Chapter 13
Complications
"The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them."
-- Lois McMaster Bujold
"Clare hadn't come home from school when I got home and Ali was terrified. That's when we got the call from Tony saying he had her and he had something for me to do. I asked him if she was okay and he said she was fine, happy even. I wanted to talk to her, make sure it was really her but he wanted to know I was 100 with him. I told him I was going to call the police and he told me he'd kill her if I tried it. So I asked him what he wanted and he went off on this elaborate scheme to destroy Mandy. I don't… I didn't get why he wanted to murder her.
"Then he told me he knew about Bekki, about his daughter. I froze. He continued rambling about how Amanda was a bitch and a slut for taking his daughter away. Of course, I was there for Bekki's birth and Mandy sent me Christmas cards once a year with Bekki's yearly achievements. I knew her first word, when she took her first step… I don't know how he found out anything."
"Scott, what did Tony ask you to do?" Sara interrupted.
"To kill them all. I was friends with them all too," he said, pain shining in his eyes. "You don't understand how painful it was to… to…"
"Why did you keep going?" Catherine heard Sara ask softly, the brunette's voice shaking uncontrollably. Catherine felt a lump form in her throat and her own shaking begin.
"He still had Clare and he told me he'd take Ali and Ross next?"
"Why Lauren?"
"What about Lauren? I swear I only had stuff to do with Emily and Ellen, And he was there the whole time. I couldn't get out of it. I haven't seen Lauren in… years."
"Anna?"
"Talked on the phone with her last week. I swear I didn't do anything to Lauren or Anna and nothing to do with you or Mandy. Sara, you've got to believe me!"
"How was everything supposed to go down?" Sara asked. Grissom's grip tightened on Catherine's hand.
"This is what we want," he murmured.
"Your Banning provided the morphine in little darts."
"Like this one?" Sara threw a dart on the table.
"Just like that. Gave me three of four for Ellen and Emily… each." Sara puffed out a breath.
"And me?" Sara squeaked out.
"Again, Sair, out of my hands, but Tony trained himself to use those things made of bamboo tribes use in the jungles." Sara nodded, looking away from him.
"Is that it? Can I call Ali? Tell her I won't be home?"
"In a minute."
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Catherine turned to the two men who continued to stare. She rolled her eyes, brushing passed them to Sara who she wordlessly wrapped her in embrace. Sara shook uncontrollably in Catherine's arms; silent sobs wracking her small frame. Her first gasping breath broke Nick from his semi-catatonic state. He took Catherine's place, his arms wrapping around her tightly. Grissom's jaw had returned to its full upright and lock position, but he still faced the window. Catherine squeezed his shoulder.
"We've got more than enough to convict Banning and a confession to book Paolini. We have to wait for LVPD to pick up Lopez before we can talk to him and the girls are holed up in your office asleep."
"Nick's working on a 419 with input but no field work from Sara and Warrick is out at another scene. This is the only case for you and me," he replied, wrapping her in a hug that she reciprocated.
"Paper work?" she asked softly. Grissom groaned.
"I don't wanna," he whined childishly and Catherine chuckled.
"Have we talked to Banning?" Nick asked, wrapping his arms tighter around Sara as her shaking intensified.
"Not that I know of," Grissom replied warily.
"I want this to be over," Sara whispered watching as an officer led Scott Paolini out of the room.
"You should take a break," Grissom said. "Go out for a bit or something."
"We've got another case," Sara protested feebly. Nick murmured something into her ear and she nodded.
"We're…" Catherine nodded with a smile and they left. Catherine looked into the empty interrogation room.
"Banning?" she asked. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms as he considered her question.
"Are you ready to do another one?" Catherine shook her head.
"Get Brass and I'll stay in observation. I don't think I could look at him without wanting to beat his head in," she answered.
"Let me talk to Brass," Grissom said, laying a hand on the small of her back, keeping some contact as they broke from their embrace.
"How could they do it? How could he do it? Paolini must have known we had ways to keep things anonymous or he could have gotten a neighbour to call."
"It's a little late to be overanalyzing, Cath," Grissom said as they made their way to the front of the lab.
"Sir! You can't go in there! Sir!" A crazed looking man was stomping towards the, gun drawn. Catherine's eyes widened as he stalked up to them.
"Where is she? Where is Sidle?" he asked pointing the gun at the strawberry-blonde's head. Catherine gasped and looked straight down the barrel.
"She left," Catherine breathed, "five minutes ago."
"Where?"
"Freeze!" Jim Brass and a bunch of armed officers stood at the entrance to the lab. The man grabbed Catherine and ripped her from Grissom's touch. His gun was held to her temple and Catherine forced herself to stay calm.
"Sara left and didn't tell us where," she said, her voice sounding much calmer than she felt.
"Bull shit," he hissed. "Then where's my daughter?" Again, Catherine forced the rising panic to simmer and hold. She wouldn't give in.
"Drop the gun, Lopez," she said quietly. "You'll go to jail and never be able to see your daughter."
"You know where she is, bitch."
"Put the gun down, sir!" Brass called. Grissom stayed frozen where he was against his office door. He knew Bekki and Lindsey were sound asleep in that room and he didn't need them to peek out through the office window. Lopez couldn't see Bekki.
"Cath, I…" Greg stopped dead beside on of the officers. He noticed the threat and froze. Silence reigned as the officers pointed their guns at Lopez and Lopez with his gun at Catherine. Catherine's phone chose that second to ring, breaking the silence. Lopez waved for her to answer it.
"Willows."
"The hospital's in shambles and Amanda's dead," Nick's shaky voice floated over the line. Catherine's eyes closed and her posture drooped substantially, causing Lopez to tighten his grip on her.
"Okay, do you have your stuff?" Nick answered the negative.
"She's hollow, Cath. I'm scared."
"We'll be there ASAP, Nick, just hang on," she said and hung up. Lopez allowed her to clip it back on her belt.
"Nick?" Lopez questioned harshly. Catherine winced only slightly as he shoved the gun further in her temple.
"My boyfriend," she lied quickly, begging Grissom to understand through her eyes. His widened only slightly as he felt the doorknob turn under his hand.
"Hold on honey, I'll be in, in a minute," he said to the closed door.
"Mommy?" Catherine recognized Bekki's voice and forced her body to stay relaxed.
"Sweetie, go back to sleep. I just need to run this sample through DNA and I'll be right back," Catherine called back, silently praying Bekki wouldn't ask questions.
"Okay," came the soft voice as the door clicked shut again. Grissom watched Lopez's face change, turning predatory and threatening.
"Your daughter?" Grissom didn't answer.
"I'll kill her first, then your daughter," Lopez said, finger moving on the trigger. Things started moving in slow motion as Grissom heard a gunshot and watched Catherine crumple as Lopez's grip loosened. He heard two screams and his office door was tugged open. Lindsey and Bekki stood there, staring at Catherine's crumpled body. Suddenly, Lopez started to sway, he stumbled around to look at the Vegas ballistics expert, Bobby, goggles still on and gun still aimed at Lopez. Blood began to seep through the shoulder of Lopez's shirt as he collapsed from shock. The officers were on Lopez at once as Lindsey, Bekki, Grissom and Greg rushed to Catherine's crumpled body.
"Cath?"
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What, you actually thought I'd kill Catherine? Not a chance!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter… shouldn't be too much longer until I'm done
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One thing though, I receive a flame that only told me that this story sucked. That's great to know, really, but I also didn't receive any feedback. Why did it suck and what could I have done to make it better? That's a well-rounded critique, not just its sucks. Thanks.
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Coming soon…
What about Bekki?
Final steps to close this case
And…
Stay tuned for Blossoming and its finale!
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Kavi Leighanna