Chapter 32

JJ was making breakfast, but that was a hard thing to do when her toddler was not allowing her to put her down. JJ had Ella on her hip as she continued to make the pancakes and bacon and sausage that her daughter had requested for breakfast. JJ knew that Ella was still scared, she had finally slept through the night once she had been placed in bed with her parents. JJ was concerned about this and wondered if the child psychologist that Ella would start seeing, would actually be able to help her. Nick had, had to run to the lab early this morning, letting Ella knew he would be home real soon. He was going to pick up some things he could work on at home, to see if he could go through files and things and help catch the killer that was out there. Nick and JJ both agreed they would never truly be safe, until this man was behind bars and out of their lives. They had to make sure that their daughter was protected, no matter the cost. They would both give their lives to protect Ella.

JJ and Nick had both updated their wills and living trusts. They wanted to make sure that they could make decisions for each other when it came to medical things, that their parents and others didn't have the power or the right to interfere in what they wanted done. JJ and Nick had then gone ahead and decided who would get Ella if something were to happen to the two of them, they had chosen Catherine and Warrick. Catherine had already raised a daughter, Lindsey, and JJ knew that Lindsey and Ella really loved being around each other, despite Lindsey being so much older she had apparently enjoyed having the toddler around.

Catherine had explained that Lindsey had hated being an only child and that she considered Ella the baby sister she had always wanted but never had. JJ had smiled because Ella was in awe of Lindsey and even now, as the shy and terrified toddler that she was, she talked about being around the older girl with an excitement that had both JJ and Nick relieved. They could at least see that Ella could show some happiness and smile about something. They had asked Catherine if Lindsey could come over and be around Ella, that it might help her. Catherine had smiled and said that Lindsey would love it.

JJ looked over to her shoulder, where Ella was resting her head and sucking on the pacifier. JJ knew that Ella was a little old to be sucking on one of those, and that it couldn't be good for her teeth but after talking to a doctor and the child psychologist, they said that they should allow her to still use it for now with the amount of things going on inside the childs life. They said that Ella needed a comfort thing, that she needed the security that was offered from certain things, and it appeared this was the comfort thing that meant the world to her at the moment.

Catherine was smiling as she watched Lindsey and Warrick play a card game in the hospital. After they left the hospital Catherine was taking Lindsey over to JJ and Nick's house to play with Ella, something that Lindsey was happy about. Even though Lindsey was nowhere near Ella's age, Lindsey had stated that she felt sorry for the toddler and everything she had been through and she wanted to be able to help make her feel better. Catherine couldn't be prouder of the young woman Lindsey was starting to turn into. They had, had their rough patches, but she had seen Lindsey overcome so much in her young life. She was actually surprised that Lindsey was already thinking about what she wanted to study in college, Criminal Justice. Lindsey had just told her that she wanted to be like her mother and she wanted to be a police officer, but she didn't think she wanted to work in the crime lab, that wasn't something that interested her really.

"Lindsey had decided what she wants to be when she is an adult." Catherine spoke up.

"Really?" Warrick asked as he looked from Catherine to Lindsey. Lindsey and Warrick had always been close, whenever she had come to the lab when she was younger, it was Warrick that she wanted to hang out with the most. They would play computer games or board games and sometimes they would just talk and tell stories or jokes. "What's that?" He asked Lindsey.

"I want to go into law enforcement. At first I thought being a police officer would be cool but then I thought about it, and wouldn't it be cool if I was like an FBI profiler or something like that?" Lindsey asked, her eyes lighting up as she thought about it.

"This is the first I heard about the FBI and profiling." Catherine said shocked. She knew that for the FBI you definitely had to have a degree from college of some sort, and to be a profiler you really needed a certain type of degrees.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure about it and I didn't think you would want me to go so far away. I mean it is all the way on the other side of the country." Lindsey said softly. She looked like she was unsure and that she didn't want to hurt Catherine.

"I want you to do whatever you feel like your heart is telling you to do. I would be incredibly proud for you to become a profiler." Catherine told her daughter, seeing that she apparently needed that approval from her mother.

"Really? You wouldn't be mad if I went to Quantico and joined the FBI? I mean I know that you all don't really get along with the FBI, and it would mean that we wouldn't see each other all the time. Even if I joined the FBI and wanted to be stationed here in Vegas it wouldn't work, Profilers usually work out of Quantico or FBI headquarters in DC." Lindsey said, shocking the two adults more because it was apparent she had been doing her homework.

"Lindsey, I understand that more than anything, but if that is what you want to do, if that is what you feel like you need to do, then I am behind you one hundred percent." Catherine told her. "Just as long as you promise to try and come home for holidays and some other vacation times you might have. I also want to make sure we talk on the phone at least once a week, no matter what."

"Well it doesn't matter right now, even going to Quantico is a long way off mom. We still have a few years before I can even think about applying for a job there." Lindsey pointed out with a wink.

"We are proud of you Linds." Warrick spoke up, the pride shining in his eyes apparently what Lindsey needed to see as well.

"Thanks Warrick." Lindsey said as she looked down at her cards again.

Sara was annoyed again. She was kneeling next to the latest body from their serial killer and Sara could see the message he had left at the scene and this time it was addressed to JJ. She could tell it was written in some type of code, and Sara wasn't sure what it was. Since the note was addressed to JJ, she wondered if JJ understood the code or if they were trying to stump them and annoy them. Sara photographed the note and bagged and tagged the note. After initialing the evidence label she turned to ask Grissom what he thought of the note and saw he was staring at something and he was pale.

Sara walked over with the note in her hand and she stood next to Grissom. She didn't glance over to see what he was staring at, instead she placed her free hand on his shoulder and attempted to snap him out of it. She shook him lightly, but that didn't seem to work.

"Grissom!" She snapped at him. Grissom still didn't look at her. Sara looked over as Greg walked over to where they were standing and she saw the confusion on his face as well.

"What's the matter with him?" Greg whispered to her, almost like they didn't think that Grissom could hear them.

"I don't know. I was over at the body and noticed him staring off into space like this. He is really pale, I wonder if his blood sugar is low or something." Sara said with a frown. She watched as Greg turned his head to see what Grissom was staring at and then his face drained of color and he too just stood there and stared.

"What are you…" Sara turned and looked and her own face drained of color and she clutched the note in her hand.

Nick and JJ arrived at the scene, grateful that Catherine and Lindsey had picked up Ella and had thought to take her to the hospital to see Warrick and then they were going to take her out to do fun things. Catherine normally would work the scene, but she realized that it was important that Ella be with someone from the team, and not left alone with a stranger that she didn't know. Nick could see how pale the three CSI's that had been on scene first looked.

"What do you think happened?" Nick whispered as they walked over to where the three CSI's were standing there arguing with each other.

"I don't know, but I thought Grissom was usually the voice of reason?" JJ asked her husband, confusion clouding her own eyes.

"All right, the three of you need to knock it off." Nick said stepping forward.

"JJ, this note was left with the body, it's addressed to you but it's in some sort of code. Do you recognize it?" Sara asked, handing over the evidence bag that was still clutched in her hand.

"Yeah I do. It's a code that Nick and I made up when we were kids. We only taught it to a few other people as we got older." JJ said softly and she handed over the note to Nick who nodded his head. They had both decoded it immediately and read what it said, but they were going to pretend they were rusty with it, they were going to wait till they weren't in a public place to let the others know what it said. "We can go over it at the lab." JJ spoke up before the other three CSI's could question them about it. "You want to tell us why you three were arguing and why you look like you have seen a ghost or something?"

"You might want to brace yourself for what you are about to see." Greg said as he turned and started walking over towards the alley.

"Why? Is there another body?" Nick asked as he snapped on latex gloves and watched as JJ did the same thing.

They made it into the alley and Nick and JJ froze and stared at the same thing that the other three had become pale at the sight of. JJ was the first one out of the five of them to move over to it, no one had gotten near the latest scene. She knelt and felt her breath hitch in her throat. Lying there on the ground were children, dead children. They had clearly been tortured and butchered and JJ felt sick to her stomach. She pictured her daughter and felt the sob that was tearing through her body, threatening to escape. She realized these were probably the children of the female victim that was lying over in the other area. This creepy guy had killed children.

He was watching them and the pale and angry looks that crossed their faces made him realize he had made the right decision. JJ and Nick were most likely thinking of their toddler as they tried to process the scene but they were having trouble. JJ seemed to be drawn to the infant child, the youngest he had ever killed. He had hated killing the kids, because kids were innocent but hey, if it got his message across then he would do whatever it took. He felt the end drawing closer and he knew it would only be a matter of time before he finished what he had started and the people that he had promised would pay, were going to pay!