Mistaken Identity Chapter V Part 2A
Title: Mistaken Identity
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Sara/Sofia eventually
Rating: M for the entire story but PG13 for this chapter
Disclaimer: CBS still does recognize my claim on CSI so until they do I guess I do not own it. See the Progolue for the whole thing.
Summery: The investigation at Ely continues
Author's Note: The second part of Chapter V was no less challenging then the first.
Chapter V Part 2 A
It was creepy, there was no other word for it. It was definitely, totally and completely creepy. It wasn't even normal prison creepy either. She was in and out of prisons all the time. Well not in prison, not her personally. She had never done anything illegal in her life. Well unless you counted a joint in high school, which she didn't. A little weed couldn't hold up against rape and murder. No, she went between all of the Nevada correctional facilities and worked on their computers.
She had a Masters Degree and a resume that rivaled most of the industry's heavy hitters and she was working 100 hours a week freelance just to pay her rent. It was all thanks to good ol' Dad. Jason Rickers had been a great father, a phenomenal computer programer but he had never been known for his ethics. The Industry had never forgiven her dad and everyone knew that Kaylie was a chip off of the old block. Daddy's Little Girl had left Silicon Valley for Las Vegas with dreams of running casino systems and doing groundbreaking security algorithms. Programers talked, though, and their circles were small and tight. Kaylie Rickers was persona-non-grata, the sins of the father had condemned her to mediocrity and free-lance scraps.
The only reason she had landed the Prison IT job was because she had slashed her fee down to the bone. So she had spent the last three years of her harried and helter-skelter life bouncing between each of Nevada's prisons like some kind of felonious tennis ball. Ely had always seemed like the safest. It had the tightest security and the most well trained guards. It had fences and monitoring systems, it was a fortress. The fortress had been ripped apart brick by brick and set on fire. Howard Skolnik had personally called her and told her to get to Ely immediately and when the man who signed the paychecks said jump she pulled out the trampoline. They wanted tape and logs and lists and everything her pretty little system could give them and they wanted it yesterday.
It was hell navigating her bug around the roadblocks and then security. There were more cops at the prison then she had ever seen in her life, and she'd lived in L.A. for five years. It was like someone had declared that it was free doughnut day or something. Not that all cops ate doughnuts. They were good thought, doughnuts not cops. Well of course cops were good, most of them. All the cops here were good of course. About that time the cop had told her to shut up before waving her through the barricade. Kaylie still wasn't sure if he had been laughing or growling at her. A man in camo with a really big gun had escorted her across the devastated parking lot and to the front door. It had been visiting day and there were still people, normal people who had just come to visit family members who had gone astray, milling about. Most of the people were women and children. Really scared women and children. A wave of disgust rolled through her. These were family members of the inmates: their wives, mothers and children. Apparently there was no honor amongst thieves. Robin Hood movies were full of it.
A cop with a rumpled khaki uniform and a bad haircut came to escort her through the prison. She was pretty happy to see that he had a gun and a Taser hanging on his belt. She knew that the prisoners were locked up again but it made her feel safer. The first stop was, as always, at the desk. Her messenger bag had been searched several times already but she let the desk sergeant look through it anyway. She had checked in with Luke Howard almost every time she came to Ely. Today he looked exhausted, his face was grim and his usually impeccable uniform was disheveled and covered with soot and what looked like blood.
“You going to check the systems, huh, Kaylie?
His voice was always gravely, but today it was rougher then usual. There were large bruises, deep purple and red, across his neck and jaw. He had helped stop the riot and had apparently went right back to work. She couldn't imagine what he had been through. Well, she had watched Oz on HBO so she could probably try but she didn't think that would be a pretty idea.
Howard checked over her laptop, PDA and other tools of the trade that she carried with her the same way he always had. His hands shook a little, but he didn't miss a beat. If she wasn't a teensy bi afraid of Howard she would give him a hug because it looked like he needed one. She was more then a teensy bit afraid of him, though so she smiled at him instead.
“Yeah, and The Boss wants me running point on the security system.”
Howard turned his head and sent a long glare at the cop with her. “Well you be careful, Little Lady, stay with the nice officer at all times.”
The cop, his nameplate identified him as D. Pierce, rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat, “I thought all of the inmates were um” He paused and his eyes darted around, “contained.”
Kaylie winced at his statement. Apparently all of the good cops were off doing other things. Maybe Howard would go with her instead.
She was walking through a war zone with a man who was probably more likely to pee his pants then help her. It was okay, though. She was okay. Everything was totally and completely okay. She had to keep telling herself that and ignore the naggy voice that reminded her that she didn't get paid nearly enough for this job.
The Administrative Wing was quiet and most importantly secure. As secure as any prison area could be. The muscles in her back and shoulders relaxed a bit and she breathed a sigh of relief. The only way into the Ad Wing was by key card access and four digit pin number. Pin numbers could be figured out, especially by smart con-men but even the slickest cons couldn't get their hands on a magnetic imprint machine in the joint. In fact the cards were issued at the Head Office in Carson City, and all of the personnel's cards had been, according to Officer Pierce, accounted for.
Kaylie slid her card through the machine and waited for the tone before quickly keying in her pin number. The whole system, one she had installed only a year and a half ago, was a relatively simple set up. All the computers were networked together in a nice, neat, user friendly Windows XP package. All of the prison workers, from the Warden to the janitor had an alpha-numeric access code and password. The computers in the Ad Wing, however, were the only ones in the entire complex with full access. The best place to work from would be the server room, but at the moment that room was inaccessible. Inaccessible as in it was all the way across the building where all the convicts were being kept. The closest and most comfortable office was Ellen's. It was on the right and the door was closed. Then again Ellen had probably left hours ago and had closed the door behind her.
Kaylie balanced her bag on her hip and fished Dave, her laptop, out of the bag. Dave was her baby, built from scratch and dreams, he was the closest thing to a steady boyfriend she'd had in the last five years. She opened the computer up and punched the button to power it up.
“That's a nice computer.”
Officer Pierce smiled at her, “I have one like that at home.”
Kaylie forced a smile, she hated it when people compared her computer to an off-the-shelf piece of junk. “I'm sure.”
She opened up the door and bumped it open with her hip, “C'mon Officer, you can help me plug some of the wires in if you're a good boy.”
The first thing that hit her was the smell. There are some things that stuck with a person. Certain songs, specific textures, and smells, the brain cataloged them the same way a computer cataloged data. Somethings a computer never deleted and some things a person never forgot. She smelled death and her stomach turned sourly. It hit Pierce next, and despite her first thoughts about him, he threw his arm out to stop her.
“OH MY GOD!”
Her voice drowned whatever he was saying out.
Ellen Powers lay on her own office floor, spread eagle and as still as a statue. Kaylie didn't need an EMT or a doctor to tell her that Ellen was dead, it was painfully obvious. Hot bile rushed up her throat and she clapped her hand over her mouth. She pushed past Pierce and retreated to the hallway. She knew that Ellen's body was still on the floor and knew that the smell would quickly reach her nose again. Her movement had been futile at best but she needed the space even if it was just a few feet. She had to kill her gag reflex and wipe the tears from her eyes, she had to get herself back under control. Pierce keyed up his radio and called for backup or whatever. She put her back against the far wall and hugged her laptop to her chest. She had worked with Ellen, spoken with her every time she'd come to Ely. She had a son who had just started college and was planning to go on a cruise with her husband. She had been planning to go at least. Now she would never go to Jamaica. . It was okay, she was okay, it was going to be okay. It had to be okay. Kaylie wiped at her eyes furiously, she couldn't let herself breakdown. She had a job to do and crying like a baby wasn't going to get it done.
More cops came into the hallway, some of them were in uniforms and others were in plainclothes. Someone else, a coroner or something, came in with a gurney and body bag. Another man followed with a camera and a small suitcase. His black vest told her that he was a Clark County CSI. He was from Vegas too. His shaggy hair and very casual clothes marked him as one of the many who had been called in on their day off. Another thing he had in common with her.
Shaggy and Sort of Sexy turned to one of the cops that had rushed into the room. “Hey Sofia, what's the situation?” The blonde, Sofia she assumed, had a gold shield clipped to her belt and a gun riding on her hip. If TV had taught her anything about cops then this was the Detective. The uniformed officers all turned to listen to her when she spoke. Everyone paid close attention to Detective Blonde and Serious's words.
“Assistant Warden Ellen Powers. Apparently only one warden is here over the weekends and this was her turn. The prison's computer tech-”
All eyes turned to her and Kaylie felt another wave of nausea roll through her stomach. She would rather be somewhere else, anywhere but here.
“-found her when she came up to run the computer systems for us.”
Sexy Shaggy nodded then turned back to Kaylie, “You didn't touch anything did you? You or Officer Pierce?”
She shook her head, “Just the door knob. I left the room when I saw Ellen.”
He looked tired but smiled at her anyway. “Well that's good.” He quirked his eyebrows, “Hey can you clear one of the other offices for her, I bet-” He smiled again, “I'm sorry I didn't get your name.”
Kaylie pushed a stubborn strand of hair back behind her ear again, “Kaylie Rickers, code monkey for hire.”
He smiled again and held his hand out to shake, “Greg Sanders, CSI and uh all around awesome dude.”
Kaylie smiled despite herself and shifted Dave to one arm. “Nice to meet you, Greg.”
The lead cop, Sofia, cleared her throat a little louder then necessary. “Greg if you'll see to Ms. Powers, I will set Miss Rickers up in the Warden's office.”
It was, Kaylie decided, the nicest shut up and get to work she'd ever heard.
Sofia unlocked Warden McDaniel's office and left her to her work. Kaylie smiled at her as she left. The blonde detective was way tense and personally Kaylie was glad she wasn't going to look over her shoulder. She wouldn't mind Greg, though.
“Wow, Kaylie” she mumbled to herself, “focus already.”
Author's Note II - Kaylie would be, if ever cast for telivision, Felicia Day. The charecter is heavily influenced by Day's charecter Codex in The Guild. Also the name Kaylie is indeed a homage to the charecter from Firefly.