Chapter 26 – A Box of Rain Will Ease the Pain

"Nick?"

I turned around to see Wendy coming towards me, "Got any DNA off that wine glass?"

She shook her head, "No, but that spot you found in the kitchen I kicked over to trace. It's not human blood."

I took the folder from her, "Thanks." Wendy went back to her office as I continued my trek towards Mandy's office. "Mandy?"

Mandy stuck her hand up from behind her desk, "Hold on. Mouse came unplugged." A few moments later, she put her hands on the desk and pulled herself up. "Sorry, kicked the cord from the mouse out of the back of my computer. I've been trying to get Ecklie to spring for a touch screen computer, but so far, no go."

"Good luck on that one. You'll need it." I gave her the print cards I had collected from a wine glass Catherine and I found in the dishwasher. Catherine had dusted the glass and found three clear prints that were too big to be the victim's. "We found these at Jane's house."

Mandy took the print card from me, "Your Jane Doe is no longer a Jane Doe. Doc Robbins emailed me the scans of the prints he took earlier." She reached over and handed me a printout, "Victim's name is Carol Kirby. She was in the system for a work card. She's a retired social worker who worked for DHS. She handled adoptions and according to this, rents that townhouse from a company called Reactive Solutions."

"A house for rent in that neighborhood?" I took the printout from Mandy, "Even as small as that townhome was, I bet that rent on it costs more in one month than what we pay on our house in four months. Thanks Mandy." I reached for the folder with the rest of the information in it, but she pulled it back from me.

"Ahem? Is that it?" She held up the folder. When I tried to take it a second time, she pulled it back again. "You want the results that I have here, I want something in return."

I looked at Mandy, "What?"

"You owe me. I put your prints ahead of Greg's. I think that deserves a little something. You want the folder, you give me what I want."

"Oh, come on." I groaned, "Mandy, work with me here."

Mandy looked at me as she waved the folder in front of her, teasing me with it, "Get to it, Tex. You want the folder, you sing me a song."

I knew exactly what song she wanted. Checking to make sure I didn't have an audience, I started in, "Oh Mandy, well you came and you gave..." I stopped when I noticed that Mandy had crossed her arms across her chest as she shook her head. Wanting me to sing louder, I started over, "Oh Mandy, well you came and you gave without taking but I sent you away. Oh Mandy, well you kissed me and stopped me from shaking and I need you today."

"Thank you." She held out the folder I needed after I finished. "You know I heard from Hodges that you did pretty well at that karaoke bar the night of your birthday."

"Tell Hodges he better hide."

Taking the report back to the lab I was working in, I started going over the photos that Catherine and I had taken. I was trying to find anything that would clue me in as to what happened, but just as when Catherine and I were in the townhome earlier, I didn't find anything inside the house that gave me any clue about what was going on. After finding two impressions in the carpet in the room where the victim was, we thought we had a break, but after checking with the two paramedics, we found that the clues we found offered no help and even after using the ALS on the tile floor in the kitchen, we weren't able to find any footprints that didn't belong in the home. Running up against a dead end, I left everything on the table where it was and went down to the morgue to see if Doc Robbins had completed the post.

He wasn't there, but David was. "Super Dave? Doc finish the post on the homicide from Twin Hills?"

After looking through the stack of folders on his desk, David pulled out the one I needed, "COD was a strangulation. Broken hyoid bone in the victim's neck. Whoever did this to her knew how to do it without leaving any marks behind. Could have used something soft like a bathrobe tie or something similar. We haven't ALSed her for fingerprints around her neck. When Doc gets back, we'll check and I'll let you know." He started to hand me the folder, "So do I get a song, too, or is that just Mandy?"

Snatching the folder out of his hand before he had time to react, I shook my head, "Hell no. How'd you find out about that?"

"Who else?" David shrugged his shoulders, "Hodges."

I turned around and shoved the door to the morgue open, "Oh now he's really gonna get it."

I had been back in the lab I was in earlier, going over the victim's bank statements when Grissom found me, "David said you had already been downstairs and got the autopsy report?"

"Yeah." I dug the folder out from under a mountain of paperwork and handed it to him, "Strangulation. Super Dave said the hyoid bone was broken but there were no marks. They're waiting to do the ALS to check for fingerprints. Said Doc Robbins was on a call out."

"Anything in her financials?"

I shook my head, "Not really. Few purchases here and there might offer some leads. She did have to subscriptions to online dating services though. I'll have Archie see what he can do about getting into that laptop Catherine found to see if our vic had any emails. Strangulation is usually a crime of passion."

Grissom looked up from the folder, "Discovery Channel, right?"

I groaned, "No. You taught me that but you are a walking Discovery Channel most days."

He turned to leave the office but stopped, "Have Arch help you on pulling anything off of the computer and one more thing..."

"Yeah?"

"So does everyone in the lab get a song or is that just Mandy?"

"Oh hell no. Hodges is gonna die a slow and painful death for what he has done."

"Hodges?" Grissom was confused, "I heard that from David. He told me to ask you to sing to me."

"Doc Robbins is gonna be busy in the morgue." I reached over for another stack of credit card statements to go through, "Half the people in this lab are gonna get it tonight. I'm going to kill them. One night in their sleep, a slit throat maybe or a screwdriver to a temple. Be ready."

Grissom hid a smile as he said he was going down towards the morgue to check in on the results of the ALS with David.

Leaving the office I was in after Grissom left, I went to go find Hodges so we could have a Come to Jesus meeting. He was in his office with his back turned to me and I was able to sneak up on him. "Hodges!"

He jumped when I said his name, "Nick. You're looking well tonight." He saw I was upset with him and started to move away, "Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just whipped out a quarter?"

"Can the ham." I put my arm across his shoulders, "What's this I hear about you telling everyone about my deal with Mandy and the song?"

"Can I phone a friend?"

I tightened my grip on his shoulder, causing him to wince, "Knock it off, okay? That's a one time thing."

"Understood." As soon as I let go of his shoulder, Hodges took two steps back and put a chair between us, "So other than that, is there anything I can do for you other than let you crush vital internal organs or bones?"

"Glad you asked. Collected something that looked like blood in the carpet at my 419 in Twin Hills. Mandy said she kicked it to you." I cracked my knuckles, "Got any results?"

I had to keep from laughing as Hodges took another step back from me, "Cocktail sauce used primarily in shrimp." He held out the folder towards me, "I'm more of a red meat kind of guy but hey, whatever rubs your Buddah."

"Thanks." I left Hodges alone, much to his delight and headed back to find Grissom to tell him what I found.

After working the rest of the night with the statements, I had highlighted a few things for me to check next shift. Stretching as I tried to relieve the cramping in my back from being in the same position for three hours, I got up and shoved everything into the folder and left it in the evidence locker and got ready to head home, smiling because Anna had texted me a bit ago saying she got off work early and was waiting on me at home.

I had a few errands to run before I drove home. Stopping by Wal-Mart, I picked up dog food for Cassie and Draco and picked up a bag of food for the cat as well. After calling Anna to see if she needed anything, I wrapped up my shopping and went up front to the check stands.

As I waited, I saw a Sports Illustrated in the magazine stand and started to leaf through it. I had already read most of this issue at work and as I got ready to put it back in the bin, I saw a copy of Modern Bride. I tossed it in the cart for Anna to read through and hopefully get some ideas about our wedding.

I checked out and loaded everything in the back of my Tahoe and headed home. I figured Anna would be in the pool but to my surprise, she was stretched out on the couch with Danilla behind her, making bread on Anna's back. When the cat saw me, she hissed and ran off. "Maybe one day you'll like me."

"Mmmm. Who will like you?" Anna rolled over on her back and smiled, "I already do."

"I know you do. I meant the cat. She hisses whenever I come in the room."

"Nicky, she hates everyone but me. You need help?"

I shut the door with my foot and shook my head, "I got it. I have a couple more bags in the truck and that's it." I let the bag of dog food drop to the floor as Cassie and Draco came skidding to a stop in front of me. I petted both of the dogs and went back out to get the other bags plus the bag with the magazine in it. Danilla watched me make the trip between the carport and the kitchen before darting back in the living room. After my third trip, I came back in and put away what I bought before picking up the bag with the magazine in it and walked back to the living room where Anna was. "Present for you." I held out the sack with the bridal magazine in it. "You'll have to forgive the wrapping job."

"Well, it's not ticking." Anna took the sack from me and pulled the magazine out, "And you bought me a copy of 'Modern Bride' why exactly?"

I sat down on the couch next to Anna after moving Danilla to the back of the couch. She hissed at me again before running off towards the back of the house, "Figured you might need some ideas."

Anna started to flip through the magazine, "I'm all for a drive through wedding at one of the chapels here."

Remembering what my mother said to me, I smiled, "So would you like to explain to my mother why we didn't invite her or should I?"

"She can sit in the back seat of my Xterra." Anna laughed and put the magazine down, "Seriously, I don't care one way or another what we do. If you want to plan it, then go for it. I'm not picky." She leaned over and kissed me, "As long as you're the one I'm marrying."

"Well that was the plan. That's also why I got the magazine for you. I know on our way home from Texas you said jeans were fine, but I think you'll be happier if you have the white dress, the guests, the cake and everything."

"Twinkies."

I looked at Anna, "Excuse me?"

"Twinkies. I want Twinkies served at the reception. I don't want a cake." Anna smiled, "That part I have worked out already."

"It's official." I started to laugh again, "We have our first wedding detail worked out. Forget important things like a date or a location or finding suitable attire. My bride to be doesn't want a cake because she wants me to buy four dozen boxes of Twinkies. Now we just need to figure out the rest." I picked up the bridal magazine off of Anna's lap and waved it in front of her, "Which is why I bought this. According to Jillian, this is the bridal Bible."

Anna took the magazine out of my hands, "Is that a hint I take it? Something about setting a date and all that?"

"Yep. I'm still all for Valentine's Day. It's October now, so that's four months away."

Shaking her head, she let the magazine drop to her lap, "Uh, no. I have already told you not just no but hell to the n and o to that date. The chapels in Vegas are probably already booked solid for the next ten years and I'd like to be married before then." Anna folded her legs up under her and laid the magazine across her knees and began to flip through it, "When did your parents get married?"

"May tenth. Why?"

"What's wrong with that day?"

Anna caught me off guard, "You want to get married on my parents' anniversary?"

She nodded her head, "Why not? Think they'd mind?"

"Doubt it actually. I'm sure my mother would be thrilled considering that gives them enough advance warning. What about your family? You gonna invite your parents and sister?"

"I have to. They did bring me into this world. Now whether they show or not, who knows. Doubt if they do." Anna smiled, "Bryan's family on the other hand, well, they've cleared their calendar for the rest of the year. Bryan said his dad offered to walk me down the aisle."

"It's your wedding, hon. You do what you want." I knew talking about Anna's family pained her so I held on to her hand tighter, "So that's when you want to get married? In May?"

"Sure. Wedding, then both of our birthdays. Keeps things simple. Your parents can maybe stay here for, well, scratch that..."

"Scratch what?"

"I was thinking that your parents and sisters and brother could be here for your birthday, but I'm not having your family come along on our honeymoon."

I pulled Anna into my lap. She reached over and grabbed the magazine before leaning back into me, "Who says we have to go anywhere? We're already living together and we've already done it, so…"

Anna interrupted me, "Because I want a vacation. We need a vacation together. Just a few days or something away from everything. No cell phones, no email, no family members." Twisting around, she kissed me, "Just me and you. That's it."

Anna had her hair pulled back using a clip and I kissed the back of her neck, "It's your wedding. You just tell me when to show up."

"All of this just seems so surreal."

"Why?"

Anna shook her head, "This is a Pinter moment."

"A what?"

"It's a literary term." She smiled, "A moment where everything is said in silence because the emotion behind what we really want to say is just too overwhelming. I just never thought I'd be here." Anna looked up at me, "You know after everything that happened."

"I didn't get a chance to ask you this earlier when we had our conversation but was there anything I could have done to keep you from leaving Vegas?"

"At the time, no. There wasn't. I was not of sound mind."

"And that means? I left my decoder ring in the cereal box."

Anna smiled, "It means I had so much going on that I was so screwed up that not even electroshock therapy could have helped me. Do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"If I get like that again, and I'm sure hoping I never do...Next time, just chain me to my bed and wait for my moment of clarity to come."

I told Anna I would as I picked her up and carried her back to our room to go to sleep.

A/N: Thanks so much everyone for the messages about my dog. She was 17.

I borrowed a scene from Happenstance and put it in my story. George Eads has said on a few of the DVD commentaries that he'd welcome another chance to sing to Mandy on the show. I just gave him one in my story.

I'm snowbound at home so you get more Anna and Nick. Keep me busy by sending me lots of reviews. Please!