TQ: To me, an original character that is not integral to a story isn't much of a hindrance, but more a minor "huh? who?" in the minds of the reader when they come upon someone they aren't familiar with. However, one that IS integral to the story should be one that is as well thought out and developed as Abbie is, or the story suffers. If the OC is written inconsistently or one-dimensionally, the reader wouldn't feel the character, wouldn't feel their emotions, wouldn't get to know them. It's likely they wouldn't follow the story to the end either.
I have to say, LLK, you did an amazing job creating Abbie. I haven't read that many stories where there was an OC so central to the story, but my God I could picture her in my mind so well. It's as if she's been on the show since the first season and we know her as much as we know Nick or Catherine.
I, too, can tell just how much research must have gone into this story. It was very informative! I feel like I've taken a crash course in psychology. As well, the regular characters were spot on. And I had to smile when Abbie gave Grissom a piece of her mind, I actually snickered.
Aside from the errors that others pointed out, I did notice that some sentences seemed unfinished or had words left out, like...
He pulled off the road and turned off the engine and then with a cracked smile in Abbie’s direction. (The way it's written it seems as if Nick is about to say something. Perhaps you meant to say "...turned off the engine and then cracked a smile in Abbie's direction." because the sentence ended there and there was no dialog)
and
The air of hardness and anger had been replaced with disappointment, almost saddens (almost saddens what?)
I admire people that have the imagination and the stamina to write a stand alone story like this one (ie, stories that aren't a part of or continue a particular episode), because I don't think I do. So, kudos to you for doing such a great job at it. You've got me hooked, and I can't wait to read more, to find out just what it is that Abbie needs Grissom's help on.