Fic: On Time, Chapter 1 (CSI, Nick Stokes / Greg Sanders)
Title: On Time, Chapter 1
Fandom: CSI
Pair: Nick Stokes / Greg Sanders
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Spoilers: Play With Fire
CSI Las Vegas Main List
Dallas, 1959
Nick spotted him on the edge of the restricted area of the small park. The coroner was examining the body and talking with a mumbled voice, making Nick struggle to hear what he was saying.
“-three times, and then dumped her here. Sometime between midnight and two in the morning-”
Nick’s eyes wandered to the thin figure behind the police line. The man had covered his eyes with dark sunglasses. Only the lower half of his face was visible. Few moles on the cheek and a mouth that kept moving continuously. Nick looked down to the guys hands. He was holding a paper bag and kept showing gummy bears to his mouth, and chewing them with deep concentration. He paused for a few seconds to wipe the mass of light brown curs away from his forehead and went right back to his snacking.
“Are you listening?” The coroner gave Nick a grumpy glance.
“That guy’s watching us.”
“There’s always people watching, that’s the best form of entertaining for those you can’t afford to go to the pictures. Remember that mutilated girl in Hollywood couple years ago?”
“Yep. Are you done with this one?”
“You can tell the boys to move her. I’ll conduct the post when I have time, but I can tell you the basics now. Stabbed three times, cut to pieces and then dumped here.”
“Detective?” One of the uniform cops approached Nick and handed him a torn canvas bag. “We found it from the bushes.”
“Good job.” Nick pulled the bag open and scanned the content.
“Anything interesting?” The coroner leaned over his shoulder to see the bag.
“Not much, but it does say something.” He pulled a small piece of paper from the side pocket. “Bus ticket, stamped yesterday. Bought from Bailey. And I think this was all the baggage she had with her.”
“Let me guess…. Small-town girl comes to the big city and someone kills her on her first day. What a cliché.”
“And nobody will come asking for her if she goes missing. That was probably why the killer chose her.” Nick lifted his eyes from the bag. The guy with the sunglasses was gone. He quickly scanned the environment, but he was nowhere in sight.
“Now what?”
“That guy’s gone.”
“So? He saw the body and then he left, that’s what people do.”
“Just trust my gut. There was something really creepy about that guy.”
“If you say so.”
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Nick didn’t need to wait longer than two hours, before he met the stranger again. He was wolfing down his lunch in a diner when a shadow appeared over his mashed potatoes. He looked up and the guy gave him a wide grin.
“You don’t mind if I sit down, do you?” He sat down opposite Nick without waiting for an answer. “Sorry I had to leave earlier, but I had to handle some arrangements.”
“What do you want? Are you one of those newspaper guys again?”
“No.” The man grinned and offered his hand. “Greg.”
“Detective Stokes.”
“I know. You’ve been in homicides for three years.”
“Should I know you?”
“No.” Greg giggled and pulled his glasses off. “How’s the coffee?”
“Decent.”
“Great, I haven’t had any for hours.” He gestured for the waitress and she came carrying a cup of coffee. Greg took a careful sip. “Interesting.”
“What is?”
“The whole straight-from-the-pot-and-only-one-sort coffee. It’s kinda nostalgic.”
“What does that mean?”
“Forget it.” Greg smirked. “We have other things to talk about. How’s Lizzy? Still working in that real-estate agency?”
“Yeah.”
“By the way, they’ll fire her next month.”
“What?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. She just made the mistake of flashing her garter belt to the wrong boss. What about your parents?”
“They’re good.”
“Your dad still having heart problems?”
Nick slammed his mug to the table, spilling most of the coffee on the table.
“I’ll ask this one more time, and I want a straight answer. Who the hell are you and what do you want?”
“I told you. I’m Greg. That’s all you need to now right now. And what do I want? I wanted to see you face to face before we go further.”
“We’re not going anywhere.”
“We are, you just don’t know the direction.” Greg tilted his head to the side and took a good look at Nick. “Your picture didn’t do you justice. Your eyes are a lot nicer in person.”
He got up and dropped few coins next to his mug.
“I need to go now.” He took a small piece of paper from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of Nick. “You go on with your day. But be there in that address at nine.”
“I don’t know what your selling, but I’m not interested. I’m not coming.”
“Yes you are. We can do this the easy way or the hard way……” Greg paused to look at his watch. “By the way, you better take a cab back to the station, a group of kids is stealing your tyres as we speak. See you at nine.”
He marched out of the diner before Nick had time to react.
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Nick looked around, but the park was completely empty. The well lit road was close, but the darkness of the park seemed to separate it from the rest of the world.
“Nice to see you’re on time.”
He spun around to meet a pair of big brown eyes. They seemed to glimmer in the pale moonlight and the look on his face was unbearably smug.
“I’m on time for what?”
“I’ll show you.” Greg pulled something from his pocket and showed them to Nick. Two tiny gadgets. Greg took the other one and placed it to his ear, snapping it around the shell. “The other one’s for you.”
“What the hell is that?”
“You’ll see.” Greg clipped the other one to Nick’s ear. “Good thing you called your mom before you left home.”
“How do you know that?”
“Are you always so full of questions?”
“Only when some strange creep is trying to make a fool out of me.”
“If it’s any consolation, it’s all for a good cause.”
That was the last thing Nick heard. Greg touched his own devise and it started flashing red light. He reached over to do the same to the gadget in Nick’s ear.
Nick felt a short electric jolt going through him.
Then everything went black.
TBC