Organized Crime: Unorganized

Chapter 20

"We're being passed a religious cult case" James announced as he entered the conference room. 
"It's a small community out in Ohio. The land was bought by a William Moore-" Sadie cut herself off as Graces's phone rang out loudly echoing off the walls of the room. 
"Sorry" Grace apologized, intending to turn it off when she checked who was calling "Excuse me a second" Grace left the room, not taking her eyes off the screen until she had moved out of earshot form the others "Damien, hi" Grace answered. 
"Hi Grace" his voice sounded lost. He sounded alone. 
"What is it? What's happened? Damien just tell me" Grace pleaded knowing that he wouldn't call her unless it was absolutely necessary. He only would've called her if something bad had happened. 
"It's Nick" Damien announced, sending a chill down her spine, her whole body felt as if it had froze over. 
"Tell me everything" Grace ordered. 
When Grace re-entered the room, all eyes fell onto her and her tearful eyes. 
"Grace. What is it?" Came a small voice from Lilly. 
"An old friend of mine died. He was with the cult in Ohio. They said he died of a heart attack" Grace explained. 
"Do you need to take some time?" James asked and Grace shook her head in response, not trusting her voice at that moment "What do you need?" he asked gently. 
"I need to work this. I need to find whoever did this to him" Grace told him, her voice still shaky "Nicky... was messed up. He had been for a long time, but he was important to me. He deserves to have his killer brought to justice" 
"Killer? You think he was murdered?" Lorenzo asked. 
"Nicky saw a friend of ours, Damien, a few weeks before he died. He was healthy and headed to this group so whatever it is it can't be good" Grace argued. 
"I'll have his body brought to our morgue" Sadie told her with a gentle smile. 
"Thank you. All of you. I really appreciate this" Grace told them, managing to curl the corners of her lips up slightly. 

Grace stared down at the sheet covered body, blanking out the sounded of James and Diane's voices around her. 
"Grace" Diane placing her hand on her arm broke her free of her trance like state "I'm so sorry for your loss" she frowned. 
"Thank you" Grace squeezed the hand that was still on her arm lightly.
"I'll leave you alone for a minute" Diane gave her a warm smile before she left the room leaving Grace and James standing over the still covered body. 
"Take as long as you need" James assured her before he began moving away but Grace caught him by his arm. 
"Don't go. Stay with me, please" she pleaded making James move back to her side before Grace reached for the sheet and pulled it back to reveal Nick's face. Graces's heart broke. Correction, it shattered. The boy she remembered was full of joy and laughter before he became lost and sick and now, he was nothing, just a cold body on a slab "He was so good" Grace said through tears as they began running down her cheeks "He could always make me laugh even when I didn't want to" Grace told James and she reached out for Nick, taking his hand in hers "And his hands were always warm, whenever I had cold hands he would take them in his" Grace told James before she reached for Nick's head, stroking his hair back before she placed a kiss to his cold forehead. Grace dropped her mouth to Nick's ear.
"I love you" Grace whispered to him as Diane and Oliver entered the room again. Grace quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks before she stood up straight. 
"We can give you some more time if you need it-"
"No, Diane, thank you. I'm ready to hear it" Grace nodded, her hand absentmindedly going to Nick's arm. 
"Whoever wrote on the medical report that he died of a heart attack was lying" Diane told them. 
"What do you mean?" Grace asked, her face lighting up in anger at everything those people could have done to him. 
"Grace, you might not want-"
"I need to know everything that they did to him" Grace pleaded with her. 
"He was tortured. It put a strain on his heart that led him to have a heart attack" Diane explained "His wrists were tied to something, there was some water in his lungs meaning that-"
"He was water boarded" Grace said in realisation, her eyes filling with tears as one slipped free, slowly rolling down her cheek as she looked down at Nick. 
"His veins were also damaged due to years of heroine abuse; did he use when you knew him?" Diane asked. 
"Yeah. He started using just before I left Rome, every time I heard stories about him, he was high" Grace admitted. 
"I'm sorry" Diane apologized again. 
"He had this in his wallet" Oliver told her, handing her a picture that she hadn't seen in a long time. Grace erupted into tears, her eyes clouding over as they began flowing silently. 
"Thats Damien, me and Nicholas" Grace said through her tears before she handed the picture to James to look at "We were 15 when we took that. Two months before everything started changing" Grace told them. 
"What do you mean changing?" Oliver asked, pushing his glasses higher up his nose. 
"Before I started making bad decisions. Before I ruined them both" Grace cried, running a hand through her hair as she tried to calm herself. 

James and Marco walked up the stairs of Nicholas Cabbot's parents' home before they knocked on the door. 
"Hello, Mr and Mrs Cabbot we're here about your son's death. Were from the FBI" James told them. 
"I don't understand why the FBI is interested in his death" Marie Cabbot admitted. 
"We believe that your son was involved with a religious cult at the time of his death" James told them. 
"Not likely. He stopped going to church a long time ago" Arthur Cabbot told them "He spoke to us a few weeks ago, we thought that he was going to turn his life around" Arthur said sadly. 
"He was possessed was evil" Marie told them. 
"He liked drugs. They were the only thing that could calm him. To watch someone, you love go through that is awful" Arthur told them. 
"Grace told us about your sons drug problem" James told them. 
"Grace? Grace Cameron?" Marie asked, her face lighting up with anger at the sound of her name.
"Yes ma'am" Marco nodded. 
"I want you both to leave now" Marie ordered before she stormed off into her home. 
"Ronnie sent you? I mean Grace. She hasn't been called Ronnie in a long time" Arthur smiled slightly.  
"She wants to find who killed your son" Marco told him. 
"Ronnie was a good kid, she had troubles, she always looked as if she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. She knows more about him than I could ever tell you" Arthur admitted "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help. Tell Ronnie I send my love. I hope she finds who did this to my son" Arthur shook both of their hands before he closed the door to his home. 
"Has Grace told you anything about her life before this team?" Marco asked. 
"No. I only know what you know. She's a private person" James told him. 
"Or she's hiding things. Like what happened between Damien, Nick and herself" Marco suggested. 
"Maybe. But we can't just ask. This topic is clearly sensitive" James reminded him. 
"So maybe we show her what being a member of this team means" Marco suggested.