SPOILERS: None.
A/N: I really appreciate everyone's reviews and suggestions. I will try and incorporate them as best I can. Just a few more chapters to go...
"That took awhile. Did you find the number?" Dylan asked as Sara re-entered the living room.
"Yes I did. I also found this." Sara threw the plane ticket onto Dylan's newspaper and it slid onto his lap. At that moment Sara's mother walked into the living room. She didn't know what was happening but sensed the tension.
"What's going on?" Diana looked first at Sara and then at Dylan.
"I found Dylan's plane ticket in his room." Sara turned her attention back to her brother. "You got here last Sunday, not yesterday like you said. Why did you lie to me?"
Dylan sighed and looked at his mother. Diana spoke first. "I told you we should just tell her the truth. She's investigates crimes for living for goodness sake, she would have figured it out!"
"No, I told you I don't want Sara put in that position. Mom, we spent four days arguing about this. She doesn't need to know, it's better this way." Dylan jumped out of his chair and started pacing the floor.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here! What the hell is going on? Dylan, WHAT HAPPENED?" Sara grabbed Dylan's arm and turned him towards her.
Finally, Dylan sat, defeated and held his head in his hands. Diana sank onto the couch and tears began to quietly make trails down her cheeks.
Sara's heart was racing as her only sibling began his confession.
"As you now know, I arrived on Sunday around noon. I had a conference in San Francisco that started Monday. I called mom and she insisted that since I was so close I should stay one night here. When I got here dad actually seemed pleased to see me, I think because it had been so long since we'd been together. Anyway, we managed some small talk and mom made us an early dinner. Afterwards Dad wanted to go for a walk down by the cove and asked me to go with him. So I did.He didn't say much until we reached the top of the trail. The he started bringing up the past. I told him I didn't want to talk about it but he just kept insisting. The more he insisted, the angrier I got. He was actually trying to apologize, in his own way I guess. I just felt it was too little, way too late. Before I knew it we were arguing and he accused me of being unreasonable and unforgiving. I think maybe part of me was afraid that he was accusing me of becoming like him. I just got so mad, and then he started to walk away." Dylan stopped and wiped his eyes. "I was so tired of his excuses and accusations. It didn't matter to me if he was sincerely sorry because who knows if he's ever sincere."
"That's not fair Dylan." Diana interjected.
"And then what happened?" Sara asked quietly.
"I pushed him. He tried to walk past me and I pushed him back. I didn't realize how close we were to edge and he was unsteady on his feet. By the time I noticed he was slipping it was too late. I reached for him but I couldn't –" Dylan stopped then and just shook his head.
No one said anything for at least five minutes. They all just sat, consumed by their own thoughts and feelings.
Finally Sara looked up at her brother. "So you planned to let everyone think it was an accident. You came back here and talked it over with mom. Then the two of you decided to just leave him there, in the cove, until someone else found him?"
"I had just lost my husband Sara, I wasn't about to lose my son." Diana's eyes pleaded with Sara to understand her decision.
"I just can't believe you weren't even going to tell me the truth, how could you think I wouldn't figure it out?"
"I didn't want you to have to choose between me and your obligations because of your job. I hated that you would be put in that position." Dylan reached for his sister's hand and squeezed it gently.
"The funeral is the day after tomorrow and then you can both go back to your lives. It was an accident. Sending Dylan to prison won't change the fact that your father is dead. I couldn't bear it Sara, please think about it. We are your family, nothing is more important than that."
"I need some time to think, on my own." Sara stood and quickly retreated to her room up the stairs.
Sara sat on the bed and let the tears flow. She loved her brother and she felt she owed him for the years that he had protected her from their father. How could she turn him in now? How could she fault him for what he did, especially since it was an accident? He was responsible for their father's death and it could mean prison time, even if he got a plea. It would ruin him, his career, and his life. It was burden that Sara did not feel she could bear. I need help.
The numbers on Sara's phone blurred together as she tried to dial. She had opened the floodgates and could not close them.
Grissom was half asleep when his phone began to ring. Startled, he nearly knocked the receiver on the floor.
"Grissom."
"Gris, it's me."
"Sara? What's wrong?" Grissom could tell Sara was crying and his heart leapt into his throat.
"I need your help. Everything has just gone so wrong. I don't know what to do."
"Sara, what do you mean, what's gone wrong?"
"I can't talk about it on the phone. It's too important."
Grissom sat on the edge of his bed holding the phone with one hand and pinching the bridge of his nose with his other. He was confused.
"Gris, I don't know what to do", Sara repeated. "I'm – lost."
Grissom was unexpectedly hit with the desperation in Sara's voice. Something was terribly wrong. "Is your parents address in your personnel file?"
Sara was momentarily bewildered by Grissom's question. "Uh, yeah I think so."
"I'll be there tomorrow."
TBC