A/N: To anyone who is still reading this, I'm really sorry for the delay and I hope it's worth the wait. I won't make any excuses. It's completely on me. I think I'm back on track now, though. Thanks for sticking with it.

Chapter 12

Wednesday, September 6th, 2006
12:23 PM

Warrick woke, patting the other side of the bed, finding it empty. He wasn't surprised. While he had managed to get Tina to lay down with him when he went to sleep, he'd known she wouldn't remain there for long. She never did. Reaching around, he felt for his cell, finding it with his fingertips on the table next to the bed. He pulled it into his hand and brought it to his face, wanting to check the time. When he opened it, he frowned, finding the cell was turned off. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he slid out of the bed and made his way into the kitchen, where Tina was making herself some lunch. "Baby, did you turn my cell off?"

"Yes, you didn't need it interrupting you. How many hours did you work before coming home?"

"An important call could have come in. Don't you understand that?"

Tina leveled him with her gaze. "Like an emergency at the hospital? I know about important calls, Warrick. You can't work twenty hours a day. They can get somebody else."

Warrick shook his head, walking into the bathroom, turning on his cell phone as he moved. Seeing that he had a voice message, he opened the voicemail and held the phone to his ear. "Dammit, Tina," he cursed under his breath upon hearing the message. He finished up quickly in the bathroom, and moved back into the bedroom.

He went straight through the room, directly to the closet and began to rummage through cloths in his, quickly grabbing what he could find. Pulling on a shirt as he walked, Warrick moved from the closet to the bed and sat down. Tina stormed in, just as he was putting on his pants. "Where are you going?"

"To work."

"Dammit Warrick, you've only been home for a few hours."

"This is important, Tina."

He finished pulling on his pants, following them with socks, pulling a sock over each foot. Standing, he walked out into the kitchen, pulled an apple from the fridge and bit into it. He moved to the door and began pulling on his shoes. Tina had been following him the entire time. She glared at him when his hand landed on the doorknob. "You're never home."

"Tina…" He couldn't think of anything to say, so he just shook his head and opened the door.

"Don't walk out of here, Warrick."

"I have to go to work. I'll see you later." He left her staring after him in the doorway.

His cell rang the moment he arrived at the lab. Checking the call display and seeing his wife's name, he sighed and redirected the call immediately. He couldn't deal with the argument that was sure to come. Instead, he decided to turn his cell off completely. If anyone needed him, they could always page him. He just…couldn't deal with Tina at the moment, and he didn't want to waste time screening his calls.

After shutting his phone off and pocketing it, Warrick quickly found his case file and opened it. He scanned the contents, then sat down in front of a computer and began searching, checking and rechecking information. What he found was, that if the murders were about ritual purification, than the case that had been killing him for the better part of a week, could fall into that catagory.

"Son of a bitch." Warrick stood quickly, throwing back the chair as he stood. The thought of two innocent babies being murdered to correct some anomaly from some primitive taboo pissed him right off. He thought they'd moved beyond that . The world was supposed to have moved beyond that. He didn't understand, and the more he searched for meaning, the more questions he had. Why were they seeing primitive practices in Vegas? What were the ramifications of them? How could two newborns, so innocent, ever be seen as something impure? It wasn't twins that polluted those tribes. Before, he had lingering ideas where he feared the murder of the young twins had either been committed by the family, or racially motivated, and now, he wasn't sure whether it would have been better if they had been. Racial discrimination and intolerance was something he understood. It was learned behavior. While it still sickened him and infuriated him, it was still something he could, albeit troublingly, wrap his head around, just as he could have if a member of the family had committed the crime. Post-partum depression was powerful and sad, yet it was well documented, and something he'd had to deal with before. This idea of cleansing, or sacrifice, the killing of newborns to eliminate what was unnatural to a tribe, it was all new to him. And, while it was impossible to understand, he knew he couldn't catalogue it as any worse. No motive for killing a child – two children, was ever any better than another. The chilling part of it all was that if it was about ritual purification, the murders of the two newborns had been very calculated.

The case had been getting to him from the beginning. It had left both he and Catherine feeling more than a little unsettled because of the victims involved. Babies' deaths were hard to deal with for anyone, but Catherine especially, he theorized, because of her status as a mother. It had been extremely difficult for him too, initially because not only did it involve infants, but because of all the babies in maternity, Caucasians, Hispanics, Asians, only two were killed, and they were black. At first, he hadn't known what that had meant, and that was when the first fears of a racially motivated crime entered his thoughts.

He'd also felt so responsible. Grissom had trusted him with a very delicate case and he had wanted to live up to that trust. Only, he felt as though he had failed. As leads disappeared, and questions only led to more questions, he felt as though he was losing more and more control, failing Grissom, the victims, the family of the victims, more and more each day. And now, he was getting a second chance, but it was just as unsettling. The motive was as disgusting, and more unbelievable than the motives he'd tried out earlier when finding himself questioning the whys.

Killing twins because they weren't ordinary.

Ending lives because they were extraordinary.

It was appalling…sickening…nauseating… His mind was already in a fragile state from working the two cases to begin with. Then came Sara's bombshell. And, on top of that, there was the fight with Tina, the same fight they'd been having almost daily for months now.

There was so much to deal with and he found himself being ripped apart, pulled in multiple directions, giving all of himself, giving parts of himself, to everyone around him, until there was nothing left of him. And, the only thing that could offer him any salvation, was the truth.

He needed help. He couldn't do this alone. He needed to know what other people thought. He knew what Sara thought, but beyond that, he was in the dark. He needed to know what Catherine thought. She was investigating the deaths of the newborns with him to begin with. He looked at the time and hesitated before pulling out his phone. He didn't want to interrupt whatever rest she might be getting, but he couldn't wait. It was too important, and they were working against the clock. Without another thought, he opened the phone, turned it back on. Six missed calls from Tina. He sighed, knowing he should return the calls and have the argument out. He dialed Catherine's number instead.

2:08 PM

Warrick was waiting outside her office door when she came in. Stopping next to him, she opened the door and faced him. The curve of his back was leaning against the wall. He had one leg straight, his foot bent so that the outside rested on the floor a couple feet from the wall. His other leg was bent, supporting the rest of his weight. His head hung forward, his shoulders stooped and his arms dangled by his sides. His face was hidden by his mop of hair. She approached slowly and watched as he lifted his head, his face full of anxiety. "Hey Rick, what's going on?"

Warrick straightened up, running a hand through his hair. He gestured to her office. She noted how he waited for her to go through the door before moving inside behind her. She glanced back at him before moving around her desk and taking a seat. She faced him, holding her hands together on the desk in front of her. Warrick sat across from her. "Sorry to call you in. I didn't take you away from Lindsay, did I?"

Catherine shook her head. "No, she's at school. What is it?"

"It's about the Madison case."

"The twins?" Her eyebrows raised, and her eyes lit up as she thought about how they might finally be able to move forward. "What is it? Do you have a lead?"

"Yes. Maybe. I'm not sure."

Catherine could see how much this was troubling him. She watched as he struggled for words and she could see the debate raging in his mind over what to tell her or how. She tried to be patient but his uncharacteristic loss of composure was making her a little frantic. Was he trying to spare her something? She waited until she couldn't take it anymore. "Christ Warrick, spit it out." She winced as soon as the words came out and she saw Warrick's eyes widen. "Sorry, Rick, I didn't mean it."

Warrick, for his part, just shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Cath."

"What is it that has you so bothered?" She thought about the case and quickly amended, "I mean, now."

"Sara thinks that the case might be connected to the other three cases we've been working on."

She almost snorted in disbelief, but quickly checked herself. If Warrick was this bothered by it, there must be something to go on. "How? I mean, the other connections seemed weak, but connecting the murders of two newborn boys with the murders of three women? Did Sara happen to tell you how she stumbled upon this connection?"

"She spoke to some professor at UNLV and I think he led her to believe they were connected."

"Sara speaks to some professor, who, without any real knowledge of the cases, decides that the very high profile murders of the two infants in the hospital are connected to the others, and she runs with it? Who is this professor anyways?"

"All I know is that he's a professor at UNLV...." Warrick paused a moment before continuing, "I checked it out, Catherine, and the idea has foundation…" Catherine sat and listened intently as Warrick finished his monologue, outlining what he'd found out about the practices of some West African tribes. As he linked it to what he'd gotten from Sara about notions of purity and impurity, Catherine found herself, if not yet convinced or accepting of, at least a little more willing to hear out the theory. Warrick went on to talk about how the Madison infants were smothered only a day after their birth, how fibers were discovered in their throats, and how they hadn't been able to find a clue or a motive for the murders. Catherine sat back and listened as Warrick stated, "and to top it off, all the murders occurred two days apart. The Madison babies were murdered two days before Grissom's and Greg's prostitute was."

"Alright…" she held up her hand, stopping him, "alright, say they're connected, then what? How did the killer know the twins of African descent were about to be born? Did he know the family, or was it merely opportunity? I mean the rest of the murders were all planned out. Apart from the victims being infant males, it doesn't really fit."

"Maybe the Madison infants were the opportunity the killer was looking for. The starting point."

"Warrick, you're sounding like Sara, chasing after a theory without any basis."

"I wouldn't be discussing this with you if there wasn't any basis. You're the one who likes to work from the gut, Catherine."

Warrick's comment was biting. Catherine was shaking. A part of wanted to hear everything out but an even larger part of her was afraid to. She wanted to believe that it was all complete lunacy and there was a part of her who was angry that she had to be the one keeping everybody in check. Normally Grissom was the one who held back and waited for all the evidence to come in. The role reversal left her a little flustered and it pissed her off that Grissom could be so hypocritical to act on instinct when he was always trying to stifle her from doing the same. "Somebody has to be the skeptic here, Warrick. God knows, it's not you or Sara or Grissom. You're all running off on all fours."

"Hang on, Cath; nobody here is running with anything. We don't have anything to run on. All we're doing is comparing evidence, because if these murders are linked, it'll be easier finding the killer from compiled evidence. God knows none of us have near enough to go on from the cases as individuals. And, we're compiling a huge backlog here. Four murders with no evidence to go on? If the murders are connected, isn't it better that we link the minute bits of evidence we do have right away before more people get killed? If not, at least the cases will have had five sets of eyes looking at them. We're not running Catherine. You know Grissom would never let us get ahead of the evidence, and you know I wouldn't either."

She took a deep breath, let out a little laugh and forced herself to relax a little. "Sara might." She smiled and watched Warrick's posture relax. He gave her a grin. "Yeah, sounds like someone else I know, but the rest of us are here to keep each other in check."

"Alright, you're right; you're right."

Warrick smiled at her. "Come on, lets take it to the conference room. We can argue it out there with the evidence in front of us. I can show you what I've got, and you can keep me in line."

"Yeah, okay." She stood and felt her cell vibrate on her him. She checked the screen. "Warrick, it's Nick. I'll be there in a minute."

"Right on."

Watching Warrick leave with a simple wave, she opened her cell. "Nicky, what have you got?"

2:58 PM

Upon entering the lab, Nick quickly made his way to the conference room where Catherine had told him she'd meet him. He didn't expect to see Warrick in there as well. He grinned. "Hey Rick, what are you doing in? Tina not at home?" Warrick shot him a look and he knew to drop the teasing immediately. Instead he moved next to them and glanced down at all the files on the table. Warrick and Catherine's Madison case file caught his attention. "What are you looking at? Why is your Madison file out with these others?"

"We're looking at a possible connection."

"You serious?"

Warrick nodded, sliding over the file. "Apparently there is a rite practiced by West African tribes where they kill twins at birth to correct something they see as an anomoly."

"I thought the killer was targeting women."

"Well if we're going by what Grissom and Sara have told us, then the killer may be targeting anything he thinks of as impure. For him, women may epitomize the impure, but he may feel the need to eliminate any other sources of impurity."

Nick noticed the look Catherine shot Warrick after Warrick finished speaking. Clearly she didn't like being called the epitome of impurity. He shifted the conversation away from the discussion of women. "That's a big job. Hell, this is Vegas; the whole city is impure."

"It could be the reason for the tight schedule. It may also be the reason for the choice in location."

"You're assuming he has the means to choose."

"I think he does. He's clearly an educated person. He knows all of these primitive rites. Every detail is planned out."

"You are both talking like you know for sure that there is only one killer."

Nick glanced over at Catherine. "You're checking out the connection. You're not convinced?"

"Not yet. How does he select his victims? The murders are planned in advance, so the selection of victims has to occur in advance. Yet, given the circumstances, the murders of the Madison twins and the murder of Doris Fletcher had to be opportunity. Those murders weren't something anyone could plan well in advance."

He picked up a file and studied it. "What about the others?"

"Grissom and Greg's case could have been planned out in advance, and probably was. We're not sure about mine and Sara's. We don't have an id on our vic yet, so we don't know who she is, or why she was killed. Her picture's on the news, but there haven't been any leads from that. Missing persons and DNA came up empty. Mandy got nothing off the prints."

Nick's head snapped around towards Warrick. "You've already got results from Mandy. She only paged me with results from mine and Catherine's case about an hour ago, which is why I called Catherine and came in." Warrick shrugged and Nick continued. "I don't believe this. I bought her breakfast and everything."

Warrick's head fell back as he let out a laugh. "You bought her breakfast?"

"Yeah, I dropped her off some takeout just this morning."

"Wait, you dropped her off some takeout, you didn't take her out? No wonder she didn't rush through your prints. Here I always thought you were a Southern Gentleman."

"I am."

"Gentlemen know how to treat their ladies, Nick."

"I treat all my ladies well, and Mandy's not my lady. We just kid around."

"Whatever, cowboy. She may just be messing around, but she's still a woman and all women like to be appreciated."

"Yeah, whatever Rick. I brought her breakfast. She knows I appreciate her."

"Apparently." Warrick shook his head and Nick frowned.

"Are you two finished yet? Can you stop comparing how you treat our sex and get back to work?"

Nick looked over at Catherine, a little surprised by her shortness. Normally she'd be amused by the conversation and adding her own two bits. "Yeah, Cath, sure."

"Did Mandy get anything off the prints?"

"A few names came up, but none that stand out. Mandy got some hits off some work cards, but the prints she matched weren't taken from any place that would have been in the path of our body snatcher. Just the same, Vega is checking the names out."

"So, really, no new leads?"

Nick shook his head. "No, not yet. Let's get back to what you two were doing. Maybe it can give us something. Any ideas about the killer at all?"

He watched as Warrick fingered the crime scene photos of the dead infants. "Well, he has to be well educated. For someone to kill two infants at the hospital and go unnoticed, he'd have to know his way around security and surveillance. A doctor, maybe? It would certainly give him opportunity."

Nick's eyes shifted as Catherine cut in from Warrick. "Grissom and Greg's murdered prostitute was excised using a scalpel. It's a surgical procedure, and the motel was turned into some sort of operating room. Grissom said the room was sterile, and it isn't exactly the kind of place people come to for comfort or to spend money. It's dirt cheap. The killer had to have sterilized the room himself. If he's a doctor he'd be used to working under sterile conditions."

"Yeah, but I doubt the sterile conditions were to benefit her. He was probably more worried about himself."

"Nick, if we're looking at a doctor, Doris Fletcher's murder could have been planned in advance. If the doctor worked at Desert Palms and was there when Lester Fletcher died, he had five days to plan Doris Fletcher's murder. He could have used that opportunity to plan the murder and fit it into his timeline."

"He'd could have also been aware of the birth of the twins. If he was aware twins were going to be born in advance, he could have planned it and just waited for the birth to occur."

Catherine's face shot in Nick's direction. He looked back at her, cocking his head to the side. Catherine looked from him to Warrick. "Rick, the twins' births were planned C-sections. They were scheduled way in advance."

"Damn!"

Nick dropped the file in his hand. He looked at the other faces mirroring his own look of disbelief. Even Catherine seemed bowled over as the pieces began to fit. "We running with this?"

"I think we have to check it out."

He nodded and swallowed as he realized something else. "Guys, if we're searching for one killer, and he's killing at the rate of one person every two days, somebody else is going to be murdered tomorrow."