Chapter 8: Silent Confessions
Tala slowly drifted back into consciousness to a pounding in her head. Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position and realized that the pounding was not in her head, but rather at the door. Outside she heard voices, "Tala? Miss Cale? Are you in there?" She recognized the voices as Gil Grissom and one of his CSIs; she tried to dredge the name out of her weary brain, but came up short.
"I'm here," Tala rasped, "You can come in." After that she leaned against the footrest of her chair, still to tired to haul herself into it. Grissom and Sara opened the door to find Tala slouched on the floor.
"Tala, what happened?" Grissom asked concern etched into his face.
"Someone let the horses out, I had to go find them, and got caught in the storm." She replied wearily.
"Maybe we had better get you to the hospital" Sara said, worrying about the frail looking girl in front of her.
" NO! I'm fine; I just have to get some dry clothes on. You 2 wait here I'll be right back." With that she turned and wheeled off into the other end of the house.
Grissom took this opportunity to explore the house, he wanted to find even a little clue that might lead him to the criminal that has until thus eluded him, not a common thing for the expert crime scene investigator. He looked at the pictures lining the mantle, when he noticed a person he hadn't seen before, or had he? The man before him was Matt Shadore, but he was wearing the FF Ranch's colors, not the colors of Race the Wind, his own stables. From the looks of Tala this picture was a few years ago, but Grissom never forgot a face. Just then Tala re-entered the room, Sara was on the couch where she had been when Tala had left, but Grissom had gotten up and was wandering the room, looking like a mare that had lost her foal.
"Are you about done there Mr. Grissom?" She asked with just a hint of sarcasm.
Grissom looked up a small sheepish smile upon his face. He held up a small picture from off the mantle, "Tala, is this Matt Shadore?" He asked, something had obviously piqued his interest.
"Yeah it is, why?" Tala asked still wondering what had caused his interest in an old photo.
"Did he used to work for your farm?" Grissom questioned, mentally crossing his fingers, at least if his hunch was correct he would finally have a lead.
"Yeah, but only for a short while, but he was a family friend long before that, after we bought the ranch, he saw how much he wanted one of his own, so now we are sort of rivals. What does this have to do with anything though? Matt couldn't have done it, he was talking to me while Mark was getting ready for the race. Believe me the way he was acting after he lost that race, I suspected him at fires, but he didn't have any opportunity to mess with Mark's stuff" She said, but even as she said it, she knew what Grissom was going to say so she cut him off, "I know, I know, it still could be him, but I guess I don't want to believe it."
Tala looked up and saw a look of intense concentration on Grissom's face. " Mr. Grissom are you alright?" Tala asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, ok Sara, I want you to go look around the barn, see if our intruder left anything for us, I'll stay here to talk to Tala." Grissom said.
"Ok," Sara said feeling strangely out of place with these two people, and not really knowing why. She picked up her raincoat and headed out the door.
"Seriously Mr. Grissom what's wrong, I know you are hiding something, I noticed it the first time we talked, see I pick up on things, when people talk to me I know when they feel sorry for me, and when they are scared, but you, you were just hiding something, and maybe I scared you into doing that, but I do know you are hiding something, and it helps to tell someone, believe me I know." She looked at him, and for the first time she saw fear.
"I'm not comfortable talking about it," he said quickly." And I'm not here to talk about myself, we have a killer on the loose, and I'm going to find them, that I promise you."
Tala looked at him, and gave a small smile, "Don't worry tell me whenever you are ready, but you are right, we need to find this guy, and before anybody, horse or person, gets hurt. Matt Shadore lives exactly 3 miles to the north of here, his ranch is hard to miss, all that bright shiny white plastic, I can't stand that stuff, but that's not the point. He won't welcome you without a warrant, he prides his privacy, he won't even let prospective buyers in the barn, he's kind of a strange guy. Good luck with that, and if you need anything, even just to talk, I'm pretty good at that."
Just then Sara came back into the house, "Grissom, our guy left some boot prints in the mud, but if we don't work fast we're going to loose them, also I got a few partials, but they are probably just Tala's but this is the first break we've had." A dripping wet Sara Sidle reported.
"Well then let's go." Grissom replied
Tala slowly drifted back into consciousness to a pounding in her head. Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position and realized that the pounding was not in her head, but rather at the door. Outside she heard voices, "Tala? Miss Cale? Are you in there?" She recognized the voices as Gil Grissom and one of his CSIs; she tried to dredge the name out of her weary brain, but came up short.
"I'm here," Tala rasped, "You can come in." After that she leaned against the footrest of her chair, still to tired to haul herself into it. Grissom and Sara opened the door to find Tala slouched on the floor.
"Tala, what happened?" Grissom asked concern etched into his face.
"Someone let the horses out, I had to go find them, and got caught in the storm." She replied wearily.
"Maybe we had better get you to the hospital" Sara said, worrying about the frail looking girl in front of her.
" NO! I'm fine; I just have to get some dry clothes on. You 2 wait here I'll be right back." With that she turned and wheeled off into the other end of the house.
Grissom took this opportunity to explore the house, he wanted to find even a little clue that might lead him to the criminal that has until thus eluded him, not a common thing for the expert crime scene investigator. He looked at the pictures lining the mantle, when he noticed a person he hadn't seen before, or had he? The man before him was Matt Shadore, but he was wearing the FF Ranch's colors, not the colors of Race the Wind, his own stables. From the looks of Tala this picture was a few years ago, but Grissom never forgot a face. Just then Tala re-entered the room, Sara was on the couch where she had been when Tala had left, but Grissom had gotten up and was wandering the room, looking like a mare that had lost her foal.
"Are you about done there Mr. Grissom?" She asked with just a hint of sarcasm.
Grissom looked up a small sheepish smile upon his face. He held up a small picture from off the mantle, "Tala, is this Matt Shadore?" He asked, something had obviously piqued his interest.
"Yeah it is, why?" Tala asked still wondering what had caused his interest in an old photo.
"Did he used to work for your farm?" Grissom questioned, mentally crossing his fingers, at least if his hunch was correct he would finally have a lead.
"Yeah, but only for a short while, but he was a family friend long before that, after we bought the ranch, he saw how much he wanted one of his own, so now we are sort of rivals. What does this have to do with anything though? Matt couldn't have done it, he was talking to me while Mark was getting ready for the race. Believe me the way he was acting after he lost that race, I suspected him at fires, but he didn't have any opportunity to mess with Mark's stuff" She said, but even as she said it, she knew what Grissom was going to say so she cut him off, "I know, I know, it still could be him, but I guess I don't want to believe it."
Tala looked up and saw a look of intense concentration on Grissom's face. " Mr. Grissom are you alright?" Tala asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, ok Sara, I want you to go look around the barn, see if our intruder left anything for us, I'll stay here to talk to Tala." Grissom said.
"Ok," Sara said feeling strangely out of place with these two people, and not really knowing why. She picked up her raincoat and headed out the door.
"Seriously Mr. Grissom what's wrong, I know you are hiding something, I noticed it the first time we talked, see I pick up on things, when people talk to me I know when they feel sorry for me, and when they are scared, but you, you were just hiding something, and maybe I scared you into doing that, but I do know you are hiding something, and it helps to tell someone, believe me I know." She looked at him, and for the first time she saw fear.
"I'm not comfortable talking about it," he said quickly." And I'm not here to talk about myself, we have a killer on the loose, and I'm going to find them, that I promise you."
Tala looked at him, and gave a small smile, "Don't worry tell me whenever you are ready, but you are right, we need to find this guy, and before anybody, horse or person, gets hurt. Matt Shadore lives exactly 3 miles to the north of here, his ranch is hard to miss, all that bright shiny white plastic, I can't stand that stuff, but that's not the point. He won't welcome you without a warrant, he prides his privacy, he won't even let prospective buyers in the barn, he's kind of a strange guy. Good luck with that, and if you need anything, even just to talk, I'm pretty good at that."
Just then Sara came back into the house, "Grissom, our guy left some boot prints in the mud, but if we don't work fast we're going to loose them, also I got a few partials, but they are probably just Tala's but this is the first break we've had." A dripping wet Sara Sidle reported.
"Well then let's go." Grissom replied