A/N: All mistakes in this story are my own. I would like to specially thank my friend, Demented Scream, for her help in reading the story, giving me feedback and keeping me motivated to write more. The story is currently near completion, many many chapters down the road. I've always posted a story as I was writing it and then run into a dead end, so posting a story when it's almost complete is new for me.

Chapter Two: Someone Will Pay

Catherine drove to the hospital while Sara sat quietly in the passenger's seat.

"Are you okay?" Catherine asked.

"Yes," Sara replied shortly.

"You're just quiet tonight," Catherine shrugged.

"I've been having some personal problems. Nothing serious, nothing I want to talk about either," Sara explained.

"Oh? Problems with this mysterious new lover of yours?" Catherine raised an eyebrow.

Sara furrowed her brow, "How the hell…"

"Lucky guess, you just confirmed it. You've been so much happier lately; I just assumed there was a new man in your life. So who is he?" Catherine grinned.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sara smirked, "anyway, we had a big fight this morning and I guess it's put me into a bad mood tonight."

Catherine shook her head, "Men. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

"Isn't that the truth?" Sara actually laughed, "I love him. He's just…so stubborn sometimes and he doesn't always consider my feelings when he does and says things."

"Well, I'd love to give you some advice, but since I don't know anything about your mystery man, I'm afraid this one's all yours," Catherine said teasingly.

"Nice try, but you're not going to get it out of me that way," Sara sighed, "I can deal with him on my own. I'm just dreading going home in the morning."

"You live with him?" Catherine was genuinely surprised.

Sara silently cursed herself for letting on too much, "Yeah."

"I didn't know it was that serious. How long has this man been in your life?" Catherine questioned.

"Long enough," Sara said, "looks like we're here."

"You win this round, Sara, but this is not over yet," Catherine said ominously as they exited her vehicle.

The walk towards the hospital let their conversation slip to the back of their minds as they re-focused on the case at hand. They talked to the admissions clerk of the ER, flashed their badges and got a list of patients involved with the car accident. Fortunately for them, it had been a busy night in the ER and none of the patients had been released yet though most of them had only minor injuries.

First on the list was a Frank Martinez, age 54. He was listed in good condition with only some minor scrapes and bruises. Sara and Catherine asked the clerk where to find him and found him sitting up on a bed. He had mostly gray hair with some of his original darker hair still showing in spots. There were a couple scratches on his face, but otherwise, he appeared to be okay.

"Hello, are you Frank Martinez?" Catherine started.

"Yes I am," Frank replied, phrasing it so that his response also asked who she was.

"I'm Catherine Willows and this is Sara Sidle, we both work for the Las Vegas Crime Lab," she explained.

"Crime? Oh my God, am I going to jail?" Frank asked.

"No sir, at least I don't think so. We're just investigating the accident that you were involved with tonight," Sara jumped in.

Frank's hands began to shake, "Did…did someone die?"

Catherine and Sara exchanged a glance before the older CSI replied, "Yes, sir I'm afraid so."

"Ooooooh," he visibly deflated at this news, "it's my fault."

"Which vehicle were you driving Mr. Martinez?" Sara asked.

"The Dodge Ram 3500 is mine. I'm the one that hit the other cars," Frank admitted, "but that jack ass in the SUV just came into my lane without looking. I was trying to avoid that collision. I think he might have clipped me, but in the adrenaline of the moment, I'm not sure. Maybe it would've been better off if I'd just let him hit me instead of…those other cars I hit were so small."

"Did you get a good look at the SUV that almost hit you?" Catherine queried.

"Not really, no. It was red, that's all I could tell you. I just swerved and I never thought I'd hit anyone else. It was like I wasn't in control of my own body when this all happened. But I guess I was going faster than I thought, I don't know," Frank was fighting to maintain control of his emotions.

"Do you know exactly what happened after you swerved?" Catherine prodded.

"Well, like I said, I must've been going faster than I thought because I was across that median before I knew it and I hit that convertible. Then I just don't know why, but instead of trying to correct back to the median or something, I just kept barreling forward. It all happened so fast, I didn't have time to think about what was going on. I never meant to hit anyone," Frank sighed heavily, "so who did I kill?"

"We don't really have any information on any of the other people involved right now," Sara put in.

"I hope God will forgive me for what I didn't mean to happen," Frank sniffled, "did you find that red truck that caused me to swerve?"

"Not yet, that's why we're interviewing lots of people. We have to try and find that vehicle and its driver so that we can fully piece together what happened tonight," Sara explained.

"Thank you for telling us what you know, we may be in contact with you again soon," Catherine told the man, "but now we have some more people to interview."

The next four names on the list were apparently those of a family. All four of the people shared the last name of Daniels. There was Sam Daniels, age 35, Lily Daniels, age 32, Jonathon Daniels, age 6, and Bailey Daniels, age 3. Catherine's heart skipped a beat when she noticed the 'D' next to Sam, Lily and Jonathon's names, indicating they were deceased.

"The three fatalities were all from one family," she breathed.

"Oh no," Sara sighed, "and the little girl is still alive?"

"For now, either their records aren't updated yet or she's still hanging on. They must be the ones who were in that Honda," Catherine shook her head, "it's a miracle the little one is still alive if she is."

"That car was…well, you saw it," Sara couldn't even think of a word for the wreckage.

"I know," Catherine took a deep breath.

"Who's next on the list?" Sara broke the silence a moment later, knowing that they had to move forward in the investigation while memories were still fresh.

"Um, Caitlyn Conway is next," she read from the list.

They found their way to Caitlyn Conway and found that she was a passenger in the Mercedes convertible. She was in town visiting her sister and they had been on their way home from a casino with her sister's husband. It was clear that Caitlyn had been drinking and didn't really know anything useful about the accident. So the CSIs moved on to Caitlyn's sister, Sandra Warner.

So far of the people they'd visited, Sandra was the most visibly injured. Her nose was clearly broken and she was quick to point out that the airbag had done it. Her wrist was also in a brace, not broken, but injured by the force of the airbag's deployment. She was pretty upset about the accident and was concerned that her husband was going to be very angry with her.

Sandra sobbed, "It's a brand new, 2007 model. It's worth over $100,000. This is the first time he's let me drive it and he's going to kill me!"

"It was an accident, not your fault. I'm sure he's more concerned about you," Catherine tried to reassure her.

"You don't know my husband," Sandra shook her head.

"He can't blame you, you were going north and this big truck comes out of the southbound lanes and hits you," Sara said, "nothing you could've done to avoid it."

"I know, but he'll say something like if he was driving it never would've happened," Sandra sniffed, "he's just like that."

"So, your sister told us you were all at a casino tonight. Was anyone drinking?" Sara asked.

"My husband…and Caitlyn. But not me, I was the lucky designated driver tonight. I usually end up driving so I don't drink much outside home. My husband doesn't mind driving after having a few, but I refuse to drink anything," Sandra explained, "please, check my blood alcohol if you need to be sure."

"The hospital has probably already done so, ma'am. Standard procedure in an automobile accident, they want to make sure no alcohol contributed," Sara explained.

"Anyway, thank you for your time and for answering our questions," Catherine finished up.

The last name on their list was, of course, Mitch Warner, Sandra's husband. Based on their visit to Sandra, they knew to expect an angry man and they were not disappointed.

"Oh great, the cops are here. I need you to find the asshole that hit my Mercedes and make sure he pays for my car!" Mitch greeted them.

"Do you recall what happened tonight, sir?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, I remember I let my wife drive my brand new Mercedes because I had a few to drink at the casino. I remember that we were driving home and I remember that some jackass hit my fucking car!" Mitch shouted.

Catherine raised her eyebrows, "You don't have to yell at us, Mr. Warner. We're just asking for any information that might help us sort out what happened tonight."

"I told you what happened!" Mitch snapped.

"Yes, but there was a lot more to the accident than you," Sara informed him, "three other vehicles were involved and three people are dead right now because of it!"

Mitch seemed to be taken slightly aback, then muttered, "Someone's going to be paying for my $100,000 car."

2nd A/N: Thank you to those of you who are reading and especially to those of you who have reviewed so far, I appreciate all of you very much. :) Can't wait for Dead Doll on Thursday!