AN: Thanks for the support and reviews from last chapter. Here is your new chapter.
Chapter 21: Shedding light on the case
Sara put Isabella to bed earlier than usual then started pacing again. She couldn't sit still and she kept looking at her phone willing it to ring with news about Grissom, Thomas and even Aubrey. Her pacing and hoping was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. Her eyes look in that direction then not a second hesitation she walked to it and opened it, revealing Catherine.
After getting over the small surprise she said. "Catherine what are you doing here? You should be at the lab hel..."
Catherine cuts her off. "DB told me to cool down."
Sara shows her another look of surprise and understanding on what Catherine meant then asked. "You displayed your disbelieve too?" Catherine nodded and Sara continued still with a surprised look. "So you are on my side? Pretty much the first time in a long time, if ever."
Catherine chuckles a little and said. "Yeah. That's what my reaction was when I was driving here." Sara smiles a little then a second later she losses it and Catherine brings her in a hug and said. "It's ok we will find them."
Sara sighed while sniffling and replied. "I hope so."
After a few seconds in a hug they pull back and Sara moves out-of-the-way so Catherine could walk inside the house.
Sara shuts the door and as they were walking to the couch Catherine mentioned. "I saw the pictures of you and Thomas." Sara was about to open her mouth when Catherine puts her hand up to stop her and said. "I know. You don't have to say anything."
"Thank you Catherine."
Catherine nodded then after a few minutes of silence and after they sat down she speaks again. "As I was driving here I thought more about this case and how it changed from what we originally thought." Sara looks at her interested in what she came up with. "At first it seemed like this was about Thomas but considering the suspect took Grissom too, I'm beginning to think it had always been about you." Catherine looked at Sara and she was about to open her mouth but Catherine continued before she could. "As we established with Mia, she was paid from the suspect to observe from a far and just taking pictures." Sara nodded and Catherine continued. "I think somewhere along the line when the suspect somehow found out about Grissom, he or she wanted Mia to get closer to Thomas so that she could be around the three of you a lot more and see how you guys acted around each other."
Sara shakes her head and asked. "Why would the suspect want to know all about us?"
"Ok bear with me here for a second." Catherine stopped to clear her throat and continued. "How was Thomas when he found out about Mia's deception?"
"Hurt, angry, it was like it weakened him."
"Exactly, he was vulnerable, off his game and because the suspect had all this information on him from Mia, he or she knew what made Thomas tick and knew when and how to take him."
Sara did an involuntary shiver, she knew she had a bad vibe about Mia but she never thought she could be this devious then she nodded and replied. "And since Mia wasn't around when Thomas had met Aubrey the suspect was watching that development happen themselves." She stopped for a second to shake her head as another shiver passed through her. She still couldn't believe that somebody would do this to them then continued after she cleared her throat. "So when they had met. Aubrey had the potential on making Thomas more venerable if anything happened to her. So the suspect took her as an insurance, just in case Mia's death & deception didn't make Thomas react how the suspect wanted or expected."
Catherine nodded with a small smile, glad that Sara was on the good side of the law then she continued from were Sara left off. "Then again because of Mia, the suspect knew the history of you and Thomas and how close you guys still were." Catherine stopped, sighed, shook her head and continued. "And with that information the suspect knew that sending those altered date pictures would push the right buttons to make Grissom insecure and vulnerable and knew the right time to take him too."
Sara didn't want to mention what else made him vulnerable. She pinches the bridge of her nose while closing her eyes this was a lot to take in and it was starting to make sense except for a couple more things so she opens her eyes, looks at Catherine and asked. "Ok that all make sense, but why me & the guys? And who is the mastermind behind all of this? I could go through thousands of case files and I still wouldn't know where the answer will be."
Catherine thinks about that for a minute then said. "I don't think you have to go through all your cases." Sara looks at her with a raised eyebrow and Catherine continued. "I think it has to do with the Charles Whitefield case." Catherine looked at Sara and spoke again. "And how the suspect killed Mia I don't think he or she was trying to be a copycat, I think using the Roman numeral number on Mia's arm was to get your attention or maybe he thought he was too cocky and didn't think we would figure it out.
Who is the suspect? Something tells me it's someone close to one of the three victims of the original case.
Why you? I know it's not rational thinking on their part but maybe the suspect is blaming you in someway for the death of that particular victim, like it was your fault they died. You know revenge and anger are powerful motives no matter how irrational their thinking is especially if it has been building up for the past two years."
Sara slowly nods and Catherine finished with. "And the big question why Grissom and Thomas? Well they are closer to you then anybody else except your daughter and if you had lost one or both of them it would hurt you deeply and I think that's exactly how the suspect wants to make you feel and live through because that's how they have been feeling and living through." Sara was going to open her mouth but Catherine gives her another smile and continued, knowing what she was about to say. "I know that Grissom is your world and that you love him like no other man who you had ever met and will ever meet in your life but it would also be naïve to think that at anytime you didn't have feelings toward Thomas. He came into your life at your lowest point and showed you another path and was there for you selflessly. You would have to be some kind of robot to not feel anything for the guy."
Sara has a small smile and said. "He really was selfless wasn't he?"
Catherine chuckled a little and said. "Are you kidding? He would have walked in front of a car for you, the first day you guys met. Yes he was and it only doubled when that little girl was born." Sara nodded then looked down with a small smile. Catherine watched her for a minute then asked. "Did you know right away that they were both crazy about you?"
Sara looked at Catherine and replied. "With Thomas it pretty easy to spot but with Grissom it was a lot harder and took a little more time to figure out because he kept his feelings so close to himself for so long."
Catherine nodded, she could totally see that then she said with a small snort. "Yeah, when is something not hard when it comes to Grissom?"
Sara chuckles a little, gets up from the couch, walks over to one of the pictures of the two of them and said while picking it up and looking at it. "Falling in love with him was the easiest thing I did in my life." Sara wiped a tear away and continued while Catherine was getting up and walking up to her. "It was making him see it and believe it, that was the hard part." Sara stops again then shakes her head and continued. "But you know what? Even after everything we have been through and still going through. All the ups and downs, the back and forth, I don't regret ever being with him and if I had a chance to do it all over again, I would. I might pick out some of the ugly parts and do things differently but only if he is the man by my side at the end of the day." She closed her eyes trying to hold in the rest of her tears but when Catherine puts her arm around her shoulder it broke her.
Sara started to cry for all the years that they wasted, for the way they all had been played, for two of the most important men in her life being used to hurt her, and for Aubrey who should have never been involved and was taken just to make Thomas vulnerable.
She also wished with all her might that they were still alive. She vowed if this mystery suspect did anything to them, he or she will pay.
When Sara calmed down, she pulled away from the older woman and while she was wiping her tears off her cheeks she said. "Sorry Catherine."
Catherine shook her head and replied. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Sometimes those emotions just sneak up on even the strongest women and in a time like this no one will judge or blame you, ok?"
Sara nodded and wiped the remaining tears away and as she as putting the picture back down her cell phone rings. She told Catherine to excuse her and walked to the coffee table, picked up her phone and answered. "Sidle."
Judy the receptionist at the crime lab was on the other line and said. "Hi Sara. A Mrs. Sydney Hayes is looking for Thomas. She said she got the name from Aubrey's sister. What should I tell her?"
Sara could tell Judy was nervous so she said. "Give her my number and I'll talk to her."
Judy sighed in relieve and said. "Ok. Bye Sara."
"Bye Judy."
While Sara hung up she was shaking her head while saying. "I don't know how I am going to do this."
Catherine looks her and asked. "Do what?"
"I think Thomas was taken before he could talk to her family and now I have to tell Aubrey's mother that her daughter is missing."
Catherine looks at her with sympathy and a second later Sara's phone rings.
After the second ring Sara answers and tells Aubrey's mother as delicate as she could about the situation. The moment the mother started to cry over the phone Sara started to have tears in her eyes again, knowing she would feel the same way if Isabella was ever missing. After 10 minutes the mother calmed down and apologized, Sara told her it was unnecessary because she would feel the same way if her little girl was gone too then after another 5 minutes of reassuring her that she will do everything that is humanly possible and whatever she could to get Aubrey back they finally hung up the phone.
As Sara was putting her phone back down on the coffee table Catherine speaks. "I don't know which phone calls are the hardest, Telling a parent that their child is missing or telling them they died."
Sara sighed and replied. "I don't know. If you ever find an answer let me know."
Catherine nodded then she sighed and said. "I should go."
Sara nodded and before she could talk Catherine pulled out three files out of the big purse she had and put them on the coffee table and said. "Here, go through these and see if anything triggers your mind on any family members or friends that you talked to."
Sara nodded again and walked Catherine to the front door, she opened it then looked at Catherine and said. "Thank you. Not only for the files but for the talk. You could be on the right track."
Catherine nods with a smile and replied. "You're welcome. Tell that little girl I said Hi, keep your head up and good luck remembering the missing piece."
"I will and thanks again, Bye."
"Bye."
After Catherine walked out of the house Sara shuts the door then she walked back to the couch hoping Catherine was on the right track because they have three people's lives at stake, four if she wanted to count her heart then she sighed and thinks 'If they are still alive.' She shakes her head from the moment she thought that, they better be alive because she wouldn't have any other way.
AN: Will Sara figure it out? find out next chapter. Please review and hope you enjoy your weekend.