'Rose' came Sara's whisper, her eyes clenched tightly shut. She lurched forward and vomited on the floor, and only Catherine's fast reactions meant that the older women just managed to get out of the way, whilst at the same time moving to rub gently on Sara's back. When Sara started to wretch again, Catherine pulled her up and half pulled, half pushed Sara towards a door.
'Bathroom' was her only words, and Sara just about managed to nod.
Sara fall to her knees in front of the toilet and was almost immediately sick again. Catherine half thought about staying with her, and perhaps under different circumstances she would off, but she had a dead body to deal with. Although she felt sorry for Sara at this time, she also knew that the younger woman had bought it on herself, and she still didn't know if there was any connection between the women Neil had found and Sara's current state. Leaving the bathroom, Catherine made her way towards her small desk and computer. Although she could have had an office at the hotel, she had chosen to combine it with her quarters; the idea being it would make it easier to work when needed, without the noise and bustle of the ground floor surroundings.
Catherine turned on her computer, and pulled up the bookings for the night. She searched the records for who had rented out room 520. Panic rose slightly when she read the names on the database. She had very much wanted to believe that it was unconnected, but now she knew it wasn't
'Room 520, Rented in the name of Rose Hornby, paid for on Credit Card by S. Sidle'
Catherine ran her hands through her hair, and picked up her phone
'Stokes'
'Hi, Nick… 'Catherine began feeling flustered
'Everything alright?' Nick asked, immediate concern in his voice
'Um, are you working?'
'Nope, it's my night off, why, what's happened?' Nick replied
'I…I need a favour… Um, remember when I helped you out, with Kristy's case… '
'Yeah…' Nick said slowly, it was one of the few cases he would never forget.
'I need you to pay back that exact favour… but..I need it to be off the record, at least until I know more…'
'Cath?' 'Cath what do you mean, what's going on?' Nick said quietly
'There's a dead body in my hotel..'
Nick made to speak, not understanding why Catherine would be against running this through the proper channels, but before he could say anything Catherine spoke again
'Sara was the last person to see her alive…' Catherine whispered, and before anything more could be said, she snapped her phone shut, cutting Nick off.
Catherine dropped her head into her hand for a moment. She knew the time to be Sara's friend was gone, that she needed to be professional, to treat Sara like a suspect, but she also knew that the younger women being sick in the next room had been through a lot in the past week at least, and that the brunette had had a rough year. Catherine didn't know where to start, or how to approach the situation. Sighing, she stood up from her desk, and made her way to the bathroom.
Sara had stopped being sick, but was still heaving a little, and her body was shaking, a thin layer of sweat covering her body.
Catherine noticed more scratches on her back, and a slight bruising, and in that moment she made up her mind on how to deal with what was happening. She would sit right in the middle, until she knew how to go forward.
Crouching down next to Sara, Catherine gently called her name 'Sara..Hey…'
Sara turned her head slightly, acknowledging the woman's presence. She really wanted to go to sleep, so she closed her eyes and leant her head against the toilet seat.
'Sara… you have to stay awake…' Catherine said placing her hand on her upper back.
Sara flinched slightly but didn't move otherwise.
'Sara…' Catherine said again softly. Sara slowly sat up
'I need to wash…' She mumbled
Catherine didn't move her hand away, and her grip tightened slightly, meaning Sara couldn't move.
'I can't let you' Catherine said, her voice firm but low. 'I… I need to process you…' Catherine said, her voice a little louder, a little stronger. Sara tried to speak, although she was very drunk still, she didn't understand why that meant she had to be processed. Drinking wasn't a crime.
Catherine saw the confusion in Sara's eyes
'Rose' Catherine said, and Sara's eyes furrowed, now even more confused, an anger rising up inside her.
'The dead girl, in the hotel room that you were in' Catherine said sharply 'Want to tell me what happened?' Catherine said trying to keep emotion out of her voice 'You already said she wasn't supposed to die'
Sara started shaking again, panic in her eyes, and she lurched forwards once again to be sick.
Catherine stood up, and left her too it. Right now she couldn't focus, and she needed to put some distance between them, both on a personal and professional level.
Catherine's phone rang 30 minutes later
'Willows' she answered, not even bothering to look at the caller I.D.
'Hey, I'm here… 'Nick replied 'Where are you?'
Catherine told him to come up and meet her in her quarters, where she would explain what she knew. Five minutes later, she stepped out of the room, gently closing the door behind her; she didn't want Sara to know she had called anyone just yet.
'Hey Nick' Catherine said quietly
'Hey, What's going on?' Nick said his voice full of concern and emotion
'Um… Well, Sara was caught punching the walls, by one of my Busboys, and I ended up here, to see what the problem was about… I … 'Catherine shrugged a little, not yet wanting to tell Nick the whole story 'I was gonna drive Sara home, but when I got her, she'd had nearly an entire bottle of Vodka… she's gotta be… I dunno…6, 7 times over the limit right now?' Catherine said, her hand rubbing at her temple 'Anyway… whilst I'm here, I get another call, from the same busboy… he's found a dead body, dead female… in one of the rooms.. near where Sara was earlier… I checked the records… Sara paid for that room…' Catherine closed her eyes, taking a breath
'What else?' Nick asked gently, knowing there was something more
'Sara told me something, before she started puking her guts up… she told me 'She wasn't supposed to die' I asked who, she said 'Rose', that's when she started being sick… the dead girl, her name is Rose…' Catherine trailed off.
Nick let out a sigh, his shoulders fall, and all he could do was nod. After a moment of neither of them speaking he said quietly
'Do you want me to process the room… the girl… or Sara?' He said the last bit quietly. He knew what it was like to be the suspect in a death, but it didn't make it any easier, and he didn't want to believe that the women he had been working with for the past few years was capable of murder
'The room…' Catherine said 'I'll deal with Sara…' Catherine said quietly, her eyes closed
'You know I'm going to have to call the coroner…' Nick said
'I know…'
'But?' Nick said, right now he wanted to believe Sara to be innocent, to be given a chance, just like he had been given when his friend had been found murdered after he had spent the night with her, but he also knew that he couldn't comprise the investigation.
'Let me process… talk to Sara first… Can you just process the room first? Please… we'll call the coroner in an hour… once you've done a prelim… I … I don't want to cover anything up Nick, but I don't want Ecklie or anyone else jumping to the wrong conclusion… 'Catherine rambled.
Nick looked at her 'You know something?' he said quietly
'No…' Catherine whispered 'No, I don't I just… I owe her…'
Nick sighed heavily, his thoughts conflicting, but then he remembered what Catherine had done for him in the past
'2 hours… then I call David, and Greg… I'll keep this away from as many eyes as I can, for as long as I can' Nick said, and pulled Catherine into a hug.
'Thanks Nicky' Catherine said, and kissed him on the cheek before composing herself and walking back into her hotel quarters.
Never had Catherine been so grateful as to be so dedicated to her work as a CSI that she kept a spare evidence collection kit in her room.
'Who was that?' Sara asked, her voice quiet and weak. She was sat with her back against the door frame to the bathroom. She had wanted to get away from the smell of her vomit, but hadn't wanted to go too far in case she needed to be sick again. She hadn't flushed any of the vomit away, although she had wanted to. She had heard Catherine's words, and knew that soon Catherine would want to talk to her, to process her, no matter how drunk Sara got, there was still a small rational part of her that thought like a CSI, and she knew that as gross as it was, her vomit was now evidence in the death of Rose.
'Nick'
Sara nodded 'You want my clothes?' Sara whispered
'Yes' Catherine said, trying to keep her voice even 'First though, I want to talk'
Sara shook her head 'I can't' Sara mumbled, burying her head in her arms
'Sara… there's a dead girl, in the room you were in… if you don't talk to me, I can't help…'
Sara shrugged slightly
'Sara…' Catherine said, shocked slightly at Sara's attitude 'Did you kill her?'
Sara shrugged again, a tear escaping her eye. She tried to rub it away without Catherine noticing.
'Sara… What happened? Talk to me, before I have to let the evidence talk for you' Catherine said, her words coming out more harshly than she intended.
'I can't…I can't remember… 'Sara shouted, tears now falling freely. 'I can't remember… 'She said again a little more quietly. 'I…I was…I am.. pretty drunk, and I can't remember…' Sara choked back more tears 'I'm scared…I don't normally black out so much…' Sara whispered.
'Could you have been drugged?' Catherine said as calmly as she could. Once more Sara shrugged.
'I, I don't know… I remember …. I remember smoking… in the taxi perhaps? I don't really know… and I remember being at the club before then… most, most of the night is a blur. I…' Sara was rocking now, her hands wrapped around her legs tightly.
'Why can't I remember?' Sara whispered
Catherine shrugged 'You were drinking… probably hadn't eaten… You've been drinking a lot the past few days… '
Sara shook her head 'You don't understand' She spat out 'I don't normally forget. Not like this.'
Sara started crying again. Catherine didn't know what to say, what to do. Right now she didn't know what was needed most, a friend for Sara, or an investigator for Rose.
A/N.
Please tell me what you think so far. I've got the next chapter thought out, and I know where I'm taking this story, but right now, I've got to sleep, and I don't want this chapter too get too long.
Please review if you can
Emz
