Title: Alive Again
Summary: Sara and Warrick become closer after he saves her life.
A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than the others but I didn't want to force in a bunch of pointless drivel. Look for another chapter very very soon. :) All I can say is...Poor poor Sara. Also one more thing. Thanks for the reviews! Seriously if I hadn't gotten any reviews this story would have been about three chapters long lol. You guys are great. See you all again soon.
Spoilers: Possibly anything all the way up to Early Rollout.
Rating: PG13 for language and some adult situations.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did I wouldn't be living in this shoddy little apartment dreaming about winning the lottery. :)
Chapter Eleven:
"Damnit Grissom this isn't fair!" Warrick nearly bellowed at his supervisor.
Grissom regarded his CSI calmly. "Warrick I cannot let you work on this case."
Warrick slammed his fist down on Grissom's desk causing its contents to rattle and several papers to flutter to the floor.
"Grissom this is bullshit. We need to find out what happened to Sara. Let me work this case," Warrick pleaded.
"Warrick I cannot let you work this case. You are personally involved. Please think about this rationally."
Warrick shook his head in denial. "Rationally? Grissom I want to catch this asshole who took her!"
Grissom sighed in frustration. "Do you honestly think I don't want to find her? No don't answer that. Look at yourself right now. Do you really believe you would be of any help to this case in your current condition?"
Warrick clenched his jaw and stared at his boss defiantly.
Grissom forced himself to remain patient. "Warrick I assigned both Nick and Catherine to this. If they can't find her then no one will."
Warrick tried to ease the tension within his body without success. He sat down in the chair opposite Grissom's before settling his elbows on his knees and holding his head in his hands.
"Griss I am scared."
"I am too Warrick."
"Who could have done this and why?"
"I don't know. Thats what we are trying to find out."
Warrick glanced up at Grissom to see the man staring at him compassionately. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"Its ok. I would have expected it from anybody in this position."
They both sat quietly for a moment trying to think of a way to say what was really on their minds.
"Griss I really do care about her you know," Warrick said softly.
Grissom smiled sadly at the other man. "I know, I know."
*****
Nick and Catherine stared at Sara's Tahoe with feelings of trepidation.
"Damn Cath I can't believe we are processing Sara's vehicle. This just feels all wrong," Nick said as he slipped on his gloves.
"Yeah I know Nick. I hope we find something that can help us here," Catherine replied. She turned to a nearby police officer and asked him who was the first on the scene. He pointed to a younger man standing by himself. She walked over to him and smiled warmly.
"Hi there Officer Williams," she said after looking at his badge. "I am Catherine Willows. Am I to understand you were the first on the scene?"
The young man nodded and returned her smile. "Yes ma'am. I didn't touch nothin' either." He spoke with a slight southern accent that Catherine found charming.
"Even the keys that were under the vehicle?"
"No ma'am. I left them alone. I didn't touch nothin'."
Catherine patted him on the shoulder and smiled again. "Nice job Officer." She walked back over to Nick who was on the ground reaching under the Tahoe. He pulled out Sara's keys and held them up for Catherine to see.
She nodded and opened the driver's door which was already unlocked and partially ajar. Sara was a strong woman. She wouldn't be easy to subdue. A small bag of groceries sat in the passenger seat. Catherine searched for signs of a struggle and found them soon enough. A few drops of blood splatter had fallen on Sara's seat. She took a sample and wondered who's blood she was collecting.
Visualizing the crime she imagined that Sara had probably opened the driver's side door to get in the vehicle when someone came up from behind and attacked her. Maybe Sara had bitten her assailant? Or if the blood was Sara's he had broken her nose?
She sighed. "Nick, there isn't much here. Found a few drops of blood but not much else. I hope you are doing better."
Nick was still on the ground. He looked up at her and gave a small grin. "Actually I think I found something." He held up something clamped between some tweezers.
Catherine walked closer and gasped. "Oh wow nice find. Sara didn't make it easy for him. Good girl."
"Yep. I am willing to bet that this is her nail with his blood on it."
Catherine nodded her agreement. "We are of course assuming that the perp is a male."
Nick shrugged. "They usually are in cases like this."
"Ok lets finish up here and head back to the lab."
"Do you think one of us should process Sara's apartment?" Nick asked nervously.
"Hmmm. She will probably threaten us with death when she gets back, but yeah we should. How about I head to her place when we are done here and you head back to the lab?" Catherine said sensing that Nick might have a difficult time processing his friend's home.
"Yeah that sounds fine. Thanks Cath."
They finished processing the scene an hour later and Catherine instructed Nick to head back to the lab. An officer then followed her to Sara's apartment.
The officer went into the apartment alone and declared it secure a few moments later. Catherine went in honestly expecting to find nothing. She turned on a light in the room and was pleasantly surprised that Sara's apartment was remarkably tidy. Nick had told her once that Sara was a bit cluttered. Catherine guessed Warrick must be influencing the younger woman a bit.
Moving over to the answering machine she saw that it had three messages. She hit the play back button and listened while walking around looking for any clues. The first two messages were hers from when she had called Sara earlier thinking she might have overslept.
The third message was from Warrick. "Sara this is Warrick. Listen we need to talk ok? Please call me as soon as you hear this...I miss you. I need you."
Catherine smiled lightly. "Warrick you have it bad don't you?" she said aloud to no one in particular.
As she made her way around the small apartment she tried to visualize Sara living here. Catherine always imagined that Sara's living space would be sparse and unwelcoming. However in contrast the younger woman's home felt warm and inviting. There were two bookshelves that held various forensics books. Several pictures of cats lined her walls and Catherine was a bit surprised that Sara didn't have a little fur ball of her own running around. Perhaps she thought the place was too small. Sara's bedroom wasn't as neat as the living area. Her bed remained unmade and some clothes were strewn about.
Finally after finding no real evidence she left and headed back to the lab.
*****
When she walked through the lab's doors Nick was racing to meet her. "Catherine come on you have got to see this." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.
"Nick what is the emergency?" Catherine asked with indignation as she pulled her hand out of his.
Nick grinned. "Greg found something." He led her to Greg who was glowing with pride.
Catherine rolled her eyes. "Ok Greg what did you find?"
"Wellll. On a hunch," he winked at her, "I thought I would check the surveillance tapes of the parking garage from when Sara left work."
Catherine frowned at him. "Yeah ok I remember telling you to check them. So what did you find?"
Greg chuckled. "More than I hoped to. Here watch the tape."
They sat silently as they watched Sara walk out of the lab and head towards her car. A moment later Grissom caught up to her and pulled her between two vehicles and out of the camera's sight. Within a minute the tape showed Grissom hurrying back into the lab and Sara being confronted by Warrick. Soon Warrick drove off in his car and Sara was left alone.
The interesting part of the video came a minute later when they watched a vehicle follow Sara's Tahoe out of the garage.
Catherine's mouth fell agape. "Did you get that license plate number?"
Greg grinned. "Yep and we are running it now. Your timing is perfect actually."
Catherine took slow deep breaths. She prayed they were granted with a stroke of luck.
*****
Grissom, Catherine, Nick and Warrick sat in the break room trying to make small talk while the fingernail Nick found and the license plate were processed. More than a day had passed since someone had last seen Sara.
Greg eventually walked in to give them the news he had found. "Hey guys I have some good news and some bad news. The weird thing is that both good and bad are exactly the same news."
"Greg," Grissom said warningly.
"Yeah. Ummm the license plate is registered to a Thomas J. Mortesen. We ran his name through CODIS and have a sample of his DNA there which matches the blood sample found underneath the fingernail. He ummm...has a very long track record."
Understanding came quickly to Warrick who blasted out of his chair. "Where is he? Whats his address?!" he yelled.
"Oh shit," Nick exclaimed.
Catherine frowned. "Mortesen? Why does that sound familiar?"
Greg backed up a few steps to distance himself from Warrick's rage. "I uh have already given this info to Brass. I guess they are going to try and find him."
Catherine put her hand on Warrick's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "Warrick, honey, help me out here."
Warrick looked down at her for a moment before clenching his jaw tight. "Sara shot and killed George Mortesen over a month ago."
"Oh shit." Catherine said echoing Nick's earlier response. From the shocked expressions of her co-workers she knew they felt the same way. She looked at Greg silently questioning him.
Greg bit his lower lip. "It appears that George has a brother who is out for a little revenge."
To be continued...
