Chapter 33

JJ was watching Ella sleep after a long day at the crime scene and then at the lab. After decoding the message with Nick and writing out the uncoded version so that it could be put into evidence, they had both been reluctant to even glance at the pictures that had been taken of the children at the scene and JJ refused to go near the autopsy room. JJ wasn't a CSI, she was a detective, but because it was clear that this guy wanted to hurt her and Nick, they were all in agreement it might be best to have her around when all evidence was processed, in case she knew or caught something that they missed.

"It's hard to believe that someone could actually take a young life." Nick murmured as he pulled JJ back into his arms as they both studied their toddler.

"I know. I don't know what else to do to keep her safe. She doesn't feel safe here Nick, I can feel it." JJ said as she studied her daughter closely, she noticed immediately the way her brow was crinkled, even in sleep, which showed she was worried or scared of something.

"We will keep her safe JJ, I promise you this." Nick told her softly. "There is no way anyone is going to take her away from us again, I won't allow it."

"What if you can't stop it?" JJ asked him seriously. "What if we aren't here when someone comes after her because we are at work or at another one of his crime scenes? What if we leave her unprotected to try and catch him and he takes her from us, maybe for good next time?"

"I won't let that happen. Baby, if it comes down to it, then we will take turns going to the crime scenes, and the one who goes can bring the other one copies of everything." Nick suggested thinking about it. "Maybe the person who goes could video tape every little thing, including interviews with the first on scenes, maybe the one on scene could even call the other one at home and keep them on speaker phone so that they could add any questions or anything they want the other to look at specifically?"

"That actually might work." JJ said thinking about it seriously. "I like that idea, I like it a lot. But do you think that Grissom or the Sheriff would be all right with it?"

"Well, considering we are talking about the life of a toddler, I think they might not want the bad press they would get if they denied us and something really did happen." Nick said shrugging his shoulders. "I know that Grissom will be on our side, no matter what." Nick said nodding his head. "It would just be the Sheriff or the Under Sheriff that we would have to worry about but I am sure that we can come up with something that would make them see this is the best option."

"I hope so, because I don't think I could survive losing her Nick, not now that I finally found her." JJ said as tears slowly fell from her eyes, slowly sliding down her cheek.

Nick turned her around in his arms and had her face him. He used the pad of his thumbs to gently wipe away the tears that were there, thinking it would be all right if he could just come up with something that might help them. There had to be something that they could do, something that would reassure the both of them as well as their daughter that she was going to be safe and that this killer wouldn't be getting within a foot of her.

He was laughing again, it seemed like he was always laughing these days. He knew that he was starting to break them down, and he knew it wouldn't be long before everyone was torn apart by him. He had already overheard Catherine and Warrick fighting, and he knew it was because of him. Warrick wanted to leave the hospital, he wanted to get back on this case so he could help his friend keep his child safe, but Catherine wanted him to stay in the hospital for a little while longer. Warrick was stubborn though, and he had no doubt that Warrick would do whatever it took to get himself out of there. So that was one couple that had tension between them. He knew that Grissom and Sara were opposites in some ways, he would just have to find the weak point in their relationship, and he would find it.

Now when it came to Nick and JJ, that was the one he wanted to ruin the most. They always thought they were so cool, always better than everyone else. Now he would show them that they had messed up all those years ago and he was going to get even. He remembered the times when he had seen the way that Nick and JJ looked at each other, always wanting to go out with each other or say something to each other and it was obvious to everyone, except each other back then.

"I swear to you both that you are going to pay for everything that I have been through and for everything that I was supposed to have but didn't get because of you." He practically growled at the pictures he had on his wall.

Catherine was fuming as she paced back and forth inside her house. She knew that Lindsey was confused on why she was so upset but Catherine couldn't explain that it was about Warrick being a hardheaded stubborn man. She knew he was still in bad shape, the doctor knew he was still in bad shape, everyone on the team knew he was still in bad shape but not Warrick. Warrick was so sure he could handle everything and that he was better off returning to work now. Catherine wasn't sure how she was going to be able to convince him that he didn't belong back at work just yet, that he was still to badly injured and he should rest. The doctor had told him he was thinking about releasing him and allowing him to go home, as long as he had someone there to look out for him and he rested in bed. But Warrick just thought that being released meant he was fully healed and he didn't need help and he could head straight back to work.

With how bad this case was getting she knew that they wouldn't wait till he brought them a doctor's clearance note, and even if they required one, Catherine knew he knew a lot of doctors who would gladly sign one of those for him so he could return to work. It was starting annoy her how much he thought he knew, when she knew that he didn't know. Catherine knew that if Warrick looked at the latest crime scene photo's then there would be a major blow up because Warrick was real protective of children and so when there was a crime scene where kids were involved he took it completely personal.

"Warrick, I swear you are going to drive everyone to an early grave." Catherine muttered to herself as she continued to pace and wonder what she could do to make him realize he was still too badly hurt to go back to work.

Sara looked up as Grissom walked into the room carrying the folder that held the crime scene photo's that no one really wanted to study, but she knew they had to. He sighed as he set the folder on the table in front of Sara and Greg. The three of them were going to have to look through the pictures and see if there was anything in them that could give them a call to where he was and what he was trying to say with the latest murders. There had to be a reason he killed the kids and their mother, there had to be a reason that he tortured them the way that he did. They had the decoded version of the note he left at the scene and they realized that there could be an answer in that letter. There had to be something they were missing, there had to be a clue that he left behind that they just didn't see.

JJ looked up as Nick walked into their bedroom carrying a tray full of dinner. She smiled and shook her head, realizing she hadn't eaten that night and neither had he. After everything they had seen and tried to deal with at the crime scene and realizing it was extremely painful to see those children like that, reminding them of their own daughter, they had both just rushed home and concentrated everything on Ella and trying to find a way to keep her safe and make sure she felt protected and safe within their home. JJ knew that Nick wanted to make sure she was taken care of, just as much as he wanted to make sure their daughter was taken care of.

"Well, are we having dinner in bed?" JJ asked him teasingly.

"Of course." Nick said grinning, glad to see the smile that appeared on her face.

"Good, I think we could use the relaxing time." JJ said softly as they both started eating. "I have this feeling like there is something about this case that I should know but I am missing." She finally confessed as she set her fork aside.

"I have that same feeling." Nick admitted with a sigh. He set his own fork down and turned to face her. "Why use that code? Did we teach it to him or did someone we taught it to, teach it to him?"

"If we are the ones who taught him that code Nick, then this is someone we know, someone from our past. I hate to think someone we grew up, a person from our childhood could be involved in all of this, but what if that's the case?" JJ asked him seriously.

"Do you remember everyone we taught that code to?" Nick asked her as he tried to think about that answer as well.

"No, I honestly don't." JJ admitted with a wince.

"Neither do I." Nick said sighing again. "There has to be a way we can figure out who this person is, and if it is someone from our past, then there has to be a paper trail that we are missing that he has left. If it's someone from our past he is going to want to gloat and he is certainly going to want us to understand that it is them and why they are doing this to all these people."

"So we need to find the paper trail that he might have left, a paper trail left by someone we aren't sure who it is?" JJ asked him with an arched eyebrow. "Talk about impossible."

"I know, but he is going to keep killing and Ella and you will still be in danger until we catch him." Nick said with a roll of his eyes. He was getting more and more frustrated, he was beginning to feel like a failure. He was a CSI, someone who was supposed to be able to follow the evidence and take down the criminals, so why when he needed to do it the most, did it seem like he sucked at his job?

"Nick, what if he wasn't leaving the clues for you to understand?" JJ asked suddenly. "He wouldn't leave the clues at the crime scene, because the crime scene would be where you would look, what if he left the clues somewhere I would look?"

"Where would you look?" Nick asked her with a frown.

"I would look at the victims house, or I would look with neighbors when I did interviews with them. The cops took a lot of statements and some of them said there was something they were supposed to say, they gave a small message each time. A new neighbor, a new victim, a new message. What if I put the messages together? What if there is only one message and these are all sentences or parts of a sentence?" JJ asked Nick and it seemed like they might finally have found a way to catch their killer.