Fear Itself
Chapter Eleven
Catherine tried not to think about the strong smell of alcohol as she and Nick waited for the nurse to finish giving the injured transport driver some pain medication. He was a still fairly young African-American man; in his mid thirties. He was an honest and hardworking man, and the new focus in his life was his unborn child, due in three more months. He thanked God that he was still alive after his run in with some rather unsavory characters.
When the nurse was finished, she took all of her IV supplies and exited the room. The smell was making her feel sick all over again, and her stomach flipped within her.
Catherine closed her eyes to the slightly spinning room. The baby was already a hand full and it wasn't even born yet.
"Hey Cath," Nick whispered. "I thought you were the one that was going to ask questions?"
"Uh, Nick, can you take this up for me?" She asked. "I need to go to the restroom."
Nick inquired if she was okay, but she said nothing as she excused herself from the hospital room.
He prayed that his partner, Rick Garza would come out okay.
Robert James Dent lay in his bed, slightly confused at what was wrong with the strawberry blond haired woman, although he did have an inkling as to what the problem may be. His wife of almost ten years was expecting their first child, and she had morning sickness.
Of course, the woman could just have a strain of the stomach flu, but at this time of the year, it was unlikely.
"Mr. Dent, " Nick started. "Can you tell us anything about the men who assaulted you?"
"Yes I can," Robert started slowly. "There were two guys: one was about six feet, the other about five eight. The tall man had bushy black hair, and the shorter guy had reddish brown hair. They were both wearing all black, and they pretended like their car was broken down."
Nick nodded at the information.
"Can you describe the car?" Nick ventured further, thankful that this witness, though injured, was reliable.
"No," Robert said despairingly. "I was already on the ground trying to help myself and my partner. How is Rick by the way?"
"Well we-" Nick was interrupted by the procession of a doctor and a woman, well progressed in pregnancy.
"Oh God Robert," the man's companion cried. "I'm so glad you're okay."
Nick presumed the woman to be Robert's wife. She was a beautiful woman with silky light brown skin, long thick brown hair, and sparkling eyes.
"Hey baby," he said as he embraced her carefully. "I'm okay, everything's going to be just fine. How's Ricky and Meg?"
It was then that the doctor broke in.
"Um, hi, I'm Dr. Gooding," he introduced himself. "I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but Ricky died on the operating table about five minutes ago."
Nick ran a hand over his face and exited the room.
"Damn," he growled to himself.
He heard both Robert and his wife crying in the room as he headed down the hallway. Catherine emerged from the ladies' restroom looking paler than she was before.
"Nick, what are you doing?" She asked. "I thought that you were interviewing the driver? What happened?"
"The driver's partner just died in the OR five minutes ago," Nick explained.
Catherine shook her head slowly and then looked down at her feet.
"We need to catch those bastards," she growled.
VVV
"Ms. Jackie Franco," Warrick called. "Got some good news for me?"
"That I have," she said with a proud smile.
She rolled her swivel chair to the printer and handed him the results.
"Christopher Simmons," Warrick read off. "Wanted in several states on various misdemeanor charges. Now this petty thief has gone homicidal. Thanks Jackie."
"Hey Warrick," she called after him.
"Yeah?" he said, obviously in a rush.
"When are we ever going to have that breakfast?" She asked.
"Someday Jackie," Warrick laughed as he left the print lab.
Warrick found Grissom hunched over his desk deep in thought. Their efforts on trying to find Sara were limited, due to the fact that she was their coworker. It was up to day shift to find their missing friend.
Grissom feared the worst for Sara.
"Hey Gris," Warrick greeted him solemnly. "Jackie got a hit from the bracelet. The owner was Christopher Simmons. He's wanted in several states for minor charges, which have now been upgraded to murder."
Grissom pursed his lips.
"So was this related or random?" He asked.
"I say related," Warrick said. "I mean, why try and kill two guys over a transport vehicle? With a possible witness inside?"
"People do strange things," Grissom explained.
Warrick nodded.
VVV
Christopher Simmons noticed that his allergy bracelet was missing somewhere, and he panicked. He figured that the girl they abducted must have yanked it off as they struggled with her in the back of the transport vehicle.
He rubbed his now naked wrist, hoping that no one would notice his bracelet in the middle of the Nevada desert.
He stood faithfully next to his commanding officer, Lee Mulligan. He was on the police force for over twenty years, and he had seen enough of his friends and their families suffer from lack of representation in the city of Las Vegas. His ideas for a better city, a better community, and a better police force were always put at the bottom of the agenda for a new casino project or endorsement dinner for the city's police chief and mayor.
Lee was quite a brawny man, well built, and of tall stature. He was physically and mentally fit, and he served on the LVPD with pride and he was respected and honored.
When he got shot in the thigh three years back, the force forced him to retire, and now he was living out of a boarding house with six other people barely making ends meet. To say that the man was bitter would be an understatement.
His efforts thus far were towards waking up Las Vegas, and getting its constantly diverted attention.
Lee couldn't explain the major screw up with the highway explosions. No one was supposed to die. It was supposed to draw attention to Utopia America and its intentions. But the school bus explosion and the one child that lost his life: he was sad to say that was intentional. His point was that people's lives were going to be sacrificed unless changes were made and demands were met.
"Commander Mulligan," Chris started.
"Yes?" Lee answered.
"Are you ready to state the ransom?"
He nodded slowly.
Another cadet signaled a countdown for him to start.
Meanwhile, Sara lay in the same dark, dank place with her eyes closed. She wasn't sleeping, she was blocking out what was happening to her, receding further and further into the back of her mind. Where she was, this wasn't happening to her. Wherever her soul was, it was smart enough to help her get out of her horrible isolating situation.
In her quest to rid herself of the bad experience, she had bitten all of her fingernails down to the skin, drawing blood. There was no pain because she was not in the present and not one accord with her body.
"Come here," a small, child's voice echoed from somewhere in the confines.
She became aware of it, and began looking around.
"Come here," the voice insisted.
Sara followed.