"Search for the Truth" part 5/7
By Rita Widmer
All pertinent information is in the prologue. Thanks again for all the reviews. Keep on enjoying, and I promise you some C/G moments coming soon.
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"Would she be continually calling him if it was him playing Eddie?" questioned Nick. "He has some role in this, but what is it?"
"There's only one way to find out," interrupted Brass as he walked in. "We were able to get Catherine's phone bill, and found his number. I was able to also get his address, and dug up some information on him. He's an ex-policeman turned private investigator."
"So he was working with Catherine to try to solve Eddie's murder?" Warrick inquired.
"There's no proof of that, but its a safe bet. Warrick, you'll come with me to talk to him. The rest of you look into the doings of our suspects from Eddie's murder. If Catherine found anything to implicate either one they might have tried to stop her," continued Brass.
"We've narrowed that down to one person. Candeece Hogan has been dead for the last 24 hours according to the autopsy so there is no way she could have attacked Catherine. Though it doesn't leave out the possibility she killed Eddie. I'm waiting for the tox results to find out if it was her medicine that killed her or not. I haven't been able to prove if it was a case of suicide or murder," said Sara.
"Then that leaves Kiner. Find out where he is, and bring him in for an interrogation. Hopefully finding Eddie's killer will find Catherine's attacker. Lets get to work," finished Brass.
************************************
Gil sat watching Lindsey sleeping. He was letting his mind wonder from the situation before him to the little girl in front of him. The anguish she was going through after first losing her father, and now maybe her mother. She blamed herself for her mother's attack, and he didn't have any idea on how to deal with that.
Her face still had dried tear marks on her face from her earlier outburst. He never knew what to do in times like these when the people he cared about needed comforting. It was always easier to let someone else take over that job.
He felt a hand on his shoulder breaking him from his pondering. "Do you think she'll be all right?" Gil asked still looking at Lindsey.
"She'll be if the people she loves stays near her. She needs all the love she can get right now. She doesn't understand why the people she loves are being taken away from her."
"No matter what happens, she'll have me and the rest of the CSI gang. They love her just as much as they do Catherine."
"You love them both a lot?"
Gil looked up at her, surprised at her question. He opened his mouth to deny it, but no words would come out. Instead he looked away hoping to ignore answering her question.
"If it's any consolation, they both love you too," continued Nancy.
Gil was saved this time from answering as the doctor walked in. The doctor's face showed no emotion one way or another telling them what happened.
"Is she all right?" asked Nancy.
"She survived through the surgery. We were able to fix the damage done, but one bullet had hit her lung. She is only at about 70% lung capacity right now. That will take time to heal. She's not out of danger, but she is a fighter. The next 48 hours will be critical to see how she progresses. We'll keep her on oxygen to allow for the most oxygen to get into her body."
"When can we see her?" asked Gil.
"Not for another couple of hours at least. She needs to heal so we are keeping her sedated. I recommend all of you to go home, and get some sleep and food before you become patients yourself."
Gil stood up to protest. He wanted to see her now. He had to see for himself that she was still on this Earth with him. Searching for a reason to see her, he finally came up with an idea.
"Doctor, I'm with CSI. I need to check the patient for evidence of her attack. The sooner I get that evidence the sooner we can find the person who did this to her," argued Gil.
The doctor looked at the older man in front of him. He knew he was just trying to find a reason to see her, but he had a good argument.
"I'll need to see your badge before I let you in. Then you are allowed to go in, and take evidence and then come right back out. You can spend personal time with her once she is awake."
He quickly showed the doctor his tag, and then turned to Nancy who was waking up Lindsey. "I'll call you if I hear anything about Catherine. I'm going to collect any evidence there is, and then take it to the lab," Gil said softly.
"I'm going to take Lindsey home. I need to get my kid off to school, and I'll make sure its all right for Lindsey to miss school." With Lindsey in her arms, she headed to the door. Turning around to look at Gil again, she said, "Thank you."
"I wouldn't be anywhere else at this moment. Now go home and get some rest." He followed her out to get his box for collecting evidence before heading to Catherine's room.
Gil stood outside of Cath's room. The fear of what he would see in that room had stopped him dead in his tracks. He knew there wasn't much evidence he would be able to find, but he needed all he could get.
He opened the door, and the sight in front of him brought tears to his eyes. All the machines hooked up to her proved to him that she was still there. His whole being wanted to run to her and hold her, but he couldn't.
Taking a deep breath, he got to work checking for any evidence. There wasn't much to see, but he found a small trace of skin tissue under her nails. Collecting it, he put it in an evidence bag.
Though he was warned to only collect evidence, he sat down in a chair and held onto her hand. He lifted it up to his lips and kissed it softly. Before letting go, he leaned over and whispered the three words he had been holding inside of him for years.
"I love you."
He heard the door open behind him warning him the doctor came in. He stood up after putting her hand down softly on the bed. The doctor had a stern look on his face.
"I'm sorry. I just needed to..." Gil's voice faded off as he tried to find the words to express his need.
The doctor decided to leave it at that, and went on to explain what he found during surgery. Nothing was helpful for the case, and Gil went on his way to leave for the lab knowing he would be notified as soon as she woke up.
************************************
Brass and Warrick walked up the stairs to Shuman's apartment. They waited for him to answer, and it finally revealed a short little man.
"Can I help you?" asked Shuman.
"Are you Hal Shuman?" asked Brass.
"Yes, and who are you?"
"I'm Jim Brass and this is Warrick Brown. We work for CSI. We believe you knew one of our colleagues."
"Oh yes, Catherine Willows. We were investigating her ex-husband's death."
"You were?" asked Warrick.
"She fired me a week ago. She said that she was being threatened and blackmailed to stop her investigation."
TBC...
By Rita Widmer
All pertinent information is in the prologue. Thanks again for all the reviews. Keep on enjoying, and I promise you some C/G moments coming soon.
************************************************************************
"Would she be continually calling him if it was him playing Eddie?" questioned Nick. "He has some role in this, but what is it?"
"There's only one way to find out," interrupted Brass as he walked in. "We were able to get Catherine's phone bill, and found his number. I was able to also get his address, and dug up some information on him. He's an ex-policeman turned private investigator."
"So he was working with Catherine to try to solve Eddie's murder?" Warrick inquired.
"There's no proof of that, but its a safe bet. Warrick, you'll come with me to talk to him. The rest of you look into the doings of our suspects from Eddie's murder. If Catherine found anything to implicate either one they might have tried to stop her," continued Brass.
"We've narrowed that down to one person. Candeece Hogan has been dead for the last 24 hours according to the autopsy so there is no way she could have attacked Catherine. Though it doesn't leave out the possibility she killed Eddie. I'm waiting for the tox results to find out if it was her medicine that killed her or not. I haven't been able to prove if it was a case of suicide or murder," said Sara.
"Then that leaves Kiner. Find out where he is, and bring him in for an interrogation. Hopefully finding Eddie's killer will find Catherine's attacker. Lets get to work," finished Brass.
************************************
Gil sat watching Lindsey sleeping. He was letting his mind wonder from the situation before him to the little girl in front of him. The anguish she was going through after first losing her father, and now maybe her mother. She blamed herself for her mother's attack, and he didn't have any idea on how to deal with that.
Her face still had dried tear marks on her face from her earlier outburst. He never knew what to do in times like these when the people he cared about needed comforting. It was always easier to let someone else take over that job.
He felt a hand on his shoulder breaking him from his pondering. "Do you think she'll be all right?" Gil asked still looking at Lindsey.
"She'll be if the people she loves stays near her. She needs all the love she can get right now. She doesn't understand why the people she loves are being taken away from her."
"No matter what happens, she'll have me and the rest of the CSI gang. They love her just as much as they do Catherine."
"You love them both a lot?"
Gil looked up at her, surprised at her question. He opened his mouth to deny it, but no words would come out. Instead he looked away hoping to ignore answering her question.
"If it's any consolation, they both love you too," continued Nancy.
Gil was saved this time from answering as the doctor walked in. The doctor's face showed no emotion one way or another telling them what happened.
"Is she all right?" asked Nancy.
"She survived through the surgery. We were able to fix the damage done, but one bullet had hit her lung. She is only at about 70% lung capacity right now. That will take time to heal. She's not out of danger, but she is a fighter. The next 48 hours will be critical to see how she progresses. We'll keep her on oxygen to allow for the most oxygen to get into her body."
"When can we see her?" asked Gil.
"Not for another couple of hours at least. She needs to heal so we are keeping her sedated. I recommend all of you to go home, and get some sleep and food before you become patients yourself."
Gil stood up to protest. He wanted to see her now. He had to see for himself that she was still on this Earth with him. Searching for a reason to see her, he finally came up with an idea.
"Doctor, I'm with CSI. I need to check the patient for evidence of her attack. The sooner I get that evidence the sooner we can find the person who did this to her," argued Gil.
The doctor looked at the older man in front of him. He knew he was just trying to find a reason to see her, but he had a good argument.
"I'll need to see your badge before I let you in. Then you are allowed to go in, and take evidence and then come right back out. You can spend personal time with her once she is awake."
He quickly showed the doctor his tag, and then turned to Nancy who was waking up Lindsey. "I'll call you if I hear anything about Catherine. I'm going to collect any evidence there is, and then take it to the lab," Gil said softly.
"I'm going to take Lindsey home. I need to get my kid off to school, and I'll make sure its all right for Lindsey to miss school." With Lindsey in her arms, she headed to the door. Turning around to look at Gil again, she said, "Thank you."
"I wouldn't be anywhere else at this moment. Now go home and get some rest." He followed her out to get his box for collecting evidence before heading to Catherine's room.
Gil stood outside of Cath's room. The fear of what he would see in that room had stopped him dead in his tracks. He knew there wasn't much evidence he would be able to find, but he needed all he could get.
He opened the door, and the sight in front of him brought tears to his eyes. All the machines hooked up to her proved to him that she was still there. His whole being wanted to run to her and hold her, but he couldn't.
Taking a deep breath, he got to work checking for any evidence. There wasn't much to see, but he found a small trace of skin tissue under her nails. Collecting it, he put it in an evidence bag.
Though he was warned to only collect evidence, he sat down in a chair and held onto her hand. He lifted it up to his lips and kissed it softly. Before letting go, he leaned over and whispered the three words he had been holding inside of him for years.
"I love you."
He heard the door open behind him warning him the doctor came in. He stood up after putting her hand down softly on the bed. The doctor had a stern look on his face.
"I'm sorry. I just needed to..." Gil's voice faded off as he tried to find the words to express his need.
The doctor decided to leave it at that, and went on to explain what he found during surgery. Nothing was helpful for the case, and Gil went on his way to leave for the lab knowing he would be notified as soon as she woke up.
************************************
Brass and Warrick walked up the stairs to Shuman's apartment. They waited for him to answer, and it finally revealed a short little man.
"Can I help you?" asked Shuman.
"Are you Hal Shuman?" asked Brass.
"Yes, and who are you?"
"I'm Jim Brass and this is Warrick Brown. We work for CSI. We believe you knew one of our colleagues."
"Oh yes, Catherine Willows. We were investigating her ex-husband's death."
"You were?" asked Warrick.
"She fired me a week ago. She said that she was being threatened and blackmailed to stop her investigation."
TBC...
