moved closer to the side of the boat while a part of him was also thinking he must be crazy doing this, but the bigger part of him knew nothing would stop him because he wasn't going to let him go without a fight.
When Grissom was close to the side of the other boat, the suspect tried to ram his boat against his, so he pulled away, not wanting to get a lot of damage to his boat, then after the third time, Kevin locked eyes with Grissom, and the older man nodded, knowing the only way he could jump across to the other boat was to be very quick about it, so as Grissom got near again, Kevin took a breath while lifting his left leg up onto the side, then when the time came he used what ever leverage he had and jumped from Grissom's boat to the other one, landing on his feet but losing his balance a second later and rolling across the medium-sized deck, hurting his shoulder in the process, but shook it off as he stood up, then with the adrenalin pumping through him, a fight between him and the suspect started while the boat kept moving, until Kevin could get a big enough hit on him so he could stop the boat, but it didn't take the suspect much time to come back for more, and after a few more body shots back and forth, the suspect was getting the upper hand and eventually he was chuckling with a few cuts on his face as he brought a knife up to Kevin's throat and said. "Any last words?"
Kevin started to smile, even though his face was hurting, he said. "Yeah."
Before the suspect could speak again, he hears a cocking of a gun and the voice of Gil Grissom. "Let him go, it's over."
The suspect turned him and Kevin to the side so he could look at Grissom, then he smirked. "Oh, the old man wants to play, you better be careful with that, didn't your mother ever tell you playing with guns is dangerous."
Grissom narrowed his eyes and placed his finger on the trigger while Sara spoke as she looked at Kevin. "Kevin, what did I tell you the night you found out about my pool skills?"
He smiled a little wider as he replied. "That you should never underestimate your opponent."
Sara nodded before looking at the suspect. "You should listen to that advice, don't let his age fool you, he has an excellent shot."
The suspect's attention now turned to Sara. "Now the pretty lady wants to get involved." He then looks her up and down as his grip on Kevin slackened, then he shook his head and whistled a little. "Man, if you were younger I would show you how a man can plea..." He stopped when Kevin simultaneously moved to the right as Grissom's finger moved the trigger back and the bullet came out, hitting him in the thigh and making him cruse loudly as he dropped on the deck and released his knife so he could put his hands on the wound.
After Kevin kicks the knife further away from the suspect, he used the towel that was thrown his way from Sara and wrapped it around the guy's leg, tightening it with a smirk as the suspect glared and cursed at him, Kevin then used some rope and tied the other man's hands together, ignoring the other man's tirade, and as he was standing up, bringing the suspect to his feet, Sara smirked as she placed her hands on her husband's shoulders. "And I get pleased just fine by a real man, thank you very much."
Grissom's eyes sparkled as the suspect narrowed his, but before he could say something, Kevin gags him and said. "Let's get this scum to where he belongs."
Sara and Grissom nodded in agreement, and after Kevin tied the suspect to a railing towards the front of the boat, so he could keep an eye on him, they headed back towards the dock.
AN: Find out what happens next. Another chapter coming soon. Please Review.