Chapter 35
Grissom watched silently as Lindsay lay sleeping in her bed. They had been allowed back into the house by evening. Lindsay was extremely tired and went to sleep without much protest. Lindsay had cried for Catherine but was comforted by Grissom still being with her. Lindsay was very comfortable with Grissom now and was able to still feel secure with only him.
Grissom could feel intense guilt eating away at him as he watched his daughter sleep. There were so many things he could have done differently. He replayed recent events over and over again, blaming himself harshly for his failure in protecting Catherine and Lindsay. Lindsay was still safe but Catherine was gone.
He had been desperate to go out and search for Catherine by himself as soon as he could, but had had his hands full with taking care of Lindsay. Lindsay was very distressed by her mother's disappearance and the police barging into her room in the morning. She was even more upset when she found out that her father was hurt and had to be treated at the hospital.
Lindsay had cried and it had taken Grissom some time to reassure her that he wasn't going to disappear as well before he went in to have the wound on his head dressed and stitched. It was all Warrick and Sara could do to keep Lindsay quiet and wait patiently for Grissom.
Nick and Brass had immediately gone to search for Catherine by themselves. Greg was called to help as well. Warrick was entrusted with Lindsay and Sara stayed behind because she wanted to make sure that Grissom was fine. She did not really relish the idea of going to search for Catherine very much and she was very tired.
Sara leaned against the wall wearily as she watched Warrick do his best to soothe Lindsay by himself. Sara had seemed to only aggravate her more. She thought idly that he would make a great father. He wasn't doing too badly in calming Lindsay, considering what the little girl had gone through. Sara sighed, as her sharp eyes caught sight of the similarities in Lindsay's and Grissom's features. She knew that she didn't really stand a chance with Grissom but she still couldn't help wishing that somehow, it could still happen.
Sara watched as Grissom hurried out to take Lindsay despite the bandage on his head. Warrick looked at him warily before handing the little girl over. Sara wanted to open her mouth to ask if Grissom would like to stay at her place temporarily, but she didn't. She wasn't sure if she could take both him and Lindsay in her home, Lindsay was an obvious reminder that he would never be with her. She didn't know if she could handle that yet.
Sara need not have worried. Warrick immediately offered Grissom and Lindsay a place to stay for a few hours. Grissom announced that he wanted to go off searching for Catherine. Warrick did not argue and told him that he could leave Lindsay with his grandmother. Grissom quickly agreed.
Somehow, Sara found herself at Warrick's grandmother's apartment, being ushered in graciously by the woman herself. Grams, as she told everyone to call her, made them all eat breakfast and quite rapidly won Lindsay's trust.
It only took a little bit of coaxing to make Lindsay stay put with Grams while her father and Warrick went out to search for her mother. Sara was not asked to join them. She wasn't sure if they'd forgotten her or that they didn't want her to come. But she was stranded without a vehicle and looked around, in a bit of a daze.
Grams saw her and instantly told her to go to sleep. She bustled about and Sara was shown the small, but comfortable guest room. She was too tired to argue right now. So she simply thanked Grams and went to sleep.
"It's been 36 hours at least, since Catherine disappeared. Where on earth could he have taken her?" asked Nick in frustration.
No one had slept very much and tempers were high. The whole team was busy doing their actual job and helping to search for Catherine. They did it because they respected and cared for their supervisor but it was starting to seriously take its toll on all of them.
"Vegas is huge," commented Warrick.
They had done all that they could but there had been no easy answers. The dayshift crew had been literally harassed for details and they had already run afoul of Ecklie's temper. Unfortunately for him, he could not actually fire the whole team.
"She's probably dead by now," said Sara.
Nick, Warrick and Greg looked at her.
"What?" said Sara defensively.
"It's not my fault, you guys know the chances," she continued, in a defensive tone.
"We're not giving up on this. Lindsay needs her mother," said Warrick in a stern tone.
No one even mentioned the fact that Grissom needed her found too. In actual fact, they were all more worried about Grissom than Lindsay. Lindsay was young and she would probably be able to recover reasonably well if she lost her mother, but Grissom was a different story.
No one was sure if he had slept at all since Catherine had disappeared. The only reason he ever stopped working and searching for Catherine was because Lindsay needed him at times. He had always been obsessed with his job, now he was possessed with searching for Catherine. He simply never stopped.
All of them hoped fervently for his sake that Catherine would be found alive. Possibly with the exception of Sara. They could not imagine what would happen if she was not. None of them dared to even bring up the possibility in his presence. There was something distinctly alarming about the expression in Grissom's eyes. If Catherine was truly gone, then the consequences would be dire for everyone involved. But no one could bring themselves to imagine how it would affect Grissom himself.