The Wedding Planner
June 21st, 2004
It didn't surprise them at all. From the beginning Catherine hadn't been a big fan of Jenna and now she knew why.
"Hey guys?" Greg poked his head through the door, locking eyes with each one before continuing. "Nick asked me to run a background check on the sister. It seems that Miss Jenna Kyriacos doesn't exist any more."
"What?" Catherine asked.
"She got married two months ago."
"To?" Grissom asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Michael Cabot." Catherine raised an eyebrow, mirroring Grissom. She knew that name; she'd heard that name before.
"Before you even ask, I ran a background check. It seems that our dear Mr. Cabot works for the catering company that the happy couple hired for the reception."
That's where I know him. Catherine thought, flashing back to the oily man that handed her the reception seating. "I didn't like him at all."
"You've met him?" Nick asked, surprised.
"Briefly. He handed me the seating arrangements for the reception. I didn't like him," Catherine replied. Nick shook his head slightly.
"You really need to trust your gut more often Cath," he quipped. Catherine smiled.
"I'll call Brass. Now we have two friends to pick up."
-
June 22nd, 2004
There was only one case in Catherine's mind that rivalled this one. The brutal abuse and murder case they'd completed just over six months ago had had all of the team up in arms and some of them in the hospital. It was how Sara had ended up with a little girl of her own. This one was a little different. This one gave her nightmares.
That explained why she was still awake.
She and Grissom had curled up together more than two hours ago and yet she found herself battling the sleep that was beginning to weigh down her eyelids.
"Catherine? Have you slept at all?" Gil's voice broke through the fog of her fears. She looked up into his half-lidded eyes. She opened her mouth to lie and had to close it again. She was never able to lie to him, not since before the Lopez case.
"No." He wrapped his arms tighter around her, pulling Catherine snugly against him.
"Honey, that won't happen to you. You and I are going to get married in two weeks and by that time, this will be a bad dream," he said, his voice pleasantly clogged with sleep but oddly reassuring. Catherine found herself shivering involuntarily.
"I see Candace, Sharon and Seth every time I close my eyes, Gil." To her outrage, a tear slipped past her defences and down her cheek.
"Sweetheart, I'm still here and you saw Lindsey off to school three hours ago," he said soothingly, rubbing his hand up and down her back as she began to cry.
"Cath? Do you want off the case?" he whispered in her ear. Catherine didn't reply.
"Maybe it's best honey." Catherine shook her head.
"Catherine…"
"No. And we still need to find Livvie," she managed through her sobs.
"Honey, you're getting emotional…"
"I can do my job, Gil," she answered stubbornly, turning red-rimmed eyes up at him. He gave up trying to convince her otherwise. Instead, he rubbed her back until she fell asleep.
-
Catherine found herself with a splitting headache when she and Grissom walked into the lab the next morning, having been out on a different open-and-shut case. They split, Catherine heading to pick up the evidence to Livvie's kidnapping and Grissom to Brass who had rounded up both Jenna and Michael Cabot.
Catherine searched the pictures carefully for something even the slightest bit out of the ordinary. She was interrupted when her phone began to ring.
"Willows," she answered curtly, shuffling through pictures.
"It's Sara. Greg's background check gave us and address and you'll never guess what we found." Catherine's heart soared. She couldn't find her words.
"Livvie's here, Cath."
"Is she okay? Is she hurt at all?"
"She's fin, just a little shaken, but Cath, there's more than that. They were in something a little deeper. Looks like Sharon and Jenna were busy with things other than their actual jobs." Catherine held the phone between her shoulder and ear, still shuffling the pictures around.
"Okay, I'll be over soon." They said their goodbyes and Catherine hung up. Leaving a message on Grissom's phone, she left for the Cabot's.
This is yet another of my favourite set up chapters. Look forward to chapter ten. It promises to be an explosive chapter!
Kavi Leighanna