Rating: PG
Summary: The team at Tuscadero High School, Nevada...
Spoilers: None, really.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: And here is chapter four. I'm planning on eight chapters, btw.
***
It was a Monday afternoon, when Catherine sat on the bleachers overlooking the playing field. Around her, Nick and Warrick were mucking around with a rubber chicken from somewhere, and Sara was talking quietly to Gil. 'Almost the perfect couple.' she thought, absently. Her cell phone at her ear as she listened to Lindsay's cell ringing, she mused that it was unlike her friend to switch the phone off. Linds hadn't been in school all day, and Catherine was checking that her friend was OK.
Finally, she gave up, and called the house phone. It rang for a few seconds, and was answered by a stranger. "Hello?" Catherine frowned at the new voice. Nick fell backwards, jostling her, and she shooed him away, her attention with the caller on the other line. This caught Warrick and Nick's attention.
"Kidnapped." Catherine's voice was sceptical, a kind of 'you-are-kidding-me- right?' tone layered on it. "Oh my God." she whispered, her hand coming to her mouth. Nick's face fell, and he sat beside his friend, listening to the guy on the phone. "Her parents..."
"Are fine, Miss. Why don't you come meet them at the lab? We'll need to take statements from you and her friends." the male caller asked Catherine, and she replied,
"Of course. We'll all be there in an hour's time. On Main Street?" she knew the CSI building. The investigator replied in the affirmative, and she explained the call to the boys, and Gil and Sara – their interest had been piqued by their peer's reactions – agreed to go to the Crime Lab with the three. Lindsay had been abducted.
***
"Georgia!" Sara spotted Lindsay's mother by the front desk, and ran up to her. "Oh my God, are you OK?" she asked, and the older woman nodded, clutching a tissue. Peter, Lindsay's father, was standing with his arm around his wife, trying to console her.
"Sara." Gil put his hand on Sara's arm, calming her. "Mr and Mrs Watts: Catherine, Warrick, Sara, Nick and I are all here to give statements about yesterday morning, when we went to that café on Broughton, remember?" he spoke gently, soothingly, and the parents nodded.
The relationship between the six friends had been so strong since August, that their parents all knew one another and their children's friends; the gang were no strangers to Georgia and Peter Watts. The adults were tearing their hair out, waiting for someone a the lab to talk to them.
Quickly, an argument broke out among the teenagers, despite the fact that all of them still recovering from shock. "Are you sure they want all of us here?" Warrick asked, nervy. Sara shook her head.
"Generally, they wouldn't. In a murder case, they'd come to us, so as not to flood the lab with statements." she explained, and Catherine began to panic.
"Murder case? So that's what this is, then? Lindsay's already dead?" she hissed, infuriated. Luckily, she managed to keep her voice down and the parents didn't hear.
The turmoil swirling in Catherine was unbearable. Lindsay had been there through middle school, one and a half years of high school... What if she *was* dead? What would Catherine do then? And Lindsay's parents – what about them? How could she ever console the loss of their daughter? 'Wait. Don't jump ahead. You have to believe that she's OK.' she told herself, sternly.
"Cath... That's not what I meant." Sara pleaded, but Catherine wouldn't listen.
"I'm going to go find a CSI or someone." she said, stalking off. She tried to fight the incessant worry permeating her, and pushed it down inside. Her demeanour would be cool, presented, and serene. Catherine knew the drill by now: the adults aren't so smart. Do the talking for them.
When she returned to her friends, a man – seemingly the one she'd spoken to on the phone – was talking to them. He took statements from them all, and told them to go home, rest and try not to worry. 'Ha. Like that's possible.' Catherine thought, wryly, as she called home and explained to her mother what was going on.
"And..." Catherine took a moment to regain control of her voice, tightening her grip on her cell. "...I'll be home as soon as I can get a bus." her mother fussed a little about the bus part, but Catherine knew that it was the same old bull as before. "I'll be fine." she said, ending the call.
'I hope.'
Summary: The team at Tuscadero High School, Nevada...
Spoilers: None, really.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: And here is chapter four. I'm planning on eight chapters, btw.
***
It was a Monday afternoon, when Catherine sat on the bleachers overlooking the playing field. Around her, Nick and Warrick were mucking around with a rubber chicken from somewhere, and Sara was talking quietly to Gil. 'Almost the perfect couple.' she thought, absently. Her cell phone at her ear as she listened to Lindsay's cell ringing, she mused that it was unlike her friend to switch the phone off. Linds hadn't been in school all day, and Catherine was checking that her friend was OK.
Finally, she gave up, and called the house phone. It rang for a few seconds, and was answered by a stranger. "Hello?" Catherine frowned at the new voice. Nick fell backwards, jostling her, and she shooed him away, her attention with the caller on the other line. This caught Warrick and Nick's attention.
"Kidnapped." Catherine's voice was sceptical, a kind of 'you-are-kidding-me- right?' tone layered on it. "Oh my God." she whispered, her hand coming to her mouth. Nick's face fell, and he sat beside his friend, listening to the guy on the phone. "Her parents..."
"Are fine, Miss. Why don't you come meet them at the lab? We'll need to take statements from you and her friends." the male caller asked Catherine, and she replied,
"Of course. We'll all be there in an hour's time. On Main Street?" she knew the CSI building. The investigator replied in the affirmative, and she explained the call to the boys, and Gil and Sara – their interest had been piqued by their peer's reactions – agreed to go to the Crime Lab with the three. Lindsay had been abducted.
***
"Georgia!" Sara spotted Lindsay's mother by the front desk, and ran up to her. "Oh my God, are you OK?" she asked, and the older woman nodded, clutching a tissue. Peter, Lindsay's father, was standing with his arm around his wife, trying to console her.
"Sara." Gil put his hand on Sara's arm, calming her. "Mr and Mrs Watts: Catherine, Warrick, Sara, Nick and I are all here to give statements about yesterday morning, when we went to that café on Broughton, remember?" he spoke gently, soothingly, and the parents nodded.
The relationship between the six friends had been so strong since August, that their parents all knew one another and their children's friends; the gang were no strangers to Georgia and Peter Watts. The adults were tearing their hair out, waiting for someone a the lab to talk to them.
Quickly, an argument broke out among the teenagers, despite the fact that all of them still recovering from shock. "Are you sure they want all of us here?" Warrick asked, nervy. Sara shook her head.
"Generally, they wouldn't. In a murder case, they'd come to us, so as not to flood the lab with statements." she explained, and Catherine began to panic.
"Murder case? So that's what this is, then? Lindsay's already dead?" she hissed, infuriated. Luckily, she managed to keep her voice down and the parents didn't hear.
The turmoil swirling in Catherine was unbearable. Lindsay had been there through middle school, one and a half years of high school... What if she *was* dead? What would Catherine do then? And Lindsay's parents – what about them? How could she ever console the loss of their daughter? 'Wait. Don't jump ahead. You have to believe that she's OK.' she told herself, sternly.
"Cath... That's not what I meant." Sara pleaded, but Catherine wouldn't listen.
"I'm going to go find a CSI or someone." she said, stalking off. She tried to fight the incessant worry permeating her, and pushed it down inside. Her demeanour would be cool, presented, and serene. Catherine knew the drill by now: the adults aren't so smart. Do the talking for them.
When she returned to her friends, a man – seemingly the one she'd spoken to on the phone – was talking to them. He took statements from them all, and told them to go home, rest and try not to worry. 'Ha. Like that's possible.' Catherine thought, wryly, as she called home and explained to her mother what was going on.
"And..." Catherine took a moment to regain control of her voice, tightening her grip on her cell. "...I'll be home as soon as I can get a bus." her mother fussed a little about the bus part, but Catherine knew that it was the same old bull as before. "I'll be fine." she said, ending the call.
'I hope.'