Chapter 3
Silence From The Lamb
"Nick!" Greg called, panicked, "She's not here." He told him after checking the back of the car, "I told you we should have picked her up." He spat, unable to control his frustration,
"Where is she?" Nick demanded, gun still held over the driver, even though they both knew it was futile,
"Where is who?" he replied in a measured voice,
"The girl, where's the girl?" Nick pressed furiously, his desperation only heightening his emotions, knowing that he was probably telling the truth, she was long gone.
"I don't know what the Hell you're talking about." He spat, peeling himself from the front of the car and flipping round to angrily face Nick,
Nick snapped, lunging for him, snarling before they were pulled apart by uniformed officers.
"Russell." Greg tautly told the radio, knowing that they would be waiting with bated breath for the news to filter in, "Morgan's gone." Was all he could manage to tell them before switching the radio off and stalking back to the car, hearing Nick slam his hands on the hood of the car they had just pulled over.
He tossed the radio through the open window, running his hands through his hair in despair as he flattened himself against the roof, the cold metal pressing in to his skin, the only thing that tied him to reality as he closed his eyes and allowed the rush of images to overcome him.
He could still see her. The last image of her still plastered over his eyes. He had seen the look in her eyes as she stood there, vulnerable and scared. She had wanted them to pick her up; she too had known that something was amiss and now she was paying for it.
He heard someone walking up behind them and felt Nick's sympathetic hand on his shoulder as he said blankly,
"We have to process the car."
"You do it." He snapped, the adrenaline that had coursed through him as they had raced to pull over the SUV and his anticipation at finding Morgan had found no release with the relief that should have come upon finding her. Instead it stayed, coursing through his veins like a poison, making them swell and stretch, pressing against his skin and making it difficult to think or even to breathe, despite the open, deserted road and the fresh, cool air that wafted mockingly through his throat.
The only way he had of allowing it to pass from his system was through frustration and anger that he unwillingly took out on Nick,
"It's your fault that she's in this miss." He continued, pushing him back as he walked closer towards the other man, away from the car, pointing at him in accusation, "I told you that it didn't feel right. That we should have picked her up and you said no. You were more than happy to do the job for both of us then so go and do it now. You can process the car yourself."
"Come on Greg-" Nick began gently, trying to reason with him,
"No." He spat, "No 'come on Greg', you weren't so keen on taking my opinion on board back there were you?"
"It was the right thing to do-" he tried, his own feelings working their way in to his voice,
"What? It was right to just let her go off herself, again. To just let her walk straight in to his trap? Just so you could play the hero and rescue her and catch the killer all on your own?" Greg snarled, continuing to push him back,
"No, that's not fair Greg." Nick snapped, beginning to push back, "I care about just as much as you do. I was following our instructions-"
"'Our instructions' won't bring her back." Greg snapped,
"No, and neither will this!" Nick told him loudly, "We can argue about who was right and wrong later, when we've found her, but right now, she has to be our priority." They both saw the sense in this and were quiet for a moment, both breathing hard, until Nick said, "So what do you say? Are you going to help me process the car or not?"
"I'll get my kit from the back." Greg replied, tautly,
"Good man." Nick said quietly, turning grabbing his own from the back seat and heading back to the car, watching Greg for a moment as he braced himself against the car, taking a moment to collect himself. He allowed him that much.
Returning to the car, torch in hand, he glanced quickly in to the back of the car before he noticed the driver, face still plastered against the tinted glass window opposite him, leering at him, knowing full well that he could see him. Snapping, he turned and stalked back to him, deliberately catching him in the eyes with the beam of the torch as he demanded again, deliberately stalling on every word,
"Where is she?"
"I don't know." He said, imitating Nick,
"Sure you do." Nick snapped, "Because I watched her getting in to this car, same plates and everything, so even if she swapped cars, you still know who she was and that means you lied to me Jake, so I'll ask you again, where is she?"
"Not in the backseat." He smirked,
"Yes, thank you Inspector Clouseau, I can see that she's not in the car for myself thanks." Nick growled,
"I didn't say that she wasn't in the car." He quipped, eyes glinting maliciously, "I just said that she wasn't in the backseat..."
Snarling, Nick pushed himself away from him and met Greg on the other side of the car, murmuring tightly,
"Has anyone checked the trunk."
"No." Greg replied grimly,
They both made their way round to the back of the car and carefully ran his hands under the latch of the boot. Lifting it, he felt his heart jump in to his throat as he turned to look at Nick in horror.
Finn stared at the screen, feeling her colleagues tense around her, as shocked as she was by the little black words that had etched themselves on to the screen and their eyes alike,
Sara? Wasn't it?
The only person she could see who did not look entirely thrown by this was Russell. Concern had settled in behind his blue eyes but not total shock as the rest of them were currently being hypnotized by.
Before she could quietly take him aside and ask him what she knew he knew, Ecklie stepped in for her, tact, as ever, taking precedence in his enquiries,
"Sara?" he hissed, looking at the screen, "What does she have to do with all of this? Where is she?"
"I think she went up North." Russell told him tautly, "I gave her some time off a few days ago for personal reasons." He added quietly, not wanting to say more than he had to on the subject, aware of the audience he had and also aware of the lengths Sara had gone to to keep this quiet.
"You don't think that this could be involved though?" Ecklie asked concern flashing across his features, "That the killer could somehow have her, as well as Morgan and Ellie?"
"No, no..." Russell said distractedly, trying to keep himself together as he considered this for a moment, "This guy's a narcissist, he craves attention, fear...If he had her; we would know about it."
"OK, what about-" Ecklie began, but he was cut off as a young man in a crisp black suit, rounded the corner, hurried towards the door and, panting slightly, announced to the room,
"Sheriff Ecklie, sir? Could you come with me please? There's something that I need you to look at?"
"Can it wait?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and looking irritated,
"No sir, I'm sorry." He replied, eyes almost falling from his head as he attempted to wrestle with the idea of Ecklie not complying with what he had asked,
"Alright then..." he sighed, pushing himself away from the desk, "Keep me informed." He said deliberately, directing these words at Finn who grimaced slightly but said nothing.
Russell moved quietly to the door, making to head across the corridor to where Brass was now comforting his almost hysterical wife, to offer them his office and a little more privacy, but Finn caught his arm urgently and said in a soft whisper,
"What do you about Sara?"
"It's nothing Jules, I, he doesn't have her." He tried to brush her off quietly,
"Whether he has her or not, you're worried about her. Why? What did her time off for?"
Russell sighed, knowing that she knew him too well for him to be able to convincingly lie to her about this and that she cared too much about Sara to let this drop without a satisfactory explanation,
"Sara came to me and told me that a serial rapist she had helped put away in San Francisco, Lyle Brinks, was up for parole. She wanted to go and testify. I let her go, told her to take a few days to herself."
"Do you think he could be connected to this?" she asked softly,
"Honestly, I don't know..." he said, shaking his head, "He's toying with us, playing games."
"Have you spoken to her since she went up North?" Finn asked quietly,
"No, no I haven't actually..." Russell said, concern flashing across both of their faces at these words, "I'll call her." He said tautly,
He pressed the phone to his hear as he and Finn waited nervously for a reply,
"Hi this is Sara Sidle, I can't take your call right now but if you leave me a message I'll get back to you."
He shook his head tightly and hastily proceeded to leave a message that reflected the worry that had flared within him,
"Hey Sara, it's Russell, listen, do me a favour, and I know this will be hard for you but please, humour me, stay put until I can get in touch would you? Keep yourself safe and try and stay out of bother for a few days if you could." He paused before adding, "And could you call me when you get this please."
He hung up, glancing at Finn who drew a deep, steadying breath, forcing her composure to return to her as she said quietly,
"OK, wherever Sara's at, she's going to have to stay there and fend for herself. Without anything else to go on, there's nothing more we can do for her, so."
"Right, so..." he said quietly, pulling himself together and quickly taking charge once more, "Can you pull all of the CCTV cameras around the hotel, follow Morgan as far as you can..." he told her, already planning what he was going to do with the rest of his team, heading across the corridor and gently crossing the room to speak to Brass and Nancy, "Jim..."He murmured quietly, "If you two want some privacy...My office is free."
"Thanks Russell." He said grimly, voice grating, eyes still darting towards the blackened screen of the laptop, still perched innocently at the side of the room,
Russell followed as Brass carefully led his ex-wife through the lab, eyes full of sympathy and curiosity raked over them before they were enveloped by the warm darkness of Russell's office.
Brass settled a still shocked Nancy on the chair in the corner, allowing her to accept the tissue Russell offered her before taking the other man aside and murmuring grimly,
"Sara?"
Russell paused, knowing how much the other man cared about the tenacious brunette and deciding to be frank with him,
"Honestly Jim I don't know for sure. Last I heard she had arrived in San Francisco, she was going up to testify in a parole hearing. To the best of my knowledge, she's safe."
"But there's still a chance that she's not?" Brass breathed darkly,
"There's always a chance, you know that." Russell told him quietly, "But she's tough. And she's smart. She can look after herself."
"Yeah, you know that's true..." Brass said, "I would almost feel sorry for him." He added with a hint of black humour before lowering his voice and saying tautly, "But if he's hurt her as well..." he broke off, shaking his head, "When you find him." He said darkly, moving back towards Nancy as he spoke, "Keep him away from me."
Russell nodded and quietly backed from the room, giving them privacy as Brass laid a tentative hand on his ex-wife's shoulder and she threw it off, pitching forwards, eyes streaming, shaking her head, still clearly in shock.
"What is happening?" she breathed, her voice cracked and broken as she turned to him, watching Russell leave, gently closing the door behind him, "Why is this happening Jim? What has she done for this-"
"Hey, hey, that's enough." He told her sharply, "She hasn't done anything to'deserve' this. He's a psychopath. He doesn't need reason, or motive-"
"But he had opportunity didn't he?" she said, shaking her head, "He could get to her because she was vulnerable. Because she was alone. Because she didn't have anyone to look out for her. She didn't have you."
"Come on, Nance-" he began, shaking his head at this,
"No." She said tautly, shaking her head as she choked, "No, she was in Vegas. She was here. And she didn't come to you for help, for anything. She turned her back on you because you turned your back at her and she could forgive you for that and now she's-"
"No she's not, she's not anything. I will find her Nancy. I will bring her home. I promise I'll bring her home..." as he spoke the last words, he found her turning to him and falling in to his arms, choking on the weight of her tears, her anger evaporating and turning to grief and fear, wanting nothing more than to take comfort in him again and to believe him.
"Please...Please..." she whispered in to his shoulder, crushing the little white tissue Russell had given her in her hand, her surrender, her dying white flag to the cruel world.
"What did you get?" Russell asked Finn, walking from his office back to the AV-lab and sliding in to the room beside her,
"This." She replied tightly, playing the tape for him.
It did not take him long to notice what she had picked up on, sighing, he pulled the glasses from his face and ran a hand over his face saying,
"It's on a loop."
"Yep." She replied tautly, "Someone's messed with the tapes, probably our killer, so we've got nothing."
"Right..." he said quietly, catching sight of the journalist hovering outside and losing track of what he had been about to tell her, branching off grimly as he said, "Get rid of him, would you? I'm going to call Nick and Greg, see what they've got."
"Do you have any preference as to method?" she replied darkly, narrowing his eyes at him,
"No," Russell replied distractedly, adding lightly, "I'll help you bury him later."
Finn turned and stalked out in to the hallway almost walking in to Merchiston and without so much as a preliminary 'Hello', demanded sharply,
"Do you ever sleep?"
"Coming from the woman who hasn't even considered such a notion in what, going on six days now?"
"I'm a professional insomniac." She snapped tautly, placing her hands on her hips as she said, "Go home."
"I'm renting." He quipped smoothly,
"Get out." She countered easily, "There's nothing for you here tonight."
"Alright, alright, I get the message." He said, raising his hands in mock surrender as he backed away from her, "I'll see you in the morning."
"I'm looking forward to it already." She retorted coldly,
She sighed, shaking her head as he made his way out of the lab, bracing her hands in the small of her back and feeling herself deflate slightly, closing her eyes,
"Hey..." Russell murmured quietly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and causing her to look up at him, "I did tell you to get rid of him and not to verbally assault him right?"
"It achieves the same end." She said, shaking her head slightly and sighing as she added tightly, "Besides, he's had it coming all night; if I had had to spend another ten minutes with him I would have done more than 'verbally' assault him."
"You know he had a point, about your sleeping."
"So did I." She replied bluntly without looking at him,
"Yeah, maybe..." he murmured softly, "But it's not good for you Jules, I worry."
"It's fine." She said coolly, tensing as she sensed them going down this road again,
"No, it's not, look, maybe you should go to, try and-"
"A psychotic serial killer has kidnapped Brass' daughter and Morgan and you want me to go home and sleep?" she demanded, shaking her head in disbelief,
"You're no good to any of them if you keel over in the middle of a crime scene." He shot back,
"It's fine." She said again, cutting him off with another question before he could protest any more, "What did you get from Nick and Greg?"
Nick and Greg both stared at the empty jacket lying neatly on the floor of the boot before them, both of them recognising it as Morgan's. Nick started towards the smirking driver once again, snarling but Greg caught his arm, shining his torch in to the darkened space and pointing to the beginnings of a blood pool that was creeping out from beneath the fabric.
After taking several shots of the jacket in place, Nick gingerly lifted it out, placing it in to an evidence bag, revealing a large, and clearly fatal blood pool beneath. They both glanced at one another knowing what it meant for Morgan, guilt twisting their stomachs.
Greg allowed the beam of his torch to kiss up to the scarlet pool once more, starting as he noted the large, cut-out letters splashed across the surface of the crimson liquid,
F.R.A.U.D
On a whim, he grabbed a swab from his kit and dabbed the blood from the boot on to a spotting tile, feeling his something leap within his chest, attempting to drag him upwards for a moment as he showed Nick, telling him softly,
"Blood's not hers...It's not even human...Fake. Fraud."
"Alright then..." Nick said, nodding quietly.
They were interrupted by his phone.
"Russell?" he asked curtly, raising it to his ear. He listened for a moment before hastily summarising what had happened and then listening for a few more minutes, nodding as he hung up. In response to Greg's questioning look he said,
"Russell wants us to stay here and finish processing the car then join Finn at the hotel. He's sent her there to start processing."
"Is she lost?" Jake sneered, interrupting them as he caught sight of them once more his malicious eyes never leaving Nick's,
"Get him out of here." Nick snarled to the officer who was holding him against the car. He pulled him off and began to tug him towards the car but he dug his heels in, wanting to say his final piece before he was dragged away and his fun was spoilt. Grinning broadly at them both, eyes wide, tongue gently caressing the corner of his mouth he whispered in a sleek voice tinged with insanity,
"Poor little lost lamb...Whatever will become of her if she can't find her way home in time?"
A/N: As a little note now, I have no idea how long this is going to end up being, I'm hoping it will keep me occupied over the hiatus though ;) Leave a review if you can be bothered! Thanking you all :)