Here you go – chapter four for you. Sorry for the long long delay, can you ever forgive me? I kinda got lost in the Harry Potter world for a while ;-) Then I couldn't be asked to sit and write all the jargon and case evidence stuff, which is why it's a little skint in this chapter. Sorry again. Hope you're all still reading this.
Chapter Four- Waiting.
A week later Catherine, Sara, Nick and Warrick had congregated in one of the many evidence rooms at CSI. The case had been really slow going and they were compiling all they had, trying to find a new route to go down.
"Okay, lets go through it from the beginning. Sara."
Catherine stated to get the meeting started.
"Murder number one. Unknown Caucasian male, mid to late 20's. Smartly dressed. Found in the back room of a deserted warehouse, shot four times to the chest. Bullets match the same that we retrieved from the officer and Grissom, so whoever killed him came back to the scene of the crime. There was a white powder found on the desk and under his fingernails turned out to be heroine – leading us to believe that the victim was either the dealer or a customer. My money's on him being the dealer."
"Why?"
"Because a dealer isn't likely to off one of his customers and lose money, unless it was under certain circumstances. So it's more likely to be a customer offing the dealer to get more drugs."
"But why would the customer kill his dealer, he'd then have to find someone else to get his supply from. Unless the customer was going to start dealing – or was a disgruntled partner."
"Which gives us a small lead. No much to go on but I've asked Brass to keep an eye out for new dealers."
Sara told Nick.
"Good job Sara. Nick."
"Case number two. Officer shot in the head at the main entrance to the building. His gun was still holstered which means he was caught off guard. Grissom was found in the office door, shot three times. His gun was found a few feet from his position. He'd likely heard the gun shots and pulled his gun out. His gun was one bullet shy so he obviously got a round off but I've found no sign of the bullet which leads me to think it hit the suspect."
"Have you got any proof of this?"
"No. There's no unknown blood at the crime scene. It all belongs to one of the victims or Grissom."
"Anything else?"
"Few unidentified footprints, but unless we have a suspect to check them against they're pretty much useless. I checked up in their tread and they're from a popular brand of trainer, nothing helpful."
He took a breath and as Catherine was about to say something Greg burst into the room with a piece of paper.
"ID on the first victim's through!"
He said handing Catherine the paper. Catherine scanned it, the others all waiting. Catherine looked up at them.
"Well...?"
Nick asked.
"His name's Daniel Elliot. The step-son of the previous owner. It was unofficially left to him."
She looked up at them.
"Who was checking on the owners background?"
She asked, the annoyance evident in her voice.
"I was." Sara said. "I didn't think to check up on his ex-wife's kids. Only his direct relations. I'm sorry."
"Bit late now."
Catherine said obviously annoyed. Sara looked taken aback.
"Cath, anyone could have missed that."
Nick said, noticing Sara's look.
"Not on a case like this Nick. This is Grissom we're talking about."
"Catherine, I said I was sorry. I guess I was just a it preoccupied."
Sara said defensively.
"Don't let personal stuff get in the way of the case Sara. Look, just go and check up on this guy. We need to know where he lives, family, friends – everything. Don't miss anything."
Angry and upset Sara left the room. Nick followed slowly behind with Greg. Catherine and Warrick were now left alone.
"Catherine?"
Warrick questioned carefully. Catherine's eyes darted up from the table and Warrick could see the concealed sadness in them.
"How's Jade holding up?"
She asked, changing the subject.
"She's spending all her time at Grissom's bedside. I think she's holding up okay, but she won't talk to me. I was gonna head down later to see her."
"Why don't you go now. I'm sure she could use the company, and there's not much for you to do here at the moment. I'll page you if you're needed."
"If you're sure..."
Warrick said, standing slowly, eager to be at Jade's side.
"Yeah. Go and look after Jade."
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Catherine...you've known Gris longer than all of us, you know if you need to talk I'm here."
"Thanks Warrick, but I'm fine. Honest."
Warrick nodded, knowing she wasn't. He'd have to wait for her to be ready.
He got up and left, leaving Catherine to sit quietly wither her thoughts. They were getting closer, but not close enough. This case was just taking way too long for her liking. Plus Grissom was still in a coma. His injuries had stabilised and he was out of ICU and in a private room, but he was still unconscious. Catherine sighed and looked down. She didn't know how long she could hold in the tears. It should have been her. And she knew it. It was meant to be her covering part of the day shift, but she hadn't been able to make it. Gil had covered for her. It should have been her in the hospital.
Feeling the emotions boiling over she stood, clamping her mouth shut and marched down the corridor to the women's toilet. Moving over to one of the sinks she leaned onto it, unable to stop the tears from falling.
Across the way Sara had seen Cath rush into the toilet and, against her hurt feelings, she moved across the corridor and entered.
"Cath?"
A cry met her ears, then was suddenly muffled. She turned the corner to find Cath quickly wiping the tears away from her face.
"Catherine, are you okay?"
Sara moved over and stood beside her. Catherine looked at herself in the mirror.
"I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. It should be me laying in that hospital bed. It should have been me on that warehouse floor."
"What are you talking about?"
Sara asked gently.
"I was meant to be covering the day shift. But then something came up and Gil covered for me. It's my fault."
"Oh Cath, it's not your fault. These things happen. You weren't to know that was going to happen. I think you've been handling this really well, better than me by a long shot."
"I'm sorry I got angry with you. It's just that I promised Grissom we'd find the bastard and right now we're just ending up with another case for his fish board. All the people we help every week, and we can't even help one of our own."
This thought started her off again, and against Sara's better judgement she gave Cath a hug which she obviously needed.
"We'll get him. Just give it a little more time. We'll find the missing link."
*****
Warrick stopped just outside Grissom's room and looked inside the window. Jade was asleep in the chair, her head resting in her hand, her elbow on the arm of the chair. Grissom was in his usual pose on the bed, the equipment around him beating gently. The room looked much brighter than his ICU room. Jade had brought a few of Grissom's things in to make it more comfortable looking. There were flowers and cards from people wishing him well, and she'd brought a few of his personal belongings as well. Pictures, a few cases of his insects, his music which was playing in the background. Some classical composer, Warrick figured. The Doctors had told them that voices and sounds that he knew may help him recover. They said that it was a good sign that he was still alive because his injuries had been so severe they didn't think he was going to make it for the first 48 hours. But he'd already survived the week and even though he was in a coma, his injuries had stabilised and he was out of intensive care and had been for two days now.
Warrick entered quietly and took a seat on the sofa across the room. He picked up a paper and sat back, reading quietly. He didn't want to wake Jade. He knew she hadn't been sleeping, the amount of times that week he'd woken up to an empty bed, only to find her in the living room.
About 20 minutes later Jade stirred and opened her eyes. They focused on Grissom first but when she heard the movement of paper, she looked up and saw Warrick folding the paper down.
"How long have you been here?"
She questioned, sitting up and stretching the kinks out of her protesting muscles. She reached a hand up and rubbed her neck.
"A while. Come here."
He gestured to the seat beside him and she got up, moving across the room, and sat down beside him. He turned her to face away slightly and started massaging her neck gently. Her head drooped slightly and he smiled at the response. He could feel the tenseness in her muscles. They sat in silence for a while until Warrick could feel her relaxing, then he stopped massaging and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. She laid back on his chest, him seated leaning against the corner of the sofa. She closed her eyes for a moment.
"Are you okay? Maybe you should go home, get some sleep."
"I'm fine. I want to be here."
"Jade, you need to sleep. You have to think about you for a while."
"Why? I'm fine, I'm healthy. I'm not the one lying in a hospital bed."
Warrick hugged her slightly tighter when he heard the quiver in her voice.
"He'll be alright. Just give him time."
"That's just it. Time...I can't stand this waiting. Now knowing. It's been a week now...and there's been no change. He has to pull through this. He just has to. He can't leave me alone. He's not allowed to leave me. He said he'd always be here with me. He promised me ever since I lost my parents."
The lump in her throat restricted her talking and she clamped her lips shut. Warrick leaned his head down onto hers and just held her close to him as slow tears fell from her eyes.
*****
Back at CSI, Sara came darting down the corridor to Grissom's office where Catherine was trying to concentrate on paperwork. Sara knocked and entered without waiting for a reply.
"Brass just got back to us. Elliot's been living in motels for the last five months – about 6 altogether. He actually lives in Portland, Maine. He has no family but he's got a friend living in Maine as his next of kin."
"Great. Now we're getting somewhere."
She sat thinking a moment.
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking we need to get someone to his home, and to interview this friend of his."
Sara's brow furrowed, knowing that look on Catherine's face.
"Let me guess..."
Sara started saying. She actually looked okay with it.
"I want you and Nick down there. Contact Portland's CSI team and check with them first. I want you there asap."
Sara nodded and left the room. From the office Catherine heard Sara's voice.
"Hey Nick! Pack your bags we're off to Portland!"
"Portland Maine!!!"
Nick exclaimed.
"Of course Maine – where else!"
"Damn!"
Catherine smiled to herself. They needed to get out of the building for a while, needed some time away. So did she for that matter. She decided she'd finish her paperwork, then she'd stay at home all day after her shift instead of coming in like she had been for the past week, pestering Ecklie and his team.
Well? Comments? Questions? Criticisms? I need them all. (Although I certainly prefer comments ;-) )