Ch 12: Cockroach Racing
"Grissom!"
I turn and see Nick, a young CSI Level I, running toward me. His accent is barely there, but I've heard it described as charming by the women around the office. I wait for him to catch up to me in the hall. Brass is keeping everyone on for a double shift, but I'm on my way out with a plane to catch.
"Hey, you asked me to run those prints off the knife? Get this, they're the husband's." He looks at me, a mix of excitement and expectation painting his face. He holds out the printed report for me to look at. I don't take it.
"The husband? That doesn't make sense. Go run this by Catherine. There's something we're missing." I turn to leave, the case still on my mind.
"Grissom, where ya going?"
He looks at me expectantly. I can't tell him where I'm really going, so I say the first thing that comes to my mind: "Cockroach racing." I turn and race out as fast as I can without looking conspicuous.
As I get into my car I let out a sigh. "Cockroach racing? Where the hell did I come up with that?" I start the car and head out to the airport, realizing that I just blew it. They'll figure it out. Oh well. Then a thought occurs to me.
People actually do race cockroaches. Mostly entomologists. Technically, even though I've never considered doing such a thing, it is plausible.
Maybe I'm not caught after all.
~~~~~~~~~~
I look in the hotel's full-length mirror, checking my reflection one more time. The phone should be ringing any minute. I straighten my tie once more and start pacing around the room trying to get rid of some nervous energy. Glancing over to the bed, my eyes roam over the brightly wrapped gift. I hope she's surprised!
The phone rings and I answer, a smile crossing my features as I respond. I let the receiver fall back in the cradle, grab the gift, and head to the elevator.
I almost feel like James Bond, ready to make an entrance into the grand party and to confront the enemy: Operation Cockroach Racing is underway.
But I'm not concerned with the enemy; I'm concerned with the center of this evening's attention.
I take a deep breath and walk through the doors to the hotel's ballroom. The lighting's soft and there's a DJ at the end of the dance floor playing a pop song for the throng of teenagers dancing. The parents stand to one side, and I scan the crowd finding Maggie, dressed to the nines, talking to another mother.
I carefully make my way over, still not having seen Emma. "Hello Maggie," I announce my presence as I near her.
She turns and smiles. "Gil, glad you could make it. Gil, this is Angela Thomas, Jessica's mom." We shake hands and exchange pleasant hellos, I recognize the name as one of Emma's closest friends. "You're going to make her day, Gil." Maggie whispers. She looks happy, and that brings a smile to my face.
"Emma's said you live in Las Vegas?" Angela asks. She plays with the cup in her hands.
"Yes, I'm a Forensic Entomologist with the Crime Scene Investigation Unit of the Las Vegas Police Department. Unfortunately when they moved out here I couldn't follow." I can't help but feel inadequate as I say the words; moving sounds so simple now.
"Gil was supposed to be on a lecture tour this week. Emma was heart broken when she found out he wouldn't be able to come and begged Don to change the date, but he refused. She even called the DJ and made sure he knew not to do the Father-Daughter dance because you weren't going to be here." I look at her, a question lingering in my eyes. She knows what I'm wondering. "Taken care of, Gil." Maggie seemed almost proud of me, and it was somehow reassuring. "How did you get out of the lecture tour, anyway?"
As I begin to answer her, a laugh catches my attention. I turn my head to see Emma and Ann, along with a couple of Emma's other friends, strolling l into the room. She's wearing a flowing red ball gown, fit for a princess, and her eyes are sparkling. I turn back to Maggie. "I cancelled. If you'll excuse me?"
I turn and follow the girls toward one of the tables. Ann turns to pull her dress out from under her high heel when she catches sight of me. I put my finger to my mouth, signaling for her to be quiet as a huge grin spreads upon my face. As I near I hear Ann talking to Emma, not so discreetly glancing over to me to let me know I'm supposed to hear this conversation.
"So, where's your Dad?" She sits down, and Emma follows suit, her back to me.
"He's on some kind of lecture tour he's had booked for almost a year." There's sadness, but understanding heavy in her tone. "He said that he'll try to get out of it early to come see me this weekend, but it's not the same." She leans her head on her hand.
"So you must be pretty mad at him then. That's definitely not a cool thing to do."
"Hey, I can't be mad at him. Mom was the one who made us move, and he couldn't come. He had to do what he had to do, and he does the best he can. Just because he's not here physically doesn't mean that he's not there for me when I need him. He may be in Vegas, but he's with me more, mentally and physically, than Don ever is." She pauses, and my heart is beating fast. "I love him too much to ever be mad at him, especially for something as trivial as some party Don's throwing for me to get me to like him more and to further his reputation." I come up behind her as she sighs a deep sigh. "Doesn't mean I don't wish he were here."
I see my opening and take it. "Your wish is my command, milady." Upon hearing my voice her whole posture changes, and she turns slowly, tears in her eyes.
"Daddy! How...? Why...?" She gets up and I throw my arms around her, and I hear her sniff against my chest. I pull back and tears are dripping from her face.
"Emma! Why are you crying?" I reach into my pocket and pull out a handkerchief, dabbing it to her eyes and looking at her with concern.
"I didn't think you were coming. I'm just so happy you're here!" She leans into me again, and I smile into her hair.
"How could I miss this? No convention, no crime scene, nothing in this world is more important than you. Ever." I push her back and pick up the box from the table. "Here. You can open it and read the card and everything later."
"What is it?" She turns the box over in her hands.
"A cellular phone." Her eyes light up with disbelief. "Well, you'll be driving soon and, God forbid, you ever get stuck anywhere you'll need to call someone." She raises an eyebrow and looks at me with a different sort of disbelief now. A half smile appears on my face and I acquiesce. "Ok, I also took the liberty of signing you up for the long distance plan and programming all of my numbers: pager, cell, home, and work in there so you can get in touch with me any time. And all the bills come to me, so don't worry about how much it costs."
She starts shaking her head. "Daddy, this is too much!"
In fact, it's quite the opposite. Monthly payments on her phone won't be even half of the child support I was paying until Maggie married, but I don't tell Emma that. Before I can answer her, the DJ starts talking over us.
"Hey, is everyone having a great time here at Emma's Sweet 16?" I see Maggie slowly making her way from the booth and I know what's coming. I had specifically made sure that Maggie talked to the DJ and re-instated this part of the party. "Great! Now, can I ask everyone to clear the dance floor? It's time for that special Father-Daughter Dance! Emma, why don't you and your Dad come out here! It's my pleasure to present to you Emma Madalyn Grissom and her father Dr. Gil Grissom."
While the adult crowd was looking at Don with perplexed looks as to why he wasn't getting up, the young girls around us giggled as I led Emma onto the dance floor. The slow music started and I took Emma's hand, gracefully leading her around the floor. Emma leans into my chest as we dance. Though I feel a bit on display at first, Emma is foremost in my mind. A bright flash clues me into the pictures that people are taking, but I retreat back into the moment.
As the song ends, I lean down and kiss her on the forehead. "You don't know what this means to me, Daddy." Choked up, all I can do is hug her to me tightly. As I escort her off the dance floor to applause, she looks up at me. "So, how did you get off of work? What did you tell them?"
Emma's very aware of the fact her existence isn't public knowledge, and understands and appreciates the reasons, but really gets a kick out of the excuses I make for myself sometimes. I smile at her. "I told them I was going cockroach racing."
"Eaw! Dad!"
She smiles up at me, and I laugh with her. I am, at this moment, the happiest man alive.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Griss, how'd you do at the roach races?" Catherine looks up at me from her cup of coffee as I walk into the break room.
I smile at her, and reply simply, if cryptically. "I won."
~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Griss,
I'm sorry that I haven't gotten back to you for so long. I've had to take some time off to deal with personal issues, and felt it best to just, well, disappear until I could smooth things over.
I received all seven of your e-mails and the two letters you sent. I'm sorry that I worried you, but everything is ok now. It's something I've moved past, and that's where I'd like to leave it: in the past.
Anyway, I was going over a cold case and I could use your help with something. Give me a call when you get this.
Sara
I stared at the screen a few seconds before hitting the reply button.
Sara,
I'm glad that you've been able to work through what events took you away for the last two months. Please know that I am here to talk if you ever need an ear...
~~~~~~~~~~
I'm on my way into the lab when my phone rings, the caller ID displaying Emma's number. I rush into my office and close the door, sinking into my couch as I answer.
"Hey sweetheart, you caught me on my way into work. Is something wrong?" I'd already called earlier this morning to wish her a happy seventeenth birthday, and she never called this close to working hours unless it was an emergency.
"Daddy, I... Uh...." She was breathless and speechless. Maggie must have given her my gift: a box with a set of keys in it. "You bought me a car!"
"Yes. Yes I did." I smile and lean back, amused by her amazement. "It's used, but I had it thoroughly checked out, and it runs like a dream. As long as you keep up the payments for the insurance and the gas with the money from your new job, it's all yours." Though I love to spoil her I had to ingrain some sort of responsibility in this for her.
"Daddy! I can't believe you did this!"
"Did your mother take you to see it yet?"
"No, we're going first thing tomorrow." I can hear her playing with the keys.
"Ok, well, I need to get to work, but call me tomorrow when you get to see it, ok?" I smile and stand, heading to my desk to get ready for the upcoming shift. "Love you sweetheart."
"Love you too, Daddy."
~~~~~~~~~~
DaddyLonglegs: But pin her against a wall?
ShootingStar: lol... dad... Are you really that clueless? And really, Pink Floyd?
DaddyLonglegs: what does lol mean?
ShootingStar: Laugh out Loud.
DaddyLongLegs: Oh. I still don't like this whole thing. I feel like I'm very detached from you.
ShootingStar: you'll learn to love it. IM is the wave of the future.
ShootingStar: anyway...
ShootingStar: back to your dating faux pas...
DaddyLongLegs: I can't believe I'm talking about this with you.
ShootingStar: Only fair that if you get to ask me about my social life I can ask you about yours, so suck it up ;)
DaddyLongLegs: fine, fine. I guess it is fair.
ShootingStar: darn tootin
DaddyLongLegs: so? What did I do wrong?
ShootingStar: Daddy- there's only so much that you can do with being cerebral and dashing. (Which you are) Sometimes you just have to be romantic, which I know you can be. i.e.: push her against a wall and kiss her like you mean it.
DaddyLongLegs: Romantic. Right...
DaddyLongLegs: oh no, what did I do?
ShootingStar: you hit bold, Dad. Just hit the little B above the text box and it'll go off.
DaddyLongLegs: thanks sweetheart.
ShootingStar: No problem
ShootingStar: do you need me to get you the 'Computers for Dummies' book?
DaddyLongLegs: Haha, no thanks. I have you.
DaddyLongLegs: How do you know about all this romantic stuff, anyway?
ShootingStar: I'm a girl, dad. It's just ingrained in us. ;)
ShootingStar: Plus I read Cosmo.
DaddyLongLegs: Oh, that's stopping right now! My baby does not read Cosmo....
ShootingStar: dad!
DaddyLongLegs: Ok, ok... can't blame me for trying. It's my job!
~~~~~~~~~~
Holly Gribbs died today.
And with that one event so many things in my life have been uprooted.
I was getting ready to ask Emma to come live with me, to go to UNLV and be a permanent part of my life for a while. This whole incident has just completely forced that to the back of my mind.
Holly reminded me of her; strong willed, but easily grossed out.
Emma doesn't like chocolate covered grasshoppers, either.
There are more gray hairs appearing in the midst of brown on my scalp.
There are a few more pounds around my waist.
Emma's a senior in high school and more incredible than I ever thought she could be.
And now, as the supervisor of the night shift, I can't take as many days off for cockroach races.
I'll miss the cockroach races.
I open up the mailbox on my computer and begin typing:
Sara,
I need your help...
(TBC...)