Dead End
Catherine was glad to come into work, even coming in hours early. Though she hated having to investigate the case they were working on, it was easier than not investigating and staying at home. She had spent many sleepless hours last night wondering what happened to her two colleagues. There were so many questions running through her mind that couldn't be answered without evidence. That said, she dropped Lindsey off at a sitter and drove to work.
She wasn't surprised to see Grissom and Nick's vehicles already in the parking lot. It comforted her to know they were feeling the same way as she; but it also disturbed her. She knew that all the extra hours were needed to crack the case of Sara and Warrick's disappearance. She had to fight her fear for her friends and concentrate on the evidence that would lead them to the pair. However this case was proving harder than they imagined, but they refused to give up hope.
"Trace came back negative on the champagne and the glasses." Grissom offered her as a greeting as she quickly found the two men in the lab with Greg and Bobby.
"Meaning they weren't poisoned." She commented, filling in the pieces.
"At least not by ingestion." Grissom corrected her. There were numerous ways to be poisoned.
"Whatever knocked Sara and Warrick out is still in the car." Nick decided, hoping they could find some evidence.
"And the limo is out in the garage." Grissom suggested none too subtly. Nick took the hint and went to put on some overalls. Catherine joined him, as she needed something physical to rest her mind a bit. She was tired of dwelling on questions and doubts, when she needed some hard evidence to soothe her fears.
"No prints on the doors." Nick called out in disappointment. Catherine wasn't so quick to give up on fingerprints. "Check the steering wheel. It was 92 degrees out the other day. Maybe he took his gloves off." She suggested.
'We can hope.' He muttered as he dusted off the wheel along with the door handle, rearview mirror, and radio. As he dusted the dashboard he slipped and bumped his head.
"Are you okay?" Catherine called from the backseat. "Just a little dusty." He replied with a grimace, shaking off the pain. Nick brushed off the dust that had landed on him. Or what he thought was dust out of the vents. Living as a bachelor he knew what dust looked like, and this certainly wasn't dust he concluded upon closer inspection. He quickly unscrewed the vent and placed it an evidence bag.
"What have you got?" Grissom's voice interrupted their investigation as he entered the garage.
"How." Nick replied simply as he rushed the bag to the lab.
"How are you holding up Cath?" Grissom asked gently. She was just like him, working on the forensics to cover up for the emotional part of the case. He had half a mind to send her home when she came in this morning, but he realized it was cathartic for the rest of the team to continue working. Just knowing they were trying to help find Sara and Warrick helped them from losing it completely.
"I just don't understand it Gil." She replied puzzled. "Who took Sara and Warrick? Why did they take them? How did they know they were going to be in the limo? I mean we only told them the day of the event." She listed off all the questions she had in her head. They were the same ones that had kept Gil up all night as well.
"They wouldn't have had time to plan something so quickly." Grissom agreed.
They were still no closer to the answers than before. Until Catherine made her next question, that hadn't even crossed his mind.
"What if?" She began as she continued to form the question in her head. "What if, whoever took Sara and Warrick really meant to take us?" She suggested uncertainly. She didn't think she could live with herself if they were in danger because of her.
"A case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?" He offered back. "Maybe you're onto something Cath. Let's go crosscheck our cases." The two left the limo unfinished and went to do some research.
"How's it going?" Nick asked as he waited with Greg to process the evidence.
"The second set of tracks belongs to a '92 Chevy work truck." Greg stated with confidence. "Great, that should narrow it down." Nick groaned in disappointment. 'When are we going to get a break?' he sighed. Speaking of breaks, he had been working non-stop for four hours. He headed to the break room for some coffee until the results came back from the fingerprints or the vent.
She had woken up several times during the night shivering because of the cold. She finally woke Warrick up with her movement because he threw his jacket over her and pulled her into his arms and she had been powerless to stop him. She quickly realized though that she didn't want to stop him. She hadn't quite realized how strong he was, but she fell asleep with a feeling of security and didn't wake up again until the morning.
Warrick had been awake for a while, but he watched Sara as she slept. Somehow in the middle of the night she had turned in her sleep and now was resting with her face in his chest and her arms tightly wrapped around his middle. He rubbed his hands over her back absently, taking comfort as much as he was giving it. She awoke a few minutes later and he watched as a myriad of emotions played over her face as she realized the intimate position they were in. She looked embarrassed and he wanted to reassure her before she went into full on freak out mode.
"Sara." He began gently as he tried to explain. "Shh." She commented, trying to enjoy the last few moments of relaxation. "It's okay Warrick." She announced, much to his surprise.
"What, did you think I would be mad?" She continued puzzled. "I didn't know." He replied honestly. "We both needed it." She said reassuringly. "Besides it's a crazy situation." She shrugged it off.
He groaned in disappointment. He knew she would say that. "What?" She asked curiously. 'Was it her imagination or did he look disappointed?' She thought as she now watched his expression change.
"It's not just the situation for me." He admitted cautiously, hoping she wouldn't be angry at his confession. She noticed his hesitation and felt guilty that he was worried she would be upset. She knew she had to reply and let him know how she felt.
"Look Warrick, I don't know what's going to happen once we get out of here, hell I don't even know what's going on inside of here." Sara spoke of their current situation, pulling out of his arms to clear up the issue. "But relationships can be aversely affected by stressful circumstances and I'm not willing to screw this up."
'Did that mean she isn't mad?' His mind raced to try to understand. 'Did that mean that she had feelings for me as well?' He wondered hopefully.
He didn't know if she meant a possible romance or their friendship specifically. "What are you saying?" Warrick demanded, he needed, wanted an honest answer.
"I'm saying if we get out of here and this works, then Great. If it doesn't, it's not going to affect our friendship." She promised. It hit him just then that despite her honesty with her feelings, she was still feeling a little insecure and anxious. She was giving them both an escape clause.
He thought she knew where he stood on the possibility of a romance, but decided to remind her. "Let's stop talking." He whispered. She looked at him in confusion until he lowered his head and his lips covered hers softly. If the circumstances weren't so tragic, he believed he could have stayed like that for a long time. When he pulled away he chuckled at her loss of words.
She recovered quickly. "How did we get in here anyhow? There's no door." After a long, restless night, her analytical mind needed to go back to work. And after waking up next to Warrick, she was desperate to change the subject. Not that she minded, but she couldn't afford to let herself dwell any further on that topic until they were free. He wasn't offended by her change of topic, even going along with it obligingly.
Warrick pointed up. "One way in. One way out." He answered grimly. "Which explains the soreness." Sara muttered as she stretched her tired and cramped, not to mention uncomfortable body. But at least she wasn't cold anymore, which is how they found themselves in this situation in the first place.
"Let's try to work this out." He suggested, mainly passing the time, but also because of curiosity. If they could place their captors, then they would know who they were dealing with and how to proceed with their situation. Granted they had no control over what was happening, but if they knew who their captors were, they might gain an advantage by playing on their weaknesses.
"Why?" was the most logical place to start, he figured. "Maybe they were really after Catherine and Grissom?" She suggested opening up their discussion.
"Do we look like Catherine and Grissom?" Warrick commented sarcastically. "It's not like people don't know who we are. Just the opposite in fact." He reminded her. How many times had they been stopped on the street
"So if they had been the target there would have been a switch." Sara admitted reluctantly.
"Which means we were the target." Warrick confirmed her suspicions.
"Okay." She relented, "But how did they know we would be the ones going to the ball? All anybody knew was that Catherine and Grissom were going. And we didn't know until the day of." Sara argued logically.
A fearful thought crossed his mind. "Unless..." he began, debating whether or not to even say it aloud.
Sara noticed his hesitation and wanted to hear his theory, not matter what. "Unless," she guided him.
"Someone on the inside tipped them off." He said reluctantly, hating how it sounded.
She swallowed hard at his unimaginable suggestion. "You think?"
"I don't know what to think." He admitted in frustration. "It just doesn't make sense." The pair settled in comfortably next to each other and continued to wait. Either for someone to rescue them or for themselves to figure a way out. Or the unenviable event of their captors coming back for them.
Catherine and Grissom carried a large box of files into the break room. Bobby had sorted through all the case files on the computer and had come up with a potential list of suspects. Grissom read off the names on the list as Catherine cross-referenced them with their files. They had been in there for a while with no luck so far.
"Parker?" Grissom asked, remembering the husband who had killed his wife so he could marry another woman.
"Deceased." Catherine replied in surprise as she stared at the death certificate.
"Jefferson?" Grissom tried again, reading the next file.
"Nevada Correctional Institute." She informed him. "Still has two life terms to serve."
"Miller?" He questioned, starting to get frustrated. It was the last name on the list.
"Rehab." She answered in disbelief.
"Dead end." He declared grimly. Catherine threw the final file back into the box. Nick came back for a second cup of coffee and noted the looks of distress on his co-workers faces.
"Maybe they were carjacked?" Nick suggested, desperately clinging to hope. "A random attack?" He asked doubtfully. In truth it was not out of the question. Unfortunately there were so many things they couldn't rule out until they had more evidence. The trio was silent as they searched their brains for the next step to take in their investigation.
The silence was broken as the eager lab tech rushed into the room, the doors bouncing off the walls with a bang announcing his arrival. "I've got a match on the fingerprints from the steering wheel." Greg announced optimistically. That got their attention. Maybe something would finally go their way.
