Secrets and Lies - by kyrdwyn and wykdwin

“The third little girl was reported missing a few days ago. Same time frame - between the school bus and her house. She went to the same school and lived a few streets over from the previous two victims. The report didn’t cross Detective Sanchez’s desk until today, otherwise she would have given the info to us sooner.”

“So our boy has a definite hunting ground in Pacific Heights. He’s got to have some connection to these girls. Detective Sanchez give you anything on their investigation?” Nash asked.

Sara shook her head. “She can’t find anyone who remembers seeing anything out of the ordinary that day.”

“Maybe we should look for something ordinary,” Grissom mused.

Sara and Nash turned to him, identical expressions of puzzlement on their faces.

“What do you mean, like something the girls usually did?” Sara asked.

“Right. Were they in the habit of stopping somewhere - a friend’s house or a secret hideout that their friends knew about but don’t want to tell anyone?”

Nash nodded, “Something their nannies might have known but are afraid to say because they might lose their jobs.”

“Exactly. It would explain why there wasn’t much panic about their disappearance until a few hours after they were supposed to come home from school.” Grissom looked thoughtful.

Nash was reaching for his cell phone. “I’m going to call my guys in Frisco and have them check this out.”

As Nash was talking to Harvey, Gil turned to Sara. “Did you get any prints off the photos?”

“A few. Jana’s were on there - but she told us about that. The rest matched the prints from the locket and its pictures. We still haven’t gotten a match from AFIS. The pictures of the three girls were all taken from a Polaroid camera so we can’t trace through the developer. This guy is good, Gris.”

“Are the girls in the Polaroid shots the same in the family photographs?”

Sara shook her head. “No. They’re superficially similar, but we enlarged the pictures enough to notice small details. We also found a studio mark on the back of one of the pictures in the locket. It’s a place in San Francisco, but it went out of business a few years ago. I was just going to ask Nash for help in tracking down the owner and see if he remembers anything.”

“Do it,” Grissom said. “I’m going to go see if there’s anything in those pictures that will help us find this girl.”

As he got up to leave, Sara hesitated, then spoke. “Gris, is everything okay with you and Jana?”

Grissom looked at her searchingly before sighing. “It’s a long story, Sara. Don’t worry about it, but thanks for asking.” He left then. Sara turned to Nash to bring him up to date on what had been found and get Harvey to track down the photographer.

* * * * *

Lexi let herself into the suite, and immediately saw the flowers. She smiled and pulled out the card, hoping they were from Nash.

Thanks for dinner. You’re even more beautiful in person.
I hope we can meet again.

Nick Stokes

Nick, Lexi frowned. Funny how she could attract attention from anyone but who she wanted to. She placed the card on the table and headed for the shower. Noticing the message light on the phone was blinking, she stopped long enough to check messages. “Hope that your not answering is a good sign,” Kat’s voice came on.

Lexi skipped to the next one, which was Robert, also checking on her. The third one was Joe asking Nash to call him, something about his cell wasn’t working. The last one was Nash. "Lex, it's me, I'm..uh, well, I'm working on a case.....I'll try to call or stop by later...".

She replayed the message, just to hear his voice, before saving it. Once in the shower, she let the tears fall, mixing with the water splashing her face. Cursing Sara and Robert and her stupid Penthouse shoot, she wished she had never met Nash. Her life had gotten even more complicated since he came into it, but unfortunately for her, it was a welcomed complication.

And now she’d dragged Jana and Gil into the mess. Lexi didn’t have many friends, especially female ones. Jana had been kind to her, something most strangers weren’t. Most people seemed to see her as surreal, something to be nice at, not to. Nash had been one of the first people outside of her career she truly trusted, and look what had happened there. She slid down the wall of the shower, sitting on the floor, sobbing into her hands.

* * * * *

Sara and Gil were analyzing the photo of the third abductee, trying to see if they could determine where she was being held. Nash, not knowing Las Vegas as well as they did, was feeling a little useless at the moment. Harvey and Antwon were searching the neighborhood where the girls had been taken from to see if Grissom had been right. Joe was looking for the photographer. It seemed like everyone else had something to do but him.

Restless, he walked out of Grissom’s office and down the hallway, figuring he’d get a fresh cup of coffee. He stopped by a window into the one lab, noticing Greg Sanders was dancing around the room as he was working on something. The shirt he was wearing today was even more obnoxious than the other night. He looked up and waved at Nash, who waved back. This crime lab was never dull.

In the break room he used the phone to call the hotel again. Lex didn’t answer. “Lex, it’s me. We’re still working this case. I’ll call later.”

He looked at the phone, maybe Jana and she had stopped somewhere. He'd just hung up the phone when his cell rang. "Nash."

"Bossman, it's Harvey. Look, we talked to one of the women who watches your third missing girl, Laura St. James. She said the girls often stopped at the house of a neighbor after school. He's not home, and hasn't been seen for a few days - supposedly he travels for business all the time, so no one questioned it. But check this - he's been out of town around the time of the previous two abductions and murders."

"This guy got a name?"

"Geoffrey Mason. He’s 37 and divorced. Twon's getting the rest of the history now."

"Good work, Harv. Joe get anything on that photographer?"

"Not yet."

"Well, keep me informed."

Nash hung up the phone and went back to Grissom's office to tell him and Sara what Harvey had found out.

* * * * *

Sara was practically bouncing off the walls when Nash came back into the office. He looked from her to Grissom, who was on the phone with someone.

“What’s going on?” Nash asked.

“AFIS got a hit - guy who lives in the same neighborhood as the three girls.”

“Geoffrey Mason?” Nash guessed.

Sara’s face fell. “How’d you know?”

“Harvey just called. The girls were fond of stopping by his house. He was also out of town at the time of the abductions and murders.”

“Well, did Harvey know that Mason has a record for assault in Las Vegas?”

“No, they’re still checking his background.”

Sara smiled. “He was arrested five years ago for assaulting an Elvis impersonator at a wedding chapel here in Vegas. Seems the bride was his ex-wife. She had taken the kids and come to Nevada, stayed for the 6 weeks required to establish residency, and sued for divorce on incompatibility. He apparently didn’t contest it, and she got her divorce. Three weeks later, she’s marrying a local businessman, and her ex shows up at the wedding.”

“And he decided to take out Elvis?”

“Some people don’t appreciate the King.” Grissom remarked. “Brass is on his way over to the ex-wife’s house now. She still lives in the area, along with their three children.”

“The three kids from the family photo?” Sara asked.

“We won’t know until she confirms it. Your guys find anything?”he asked Nash.

“Yeah, our missing girls liked to stop by his house, and he’s been out of town on business when they’ve been kidnaped. Convenient.”

“Too convenient. Sara, call O’Reilly and have him get a warrant for Mason’s credit card usage. We know he’s been in Vegas, let’s see if he’s using his cards. Nash, is this enough for your guys to get a warrant for his house?”

“Should be. I’ll call and set it up.”

“Good. I want to catch this guy before Laura St. James loses her head.”

* * * * *

Brass called Grissom as soon as he left Melissa Montgomery’s house. “Gil, the ex just confirmed the photos in the locket and the one sent to Jana are of her and Mason and their three kids - taken before the divorce. She’s got a restraining order against him, and he lost visitation for sending her threatening letters. This guy sounds like a real nut job.”

“O’Reilly is running the credit cards now. So far no luck.”

“Yeah, well, tell him to hurry it up, we don’t want this guy snapping anytime soon.”

* * * * *

“Bossman, we’re inside Mason’s house. He’s got a shrine to those kids in the photos in his closet. He’s also got pictures of the three victims set up - but with his kids names written on the back.”

“Anything showing where he might be?”

“I don’t know, but our boy likes to take the little soaps from hotels. We’ve got a whole bunch here from a Motel 6. Wait a sec....”

Nash frowned at his cell phone as Harvey talked to someone else. “Harvey, I don’t have a lot of time here.”

“Yeah, I know but `Twon found something the trash - receipts from a gas station on Boulder Highway in Vegas.”

“Good job, Harv. Let me know if you find anything else.”

* * * * *

Jana drove around for a few hours after dropping Lexi off at her hotel. She often thought better while driving. Right now, she was trying to figure out how to tell Gil that she had been investigating Sara at the request of a client. Knowing Gil, the straight out truth was the best way - but also the hardest for her. Despite having Lexi’s permission, she didn’t want to talk about her work to Gil. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, it was just hard to overcome eight years of keeping secrets.

Now, Jana found herself at a gas station on Boulder Highway, filling up her car. As she stood there with her back against the car, she let her eyes wander around the area. A flash of burgundy cloth behind some bushes at the edge of the station caught her eyes. A cooling breeze came through the station, and the cloth fluttered, revealing a leg.

Jana stopped filling her car and carefully walked over to the bushes, her cell phone in her hand. As she got closer, she could see the cloth was part of a dress, and the leg was attached to a body. The girl couldn’t have been more than ten years old, if that. Brown hair covered the face, but Jana could see the dress move with the girl’s breathing. She dialed 911.

* * * * *

Grissom grabbed Nash as the police captain was coming out of the men’s room. “We got a 911 call about a little girl being found at a gas station on Boulder Highway.”

“Same station Mason used?”

“Yeah. According to the paramedics, she was still alive.”

“Who found her?” They were at Grissom’s Tahoe now, still talking as they got in and headed out.

“Uniforms say a woman filling her car saw the body and called 911. Brass and Sara are going to meet us there.”

“Think there’s a chance...” Nash let his question trail off, not wanting to voice his hope that Laura St. James had managed to escape her abductor.

“I don’t know,” Grissom said calmly, though Nash could hear the underlying hope in his voice as well.

The two stayed silent on the rest of the ride. At the scene, the ambulance was already gone, having taken the little girl over to Desert Palm Hospital. Brass was talking to the owner of the gas station. Crime scene tape was strung around stakes on the side of the station, and Sara was already snapping pictures.

“Damn.” Grissom’s curse was almost inaudible.

“What?”

“Jana.”

Nash followed Grissom’s gaze. There was the blonde P.I. leaning against her car, talking to a sheriff’s deputy. Grissom walked over, Nash following. He figured that a neutral party might be needed between these two.

Jana noticed them coming and straightened up. “Supervisor Grissom, Captain Bridges.”

Nash was surprised at the formality in Jana’s voice. He looked over at Grissom, but the CSI was speechless. “Ms. Stevens, what are you doing here?” Nash asked to cover Grissom’s silence.

“I stopped to fill up my car. While I was, I saw something in the bushes that looked like a leg. I went over, saw it was a person, and she was breathing, and called 911.”

“Did you touch her at all?”

Jana shook her head. “No, I could see she was breathing so she didn’t need CPR. I did stay over there to keep an eye on her until the paramedics arrived. You can probably see my boot prints in the mud over there.”

“So you just happened to see the little girl?” Grissom asked.

Jana looked straight at him. “Yes, Mr. Grissom, I just happened to see the little girl.” Her voice was emotionless, but Nash could see the turmoil in her eyes. Jana was more affected by finding the girl than she was letting on.

Brass walked over, nodding at Jana. He had in his hand a notebook and a Polaroid picture. He handed the picture to Grissom. “This is the little girl Jana found.”

Nash looked over Grissom’s shoulder. It was Laura St. James. She had ligature marks on her wrists, tape residue around her mouth, and a nasty bruise around one eye. But she was alive, and all four people looking at the picture were grateful for that.

Grissom moved over to the crime scene, and Brass was called over to talk to the station owner again, leaving Nash and Jana standing by her car.

“Any particular reason why you picked this gas station, Ms. Stevens?” Nash asked, thinking that it was too much of a coincidence for Jana to have received the photos of the little girl several hours before finding her alive.

“It was on the correct side of the road for me heading back to my house, and I have a credit card with this company.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, I was at a quarter of a tank and wanted to get home without calling Triple A.” Jana sighed. “Honestly, Captain Bridges, I did not know she was here. I dropped Ms. Lee off at her hotel and drove around for a bit to clear my head. When I realized I was low on gas, I stopped at the first station I found where I had a credit card. That was this one.” She stared straight into his eyes as she said this, almost silently begging him to believe her. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll be happy to take a polygraph.”

Nash stared back at this small woman who stood defiantly before him. She wasn’t going to give an inch on her statement. Either she was telling the truth, or she was protecting someone.

“Listen, sister, I don’t care what your connection is to Gil Grissom or the CSI unit. I just want to make sure whoever’s been snatching these kids is caught before someone else gets hurt.”

Jana narrowed her eyes at the man who was indirectly responsible for her current problems with Gil. “First of all, I’m an only child. Second of all, I don’t let my connections to anyone influence my actions. And as I’ve already told Grissom, you are more than welcome to get warrant and search my house and my office and my car, but it will be a gigantic waste of your time.”

“You know, Ms. Stevens, I don’t believe in coincidences, and you getting those pictures and then finding Laura St. James is one hell of a coincidence.”

Jana tilted her head to one side. “I admit, it is an unbelievable coincidence.” She stared past Nash’s shoulder into the distance. He turned and looked, but saw nothing.

“Ms. Stevens? Ms. Stevens?”

Jana still stared into the distance. “Gil and I tend to keep our relationship quiet. There’s no reason why someone would leave pictures randomly on my doorstep - unless he knew. And now Laura St. James has been left, unharmed, in an open area. I’m wondering if your boy wants to be caught.”

Nash put a hand to his mouth. “Wait a second, you’re telling me that after kidnaping and decapitating two young girls, this guy is now setting himself up? Why doesn’t he just walk into a police station and turn himself in? Why engage in the elaborate scheme?”

Jana’s eyes focused back on Nash. “Honestly, Captain Bridges, I don’t know. I’m just whistling in the dark here with my theory. I could be way off base - this could be a frame job. Frankly, you’re the ones with all the evidence. I’m only seeing a fraction of the puzzle. But from my little corner of the world, it looks like he’s setting himself up.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave Nash a glare that reminded him eerily of Lexi. “Can I go now?”

Nash looked over at Captain Brass, motioning toward Jana. Brass came over. “What’s up?”

“Ms. Stevens would like to know if she can leave now.”

Brass shrugged. “Sure. We know where we can find her if we need to talk to her again.”

Jana smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Captain Brass.” She turned her back on the two men and got into her car. They watched her drive away.

“She say anything interesting?”

Nash turned to the Las Vegas captain. “She thinks the guy is trying to get caught.”

Brass raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

Grissom came up behind them, a large paper bag in his hand. “We found a towel not too far from where Laura St. James was found - with a Motel 6 laundry mark on it.”

“Harvey said he found a lot of Motel 6 soaps in Mason’s house.”

“There’s a Motel 6 just up the road,” Brass mused. “I’ll go get a warrant for their records.”

As Brass moved off, Nash looked at the bag with a small smile and shook his head. Grissom looked at him quizzically. “What?”

“Jana was telling me she thinks this guy wants to get caught. She might be right.”

Grissom looked down at the bag thoughtfully. “She might. There have been a lot of strange coincidences and breaks in this case.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“She could still be covering for a client.”

Nash regarded Grissom carefully. “You really believe that?”

Grissom sighed. “When it comes to Jana lately, I don’t know what to believe.”

* * * * *

Nick knocked again on the door to suite 34800, and again did not get answer. The older man in the suite across the hall had mentioned Lexi had returned earlier, but he had gone downstairs and didn’t know if she’d left again or not. Nick tried calling her on his cell phone, but there was no answer. He knocked again, getting an uneasy feeling. A bellhop happened by, and Nick stopped him. Flashing his ID card at the boy, Nick explained the situation. At first the younger man was hesitant, but he too was apparently worried about the occupant of suite 34800. Letting Nick in, he stood by the door, making sure this guy wasn’t going to do something crazy.

“Lexi?” Nick called. He opened the doors to the bedroom. “Lexi?” Hearing the shower, he knocked on the bathroom door, the bellhop behind him. “Miss Lee?” Still no answer. He cracked the door and called her name again. Nick heard the sobbing, and glanced in. Lexi was huddled in the corner of the shower, crying. “Lexi?” he tried again, but she didn’t hear him. Nick hesitated, not sure whether to venture farther in or not. He tried saying her name again, but she wasn’t responding.

Reaching for a towel, Nick crept closer. Lexi didn’t react, not even when he turned off the shower. She was shaking and sobbing, and looked so small and fragile to him at that moment. He couldn’t believe this was the same women he had dinner with the other night. Nick wrapped the towel around her, her skin was cold. He wondered how long she had been in here like this. He looked back at the bellhop. “I think she needs to go to the hospital. See if there’s some clothes we can get her into.”

“I should really call management.” The bellhop was stunned, not sure what to do.

“No, I’ll take her to Desert Palm.” Nick’s voice contained the urgency of the situation. “But first, we need to get her dressed.”

* * * * *

While Brass went to get the warrant for the Motel 6, Grissom and Nash went to Desert Palm to check on Laura St. James and collect any evidence that might be found. When they walked into the emergency room waiting area, the first thing they noticed was Nick sitting in a chair, his elbows on his knees and his head resting on his clasped hands. Grissom frowned.

“Nick? What are you doing here?”

The younger CSI looked up blankly at his boss and Nash. He opened his mouth to speak when one of the nurses came over to him. “Mr. Stokes? I need you to fill out some paperwork on your friend.” She held out a clipboard of forms and a pen. “We need to know if she has any allergies, history of drugs or alcohol, mental illness in her family.”

“Is she okay? Can I see her?” Nick had stood up when the nurse arrived, and was looking rather anxious.

“The doctor is with her right now. I don’t know anything else. I really need you to give me some more information on her.”

Nash and Grissom’s intrigue were peaked. Nick looked over at Grissom and hesitated, he knew what his supervisor would think at his next statement. “I told you,” he whispered leading the nurse a few steps away. “I just met her the other day. I went to her hotel room and the bellhop and I found her in the shower. I can’t give you any medical background on her.”

The nurse nodded. “Well, at least you found her. I’ll try calling the hotel, you said the bellhop’s name was Jeremy? Maybe she had someone with her.”

Nick was shaking his head. “She didn’t say she was here with anyone, but Jeremy found men’s clothing in the closet. I guess someone was staying with her. Jeremy Johnson, Mandalay Bay, she was registered under the name Charlotte Webb.”

“Wait a minute,” Nash grew pale as he heard what Nick was saying. “Charlotte Webb at Mandalay Bay? That’s Lexi. Is she here?”

Both Nick and Gil were confused by Nash’s reaction. “You know Lexi?” Nick asked, looking warily at the police captain.

“Lexi’s here? At the hospital? What happened? Is she all right?” Nash’s voice was filled with concern. He would never forgive himself if something had happened to her.

“Yes she’s here. I brought her here. What do you have to do with it?” Nick was a little irritated by the older man.

Nash had turned his attention to the nurse. “Where is she? I want to see her. Is she going to be all right?”

“Captain Bridges,” Grissom stepped forward. He recalled the name “Lex” and wondered if this Lexi was Nash’s friend, and if so, how did Nick tie in.

The nurse was getting more than a little perturbed at this outbreak of emotional concern, and she couldn’t figure out the connections. “The doctor is examining Miss Webb. I need someone to fill out some information for me. Can any of you do that?”

“I can,” Nash spoke wearily. “I can fill those out. She has no allergies that I am aware of, but she does have a history of drug and alcohol abuse. You may want to do a toxicology, check her blood alcohol level. I have the feeling she’s consumed large quantities of alcohol in the past few days.”

The nurse nodded, finally someone who could give some information. She handed him the clipboard and walked away. “I’ll let you know more as soon as I have a report from the doctor,” she promised.

Nash collapsed into the chair closest to him and stared blankly ahead of him. Lexi was in the hospital. He should have been there. Would she be okay? He heard Grissom saying his name, and he looked at the CSI. “Captain, are you feeling okay?”

Looking at Nick, he bit his lip. Nick had been there for Lexi when he wasn’t. “What happened?” He whispered to the younger gentleman.

Nick looked at his supervisor, who nodded at him. He hesitated before telling them what he’d found and how he’d found her. Tears came to Nash’s eyes as Nick described Lexi huddled in the corner of the shower. How could he have let it get this far? What all was she blaming on herself that would drive her to that state of mind. “Oh god,” Nash whispered when Nick finished.

“Captain Bridges?” Nick hesitated. “May I ask how you know Miss Lee?”

Nash looked up briefly at the two men standing there. He vaguely remembered coming in here about the case. He nodded, wiping away the tears threatening to fall. “She’s my girlfriend,” he managed to choke out. “We’re here on vacation.”

Nick and Grissom looked at each other, both surprised by Nash’s admission, though for different reasons. Nick recalled telling Lexi about his conversation with Nash. He groaned inwardly when he realized he’d all but told her that her boyfriend had run to another woman. He ran a hand over his eyes, afraid he helped bring Lexi to this state.

Grissom recalled the conversation he and Nash had the other night, both being relieved at having a case to dive into so they could avoid their personal problems. Now, though, it appeared there were deeper problems in Nash’s relationship than Grissom could have guessed.

Grissom put a hand on Nick’s arm and guided him a few steps away from the distraught man. “Look, Nick, I know Lexi is a friend of yours, but I think that we ought to let Captain Bridges handle this. I’m going to need your help - we found that third missing girl.” Grissom spoke in low tones.

“Gris, he and Lexi got into an argument and he left her to go to Sara. I’m not sure Lexi would want him here.”

Grissom nodded. “I think Captain Bridges needs to be here though.”

Nick still wasn’t convinced. He didn’t know all the details behind the Nash/Lexi/Sara triangle, but he couldn’t stop seeing Lexi sobbing in the corner of her shower, unresponsive to anyone. He opened his mouth to protest again, but Grissom had already turned back to Nash.

“Captain, I need to go check on Laura St. James. I’m going to take Nick with me so you can wait for Lexi. Is there anyone we can call for you? Anyone else you or she might know in Las Vegas who can wait with you?”

Nash looked up at Grissom, his eyes still reflecting his shock. “Jana Stevens,” he said quietly.

Grissom blinked. Jana Stevens - his Jana? Behind Grissom, Nick looked stunned.

“Jana Stevens?” The younger CSI asked. “The private investigator?”

Nash nodded. “Lexi was the woman with Jana when she brought those photos to the lab. I’m not sure how they met but they seemed pretty close.”

Grissom nodded absently, still a little taken aback by this strange coincidence of Lexi and Jana knowing each other. “I’ll call her and ask her to come down here. Will you be okay until she gets here?” Grissom wanted to stay with Nash, but the case was calling. As the head CSI, he had to concentrate on the case. Nash, being a consulting investigator, had a little more leeway for personal issues.

Nash nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said, though the quaver in his voice betrayed his true feelings. “You’ve got a case to work.”

Grissom looked doubtful, but he nodded, pulling out his cell phone. “Jana should be here in about twenty minutes.” Nash nodded, but Grissom doubted the other man heard him. He was looking at the doors to the treatment area. Grissom collected Nick with a glance, both of them heading over to the elevators.

* * * * *

Jana hurried through the doors of the Desert Palm ER. She’d just turned onto her street when Gil had called, telling her that Lexi was in the hospital, could she stay with Captain Bridges while he waited? Jana had been stunned at the news, but automatically agreed. The entire drive over, she’d been praying that Lexi was all right. Jana knew a lot more about Lexi’s history than Gil would, after their binge drinking session at her house. Jana thought her own history had been dark, until she’d heard Lexi’s. But Lexi had gotten through it, and she would now. Jana hoped she would now.

Jana spotted Captain Bridges sitting near the doors to the treatment area, leaning forward in his chair and staring down at the floor. She crossed the room and sat down next to him, gently putting her hand on his shoulder. “Captain Bridges?” she asked hesitantly, not sure how he would react to her after their last confrontation.

Nash looked up to see Jana Stevens sitting next to him, concern in her eyes. “Ms. Stevens. They won’t tell me anything. Nick Stokes found her in our hotel suite, crying in the shower. She wouldn’t talk to him, wouldn’t respond at all. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been there.”

Though Jana had gotten a terse statement from Gil about Lexi’s condition, hearing the pain in Captain Bridges’ voice made her close her eyes in sympathy. She opened them and automatically reached out to take his hand. “Lexi is a survivor, I’m sure she’ll be fine. This is one of the best hospitals in the area - trust me. She’ll be fine,” Jana repeated, trying to reassure him and herself.

Nash looked back at the floor. “I keep wondering, though. What happened to cause this? Why wasn’t I there for her? Why wasn’t I the one to find her?”

Jana squeezed his hand. “Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. The important thing is that someone got her here to the hospital.”

He shook his head. “I should have been the one there for her. I shouldn’t have walked out on her that night. I shouldn’t have gone to Sara’s.”

Jana stayed silent. Though she agreed with him, that wasn’t what he needed to hear right now. Eventually, Nash looked up at her. “Grissom and Nick are upstairs with Laura St. James.”

Jana nodded, accepting his change in topic. “Gil told me that he and Nick had to keep on the case, that it was more important for you to be with Lexi right now.”

“I don’t think Nick wanted to go with him. I don’t think he likes me very much.”

Jana bit her lower lip. Nash noticed, and his eyes narrowed. “You don’t like me, either,” he said flatly.

Jana looked him straight in the eyes. “I only know Lexi’s half of the story. From that, it sounds like mistakes were made on both your parts.”

Nash sat back in his chair. “You’re probably right.”

The doors to the treatment area swung open, and both looked up hopefully. A young doctor came out and walked over to another couple. Both Jana and Nash slumped their shoulders.

“Why won’t they tell us anything?”

“They’re doctors, Captain Bridges. They hate to tell you anything until they’re sure they’ve done everything that’s necessary.” Jana recalled being 18 again and asking the same question of her best friend as they had waited for news of Jana’s parents. God, let this vigil end better for Lexi than it did for my parents, Jana silently prayed, biting her lip against the tears that threatened to fall.

Nash noticed the tears in the woman’s eyes. He squeezed her hand. When she looked up at him, he smiled slightly. “Thank you for coming,” he said. “Lexi doesn’t have many friends.”

Jana nodded. “She’ll be all right. She’s a survivor.”

The door opened again and a doctor came over to them. “Captain Bridges?”

Nash stood, and Jana stood with him. “How is she?” he asked. “When can I see her?”

“They’re moving her to a private room right now. Her body temperature had dropped from overexposure to the cold water, and we had to sedate her to calm her down. We’ve got her temperature stabilized, but we’d like to keep her overnight for observation. I’m concerned about her high blood alcohol level, as well as her mental condition. I’ve asked our psychiatric resident to speak with her after she’s awakened.”

Nash nodded. “When can I see her?”

The doctor hesitated. “Usually we only allow family members to see patients needing psychiatric treatment.”

Jana spoke up before Nash could argue. “Dr. Reed, both Captain Bridges and Miss Lee are close friends of mine. Please?”

Dr. Reed looked at Jana, almost surprised that she was there. “It’s most unusual, Ms. Stevens.”

Jana just looked at him. Finally he sighed. “All right. But if Miss Lee starts to relapse I will have you both removed from the room, understood?” Both Nash and Jana nodded. “She’s being moved upstairs, room 218. The nurses will let you know when you can go in.” The doctor walked off then.

Jana put her hand under Nash’s elbow, steering him toward the elevator. “How did you manage to do that?” Nash asked.

“Do what?”

“Get him to let us see her?”

Jana smiled softly. “I make very large donations to the hospital each year to help fund the trauma department. Dr. Reed is well aware of that fact.”

* * * * *

Grissom and Nick stood outside Laura St. James’ room. Grissom was on the phone to Brass, relaying what Laura had told them about her ordeal.

She had been walking home from the bus stop when Mr. Geoffrey had called to her from his house. He said he had a note for her from Emily and Justine. Laura had been worried about her friends, and had gone inside the house. She remembered drinking the lemonade he gave her while he was looking for the note. She had started to feel funny, and tried to stand up but fell. Sometime after that she recalled Mr. Geoffrey telling her that she was sick and she needed to drink the medicine to get better. She didn’t remember anything after that, other than waking up and seeing a bunch of doctors leaning over her.

Grissom had gently questioned the girl, asking her about Mr. Geoffrey. Laura had been very shy at first, telling Grissom that she wasn’t supposed to talk about what went on at Mr. Geoffrey’s house - it was a secret between the four of them.

“The four of you?” Grissom asked quietly.

“Me, Justine, Emily, and Mr. Geoffrey. He said that our game was something special and just for us. He didn’t play it with any of the other girls in the neighborhood.”

Grissom and Nick had looked at each other then, both afraid to find out what ‘game’ Geoffrey Mason had been playing with the young girls.

“Laura,” Grissom began, “we really need to know about the game that you and your friends played with Mr. Geoffrey. It will help us find your friends. I promise, we won’t tell Mr. Geoffrey that you told us.”

Laura had looked from Grissom to Nick. “Do you promise not to say I told?”

Both men nodded and said, “I promise.”

Laura looked down at her hands. “We would play house. We got to call him Daddy and he gave us new names and we pretended we were a family - like you see on TV. He helped us with our homework and talked to us.”

Both Grissom and Nick realized what Mason had been doing. He had created a substitute family with these three girls from the neighborhood - girls who were starved for affection and attention from their own parents.

They’d left Laura in the care of the doctors and the child psychologist. Now, while Grissom was talking to Brass, Nick used his own cell phone to make a quick call.

“Jana Stevens.”

“Jana, it’s Nick. Is Lexi...”

He heard Jana sigh. “She’s been moved to a private room. They’ve got her sedated to stop the crying and they want to keep her overnight.”

Nick closed his eyes, thankful that Lexi was okay. “Which room?”

Jana hesitated. “Nick, I know you’re a friend of hers, but I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea.”

“Jana, please. I just need to see for myself that she’s okay.”

“I’m at the second floor nurses station. You can meet me there. Nash is in with Lexi now.”

“Jana, I don’t know what you know about the two of them----.”

Jana cut him off with another sigh. “I know a lot more than you realize, Nick,” she said quietly. “Nash needs to be with her, for both their sakes.”

Nick heard the finality in Jana’s voice. “Fine. I just...look, will you call me if anything changes? Grissom and I are going to finish working this case.”

“Sure, Nick. Do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Ask Gil to call me when he’s done? He and I need to talk.”

“Sure, Jana. Talk to you later.” Nick hung up the phone and turned to Grissom, who was watching Nick intently.

“How’s Lexi?” Grissom asked.

“Jana says they’ve got her sedated and they’re keeping her overnight.” Grissom nodded, and Nick continued. “Jana would like you to call her when you’re done. She said you two need to talk.”

Something unidentifiable flashed through his boss’s eyes before Grissom turned toward the elevators. “Okay. Let’s go. Brass is meeting us at the motel.”

* * * * *

When Nash entered the room, his heart nearly broke. Lexi looked so pale and fragile lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to various monitors. Dr. Reed whispered to him, “The sedatives should be wearing off soon, the nurse will monitor a continuing dosage to keep her relaxed. I warn you again Captain, we are still unsure of her mental stability, please do not do anything to provoke her condition.”

Nodding, he crossed to her bedside. Pulling the chair closer, he took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips. “Oh god, Lex,” he whispered. “I am so sorry. I never thought...if I had known.”

He continued to watch her, until her eyelids fluttered. Slowly she awoke, and blinked at him. “Hello beautiful,” he smiled with relief.

“Hi,” she whispered hoarsely, staring at him. Her gaze moved around the room. “Where am I?”

“You’re at the hospital, Lex.”

Panic crossed her face for a moment as she looked down at herself. She reached up to touch her face, and looked puzzled. “Do you know what happened?” she asked him.

Nash’s face fell, “I know that I’m sorry. I wish I had been there for you. If I had known...” his voice trailed off, and she squeezed his hand.

“Thank you,” she smiled. “Can you do me a favor?”

Nash looked up at her, “Anything.”

“Can you call my brother, if he’s not already here? His name is Andrew Lee, I can give you his number.” Lexi noticed the worried look on his face. “Is he here?” she asked anxiously.

“Lexi?” Nash was confused. Andrew had died over two years ago. “Andrew isn’t here.”

“Then call him, or Kathleen Connor.” As Nash’s look grew more and more concerned, she grabbed his hand. “It’s Steven isn’t it?” She sounded frightened. “Don’t let him in here, please.”

“Steven? Steven Carter?”

Lexi gave him a funny look, “He’s my husband. Isn’t that why I’m here? Aren’t you with the hospital?”

“Lexi, it’s me Nash,” he didn’t like what was happening.

“Nash?” She furrowed her brow thinking. “Are you our new neighbor?”

Nash reached over and pressed the nurses call button. “Lexi, do you remember anything that happened today?”

She started to speak, then stopped. She thought for moment before slowly shaking her head. “No, I remember yesterday. I had a doctor’s appointment.” Panic crossed her face, “My baby? Is my baby all right?”

“Your baby?”

“I’m pregnant. Dr. Miller told me yesterday. Did something happen to the baby?”

Nash was stunned, he sat there silent when the nurse came in. “You called?” she asked. When she noticed Lexi was awake, she smiled. “Well, welcome back Miss Lee. How are you feeling?”

“Nurse, am I all right? Is my baby all right?” Lexi was becoming agitated

The nurse frowned, and picked up the patient’s chart. She hadn’t recalled a notation of a pregnancy, and didn’t see one now. “Captain Bridges?” the nurse looked at him questioningly.

“Captain? You’re a cop?” Lexi was stunned. “What happened to me? Why is there a police officer in my room?”

“Miss Lee, you’re going to be fine.” The nurse hit the call button again. “Captain, I’m going to have to ask you leave the room.” Another nurse came to the door. “Is there a problem Nancy?”

Nancy, the nurse, nodded. “I need you to find Dr Reed. Possible relapse.”

Nash had risen, and was standing out of the way, close to the door. “Nurse?” he asked.

“Captain Bridges, you need to leave right now!” she snapped.

Nash backed out of the room, as the second nurse returned with a third. He was shaking his head. What had happened? Why was Lexi acting like that?

Jana had watched the nurses race to room 218, and saw Nash exiting, dazed. “Captain Bridges?” She called to him, rushing to his side. She heard Lexi demanding to know about her baby. Oh my god, thought Jana, Lexi was pregnant? She looked at the Captain, her face full of questions. The pain in his voice showed in his expression. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

* * * * *

Grissom and Nick met up with Brass and Sara at the Motel 6. “Where’s Nash?” Sara asked. Nick and Grissom looked at each other. Grissom nodded over at Brass, and Nick went to talk to the captain. Grissom drew Sara aside.

“Nash is at Desert Palm. His girlfriend was brought in.”

“Lexi? Is she okay?”

Grissom raised his eyebrows. “She was apparently hysterical and non-responsive. They’ve got her sedated. Jana’s going to call Nick when she hears something?”

Sara looked puzzled. “Why is Jana there? And why is she going to call Nick?”

“Nick was the one that found Lexi, and Jana apparently knows her. I asked her to stay with Nash.”

Sara was completely confused. She knew Jana had met Lexi, but Nick knew Lexi? She was about to ask Grissom what was going on when Brass came over. “We’ve got him. O’Reilly found Mason’s credit card was used at this motel around the time of the last two murders. I checked the records - he registered in his own name. And he’s here now - Room 206.”

“We got a warrant?” Grissom asked. Brass reached into his jacket and pulled out the paper.

“Just waiting for some backup,” Brass said as a police cruiser pulled into the parking lot without lights or sirens. Two uniformed officers got out and hurried over to Brass. He gave them their instructions and the three cops headed up to Mason’s room. The three CSI’s remained by their Tahoes.

Brass knocked on the door. “Las Vegas Police!” he shouted, then motioned for one of the other officers to kick in the door. The three men rushed in, weapons drawn.

Grissom and the others watched from below. They heard no shouts of protest. Eventually, one of the officers came back out and beckoned them up to the room. Grissom reached into the Tahoe and pulled out his field kit. Sara and Nick grabbed other equipment and followed him up.

Brass and the second officer stood just inside the door. “The bathroom,” Brass said, gesturing toward the back of the room. Grissom walked carefully back to the bathroom and stopped just outside the door. Nick and Sara peered around him.

Geoffrey Mason was lying on his back in the bathtub, his denim clad legs propped up against the fiberglass wall near the spigot. His throat had been slit, and a butcher knife lay across his right bicep and chest. Blood had spattered on the walls and flowed from the wound into the tub. Grissom pulled on a pair of gloves and walked into the room, reaching down to check the victim’s wrist for a pulse. He looked up at Sara and Nick and shook his head. He pulled his hand back and peered at the wound. There were several shallow cuts and slices on the left side of the neck close to the major wound.

“Hesitation marks. Probably a suicide,” Grissom mused. He stood up and moved out of the way to let Nick and Sara in. Brass was in the main room, holding a sheet of paper in one glove covered hand.

“Suicide note,” he said, handing it to Grissom. “Looks like our boy left his heart in San Francisco and lost his head in Las Vegas.”

* * * * *

Dr. Reed came out of the room, and crossed to Jana and Nash. “What happened Doctor? Is she going to be all right?” Nash was anxious, worried he had done something wrong, caused a setback.

The doctor looked at him, and motioned down the hall to a waiting room. “Maybe we should go in here.”

Jana looked at Nash, he saw the worry in her eyes. He nodded and followed the doctor. When the door was closed, Nash asked, “Why does she think she’s pregnant?”

Dr. Reed hesitated. “She’s not pregnant. I found no evidence of any recently terminated pregnancy either. Has Miss Lee ever been pregnant in the past?”

“Once that I’m aware of, with her ex-husband, Steven Carter. She miscarried,” Nash remembered the file he’d found, and felt sick at the memory. “Andrew, her brother, died over two years ago. Is there something wrong? It’s like she has amnesia.”

Dr. Reed nodded, “As far as I can tell, she is suffering from amnesia. Normally I wouldn’t be concerned, temporary amnesia can be a side effect of Midazolan. That’s the sedative we had to give her, due to her blood alcohol levels. Typically the effects wear off in a few hours.”

“So she’ll be fine in a few hours? If this was a possibility, why use that sedative?” Nash felt he wasn’t getting all the information.

“Captain Bridges, Ms. Lee’s blood levels were over twice the legal limit. For her body size, she’s lucky she didn’t suffer from alcohol poisoning. Midazolan is used in sedating addicts during recovery, we used that particular sedative because it wouldn’t cause a fatal reaction with the alcohol already in her system. My concern is the depth of her amnesia. She has no recollection of the past three years of her life. Typically with Midazolan, the amnesia would be more general, she wouldn’t remember who she was, or you or Steven or Andrew. This appears to be more like emotional amnesia, taking her back to the last time she felt secure.”

“Steven used to beat her, why would that memory make her secure? She told me that she feels safe with me, why doesn’t she remember me?” Nash demanded.

“Captain,” the doctor sighed. “Amnesia is a primitive self-defense mechanism. It occurs when the person subconsciously feels a need to protect themselves from some kind of severe emotional or physical trauma. In the case of emotional amnesia, the loss of memory is typically restricted to experiences closely related to the cause of shock. Has she been under large amounts of unusual stress lately? Something to trigger a highly emotional response, and cause her to attempt to mentally block out portions of her life?”

“I didn’t realize how much it was bothering her,” Nash closed his eyes and rested his head in his hands. “I know that we have been having problems for awhile now. She believes that she doesn’t deserve to be happy. A lot of times she just keeps everything bottled inside, not wanting to bother anyone. I don’t know everything that’s happened over the past few days, and I didn’t know that it would lead to this.” Dr. Reed noticed the tears in the man’s eyes as he looked up at him. “Tell me Dr. Reed, tell me, she is going to be all right?”

Dr. Reed sighed, “With emotional amnesia, the forgotten memories are recalled when the patient is feeling secure enough to deal with them. Dr. Rogers is evaluating her further, trying to determine a course of action. I know that you want to be with your friend, but I have to ask for you, and Ms. Stevens, to stay out of Ms. Lee’s room. I need to keep her stable and feeling safe. I know you didn’t mean to do any harm, but there was no way to know how she would react.”

“So I harmed her recovery even more, by wanting to be with her?”

“No,” the doctor placed his hand on the Captain’s shoulder. “If that had been my girlfriend, I would’ve reacted the same way. I would’ve wanted to be with her. Now that we know that we’re not just dealing with the possibility of severe mental illness, or alcohol poisoning, or even attempted suicide, we can go from here. I promise to keep you updated as things progress.”

Nash looked up at the news that they were considering it an attempted suicide. Lexi? Attempting suicide? It couldn’t have been a possibility. He nodded at the doctor as he walked out of the room. Jana watched Dr. Reed head back to room 218, and hesitated before knocking softly on the waiting room door. She slowly cracked it open. “Captain?” she asked.

He didn’t answer, and she looked in. He had his elbows rested on his knees, his head in his hands, staring at the wall. She noticed the tear trail on his cheek, and she stepped back out. She leaned against the wall, looking towards Lexi’s room. What was going on? She needed to know, but she couldn’t ask Nash, so she waited for Dr. Reed. He re-emerged a few minutes later with another doctor. They were heading towards her, and she stopped them. “Simon,” she looked at Dr. Reed, “I want to know what’s going on with Miss Lee.”

Dr. Reed hesitated, before telling her a brief synopsis of what was occurring. Jana grew pale at the words traumatic emotional events and amnesia. The other doctor looked at her, “Ms. Stevens? I’m Dr. Rogers, the psychologist on call, if you would care to step in here with us, I was about to update Captain Bridges.”

Jana nodded, and followed the doctors in the room. She noticed Nash wipe his eyes as he stood to greet the doctors. “Captain Bridges, I’m Dr. Elizabeth Rogers, staff psychologist here at Desert Palm. I have been talking with Lexi, and her memory loss is Emotional Amnesia. She has regressed herself back three years, causing a severe partial loss of memory. She has no recollection of recent events, she can’t even tell you today’s date. I feel that this is more than a side effect of the sedatives. Typically with emotional cases, I would prescribe a drug treatment, but none of the drugs we use can be administered.”

She paused and looked between the Captain and Ms. Stevens. “I think that between the two of you, you can figure out what happened to bring this on. I need to know why she would succumb to a catatonic state and then regress to this point. I also need to know what has occurred in the past three years. As she recovers she’ll recall older memories first, and work her way back to the present.”

“How long will this recovery take?” Jana found herself asking.

“It depends on how deep the anxiety goes: It could be hours, it could be months. Right now we’ve given her a low dose sedative, not Midazolan, more along the lines of a sleeping pill. She became confused and disoriented when she awoke the first time, not uncommon in amnesia sufferers. We’re hoping that some more rest and relaxants will induce a more secure feeling, helping to bring her memory back. I need to go check on a few other patients, but I will be back later to check on her. I hope that you might have some more information for me by that time.”

As Dr. Rogers left, Dr. Reed looked at the two. “I see no other complications with her recovery, other than her current mental state. Physically, she’s recovering nicely.” He hesitated before continuing “Dr. Rogers is one of the best psychologists in the state of Nevada. Desert Palm also understands the repercussions Ms. Lee could suffer if this is leaked to the media, or word otherwise gets out. We have her registered under the name Charlotte Webb in our computers, and all of the staff working with her are on confidentiality agreements.”

Dr. Reed paused again, and just nodded before exiting the room, leaving Jana and Nash alone in their thoughts.

* * * * *

Hours later, Grissom sat alone in his office. He, Nick, and Sara had processed the crime scene, finding evidence that Laura St. James had been held in the hotel room. They’d also found Mason’s suitcase with pictures and unmailed letters to his children. It was clear to the three investigators that Mason had been unbalanced during the last several weeks of his life, believing that the three little girls were his real children. The forensic psychologists were speculating that Mason had kidnaped the girls to keep them from their “mother” and for some reason snapped and killed the first two when he realized they weren’t his children. As for Laura St. James, they could only theorize that he had perhaps regained his sanity and let her go before killing himself in atonement.

Grissom needed to call Jana. As far as he knew she was still at the hospital. Neither he nor Nick had heard from her, meaning that probably nothing had changed in Lexi’s condition. Grissom hoped that was a good sign.

Looking up, he saw Nick and Sara walking past his office. “Hey!” he called out to them.

They both came into the office. “What’s up?” Sara asked.

“Are your reports finished on Mason?”

The two looked at each other. “Yeah,” Nick said.

“Good. Then why don’t we all go over to Desert Palm to check on everyone there?”

Nick and Sara nodded in agreement.