I do not own CSI.
Rated T for language.
Reviews are far and few between and without that inspiration I find I have gotten slower in my writing and updates.
And I will be away Sunday until Thursday so there won't be any updates.
NOW would be a good time to start flooding me with reviews and telling me where you would like the story to go...
...or what you like about the story... or if there is something more you would like to see or know about...
I will take requests into consideration.
In fact, the request for more Nick and Emma time will now be included in a future chapter because I know it is wanted.
Come on...how hard is it to speak your thoughts? I really could use them. Like a child...I thrive on compliments.
And now, without another begging word...here is another chapter to keep the saga going...
She grabbed on to the silver side rail along the inside of the elevator wall and pulled herself to her feet. Her well manicured hands shook and her head hurt from where her blond hair was nearly yanked out. Brooke Latham was in a state of shock.
"That little bitch just hurt me….that fucking tramp!" she whined out loud to herself inside the elevator and rubbed her lower back where Jules kicked her.
Brooke was absolutely stunned. She never thought that Jules would have it in her to take her on. Truthfully Brooke didn't even think that Jules could handle her. After all, she was bigger than Jules and she had her share of bar room brawls back when she was an exotic dancer.
"That son of a bitch didn't give me any time to react," Brooke grumbled quietly to herself.
Jules was too quick and she had Brooke in her control in no time flat. That pissed Brooke off even more. She continued to hold onto the side rail as she stared at the gold elevator doors in front of her and wondered what exactly Jules was talking about to Nick.
"And what did she mean when she told Nick she would 'have to go ghetto on my ass?'" Brooke asked herself silently scrunching up her face as she thought.
"Yeah, like that little prissy, white, girl knows anything about living in a ghetto. Yeah, right, she has a black brother and lived in the ghetto, yeah, and I am rich and live in a castle. Idiot." she grumbled.
Then, as she stood watching the floor numbers go down, Brooke grew worried. Not because she was just roughly tossed out on her ass, but because she knew she would have to explain what happened to Jolene and Cole.
"Oh God, oh God, they are not going to like this. Oh shit, what will they do to me?" she silently wondered.
Brooke couldn't bear the thought of any repercussions for her failure to tear Nick and his little trashy bitch apart. She really did seem to make a deal with the devil. She would have been better off if she sought revenge on her own. But she did get paid handsomely she reminded herself. And maybe Cole would be okay with this. After all, she did the jobs he asked; it wasn't her fault that she couldn't ultimately break them up.
As soon as the elevator stopped at the lobby, Brooke quickly hit the Close button before anyone could get inside the elevator, and went back up to the 5th floor. She needed to go back to her room to pack her things. She was hoping to get out of Las Vegas and hide away from those lunatics. Maybe revenge on Nick wasn't worth this kind of terror. Oh boy, she got herself in deep this time.
Brooke stepped off the elevator and her blood instantly ran cold. There standing by her room was Jolene Parker. She was leaning against the wall and looked over as soon as she heard the elevator bell.
"Back a little soon, don't ya think, Doll?" she grumbled as she filed her nails.
"It didn't go as planned," she winced as she walked slowly down the hall before she opened the door to her room.
Jolene watched her and shook her head slowly at the disheveled sight of Brooke.
"I can see that," Jolene said, "So, Dumb and Dumber are still together I take it?"
Brooke nodded.
"Not good. Not good at all," Jolene sighed loudly. She was actually starting to worry a little for the poor bitch. The way she acted last night was pathetic. The girl was indeed just that…pathetic.
"It looks like my kid roughed you up a bit, huh?" Jolene laughed. "You might want to fix that hair and dress when you get into the room," she shook her head at her condescendingly.
"She, well, she caught me off guard!" Brooke said defensively.
"Not surprised, the greedy, little, wench grew up in the ghetto…Warrick probably taught her," Jolene said frowning thinking about how Jules made it out of the 'hood and never once sent a dime Jolene's way. "I don't care if you never knew me…I still gave birth to your ass, damn it." she thought silently.
"What?" Brooke gasped.
"What?" Jolene said back not understanding what Brooke wanted clarification on.
"She really is from the ghetto? Does she really have a black brother too?" she said shocked.
"Oh please, Warrick Brown and my daughter are no more related then you and me!" Jolene said angrily staring over at Brooke.
"But…but why does she say he is her brother then? I don't understand?" she said confused.
"I kinda left her behind," Jolene said looking down at the carpet, "she um, well she just needed too much…she needed more than I could give her so I let her stay with the Browns. Esther Brown took her for me," she told her making light of the fact that she actually dumped Jules like garbage. She didn't actually give Esther Brown her kid…they took her in since she was found in that empty apartment by a young Warrick.
Jolene didn't explain that she left Jules in their apartment alone in her crib. She didn't confess that had Warrick Brown not found that baby, Jules would never have survived. Jolene rationalized that she knew someone would find her sooner of later.
"So she was adopted? She was raised in their family? So she was a Brown before marrying Nick?" Brooke rattled off her questions.
"Yeah, whatever, she grew up there and went by Brown. So what…doesn't mean that those people were her family!" she growled.
"But aren't you happy they took her in for you?" she asked unaware.
"Look Doll, how about you mind your own fucking business?" Jolene snapped with a nasty tone.
"Oh, um, oh, oh okay, sorry," she swallowed hard.
Jolene stared at her a minute. She didn't like to be questioned about this. It was a little over thirty years ago…many years had passed but the fact remains Jules was still her daughter and if she had money she should by right give some to her….Jules should have come when she asked for her, she shouldn't have blown her off and not made contact. "And Nick Stokes had no business throwing me out of her hospital room like a piece of garbage….that fucker! That was my ticket to get my foot in the door…she might have hooked me up well if it weren't for that jerk off," she said silently. "Well, at least I will show him not to mess with me after all of this. Even if they don't break up, I know they felt some serious pain," she smirked.
Jolene looked over at Brooke. She almost laughed at her as she watched Brooke try to fix her hair and straighten out her disheveled clothing.
"Well, Doll, I guess you can only do what you can do. I mean, you did try to split them up….I will put in a good word for you to Cole, I promise," Jolene suddenly showed a glimmer of compassion.
"You will? Really? You don't um, you think he will hurt me, do you?" she said panicking.
"I honestly do not know. I can only tell him you tried your best. You did everything you could. I will tell him you cooperated with me and you did everything you were told," she smiled devilishly.
"I, uh, I um," Brooke stuttered and felt beads of sweat form on her upper lip. She pretended it was just hot in that room, but the truth was she was afraid, so she made her way over to the other side of the room and turned the air conditioner on high.
Jolene watched Brooke. She didn't say a word, she simply waited for her to come back to where they were standing before she began again.
"I know this wasn't easy for ya. Let's face it, you did what you could," she said feeling a little bad for the pathetic whore. "For me, I am glad you did as much as you did. I'm just glad that CSI Asshole got a taste of how it feels to be thrown out and discarded. He did that to me when I went to see my kid in her hospital room!" Jolene remembered angrily.
"Wow, how cold! Nicky never used to be that way. I wonder why he would do such a thing!" Brooke said unaware that Jolene deserved to be tossed out.
Jolene rolled her eyes and shrugged before Brooke continued.
"I just don't want Cole mad, ya know what I mean?" Brooke winced and bit the inside of her cheek nervously.
"Well, I will talk to him for you. I know damn sure you won't be getting anymore cash out of him but…hey, you learned some things, right?" she laughed, "You have stepped up into the big league now. You won't be an amateur anymore, Doll," she smiled, reached over and stroked the side of Brooke's face.
Brooke didn't smile, she just nodded and moved a way slightly.
"Ohhh, come on, Doll,' she reached out again and brushed Brooke's hair away from her eyes," don't look so frightened. I will talk to him. You did the best you could…Hey, did you get the chance to put your lipstick on his collar too?" she asked wondering.
"Yes, of course and I know Jules spotted it," she said softly with a slight smile remembering how Jules' eyes looked when she saw it.
"And still the dumb bitch was willing to forgive him…" Jolene rolled her eyes again and started to walk to the door. "Ok, ok, let's just see what I can do for you. I will be in touch," she said opening the door, " Oh, and do not plan on leaving Las Vegas until you hear from me, do you understand?" she turned toward Brooke and pointed directly at her.
"Yes, yes, I understand. Thanks, Jolene, I really would appreciate anything you could do for me. Let Cole know I did everything he wanted it was just…those two…they wouldn't give up," she nods and begins to bite the side of her lip.
"I'll be in touch, Doll," Jolene said as she was just about out of Brooke's hotel room.
Brooke thought about throwing all her shit in her bag and running for the border. She wrung her hands together as she sat on the end of her bed. She thought about how long it would take her to get out of here, but then she decided that running away wouldn't work. If Jimmy Cole could actually get to Nick Stokes and his wife from behind bars, then she sure as hell didn't want to be someone he had on his shit list too.
Brooke sat on the end of the bed, kicked off her sandals and rubbed her foot before she felt the lump in her throat rise.
"This sucks", she thought out loud. "Why the fuck couldn't that little bitch just walk away from my Nicky. Why would she believe him over picture proof? The cell phone bill! My phone call pretending we had sex! What the fuck did those two share that was so relentless? And how could he feel that way about Jules and not me?" she wondered sadly.
As Brook Latham sat alone on that Bellagio bed , she felt her shoulders droop, and feeling defeated, she placed her face in her hands and began to cry. She wasn't just crying because of how deep she was in with bad people. No, Brooke was also crying because she couldn't win Nick back. She was crying because she lost yet again. She was crying because, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't ruin them. Brooke's heart broke the day she saw him at Josh and Anna's wedding. The twinkle in his deep brown eyes and the way he smiled at her made her realize that she never stopped loving him. She loved Nick. She loved the way he called her "Darlin'" right in front of his wife. She loved how he sat next to her in the limo. She loved how he gripped her arm on the way down the church aisle. She knew he felt it too. She knew he wasn't thinking about his wife at all when he walked her down the aisle to their college friends' wedding. Brooke knew her Nicky was probably pretending the two of them were a couple and were walking down the aisle together for their own wedding. For a brief moment Brooke was actually believing her delusion.
"I love you Nicky, and I want you back. Why can't you admit you still feel it too?" she sobbed.
But Brooke knew... she didn't want to admit it, but she knew…he did not feel it too. In fact, he didn't feel it at all. Deep down in her soul, she knew that no matter what she did or how hard she tried, he only wanted that little witch he married. It made her so sick and so heartbroken.
Brooke threw herself backward on the bed and felt the tears stream down into her hair. She couldn't stop crying. She tried to, but she just couldn't because deep down she knew….
….she knew she lost.