A/N: Thanks to Jid, for the chapter title, and for betaing for me. Jiddy-Manda you're awesome. Also there is a flashback marked like this *****
Dedication: To Lauri, for all the nagging and the encouragement. I'm honored that you're such a fan of this story. Happy Birthday Lauri, this chapter's for you.
Chapter 11: Tit for Tat, Sara For Cat
++++
Nick stared at the phone in his hand for a moment before regaining his senses and putting it back up to his ear. This was his fault. He knew that. He should have been paying more attention to what was going on. To Sara. First Catherine, and now her. He had to find Sara, and fast. He didn't think he could live with himself if something happened to her.
'Or maybe you couldn't live without her,' his inner voice whispered.
"Tell me where she is... or I'll -"
"Now Mr. Stokes...lets not be hasty. You wouldn't want to get me angry..."
"What is she to you? What did she ever do to you?" Nick pulled the phone away from his ear and yelled into the receiver.
"Nothing...she's nothing to me. Another pieces of flesh for my collection...you, Grissom, Sara...you're all just nothing...corpses... walking meat, parading around like lost cattle."
Nick could almost feel the kidnappers breath through the receiver. Short, ragged, quick gasps for air. Glancing around, he scanned the outside perimeter of the house...bushes, trees, anywhere that he could of that would make a good hiding place.
"Where oh where could I be, Mr. Stokes?" The assailant laughed, hollowly on the other end. Nick felt the anger rise in his veins; his fists clench with fury.
"If they're all just nothing then...why? Why Catherine? Why Sara! WHY?!"
Infuriated, Nick yelled into the phone, wanting desperately to smash it, and the man on the other end, into a thousand tiny pieces. Mind games, Nick thought; that was all this guy was doing. Toying with him. The son of a bitch wasn't going to tell him anything.
"Smart, smart CSI man... You and the bugman, you think you're so smart... so high and mighty. She thought she was smart too..."
"She?"
"The girl who died twice."
"What the hell?" Nick muttered under his breath.
The girl who died twice? Nick furled his brown in thought. In his head, he immediately scratched Catherine and Sara's names off of the list. He'd been on the phone a good fifteen minutes with this guy- no way Sara had been gone long enough to die twice, or even once. Nick would have heard that happening on the other end of the line.
And Catherine, for all he knew, was alive. But, in truth, he couldn't be sure of that. At the moment, his focus was completely on finding Sara. Nick swore inwardly for the thousandth time in the past two days. In fact, he hadn't even remembered to inquire about Catherine's whereabouts at all.
"Son of a bitch," Nick mumbled to himself.
The girl in the morgue. Norie Andrews. Sara's friend. Nick had an eerie suspicion someone had helped her suicide along a bit. Doc Robbins was probably taking a look at her as he stood there.
"Needs some help, Mr. CSI man... Mr. Smart, CSI 3?"
"You killed her didn't you?" Heading towards the street, Nick flagged down Brass, briefly, lifting the phone in the air and pointing to it. Nestling it back between his ear and shoulder, he strode over to Brass who was standing near the Tahoe. Brass held out a pen and the pad of paper he'd been taking statements, and Nick took it willingly, writing down everything the unknown kidnapper revealed to him so far. "You killed her and then you made it look like a suicide."
"Why don't we ask your girlfriend here, eh? I'm sure she'd love to tell you."
"Tell me what? Sara? Sara? You there?" Nick's voice became more panicked, and Brass gave him and odd look. Hastily, Nick jotted down what was going on - 'Kidnapper on phone... Sara gone.' -- before focusing back on the conversation at hand.
But her voice wasn't there. Paper scuffling, shouting, scraping; for a few minutes he listened, thinking that he just might be able to hear her voice in the background.
But then, the shot rang out.
~*~*~
Eddie stood in front of the door that led to Gil Grissom's room. 421. He could feel the muscles in his stomach tighten, the nerves getting the best of him. How was he supposed to feel before telling another man, that the woman he's been in love with for fifteen years, was in surgery fighting to stay alive?
And Eddie knew Grissom was in love with Catherine. Over the past two years, he'd come to accept it. She wasn't his any longer, and as much as he wanted to pummel Gil Grissom, there was nothing he could do to stop her from loving him.
Even if she hadn't realized she was yet.
But that didn't make what he had to do any easier. After telling the two detectives at the door who he was, Eddie grabbed the handle and twisted it violently, pushing the door open and stepping into the room in one swift, sure motion.
"Eddie?"
"Grissom, I... have some news."
The elder man looked at him questioningly, analyzing his every move. It made Eddie want to squirm. He remembered when Cath had started looking at him in that way; towards the end of their tumultuous marriage. It was something that he hadn't remembered her doing during her dancing days. It was something she picked up after she had started working at the lab, after seeing her fair share criminals and liars everyday.
He would come home late, and there she would be, sitting on the couch, staring at him as he walked in the doorway. Or, she'd swing by on a break from a case, and the minute she saw him; shirt ruffled, lights out, t.v. on, with a beer in his hand; her gaze would turn cold. Almost as if she was able to read his mind.
He'd never enjoyed it then, and he certainly didn't enjoy it now. Especially coming from Grissom.
"What kind of news? And how did you know I was here?" Grissom asked, sitting up straight and adjusting his glasses. There were bags under his eyes, and worry in his voice; one of those uncommon moments where his professional exterior had been shed for something much more human.
"I called your office, a Warrick Brown told me you were here. I assume he works for you? He seemed a bit shocked that I was calling. And even more shocked that I asked for you."
"Nothing like being hit with the element of surprise... I can't say I'm exactly sure why you're here either. Unless it's -"
"About Cath?" Eddie finished for him. "It is."
"Eddie, she's gone. Someone took her."
"No, Grissom she's not. She was, but she isn't anymore."
"Eddie, she was taken from the locker room at CSI. My co-worker, Nick Stokes, came in and informed me yesterday. Nobody has notified you? Lindsey doesn't know yet? Cath has been gone almost two damn days and no one's told Lindsey?"
Eddie winced, the sound of Grissom's voice booming throughout the room. When he looked at the man in front of him, he didn't see a confident, calm, CSI. He saw a worried, unkempt man who looked as if he'd aged ten years in two days. Best he could figure, this was a situation, Gil Grissom's intelligent mind was just unable to handle. But then again, Eddie wasn't really able to handle it either.
"Grissom, listen. I know about what happened... I found her. She's here. Downstairs. There's a doctor working on her as we speak. That's why I'm here."
Gris eyed him with suspicion. "How?"
"I was picking up Lindsey from my mothers. Cath thought it would be good for her to see her grandparents again and I had to go out of town, since it was my weekend to take her, it worked out perfectly for us. Catherine drove her there Friday afternoon, and I was supposed to pick her up. I was on my way there, along a sort of back route I take to get there... when I spotted someone along the road. I didn't even know it was her until I rolled down the window and offered to help. She was bleeding, I don't even know from where...Grissom, she couldn't even walk.... I carried her to the car, put her in the backseat, and drove here as fast as I could. Heard the news on the radio, you know, about calling the police. So, when I got here, I called your office, and after explaining what had happened, Mr. Brown told me you were here."
"She's here and you had nothing to do with it? Really Eddie, I'm supposed to believe that?"
Gil didn't believe it for a second. He knew Eddie. His track record, especially when it came to Catherine, was flawed at best. For all Gil knew, Eddie could have brought her here to cover up what he was doing.
"Yes, you're supposed to believe it. You can't trust me? Just once?"
"I'm not sure I even want to try, Ed."
"Hell Grissom, I'm certainly not perfect, and I'm damn sure that I'm know where near your caliber," Eddie retorted angrily, " but I had nothing to do with this. You're just to damn blinded to see it yourself. This whole thing has you running scared, because you don't have any control. So the first person you suspect is the one you despise most."
"You may be pretty low on the food chain Eddie, but there are certainly people I despise more than you... just a few."
"Well then trust me, damnit. Just this once. Trust that I am telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
Gil thought for a moment, then he gathered what things he had on the table next to him, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Grissom, what are you doing?"
"I need to see your car."
"What?"
Grissom strode around the room, looking for his clothes and various other personal items. "And it would help if I had my pants as well." Glancing over at Eddie, he adjusted his glasses on his nose once more, before saying. "I'm trusting you Ed. I need to see your car, and Cath's clothes, or what's left of them. I'm also going to need some plastic bags, latex gloves, tweezers, and maybe a flashlight. Someone has to process your car and her clothes. And since there isn't much either of us can do until she gets out of surgery, I'm going to do it."
"And what would you like me to do?" Eddie asked.
"For starters, help me track a nurse down, so I can find my clothes. After that, you can go wait for any news."
Eddie nodded, and headed out the door to the nurses station. Grissom let out a shaky breath. Cath is safe. Cath is safe. He kept telling himself. Now he only hoped that she made it out of surgery ok. And though his mind was still reeling from the past two days events, Grissom, for the first time felt as if he was back in control of the situation. There was evidence to process, and leads to uncover, and justice that needed to be served.
Only this time he wasn't sure if it was justice that he wanted. Revenge. In the only way he knew how. Nailing whomever had done this, to the wall.
~*~*~
The line clicked off just after the shot rang out over Nick's cell phone. Finally, Nick felt himself snap, hurling the phone into the nearby tree in Catherine's yard.
"You wanna fill me in on what the hell that phone conversation was about, Nick? Or are you gonna throw everyone else's helpless cell phones into the tree over there?" Brass asked, retrieving the pen and paper from Nick's hand before he was able to cause it any damage.
"That bastard has Catherine, and now Sara too."
"Well, what did he say to you exactly? Anything about his voice strike you as odd? Did he tell you anything that might have given a clue as to where he might be? Where Catherine or Sara might be?"
" Nothing. He mentioned something about that girl... Norie. The one we found in the locker room. At least I think he did...called her the 'girl who died twice'... God, he could have shot Sara!"
Nick didn't even want to think about that. There was any number of things that could have gone down when that shot rang out. Sara could have gotten a hold of a weapon and shot the guy. But if that had happened, where was she?
"Shit Brass, where the hell did the guy go?"
"I'll have guys canvas the area, we'll bring in more troops. We're gonna find them, Nick. He's gotta slip up sometime."
"I need to call Gris, and Warrick." Nick said loudly, as his beeper went off.
"Looks like Grissom beat us to the punch." Brass remarked, holding up his own pager.
"Brass, uh, can I borrow your phone for a second?"
"As long as it doesn't suffer the same fate as yours did." He pointed towards the small heap of plastic that was shattered in pieces underneath the large tree. Nick rolled his eyes and snatched the phone out of his hand, and moved towards the street, still scanning it with his eyes.
"Gris, it's Nick. What's up?"
~*~*~
"Nick, I tried your cell and couldn't get through." Grissom cradled his phone between his shoulder and ear as he buckled his pants and headed out the door of his room.
"Yea, uh, it had a little accident."
"Well, I've found Cath... well actually Eddie found her. She's in surgery. I need you to find Sara and stick with her. I'm going to stay here and process this car while I wait to see if there is any other news."
"Eddie, found Catherine?"
"Walking a back road on the outskirts of the city. It's a long story... Just tell Sara to stay close to you. I have a feeling this guy has a bit more planned for us."
"I can't... Sara's gone missing... Brass and I are looking for her now."
"What?" Grissom groaned inwardly, and his stomach did a flip or two as he ingested the news. "Find her Nick. And stick with Brass. He's picking us off one by one."
"What do you think he'll do when he finds out Catherine's escaped?"
"That's one thing I haven't figured out yet. I'm going to use the two officers at my door... move them to keep watch on Catherine. We can't take any chances that he might find her and come back. What else did you find at her house, before Sara went missing?"
There was hesitation on the other end of the phone line, and Grissom wondered what could have had Nick so shook up.
"Nick?"
"We found an answering machine tape, Gris. This guy has been stalking Catherine for a while, and she knew about it. Calling her house and leaving threatening messages. Brass has phone records, and Sara and I found the guys voice on the tape."
All the control that Grissom had regained, felt as if it had been pulled right out from underneath him. Why hadn't Catherine told him about the phone calls? He thought he knew her well enough to know when something was wrong. But after this, he wasn't sure if he even knew her at all. If she couldn't trust him enough to come to him about this, then what else was she not telling him?
"Damnit," he mumbled under his breath.
"Grissom, you ok over there?"
"Yea Nick, I'm fine. Just go find Sara, and meet me back here. I'll call Warrick after I finish up here."
"Sure thing, Gris. See ya."
Grissom clicked off his phone and continued down the hospital corridor till he reached a set of double doors that lead into the parking garage. Entering the dimly lit area, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness before continuing onward. Eddie's convertible was cherry red, and Grissom spotted it immediately, near the front, towards the end of the first row. Its sheen was marred by mud, and glancing in the window as he approached it, he saw the blood stained on the interior of the backseat.
Grasping the handle, he pulled the door open, running the beam of the flashlight over the interior of the vehicle. Bunched up behind the drivers seat was a small blanket, also soaked with blood. 'Probably what Eddie had wrapped Catherine in to keep her warm as they drove,' Grissom thought as he shined his flashlight upon it. At a closer inspection, it looked to be child-sized. Most likely, something kept in the car for the rare occasion that Lindsey would be with him for an extended period of time.
Clung to it, practically hidden by blood, was a short brown hair. It was too short to be Eddie's, and both Catherine and Lindsey had long blonde hair. If he was lucky, it was the kidnappers. Possibly, transfer from Catherine's clothes. Grissom took out one of the disposable cameras he'd bought in the gift shop and photographed the tiny hair.
He knew it was a long shot, but any evidence would have satisfied him, at this point, so he dropped it into a plastic bag and labeled it with the date, time, and where he'd found it.
Taking out one of the larger bags the nurses had scrounged up for him, he stuffed the bloody blanket into it before continuing his search for evidence.
A half an hour later, he had searched the entire car, and come up with nothing else that was worth bagging as evidence. He hadn't really planned on finding anything anyway. Tricking himself into believing that something important could be found in Eddie's car had been a good distraction from the nagging thoughts that had been circling in his head since finding out Catherine was in surgery. Even though he still wasn't quite sure about the events going on, Grissom felt much better. Somehow looking for evidence always managed to clear his head a bit.
Flipping open his cell once again, he called LVPD headquarters and requested someone come out to tow Eddie's car back to the CSI lab. Even though Grissom hadn't found anything, he'd be able to get a better look at it there.
Judy, the night shift secretary answered, and to her, he dictated strict instructions. Remembering what he had said to Nick earlier, he also left her a message for Warrick telling him to sit tight until he got back.
Then he set his things down next to him, and waited for the tow truck.
~*~*~
Driving down the abandoned highway, Sara's abductor grimaced in pain. Things hadn't gone exactly the way he'd planned. He'd been foolish in forgetting that Sara carried a gun. Now he'd paid for his mistake. And she'd completely ruined his fun. He'd had Nicky-boy on the ropes when she had pointed her gun at him and he'd been forced to end the conversation.
*****
Earlier....
"Tell me where she is... or I'll -"
"Now Mr. Stokes...lets not be hasty. You wouldn't want to get me angry..." He could feel the fear in Nick's voice. He wondered how much the CSI really knew about his precious Sara Sidle.
"What is she to you? What did she ever do to you?"
"Nothing...she's nothing to me. Another pieces of flesh for my collection...you, Grissom, Sara...you're all just nothing...corpses... walking meat, parading around like lost cattle."
It seemed so easy to keep the man off balance. Using the set of binoculars he'd brought with him, the assailant watched as the CSI scanned around in attempt to locate him. The man looked like a lone sheep searching for his flock.
"Where oh where could I be, Mr. Stokes?"
"If they're all just nothing then...why? Why Catherine? Why Sara! WHY?!"
"Smart, smart CSI man... You and the bugman, you think you're so smart... so high and mighty. She thought she was smart too..."
But he was smarter. Than all of them. He knew they should have been able to catch him by now, had they had the mental capacity to do so. If she'd been smarter than him, maybe she'd still be alive. Maybe, but he didn't think so.
"She?"
"The girl who died twice." He noticed a momentary pause on the other end of the phone and checked his binoculars to see what was going on. Nicky-boy was pacing now, back and forth in thought. After a moment, he heard light swearing on the other end.
"Needs some help, Mr. CSI man... Mr. Smart, CSI 3?"
"You killed her didn't you? You killed her and then you made it look like a suicide."
"Why don't we ask your girlfriend here, eh? I'm sure she'd love to tell you."
"Tell me what? Sara? Sara? You there?"
He put the phone up to his captives' ear, jabbing his gun into her back, and motioning her to speak. The woman known as Sara Sidle clamped her mouth shut, and gave him a 'Go to Hell' stare. Maybe the two CSI's weren't as close as he thought they were. Or maybe she was just waiting for him to make a mistake. Covering the receiver on the phone, he pushed the gun harder into her back, taking hold of her tangled brown locks, and yanking her head forcefully closer to his. Her lips were soft, his hard and fast, leaving visible bruises as she relaxed into him. For a fleeting second, Sara Sidle, was like no woman he'd ever wanted.
But then, his body flooded with pain as her knee connected with his groin, and she backed away pulling out her gun in the process.
"Stay the hell away from me."
"You're pretty bold for a scientist, lil' lady." The kidnapper took a step closer. "Not happy to see me, Sara? Norie sure was."
"Fuck you." He could see her hands trembling as she held the nine millimeter.
"She never was anything compared to you... but not bad either. Now Catherine on the other hand... she was something. You might want to watch your back; you could be out of a job."
Sara's eyes widened, the irises filled with shock. "Bastard. You didn't. Tell me you didn't...or-"
"You'll do what? Shoot me? You're shaking like a goddamned leaf!"
"Don't tempt me."
"You think you can protect her? You think you can save her? I did to Kit-Cat what she did to me... No one can save her, not even her precious bugman."
"Bastard!" Tears ran down Sara's cheeks. Tears of pain, horror, fear; for Catherine, for herself, for Norie, for her past. There wasn't anything that made him happier.
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Sara." He took another step closer.
"I said stay away!"
Pain ripped through his leg. The phone crashed to the floor. His finger squeezed the trigger on his own piece.
The conversation was over.
******
TBC.
Dedication: To Lauri, for all the nagging and the encouragement. I'm honored that you're such a fan of this story. Happy Birthday Lauri, this chapter's for you.
Chapter 11: Tit for Tat, Sara For Cat
++++
Nick stared at the phone in his hand for a moment before regaining his senses and putting it back up to his ear. This was his fault. He knew that. He should have been paying more attention to what was going on. To Sara. First Catherine, and now her. He had to find Sara, and fast. He didn't think he could live with himself if something happened to her.
'Or maybe you couldn't live without her,' his inner voice whispered.
"Tell me where she is... or I'll -"
"Now Mr. Stokes...lets not be hasty. You wouldn't want to get me angry..."
"What is she to you? What did she ever do to you?" Nick pulled the phone away from his ear and yelled into the receiver.
"Nothing...she's nothing to me. Another pieces of flesh for my collection...you, Grissom, Sara...you're all just nothing...corpses... walking meat, parading around like lost cattle."
Nick could almost feel the kidnappers breath through the receiver. Short, ragged, quick gasps for air. Glancing around, he scanned the outside perimeter of the house...bushes, trees, anywhere that he could of that would make a good hiding place.
"Where oh where could I be, Mr. Stokes?" The assailant laughed, hollowly on the other end. Nick felt the anger rise in his veins; his fists clench with fury.
"If they're all just nothing then...why? Why Catherine? Why Sara! WHY?!"
Infuriated, Nick yelled into the phone, wanting desperately to smash it, and the man on the other end, into a thousand tiny pieces. Mind games, Nick thought; that was all this guy was doing. Toying with him. The son of a bitch wasn't going to tell him anything.
"Smart, smart CSI man... You and the bugman, you think you're so smart... so high and mighty. She thought she was smart too..."
"She?"
"The girl who died twice."
"What the hell?" Nick muttered under his breath.
The girl who died twice? Nick furled his brown in thought. In his head, he immediately scratched Catherine and Sara's names off of the list. He'd been on the phone a good fifteen minutes with this guy- no way Sara had been gone long enough to die twice, or even once. Nick would have heard that happening on the other end of the line.
And Catherine, for all he knew, was alive. But, in truth, he couldn't be sure of that. At the moment, his focus was completely on finding Sara. Nick swore inwardly for the thousandth time in the past two days. In fact, he hadn't even remembered to inquire about Catherine's whereabouts at all.
"Son of a bitch," Nick mumbled to himself.
The girl in the morgue. Norie Andrews. Sara's friend. Nick had an eerie suspicion someone had helped her suicide along a bit. Doc Robbins was probably taking a look at her as he stood there.
"Needs some help, Mr. CSI man... Mr. Smart, CSI 3?"
"You killed her didn't you?" Heading towards the street, Nick flagged down Brass, briefly, lifting the phone in the air and pointing to it. Nestling it back between his ear and shoulder, he strode over to Brass who was standing near the Tahoe. Brass held out a pen and the pad of paper he'd been taking statements, and Nick took it willingly, writing down everything the unknown kidnapper revealed to him so far. "You killed her and then you made it look like a suicide."
"Why don't we ask your girlfriend here, eh? I'm sure she'd love to tell you."
"Tell me what? Sara? Sara? You there?" Nick's voice became more panicked, and Brass gave him and odd look. Hastily, Nick jotted down what was going on - 'Kidnapper on phone... Sara gone.' -- before focusing back on the conversation at hand.
But her voice wasn't there. Paper scuffling, shouting, scraping; for a few minutes he listened, thinking that he just might be able to hear her voice in the background.
But then, the shot rang out.
~*~*~
Eddie stood in front of the door that led to Gil Grissom's room. 421. He could feel the muscles in his stomach tighten, the nerves getting the best of him. How was he supposed to feel before telling another man, that the woman he's been in love with for fifteen years, was in surgery fighting to stay alive?
And Eddie knew Grissom was in love with Catherine. Over the past two years, he'd come to accept it. She wasn't his any longer, and as much as he wanted to pummel Gil Grissom, there was nothing he could do to stop her from loving him.
Even if she hadn't realized she was yet.
But that didn't make what he had to do any easier. After telling the two detectives at the door who he was, Eddie grabbed the handle and twisted it violently, pushing the door open and stepping into the room in one swift, sure motion.
"Eddie?"
"Grissom, I... have some news."
The elder man looked at him questioningly, analyzing his every move. It made Eddie want to squirm. He remembered when Cath had started looking at him in that way; towards the end of their tumultuous marriage. It was something that he hadn't remembered her doing during her dancing days. It was something she picked up after she had started working at the lab, after seeing her fair share criminals and liars everyday.
He would come home late, and there she would be, sitting on the couch, staring at him as he walked in the doorway. Or, she'd swing by on a break from a case, and the minute she saw him; shirt ruffled, lights out, t.v. on, with a beer in his hand; her gaze would turn cold. Almost as if she was able to read his mind.
He'd never enjoyed it then, and he certainly didn't enjoy it now. Especially coming from Grissom.
"What kind of news? And how did you know I was here?" Grissom asked, sitting up straight and adjusting his glasses. There were bags under his eyes, and worry in his voice; one of those uncommon moments where his professional exterior had been shed for something much more human.
"I called your office, a Warrick Brown told me you were here. I assume he works for you? He seemed a bit shocked that I was calling. And even more shocked that I asked for you."
"Nothing like being hit with the element of surprise... I can't say I'm exactly sure why you're here either. Unless it's -"
"About Cath?" Eddie finished for him. "It is."
"Eddie, she's gone. Someone took her."
"No, Grissom she's not. She was, but she isn't anymore."
"Eddie, she was taken from the locker room at CSI. My co-worker, Nick Stokes, came in and informed me yesterday. Nobody has notified you? Lindsey doesn't know yet? Cath has been gone almost two damn days and no one's told Lindsey?"
Eddie winced, the sound of Grissom's voice booming throughout the room. When he looked at the man in front of him, he didn't see a confident, calm, CSI. He saw a worried, unkempt man who looked as if he'd aged ten years in two days. Best he could figure, this was a situation, Gil Grissom's intelligent mind was just unable to handle. But then again, Eddie wasn't really able to handle it either.
"Grissom, listen. I know about what happened... I found her. She's here. Downstairs. There's a doctor working on her as we speak. That's why I'm here."
Gris eyed him with suspicion. "How?"
"I was picking up Lindsey from my mothers. Cath thought it would be good for her to see her grandparents again and I had to go out of town, since it was my weekend to take her, it worked out perfectly for us. Catherine drove her there Friday afternoon, and I was supposed to pick her up. I was on my way there, along a sort of back route I take to get there... when I spotted someone along the road. I didn't even know it was her until I rolled down the window and offered to help. She was bleeding, I don't even know from where...Grissom, she couldn't even walk.... I carried her to the car, put her in the backseat, and drove here as fast as I could. Heard the news on the radio, you know, about calling the police. So, when I got here, I called your office, and after explaining what had happened, Mr. Brown told me you were here."
"She's here and you had nothing to do with it? Really Eddie, I'm supposed to believe that?"
Gil didn't believe it for a second. He knew Eddie. His track record, especially when it came to Catherine, was flawed at best. For all Gil knew, Eddie could have brought her here to cover up what he was doing.
"Yes, you're supposed to believe it. You can't trust me? Just once?"
"I'm not sure I even want to try, Ed."
"Hell Grissom, I'm certainly not perfect, and I'm damn sure that I'm know where near your caliber," Eddie retorted angrily, " but I had nothing to do with this. You're just to damn blinded to see it yourself. This whole thing has you running scared, because you don't have any control. So the first person you suspect is the one you despise most."
"You may be pretty low on the food chain Eddie, but there are certainly people I despise more than you... just a few."
"Well then trust me, damnit. Just this once. Trust that I am telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
Gil thought for a moment, then he gathered what things he had on the table next to him, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Grissom, what are you doing?"
"I need to see your car."
"What?"
Grissom strode around the room, looking for his clothes and various other personal items. "And it would help if I had my pants as well." Glancing over at Eddie, he adjusted his glasses on his nose once more, before saying. "I'm trusting you Ed. I need to see your car, and Cath's clothes, or what's left of them. I'm also going to need some plastic bags, latex gloves, tweezers, and maybe a flashlight. Someone has to process your car and her clothes. And since there isn't much either of us can do until she gets out of surgery, I'm going to do it."
"And what would you like me to do?" Eddie asked.
"For starters, help me track a nurse down, so I can find my clothes. After that, you can go wait for any news."
Eddie nodded, and headed out the door to the nurses station. Grissom let out a shaky breath. Cath is safe. Cath is safe. He kept telling himself. Now he only hoped that she made it out of surgery ok. And though his mind was still reeling from the past two days events, Grissom, for the first time felt as if he was back in control of the situation. There was evidence to process, and leads to uncover, and justice that needed to be served.
Only this time he wasn't sure if it was justice that he wanted. Revenge. In the only way he knew how. Nailing whomever had done this, to the wall.
~*~*~
The line clicked off just after the shot rang out over Nick's cell phone. Finally, Nick felt himself snap, hurling the phone into the nearby tree in Catherine's yard.
"You wanna fill me in on what the hell that phone conversation was about, Nick? Or are you gonna throw everyone else's helpless cell phones into the tree over there?" Brass asked, retrieving the pen and paper from Nick's hand before he was able to cause it any damage.
"That bastard has Catherine, and now Sara too."
"Well, what did he say to you exactly? Anything about his voice strike you as odd? Did he tell you anything that might have given a clue as to where he might be? Where Catherine or Sara might be?"
" Nothing. He mentioned something about that girl... Norie. The one we found in the locker room. At least I think he did...called her the 'girl who died twice'... God, he could have shot Sara!"
Nick didn't even want to think about that. There was any number of things that could have gone down when that shot rang out. Sara could have gotten a hold of a weapon and shot the guy. But if that had happened, where was she?
"Shit Brass, where the hell did the guy go?"
"I'll have guys canvas the area, we'll bring in more troops. We're gonna find them, Nick. He's gotta slip up sometime."
"I need to call Gris, and Warrick." Nick said loudly, as his beeper went off.
"Looks like Grissom beat us to the punch." Brass remarked, holding up his own pager.
"Brass, uh, can I borrow your phone for a second?"
"As long as it doesn't suffer the same fate as yours did." He pointed towards the small heap of plastic that was shattered in pieces underneath the large tree. Nick rolled his eyes and snatched the phone out of his hand, and moved towards the street, still scanning it with his eyes.
"Gris, it's Nick. What's up?"
~*~*~
"Nick, I tried your cell and couldn't get through." Grissom cradled his phone between his shoulder and ear as he buckled his pants and headed out the door of his room.
"Yea, uh, it had a little accident."
"Well, I've found Cath... well actually Eddie found her. She's in surgery. I need you to find Sara and stick with her. I'm going to stay here and process this car while I wait to see if there is any other news."
"Eddie, found Catherine?"
"Walking a back road on the outskirts of the city. It's a long story... Just tell Sara to stay close to you. I have a feeling this guy has a bit more planned for us."
"I can't... Sara's gone missing... Brass and I are looking for her now."
"What?" Grissom groaned inwardly, and his stomach did a flip or two as he ingested the news. "Find her Nick. And stick with Brass. He's picking us off one by one."
"What do you think he'll do when he finds out Catherine's escaped?"
"That's one thing I haven't figured out yet. I'm going to use the two officers at my door... move them to keep watch on Catherine. We can't take any chances that he might find her and come back. What else did you find at her house, before Sara went missing?"
There was hesitation on the other end of the phone line, and Grissom wondered what could have had Nick so shook up.
"Nick?"
"We found an answering machine tape, Gris. This guy has been stalking Catherine for a while, and she knew about it. Calling her house and leaving threatening messages. Brass has phone records, and Sara and I found the guys voice on the tape."
All the control that Grissom had regained, felt as if it had been pulled right out from underneath him. Why hadn't Catherine told him about the phone calls? He thought he knew her well enough to know when something was wrong. But after this, he wasn't sure if he even knew her at all. If she couldn't trust him enough to come to him about this, then what else was she not telling him?
"Damnit," he mumbled under his breath.
"Grissom, you ok over there?"
"Yea Nick, I'm fine. Just go find Sara, and meet me back here. I'll call Warrick after I finish up here."
"Sure thing, Gris. See ya."
Grissom clicked off his phone and continued down the hospital corridor till he reached a set of double doors that lead into the parking garage. Entering the dimly lit area, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness before continuing onward. Eddie's convertible was cherry red, and Grissom spotted it immediately, near the front, towards the end of the first row. Its sheen was marred by mud, and glancing in the window as he approached it, he saw the blood stained on the interior of the backseat.
Grasping the handle, he pulled the door open, running the beam of the flashlight over the interior of the vehicle. Bunched up behind the drivers seat was a small blanket, also soaked with blood. 'Probably what Eddie had wrapped Catherine in to keep her warm as they drove,' Grissom thought as he shined his flashlight upon it. At a closer inspection, it looked to be child-sized. Most likely, something kept in the car for the rare occasion that Lindsey would be with him for an extended period of time.
Clung to it, practically hidden by blood, was a short brown hair. It was too short to be Eddie's, and both Catherine and Lindsey had long blonde hair. If he was lucky, it was the kidnappers. Possibly, transfer from Catherine's clothes. Grissom took out one of the disposable cameras he'd bought in the gift shop and photographed the tiny hair.
He knew it was a long shot, but any evidence would have satisfied him, at this point, so he dropped it into a plastic bag and labeled it with the date, time, and where he'd found it.
Taking out one of the larger bags the nurses had scrounged up for him, he stuffed the bloody blanket into it before continuing his search for evidence.
A half an hour later, he had searched the entire car, and come up with nothing else that was worth bagging as evidence. He hadn't really planned on finding anything anyway. Tricking himself into believing that something important could be found in Eddie's car had been a good distraction from the nagging thoughts that had been circling in his head since finding out Catherine was in surgery. Even though he still wasn't quite sure about the events going on, Grissom felt much better. Somehow looking for evidence always managed to clear his head a bit.
Flipping open his cell once again, he called LVPD headquarters and requested someone come out to tow Eddie's car back to the CSI lab. Even though Grissom hadn't found anything, he'd be able to get a better look at it there.
Judy, the night shift secretary answered, and to her, he dictated strict instructions. Remembering what he had said to Nick earlier, he also left her a message for Warrick telling him to sit tight until he got back.
Then he set his things down next to him, and waited for the tow truck.
~*~*~
Driving down the abandoned highway, Sara's abductor grimaced in pain. Things hadn't gone exactly the way he'd planned. He'd been foolish in forgetting that Sara carried a gun. Now he'd paid for his mistake. And she'd completely ruined his fun. He'd had Nicky-boy on the ropes when she had pointed her gun at him and he'd been forced to end the conversation.
*****
Earlier....
"Tell me where she is... or I'll -"
"Now Mr. Stokes...lets not be hasty. You wouldn't want to get me angry..." He could feel the fear in Nick's voice. He wondered how much the CSI really knew about his precious Sara Sidle.
"What is she to you? What did she ever do to you?"
"Nothing...she's nothing to me. Another pieces of flesh for my collection...you, Grissom, Sara...you're all just nothing...corpses... walking meat, parading around like lost cattle."
It seemed so easy to keep the man off balance. Using the set of binoculars he'd brought with him, the assailant watched as the CSI scanned around in attempt to locate him. The man looked like a lone sheep searching for his flock.
"Where oh where could I be, Mr. Stokes?"
"If they're all just nothing then...why? Why Catherine? Why Sara! WHY?!"
"Smart, smart CSI man... You and the bugman, you think you're so smart... so high and mighty. She thought she was smart too..."
But he was smarter. Than all of them. He knew they should have been able to catch him by now, had they had the mental capacity to do so. If she'd been smarter than him, maybe she'd still be alive. Maybe, but he didn't think so.
"She?"
"The girl who died twice." He noticed a momentary pause on the other end of the phone and checked his binoculars to see what was going on. Nicky-boy was pacing now, back and forth in thought. After a moment, he heard light swearing on the other end.
"Needs some help, Mr. CSI man... Mr. Smart, CSI 3?"
"You killed her didn't you? You killed her and then you made it look like a suicide."
"Why don't we ask your girlfriend here, eh? I'm sure she'd love to tell you."
"Tell me what? Sara? Sara? You there?"
He put the phone up to his captives' ear, jabbing his gun into her back, and motioning her to speak. The woman known as Sara Sidle clamped her mouth shut, and gave him a 'Go to Hell' stare. Maybe the two CSI's weren't as close as he thought they were. Or maybe she was just waiting for him to make a mistake. Covering the receiver on the phone, he pushed the gun harder into her back, taking hold of her tangled brown locks, and yanking her head forcefully closer to his. Her lips were soft, his hard and fast, leaving visible bruises as she relaxed into him. For a fleeting second, Sara Sidle, was like no woman he'd ever wanted.
But then, his body flooded with pain as her knee connected with his groin, and she backed away pulling out her gun in the process.
"Stay the hell away from me."
"You're pretty bold for a scientist, lil' lady." The kidnapper took a step closer. "Not happy to see me, Sara? Norie sure was."
"Fuck you." He could see her hands trembling as she held the nine millimeter.
"She never was anything compared to you... but not bad either. Now Catherine on the other hand... she was something. You might want to watch your back; you could be out of a job."
Sara's eyes widened, the irises filled with shock. "Bastard. You didn't. Tell me you didn't...or-"
"You'll do what? Shoot me? You're shaking like a goddamned leaf!"
"Don't tempt me."
"You think you can protect her? You think you can save her? I did to Kit-Cat what she did to me... No one can save her, not even her precious bugman."
"Bastard!" Tears ran down Sara's cheeks. Tears of pain, horror, fear; for Catherine, for herself, for Norie, for her past. There wasn't anything that made him happier.
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Sara." He took another step closer.
"I said stay away!"
Pain ripped through his leg. The phone crashed to the floor. His finger squeezed the trigger on his own piece.
The conversation was over.
******
TBC.