| Shadows of Crimes Past - by kyrdwyn (page 2) |
| Rated: R (language, adult themes) Spoilers: Pilot, Anonymous, my fan fic Ghosts of Crimes Past Synopsis: Grissom asks Jana for help on personal matter which leads to her teaming up with the nightshift on a missing persons case. And yes, she does get to torment Brass again. (If you haven't read Ghosts of Crimes Past, I suggest you read it first.) |
 |
| CSI, Gil Grissom and company, and places and etc are all property of Anthony Zuiker, Alliance Atlantis, CBS, and other companies. They did not condone this fic, and I am not getting paid for it. I write because I want to. All other characters not appearing on CSI in any way, shape, or form that appear in this story are my property. If you have any comments - good or bad, feel free to e-mail me at: toxicrev@yahoo.com |
|
| "You didn't tell me you knew who was behind this," Jana hissed at Grissom. They were sitting in the back booth of the diner again, eating dinner. Jana was chain-smoking, the acrid smoke fogging the air between them. Jana knew it was irritating Grissom, but she was more irritated with him. "How did you --" "I'm a freaking private investigator, Gris. I do my homework. I checked out the name on your UPS box. I know about the two bathtub 'suicides' - and the fact that there was one several years ago where the jury chose not to believe a young Paul Millander." He sighed. Jana leaned forward. "It's Millander, isn't it? He's behind these notes, the package. Why, Gris? What does he want from you?" "He's trying to get back for what was done to his father. I think he sees me as some sort of forensic sparring partner - how far can he go without getting caught." Jana held up her hand and shook her head. "Wait a second, Grissom - if this guy is so psycho that he's killing people to prove he's better than you then why haven't you told this to Brass yet? Screw the fact that there may be a mole inside the station," she added when Grissom looked about to object, "this guy is hazardous to your health." He smiled slightly at her choice of words. "Damn it, Grissom - this isn't a laughing matter. Do you really think I want to be the one to tell your team what happened because you didn't think you could trust them on this matter?" Jana's voice reflected her fears for Grissom's safety. While she had been initially flattered that Grissom had come to her, this was getting way over both their heads. "What the hell did he send you in that box, anyway?" "I don't know. I haven't opened it." Jana looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "Well, that's the first sane thing you've done in this case. Are you going to get the lab guys to print it? Maybe our mole got his paws on the box." "I was thinking I'd prefer to have you do it." Grissom said just as Jana was taking a sip of her soda. She choked and started coughing. When she could finally speak she looked at him with disbelief and amazement in her eyes. "Are you out of your insect-loving mind? Look, I may be able to print the box, and get some good prints - but I don't have access to AFIS like you do. At best I'd be able to eliminate your prints and mine from unknown prints. Look, Grissom - this is out of my league as a P.I. Staking out your house is one thing; prints and serial killers are a whole other hockey game." She lit another cigarette and gestured with it. "You need to talk to Brass." "And here I thought you didn't like Brass." Jana barely suppressed the urge to reach across the table and shake some sense into him. She didn't understand why he wasn't taking this seriously. Then again, Grissom always seemed to be in his own little world, removed from the rest of humanity. It was possible that in his world, he hadn't conceived of being a target of Millander's twisted little mind. She took a deep breath. "My personal feelings for Brass have nothing to do with this - I'm worried for you, Gil." "It's not me he wants, Jana." "Gil - do you have any idea what he wants?" He didn't respond. "Then how can you be so sure he doesn't want you?" * * * * * Grissom went back to work in a thoughtful frame of mind after handing the box over to Jana. Her last questions were running though his mind. He didn't know what Millander really wanted. He could say it was justice for the death of his father - but Grissom didn't know that for sure. For all he knew, Millander did have some master plan involving Grissom. "Earth to Grissom. Come in Grissom." Catherine's voice startled him out of his reverie. "Sorry, I was thinking." "Apparently," she said with a frown. "Why does it smell like a nicotine addict's convention in here?" "I had dinner with Jana Stevens." Catherine looked amused. "Still haven't gotten her to quit?" "I'm working on it." "Work harder or you'll be doing a lot more laundry." "Is there a reason for this little visit, Cath?" "Yeah - I've got the latest on the Metcalf murder. The file is missing." Grissom's eyebrows flew up toward his hairline. "What?" "It's gone - no one can find it. Hasn't been seen since Warrick gave it to Daniel Lee in Ballistics - who is now on vacation." "Find him," Grissom said. "Word of this gets out and the media will have a field day. Not to mention our Sheriff." "No kidding. Warrick is tracking him down now. In the mean time, Sara and I are going to go back over all the evidence we have and re-analyze it to build a new file." "Keep this one close to you at all times, Catherine." "I will." * * * * * Jana was waiting for Brass in the Homicide captain's office. She was idly tossing a pack of cigarettes from hand to another. "Well, I thought you didn't set foot in here without me putting handcuffs on you." Jana didn't even turn her head to face him. "Shut the door, Brass. I need to talk to you and I don't want to be overheard." "Funny, I thought this was my office." Jana sighed heavily. "Please, Brass." She heard the door shut behind her and Brass walked around to sit behind his desk. He leaned back in his chair. "So talk." "I'm worried about Grissom." "Why?" Jana sighed again. "I can't really tell you that - but just trust me, I think he's in danger." "You expect me to believe that when you won't tell me why?" Jana rubbed her forehead in a Grissom-like gesture. "Look, you know how I feel about client confidence. I've said too much as it is." She got up and went to the door. "Jana, wait." She turned to face Brass, her eyes reflecting her conflicting emotions. "What?" "You really believe he's in danger," he said, leaning forward. "Yeah, Brass, I do." "What can I do?" Jana let her relief cross her face as she sat back down in front of his desk. "This can't go beyond this room - I'm afraid someone inside the department is involved." Brass' eyebrows went up, but he didn't say a word. "I need access to AFIS. Just to run a few prints. I've got a suspicion but I can't prove anything." "That's asking a lot, Jana." "I wouldn't ask if this didn't involve Grissom." "Why not go to Catherine? Or Warrick?" "I need someone outside the lab." She took a deep breath, looking him straight in the eyes. "You're the only one I can trust." The two regarded each other for a moment, their mutual worry about Grissom overcoming the years of dislike. "Do you have the prints with you?" "Yeah," Jana said, pulling the fingerprint cards from her jacket pocket. She handed them over to Brass. "These are the ones I need run." "You can't tell me anything else about this?" She shook her head. "If Grissom knew I was here now, he'd have my head." "I won't tell him. I promise," he added at Jana's look of disbelief. "I'll call when I have the results." "Thanks, Brass. I owe you." "I know." * * * * * Jana's surveillance house was dark when she pulled up. She'd checked the streets and didn't see anything suspicious. She went into her living room and changed the tapes in the video camera, labeling the one she'd removed with the time and date. She popped it into the VCR and ran it through, checking to see if anything usual had occurred in her absence. Nothing had. Sighing, she stretched out on her couch, staring out the window toward Grissom's house. She felt guilty about going behind Grissom's back to Brass, but she couldn't ignore her gut instinct. She'd been listening to it for too long - and it was telling her that Grissom was in trouble. * * * * * Jana was dreaming of Marcus Jackson again, a dream she hadn't had in months. She was back in his house, unable to move as he advanced on her. Just as he was about to reach her, though, Grissom yanked her away. The scene changed to his house, where Jana could only watch helplessly as a man with a pockmarked face and stringy black hair dragged Grissom out of the house and vanished into the night. She came abruptly awake, sitting straight up on the sofa and staring into the darkness of the house. Her heart was pounding and she was breathing heavily in fear. She jumped and fell off the couch as her cell phone rang. It took her a few seconds to find it. "Jana." "It's Brass. I ran those prints for you. Listen, where did you get those?" "Off a package a someone sent Grissom - why?" "Because one of them belongs to a lab tech in the department. Another belongs to a serial killer." "Paul Millander." "You knew," Brass said accusingly. "I suspected. So did Grissom." "Yeah, well, if he's turned up again, this is bad news." "What about the lab tech?" "He's on vacation." "Brass - I can guarantee that the only person from the lab who touched the box those prints came from is Grissom. Unless the guy moonlights for UPS - how did his prints get on there?" "You're saying the lab tech is involved with Millander." "The evidence is pointing that way." "Jeez, you sound like Grissom." "Sorry." Jana got up and wandered over to the window, staring across the street. Even though the shift wasn't over, Grissom's Tahoe was in his driveway. Jana frowned. She leaned down to peer at the video camera's display. Its high definition zoom gave her a better picture than the naked eye. She could see the driver's door to the Tahoe was still open, and what looked like a set of keys on the ground nearby. "Brass - where's Grissom?" "Huh? He went home - got a page that a neighbor of his was in trouble - a Karen Lockhart." Jana cursed. "Brass, Karen Lockhart is the name I'm using in this neighborhood. I didn't page him. His house was bugged. And I don't think he's here now - something's wrong. Better send someone over to check it out." The other end of the line was silent for a moment. "And what if you're wrong?" "Then you can have the pleasure of telling him that I was." * * * * * Jana watched from her window as police cars pulled up to Grissom's house. Brass was with them. She watched as they checked the Tahoe and then entered the house. Brass came back out and started ordering the uniform cops around. Crime scene tape was unrolled around his yard. Neighbors began milling around the perimeter. Jana had spent the time in between her conversation with Brass and now checking the videotape from her camera. What she found was disturbing, to say the least. She had made two quick copies of it - the police would want one, she knew. She was also glad she had made duplicate prints of her still photos - at the time she figured Grissom would want his own copy. Now she had a set to turn over to the cops and a set for herself. Jana gathered up her personal copies of the video and the pictures and carefully stored them in the hidden compartment of her camera case. The others she took with her as she left the house and joined the crowd around Grissom's. The sheriff was just arriving, along with Grissom's team and Eckley's. Jana frowned. The thought of Eckley in charge of this case was nauseating. Jana spotted Brass and nodded at him. He nodded in return, but didn't walk over to her. Instead, he went to talk to the sheriff. Eckley and Catherine joined them. Jana looked around for someone she knew. "Warrick!" she called out. The young CSI turned at the sound of his name and spotted her, his eyes widening. He came over to stand near her, on the other side of the tape. "Jana. What are you doing here?" "Long story. What's going on?" she asked. Though Jana had a pretty good idea of what had happened, she wanted to hear the official version before she made any attempt to help the police. "Grissom's missing. Brass got a call about half-hour ago - someone reporting something odd. He came over, found Gris' car open and his keys on the ground. His house is apparently trashed as well, and Brass thinks he saw blood." Jana paled. "Oh my god. Do we know --" "What happened? Not yet. Sheriff won't let any of us in there. Even though the case was caught on the night shift…" his deep voice trailed off. "He's going to give it to Eckley because you're Grissom's team," Jana said flatly. "Yeah." "Look, Warrick, if there is anything I can do to help - well, I have connections outside the department, and there's nothing that says that I can't do my own investigation at the request of a client," Jana offered, letting a trace of a smile cross her lips. Warrick, despite his concerns, smiled in return. "We just might take you up on that." Brass, having finished with the sheriff, came over to Warrick and Jana. "Sheriff's giving this to Eckley." "Damn it." Brass raised an eyebrow at Jana. "You've got a problem with that?" "Yeah - I want to see this case solved," Jana retorted. "Did you tell anyone about…" she let her voice trail off. Warrick looked confused as Brass shook his head. "No, why?" "I have evidence." She handed Brass the envelope with the pictures and the videotape. "If they ask, just tell them a P.I. turned it over to you anonymously. Make up a reason why I was here." "Isn't that breaking client confidence?" Warrick asked, confused. "Yes, but I doubt my client will mind." Brass gave Jana a searching look. "Are you sure?" "Trust me on this, Brass." He nodded, and walked over to where the sheriff stood with Eckley. Catherine, Sara, and Nick were standing off to the side by their vehicle. Sara's hands were clenched into fists as she watched Eckley's team at work. Nick was punching his right fist into his left hand. Catherine…well, Jana would not want to be Millander when Catherine caught up to him, judging by the look on the woman's face. "I should go join them," Warrick said, noticing where Jana was looking. "I'll come with you." Warrick ducked under the tape and the two of them made their way around the edge of the crowd to the rest of the team. "Damn it, Eckley's team couldn't find a clue if it bit them on the nose. Why the hell would the sheriff let him have this case?" Sara was asking as Warrick and Jana got closer. "Probably afraid you're all too emotionally involved to investigate impartially," Jana said, drawing everyone's attention. Nick and Sara looked surprised to see Jana there. Catherine didn't even blink at Jana's appearance. "Brass told me you were the one who mentioned Grissom was in trouble," she commented. That caused the other three CSIs to stare at Jana in amazement. Jana shrugged. "I was in the neighborhood on a case. Saw the car and the keys, called it in," she said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth - the street was too open, too crowded for that. "You talked to Brass?" Nick asked with a smile. "Yes, and we both survived." Jana stepped closer to the team, pitching her voice low. "There's more to this than I can let on here. We need to meet somewhere. I'm not standing by and watching Eckley screw up this case." Jana met Catherine's eyes, willing the other woman to understand what she meant. Finally, Catherine nodded. "Where and when?" "My office, 9 am." "We'll be there." Jana gave Catherine a slight smile. "Tell Brass - he'll want to be there." Catherine arched a brow, but made no comment. |
|