Shadow Play

Chapter 34

A/N1: Sorry about the delay, a couple of weeks of non-stop rain (not to mention the flooding that followed it) has been playing havoc with the electricity and phone lines around here and getting a reliable connection has been hit-and-miss. Seems to be settling down now though so, hopefully, the problems are over.

"How the hell can we have no brakes?" Grissom's eyes shifted quickly from the speedometer to Sara as the words she'd just uttered sank in. "They were serviced just over a month ago."

"Serviced or not, we definitely don't have any." Sara's knuckles turned white as her hold on the steering wheel tightened. "Trust me; this is not something I'm going to joke about."

"Try pumping the brake pedal." Still slightly disbelieving, Grissom fumbled for a solution. "If you keep doing that, sometimes you can build up enough pressure in the system to-"

She quickly cut him off.

"I've been trying that; it's not working." Sara nodded towards the upcoming turn. "Besides, I don't think we really have time."

"Dammit!" Finally looking out through the windscreen, Grissom quickly sized up the approaching curve. "Think you can hold it through that?"

"I'll have to, won't I?" Darting a quick glance to the side, she offered him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, you weren't the only one to take the department's driving course, remember."

Steering as close to the guardrail as possible, she angled into the turn much earlier than she normally would, trusting that the extra yardage would help shave some of the sharpness from the curve. Muscling the big car around the wide arc, she held her breath as the back end began to drift before the tires, squealing in protest, managed to regain their grip on the road surface and the Mercedes almost shot out of the turn and onto the dead-straight slip road that serviced Lake Mead Boulevard.

"Thank God that's over." With a slightly shaky laugh, Sara allowed her hold on the wheel to relax a little. "I thought I was going to lose it for a moment there."

"Not a chance." With a smile of encouragement, Grissom relaxed back in his seat. "You had it under control the whole way." Leaning to his left, he checked the speedometer again. "And you managed to get our speed down to sixty-five too."

"It's a start." Flipping on the hazard lights, she kept her eyes pinned to the road ahead. "We've got about half a mile before we hit the first intersection so what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, the hand brake probably still works but if we pull it at this speed we'll only end up locking up the tires and then we'll lose control." He shrugged helplessly. "I don't think there's much choice; we're going to have to use the barriers."

"There's got to be another way." Glancing left and right, Sara frowned at the sight of the solid cement dividers that lined both sides of the two lane road. "How about the gears?" Reaching down, she placed her hand on top of the gearshift. "If I drop it into low, it should bring our speed down, right?"

"In theory, yes." Grissom agreed. "But I have no idea how long that'll take to work." With a shake of his head, he dismissed the idea. "You know how busy that intersection is at this time of day; we have to get this car stopped and we've got to do it now." Glancing back over his shoulder, he checked for other traffic. "There are only a couple of cars about at the moment, Sara; this is going to be the best chance that we'll get."

"A controlled collision." Sara sighed. "That is what we're talking about, right?"

"That's it exactly." He nodded quickly. "Inch it over as close to the barrier as you can get and then push her into the wall." He took a deep breath. "It's going to be struggle to hold it there but, if you can keep it up long enough, the friction will slow us down."

"That simple, huh?" Despite the circumstances, she smiled. "You do know what that's going to do to your car, don't you?"

"Well, most of the damage should just be cosmetic." With an answering smile, Grissom shrugged. 'She's about due for a respray anyhow and, this way, the insurance company gets to pay for it." Sobering quickly, he nodded towards the four foot high cement wall that was now flashing by just feet from the passenger side. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Steering the Mercedes to the outside edge of the right hand lane, Sara took a deep, calming breath. "Lean in towards me, okay? I want you as far from that wall as you can get."

Holding his injured arm in tight against his chest, Grissom shifted as far to the left as his seatbelt would allow. He only just had time to brace himself against the back of his seat and the center console before Sara edged the big car the final few inches into the concrete barrier.

The screech of metal on stone was deafening and both right side windows shattered, the glass raining down into the interior, as Sara, teeth clenched in concentration, held the protesting Mercedes tightly against the cement wall.

"It's working!" With her arms at full extension, Sara fought to keep the big car in place as she risked a glance at the speedometer. "We're under fifty now; we're slowing down."

"Good." Grissom had to raise his voice to be heard. "If we can get it down just a little bit more, it should be safe to use the handbrake."

The throaty roar of a much more powerful engine sounded from almost directly behind them and, looking past Sara, Grissom watched as a large black Suburban, its windows heavily tinted, pulled in alongside the stricken car.

He only had time to see the vague silhouette of a hand raised in acknowledgement before the big SUV veered sideways and slammed the Mercedes even further into the unyielding concrete wall.

"This is becoming something of a habit." Standing in the open doorway of the small examination room, Catherine's easy gibe belied the fear she'd been engulfed with ever since the hurried phone call informing her of the runaway car. "We just can't let you out of our sights, can we?"

"Trust me." Levering himself up a little on the emergency room gurney, Grissom smiled. "It's one habit I'm dying to kick."

"Don't say that!" Reaching across, she tapped lightly on the thin partition wall that divided the cubicle from the one next door. "It's bad enough that this guy's still out to get you without giving him a hand by tempting fate." Narrowing her eyes, she examined him thoughtfully. "So, what's the damage this time?"

"There isn't any really." With a self-effacing shrug, Grissom lightly ran his fingers over the two steristrips that covered a small cut on his forehead. "A few new bumps and bruises but that's about it." He glanced over at the door. "In fact they'll be kicking me out of here in a minute or so; they're just finishing up the paperwork."

"And Sara?" Pulling up the room's only stool, Catherine took a seat at the side of the gurney. "They told me at the desk that she'd been taken upstairs for x-rays."

"According to her doctor, it's just a precaution; she has some tenderness in her neck and shoulders so they're just making sure everything's okay." Glancing down, he checked his watch. "She shouldn't be too much longer; they said it would only take fifteen minutes or so."

"Well, I hope you both know how lucky you are." Crossing one leg over the other, Catherine made herself comfortable. "I swung by the scene on my way in here" She shook her head. "The Mercedes is a mess."

"Yeah, well..." Grissom expression instantly darkened. "I think we can blame most of the damage on the FBI."

"Agent Harris thought he was doing the right thing." Catherine pointed out.

"I'm not sure he had to do it quite as violently as he did though." Grissom posited, clearly annoyed at the damage that had been inflicted by the agent's actions. "I mean, we were getting it under control; another thirty seconds and we probably would have-"

"Another thirty seconds might have been too long, Gil; he saw that you were in trouble and did what he had to do." Catherine had no problem playing devil's advocate. "Just be glad the Mercedes was the only real casualty; it could have ended up a whole lot worse."

"I guess." He reluctantly conceded with a sigh. "Is he still here?"

"Harris?" Catherine nodded. "Sure, he's out in the waiting room talking to Jim."

This time it was Grissom's turn to narrow his eyes. "And did you know he was following us?"

"Not until yesterday." She grudgingly admitted. "I overheard Galetti on the phone giving him a rundown of the schedule for Ellie's service and put two and two together. When I confronted Paul, he told me that Harris had been shadowing you for most of the week." She chuckled. "You did manage to give him the slip this morning though; I got a panicked phone call at eight o'clock because they'd just discovered you'd left your building an hour and a half earlier than they were expecting."

"Early outpatient appointment." Grissom explained. "I changed it yesterday so there wouldn't be any rush getting to the chapel." He shrugged. "Although, if I'd known we were going to be spending the afternoon here anyway, I never would have bothered."

"You know, I hate asking this but I have to..." Watching him carefully, Catherine took a deep breath before continuing. "Are you sure that it wasn't an accident?"

"Positive." He didn't hesitate. "I know that car, Cath; there was nothing wrong with the brakes."

"Well then..." Nibbling on her bottom lip, she pondered all the possibilities. "If somebody tampered with them, odds are it happened while you were here this morning." She looked up. "Where were you parked? Maybe we can pull the security footage."

"Actually, I think there's a chance that it actually occurred at Captain Brass' house." Stepping into the room, Frank Harris looked from one CSI to the other. "I took off for ten minutes to grab some lunch just after everyone had arrived back after the funeral." He focused on Grissom. "I figured you were safe enough considering you were surrounded by cops but I guess I was wrong."

"We were parked right in front of Jim's house." Grissom pointed out. "If that's where it happened, someone ran a hell of a big risk of being seen."

"That's what we're counting on." Harris told him. "The captain's making some calls now and we should have officers out canvassing the neighborhood shortly."

"Well, fingers crossed somebody saw something." Catherine commented. "It's about time we caught a break on this damn thing."

"I'm going to head off over there and see if I can help out." Clearly uncomfortable, the agent shifted awkwardly from side to side. "I just wanted to make sure that you were going to be alright."

Yeah." Grissom's nod was somewhat curt. "I'll be fine."

"And Ms. Sidle?"

"The same." Grissom told him. "Don't worry about us; we got off lightly."

"Well, that's good then." His smile tight, Harris stepped back towards the door. "I left instructions for your car to be taken back to the lab; I figured you'd want your own people to process it."

"I do." With a nod of agreement, Grissom pushed himself upright and held out his right hand. "Thank you, Agent Harris." He waited for the other man to shake before speaking again. "For everything."

For the first time since they'd known him, Harris' face broke into a genuine, if self-conscious, smile and with a nod in Catherine's direction, he retreated from the room.

"He's not so bad once you get used to him." Listening to the agent's footsteps disappearing along the corridor, Catherine smiled. "You know, I think he's actually done you a favor by writing off that car."

Grissom started at the words. "Excuse me?"

"Well, if you're going to be carting a kid around, Gil you really need something a bit safer than that clapped out old Mercedes." She shrugged. "You know; air bags, ABS, that kind of thing."

The only comment she received was a pointed glare.

"What?" Eyebrows quirked in question, Catherine's tone took on a teasing quality. "Now you're going to tell me it wasn't you that stood up in front of a room full of people and confessed to playing hide the sausage with your best friend's daughter?"

Grissom rolled his eyes at the description. "I don't remember phrasing it quite like that."

"It was what you implied though, wasn't it?" Catherine queried doing her best to keep a straight face. "Unless, of course, the two of you employed the old turkey baster method but that would mean the conception was deliberate and, up till now, you've been swearing blind that Caleb wasn't yours."

With a nonchalant shrug, Grissom brushed the comment off. "Looks like I was wrong then, doesn't it?"

"No you weren't." Serious now, Catherine spoke with conviction. "That is not your kid."

"I have a birth certificate and a custody order that says that he is."

"And neither of them is worth the paper they're written on." Eyeing him steadily, she sighed in exasperation. "Look, there's nothing wrong with helping a friend out now and then but we're talking about a pretty big favor here."

"I am aware of that, Catherine."

"Are you sure you've thought this through properly?"

After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "Yes."

"Both of you?"

"Sara was fully involved in the decision making, Cath." Grissom's smile was easy as he tried to reassure her. "Don't worry; both she and I know exactly what we're doing."

"I'm not entirely convinced that you do." Determined to get her point across, Catherine persevered. "Don't get me wrong, I love Jim to death but I'm not sure I'd want to jump into that kind of relationship with him. We've all seen what he's been like lately; he is not going to be a passive grandparent."

"And nor should he be but it won't be a problem; honestly, we've talked everything through and we all know where we stand."

"Well I hope you do because I'd hate to see it all go wrong – for all your sakes." Finally conceding defeat, she shook her head. "Well, if nothing else, Elaine will get a real kick out of hearing about this." She chuckled. "She's going to love it."

"And you just can't wait to tell her, can you?" Grissom's weary sigh held more than a hint of resignation. "You two seem to be getting on remarkably well."

"I like her." Catherine answered simply. "Plus she has a lot of pull over at UNLV and I have a teenage daughter who, please God, will be going to college in just a few years time." She shrugged good-naturedly. "It's all about who you know nowadays, Gil; you should know that."

"Well, in that case, I'm glad I could hook the two of you up." He frowned as he checked the time. "Sara should be back by now."

"Don't worry about it; they're probably just hanging round for the results." Leaning forward, Catherine got back to business. "So, what do you want done with the Mercedes after we've finished with it?"

"Have Greg lock it up with the Mustang for the time being; I'll have a look at it on Monday night and decide what I'm going to do."

"You're still coming back to work on Monday?"

"That's the plan." Grissom smiled at her surprise. "We've got a busy week ahead of us, remember – the killer's due to get in touch plus it's the week of the double murd-"

He cut himself off as a harried looking nurse suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Dr. Grissom?" She cast a quick glance at both occupants before turning all her attention towards the gurney. "We just got a call from the third floor and they need you up there straight away; apparently, there's some kind of problem."

TBC

A/N2: The next chapter is a short one so I am more than happy to give you a 100% iron-clad guarantee that it won't take three weeks to appear. ;)

Thanks for reading.