--------------Sara's Apartment-------------
Catherine walked into Sara's living room, looking curiously at Nick and Warrick. "What did you guys find?" Nick held out a piece of paper.
Dr. Grissom,
Years ago, my love died; and you did nothing to bring me...
(what is that phrase you CSIs use- closure?) You did nothing
to bring closure. Now your girl is dead, and you can't bring
closure to yourself. How does it feel to be the "Vic's" family when
the case is unsolved? I will find you... I will make you pay
for what you did...
Catherine pulled her phone from her pocket, dialing Grissom's number. "Grissom, are you still at the lab? -OK, stay there. Nicky and 'Rick found a letter addressed to you at the scene. I'll be right there." She walked out to the cop cars parked outside, still talking to Grissom. Hanging up, she turned to Brass. "Look at this!" He leaned over to see it, careful not to touch it.
"Oh, god... Have you talked to Gris?"
Catherine indicated her cell phone. "Just did. I'm on my way over to the lab to talk to him now." A pause, then, "Do you think we could get a cop to tail him for a couple days? I know he'd hate it, but..."
"Yeah, I'll see what I can do. And, I'll get a couple people outside Sara's room at Desert Palm. Have Warrick and Nick seen this?" Catherine nodded. "Maybe you three should stick together for a while - I mean, it sounds like he's only after Grissom, and hurt Sara to get to him, but you never know..."
---------------CSI Lab---------------
Grissom reread the copy of note for the tenth time. Oh sweet Jesus! This is my fault! That bastard tried to kill Sara in order to hurt me! Catherine watched her friend struggle to hold back his emotions from the doorway of his office.
"Gil, it's not your fault," she said quietly. Grissom looked up at her. "Then whose is it?" he whispered.
"The perp's" Catherine stated firmly, but Grissom shook his head.
"You read the letter, he did this to hurt me. It had nothing to do with Sara; he was just using her to send me a message! That make's it my fault!"
"Gil, listen to me: This. Is. NOT. Your. Fault." Catherine stressed each word. Grissom kept shaking his head, still blaming himself. Catherine sat down in a chair near his desk. "Gil, you remember how, after Lindsey was born, I blamed myself whenever Eddie beat me?" Grissom nodded. "Well this is no more your fault than that was mine."
Grissom looked up at her. "Can't I say anything without you guys quoting it back at me?" Catherine shook her head.
"Gil, look: I can handle all of this." She gestured at the paperwork covering his desk. "Go to the hospital, sit with Sara- be there when she wakes up again."
Grissom rose to his feet. "Thanks Cath." She hugged him quickly, "Hey, you were there for Lindsey and I when we needed help, now it's my turn to return the favor for you and Sara." She watched as he walked toward the parking lot.
-------------Desert Palm Hospital-------------
Grissom walked past the cops standing outside Sara's door as he entered her room. Brass sure got that set up fast, he thought. A police car had followed him from CSI, and there were two police standing guard over Sara. "Hey!" he slid into the chair by her bed.
"Hey, Gil." Sara sat up slowly. "You guys found anything yet?"
Grissom shrugged, "Catherine took me off the case. She said she'd call me if they knew anything."
"Why?" Sara was shocked. Grissom was off the case? He let Catherine take him off the case?"
"Well, at first it was just because of, well, us. She was worried that the evidence would be tainted."
"You said 'at first,' what else?" Grissom looked down. "Gil? What?
"They found this in your apartment." He handed her a copy of the letter. Sara read through it quickly, her face pale.
"Well..." Sara stopped. He's going to try to hurt Grissom? No, No, Noooo! She glanced at Grissom "Brass has cops following you, right?"
"Yeah, but I really don't think I-"
"Gil, please be careful. And what's this all about: 'I will make you pay for what you did,' 'you did nothing to bring closure...?"
Grissom took the piece of paper. "One of my first solo cases when I was a CSI 2 was a woman who was killed in her apartment. She was posed on the couch, and nobody noticed she was dead until her husband got back from a business trip almost a week later. We had fingerprints, DNA - everything we needed for a conviction, but nobody to compare it to... So I had to call it an 'unsolved' and move to a different case. The husband came to talk to me a few days later. He said I was her killer as much as the real murderer because I let him get away. I figured he was just distraught over his wife's death, so I never said anything. I guess he still blames me for it..."
Notes: Hey ya'll! Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate it. I'm trying to find a Beta reader, but still doing it myself, so please point out any errors. Sorry it's so short; the next one should be longer. SARA.fan4