V. Old Wounds Never Heal

Catherine had never been more happy in her life. Vincent was wonderful. They had been together for two months and he was a true gentleman. She didn't know what it was about him that Sara didn't like. He loved Lindsay and that's all that mattered. Catherine wasn't thinking about herself this time. She was thinking about Lindsay. She was trying her hand at love again for Lindsay.

"Mommy?" Lindsay asked.

"Yeah baby?"

"Can I spend the night with Aunt Sara and Uncle Nick?" She asked.

Catherine noticed that Lindsay's fervor was gone and her blue eyes were hollow.

"Yeah, sure baby if your Aunt Sara feels like some company. If she says yes, I want you to be real good and try not to strain her too much okay? Go get your stuff ready," Catherine consented.

Lindsay ran to her bedroom and picked up an overstuffed suitcase.

"Honey, you don't need that many clothes," Catherine said smiling. "C'mon, let's pick out some jammies and your favorite outfit for tomorrow."

"No, I want to stay at her house," Lindsay said.

"Well, if your Auntie and Uncle want you to stay longer, that's fine sweetie. It is summer time," Catherine said worried about her daughter.

Catherine called Sara.

"Hello?" Sara answered in a very sweet tone.

"Hey Sara it's me," Catherine started. "Lindsay wants to stay with you and Nick for a while. Is that okay with you? I mean are you okay to have company because she wants to stay for a week."

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm on my two week leave anyway and I'm bored to death here at Nick's. He's so paranoid now. He blocked some cable channels because he thinks they're going to stress me out or get me overly exerted. He's driving me crazy and I can't eat what I'm craving 'cause he won't buy it, I can't leave the house…I've practically been institutionalized."

"I remember those days," Catherine said dryly.

"The baby is kicking my ass," Sara said. "It started kicking yesterday and it hasn't stopped. Is it normal for babies to start kicking at five months?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Catherine said smiling. "So you don't mind Lindsay coming over?"

"No not at all," Sara said. "Bring her by when you're ready."

On the way to Sara and Nick's, Lindsay was frighteningly silent. Usually, Lindsay talked on and on about the things she planned to do with Sara. Now not even a breath could be heard from the little girl.

Catherine didn't want to ask what was wrong because she didn't want to give into her fear that something was wrong. She prayed that Lindsay would snap out of her dementia.

"Okay, sweetie, we're here," Catherine said smiling.

"Yea!" Lindsay exclaimed. She got out of the car and grabbed her things.

Catherine released a sigh of relief. Nothing was wrong.

Sara must have seen them pull up because she opened the door and greeted them with a smile.

"Hey," she said.

Sara squatted awkwardly down to Lindsay's level because of her belly.

"Can I feel the baby?" Lindsay asked eagerly.

"Sure," Sara said standing back up with Catherine's help. Sara took Lindsay's hand and placed it on the spot where the baby kicked the most.

"Wow," Lindsay said in awe.

Sara smiled.

"Okay, well I better go," Catherine said. "I've got some housework to do. Take it easy Sara. Call me if you get tired."

"Oh don't worry," Sara said insistently. "You're starting to sound like Nick. I'll be fine, I promise you."

Catherine nodded then kissed Lindsay and left.

"Okay Linds," Sara started, walking with a waddle to the kitchen. "What would you like for dinner?"

"Can we have pizza?" She asked.

"We sure can," Sara said. "Do you want to color? I bought some crayons for you and some coloring books."

"Yeah!"

Sara felt that something wasn't right with Lindsay. Lately, the little girl had been withdrawn and more quiet than usual. Sara wanted to know what was wrong. She hated thinking what she was thinking, but she had to catch it before it ruined the little girl permanently.

Sara watched Lindsay as she colored. She had only chosen black and brown to color the pictures in the book with. It wasn't neat coloring either. It was intense, and ugly. Sara's first thought was to call Catherine, but that wasn't a good idea, especially involving a certain guy. Sara ordered the pizza then sat down at the table with Lindsay. She picked up the box of crayons and began to sift through the colors temptingly.

"You know what my favorite color is? It's blue. Why don't you use blue for the eyes?" Sara suggested.

"No, that's okay Auntie," Lindsay said continuing her intense coloring.

Sara had to ask.

"Linds," she started. "Do you like your mommy's new boyfriend?"

The little girl just sighed heavily.

"Lindsay, did he do anything bad? Anything that made you uncomfortable?"

The girl just colored harder until the crayon broke in half. Sara flinched in her seat at the suddenness. Without missing a beat, Lindsay picked up the brown crayon and continued her vigorous coloring.

Sara felt the anger boiling within her. Vincent Mortenson. The name sounded so familiar and he looked so familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She knew the man had done something wrong to Lindsay.

All of a sudden Lindsay got frustrated and threw the crayon with a whimper then started to cry.

"Lindsay, tell me what he did to you," Sara pressed. "Did he hurt you? Did he touch you? Tell me Lindsay."

Sara drove like a mad woman to the hospital.

"I want a rape kit done on this child," Sara demanded.

"Ma'am, I need you to calm down," the nurse said.

"No! I want a kit done on her stat!" Sara yelled.

"Ma'am, I'll go get the doctor. I just need you to calm down. You're pregnant, and I don't want you to get yourself too worked up," the nurse said.

"This is not about me! I want a kit done on her now!" Sara screamed.

***

Catherine rushed into the hospital along with Nick. Catherine was seething.

"Sara what the hell are you doing?" She exclaimed.

"I'm having a kit done on Lindsay," Sara said. "There's something not right with her. If couldn't see that Cath then shame on you!"

"Who the fuck do you think you are? She's not your daughter!" Catherine yelled back.

"Stop it!" Nick said angrily. "Get over there!" He commanded to Sara. "Sar, what are you doing?"

"You see these Nick?" Sara asked pulling out drawings Lindsay made. "Take a good look at these. The colorful one was done a few weeks ago. This one was done tonight. And these are from her backpack. They're all done in black and brown. A sign that there's something wrong. It's that guy that Catherine is seeing, I can feel it."

"Honey, you can't assume-"

"Don't you dare tell me that! I know that something is wrong with Lindsay. It's not like her to draw like this. Her mood and personality has changed dramatically," Sara said.

Nick saw the familiar glint of compassion and determination again. When Sara got that look, he knew that she wasn't losing her mind.

"This is serious," Nick said softly.

"Yes it is," Sara said insistently. "And this case with the dead kid at the jungle gym? I'm scared Nick. Lindsay told me that one of her friends from school hasn't shown up for three days. She was there when Vincent came to her school."

Nick ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Babe, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to do a background check on this guy Vincent Mortenson, then I want you to talk to this little girl. Her name is Stacy Hamlin, and get both she and Lindsay to ID through a line up," Sara requested.

"Sara, no, I can't do this," Nick said. "I can't go rogue. I have to let this go by Grissom."

"Nick, if you tell Griss what I want, he'll say no and he'll think I'm crazy," Sara said. "I want this to go by Brass. Tell him you're following a hunch and Grissom will never know."

"Sara," Nick started. "If I do this for you, promise me, you won't go off on your own and look into this. If you find something at work or have a hunch about something, tell me."

"I can't promise you that Nick," Sara said truthfully. "This involves all of us, and I want to protect Lindsay from that psycho bastard that's running around out there. I'll be careful, I can promise you that, but I'm not sitting on the sidelines while innocent little girls are being violated."

Nick sighed and hugged her. "I just don't want anything to happen to you or the baby. I'll never forgive myself if something happened to one or both of you."

"Nothing will happen to me," Sara insisted. "Besides I'm trained in weaponless defense and-"

Nick interrupted her with a passionate kiss. When they pulled away, they smiled at each other, each drawing strength from one another.