A/N: This story is in two parts but I promise you - it is finished! I took a lot of creative license here so don't get too distracted looking for things to make sense. Thanks to those of you who wrote and reviewed my other stories. I appreciate your words and I'm working on them again now. Of course, this is GSR!
Missing You
Early afternoon…
"Keep staring at me like that and we'll never be on time for work."
"Then, let's call in sick today." He suggested hopefully.
"Are you ill?" She admonished, touching his forehead with her hand. "Where is my husband and when is he coming back?"
Sighing heavily, he pulled her closer. Twelve years of friendship, including one year and three days of marriage, and Grissom could never tire of Sara. She was the love of his life.
Their marriage had not been planned. Actually, it came to pass as a result of a fallout that had been in the making for over a decade. He shamefully reflected on the dark times that caused a temporary rift in the overnight CSI team and was effectively ruining his and Sara's friendship.
Finally, though he knew she would deny it with her last breath, Catherine intervened and set them up to accidentally meet at her home, (curiously enough, Warrick, Nick, Brass and Greg were also present) and it went downhill from there until they ended up in a shouting match. Sara threatened to leave Vegas for good even if Grissom built a greenhouse outside her door. And she certainly wasn't waiting another decade to get laid!
Grissom accused her of abandonment, citing that she was spoiled and always ready to bolt when things didn't go her way. He questioned how would he ever be able to trust her to honor any serious commitment.
Words like insensitive, unfeeling, oblivious, dramatic, overly-emotional, frustrating and provoking were thrown around. In the end, when the dust settled, Sara gave Grissom an ultimatum but he surprised her with one of his own.
When the two returned to work that night under the watchful gazes of the team, Sara and Grissom stunned them by announcing that they had gotten married. They were done planning games and weren't wasting anymore time. Grissom was still never sure when the intervention specialists had fled from Catherine's house.
As social ineptness goes, Sara and Grissom still had their issues, but they talked and worked through them. By their definition, their marriage was "normal." Just the day before they had engaged in a heated argument at work. As usual, Sara stormed off and Grissom retreated to his office. At the end of the shift, they went home together and made up. That was always fun. Their relationship seemed strange to some, but it worked for them.
Several hours later…
Crime Lab…
Sara walked past Grissom's dark office with a frown. He was already in the break room? There was still another half hour before shift and usually they would have a cup of coffee together before. Moving into the break room, Sara frowned again. "Hey guys, where's Grissom?"
"Haven't seen him." Warrick answered.
Nick and Greg just shrugged their shoulders, then continued with their video game.
"You're the only one holding that leash, Hon." Catherine tossed in her usual dry humor, never looking up from her magazine.
Sara didn't panic until the time for start of shift came and went. She had the receptionist page him in the building while she tried his pager, home and cell numbers, but got no response. She was sprinting down the hall when she ran smack into Catherine and Warrick.
"Whoa! Where's the fire?" Catherine questioned after regaining her balance.
"Grissom's missing."
"What do you mean he's missing?
"In case you didn't notice, he never made it work."
Catherine glanced at her watch. "So, he's a little late."
"Look, I don't have time to convince you. Something's wrong - I know it." She snapped then moved to leave.
"Sara, slow down. Let's call Brass, make sure Grissom didn't get tied up in an earlier case." Warrick reasoned.
"Fine, let's go!"
One hour, ten minutes missing…
"For obvious reasons, we should keep this as quiet as possible for the time being. Let's make damn sure this is nothing before it hits the news." When the group nodded in affirmation, he continued. "Alright, let's start from the beginning." Captain Jim Brass suggested to the nightshift.
"Grissom left home an hour ahead of me. Said he needed to run an errand." Sara started off the walkthrough.
"What did he need to do?" Catherine questioned.
"He didn't say."
"Does he normally do this?" Nick pursued.
"Do what?" Sara turned to look at him.
"Does he usually go places that you aren't aware of?"
"He's not six. I do occasionally let him out to play with other boys and girls. What exactly do you want to know, Nicky?" She spat out defensively, thinking back to Catherine's earlier 'leash' comment.
"Sara, we just need to establish a pattern here. You know the drill." Warrick interceded softly.
Sara closed her eyes and then leaned back in her chair. "Sorry guys. I just..I don't know. Sometimes, Grissom will leave to run an errand. Usually it's to the store, bank, etc. On one or two occasions, he had been gone for several hours. Probably for a drive or to meditate or go for a roller coaster ride. He does that sometimes, you know, to relieve stress. Anyway, wherever he went, it was less than forty miles each time. What? I am a trained investigator. It's not like it turns off after shift." She stated on the defense again when she received dubious looks from her peers. "Look, I have no idea where he went and I didn't ask. Grissom is a very private person - we both are. Just because we're married, that doesn't give me the right to know his every waking move or thought."
"Do you know of anyone that would want to hurt Grissom?" Nick inquired.
"No. I mean, none that I know of but you know what kind of scum we put away everyday."
"Right."
Brass visibly tensed, drawing everyone's attention. "Uh Sara, everything at home okay?"
Sara arched an eyebrow in confusion.
"You know, you guys aren't having any trouble…well...I mean, nothing going on that would make Gil want to leave or take some time to cool off?" He finished hurriedly.
"No." Sara smiled to calm the flustered police captain. "Everything's great at home."
"Good." Brass dropped the subject, happy to move on.
"So, we need to retrace your steps. Go back to the house and see if there's anything there. We should all probably take a different route from here to the house in case he's stuck somewhere with a flat tire." Brass didn't mention that this was highly unlikely, given that Grissom wasn't the sort of guy to just get 'stuck' somewhere and forget to call. Especially if it meant upsetting Sara.
The Grissom Home…
She hesitated at their front door.
"Here, let me check for you." Warrick suggested, gently removing the keys held captive in her frozen fingers.
She held her breathe while he went in. She knew Grissom wouldn't be inside but she desperately needed a reason or an excuse for Grissom's disappearance.
Minutes later, Warrick reappeared confirming her thoughts.
"No notes or messages on the answering machine."
Her only response was a nod as they headed back to the lab.
Three hours and fifty-five minutes missing…
Brass approached Sara cautiously in the break room, the others drifted in quietly behind him in dread. They had exhausted all immediate possible scenarios on what could have happened. The APB he put out hadn't turned up anything as of yet. Keeping the investigation low key was no longer an option. This was the part of his job he hated. He'd hoped like hell, Grissom would turn up before things turned into a three ring circus.
All shit was about to hit the fan and there would be little he could do to protect them. To date, only the nightshift had been privy to Grissom and Sara's marriage and living status. Now, not only would their personal lives be exposed, SOP or standard operating procedure dictated that the spouse or significant other was always suspect number one in a disappearance with suspicious circumstances. It certainly didn't help that in this case, the wife was a CSI.
"Sara? Sara, we need to go over a few things." Brass continued on when she didn't respond. "I had no choice but to speak with the Sheriff and Director and they will be in shortly. Your relationship with Grissom is going to become an issue."
"An issue?"
"Sara, there's no way you can continue keep it a secret."
"I understand."
Whatever Brass was going to say next was interrupted when Carvello and Atwater arrived. They exchanged greetings, and then Carvello cut to the chase.
"It has come to my attention that Dr. Grissom never made it to work tonight. Frankly, I don't understand why this wasn't brought to my attention earlier. It's very disturbing." He stated eyeing the room's occupants, searching for culpability. When no one would meet his gaze, he moved on. "Ms. Sidle, I've been told that it would be in my best interest to see you.. I suspect there's something more to Dr. Grissom's absence and I want to know what it is before we officially move further into the investigation."
Sara took a deep breath and decided to be equally up front.
"Sir, 368 days ago, Grissom and I were married. We have lived together since that date at his legal residence.
Carvello swore out loud, conferred with Atwater then after a long moment he then spoke.
"Ms. Sidle - Mrs. Grissom, I won't even begin to touch on the obvious issues with your revelation. You've put me in a hell of a position here. But that certainly explains the tension around here tonight, other than the obvious, of course." He pursed his lips in thought, then continued speaking. "As of now, I am declaring Gil Grissom a missing person. The night shift is hereby removed from the case. I'm told you have been working unofficially on it for the last four hours. Ecklie and his team will be called in to take over. I'll expect full cooperation in the transition. Sara, consider yourself on paid administrative leave - everything else can wait. We'll do everything we can to find Dr. Grissom and we'd appreciate all your help you can give in an unofficial capacity. I won't waste my breath telling you to go home but I don't want you within ten feet of any evidence. If it comes down to it, we'll met again at the twelve hour mark. Brass, I need to see you in my office A.S.A.P."
Grissom home…
For the second time during the shift, Sara entered her home. This time she was accompanied by the Ecklie and two of the morning shift CSIs, the remaining two were canvassing outside. No one said anything to her other than to request that she unlock Grissom's desk drawers and then his safe. Though she knew the combination to the safe, she'd never opened it. Sara thought it was a total breach of confidentiality, but she unlocked it for them anyway.
The scene seemed unreal to Sara as she slipped into Grissom's favorite chair and pretended that strangers where not invading their much valued privacy and stripping away their dignity by rummaging through their personal belongs, searching for signs of struggle, checking the walls and floors for blood spatter, and hauling out anything that was not bolted down like their personal computers, PDAs, fax and answering machines. She would endure it all if it meant that Grissom would be home soon.
Five hours missing…
Sara tried to relax in the hard plastic chair. At this point she was emotionally hovering between numbness, disbelief and barely contained hysteria, but she knew she had to hold it together. Looking around the room, she could easily count a hundred times that she had interviewed suspects in the very chair that she now sat. It was her turn.
"Sara, this won't take long, we just need to clear up a few things." Brass started while Ecklie leaned back against the door to observe. To Brass' surprise, Ecklie had requested that he interview Sara, suggesting that she would be relaxed and more inclined to cooperate. "First off, I want you to know that we're doing everything in our power to find Grissom. Also, I have all incoming telephone calls to your home transferred to the tactical room with a tracer in case contact is attempted."
Sara's head jerked up. "You think this is a kidnapping for ransom?"
"We're covering all bases." Brass assured her. "I know we discussed this earlier, so bare with me." Sara nodded and he continued. "Do you have any idea where Grissom could be? Friend's or a distant family member's place?"
"No."
"When you returned to your home, did you notice anything missing? Clothing, suitcases, toothbrush or passport?"
"No." She had checked through Grissom's belongings during the second trip home. Grissom only carried the minimal amount of personal items to work and he didn't even have his credit cards. That meant that he wasn't planning on going very far.
"Are you aware of anyone that would want to do harm to your husband?"
"No."
"Did you and Grissom ever discuss his will?"
"His will? No."
"Never? Never talked about what would eventually happen with the house, car or his bugs?"
"Yes." An uneasy feeling started to creep into her body.
Brass took in Sara's defensive posture and leaned forward. "I just want to help, okay?"
"I know."
"Let's start again. Do you consider Grissom a wealthy man?"
Sara remained mute and only shrugged her shoulder.
"Did you know that Grissom recently made changes to his will?"
"No, well yes." Sara shifted again anxiously.
"Care to elaborate?"
"I suppose he would have to adjust his will given his change in marital status."
"I noticed that your signature was not included." Brass revealed, shuffling through the papers retrieved from the safe. "Where you privy to it's contents?"
"No."
"You didn't find it strange that your husband would update his will and never discuss this with you?" He asked incredulously with a frown.
"No."
Brass leaned back in his chair in frustration. The inhabitants of the observation room where equally perplexed. From his peripheral vision, Brass could see Ecklie in his 'I'm pissed' stance. This was not going a well as he had expected. Was she being deliberately evasive or did she not have a clue?
Sara wasn't trying to be difficult but it was hard to concentrate on what he was saying. She couldn't focus on the line of questioning when she was too busy wondering who was behind the two way mirror. Then there was that itching and heavy feeling in her chest. And why was Brass questioning her and not Ecklie? Was it time to feed the maggots?
"Sara, one of Grissom's life insurance policies alone pays well over a million dollars to you in he event of his death." Brass stated as a-matter-of-factly, watching Sara's reaction. There wasn't one.
"Okay."
"You don't seem surprised. That's a lot of money." Ecklie joined in for the first time.
"Somewhat."
"Ms. Sidle, pardon me, Mrs. Grissom-" He muddled deliberately. "You've had complete access to your husband's legal papers and you never bothered to read them? Wasn't even a little curious?"
Mrs. Grissom? Sara's mind began to wonder again, tuning out Ecklie's words. Should she had contacted Grissom's mother? No, she'd wait until he came back home. They would have her to dinner when he came back home.
"Sara? Sara, I'm sorry if this is boring you, but I'm just trying to run an investigation into the disappearance of your husband. Unless…unless you already know where he is?" Ecklie taunted. Brass swore under his breath but Ecklie didn't care. Brass's passive line of questioning wasn't getting them anywhere but closer to the twenty-four mark. After twenty-four hours the Feds would take over the case. "Do you know where Grissom is?"
"No."
"Sara, with residuals from his books deals, consulting, investments, insurance policies, Grissom left you a lot of money." Ecklie waited for her response. Nothing. "Did you kill Grissom?"
"What?" Sara asked. "You asshole!"
Brass started to interrupt but changed his mind while Ecklie mentally noted that she never answered the question.
"Okay, you don't strike me as the greedy type. So, did you two have an argument and things got a little out of hand?" Ecklie fished.
"No."
"I have several statements from employees who will swear that you and Grissom had a heated argument in the hall yesterday. Are you saying that it's not true?"
"No, we did have a disagreement."
"Sounds like it was more of a shouting match. About what?"
"None of your damned business."
"Sara, answer the question and we'll move on." Brass prodded gently.
"Grissom wants me to quit."
"Why does he want you to quit?" Brass pressed. This was news to him.
"Not now, after I have the baby."
"You're pregnant?"
"No." She stated, looking off into space. "At least not yet."
"Okay," Brass continued. "so, you didn't want to quit. Did this discussion continue at home?"
"No, it was over before we left to go home. Everything was fine when we got home." Sara said wistfully. They had gone home, made up and made love. She didn't know then it could be there last time together. Suddenly, she didn't want to be there anymore. She wanted to go home and lay in their bed. She knew that she would still be able to smell Grissom on the sheets. "Are we done? Can I go home?"
"Won't take long to type up this statement. You'll probably want to stick around for a bit -get any new info firsthand."
Sara nodded in understanding and stood to leave. Brass's words basically meant that she was being discretely detained.
Seven hours missing…
Sara felt left out when Catherine handed out assignments. Sitting around the conference table, Grissom's absence was emphasized by his empty seat. When every one got up to leave, the reality of the situation hit her all over again. Grissom was missing. She closed her eyes to fight the panic that threaten to overwhelm her.
Startled at a slight touch on her arm, Sara's lids flew open to meet the concerned green/hazel eyes of Warrick.
"Hang in there, Girl. He'll be back soon."
"I feel like I'm free-falling." She admitted, hating her weakness.
"That's why we're here." He motioned to Catherine, Nick and Greg.
"Thank you." She swiped at a lone tear embarrassed, before heading to the Lay Out Room where Grissom's past files awaited her.
Later, Sara slipped on a pair of latex gloves as she entered Grissom's office. Moving to the aquariums and terrariums, she repeated the process she'd witnessed from her husband a hundred times before.
"Hey, it's okay Fluffy." She cooed the tarantula as she dropped a grasshopper inside it's habitat. "Daddy will be home soon."
It became her mantra as Sara moved on to feed the maggots and cockroaches. By the time she replaced the last lid, she almost believed it herself.
Twelve hours missing…
Tactical Room
The room was jammed packed with LVPD personnel. Once word got out that Grissom was missing, police officers, detectives, lab techs and criminalists started to file in ready to volunteer. Each had their own opinion of Gil Grissom but none of that mattered when something happened to one of their own. The room went quiet as Carvello, Brass, Atwater, Ecklie and the day and nightshift CSIs entered.
"Okay. Listen up people. As I'm sure you are aware. Dr. Gil Grissom left his home en route to work twelve hours and sixteen minutes ago and has not been seen or heard from as of yet. I have decided to forego the usual twenty four hour wait and declare Dr. Grissom officially a missing person due to the nature of our work here. A current photo and complete description of what he was last seen wearing is included in the quick reference sheets." Carvello paused to hand a stack of Xerox copied papers to the group. "Ecklie and his day shift have been assigned as the primary. The night shift will assist as needed but otherwise be hands off. We're starting from point A - Grissom's home. Everything has been processed but I need any and all possible scenarios. Walker," Carvello said turning to the swing shift supervisor "Check any reported MVAs and hospitals, you know the drill. Also, help with open cases on the day and nightshift. Catherine you're acting super until further notice. The nightshift should pull cases from the last several years -see if anything jumps out at you. Finally, I appreciate the show of support here. We've got a lot of ground to cover and we can use all the help we can get."
At his speech's end, the room began to bustle with activity as everyone scattered to began their assigned tasks.
Fourteen hours missing…
Swamped without Sara or Grissom, Catherine, Warrick and Nick along with Greg's assistance worked on their already open cases - opting to pass on a new double homicide to the swing shift. No one seemed to notice that one shift had run into the other or their complete state of utter exhaustion. They were in it for the long haul.
Later, Catherine sat in the corner dozing, while Warrick, Nick and Sara sifted through old case files when Brass burst into the break room.
"We've got activity at your house!."
"What's happening?" Sara demanded, grabbing her cell phone and pager from the table.
"The men assigned to stake out the house says they found a guy snooping around. They're holding him for me - says he's got a suspicious package of some sort - Bomb Squad's already on the way."
"I'm coming!"
"No, Sara. If this is the kidnapper's attempt to make contact, you should not under any circumstances be there." Sara opened her mouth to protest, but Brass topped her short.
"I mean it Sara."
"Okay."
"I'll call you from the house." He called over his shoulder before disappearing through the door.
"One of us should go." Nick debated. "We need eyes and ears over there."
"Nope. Ecklie's already looking for any reason to get us out of the loop. We wait here with Sara." Catherine decided for the bunch as she plopped back down into the chair.
"Hey Nick and Rick, finally got to those samples from your B&E. I got a hit off of the DNA." Even Greg seemed drained of his usual energy.
"Thanks Man. Nicky, what do you say we get a warrant for that jerk? Call us when you get word from Brass."
Fifteen hours missing…
Returning from the field, Nick and Warrick were assigned to filter through Sara and Grissom's computers - busy work from Ecklie, while Catherine went to sit with Sara.
Whenever there was a lull while waiting for lab results, the nightshift would take turns sitting with Sara while she read through closed case files. Mainly, to make sure that she rested or ate something, but also to make sure that she did not kill Ecklie. She seemed to became more and more agitated around him - of course, everyone understood why; besides Ecklie's usual obnoxious behavior, he did accuse Sara of killing her husband.
Down the hall, Brass returned to the Lab pissed. Seems that by the time he arrived, SWAT had moved in and taken down a very frightened UPS delivery man. Poor guy was delivering a rare and fragile butterfly - an anniversary gift for Grissom, Sara later explained over the telephone.
No one wanted Grissom found more than him, except Sara of course, but they needed to tone down the operation. They couldn't close down fifteen city blocks or evacuate half a neighborhood or have heavily armed SWAT members dropping from the sky via helicopter and scaring the hell out of civilians too many times in a day before the Director would question his sanity.
He decided to leave an undercover inside the residence before returning to the station with nothing more than an apology and a glass encased butterfly to offer Sara.
However, Brass quickly realized that things by no means were going to get better. No sooner than his feet touched the PD pavement, he got wind of Warrick and Nick's find. It was disturbing and he was less than thrilled with the prospect of interviewing Sara again or ever again in his life to be more accurate.
Grissom's Office…
Catherine walked into the room and found Sara dozing.
"Sara?" She hated to wake her until they had some news - well god news anyway.
"Sara?" Catherine tried again for her attention.
Sara sat up slowly from Grissom's couch, slightly disorientated . "Grissom?"
Catherine heart broke for her friend. "No, it's Catherine."
"Huh?"
"You feeling any better?"
"Yeah, I guess. How long have I been out?"
"Not long. About forty minutes."
"Oh. Any word? Did you find Grissom?"
"No Hon." Catherine was finding it difficult to meet Sara's desperate eyes.
They sat in silence for a moment, then Sara noticed Catherine's glance to her left hand which now bore her wedding band.
"I decided to wear it. Nothing to hide anymore."
Catherine smiled in understanding. "Okay. They -uh, have some more questions for you." She said while helping Sara to her feet. "I'll sit in with you."
Observation Room…
Warrick and Nick shifted uncomfortably behind the two way mirror. They knew what Ecklie and Brass had in store for Sara. After two hours of browsing, they found an unexpected possible lead.
"Sara," Ecklie started cautiously. "We found some questionable e-mails under Grissom's screen name."
"Like what?" Catherine immediately replied.
"Ms. Willows, you are only permitted here as a courtesy. This interrogation-"
"It's not an interrogation!" Brass corrected.
"You know what? I've had it with all this nightshift interference. This is my case and I should be able to interview the suspect-"
"Sara's not a suspect!" Catherine bellowed, "She's his wife!"
"And, if you weren't up to your neck in bias, you would remember that she is first to suspect.
"Ask your questions."
Ecklie, Brass, Catherine, Warrick and Nick startled at the sound of her voice as if they had forgotten she was in the room. "What questionable e-mails?"
"Did you know that Grissom put a block on all e-mails from Sender: Bugnutgfe.com."
"No."
"Where you even aware that Grissom had been corresponding with this person?" He prodded.
"No."
That's right Sara. Only answer the questions asked - a true criminalist.
Ecklie observed."Bugnut a.k.a. Linda Kirkwood." He said sliding an enlarged copy of the woman's driver's license across the table. He watched for any sign of recognition from Sara. He continued when there wasn't. "Seems the two have been friendly for over a year."
This was new to Sara but she didn't comment. Grissom had a right to a life outside of hers.
"According to saved e-mails from Grissom and Linda, they met over a year ago at some seminar he gave." Ecklie glanced at the photo again over her shoulder. Once Ecklie was able to trace the e-mails Warrick and Nick found, it didn't take much for a judge to grant Brass a warrant to search her apartment. She was a piece of work, that Linda. "Seems like his type. You two have a lot in common."
Sara looked up interested for the first time. Ecklie decided to run with it.
"Like what?"
"Both former students of Grissom's, considerably younger, similar physical features. Just guessing. Anyway, Grissom's a regular donor to Ms. Kirkwood's bug study program."
"Grissom is very dedicated and one of the top Forensic Entomologists in his field. It's no shocker that he would correspond with tons of people on a regular basis. Where are you going with this?"
"Does he usually have intimate conversations with tons of people? I'm leaning towards not."
Sara glared at him.
"Look Sara," He started in a more gentler tone. "I'm only trying to find Grissom - the rest of this doesn't interest me. I'm just following the facts and it is a fact that there is more to Grissom and Ms. Kirkwood's relationship other than bugs." He pushed several pages of e-mails in front of Sara. "If Grissom is having an affair-"
"He's not having an affair." Sara spat angrily, not bothering to read his offerings.
"If Grissom is having an affair, I'll do everything I can to keep as much as possible confidential."
"Is this all you have? First, I'm a suspect then Grissom's out screwing some bug freak and forgets to go home or come to work? Maybe the FBI should just take over now."
"Maybe, but they're not going to be as nice." Ecklie was insulted.
"Maybe we should take a break." Catherine suggested.
"Yeah." Brass agreed. This train was heading in the wrong direction.
"No, tell me what you have, you smug son-of-a-bitch." Sara challenged.
Ecklie stared her down for several minutes, then half frowned or grimaced, she wasn't sure, as he opened another folder on the table. He slowly perused the sheets before selecting several. "Phone records. More e-mails." Despite what Sara thought, he was not enjoying this. "There are dozens of calls there with supporting e-mails -as recent as this morning."
Sara's eyebrow shot up. When had Grissom had time to use the telephone? They'd spent most of the day in bed. "Um...Let me see those." She said in a shaky voice.
Ecklie, Brass and Catherine glanced at one another. As did Warrick and Nick in the observation room.
When did Grissom have time to call her three times? She wondered to herself again as she read the listing of incoming and outgoing calls. Maybe she was in the shower? Her eyes scanned the pages of mails from Linda, pausing on key words like 'love you', 'be together' and 'your wife.' Suddenly, she felt nauseous. Her eyes moved back to the photo of Linda Kirkwood. She was beautiful. "What else do you know about Ms. Kirkwood?"
The tension in the shifted.
"Linda Kirkwood, 27 year old student at LVU. Currently earning a Ph. D. in Entomology. Also runs a non for profit for some sort of bug reserve -uh." Ecklie paused to consult his notepad. "Funded with a few government grants but mainly by private donations, including heavy donations from Grissom.
"Sounds legitimate." Catherine interjected.
"The business end - maybe. Doesn't explain the other contact. It was excessive. Meetings at restaurants, coffee shops and the like. It's pretty clear what was going on."
Sara fingered the documents before her. Why had Grissom kept all the correspondences? Who saved e-mails to their hard drive?…I did. Answering her question. She had saved Grissom's e-mails after they where married.
She scanned the pages again. Why hadn't he mentioned this woman to her before? Or maybe he had but she hadn't paid attention. She blinked twice to clear her head. This was Grissom's personal mail that was spread across the table like the sales flyers from the Sunday paper. They shouldn't be reading this. She shouldn't be reading this. She shouldn't be here. Grissom was going to be so mad at her! She violated his trust. Oh God!
Sara felt the room spinning. She swallowed several times to suppress the violent urge to vomit. It didn't work. Sara bolted from the room and barely cleared the stall in the bathroom before she lost the last meal. She sank to floor when her stomach was empty and the dry heaves subsided.
To her credit, Sara had amazed herself. Amazed that it had taken her this long to melt down. Taking into account that Grissom, her husband and the only man she had ever loved was missing. Factor in that at one point she had been a primary suspect. She supposed she should be grateful that she was no longer being accused of killing Grissom to cash in on his hefty savings and life insurance policies. Of course now, there was a possibility that Grissom ran off to be with some young, beautiful, bug freak, ex-student of his, who appeared to be in love with him.
When Sara finally felt strong enough to exit the stall, Catherine was waiting for her. Sara rinsed out her mouth, washed her face then Catherine assisted her back to the room to complete the interview.
Seventeen hours missing…
"What in the hell is going on? Why is Ecklie questioning her again?" Warrick demanded as he entered the observation room.
"He's not, she just never left from earlier. I tried to get her to go home…" Nick faded off.
"Go home to what?" Warrick knew that Sara nor any member of the team would be going home or doing any serious sleeping any time soon. It was best anyway if they all stayed together until Grissom was found.
"I know, I just-"
Sara's voice interrupted theirs. Her words to Catherine where low and choked.
"I'm so scared right now." All three waited in silence for her to continue. "I love Grissom. I have loved him my entire adult life and I know he loves me. As a scientist, it's the only thing I know with absolute certainty. When I met him I knew, I just knew he was the one." She laughed out loud. "My friends thought I was crazy, they thought that it was just some crush. You know, young, handsome, a Ph. D. and so passionate about his work. But I knew better. And when we met, I knew it would only be a matter of time. Of course, I never thought it would take eleven years but I would have waited for him forever. I don't even remember what my life was like before I fell in love with him."
Sara lay her head down on the table and a heart wrenching sob escaped. "That girl is so beautiful and young. The irrational part of me is afraid that he left me to be with her. The other part of me is terrified that he didn't, that something terrible has happened to him. Because I feel like something has - in here." She placed her palm flat against her heart. "He's hurt. He's out there somewhere hurt and he needs me." She looked up to Catherine for the first time, her brown eyes pleading.
"Where is he, Catherine? Where is Grissom? I need him back. I-I need him back with me, cause I don't think I can live without him. I don't want to."
She laid her head back on the table.
"We found his truck."
Ecklie's voice said from behind Nick and Warrick.
Nineteen hours and twenty seven minutes missing…
While Warrick and Nick joined the quest for Grissom's car, Brass finally tracked Linda Kirkwood at the University and hauled her in. Catherine decided to sit out this interview. She wanted to watch the woman unnoticed - to see if she was hiding anything.
"Ms. Kirkwood, what is your relationship to Gil Grissom?" Ecklie came out swinging.
"Gil is helping me with research I need to finish my Ph. D."
"Gil? Sounds like you two are pretty comfortable with one another."
"It's not like that."
"Then what is it like, Ms. Kirkwood? Are you having an affair with Dr. Grissom?"
"No. Who told you that?"
"Doesn't matter. When was the last time you spoke with him?"
"A couple of days ago."
"You know we can arrest you for lying. Obstruction of Justice is a crime, p-"
"Ms. Kirkwood? My name is Jim, may I call you Linda?" Brass intervened with a smile.
"Sure."
"Thanks. We don't mean to take you away from your studies but we need to ask you a few personal questions. No one's in any trouble or anything. Is that all right with you?"
"Okay."
Catherine smiled at the 'good cop' 'bad cop' routine. They always fell for it.
"Linda, we know that Gil is helping you out with your degree and research project. We just need to know a little more about your friendship with him."
"This is about the e-mails, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid so." Brass agreed but really had no idea where she was going to take it.
"Look, I met Gil at a seminar he gave a while back and we just clicked. He was so interested in my work and easy to talk to." Linda reminisced briefly before continuing. "We started having coffee and working out the kinks of my business plans. I don't know…I guess I thought there was more there than it really was."
"How do you mean?" Ecklie questioned.
"I was falling in love with Gil. He's so smart, handsome and charismatic - kinda hard to resist. Yeah, I knew he was newly married at the time…but it was difficult to understand how he could be so into me and not be interested in relationship. I mean, I was practically throwing myself at him. It took a while for me to get the picture."
"Tell us about the e-mails." Brass encouraged.
"I guess I got a little carried away. After a while he just blocked them and stopped accepting my calls."
"How did this end?" Brass asked ready to wrap this up. Obviously, she was a dead end.
"He called me."
"Grissom called you?" Ecklie was curious.
"Yes. He called and told me that he was uncomfortable with my behavior, but that I had a good mind, great ideas and he would be still interested in my work if I could be professional. If I couldn't respect his position than he would withdraw his support from the program."
"I understand how things like this can get out of hand, but you fixed everything, right?" Brass prodded.
"Yeah, I called him back and he forgave me. He's my mentor now."
"It's okay that you where a little nervous when you first came in, this can be pretty intimidating." Brass waved a hand around the room and Linda nodded in agreement. "Is it possible that you were a little confused when Mr. Ecklie asked you when was the last time you spoke with Grissom?"
"Um, yeah." She fiddled with her hair nervously. "Yeah, I talked to him this morning."
"Three times, right?"
"Uh-hmm. I called and asked him to fax some papers to the office. I had to call him back to give him the number - I still get a little flustered when I talk to him."
"And the third time?"
"To confirm that I received them and then we hung up."
"Linda, thank you for your time. If we need anything else, we'll contact you."
Linda stood and turned to exit, then stopped. "Did - did Gil ask you to speak with me? You know what? It doesn't matter. I assure you that I have nothing but respect for him and will keep everything on a professional level. There's too much at stake - my research is very important to me…He-he just…no one has ever made me feel like I was the most important person in the world." She finished then left the room.
"He makes me feel the same way all the time."
Catherine started at Sara's words behind her. She never heard her approach.
"Hey there. How are you holding up?"
"I'm okay. How about you and the guys? I know that this is tough on you all as well."
"Working helps. I think that-"
Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden flurry of activity in the hall.
"What's going on?" Catherine yelled as several officers and lab techs ran towards the rear of the building .
"His truck is here. Grissom's vehicle is here!"
Sara and Catherine joined in the race to the lab's garage. Inside the garage, the usually spacious room was packed with personnel.
"Damn it! Stay back! This is evidence." Ecklie ordered breathlessly when he arrived. He then sectioned off the immediate area surrounding the vehicle with police tape. Everyone watched patiently as the dayshift CSIs, Warrick and Nick reported their findings to Ecklie. Any trace evidence had been collected at the scene, the mission now was to take he truck apart for hidden clues.
Sara squirmed her way to the front, then ducked under the tape with Catherine following.
"No way, Sidle. You're strictly hands off." Ecklie reminded.
"Just let me see. I won't touch anything." Sara promised, moving closer.
"Not a good idea, Sara. Let's go get some coffee and I'll brief you-. Sara no."
Sara tuned out Nick's words as she began to visually examine the truck. On the outside, nothing seemed out of place except for mud on the tires. She knew that samples where probably already in the Lab. The room grew quiet as they watched Sara circle the truck slowly as if committing the scene to memory. The nightshift was used her methodical style but frankly, Ecklie found it unnerving.
Catherine thought there wasn't much to see until Sara neared the passenger back door.
"Sara wait." Warrick's voice cut through the silence. Catherine and pretty much everyone in the garage thought that Warrick was going to stop Sara from her inspection, but were surprised when he handed her a pair of latex gloves.
Slipping each glove on in one fluid motion, Sara reached for the handle but was once again stopped by Warrick's voice.
"Sara, wait." He paused until he had her attention, then continued speaking. "A half dozen prints were lifted from the outside of the vehicle." Sara's eyes immediately glanced back to the dusted areas. "Inside, Sara inside the rear passenger area is evidence of someone being held and restrained." Catherine's breath caught but Sara did not respond. "We were able to collect pieces of rope that will certainly provide us epithelials. There's a large volume of blood on the back seats and along right door, probably from the same donor. A preliminary analysis suggest that the pattern of the blood came from a deep seeping wound - gunshot or knife wound. This was not the sight of the injury, this is a secondary crime scene. Multiple samples have already been taken to Greg."
Anyone not on the job would probably find Warrick's words to be cold and impersonal, but Catherine and the majority knew that he was preparing Sara for a gruesome scene.
"Are you ready?" Warrick asked in almost a whisper.
"Yes." Sara's answer was equally low, she was ready.
Warrick slipped his gloved hand underneath the door handle, careful not to disturb the prints and pulled the door open wide. Sara took in the small space with a professional eye, silently firming everything that Warrick had described.
Time seemed to stand still as Catherine watched a wave of emotions cross Sara's face.
When the CSI stepped aside mentally and allowed the wife to invade her mind, Sara panicked.
"There's too much blood."
Sara was right, there was too much blood, Catherine thought as she took in the scene also. Based on quick calculations, given the amount of blood the back seat, the wound had to be pretty deep indeed and if the blood belonged to Grissom and he sustained the injury over twenty one hours ago - it was not likely that he was still alive without any medical attention. A comforting hand from Nick on Catherine's shoulder made her turn. His eyes conveyed the same message. Grissom probably didn't make it.
Sara removed her gloves and walked out of the garage, oblivious to the crowd. She wasn't in denial. Twenty one hours missing without a call for ransom or any other demands. Grissom had probably fallen victim to a robbery or carjacking. There was too much blood loss for Grissom to have survived with that type of injury. She knew that this would eventually shift to a recovery mission but first she needed some privacy to try to figure out how to breathe.
In the garage…
"How's Sara?" Nick asked Catherine an hour after Sara had closed herself off into to Grissom's office. With glass windows and doors, there weren't concerned that she would harm herself.
"The same. Ecklie, did you get the DNA results back on that blood yet?"
"I know how to run an investigation Catherine. Your wasting my time with idiotic questions!" Ecklie shot back irritated.
"Your only worried about the twenty-four hour timeline!" Catherine accused.
"Yes, I am worried." Ecklie admitted.
"You don't want to loose this case to the Feds."
"Damn right!"
"For a minute I thought you might actually give a damn about your missing colleague."
"If the Feds take over, everything we have may be compromised or miss handled. The first thing they're going to want to do is go back to Grissom and Sara's house. You think I want that for them? I do this shit every day but it made me sick to my stomach to watch my colleague stare into space while I checked her bathroom floor for trances of blood."
"You thought she did it."
"Never did, but I had to do my job without prejudice. I won't compromise my case and go easy on her because she's a CSI. That's half the problem. What I think does not matter. The fact is, Sara is a damn fine Level Three CSI."
"And?"
"She's paid to think like a killer. She knows how to hide a body. If she really did kill Grissom, which I know that she didn't, do you think we would ever find him or trace evidence?"
"Damn."
"Double that. So let me do my job and we can bring Grissom home and put this nightmare behind us."
Greg walked down the hall towards Catherine and Ecklie in a trance like state.
"What is it, Greg? What's wrong?" Catherine asked concerned.
"The uh…I got a DNA match on the blood from the truck. The blood in the truck - is uh- the blood belongs to Grissom. All of it."
A/N: If you made it through the story and are still interested, the second part will be less dramatic. I'm not really comfortable with things being so tense so it will be a lot lighter.