He didn't think the day could get any worse, the call regarding the missing child had, after three hours been confirmed as a hoax. Mom was highly upset that her soon to be ex-husband was now seeing someone 10 years younger than herself. The father had visitation that day and was taking the child to see the tigers at the Mirage. Mom decided to have a little fun at Dad's expense and had her best friend call in the Missing Child report. The subsequent Amber alert had done little more than cost the mother a huge fine and some much unappreciated jail time. Looks like Dad was going to be seeing the child a lot more now that Mom was going to be indisposed.
The thought was lost the moment he had gotten the initial call of "Officer Down" and knew in his gut what he was driving into...It progressed when he heard from Conrad that not only was the victim none other than Gil Grissom but the perpetrators were still on the scene and it had escalated to a hostage situation. Brass drove like a wild man and two or three times, he was positive that the Ford Taurus was either going to stall out or tip over as he rounded each corner. His mind was running faster than the car trying to remember if Grissom had told him anything about Sara's whereabouts. He was not looking forward to being the one to make that call.
The original uniform was standing next to Officer Formansky, hands waving frantically in conversation with their commanding officer who was apparently jotting down notes on a pad he held in his hands as Jim's car slammed to the curb. He was out for hide and he knew exactly who his first two victims were going to be.
"What the hell happened?" he didn't mince words as he stood toe to toe with both officers. "Can either of you explain how the hell a perpetrator managed to not only get past you, but now has my best friend held hostage?" he was sure that before the day was over, his blood pressure was going to top 200 and his heart was not going to handle this too well. It was about to get even worse.
"They all came back...from what the surveillance feed shows, there are three in there!" the one office who looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up offered the update.
"Oh Jesus Christ could it get worse?" Jim was beyond pissed...he'd escalated to the point that if he could have, his big hands would be wrapped tightly around one or both of their necks.
"Well Captain, it can...Grissom apparently tried to protect the store owner, as far as we know he took two shots...
"He's wearing his vest right?" Brass was trying to think back to when he was originally on the scene with Grissom, he was sure that he'd been wearing the black Kevlar vest that was mandatory.
"They got lucky...he's got a leg wound but the second shot apparently entered under the armpit..." the officer looked like he was about to burst into tears. "Captain I'm sorry...I, I only stepped out for a minute, everything was secure..."
"You NEVER leave an officer alone EVER!" he finger was inches from the younger officer's nose. "We lost one CSI because her partner left her alone and the officers were pulled from the scene. We nearly lost another two years ago when he was abducted from a scene because one of you assholes couldn't hold down your dinner at another crime scene. I have personally made your watch commanders tell you day in and day out that you NEVER EVER leave an officer at the scene unattended and I know for a fact that it's been made a part of your General Orders package... He turned just as Conrad Ecklie exited his vehicle.
"It's Gil...what else have you heard?" Ecklie's hands were fisted and shoved deep into his slacks pockets.
"This asshole left him alone after I got called to a phony missing persons, three get that, not one but three perps made it past this knucklehead and Grissom apparently tried to protect the store owner who was still on scene and took at least two bullets" he swallowed to get air to his lungs which were already bursting from the anxiety.
"He wearing his vest?" Conrad's voice held the same hope Brass' had earlier but the look on the Captain's face made Conrad groan.
"Two shots that we know of, one in the leg, one in the armpit area..." they were seasoned enough to know exactly what that could mean, there were so many vital organs in that area. "I want to do the negotiations Conrad!" he wasn't asking, he was begging and knew that his request was putting both of them in a delicate situation. "I've been there, Grissom saved my life...I owe him this..." he and Ecklie walked side by side to the police cars that were acting as temporary barricades. "I'm not asking Conrad..." he didn't need to finish, the man knew.
"Anyone call Sidle?" his thoughts were mirrored in the team that suddenly surrounded them. Nick was the first one to ask and Brass shrugged.
"Last time I talked to Gil, he said he hadn't heard from her...since she left." the sadness that came with that statement left none of the Graveyard without thoughts wondering why she would have done that. "She never called to even tell him where she wound up and when I offered to see if I could locate her...Grissom dismissed the idea and said and I quote "She gave me time Brass, all these years it took for me to finally open my eyes, I owe her" and he wouldn't hear of it, thought a time or two of just doing it behind his back but..." he did not need to say more.
"Well" Catherine was beside herself "I would suggest that someone find her...before it's too late!" she looked at Greg who was standing talking to Warrick "Greg, back to the lab, you use whatever resources you have to and find Sara, you put an APB out on her, her car...and you call me as soon as you hear anything you understand?" Greg nodded a little disheartened that he was leaving the scene where his boss, mentor and friend might very well be fighting for his life but he also knew that the one thing that might keep him going was for Sara to be by his side.
"I'm on it Cath!" he sprinted to the SUV that he'd been riding in and took off for the lab.
"Warrick, I want live feed from the store surveillance equipment, if SWAT is called in, we'll lose any chance we have of hooking in and I for one don't like being kept in the dark!" Catherine was a pro when the chips were down and everyone knew that lives depended on this. The most important life of all., Gil Grissom's.
"Nicky, you go with Brass and Ecklie, find out what you can about the perps, if you can..." she knew that it would be tedious work "Get Hodges to link you live feed to the lab and I want everyone on standby in case we need them!" she was thinking about what else she could do to assist the operation she knew they were undertaking. She turned to the two officers and gave them a look that could have melted steel "I would like to hear from both of you, just how the hell this happened?"
The youngest stepped forward, in another light, seeing a 6 foot 2 inch man going toe to toe with someone of Catherine Willows smaller stature might have appeared comical, but in this instance, there was little humor to be seen as she prepared to ream them both new assholes. "We were outside for awhile, then we went in and checked with Mr. Grissom, he said he would only be a little while more and asked us to stay outside so we didn't contaminate evidence, the owner was behind the counter sitting on a stool talking to someone on the telephone when we stepped out...as requested" he added that like it would matter now.
"So the two of you were outside, it's a pretty clear night..." she glanced around "Nothing to impede your view of the store front" she wasn't asking. She was stating facts from the Criminalistic side of things. "Should have easily seen three people approaching but apparently what? You were distracted? Momentarily blinded? or did the smell of coffee and donuts from there" she pointed to the little shop across the parking lot "seem a little more enticing?" she pulled out a tape lift, walked over to the second officer and pointed to his tie. "Powder sugar on black, not hard to spot!" she pressed the adhesive to the spot then lifted and sealed it. Taking a pen from her vest she signed and dated the evidence and leaned in to read the officer's name from his nametag. "Formansky...seems you and Grissom have a bit of history!" she knew the entire story and wondered just what Brass would have to say about her discovery.
"Listen here!" the older office put his hand up "I wasn't first officer on the scene, I wasn't assigned this and..." Catherine stepped into his personal space and put her finger directly in his face.
"No, you listen here, I have two officers who were outside a crime scene, I have one of them with a tie full of powder sugar and who shares a history with the Criminalist that is now not only a victim but apparently a hostage as well and trust me, if you think Gil came down hard on you, you've seen nothing yet because if God forbid he doesn't make it, I'm going to make it my life goal to see your career flushed down the drain if I have to take it to the local media...and trust me Formansky...I have more connections than the Mayor of this God Forsaken town!" she was livid and the color on her neck and cheeks mirrored one of the worst looking sunburns. Formansky swallowed loudly and stepped back.