Chapter 13
Grissom waved a patrol car over and a couple of men got out. "What's the problem here, Mr...Grissom." Grissom's ID tag was laying crooked upon his breast. "One of our CSI's disappeared. While gathering evidence, I think." The two nodded, "Hasn't anyone secured the crime scene?" Grissom was becoming irritated, couldn't these two blokes just go and find his Sara? She might be in a lot of trouble and they're asking meaningless questions. "Yes, someone has, but this was away from the crime scene and I don't think that the whole neighborhood was scoured, do you?" Grissom sarcastically asked the police. When they didn't respond he continued, "I found some of my partner's stuff in these bushes. And that's...all." Grissom sighed, his eyes filled with sorrow but the police men barely noticed. "We will do everything we can. Hey, Sherman, call for three more officers, we gotta find this CSI." Grissom felt that much relieved, they were at least getting some people on this. He got out his cell phone and called Nick and Warrick. Who knew where those two went anyways. Maybe they were pursuing the bus driver or something or with Greg in the lab or somewhere else, suddenly Grissom's thoughts were interrupted "Nick, here." Grissom heavily sighed before turning to the phone, "Nick. Sara's gone." he heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side and a muttering of curse words. "Damn it, Grissom, what did you do this time? Why do you keep doing this to Sara?!? If YOU don't care about her that doesn't mean the rest of us don't!" Grissom was amazed, at first he didn't understand, then the words hit him full force and he felt his heart breaking. Nick was thinking that Sara left. "Nick. Calm down, no, Sara didn't LEAVE, or not voluntarily at least. She was kidnaped." The other side of the phone was deadly silent for a couple of moments, "Where are you Gris?"
In a couple of minutes a screeching Tahoe came up to the bus stop where Grissom was sitting on the sidewalk. Two men jumped out of the car and rushed over to Grissom. Warrick was the first to speak. "Ok, Grissom, what happened?" Grissom told them as much as he knew and then fell silent. "Well, what are you sitting there for? Get up, will you? What, you hate Sara so much you won't even try and help her?!?" Nick flew of at Grissom. Sara was like his sister. Not counting the biological difference, Sara WAS his sister. And here they were, doing nothing. "Nick, don't you ever say that again." Grissom's voice was low, steely, taking command. Nick and Warrick both shut up, this was their boss now, not their friend. Take all of your stuff and get ready to process another potential crime scene.
The three men worked at the two crime scenes long into the night. Everyone had gone home except one police man who was yawning uncontrollably, he was there to make sure no one came back. 'Like that would help.' Thought Grissom. They collected every piece of evidence that they could find. They had a lot of useful and useless objects and they finally ran out of collection bags as the evidence ceased to be found. Sara was now missing for 12 hours. Lindsey, a day and a half. When they got back to the lab, no one was around. Even Greg went home, not knowing about Sara, or he would've been there in a flash. As Warrick was walking in the front, he decided to go to the break room so they could all talk about the problem a little bit. Decide what to do. As they were all utterly exhausted, even Warrick did not notice the closed door leading to the break room and soundly smacked into it. Grissom was the first to speak, "Hey, War, you all right?" Warrick nodded, a bit dazed. Nick looked at his two friends who were speaking and walking as if in a daze, and he was going to join them soon. "Look, all of us are tired, way beyond tired actually. We have worked two and a half shifts, let's just leave the evidence in a secure place, go home, rest for a few hours and then come back and we'll all feel better and probably find out a whole lot more than we would right now." Warrick was mulling the thought over in his head but Grissom piped up, "Nick. How could you do that? Sara and Lindsey need our help right now. We can't just abandon them." Nick was ready for this, he didn't want to leave Sara and Lindsey in the dark, but they couldn't go on, "Grissom, I know that. But think about this: right now, we're all tired and weary, we'll probably contaminate evidence rather than figure stuff out. How will we live with ourselves then? Knowing that we failed both Lindsey AND Sara just because we were sleepy?" Grissom nodded, he couldn't fight anymore, he just couldn't do it. He had to sleep, all of them had to. Warrick who was quiet all this time finally spoke, "Where's Catherine?" Nick's head jerked up, he forgot all about Catherine. "Don't worry, she had to do that interview remember? Speak on television about Lindsey. She told me she would go to my house afterwards, she can rest there, and I'll keep an eye on her." Both of the lower CSI's nodded, Grissom thought of everything. He'd never forget about Catherine. All three workers went out and hailed one cab. They were being dropped off in order and Grissom was the last person and he wearily got out of the yellow vehicle and made his way to his apartment. He cautiously opened the door and saw a light coming from the kitchen. Kicking off his shoes, a very tired Grissom appeared in front of a very worried Catherine in the kitchen. "Gris, are you ok? Here, sit down, sit down, you've been gone for so long. Would you like some coffee? You look terrible." Grissom sat down at the kitchen table and put his head down, mumbling to Catherine, "Sorry I was gone for so long. Nick, War, and I collected evidence at your house and dropped it off at the lab." Catherine, too, sat down, across from Grissom. "Lindsey? Sara?" Grissom lifted his head and looked at Catherine, "I'm sorry." Catherine's eyes threatened to spill tears and there was nothing Grissom could do. "Cath, we have a considerable amount of evidence, don't worry, we will find them. Now that Lindsey has Sara to take care of her she will be much safer. I'll bet anything that both people got kidnaped by the same person. Sara will not let ANYTHING happen to Lindsey, you know that don't you?" Catherine nodded. "Come on, let's get some sleep." Catherine shook her head no, "I'm not tired Grissom, I'm not. Just worried sick." Grissom looked stern, "Catherine, the guest room is made up, I hope that you have brought some of your stuff from your house." When Catherine nodded her head and pointed to a black bag by the wall, Grissom sighed. "Catherine, the guest room is ready. Come on." The two adults left the kitchen and both went to their own rooms.
Grissom did not sleep right, he kept getting images of a screaming little girl and of a dead Sara lying in a pool of blood. He awoke once and thought he had been screaming in his dream. He plodded over to the guest room hoping that he did not wake Catherine up by his childish behavior. He peeked in and saw the sleeping woman. Satisfied, he was about to return to his own bed when Catherine started thrashing about. Grissom watched, hoping that she would soon stop and sleep peacefully again. When Catherine started mumbling something Grissom started to go into the room and finally she was screaming. He couldn't make out the words but it was terrifying. He rushed over to her bed and carefully shook her awake. "Catherine, shhh, it's all right. Everything will be ok." Catherine finally awoke from her nightmare and started crying. "Grissom, where's my baby? Where is she? Where IS she?!?" Grissom could do nothing to soother her, he just sat there on the bed, holding Catherine in a hug as she began to cry, "First...it's, it's Lindsey, then, now, it's Sara. I was so mean to her, Grissom, so mean, I have to see her. Apologize to her again. Grissom, we have to find her." Grissom nodded, softly stroking Catherine's hair. "Don't worry, as soon as Nicky or Warrick call, we will get up and go over to the lab." Catherine didn't respond, and when Grissom looked down, the woman's eyes were closed. Grissom smiled warmly and laid her down on the pillow. He then went back to his own bed and tried to sleep.
A few hours later, Nick called, "Hey, Gris? Warrick and I are meeting at the lab in an hour. Will that give you and Catherine enough time?" Grissom, still a little drowsy grunted his approval and went to wake Catherine. He knocked on the door and when he heard a sleepy, "Come in," he entered. "That was Nicky, he just called. We're meeting at the lab in an hour. I'm gonna grab a quick shower, there's another bathroom just across the hall. Then, I'll see what we can have for breakfast." Catherine nodded and grissom disappeared into the hallway. About 15 minutes later Grissom and Catherine emerged from their showers at the same time. Both immensely refreshed, they started making breakfast. Catherine was occupied with coffee, while Grissom was cooking an omelette. They ate their breakfast in silence, and when they drank the last cup of coffee Grissom looked at Catherine and seeing her nod, he got out his car keys. They arrived at the lab exactly five minutes before Warrick and Nick. Once they were there, each person got a specific number of items and went out to work. Grissom looking at a dirt sample, Nick working on some finger prints, Warrick trying to identify a footprint, and Catherine was at Greg's, trying to extract some DNA from a cigaret butt. All were working diligently, quietly, effectively.
Grissom waved a patrol car over and a couple of men got out. "What's the problem here, Mr...Grissom." Grissom's ID tag was laying crooked upon his breast. "One of our CSI's disappeared. While gathering evidence, I think." The two nodded, "Hasn't anyone secured the crime scene?" Grissom was becoming irritated, couldn't these two blokes just go and find his Sara? She might be in a lot of trouble and they're asking meaningless questions. "Yes, someone has, but this was away from the crime scene and I don't think that the whole neighborhood was scoured, do you?" Grissom sarcastically asked the police. When they didn't respond he continued, "I found some of my partner's stuff in these bushes. And that's...all." Grissom sighed, his eyes filled with sorrow but the police men barely noticed. "We will do everything we can. Hey, Sherman, call for three more officers, we gotta find this CSI." Grissom felt that much relieved, they were at least getting some people on this. He got out his cell phone and called Nick and Warrick. Who knew where those two went anyways. Maybe they were pursuing the bus driver or something or with Greg in the lab or somewhere else, suddenly Grissom's thoughts were interrupted "Nick, here." Grissom heavily sighed before turning to the phone, "Nick. Sara's gone." he heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side and a muttering of curse words. "Damn it, Grissom, what did you do this time? Why do you keep doing this to Sara?!? If YOU don't care about her that doesn't mean the rest of us don't!" Grissom was amazed, at first he didn't understand, then the words hit him full force and he felt his heart breaking. Nick was thinking that Sara left. "Nick. Calm down, no, Sara didn't LEAVE, or not voluntarily at least. She was kidnaped." The other side of the phone was deadly silent for a couple of moments, "Where are you Gris?"
In a couple of minutes a screeching Tahoe came up to the bus stop where Grissom was sitting on the sidewalk. Two men jumped out of the car and rushed over to Grissom. Warrick was the first to speak. "Ok, Grissom, what happened?" Grissom told them as much as he knew and then fell silent. "Well, what are you sitting there for? Get up, will you? What, you hate Sara so much you won't even try and help her?!?" Nick flew of at Grissom. Sara was like his sister. Not counting the biological difference, Sara WAS his sister. And here they were, doing nothing. "Nick, don't you ever say that again." Grissom's voice was low, steely, taking command. Nick and Warrick both shut up, this was their boss now, not their friend. Take all of your stuff and get ready to process another potential crime scene.
The three men worked at the two crime scenes long into the night. Everyone had gone home except one police man who was yawning uncontrollably, he was there to make sure no one came back. 'Like that would help.' Thought Grissom. They collected every piece of evidence that they could find. They had a lot of useful and useless objects and they finally ran out of collection bags as the evidence ceased to be found. Sara was now missing for 12 hours. Lindsey, a day and a half. When they got back to the lab, no one was around. Even Greg went home, not knowing about Sara, or he would've been there in a flash. As Warrick was walking in the front, he decided to go to the break room so they could all talk about the problem a little bit. Decide what to do. As they were all utterly exhausted, even Warrick did not notice the closed door leading to the break room and soundly smacked into it. Grissom was the first to speak, "Hey, War, you all right?" Warrick nodded, a bit dazed. Nick looked at his two friends who were speaking and walking as if in a daze, and he was going to join them soon. "Look, all of us are tired, way beyond tired actually. We have worked two and a half shifts, let's just leave the evidence in a secure place, go home, rest for a few hours and then come back and we'll all feel better and probably find out a whole lot more than we would right now." Warrick was mulling the thought over in his head but Grissom piped up, "Nick. How could you do that? Sara and Lindsey need our help right now. We can't just abandon them." Nick was ready for this, he didn't want to leave Sara and Lindsey in the dark, but they couldn't go on, "Grissom, I know that. But think about this: right now, we're all tired and weary, we'll probably contaminate evidence rather than figure stuff out. How will we live with ourselves then? Knowing that we failed both Lindsey AND Sara just because we were sleepy?" Grissom nodded, he couldn't fight anymore, he just couldn't do it. He had to sleep, all of them had to. Warrick who was quiet all this time finally spoke, "Where's Catherine?" Nick's head jerked up, he forgot all about Catherine. "Don't worry, she had to do that interview remember? Speak on television about Lindsey. She told me she would go to my house afterwards, she can rest there, and I'll keep an eye on her." Both of the lower CSI's nodded, Grissom thought of everything. He'd never forget about Catherine. All three workers went out and hailed one cab. They were being dropped off in order and Grissom was the last person and he wearily got out of the yellow vehicle and made his way to his apartment. He cautiously opened the door and saw a light coming from the kitchen. Kicking off his shoes, a very tired Grissom appeared in front of a very worried Catherine in the kitchen. "Gris, are you ok? Here, sit down, sit down, you've been gone for so long. Would you like some coffee? You look terrible." Grissom sat down at the kitchen table and put his head down, mumbling to Catherine, "Sorry I was gone for so long. Nick, War, and I collected evidence at your house and dropped it off at the lab." Catherine, too, sat down, across from Grissom. "Lindsey? Sara?" Grissom lifted his head and looked at Catherine, "I'm sorry." Catherine's eyes threatened to spill tears and there was nothing Grissom could do. "Cath, we have a considerable amount of evidence, don't worry, we will find them. Now that Lindsey has Sara to take care of her she will be much safer. I'll bet anything that both people got kidnaped by the same person. Sara will not let ANYTHING happen to Lindsey, you know that don't you?" Catherine nodded. "Come on, let's get some sleep." Catherine shook her head no, "I'm not tired Grissom, I'm not. Just worried sick." Grissom looked stern, "Catherine, the guest room is made up, I hope that you have brought some of your stuff from your house." When Catherine nodded her head and pointed to a black bag by the wall, Grissom sighed. "Catherine, the guest room is ready. Come on." The two adults left the kitchen and both went to their own rooms.
Grissom did not sleep right, he kept getting images of a screaming little girl and of a dead Sara lying in a pool of blood. He awoke once and thought he had been screaming in his dream. He plodded over to the guest room hoping that he did not wake Catherine up by his childish behavior. He peeked in and saw the sleeping woman. Satisfied, he was about to return to his own bed when Catherine started thrashing about. Grissom watched, hoping that she would soon stop and sleep peacefully again. When Catherine started mumbling something Grissom started to go into the room and finally she was screaming. He couldn't make out the words but it was terrifying. He rushed over to her bed and carefully shook her awake. "Catherine, shhh, it's all right. Everything will be ok." Catherine finally awoke from her nightmare and started crying. "Grissom, where's my baby? Where is she? Where IS she?!?" Grissom could do nothing to soother her, he just sat there on the bed, holding Catherine in a hug as she began to cry, "First...it's, it's Lindsey, then, now, it's Sara. I was so mean to her, Grissom, so mean, I have to see her. Apologize to her again. Grissom, we have to find her." Grissom nodded, softly stroking Catherine's hair. "Don't worry, as soon as Nicky or Warrick call, we will get up and go over to the lab." Catherine didn't respond, and when Grissom looked down, the woman's eyes were closed. Grissom smiled warmly and laid her down on the pillow. He then went back to his own bed and tried to sleep.
A few hours later, Nick called, "Hey, Gris? Warrick and I are meeting at the lab in an hour. Will that give you and Catherine enough time?" Grissom, still a little drowsy grunted his approval and went to wake Catherine. He knocked on the door and when he heard a sleepy, "Come in," he entered. "That was Nicky, he just called. We're meeting at the lab in an hour. I'm gonna grab a quick shower, there's another bathroom just across the hall. Then, I'll see what we can have for breakfast." Catherine nodded and grissom disappeared into the hallway. About 15 minutes later Grissom and Catherine emerged from their showers at the same time. Both immensely refreshed, they started making breakfast. Catherine was occupied with coffee, while Grissom was cooking an omelette. They ate their breakfast in silence, and when they drank the last cup of coffee Grissom looked at Catherine and seeing her nod, he got out his car keys. They arrived at the lab exactly five minutes before Warrick and Nick. Once they were there, each person got a specific number of items and went out to work. Grissom looking at a dirt sample, Nick working on some finger prints, Warrick trying to identify a footprint, and Catherine was at Greg's, trying to extract some DNA from a cigaret butt. All were working diligently, quietly, effectively.