Chapter 5
Nick grabbed his kit and headed towards his car. He had some evidence he wanted to rush back to the lab and he already saw that Krisalyn was well involved in the scene. He glanced at the coroners van that was taking away the victims mutilated body. He stopped dead in his tracks when he remembered what happened last time he left her at a scene. Groaning he walked towards her and stood off to the side.
"I am going to head back to the lab." He told her with a lifted eyebrow. "You ready?"
"Just because you are leaving doesn't mean I have to." Krisalyn said getting to her feet.
"After what happened last time, it does." Nick said crossing his arms in front of him. It was really hard to cross them though with the kit in his hand.
"No it doesn't." Krisalyn said walking towards him. "Look it's sweet that you don't want to leave me here, but I don't think of you like that." She teased him.
"Like what?" Nick asked confused.
"Like more than a colleague." Krisalyn hinted with a shake of her head. She turned away from him so he wouldn't see her laughing.
"So not even as friends?" Nick asked her softly.
"Friends, maybe." She relented and then walked back to what she was processing. "Head back in to the lab, I have things here."
"No I'll stay and help." Nick said setting his kit aside.
He laughed as he watched the two of them working together. It was hilarious to listen to them talk to each other. You could already tell they couldn't stand each other. He bit his bottom lip and then released it to feel blood pouring and taste fill his mouth. He grinned as he spit some into the envelope that he was preparing to send to the lab. He sealed it and wrote Krisalyn's name on the front so she wouldn't feel so left out. He came up with a new plan of attack as he watched them together, he had a new drug he needed to test out anyway. Now it was about getting his little helper to help him plant the drug.
Krisalyn walked through the halls until she reached the ballistic lab where she saw a young brunette woman sitting. He hair was down to her shoulders with a little bit of a wave to it. She was tan, more than you would expect from a New Yorker and she was tiny. She had to be about 5'4 and she couldn't weigh more than 110 lbs. Krisalyn noticed the tight black jeans and tight black tank top and knew immediately she didn't like her.
"Are you the NY CSI I spoke to on the phone?" Krisalyn asked walking into the room.
"No. I am a NY CSI but not the one you were expecting. She got held up in court on another case and I offered to fly out and get your expertise. My name is J.J." The woman said offereing her hand to Krisalyn.
"Krisalyn." She said shaking her hand skeptically. There was something about this woman that she didn't trust, although she wasn't sure what it was.
"Hey Krisalyn I was wondering if you developed your photo's yet?" Nick asked and then looked up and noticed the other woman in the room. "Well hello there." He said raising his eyebrows.
"Hi." J.J. said flirting with him. "My name is CSI Janine Killings. Everyone calls me J.J. though."
"Nick Stokes." He said walking into the room and shaking her hand.
"What are you doing for dinner tonight?" J.J. asked him biting her lower lip.
"Nothing that I know of." Nick said flirting back.
"Join me?" J.J. asked him with a smile.
"Love to. Are you busy right now or can we go talk about tonight?" Nick asked her.
"Not busy. Kristine, the pieces are in that envelope over there." J.J. said pointing to a table.
"It's Krisalyn." Krisalyn said evenly trying not to smack the woman. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so jealous but she was. "Unfortunately I can't work on them tonight, I promised my daughter I would be home early."
"Fine, we can work on them tomorrow." J.J. said starting for the door.
"I'll meet you in the lounge area, do you know where that is?" Nick asked her.
"Yeah I got the tour when I arrived." J.J. said shrugging as she left.
Nick watched her walk away and then turned towards Krisalyn. He arched an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms in front of him.
"You don't have a daughter." Nick said staring at her.
"Show's how much you know. She's five and she needs me." Krisalyn said logging in the ballistic evidence from New York.
"Where's her dad?" Nick asked her.
"None of your business." Krisalyn said evenly and walked out after logging everything.
Krisalyn let herself into her empty home and sat on the couch exhausted. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes against the images that were there.
"What is wrong with me?" She asked herself jumping to her feet.
Nick sat across from J.J. in the dining area in the lobby of her hotel and could tell there was a specific reason she had asked to eat there. He was all for it but for some reason he wasn't as interested in her as he thought. He tried to wrap his mind around the thought that Krisalyn was a mother but for some reason it didn't seem to fit. He put his napkin on top of the table and smiled at J.J.
"I need to make a phone call. Be right back." Nick said getting to his feet.
"All right but hurry." J.J. said with a flirtatious grin.
Nick pulled out his cell and dialed Grissom's office number. He waited patiently for him to answer while watching J.J. out of the corner of his eye.
"Grissom." Came the gruff answer.
"It's Nick. Does Krisalyn have a kid?" Nick asked quickly.
"Why do you want to know?" Grissom asked, Nick could hear the smirk in his voice.
"Just wondering." Nick said uncomfortable. He wasn't sure why it was so important that he find this out but it was.
"No, she had a daughter who would have been five this year. Her daughter was killed by a serial killer who became obsessed with her." Grissom said evenly.
"Oh man." Nick said sucking in a deep breath.
"Today is her birthday, her fifth. It's also the one year anniversary of the girl's death. Her old boss called to tell me to keep an eye on her. I wish I could have convinced her to have dinner with Sara and I but she was stubborn." Grissom said with a sigh.
"Thanks Grissom." Nick said as he hung up with phone.
Krisalyn stared at Ella's photo and closed her eyes at the fresh tears that fell. It was so painful that at times she didn't think she could bear it. Her precious baby was gone and it was all her fault. She had moved as far away from that city as she could get and yet everything was happening again. A physcho serial killer was trying to kill her and there was nothing she could do about it. She opened her eyes as she heard her buzzer.
"Who is it?" Krisalyn asked into the intercom.
"A co-worker." Came the reply.
Krisalyn frowned as she buzzed him in and rolled her eyes. She glanced into the hall mirror and saw she was a mess but didn't really care. She heard the knock on her door and opened it to see Nick standing there.
"You look like hell." He said gently.
"Gee you know how to make a woman feel good." Krisalyn said rolling her eyes. "What can I do for you?"
"I heard about your little girl. I wanted to make sure you were okay." Nick said walking passed her into the apartment.
Krisalyn looked him up and down and saw he was wearing a nice suit. "Weren't you on a date tonight?"
"Some things are more important." Nick said evenly.
"You don't even know me, besides I have been royally mean to you." Krisalyn said walking over to her couch and taking a seat.
"But you're still a co-worker and I said earlier I wanted us to try and be friends." Nick reminded her sitting right next to her.
Nick walked through the halls of the CSI building and noticed everyone staring at him. He looked down at himself to make sure he was fully dressed and then back up to see what they were staring at. He shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the photo lab area to see how the prints were looking. He passed the ballistics lab and saw Krisalyn working with J.J., he had to laugh at that. Everyone could already tell that Krisalyn wasn't fond of the New Yorker and he couldn't wait until she found out that Janine had requested a transfer down here.
"Hey Stokes I need to speak with you." Warrick said walking over to him.
"What's up?" Nick asked as he arched a brow at his friend.
"We all went by your place last night, please do not tell me you spent the night with that NY CSI." Warrick said crossing his arms in front of him.
"Okay it's none of your business where I was." Nick said as he started to walk past him.
"Kathryn said you went out with her. Look Sara and Kathryn feel there is something fishy about her and they wanted me to pass it on." Warrick said holding up his hands in a gesture of peace.
"Thanks for the warning." Nick said as he shook his head. "I was out with her and then I went to check on Krisalyn. I spent the night at her place."
"Really? That's an improvement." Warrick said with a smirk.
"Not in her bed, in the guest room. We were talking and we had a little bit to drink and she didn't want me to leave." Nick said shrugging his shoulders.
"Sure whatever. Have you seen a picture of her kid? Beautiful little girl. It reminded me of the case we worked out there on the East Coast." Warrick said shaking his head.
He laughed as he watched everyone jump around in the parking lot. No one knew he was there and yet they seemed to sense that danger might be lurking nearby. He had to laugh at the thought that he was considered a dangerous person but then that was what he wanted in the first place. He couldn't believe how incredible lucky he had been that no one had been able to catch him but then again that's how it was in each city. He looked at the photograph and laughed. No one would know his real purpose no one at all.
Flashback:
"I just feel like he cares more about me than you do." The woman said softly.
He lifted his hand to her blonde hair and stroked it lovingly. "I love you."
"We broke up for a reason. Look this guy doesn't care what I look like. He spent more time getting to know the real me than you ever bothered to." She said angrily. "He actually cares about me and not about getting me naked."
"How could you say that!" He asked shocked at her words.
"I am a forensic analyst. I look at scientific facts and evidence." She said before she walked away. "I meant what I said about us being over, just forget about me." She called over her shoulder.
End Flashback
He would remember the hurt he had felt when he had seen her out with that guy. They were the reason he attacked a male and a female CSI every time. He had to get even in some way and this was the best way that he knew how.
Krisalyn looked up as she heard the door slam and her eyes widened when she saw Nick standing there with an angry look. She looked over at J.J. who was staring at him with gaga eyes and she looked back to his angry scowl.
"Need me to leave you two alone?" She asked softly.
"No. J.J. could you excuse us for a minute? It's top secret." Nick said evenly without looking at the other woman.
"Sure Nicky." J.J. said with a flirtatious grin.
Nick waited until Janine was out of the room before he took a deep calming breath. He wasn't sure why he wanted to go off on Krisalyn at work but he had a feeling that this needed to be addressed.
"You hated me long before you got transferred here." Nick said evenly.
"Yes." Krisalyn said not bothering to deny it.
"I didn't even remember until I saw her picture. She looked like me." Nick said as he tossed a scanned photo on the countertop. "Your little girl, was she mine?"
He grabbed his newest victim and stuffed her body in the trunk of her car with a laugh. This one was going to feel even more pain. He decided to change his pattern of killing and so instead of killing boy then girl or girl then boy he would be as random as possible. They would be so confused. This was going to be so much fun.