A/N: Many thanks to JellyBean, who not only beta'd this chapter, but partially wrote the chapter too. Appreciation for all your comments/reviews. :)
Chapter 20
Hobson Nash was a mess, literally and figuratively.
His meeting with Rory Dunbar at a warehouse in Pahrump left him nervous, anxious and devastated. Seeing what Rory did to Grissom was not just a shock; Hobson knew the scene before him was a scare tactic, a warning of what Rory was capable of and what fate might lie ahead of the lawyer.
Witnessing the beating Grissom took, the blood dripping off his body, the pain in every twitch, and knowing he helped put Grissom in that position played over and over in Hobson's head as he drove back to Vegas.
I had no choice, he continued to tell himself. I have too much debt. Those monsters were going to tear my arms off. I had no other choice than to take Dunbar's offer.
"Better Grissom than me" became Hobson's mantra. Rory had given him one more task and was told to lay low. But there was no way Hobson would just wait around to what he perceived would be the inevitable — someone coming around to kill him.
His first stop was to get to the office and sneak in without being noticed by co-workers. He truly looked like shit, and wanted no wandering eyes checking him out.
After filling a box with essentials, he drove to his apartment. After he opened the from door, he dropped the box he'd taken from his office on the breakfast bar, then headed into his bedroom to hastily pack. After tossing as many clothes as he could into his suitcase, he snapped it shut and grabbed his laptop case, and slung it over his shoulder, before hurrying back into the living area.
Taking only the essentials from the box of items from his office, he paused by the doorway, checking to see if there was anything he'd missed, before leaving the apartment without a backward glance.
After his argument with Sara, Nick returned home and couldn't get a good rest. He had tossed and turned for what felt like hours, and had woken before his alarm. Knowing sleep would allude him, he grudgingly got up to start a pot of coffee while he showered.
The events of that morning continuously played in his mind, making him feel uneasy. He kept coming back to something Sara had said, how he was letting rumors persuade his judgment. But he didn't feel that was a fair assumption on Sara's part. When he was tapped to gather evidence in Jake's death, Nick had fully intended to look for Grissom's innocence. But as the investigation had progressed, he'd soon realized that it wasn't going to be that easy. Whichever way he looked at the evidence, it only confirmed Grissom's guilt further, rather than exonerate him.
Yet, Sara's words continued to plague his mind.
Nick tossed his coffee into the sink. There was only one way this could be settled; he would go over his case again, and take a look at the investigation on the jail break. He knew Karen O'Shea was part of that investigation. She was not a sloppy CSI, and it might seem unlikely, but maybe Nick could pick up on something she'd missed.
Some three hours before his shift, Nick went over the evidence of Jake Sullivan's case while in the layout room. Just as he had concluded before, the evidence pointed to him and his colleagues having to accept Grissom's guilt as reality. The man they all thought they knew had killed a man in a jealous rage. Having no choice, they'd had to take a step back, both from the case and from Sara.
If there was one thing he could agree with what Sara said to him it was how much he had wanted to punch Jake himself. He certainly didn't blame Grissom for hitting the guy; Jake had deserved it. But no matter how much of an asshole Jake had been, he hadn't deserved to be murdered. It was understandable that Sara would stand by Grissom, Nick wouldn't expect anything else. But she had to understand how breaking out of jail only quashes any notion of Grissom's innocence.
With a frustrated sigh, Nick gathered the evidence back together. He might not have the freshest eyes, but nothing popped out and nothing seemed out of place. After putting the boxes aside, he slid the file folder containing Karen's notes from the jail break. He was reading some information when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Karson Hess in the hallway. The two caught each other's eye and Karson went inside the layout room.
He looked at his watch. "You're awfully early for your shift, Stokes," Karson said with a smile.
"And you're awfully late for yours, Mr. Day shift supervisor," Nick retorted kindly. "You must have a helluva case going on."
Karson shook his head. "Yeah, it's been one of those days for us. It's bleeding into our night. I wouldn't be surprised if you get called out early if your supervisor finds you," he drew out a breath and stretched his neck from side-to-side. Plus there's the prison break we have to contend with. They've kept this out of the media hoping we clear the damn thing up, but at some point this is gonna break in the media."
He looked down at the file folder. "Is that the case?"
"Yeah, I've been thinking about it," Nick said. "You mentioned before it was OK to check it out..."
"No, no that's fine. You see anything interesting?"
"Well, I've only started about 10 minutes ago," Nick said, looking at the place he last read. "But you know, this is a little unusual."
Karson took a closer look where Nick was pointing. "What is it?"
"Up until this point, everything is really well documented, but Karen didn't notate the name of the person as the source of the prisoner manifest at Southern Nevada Correctional Center."
"It just reads assistant warden," Karson said, following Nick's train of thought. "Did she list the source for the other prison, which was it? High Desert."
Nick traced his finger on the report. "I'm pretty sure she did... Yeah, here it is. The warden from High Desert State, where Grissom and two inmates were from, was listed as Ruben Harrison."
"She listed one name and not the other," Karson said.
"Yeah, and you'd think she would talk to the warden. Although if he wasn't around when she called..."
"Yeah, that's not so unusual, but there's no reason not to list the assistant warden's name."
"It's an easy find," Nick said. "I can find that out by going to the prison's web page..."
A knock on the window of the layout room interrupted Nick's thought. It was Catherine. "Nick. I heard you were around. One less call I have to make. Got a helluva a mess on the strip. Meet me in my office for details."
Karson chuckled. "What did I tell you? I should have made a bet."
Nick smiled and picked up the evidence box for the Sullivan case. "You going home anytime soon?"
"Going to my office for a few things, then heading out."
"You want to go ahead and take the file from the jail break?" Nick asked. "I can get it from you later."
"Yeah sure," Karson said. "Good luck tonight."
By 8 a.m. the next morning, Nick stood bare chested in front of his locker feeling tired from lack of sleep and a busy shift. He, Warrick and Greg worked one big case together and finally came to a stopping point.
Pulling on a clean t-shirt, his mind once more returned to Karen's report and why she'd not named a source for the prisoner manifest of one of the prisons. It had been bothering him off and on all night. Something about the omission, just didn't jive with him.
"Hey, bro, we're heading to Frank's for some breakfast. You in?" Warrick's voice broke into Nick's musings, as he tucked his clean t-shirt into his trousers.
Nick offered him a small smile. "I'm good thanks, rain check?"
"Catherine's buyin'" Warrick tried to convince his friend. "You okay?" he asked, noticing not for the first time, his friend's preoccupation. "Something you wanna talk about?"
Nick shook his head, his mind already back to tugging on the thread once more. "I'm good, but thanks, 'Rick. I'll see ya tonight," he said, clasping Warrick's shoulder, before heading out of the locker room.
He headed out of the locker room and instead of going to the garage, he went to Karson's office hoping to get the file once again. He saw him there tapping away at his computer, so Nick knocked on the door. "Mind if I come in?"
"Yeah, I was hoping you might stop by," Karson said, picking up the file. "I was just looking at the department of corrections website to try and find the name of the assistant warden at Southern Nevada."
Nick went around to Karson's desk and looked over his shoulder. Karson found the appropriate website, went to the staff and scrolled down past the warden's name and face to see the name and face of the assistant warden.
The expression on Nick's face morphed from curiosity to disbelief. "David Fromansky."
He said the name in such a way, that Karson turned around. "You know him, Stokes?"
"Yeah, yeah... I can't believe..." Nick's voice trailed off and put a nervous hand over his mouth. "Fromansky had words years ago with Grissom. He hated CSIs. But that was years ago, I mean... water under the bridge I'm sure."
Karson could tell the information rattled Nick, a seasoned CSI who had seen more than his share of life and death and everything in between. "Close the door and take a seat, Nick. Let's call the prison and get this straightened out."
After the CSI did as instructed, Karson called Southern Nevada and asked for assistant warden David Fromansky.
"I'm sorry, sir. He is not in," a receptionist said.
Still on the website for Southern Nevada, Karson scrolled up his computer screen to view the warden's name. "OK, could I please speak to Warden Mark Ingram? This is Karson Hess of Las Vegas CSI. It is urgent concerning the prisoner transfer."
"Yes sir, Mr. Hess," the receptionist said, a little more alert after the introduction. "I will get him on the line for you."
Soon a man's voice boomed from the speaker phone. "This is Warden Mark Ingram."
"Karson Hess, day shift supervisor at Vegas CSI."
"I sure as shit hope you have some news for me, Hess."
"We're working the best we can to locate your guard and prisoner, Warden."
"Prisoner? What do you mean by prisoner?"
Karson and Nick exchanged confused looks. "Warden, we're working on a prisoner manifest offered by your assistant warden, David Fromansky."
"Yeah, and that manifest should read one guard and two prisoners."
Now Karson's expression morphed into disbelief. "Warden, I need the names of the guard and prisoners."
"Guard: Ellis Crossan. Prisoners: Flynn Barker and Rory Dunbar."
Both Nick and Karson recognized Dunbar's name. And upon hearing that name, both men's blood flowed like ice.