Author: Manigault
Rating: R
Category: CRGS
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. They belong to CBS,
Alantic-Alliance, and Anthony Zuiker.
Fairfax Hospital
11:00 pm
"It's hot."
Grissom took the paper cup from Catherine then asked her with a puzzlement she often found amusing. "What is Sara thinking? You know that she knows how I feel about becoming emotionally involved with a victim."
Catherine sat in the chair beside him and looked pointedly at the hospital bed. "Is that why we have been sitting here for the past two hours waiting for Erin Monroe to wake up?"
"She is a witness and I don't trust the doctor to inform us. That's why we are waiting." Grissom took a sip of coffee and kept his eyes trained on the hospital bed. "I also want to speak with her before the FBI realizes that she is conscious." He made a mental note to call Jim Brass and ask him to hold off informing the FBI agents assigned to the case.
Catherine wanted to ask him about the tension
she was picking up between him and Sara, but didn't know the best way to
approach the subject. They sipped their coffee and watched Erin Monroe
breathe.
Crime Lab
12:00 am
Breathing was of primary importance to Sara as she took slow deep lungfuls of air and stared at the computer screen. There were several Erin Monroes listed and her search was taking longer than typing in a name and having the correct address pop up before her eyes. There was an urgency about this case that was driving her to find the information before it was taken out of her hands by the FBI agents. Valerie Monroe was out there someplace and she intended that this was one baby that would be reunited with her mom. Sara wrote the addresses of five Erin Monroes that matched the profile on a piece of paper and hurried from the room. Brushing past Nick, she practically flew from the building.
Fairfax Hospital
1:15 am
A finger twitched from the hospital bed, then long lashes blinked rapidly, opening with confusion to find two more strangers leaning over her bed. Grissom leaned forward, eager to discover what Erin Monroe could reveal to them about the perp. A live witness who could help them capture the sick bastard who had done this to her and all the other women. Catherine placed a hand on his shoulder, silently urging him to move cautiously or risk a scene. Erin turned puzzled eyes on them both, her eyes hazy with the lingering effects of the medication.
"Where am I? What's wrong with me?"
Grissom felt his hope crashing. Post traumatic amnesia flit threw his mind, but he dismissed it when Erin felt her stomach. "He took my baby! Where is she? Where?" Sobs racked the fragile body and she struggled to sit up. Both Grissom and Catherine leapt to their feet and tried to calm the stricken woman.
Catherine spoke soothingly while Grissom itched to question her about who the man was she spoke of. When the sobs eased, he took a chance. "You mentioned a man?"
Erin's eyes widened. "I don't..." She closed her eyes. "I was walking to my car." She whispered. "It was late, but I needed something from inside. Something important." She opened horrified eyes. "A hand came from behind me and I couldn't breathe. A smell..."
"Chloroform." Grissom supplied. "How do you know it was a man?"
"I know." Erin said.
"You didn't see his face?"
"No."
"What were you looking for in your car?"
Confusion clouded her eyes. "I don't know." She repeated. Erin gripped the hand that held hers and stared into warm, compassionate eyes. "Why would he take my baby?"
Catherine struggled to keep back the tears
in her own eyes as she held the hand. "That's what we are going to find
out."
Erin Monroes Residence
3:00 am
Grissom was not in a good mood as he and Catherine drove to the address Erin had given them. She had not been able to give them much more information than the previous victims and it left him irritated. That irritation grew into anger when they pulled up behind a familiar car. "Is that who I think it is?" Grissom pulled out his cell phone, stared at it for a minute, then pressed in a number. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and waited. Catherine watched him and gripped the door handle, ready to climb out at the first sign from him. Sara answered on the seventh ring.
"What took you so long?" Grissom asked. Catherine could hear Sara on the other line.
"I'm busy, Gris. I haven't had a chance to check in with you."
"You found out who Erin Monroe is? Where she lives?"
A long pause ensued, before Sara replied. "Yeah."
Grissom felt his fingers cut into the phone. "When did you plan on sharing that information with me?"
"I was going to call you when I was certain it was the right person."
"I see." Grissom kept his eyes on the front door of the townhouse. "Why don't you share with me."
"I found the residence of our Erin Monroe. I've only been here for ten minutes."
"How did you get inside?" Grissom chose not to address the personal attachment Sara had assigned the victim.
"The door was unlocked."
Information he stored in one of the many compartments in his mind. "You are alone?" The steel in his voice didn't mislead Catherine. She knew he was worried about Sara, and the anger was simply a reaction to his lack of control of the situation.
A sigh echoed over the line. "I didn't think."
"No, you didn't."
"I'll give you the address."
"That's not necessary." Grissom was already out of the Tahoe, walking with determined strides to the front door. Catherine followed more slowly.
The phone that was clutched in her unsteady hand fell from her ear and she froze in surprise as the door swung open. "Grissom." Sara said, as a feeling of entrapment spread over her.
Catherine looked from one to the other then spoke to Sara. "What have you found?"
It wasn't easy for her to pull her eyes from Grissoms betrayed ones. She owed him an explanation, but this sense of urgency was directing her actions. She had to slow her mind to a normal rhythm. Focus. "I haven't seen anything useful on a walk through." She looked back at Grissom who was staring at her with that puzzled expression. "I haven't touched anything."
"You should have called me. You should never have come here alone." Grissom held back from ordering her to leave, taking her off of the case. He didn't like the strain he could see lining her face, pulling at the edges of her eyes.
"You can use my help." Sara said so softly he could only nod.
Crime Lab
5:00 am
The townhouse yielded no information that could lead them to the killer. Erin Monroe owned no computer. There was no evidence that the person had entered the house. The CSI team fanned around the conference room table reviewing the evidence they did have, including the previous three victims. Sara was unaware of the concerned glances she was receiving from each of her co-workers, her attention riveted on linking the women in a logical manner.
"The perp," She said looking at the profiles of the first woman. "He knew them somehow. Their doctor, maybe..."
Grissom shook his head. "All of the women saw different doctors. They have each been cleared."
Sara realized she was stating the obvious but she had to say it aloud. "The perp knew who these women were. Single. Not very social." She looked across the table at Catherine. "If you found yourself alone, pregnant, no work connections to speak of, where would you go for support?"
Catherine thought about what she would do in that situation. It wasn't easy to be pregnant and have no support system as all the women had appeared to have been. "There are support groups." She hazarded a guess. "Also, the internet has them, I would think."
"These women didn't own computers." Sara said quickly.
"Work? They could have used them at work and met some creep pretending to help them." Nick suggested.
"I don't think so." Sara shook her head in emphasis. "Brynna, the first victim, worked from home. She was a caterer. Did business over the phone. Joan, the third woman, was a freelance photographer."
Warrick sat up straight. "Catering, Photographers. Did they work the same party? Or for the same person?"
"No." Grissom looked at the table. "I've checked that possible connection thoroughly and it didn't pan out. No connections."
Sara reached for his hand with an eagerness that took everyone sitting at the table by surprise. "There is a link, Gris, I'm sure of it. You never told me what Erin Monroe told you."
Grissom glanced around the table, and pulled his hand away from Sara's. She didn't appear to notice, but everyone else certainly had. "She claims that she went out to her car to retrieve something important, but doesn't remember what." Grissom sighed, wondering how important it could have been if she didn't remember. "There is no recollection of any unfamiliar cars outside. No memory except that of a hand coming from behind."
"We should speak with her neighbors." Sara stated.
Warrick cleared his throat. "Nick and I are on that when we leave here."
Sara held her protest in check. If she was too emotional then Grissom would deny her any part of the case. "What do you want me to do, Grissom?" She hoped her question was rational enough in her frame of mind. She knew what she was going to do.
"Go home and sleep." He replied with a steady tone that belied his concern. She didn't argue with him, a fact that roused his suspicions. "I'm serious about this, Sara. You need sleep, then tonight you can rationalize with your normal tenacity."
"I'm not rationalizing now?" She challenged.
"Uh oh." Nick said, pushing away from the table with a mutual look to Warrick.
"We'll fill you in tonight, Sara." Warrick said before he left the table. "Take care."
Catherine smiled warmly. "You want to come home with me, Sara? We can talk."
Sara shook her head. "No. I'm fine."
"You know my number if you change your mind." She gave Grissom a pointed look before leaving. Sara tilted her head and tried to smile, but it came out a half grimace, half smirk.
"I'm not some fragile person you all have to tip toe around."
Grissom didn't break his stare. "You are not fragile and I'm not tip toeing." He stood with an abruptness that made her sit back. "Come on."
Sara looked up into those blue eyes that she could sometimes fall into. Ice lined them now, but beneath the cool surface she could see the flicker of something warmer. "Go where?" She wanted to go to the hospital to check on Erin.
"You need some rest." He didn't say anything else until they reached the parking lot and Sara began walking towards her car.
"Leave it, Sara." Grissom pointed to his Tahoe. "I'll bring you back when I'm sure you've gotten enough rest."
Sara glanced around at the parking spaces. Her co-workers had left, but the day shift was arriving.
"We are working a case. They would think it strange if one of our cars wasn't here." It was his turn to get inside her head and she actually smiled. A genuine smile. Maybe he wasn't too angry with her and she hadn't ruined everything.