All in a Day
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Spoilers: Nothing specific, set mid third season.
A/N: Each chapter is told from a different point of view. I owe enormous thanks to M and J who are to wonderful beta readers. Thanks to all those who've read and reviewed.
That little voice inside my head told me not to, it told me to just go home, grab a shower and a bite to eat and wait for sleep and nightmares to come. But even though I knew that this was the right thing to do, I couldn't. I had to stick with the case till the end and do whatever I could to turn it around and stop the cultists. I needed to do this, not as much for the people whose lives were at stake but rather I needed to do this for myself. When we were held hostage in the hospital, I had the chance to do something, but I missed it. I could rationalize my way out of there, telling myself that I couldn't do anything and that it isn't my fault. But I managed to grab the gun the girl had dropped and I didn't use it. I don't understand this. I don't know why, sure my hands were tied, but if I had thought harder, I might have found a way. But I was so afraid to die that I just waited passively for the HRT to storm the building. I survived, Grissom survived. And Greg's death was totally unforeseeable, I know that and I keep telling myself that. I still feel bad that I didn't do something, anything at all. That feeling drove me to insist on working the case. Of course, Warrick didn't agree when I told him that I was coming with him and Brass to Kevin Stein. Brass had already gone ahead to meet up with Ecklie and one of the dayshift CSIs, when Warrick stopped me. He pulled me to the side.
"Sara, just listen to me for a second. You shouldn't be here and you know it."
"You don't understand, just let me come, I can do my job."
"I'm not saying that you can't. But it has been a long day and we can't afford any mistakes. So just stay here. We still need someone to do the work here." Warrick was trying to reason this out with me, but I was far too wired to reason. This day had been so far beyond normal or expected that I didn't feel capable to reason this out anymore.
"Sara, we don't have time to argue here." I tried to keep calm but I could feel anger building up inside. I knew that I was on the verge of yelling at him.
"Exactly, I'm coming with you and that's it, I have to see this through till the end." I almost yelled. People were starting to look at us. In that moment I couldn't have cared less about who was seeing me.
"Then, I'm ordering you to stay here. Sorry." Warrick looked uncomfortable. It probably wasn't easy for him to pull the authority card on me. But, even in my agitated state I knew, that with the two of us being the only nightshift CSIs on duty at the moment, Warrick was in charge.
"I got it," I just said, suddenly having to bite back tears. I was just so worked up; all my emotions were starting to get mixed up.
"Don't do anything stupid, Sara."
Warrick left me standing in the corridor. Now, thinking back to that moment, I see how hard the situation must have been on him as well. Of course he had been right, in my totally confused and exhausted state. I should have been at home. But I needed to work this case, and I don't regret sticking with it. I don't know how long I stood in the corridor after Warrick had left. I was busy trying to pull myself back together.
Normally, I'm not that kind of person. I usually look down on women who cry at the slightest provocation. I haven't shed tears in public since my preteens. But I was confused, angry and stuck in a morass of emotions that I didn't want and couldn't afford. Hoping that not too many people had witnessed my exchange with Warrick, I made my way back to the break room. On the way, I dropped by the lab to see if the tests were making any headway. The DNA test of the child had come back. The saliva found on the pillow in the crib had yielded DNA which had been cross-referenced. Charlotte May was the mother as I had expected, Daryl Marks was the father. Charlotte May was a very special member of the cult, it seemed. Not knowing exactly what I should make of the information, I slipped back into the break room. I went back to our files, there had to be something more, something in the files, or some form of evidence that we had missed. Warrick and Brass were holding on to the only straw that we were having, Kevin Stein didn't necessarily have anything to do with the cult. He certainly didn't fit the profile. He was married with two kids and was the CEO of a large pharmaceutical manufacturing company called Aimtec.
Kevin Stein, the name had a familiar ring to it. I couldn't link a face to it, however. So I had most likely read the name somewhere, but where? I read a lot of newspapers, books, and journals. No way of remembering where I had read the name. I decided to look him up on the computer, internet, public records, newspapers, and police files.
She found his name in several newspaper articles, all but two not very interesting.
One was a brief note from 2001. It stated that the investigation against Kevin Stein, CEO of Aimtec, concerning allegations of bribery had been discontinued. No evidence had been found to consolidate the charges. In 1999, a scientist working for the FDA had claimed that Kevin Stein had been paying bribes to speed up the testing of his company's drugs. The second article was about an activist group called LVARC, Las Vegas Alliance of Responsible Citizens. The profile of the group included a list of their latest projects. They had been campaigning to get the investigation against Aimtec reopened. Kevin Stein had declined to comment on the project. There was a picture of several group members. Most of the women in Charlotte's age range. I have no idea why I thought to pursue this avenue, maybe because I had no other leads.
It was a long shot, but worth it. I dialed the number listed in the contact information. On the second ring, a man picked up. I explained who I was and why I was calling.
"The woman I'm looking for is called Charlotte May, could you maybe check your member database and your mailing lists."
"Sure, we have it on computer, should only take a minute." He was right, within half a minute he got back to me, "Yes, there she is. She signed up for our mailing list in October 2000, but didn't join as a full member until five months ago. I personally never met her, but if you want, I can get someone who has on the phone." He was eager to help, a rare occurrence amongst the people I usually deal with.
"That would be great." I waited.
About a minute later, a woman answered, "Hello, I'm Tracy Harris. Dane told me that you wanted to know something about Charlotte May."
"That's right. What was Charlotte May doing in your group?"
"Well, she signed up as a member and paid her membership fee. In the beginning she went regularly to the meetings we hold twice a week and also participated in I think two public campaigns. After that pretty much nothing, I haven't seen her in over a month."
"You've met her personally? What impression did you get?"
"She was strange, that was my initial impression. I mean most people that dedicate their time to our groups are not your average passive couch potato, but she was different. She almost never said something and when she did, she was often motioning this weird esoteric crap, she was into. She kept to herself pretty much, didn't talk about herself at all. She was never satisfied with what we were doing, said it didn't lead to anything. Then she just stopped showing up. That happens on occasion. Ah, something I just recalled, she was pregnant by the time she joined, she came by a couple of times after she had the child. She had gotten stranger, at least that was my impression, but I must admit I didn't like her much. Does that answer your question?"
"Yes, thank you. I have another request. Would it be possible for you to send me a fax copy of your material about Aimtec? I understand that you have been active concerning the allegations of bribery and malpractice."
"In my mind it's more than allegations, but I'll take your number and fax it to you."
Two minutes later, I had another pile of paper to wade through. Somehow, I had trouble fitting it all together. The cultists were religious extremists, they hated the outside world because they believed them to be sinners and impure according to some twisted pseudo-religious belief system. But Charlotte May's interest, while also into religion and esotericism, also had more political dimension. From what had been gathered at the "Heavenly Path" estate nothing had indicated any political motivation. They outside world had been shunned, all contact avoided. There had been no TV, no newspapers or anything. I decided the motive could wait in light of a ticking bomb somewhere out there. I started skimming through the paperwork. As the newspaper article had already indicated, there had been allegations that Kevin Stein had bribed scientists who were carrying out drug trials in order to speed up the process of getting them on the market. There had even been an investigation, but no proof had ever been found. Now the activists were pressing for a reopening of the investigation. Inside my head everything was spinning around: unsafe drugs – bribes – potential health effects – someone to blame – closed cases.
Charlotte May was looking for someone to blame for the illness of her child. Could she be blaming her employer? Well there was no proof for that. But if so, then he or his company might be a target. All just speculation and the cultist angle didn't really fit into that as well. It wasn't enough to call Brass or Warrick. .
Then, I had an idea how to prove my theory. I recalled Warrick having mentioned the layout plans that he had handed to the building administration for checking. It would take ages to search for a match, but if they only had to compare it to the properties of one company, it should go a lot faster. I made a call to the building administration and fifteen minutes later I knew it. The layout plan we had found on the "Heavenly Path" property matched a building of Aimtec's company, a storage building outside the city.
I checked my watch: another forty-five minutes left until sundown. I had to hurry.