Sara stood slouching against the wall, half listening to the busboys conversation with Catherine. She felt sick because of the alcohol, and embarrassed because of the scene she had caused. There was adrenaline running through her, making her more reckless than normal, and right now all she could think of was directing some of her anger and emotions at the women who had inadvertently driven her to this place.
'Ma'am, would you come with me please?' The busboy spoke, still an edge of wariness in his voice 'Uh, Mrs Willows, my Boss, has asked me to escort you to her quarters… She's on her way over'
Sara nodded her head slightly in agreement; glad that it appeared Catherine had understood the message. The reference of calling herself a crab was due the her surname, it was how crabs moved. She was glad that Catherine had understood, but now she was angrier than ever, whilst also being frightened about what would happen when Catherine arrived.
Catherine's quarters were on the 6th floor, one floor above where Sara had been previously.
'If you could wait in here, I'm sure she won't be long' the busboy said opening the door. Sara stepped in and couldn't help but whistle, the suite was impressive. Sara saw the smart mahogany desk, the oversized leather sofa, the double doors leading to the bedroom. It was both a place to relax in, and a place to work in Sara realised. Catherine's second office, second job and home.
Throwing herself on to the sofa, Sara rubbed her head, she really had drank a lot, but she didn't normally have such a bad headache, not so soon anyway. Something caught her eye, and another smile played on her lips. There was a minibar. Deciding to no longer care, Sara got up, opened it, and seeing the Vodka in it, she opened it and began drinking straight from the bottle.
'Mrs Willows, Thanks… I'm Neil, the busboy that called you' Neil looked nervous, he had never met his official boss before, knowing that Catherine normally left most of the hotel business to one of the managers.
'Hi' Catherine said, extending her hand and shaking his 'Thanks for calling me directly. What happened?'
'Um, well, I'd just come up on the elevator, and was heading to room 513, when I heard a bang, and realised someone had punched the wall. I tried telling her to stop, and that's when she told me to phone you, with that cryptic message. Looked like she was coming from one of the rooms, 520, 521 maybe?'
'Ok, thanks Neil…' Catherine forced a smile 'I'll sort it' She walked away, and opened the door to her quarters.
She didn't know what she would find, how she would feel, how she would react.
Catherine had been feeling rough all night, had wanted to run out of the building, away from her crime scene all night, had wanted to talk to Sara. She also knew that if she had, she would risk having another incident in her work file, or that she would make the situation with Sara worse. Her anger had been bubbling over all night about the whole messy situation, and her fuse was extremely short. When the phone call had come through, it had finally blown, and Catherine had left the crime lab immediately. The drive had calmed her only a little, but now she was here it had bubbled up again, and had reached breaking point as she opened the door, and seethed yet more when she saw the sight in front of her.
Sara was lying on the large sofa, a nearly empty bottle of Vodka on the floor next to her, and she was asleep. Catherine knew that Sara could only have been in the room for about an hour, she also knew that the bottle of Vodka had been full. Catherine took in the sight before her, the sheen on Sara's unusually pale skin, the dark circles under her eyes, the uneasy breathing, the twitch over Sara's hand over her stomach. Catherine's anger suddenly melted, and she felt concern and pity.
What had driven Sara to this point?
Catherine walked over to the sofa, and kneeling on the floor, she moved the Vodka away, and tried to wake the younger CSI up.
'Sara...' Catherine said firmly 'Sara, wake up!' She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, but knew it wasn't working 'Sara' this time she shook her slightly, and then Catherine noticed the scratch on Sara's neck, and the bruise on her knuckles. 'For god's sake Sara' Catherine shouted this time.
Sara stirred, and blinked her eyes open
'Cathy!' She said quietly slurring her words 'Hey!' This Vodkas great…' her eyes closed again
'No you don't' Catherine said shaking the women slightly, knowing she should try and keep the women awake, her training now telling her that not only was Sara heavily drunk, she probably had slight alcohol poisoning. When that didn't work, she slapped Sara across the face, which seemed to do the trick.
Sara's eyes flew open as she winced, but she didn't make a move to get up 'Ouch' she mumbled, moving her hand to rub against her cheek
'What's happening Sara?' Catherine said more aggressively than she meant to 'What's got into you? I don't understand your behaviour'
Sara shrugged 'You're not supposed to' Sara was slowly sitting up, trying to resist the urge to be sick. The last think she needed right now was to make more of a fool of herself.
'Then why tell me… why tell me what you did?' Catherine said a little dejectedly 'Why?'
Sara didn't answer, she just sat there in silence, and she had bought her knees up to her chest and had hugged her legs around them. She dropped her head into her knees, and took a deep breath.
Catherine waited, but after a minute or two couldn't take the silence anymore, and started to get up to walk away
'I was supposed to do it right this time' Sara said quietly
Catherine's brow furrowed, and was about to ask what Sara meant by that, but Sara kept talking.
'She wasn't supposed to die…' Sara whispered the emotions in her voice hard to read. Catherine's CSI instincts kicked in and she was going to ask her who 'She' was when her phone interrupted her.
Sighing, she pinched her nose, took a breath, and answered
'What?' She snapped not even bothering to look at the caller ID.
'Mrs Willows...' The voice sounded shaky 'It's Neil..There's been another incidence… I…I…'
'What?' Catherine interrupted; she was in no mood for Hotel work at the moment
'I've just done a courtesy call in one of the rooms on the 5th floor… there's… there's a dead body…'
Catherine's eyes snapped over to Sara 'What? What room…?' Catherine really hoped it was not one of the rooms Sara had been seen near earlier '520…' Neil said, knowing that Catherine would put the two pieces of the puzzle together. It was no secret amongst the hotel staff that Catherine's first job was CSI 'What should I do?' He asked
'Nothing… do nothing… I'll handle it.. Don't tell anyone.' Catherine sighed, and hung up the phone. She didn't know what to do.
Sara had noticed that the Vodka had been moved, and whilst Catherine was on the phone and distracted, she had reached for the bottle and started to drink again. She had never told anyone what she had just told Catherine, and she knew the older women would continue to dig. The only twisted solace Sara could see was in the bottle.
'That's enough' Catherine snapped as she snatched the bottle away from Sara 'What the hell has happened tonight?'
She didn't know whether to tip her hand about the body that had been found, or to pretend like she didn't know. She didn't know whether to treat Sara like a suspect or a victim, or someone caught between the two.
'She wasn't supposed to die' Sara said quietly, tears filling her eyes. 'She wasn't supposed to die' she repeated
'Who?' Catherine asked, trying to play cautiously, and doing her best to sound concerned, she knelt down in front of Sara 'Who wasn't?' she asked again
'Rose'
