Chapter 14

Nick arrived home at lunchtime; he had every intention of talking to Krisalyn about what had almost happened between them this morning. He sighed as he opened the front door and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked all around the room and noticed the pictures of Ella and the red marks all over them. He then noticed the red paint all over the walls proclaiming that they were all dead and it was all his and Krisalyn's fault. He looked at the ground and saw Krisalyn lying there with her eyes closed, clearly unconscious.

"Kris!" Nick yelled as he ran over to her and knelt down next to her.

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Krisalyn could feel someone's hands on her and she could hear someone talking to her but she didn't care. All that mattered was that those pictures of how violated her daughter had been, were plastered everywhere. Someone had gotten a hold of the buried crime scene photographs, photographs that Krisalyn herself had made disappear after the trial. Slowly she made her eyes pop open and she stared into Nick's worried eyes.

"I'm okay. I don't want to see the pictures. Make them go away, please?" She pleaded with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I can't see her like that."

"It's okay, just close your eyes and I'm gonna take you out to my car." Nick said softly as he stroked her hair.

"Okay."

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Nick carried her out to the car and placed her gently into the front seat. He pulled out his cell phone and called Grissom's direct line, hoping that for once he was actually sitting tightly at his desk instead of looking around for something to do. He sighed with relief when the phone was answered.

"Hello?"

"Grissom, it's Nick." Nick said tightly into the phone.

"Hey, what's up?" Grissom asked immediately.

"I came home to check on Krisalyn and there's a fresh crime scene at my house. Trust me you guys are going to want to get out here, I can't go in there." Nick whispered.

"All right, anyone hurt? Do we need the medical examiner or an ambulance?" Grissom asked sharply.

"No, just the unit." Nick responded fast.

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Grissom quickly walked out of his office and looked for the others. He found them in the break room and gave them all a look over. He saw when they realized that something had happened and could sense the worry on their faces, but JJ was in the room and Grissom knew Nick wasn't going to want her at his house. Sighing Grissom plastered a fake smile on his face and nodded to everyone as he walked over to the fridge.

"What's going on in here?" He asked simply.

"Just waiting for something to do." JJ answered for all of them. "Is there a crime scene?" She asked excitedly.

"Nope." Grissom lied as he grabbed an apple out of the fridge and then headed back to his office.

Once he was seated at his desk Grissom paged everyone one by one with a secret message and then sat back at his desk. He knew they would immediately put their messages together and come up with the final message to meet at Nick's. Grissom grabbed his kit and headed out of the building. He only hoped the other's would be able to keep this a secret from JJ because otherwise there was going to be trouble at the scene.

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Krisalyn watched as Nick stared at his house with a frown on his face. She wanted so badly to go over to him and make him feel a little better but she knew that she couldn't get up out of the seat. She felt so drained and weak at the moment that she couldn't even manage to say anything to make him feel better, she could barely manage the sigh that she heard escaping her lips. She watched as Nick turned his attention towards her.

"Wanna talk?" Nick asked her simply.

Krisalyn just shook her head as she watched him intently. She could see that there was something he wanted to ask her but that he was to afraid to speak the words. She had a feeling she knew exactly what it was. She bit her bottom lip nervously as she waited for him to get up the courage to ask her anyway.

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Grissom arrived at Nick's house and saw him standing there in the driveway next to his car. He could see that Nick was visibly shaken up and Grissom couldn't blame him. He climbed out of his car and made his way towards his friend and teammate. Once Grissom was next to him he placed his hand on his shoulder and just stood there for a few minutes. There was no telling how long they actually stood there but they were still standing like that when Sara arrived with Greg in her car. They both hopped out with their cases and gave a slight wink to Grissom as a secret signal that they had figured out what he was up to earlier.

"Don't worry we made sure she didn't know where we were headed." Greg said as he held his kit in his hands.

"Been inside yet?" Sara asked Grissom as she nodded towards the house.

"Negative." Grissom said shaking his head. "I figured I would wait for the whole team to get here."

"Good idea. Especially since I didn't clear the house." Nick added honestly.

"All right so we wait and then we leave out kits out here and go in guns drawn. We clear the house and then come back out here and grab what we need to work the scene." Grissom said coming up with a plan of action.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Sara said nodding her head.

"Agreed." Greg said as he turned when a car screeched to a halt behind them. He noticed Kathryn and Warrick climbing out and motioned for them to hurry it up.

"We need to clear the house first." Grissom informed the latest arrivals.

"Sweet, time to draw the weapon." Warrick said as he drew his gun.

"I'll stay out here with them." Kathryn said as she noticed how pale and ashen Krisalyn had become. Something was off and Kathryn had a feeling Krisalyn knew something that might be relevant to their new case. It was just about bringing it out of her mouth to make it work.

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He was laughing inside as he watched the scene from his vantage point. He had planned everything down to a T, everything that he was going to do but someone else had done some damage it seemed. They would automatically think this was his handy work but they would soon figure out it wasn't. No one was as good as he was, no one was as precise as he was and therefore no one would be able to copy what he did right down to the letter. The person behind this had probably gotten sloppy and they would find some evidence somewhere.

He looked down at the photographs that he had managed to get a hold of and he realized something about them bothered him. He frowned and then looked closer, that's when he realized they were crime scene photos but they weren't taken by the cops. Someone, mainly the perp, had taken these pictures. He felt his heart skip a beat as he realized that meant the person who was arrested for Ella's murder had been innocent. The real killer was out there and he was in contact with him. He laughed a little and then decided that he better keep quiet and not say anything to anyone. He also knew he couldn't start his car and leave because that would draw attention to himself so he sat back and enjoyed the show.

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Krisalyn had this weird feeling that someone was watching them. She slowly pulled her tired and drained body out of the car and scanned the area but nothing seemed to jump out at her. She was starting to think she was losing her mind when she felt Kathryn's hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little and then looked at the woman who had become a good friend to her.

"Something wrong Krisalyn?" Kathryn asked worriedly.

"No, I just think my imagination is playing tricks on me is all." Krisalyn answered with a slight laugh. "All right I have a feeling there is something both you and Nick are dying to ask me so just ask me."

"What are you hiding?" Nick was the first one out with it.

"I think the man that killed Ella is innocent." Krisalyn said slowly and honestly. "There were some things that he would say that just didn't add up to what happened at the crime scene is all."

"What do you mean? If you thought he was innocent and there were discrepancies why was he convicted?" Kathryn asked confused.

"Because they thought I was just a distraught mother and they wouldn't listen to me. You have to remember I am only the victim's mother on this case." Krisalyn said slowly.

Grissom, Greg, Warrick and Sara finished clearing the house and came out to get their kits. They all noticed that there was something serious being talked about between the three CSI's standing off to the side. Grissom frowned and was ready to head over there when he noticed another car coming up the street. He nearly groaned aloud when he saw JJ climb out of the car and head towards the team.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked her before anyone else got the chance.

"I am a member of this team and if there is a crime scene then I deserve to be involved." She huffed crossing her arms in front of her.

"Who said there was a crime scene here?" Greg asked arching his eyebrow.

"What are you all doing here if there is no scene?" JJ retorted.

"Checking up on a friend of ours who has recently been in the hospital and comparing what's in our kits to see what tools the other kits might need." Sara said remembering they all had their kits out so she needed an excuse for that to.

"Well why wasn't I invited?" She asked sweetly.

"Because you're not my friend." Krisalyn answered back just as sweetly.

"Well we could be friends." JJ said pouting.

"No we can't be." Krisalyn said shaking her head. "But I'm sure you and Nick could be."

"What? Me and her friends? Never gonna happen." Nick said shaking his head quickly.

"That's right because we are going to be more than friends." JJ said with a small pout.

"Never that either." Nick said with a major attitude. "I don't even like you so I could never be with you."

"Well we can change that can't we?" JJ asked walking towards him.

"Not when he is engaged to be married to Krisalyn." Warrick jumped in thinking on his feet.

Krisalyn let her eyes dart from Nick to Warrick and could tell they had planned this whole thing out. She wasn't sure how they did it but she knew they did it. She felt her blood start to boil and her temper start to rise and the only thing she could think about was getting even with them. She was about to speak up and say she wasn't planning to marry Nick ever when Kathryn started to speak up.

"Speaking of which, I was thinking that maybe we should go dress shopping tomorrow when you are feeling a little bit better. I know this beautiful little dress shop that always has gorgeous wedding gowns on display." Kathryn said getting into the scheme. She smirked at Krisalyn knowing that she was going to be shocked.

"What about that place that has dresses for all occasions? We should all get dresses for the engagement party!" Sara said pretending to get excited.

Krisalyn was speechless as she listened to everyone get involved around her. She had feeling that she had just been manipulated by the entire team and the fact that everyone had forgotten about the crime scene inside was apparent. Man was she in for a long hard ride from this point on.