Shadow Play
Chapter 12
"You know what?" Placing the kettle back down on the countertop, Grissom's expression remained completely impassive as he stared at the man standing just a few feet away. "I think I'm going to pretend that what I thought I just heard was not what actually came out of your mouth."
"You can pretend all you like, Gil." Brass shrugged. "But that was what I said and it is what I'm here to discuss."
Pouring the last of the dry dog food into the drooling Boxer's dish, Sara placed it on the floor beside the refrigerator before turning to address their visitor.
"Jim, I really don't think this is the time to-"
He quickly cut her off. "Caleb is my grandchild, Sara; I have to make sure that he's safe and protected."
"By having me apply for custody?" Grissom glared incredulously. "Your grandchild or not, Jim; I am not raising that kid."
"I really don't think it would come to that though." Pulling out a stool, Brass took a seat as he hurriedly laid out his plan. "Ellie wants that baby, I'm sure of that; if she didn't, she never would have had him in the first place. She'll realize that the court would favor you over her if it came down to a custody dispute so she'll come forward, with Caleb, just to prove you're not his father."
"Then, by all means, threaten her with it if you like but I'm not dropping the appeal."
"That won't work." Brass shook his head. "If I can't find her, I can't threaten her. It has to be official, Gil; there's no other way."
"Yes, there is; all I have to do is wait six weeks at the most and I'm going to be cleared anyway." Leaning back against the counter, both arms crossed against his chest, Grissom regarded the man opposite. "It's not going to make any difference to me whether she shows up or not; legally, I'll be off the hook."
Jim's eyes darkened as he took in his friend's self-righteous stance. "I need to do something to find that baby, Gil."
"I thought that's what you were already doing." Grissom's smile turned cold. "How's Sofia by the way? I haven't seen her for a while but then again, from what I hear, she's been pretty busy with other things."
"She's simply been asking questions on my behalf, that's all." Seemingly unsurprised by Grissom's knowledge of Sofia's activities, Jim shrugged dismissively. "Ellie only took restraining orders on the two of us, not everyone."
"And you seriously think the Family Court is going to see it that way?" With a disbelieving shake of his head, Grissom rounded the counter and headed for the stairs. "I think it's time you left."
"Gil, please?" Jim implored. "At least hear me out."
Picking up on the tension in the air, Hank took a few steps back from his food bowl and stared, first at his owner and then at their visitor before moving to sit by Sara's side. His characteristic Boxer frown deepened even further as he watched Grissom mount the stairs and stand with his hand on the door knob as he glared down at Brass.
"I've heard more than enough; now, are you going or not?"
Placing a reassuring hand on the big dog's head, Sara attempted to intervene again. "Grissom-"
"No Sara, I've had it." Looking down at her, he sighed wearily in frustration. "What Jim doesn't seem to realize is that if I apply for custody then I'm legally declaring myself that child's father; I'll be telling the world that I slept with his daughter, got her pregnant then abandoned her and the baby; that's really going to enhance my reputation, isn't it?" His attention switched to Jim. "And, don't forget, the minute I drop the appeal, that support order kicks in; your daughter would effectively own me for the next eighteen years – at least."
"If that happened I'd pay." Pushing himself to his feet, Jim hurried to reassure him. "You would never be out of pocket, Gil; I promise."
"Yeah, I can really see that working." Grissom commented sarcastically. "No way, Jim; not now, not ever."
"Could you please try and see this from my point of view?" Unwilling to accept the inevitable, Jim tried one more time. "I have a six month old grandson out there somewhere being exposed to God knows what because of the way his mother chooses to live her life. I'll do whatever I have to do to ensure his safety whether that means bankrolling Ellie through you or asking you..." Taking a deep breath, he cast a pleading glance in Sara's direction. "Both of you, to consider the custody option."
"Don't bring Sara into this." Grissom warned. "It's not fair to put her on the spot like that particularly since what you want is not going to happen."
"God Almighty, Gil." As disappointment flooded through him, Jim's patience snapped. "People raise kids that aren't their own everyday of the week; it's not that hard, believe me, I've been doing it since 1982."
"Yeah, and look how well that's turned out." Shocked by what he'd just said, Grissom wiped an exhausted hand over his face as he descended the stairs. "You know what? I don't want to do this anymore; I'm going to have a shower, go to bed and, when I get up, I'm going to pretend that this all of this lunacy never happened."
"Gil-"
"No, Jim; if I stand here much longer I'm going to end up saying something that we're all going to regret so, for the sake of our friendship, I'm going now."
Reaching out to grab Hank's collar as he tried to follow his master out of the room, Sara watched Grissom's retreating back until he disappeared into the bedroom. With an almost embarrassed glance back at Jim, she shrugged helplessly.
"I guess that didn't go quite the way you planned."
"It was worth a shot." Taking his seat on the stool again, Jim met her level gaze. "I don't suppose you could speak to him for me? Try to get him to understand how important this is to me."
"It wouldn't do any good." Sara smiled softly, trying to soften her refusal. "You know what he thinks about this whole thing, Jim; he just wants it over and done with."
"But what if you wanted to do it?" Seeing another possible solution to his problem, Jim's eyebrows rose in question. "He loves you, Sara; he'd go along with it if he believed it was something you wanted."
"Perhaps." Sara reluctantly conceded. "But it's not what I want and the fact that I love him means that I wouldn't put him in that position in the first place. I waited a long time to get what I have now and I won't risk it for anyone, Jim; not even you."
"It was asking a lot, I know that, but I had to try." Jim shoulders slumped as he finally admitted defeat. "For Caleb's sake if nothing else." He sighed heavily before looking across at her again. "No harm done?"
"Not as far as I'm concerned and, although I can't really speak for Gil, he's not usually one to hold a grudge." Stepping closer to the counter, she placed her hand lightly over his. "You'll find your grandson, Jim, I'm sure of that; one way or another, you'll find him and make sure he's all right."
He was in bed by the time she entered their room.
Lying on his back, hands linked behind his head, Grissom silently followed Sara's movements as she got undressed before rolling onto his side to face her as she climbed beneath the covers.
"I'm sorry I walked out on you." Reaching across, he entwined his fingers with hers. "It wasn't really fair to leave you with him like that."
"It's probably for the best that you did." She shrugged one shoulder. "It'd be a shame to ruin your friendship after all this time."
With his gaze fixed on their joined hands, Grissom silently nodded his agreement.
Watching him carefully, Sara frowned. "Do we need to discuss this?"
"We already have discussed it, remember: no kids; not ours, not anyone's." Lifting his head, his eyes locked with hers "I don't know what Jim though he was doing coming round here anyway; he must have known I wouldn't go along with it."
"He's desperate." Sara offered simply.
"I know that and I'm sorry for the man but he's got to realize that there's nothing I can do." Slipping his hand free, Grissom rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "Let's face it, if Ellie hadn't decided to jerk us all about like this, Jim wouldn't even know about Caleb. She's slapped him in the face with her lifestyle and her drug use and, given the opportunity, she'll do the same with that kid. He'll just be another weapon she can use against her father."
"Then you understand why he wants to find him."
"Oh, I can understand it alright and, believe me, if Caleb were my son the first thing I would do was make sure that I had custody rather than his mother but I'm not his father and I'm not responsible for him and Jim's just going to have to come to terms with that fact."
"Don't worry; I think he got the message." Only just stifling a yawn, Sara moved into his side, her head automatically settling into the hollow of his shoulder. "How about a change of subject?" She suggested. "Something a little more relaxing than Jim Brass and his family problems."
Her yawn was contagious and Grissom had a struggle to fight off one of his own. "Such as?"
"Such as where I think you could work on that Mustang of yours."
Settling herself at the break room table, Catherine glanced up at the wall clock and smiled; with a couple of hours to go before shift, she'd have plenty of time to enjoy her first coffee of the night in peace before everyone else began filing in. The lab was quiet, the members of Swing either out on cases or busy elsewhere in the building and she eased back in her chair, savoring the almost unfamiliar tranquility of the place.
Sensing movement out in the hallway, she looked up in time to catch the somewhat unexpected sight of Gil Grissom, overall-clad and covered in dirt and grime, as he headed towards her. Ignoring her presence, he walked around the table to the fridge and, pulling it open, helped himself to a chilled bottle of water. Catherine watched as he drained half the contents before pulling out a chair and joining her.
"What in God's name have you been up to?"
"Spring cleaning." Running his hand through his hair, Grissom cringed slightly at the sweaty, grimy feel and quickly wiped his hand on his pant's leg. "Although, technically this is Fall, isn't it?" Hiking up his sleeve, he checked his watch and frowned across at her. "Why are you here so early?"
"I thought you might like some help bringing Wilson up to speed on the case." Raking her eyes over his stained clothing, she gave a shudder of disgust. "Although, if you're now going to tell me that you'd rather I grab a mop and give you a hand. I think I'll be going home again."
"Don't worry, Cath; the job's all done." He smiled at the look of relief on her face. "I've been at it for hours now so the only thing I've got left to do is grab a shower and find some clean clothes."
"You stuck around after the sheriff's meeting?" Catherine's eyes widened in surprise. "I thought you would have gone home again."
"I didn't see much point." Raising the bottle to his lips, he took another mouthful. "By the time I got home and relaxed again it would have been time to head back in anyway so I decided to get stuck in here; I quite enjoyed myself actually."
"You know, for someone who was forced to spend time in a small room with both Sheriff Burdick and Conrad Ecklie you're in a surprisingly good mood tonight." Narrowing her eyes, she couldn't miss the small smirk of satisfaction on her friend's face. "I'm going to guess that all this housekeeping you've been doing has something to do with Elaine's little surprise this morning."
"It does" Smile widening, Grissom screwing the cap back on the now-empty bottle. "But I can't tell you anything else at the moment; there's someone else I have to talk to first and a lot of things hinge on what he has to say."
"Suit yourself." Catherine huffed, feigning indignation. Reaching for her cup, she watched as he casually lobbed the bottle into the nearest waste bin and smiled at his somewhat out of character action. When Elaine had first mentioned the Mustang's existence, she'd secretly wondered if it would be too much for Grissom to take on, particularly now with both the Ripper case and Ellie Brass weighing him down but seeing him now, happy, relaxed and clearly excited by the prospect of working on the car, all her misgivings faded away.
"So..." Taking a sip from her cup, she relaxed back against the chair. "How'd the meeting go anyway? Is the sheriff bringing in the Feds to help us or not?"
"We're putting in a formal request to the FBI field office first thing tomorrow morning." Idly rubbing at a greasy mark on the sleeve of his overalls, Grissom filled her in. "They'll go over what we've got so far, run it by headquarters and then decided whether or not to grace us with their presence. Lucky for me, I get to steer clear of that particular song and dance; it'll all be down to the sheriff and the lead detective." He chuckled happily. "I don't think Vega's really looking forward to it."
"Vega?" Catherine frowned. "What about Brass? He's the lead investigator."
"Not any more." Grissom told her. "The story I got is that he called in this afternoon and requested personal leave; apparently, he didn't give them much choice in the matter." He shrugged. "Needless to say, Burdick is not a happy camper."
Staring across the table, Catherine eyed her colleague carefully; Jim's actions were surprising enough but Grissom's apparent ambivalence to the situation was even more of a revelation. "What brought that on?"
"You don't want to know." Grissom rolled his eyes at the question before pushing himself to his feet. "Okay, I'm going to go get cleaned up, the others should be in soon so if you see Greg before I do tell him that I need to have a word with him, all right? There's something that I want- "
He was cut off by the beep of Catherine's cell phone and, flipping it open, she scanned the incoming message.
"Uh, sorry, Gil." Snapping the phone closed again, Catherine quickly got to her feet. "I'm going to have to head out for a while."
He shot her a concerned glance. "Problem with Lindsey?"
"Oh, you know what teenage girls are like; everything's a drama." Lifting her cup, she carried it over to the sink. "I'm sure it'll turn out to be nothing but I'd better swing by and check anyway. I'll try not to be late back for shift but-"
"Don't worry about it, Cath." Pushing his chair in, Grissom watched as she headed for the door. "Do what you've got to do; I'm pretty sure the rest of us we can keep things ticking over until you get back."
"No doubt you can." Catherine grinned at the unexpected sarcasm and decided she was right: that Mustang was going to be good for him. "But, just in case, I'll try to make it back as soon as I can."
Checking the directions on her cell phone again, Catherine turned her car into Janis Lane and pulled into the first empty parking spot she came to; as familiar as she was with this part of Vegas, she couldn't remember ever being down this particular street before. Small factories and workshops lined both sides of the road and at first glance, she wondered if the information in the message had been wrong; then, after a second, closer examination of her surroundings, she found what she was looking for tucked away between a print shop and a dry cleaners.
"Found you at last." The small bar was almost empty and she'd seen him the moment she'd stepped through the door; now, sliding into the booth opposite Jim Brass, Catherine smiled warmly. "You know, if you wanted to buy me a drink all you had to do is ask; there's really no need for all this cloak and dagger stuff."
"Sorry, Cath." He returned her smile with a weary one of his own. "Asking you to meet me here was a last minute thing; I hope you don't mind."
"Of course I don't." She examined him closely, taking in both the crumpled clothes and the bloodshot eyes. "How long have you been here?"
"Couple of hours." Lifting his whiskey glass, he drained what remained of the contents. "It's as good a place as any to kill some time."
She nodded towards the empty glass "And how many of those have you had?"
"Just two." Catching sight of the dubious look on her face, he chuckled. "I don't plans on getting drunk, Catherine, just looking for a little... relaxation."
"There are better places to find it, you know?" Crossing her arms on the tabletop, she leaned forward slightly. "Like home, for instance."
He ignored her suggestion and gestured towards the bar. "Can I get you anything? Soda? Wine?"
"No thanks, I'm fine." She watched for a minute as he fiddled with the corner of his coaster before deciding a prompt was in order. "So, I hear you're taking some leave."
"Yeah, I decided I needed some time off." Both shoulders rose in a shrug. "Let's face it, I'm so preoccupied at the moment I'm not going to be much help on the investigation anyway." He looked up. "I'm going to guess that they've handed the case over to Sam." At her nod of confirmation, he smiled. "That's good; it's in safe hands."
"I agree." Catherine concurred. "So… what am I doing here, Jim?"
"I'm hoping I'll be able to convince you to help me out with something." He paused slightly, memories of Grissom's earlier denial still fresh in his mind. "Not that I've had much luck when it comes to asking for favors lately so feel free to say no; everyone else does."
Remembering the conversation in the break room, Catherine frowned. "I take you've fallen out with Gil."
"Not fallen out exactly but I think it's fair to say that he's not exactly impressed with me at the moment." Jim managed a slight smile. "If he's in a bad mood tonight you can definitely blame me."
"Actually, his mood's pretty good; I just left him at the lab." Catherine was surprised to see a quick flicker of annoyance cross his face and decided to move the conversation on. "Okay, what do you need me to do?"
"I want you to keep an ear to the ground for me." Pushing the empty glass out of the way, Jim mimicked her posture. "At the moment, I don't have an idea where Ellie is; she'd not here in town, I'm sure of that but I need to locate her and that baby." He took a breath. "Now, whether he likes it or not, Grissom's the only link to her that I have; if she does show herself, for whatever reason, he'll hear about it long before I will and, if that happens I need to know about it – quickly."
"He's not going to keep that from you, Jim; he knows how much it means to you."
"Considering the way things went this morning, I'm really not sure that I can rely on that just now." Jim shrugged. "That's why I need you."
"Look, I'm happy to help you out but I really don't think we need to take things this far." Catherine glanced at her watch. "How about coming back to the lab with me now? The two of you can sit down and sort out your difference; we'll get this settled once and for all."
Frustration growing, Jim shook his head. "That's not going to work, Cath; I don't have the time."
"What?" Confused, she frowned across the table at him. "Why?"
"Well for one thing, I'm booked on the 11pm flight out of Vegas."
TBC
