Lex Talionis

Chapter 26

Brass insisted on checking his theory out before announcing it publicly.

His phone calls went unanswered and even a drive out to where he had seen the SUV got him no further to the truth. He then ran a police check and quickly came across the very recent registration of a white Lexus LX570.

Entering the beak room he found Sara and Catherine sitting together at the table. He moved to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup before turning to speak to the women.

"Where are the guys?" He asked as he stirred his beverage.

"They're doing a food run." Catherine informed him. "I thought we could all do with some breakfast; they should be back soon."

Picking up his cup, Brass headed around to the far side of the table, deliberately seating himself opposite Sara in order to gauge her reaction to what he was about to tell her. He was aware of her watching him as he internally debated what to say.

"Out with it, Jim." Sara patience had run out. "I know you've got news."

He took a deep breath. "The Lexus belongs to Heather Kessler."

Catherine gasped out loud. "As in Lady Heather? That's who he's with?"

Brass kept his eyes on Sara. "I don't know if he's with her now but I'm certain that's who picked him up at the airport."

Sara closed her eyes and tried to think. Her initial reaction to the woman's name had been a quick flash jealousy. However, within seconds she had sound herself relieved that Grissom had, at least, had the good sense to turn to someone who would, undoubtedly be more than capable of keeping him out of harm's way. At this point, just knowing he was safe was almost enough. Almost, but not quite.

"Is he at The Dominion?" Sara's eyes opened and quickly met Jim's.

"I went out there and spoke with one of the employees." Brass told her. "According to him, Heather had a family emergency yesterday; she went out for an hour or so then returned home, grabbed a couple of things and hasn't been seen since. She must have been there when I dropped by; that's where I saw the SUV in the first place." He saw Catherine about to interrupt but got in ahead of her. "I asked about Gil but the guy didn't know anything about him. I have no doubt Heather's got him stashed away somewhere but I don't think it there."

He waited for a response from Sara but she remained silent, absent-mindedly fiddling with a pen on the table in front of her. He looked to Catherine for help.

"Well, at least we know he's okay now." Catherine stated. "Heather will make sure he's alright."

"Great!" Sara said, the sarcasm in her voice unmistakable. "He disappears, abandons his car at the airport; he's out there with none of his belongings, none of his medications but as long as he has Heather Kessler he'll be alright." She stood up and walked to the door. "What the hell does that say about the rest of us?"

Jim and Catherine watched as she stormed along the hallway and pushed through the door to the locker room, slamming it behind her. When she didn't reappear, Catherine stood up.

"Maybe I should go after her?"

"Give it a couple of minutes." Jim advised. "She's been holding a lot in the past few weeks; I'm surprised it's taken this long for any of it to show."

"Have you seen Sara?"

Both heads turned as Judy appeared in the doorway.

"There's a Heather Kessler out at reception asking to speak with her."

Pushing her chair back, Catherine stood and quickly left the room with Brass just a few steps behind.

Having been informed of her visitor, Sara hurried out of the locker room and headed towards the reception area. Not wanting to intrude any more than was necessary, Catherine returned to the break room but Brass was nowhere near as polite. Sara could sense his presence just behind her but was surprised when he grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.

"Sara, let me handle this."

She shook off his hand and turned to face him.

"Not a chance." She replied. "She didn't ask for you, Jim. You don't even like the woman."

"It might be best if you don't deal with her yourself right now. With the way you're feeling, it might just make things worse." Jim shrugged. "You've never really met her; she... has a way of making people feel uncomfortable."

"You mean she makes you feel uncomfortable." Sara pointed out. "Look, she came here to see me and if it gets me one step closer to finding out where Grissom is then I'm all for speaking to the woman." She spun away from him and rushed off again.

Realizing he wasn't going to get his way, all Jim could do was follow after her and hope for the best.

There were a dozen or so people in the waiting area when they arrived. Although Sara had really only seen the woman from a distance before, she unerringly made her way towards her. Even dressed in relatively conservative clothing, there was no mistaking the presence of Heather Kessler.

"Ms. Kessler?" Sara approached and held out her hand. "I'm Sara Sidle."

The dominatrix stood and clasped the offered hand. "Call me Heather, after all, I've heard so much about you and, I'm sure you've heard all kinds of stories about me." She turned to acknowledge Jim. "Captain Brass, I understand you've been busy trying to find me."

Jim cut right to the chase. "We want to know where Grissom is!"

Sara rolled her eyes at his bluntness.

"I'm sure you do." Heather turned her back on Brass, effectively dismissing him and addressed Sara again. "I was hoping you'd agree to speak to me, however I would prefer it if we didn't do it here."

With a glance towards Jim, Sara agreed at once. "Where shall I meet you?"

"Actually, my vehicle is just outside. We might as well both take that and I can drop you back here afterwards if that's what you want."

"Sara..." Brass stepped in.

"I'm handling it, Jim. Remember?"

Brass raised his hands in surrender before addressing Heather. "When you go back to wherever it is you've got him hidden, just remind him about our rule, will you?"

Heather turned quickly. "Ah yes, Grissom told me about your rule. I wonder if you can recall exactly what it was you said to him."

Surprised by the question, Brass struggled to think back. "Um... I think I told him that if he did or said anything to harm Sara, he'd have me to answer to; why?"

"That was just a few days after the assault on him, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, we were in the car heading to my house." Jim tried to remember. "I believe it was the day he left the hospital."

Heather stare turned icy. "Are you aware that you essentially brainwashed him?"

"What?" Jim confusion was clear. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Heather smile held more than a hint of smugness. "You told Grissom what you would do if he hurt Sara, correct?"

"Yes, there were a couple of times that I didn't like the tone he used when he spoke to her; I just gave him a friendly warning."

"A perfectly harmless thing to do under normal circumstances but, in this case, Grissom was suffering from a severe concussion; he was in pain, not thinking clearly and would have been very vulnerable to suggestion. What you actually succeeded in doing was to implant the belief that he would do something to harm her."

"I never meant it that way."

"The way that you meant it isn't important; the way that Grissom took it is." Heather pointed out. She turned towards Sara again. "How's your wrist?"

"My wrist?" Now it was Sara's turn to be confused. "It's fine."

"May I?" Heather reached out and took Sara's hand, pushing her shirtsleeve up as she did. "Was this an accident?"

"Of course it was!"

Jim stepped closer to see what they were talking about. He looked at the fading bruises that still encircled Sara's wrist and raised his eyes to meet hers. "What happened?"

"Gil was having a nightmare and grabbed my arm; I couldn't break his grip and had to wake him up." She shrugged it off. "That's all; it certainly wasn't done on purpose."

Heather looked at Brass. "Do you believe her?"

"Sure, Sara wouldn't lie about something like that and I can't really see Grissom as the abusive type..." He suddenly understood what Heather had been talking about. "Only I gave him the idea that I thought he was. Shit! I'm sorry, Sara, I never meant for him to take it that way."

Sara closed her eyes and raised her hand to massage her forehead. "So, on top of everything else, he's had that going around his head as well." She opened her eyes to see Heather watching her. "I told him that night that it was accidental; that I knew he'd never have done it deliberately."

"I think he needs to hear that again, Sara. Grissom is still experiencing symptoms of that injury; logically, he knows it was an accident but there's some part that's telling him it wasn't." She rose, preparing to go. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Sure." She stood and turned to Jim. "Tell Catherine I'll speak to her when I get back."

"I really am sorry Sara; I had no idea that would happen."

Sara smiled sadly. "It's alright, you couldn't have known."

Brass watched as the two women exited the building. He shook his head, mad at himself for not realizing how much of what had happened was actually down to him. With the trouble he'd obviously instigated with his 'rule', it was probably a wonder that Grissom hadn't disappeared sooner. Add to that the way he'd acted towards him at the restaurant and Jim knew he had reason to feel guilty. Unfortunately, he couldn't undo the damage he's already caused but he was now determined to make amends.

They didn't speak in the car; Heather preferring to wait until they were at their destination, Sara so lost in her thoughts she never even noticed the silence. She did register the fact that they were traveling in a BMW sedan and not the Lexus SUV though.

The drive was short; after traveling only a few blocks from the lab, Heather swung into an empty parking space on Flamingo Road opposite The Platinum.

"I've been told they make very good coffee." She gestured towards the small café they were parked in front of. "Would here he alright with you?"

"Yes... yes, this is fine." The drive over had allowed Sara to calm down again but even though she was desperate for information, she was now almost afraid to hear it.

Both woman entered the café and chose a table in the corner near the window. After ordering, they watched the slow procession of morning rush-hour traffic as it made its way along the busy road. Unable to stand the atmosphere any longer, Sara broke the silence.

"How's his hand?"

"Cuts and bruises, that's all." Heather informed her. "It will be painful for a day or two, especially using his crutches."

"I'm surprised it wasn't broken, God knows he punched the dashboard with enough force." Sara looked up into Heather's face. "Did he tell you why he left?"

Heather nodded. "He told me some of it. Breakfast at the restaurant for your birthday, wanting it to go well for you but feeling more and more cornered the longer it went on."

"Things got out of hand." Sara shook her head in frustration. "I can't really explain what happened. Catherine was fussing over him then Jim started up and before I knew it, I'd joined in. Everything just seemed to come to a head."

"He understands that." Heather told her. "Now that he's had time to think he doesn't blame anyone but himself for what occurred at that restaurant. He needed to take a step back, to catch his breath; I think things were just going too fast for him."

"I did wonder if it was too soon but he was adamant that everything would be fine."

Their coffees arrived and they took a moment to drink.

"Does he know he was followed from the restaurant?"

"No, I assure you, if he did he would have let you know he was okay himself. As it was, I only learned about it when I went home a few hours ago and was given the message that Detective Brass left for me."

"So Gil doesn't know yet?"

"He doesn't have a clue; he was asleep when I left. I made the decision to come and see you, to assure you that he's fine."

Sara nodded slowly. "Did he tell you why he went to the McCarran?"

"From what he said, he was just in the area and saw it as a safe place to park. When I picked him up he wasn't even sure how long he'd been there."

"Almost five hours." Sara told her. "We got the security footage. He slept in the car for the first three and half hours then he slammed his fist into the dashboard, locked everything inside and headed to the terminal."

"He knew as soon as he locked the car door that he'd done the wrong thing."

"And yet he called you and nor me; what does that say about our relationship?"

"He called me as a friend, Sara, nothing else." Heather tried to reassure the younger woman. "He'd just left a situation where he was in conflict with almost everyone he cares about; he was looking for help from someone who was not directly involved."

Heather kept a close eye on the Sara as she spoke.

"There's also the fact that a part of him is convinced that because of what's going on with him just now, you'd be better off without him."

"That's ridiculous!" Sara almost slammed her cup back down on the table. "Does he seriously think that after waiting all those years for him to finally come to his senses that I'd just walk away now?"

Heather looked at the woman sitting opposite her and smiled.

"Being able to decide quickly and correctly who you can and cannot trust is a skill I've had to learn in order to survive in my profession." She stared directly into Sara's eyes. "I'm certain that I can trust you but can you say the same about me?"

Sara was confused at the sudden change of topic but didn't hesitate to answer. "Grissom trusts you implicitly and he doesn't do that blindly; I don't think I have anything to worry about. Yes, I believe I can trust you."

"Would you trust me to make the right decision as to what was best for Grissom just now?"

"Yes."

The pleased expression that graced the other woman's face let Sara know she had said the right thing. She watched as Heather reached down and retrieved her purse. Removing a room keycard, she held it out for Sara to take. She nodded to the hotel across the street.

"He's in 1902."

"He's at The Platinum?"

"Try not to make too much noise as you go in; with some luck he's still asleep."

"Aren't you coming up with me?"

"No, I think the two of you can handle this yourselves." Heather told her as she picked up her car keys. "Just remember, he's had time to think now and he's made up his mind as to what it is he has to do; as long as you accept his decision, I don't think there'll be any further trouble.

Minutes later, Sara stood outside the café and watched as Heather drove off. She had been determined to dislike the woman but, instead, found herself admiring her. Turning, she looked upwards and counted the floors of the hotel until she reached the nineteenth. Then, trying desperately to quell the butterflies that swarmed in her stomach, she crossed the road and headed towards the building.

TBC

A/N: A quick shoulder update for those that have asked about it: six weeks post-surgery and I finally got rid of the shoulder immobilizer. I'm stuck with a normal sling, which I've been told I'll have to wear until mid-January thanks to the amount of damage that had to be repaired, but at least life is a bit easier now.

Physiotherapy is going well, although what they call 'gentle range-of-motion exercises" I prefer to think of as the perfect opportunity to improve my four-letter vocabulary and it doesn't look like I'll be able to start any strengthening exercises for at least another month and a half.

Back to the story: this should have been up a couple of days ago but it's just been one of those weeks and I seem to be behind in everything just now. Hopefully there won't be quite as big a gap with the next chapter.