Disclaimer: see chapter one
Catherine's POV
Sara Sidle certainly is an enigma. She's been working here for years and I apparently barely know anything about her. Yet, Greg, our lab rat turned CSI seems to know more than anyone else. And the little punk is getting on my nerves by telling me to ask Sara when I want to know something. Why can't he just tell me?
We were just pulling back to headquarters when I noticed Sofia and Sara in the parking lot. Actually, I noticed Sofia and Sara hugging. Greg noticed what I was staring at and said, "Looks like Sara's made a friend." Before I could respond, he was out of the truck and hauling evidence toward the lab.
I made my way to the back of my truck and pretended to fumble with my kit and evidence I had gathered. I was, however, busy watching as Sofia and Sara interacted. Evidently, one of them said the wrong thing and Sara made a hasty retreat into her car and sped away. Without them to focus on, I could actually gather my materials and head inside. I nearly had a heart attack as I felt a hand on my shoulder that caused me to jump and turn around to find out who was in my personal space. "Sofia! You scared the shit out of me! I thought your shift was over. What are you still doing around?" Being a friend to Sara, obviously.
"Sara needed to borrow a safety seat from the PD so I brought it by for her," she was watching me to see how I'd react to Sara needing a safety seat. I don't react. "Look, I need to ask a favor of you, Catherine."
I was walking toward the lab and she was still standing by my SUV. I stopped midstride, turned around and slipped my glasses down to the tip of my nose. "What sorta favor do you need, Curtis?"
She smiled and jogged over to me. "Yeah. Actually, it's not a favor for me. It's for Sara."
She was standing here asking me to do Sara a favor. If Sara needed something, why couldn't she just ask me herself?
"What does Sara need? And why can't she ask for herself?"
"I can't go into a lot of details with you, that's for Sara to do on her own. But I'm sure you saw the little girl she had with her earlier today. Anyway, she'll be staying with Sara for a while and Sara needs to pick some things up to make her stay a bit more comfortable. She asked me to accompany her. I told her no. I don't know much about kids and even less about what they need or want. I felt so bad about telling her no. You know how hard it is for Sara to ask anyone for anything. Can you help her?"
"Who is the little girl? And why is she staying with Sara? Who in the world could be desperate enough to leave their kid with Sara?" Sara had always said that she wasn't very good with kids. And here she was with one.
"If you want to know, then I suggest you help her. She'll be sure to tell you then."
"I don't know that she'll even accept my help." It's not like Sara and I are friends.
Sofia sighed heavily and turned to walk away. "Then make her accept it."
I considered what Sofia was saying. This was an excellent opportunity for me and Sara to get to know one another. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Sara's number.
It rang a few times before she answered it. She probably saw my name on the caller ID and considered whether or not to answer it.
"Sidle."
Even though I wasn't used to this, I was going to try and be nice. "I hear you need some help."
I knew she wouldn't accept it. "I don't know who told you that, but…" Sofia said I had to make her accept the offer.
""Knock it off, Sidle. I'm not sure exactly what is going on. That's your place to tell me if—if you ever want to. All I was told was that you are going to be keeping a little girl and needed some help, uh, shopping and things like that. I'm offering my services."
I didn't have time to beat around the bush with her. And something told me that being polite and nice weren't going to work anyway.
"I appreciate the offer, Catherine. Really, I do. But…" Don't let her tell you no. Make her accept your offer.
"Great, I'll meet you at your apartment in an hour." There. That's settled.
I'm sure Sara was completely confused and probably wondering how I knew where she lived. She asked me as much. And I couldn't help but play coy with her when I said, "There's a lot I know about you, Sara Sidle." And with that I hung up.
Now I just needed to get this evidence inside and call my mom about picking up Lindsey and taking care of her for the evening.
