Greg entered the interrogation room and immediately felt his heart sink. Sam Williams was sitting at the table, crumpled tissue in hand. When he walked in, she looked up and smiled sadly at him. He returned the greeting and sat down across from her. Despite her tired, puffy eyes and overall weak and sad demeanor, Greg could confidently say that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Her brown hair fell to her shoulders in loose curls and her eyes were dark brown, identical to Nick's. She wasn't wearing make-up, probably because she didn't need to.
Greg swallowed hard before speaking. "Hi, Miss Williams, my name is Greg Sanders, I'm with the crime lab. I'm sorry for your loss."
She smiled sadly again. "Please, call me Sam." Her Texan accent was so slight that Greg wouldn't have even noticed it if he hadn't been looking for it, but of course he had been.
Greg smiled warmly. "Sam," he said, "I need to take your finger prints and ask you a few questions about Jeff Baker."
"Okay," she said, nodding slightly. As Greg was taking her fingerprints, she asked "The police said he was shot in his own home...when exactly did he die?"
"Early Saturday morning, around one am." Sam nodded slightly and began wiping her hands with the cloth Greg gave her after he finished taking her prints. "I understand you were dating Jeff."
"I used to," Sam answered. "We broke up about a month ago."
"Were you living with him up to that point?"
"Yes, in his house in Henderson. He bought it after he got a promotion and was transferred here. We lived there for about a year and then I ended it a month ago. We wanted different things, it wasn't working anymore."
Greg nodded. "Do you still live in Vegas?"
"Yes, I have an apartment by myself now. I love my new job at the school I'm at, I couldn't leave the kids and go back home."
"When's the last time you spoke to Jeff?"
Sam shook her head. "I don't know exactly. Maybe a week after we broke up? He was upset and wanted to try and work things out, but I knew it was over. He tried for a few days to fix things, but finally gave up and respected my wishes to just move on. He was going to move back to Riverside as soon as he could get a place."
"Do you have any idea who would want to hurt him?"
"He fought with his old business partner a lot, but I don't know if he would kill Jeff. They were partners back in Texas, then Jeff got the job offer in Riverside and his partner was pissed when he left. Their investments were weak and he didn't really have any choice."
"Do you have this business partner's information?" Greg asked.
Sam shrugged. "All I really know is that his name's Ray Lyon. He still lives in Dallas, I'm not sure what he's doing now but last Jeff said he was working for an accounting firm. They spoke every once in a while, mostly arguing over who owes who what. I stayed out of it."
Greg smiled sympathetically. "Well, we're just going to use your prints to exclude you. We checked out your alibi and were able to confirm that you were in Reno the night Jeff was killed."
"Bachelorette party," she said with another sad smile. "I'm surprised anyone remembered it, although I guess they owed me that much being the designated driver."
Greg offered a small laugh. "We'll contact you if we have any further questions." He packed up his kit and was about to stand to leave when Sam spoke again.
"You work with him, don't you," she stated more than asked.
Greg felt every muscle in his body freeze. "I don't understand who you mean," he lied, knowing full well who she meant.
"I can tell," she said, ignoring his fake confusion. "The way you looked at me when you came in, how nice you're being to me. When I heard what happened, part of me wanted him to be on this case because I knew he would figure out what happened to Jeff. But most of me never wants to see him again."
Greg didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. He just sat there lamely, looking at her and listening to her speak. Her eyes were looking down at her hands, which were twisting the tissue into knots. Tears were slowly falling from her eyes, but she didn't bother to wipe them away.
"Is he okay?" she asked, suddenly looking up and meeting Greg's eyes. He shook his head slightly and opened his mouth to play dumb, but she stopped him. "I know him. I know he told you, he wouldn't have blind sided you. I don't know what he told you, but I know you know something, I can tell you know enough. I've heard about the things that have happened to him here, and I just want to know if he's okay."
Greg nodded slowly. "Yeah, he's okay."
Sam smiled weakly and nodded once. "Good." She stood and walked to the door, then paused and turned back around to once again look at a stunned Greg Sanders. "Don't tell him that I asked about him. You're probably going to anyway, but I guess it's worth a shot to ask you not to."
Greg shook his head. "I won't say anything. It doesn't seem like it will do any good telling him anyway."
"Thank you," Sam said softly, then turned and left.
Greg sat in his chair for a few minutes before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I know you're back there." After a few seconds, Nick reluctantly came around from the observation room adjacent to the interrogation room. He entered with his head hung and sat down across from Greg heavily. "You shouldn't have done that," the younger man said gently.
"There's a lot of things I shouldn't have done," Nick replied. "I shouldn't have lied to her. I shouldn't have just up and left my entire life behind. I shouldn't have let the best thing that has ever happened to me get away, but I did. I did all of those things, and I can't change any of it."
"No," Greg responded simply, "you can't." With that he gathered his things and left the room, once again leaving Nick by himself.
Too much had happened in the last few days. He didn't know how to deal with any of it. He had just been closer to Sam than he ever had been in the last fourteen years, and hadn't even gotten to say one word to her. Truth is, he had no idea what he would even say if he were given the chance to do so. He knew there was nothing he could say or do to change what had happened. That was why he had left. Nothing was going to make things okay again, and neither one of them could live with that fact. Not with each other there as daily reminders of what they had been through. So Nick sat there in the interrogation room, by himself, repeating in his mind the same things he had told himself every day for the last fourteen years in an attempt to convince himself that he had made the right decision to leave that night.
Of course he knew it was a losing battle, but he also knew it was the only thing he had left of her.
"Sam," Greg said, greeting her with a smile. "Thank you for coming down. I just need you to sign this form to release Jeff's personal effects to his family. You were still listed as his emergency contact and primary proxy for these circumstances."
Sam quickly signed the forms and smiled back at Greg. "Not a problem, I'm glad you caught the guy who did this to Jeff."
Greg nodded slightly. "You were a big help with that. Jeff's business partner led us to another guy they had been involved with who went to Jeff for a loan. When he refused, the guy snapped. I'm sorry this happened."
"Not your fault," Sam replied with a small shrug.
"Not yours either," Greg responded, though he was not quite sure why he had said that. He could tell Sam was more anxious and even nervous as compared to when he had first met her the other day, and he had a clue as to why. "He's not here," he said, playing the same no-name game she had started at their first encounter.
Sam smiled and looked down at the floor sheepishly. "Sorry, can't help but be antsy. I always hated police stations, especially when he worked at one back in Dallas." She shook her head, tossing her brown curls back and forth. "This is the most I've talked about him in fourteen years, and I don't even know you," she said with a small laugh.
"Sorry," he mumbled lamely. "You're all set, we've got everything we need taken care of. Have a good day," he said cheerfully.
"Thanks Greg, you too," she said genuinely, but made no short order of getting out of that police station.
Greg sighed and headed on his own way out, back to the lab to wrap up the case so he could go home and get some rest. On the drive back, he couldn't help but think about Nick and how difficult this must be for him. Sam was obviously a beautiful woman, and even only knowing her briefly as it pertained to this case, Greg could see she was a kind and sweet person. He wished there was something he could do, but of course knew it wasn't his place and that there wasn't anything to be done.
After finishing all the paper work, Greg happily closed up shop and headed for the locker room. He stopped immediately upon entering and seeing Nick sitting on the bench in front of his closed locker, eyes closed and head in his hands. He felt as though he was intruding and was just about to turn to leave when Nick spoke.
"Feel like getting a drink?" he asked quietly.
Greg could easily see that Nick's eyes were closed, and he hadn't though he had made that much noise when he walked into the room for Nick to have even known anyone had walked in, never mind enough commotion to properly identify himself.
"How did you know it was me?" Greg asked out of pure intellectual curiosity.
Nick shrugged as he dropped his hands to his lap and looked up at Greg. "Catherine would have immediately started crying and came over and hugged me. Sara would have sighed to make her presence known, then came over and hugged me. Ray would have told me some old story of when he was younger that somehow relates to this. Then came over and hugged me. And Hodges would have told me what an idiot I am and asked for Sam's number, then just left. You're the only one who wouldn't have said anything and would have tried to escape silently."
Greg shook his head slightly and started to apologize, but Nick stopped him. "I'm glad it was you and not any of them."
Greg smiled slightly. "Because you know that despite how tired I am, I'll take you up on that drink offer and even be stupid enough to say it's on me tonight."
Nick laughed softly. "Yeah, that was my plan."
"Come on," Greg said, motioning to the door with his head. "Let's go."
Nick got up and followed Greg out to his car in the parking garage. They rode in silence to the bar the team frequented because it was off strip and didn't attract too many tourists. It was fairly early on a week night, so there weren't many people there other than the usual bar flies and the two CSIs. They sat down at the end of the bar and were both halfway through their second beer before Nick finally broke the ongoing silence.
"Sorry I spied on your interrogation," he said, staring down at his half empty bottle of beer.
Greg shrugged as he took another sip. "Wasn't much of an interrogation, we already knew she didn't have anything to do with it. I knew you were there the whole time."
"You play dumb pretty well," Nick joked.
Greg laughed. "She didn't buy it."
Nick shook his head. "She never does."
Greg looked over at his friend with empathetic eyes, but Nick was still looking down. The younger man knew that the only reason they were here right now was because Greg hadn't prodded or tried to force Nick to talk about what had happened; Nick had just done it on his own. He knew Nick wanted to talk about it, but he also knew he wasn't going to sit there and spill whatever was on his mind without a little push. Greg knew he couldn't push too hard or Nick would probably knock him out, but he figured it was worth the risk to try and help his friend.
"Did you know she was in Vegas?" Greg asked, staying on subject but not asking about anything that had happened in their past.
"Not until I got to the scene and saw that Jeff Baker was the victim. Sam and my sister talk all the time and Jess always tells me whatever she's up to. Last she told me, they were living in Riverside. Jess either didn't know they moved to Vegas or didn't want to tell me. Either way, as soon as I saw it was him I knew she was here too."
Greg nodded slightly. "Why do you think she asked me if you were okay?"
Nick took a long drink from his beer, almost finishing it before looking over at Greg and shrugging. "Jess must have told her about how I got kidnapped and shot and everything. She was probably hoping you'd tell her I was in straight jacket in a psych ward. I deserve worse."
"She seemed relieved that you were okay," Greg replied. They were quiet again for a few minutes before Greg suddenly asked, "Why did you just leave without saying anything? That just doesn't seem like you."
When Nick didn't reply, Greg figured he had overstepped the line on that one. He had just been too curious not to ask and felt like he was on a roll with Nick and could get away with it. As he watched Nick finish his beer and sit back in his chair, he assumed he had been wrong. He was just about to apologize for bringing it up when Nick finally responded.
"In all of the eight years we were together, we fought maybe a grand total of three times those entire eight years. And they were stupid fights, all of them were when we were still in college about stupid shit I can't even remember. But after her miscarriage and especially after she found out I had lied to her, we fought constantly. We couldn't be around each other for longer than ten minutes without one of us starting a fight. It was awful," he finished softly.
Nick's eyes were once again averted elsewhere, but Greg could still see the emotion in them. "Couples fight, especially after going through something like that," he offered.
Nick shook his head. "We never really even talked about it. She was such a mess, and I didn't know what to do. We never told our families anything, so we never even told them about the miscarriage either. Jess doesn't even know. The first week, while she was recovering and we were taking the tests and everything, we just cried a lot and stayed in bed. We never talked about it or dealt with it in a healthy way, and when we started fighting so much it made everything worse."
He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "We were making each other miserable on purpose. She hated me for lying, it made her feel like she couldn't trust anything I had ever said or did. It erased our eight year relationship and restarted it on the basis that I had lied to her about the cause of her miscarriage. Not a good combination. I left because I didn't have any other choice. She couldn't stand to even look at me, never mind live with me anymore. I just took the easy way out and got it over with without saying anything before we fought more and ended up making things worse than they already were. I know it was a fucked up thing to do, but I didn't see any other choices."
Greg smiled sadly at his friend. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Get drunk with you," Nick answered with a small laugh. "Then wake up tomorrow and hope it was all a dream. When I realize it wasn't, I'll probably end up doing something stupid like trying to see her or even talk to her. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Actually, I'll probably jump off it rather than cross it."
Thanks for reading, next chapter is already in the works and should be up soon!