A/N: New chapter! Enjoy!
A Curious Combination
Chapter 2
Sara had known Catherine would come; she was surprised to see Jim Brass and her dear friend, Greg Sanders. Her face lit up when Jim presented her with a box of special treats from a Las Vegas bakery he knew she loved and kissed her cheeks.
Greg said, "I can't stay but a couple of days."He glanced at Catherine, adding, "The boss has put me in charge!" His hands held Sara's head as he leaned toward her and whispered, "How's my best friend?"
"I'm here until you run me off," said Jim, clearing his throat and shaking hands again with Grissom who was still recovering from the surprise arrival of their friends.
"And I'm here for a week—unless you need me to stay longer," Catherine said as she gave Sara a gentle hug. "You look fabulous—very pregnant!" Her hand patted the curved mound of Sara's abdomen. "We'll get these men out of here for a while and we can talk babies and pregnancy."
It took several minutes, but with encouragement, the men left making promises to return before they were missed. Catherine tapped into her phone and told them the car would be waiting at the curb.
Settling into a chair like a colorful gorgeous bird, Catherine smiled at Sara. "Now come on, girlfriend, tell me all about this—this confinement! I've got books in the car—we can play cards—whatever you want."
"How is Lindsey?"
"Lindsey," Catherine's voice softened as did her face. "She loves the National Academy. Of course, this is her first course so everything is new and exciting. And she's discovered she can pick up languages like a parrot—I'm not sure that's a good thing for me and for her returning to Vegas, but we'll see what happens."
Sara shifted in bed and Catherine jumped up. Sara said, "I'm fine—I'm as big as a whale!" Laughing, she added, "I thought I was big at five months and look at me now."
Catherine sat back in the chair, saying, "We were not going to mention it—and you are having twins." She smiled, asking, "How much longer? Do you have any idea?"
"Thirty-six weeks is the magic window—which is next week." Letting her head fall into the pillow, Sara said, "I don't mean to complain—every day is another day for their health—but I am exhausted." With a sudden urgency, she added, "Don't tell Gil." With a sigh, she said, "I'd love to see my feet and paint my toenails."
Catherine expressed a mocking sound, saying, "You've had pedicures, right?"
Sara laughed, "Yes, excellent pedicures by the gentlest hands I know."
"Gil Grissom!" Catherine's mouth fell open for a moment before she said, "Gil has been giving you pedicures? I can't believe it!"
Sara raised a sock covered foot. She said, "Love does odd things—every week for—for four months, Gil has taken care of my feet." At the look on Catherine's face, Sara laughed again, saying, "It's true! And my feet feel fantastic—his fingers are magic."
In the following moment of silence, Sara, her quick wit in play, said, "A good thing about this pregnancy—the sex has been absolutely mind-blowing! Until a few weeks ago, I wanted sex all the time." Waggling her eyebrows, she drew out her words, slowly, emphasizing the last words.
It took a few seconds for Catherine to laugh and then it was a raucous chortle that including slapping her leg with her palm. "Oh, Sara!" She said, "I've missed you!"
The two women found a dozen topics to discuss before Catherine brought up a name from the distant past.
She said, "Remember Julia Fairmont? Claudia Gideon? Two who got away with murder?"
"Selenium," Sara said immediately. "I've always wondered if they continued getting away with murder. Gee—that was in 2001? I'd been in Vegas a year plus a few months."
"Well, guess what!" Catherine's face gleamed with a smile. "They got caught—just a few weeks ago! In Montana."
Sara waved a hand in a 'tell me more' motion.
Catherine settled back into the chair, saying, "Julia Fairmont's fingerprints came through a multi-state dispatch for unsolved crimes—murder, specifically. She's changed her name to Maggie Bolton but fingerprints don't change. I called the agency involved and learned she was charged with—guess what! Killing her husband and a huge insurance policy involved. She'd used ricin this time and guess who provided—who grew the castor beans?"
Sara laughed. "Her best girlfriend, Claudia."
Catherine pointed a finger at Sara, saying, "Bingo! Only Claudia is now Suzanne Waters and she's had two husbands since leaving Vegas. Both died of 'natural' causes."
"Yeah, right. And castor beans—that's a fairly easy poison to grow and use."
"Maggie or Julia lives in Montana and right over the state line, Claudia lives in Idaho—and was running a plant nursery. Has twenty or so hot houses growing all kinds of plants. So what's a few castor bean plants when you have hundreds of plants? And—I love this part—they were connected by cell phones! Technology got them arrested and charged."
Sara chuckled. "Be sure you tell Gil." She shifted her position, feeling a brief spasm that occasionally occurred.
"Oh, I will! For fifteen years, Julia and Claudia have lived all over the west, marrying men with healthy bank accounts or life insurance! Those women have…"
A quick knock on the door before it opened stopped Catherine's words. When three people entered the room, Catherine stood.
The somber look on the woman wearing a white coat immediately got Catherine's attention; the two women behind her looked just as serious and all three ignored Catherine as they gathered around Sara's bed.
Quickly, one of them began checking sensors attached to Sara's abdomen while the other tapped keys on a laptop.
"How are you, Sara?" Asked the white-coated woman.
"Much the same as yesterday, I think."
"And where is Dr. Grissom? He's usually here."
Sara smiled, saying, "Friends came—Catherine stayed with me and the men are eating somewhere." Her hand waved at the window.
The doctor's voice changed, became serious, as she said, "We need to get him back here. There's been a change."
…Meanwhile, the three men had given the driver instructions to find a good place to eat along the water.
The woman expertly entered traffic and, rarely touching the brake pedal, maneuvered the car along the freeway, turning north along the coast. In twenty minutes, she pulled into a small parking lot, saying, "This is as good as it gets guys!"
Grissom, Brass, and Greg had kept a continuing conversation going about Las Vegas and changes that had occurred with links to experiences to a shared past. When the car stopped and the driver spoke to them, they reacted with approval for the driver's skill.
"Eat with us," Jim Brass said, knowing Catherine had hired the car and driver for all day.
"I'm not supposed to eat with clients," she replied but after a few minutes she agreed with the unusual circumstances and entered the restaurant with them.
Discussing menus and ordering done, the talk turned to the driver, named Carla, who was a stunningly beautiful Latina from Brazil. Until their food arrived, she regaled with stories of driving in LA, learning to drive in Brazil, and her job of driving tourists to places they wanted to visit.
The food was as delicious as advertised, presented on plates that served as a backdrop to artfully arranged food.
As they ate, Grissom talked about Sara, the constant monitoring, and the required patience needed for day-to-day waiting.
Just as they were tucking into four different desserts, marveling at the taste of classic French pastries served at a small restaurant along the Pacific Ocean, Grissom's phone rang.
Twisting to remove it from his pocket, he answered quickly, "Catherine?" Seconds later, he stood, saying, "We're leaving now."
Sensing an unexpected urgency, Carla headed to the car while Greg signaled their waiter.
To Jim, Grissom said, "We got to go—Sara—we're having babies—today."
A/N: Thank you for reading! Thank you for taking time to send comments!