Healing and Beginnings Chapter 12

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Sara and Jim made there way to his office, but made a stop off at the locker room so that Sara could a picture of Molly she had taken at the Zoo. They would need it for the Amber Alert. Jim opened his office door and let Sara walk through, and followed closing the door.

"Sara, I know this comes to you as a shock, how are you going to handle this?" Jim asked as he took a seat.

Sara just looked at him trying to gather her thoughts. "If you are asking if I am going to run out and get drunk the answer is NO. I just want to find Molly. Can we get to work now?"

Jim ran the picture of Molly and placed the Amber alert out nationwide. He then put the APB out on Rich. It was unlikely they got far, but until the scene was analyzed, Jim was skeptical on the outcome.

When Grissom and team walked up the crime scene they were faced with two young cops who were clearly shaken at what they faced inside. When they were almost at the door, Detective Vartan was on his way out. He stopped when he saw who was approaching.

Vartan's eye's met with Grissom as he began to speak. "Guys, be prepared before you go in there. There is so much blood, although by the looks at the wounds on the victim, I doubt she was alive when she had her throat slashed. The cut is almost through and through. Someone really must have hated her."

Catherine looked at Grissom as listed to the detective. He was clearly shaken which was visible by the veins protruding from his neck and the grinding of his teeth.

"Alex, do you have any sign of a child in there?" His face was all business as he spoke.

Vartan clearly looked confused and wasn't aware a child lived in the residence. "There is no evidence that I can see of any other person in there. Quite frankly, I cannot imagine a child living in there."

Not knowing fully what he meant, Grissom, Catherine and Warrick proceeded into the house. The house was a gorgeous house, filled with beautiful antiques, although with the current state of the house it was hard to tell. Tables were turned upside down, there were vases and broken pictures everywhere, and there was blood, lots of blood.

The group silently looked. It is not that they hadn't seen this before, but they all were fully aware of the connection the victim had to Sara. They continued there walk through and found an obvious area of struggle. There was blood splatter on the wall and shared glass on the floor. The splatter had an obvious void in it, but they couldn't tell what it was. Grissom informed Catherine that she needed to analyze the blood ASAP. The remainder of the group continued the walk through.

When they reached the body they were all visible shaken. It was hard to tell that the body that lay before them was human, no less a beautiful woman. It was hard to tell what new injuries were and what were old. The purple and blue hues that covered her body were enough to make Grissom cringe.

"David, are you done here?" Grissom asked without taking his eyes off the victim.

"Yes Sir." David spoke and then exited quickly.

Grissom knelt down and began to look at the body. It was a full five minutes of examination before he spoke again. "I can't even begin to think which of these injuries actually caused her death. By the looks at the bat over there, she took several blows to her head and back." He then reached down to pick something off the ground.

Warrick asked "What is that Griss?"

He didn't flinch; he just examined the object he found on the floor. He turned to Warrick and asked for an evidence bag and proceeded to place the tooth in the bag. Grissom knelt back down and opened her mouth. "Warrick, see if you can find the other 3 teeth she is missing."

Before he could answer, Grissom walked out of the house. By the look on his face, no one said a word. They knew when Grissom had that look, stay away. It was exactly that when the young police officers who were guarding the scene did when they witnessed Grissom violently losing his lunch on the side of the house.

When Grissom walked backed to the house Catherine was waiting at the door. "You ok Gil?"

He nodded. They both turned when they saw Brass and Sara drive up to the scene.

"Gil, do you think it's a good idea for Sara to be here?" Catherine's concern was evident as she spoke.

Grissom closed his eyes, "No - . But If I try and stop her, it will make it worse."

Sara and Brass walked over to meet Grissom and Brass. "Jim, did you get the APB out?" Grissom asked.

"Yes, all out. Amber alert is activated in Vegas and surrounding area's."

Grissom tried to make eye contact with Sara, who eyes were looking into the house. She turned and looked to Catherine. "Tell me about our Vic." Sara asked almost robotically.

The way she said "Vic" almost suggested she was referring to a stranger, not someone she knew. This worried Grissom as he couldn't get a handle on how she was feeling.

Catherine knew that she needed to step up here, as it was apparent that both Grissom and Sara where struggling their own demons here.

"Gil, come look at this splatter again." Catherine spoke to Grissom, but they all followed. She started to explain the void. "Do you see how the blood forms an arch? She was probably on her knees when she got hit, maybe bending down." She continued to study the blood. "Wait," she bent down to see the lower part of the wall. "There looks to be 2 voids, almost on top of each other."

"Oh God-"Catherine spoke, but her voice was beginning to crack. "Don't you see she was a Mom."

They all looked at her with confusion.

Catherine closed her eyes and began to speak. "Maybe he was going after Molly. This void shows me that the Vic was hunched over, probably protecting her child. She loved her daughter, every Mother would sacrifice anything for their child, even if it meant with their life."

That statement was all she needed, Sara ran from the house. She couldn't bear to hear what happened to Miranda, and she couldn't think that Molly was hurt.

Grissom looked as if he was going to follow Sara out, but Nick stopped him. "Griss, give her a minute. You know how Sara is, she needs to blow off some steam, and she will be back in."

Grissom nodded, and continued his business. He turned to Brass. "Take a piece of clothing from Molly's room, and order in the blood hounds. I want to make sure he didn't leave her somewhere."

Brass turned and gave the orders into his walkie talkie. He looked back at Gil. "Gil, don't get your hopes up. You know what happens in most of these situations."

Grissom's eyes looked raged. He approached Jim and took him by the shirt collars. "Look, we have no evidence that Molly is hurt. We only are positive she isn't here. Do your job and find her." He finished speaking and let Jim go.

The house was silent and no one dared to speak. They finished collecting evidence and they were ready to leave. David took the body back to the lab for further examination. Brass had Nick running with the blood hounds, and Catherine and Warrick brought the evidence back to the lab, leaving only Grissom and Sara

Grissom sought out Sara and found her sitting outside on the porch. She had her legs tucked up to her chest and her head down. He sat down next to her and put his hand on her leg. The touch made Sara jump, and her eyes shot daggers at him.

"Sara, this is not your fault. It's the system, we've seen this so many times," he paused, "Will you look at me, please?" He said while trying to pull Sara into his arms, but her tense body was not welcoming him.

Sara slowly lifted her head and looked at the man before her. The man, whom she has loved, hated, desired and now needed, and the thought was frightening to her. "We need to get out there, and find her. I owe it to her. She needed me and I wasn't there Griss, how can I live with that?"

"Sara, please.-" but he was cut off before he could finish. Sara jumped and walked towards the truck.

Grissom decided giving her space right now was probably best, so joined her in the truck and they headed off to the lab. Before walking into the doors Grissom stopped her. "Sara, you cannot handle any evidence, you know that right? For that matter, I shouldn't either we are too close to her. We can help to find Rich and Molly, so why don't we work with Jim and follow leads, ok?"

Expecting a fight, he was surprised when she agreed. "I'll meet you at Jim's; I just need to go to my locker." Her tone was emotion-less, and it frightened Grissom. He was waiting for her to blow, and he hoped would be there for her.

They met up in Jim's office 20 minutes later. "Gil, Sara, sit down." Brass looked as tired as he felt.

"What do you have for us Jim?"

"Right now we have to sit and wait. We have done all we can do. We have all his credit cards and bank accounts being monitored. If he uses anything, we will find him. He didn't use take his car, and your boys found his wallet, so it's only a matter of time, we'll find them." As Brass finished, his cell phone rang."

Jim flipped open his phone, "Brass."

When he finished he turned to Grissom and Sara. "I've got to go, a break in another case. If anything comes in, I'll page you immediately." He barely finished as he walked out the door leaving the two CSI's seated in his office, alone.

The two sat there I silence, and it was Sara who broke the silence. "I just feel so helpless Griss. I mean I know deep down it probably wouldn't have mattered if she was home", but the 'what if' was enough to drive her right back to the bottle.

Grissom couldn't take it anymore, he pulled Sara into him. He needed her as much as she him right now. He kept his face buried in her hair and stroked her hair. "It will be ok Sara, please let me help you." He said it over and over again as they held each other in Jim's office, it was becoming his mantra.

He felt her finally relax, and pulled back to see her. Her face was riddled with tears, but her crying had subsided. "I'm sorry Grissom, for before. It's just –" she stopped and put her head down again.

"Griss, for the past 3 years my life had been in a tail spin. The lab explosion, the promotion, the DWI and then I finally take a break, and I'm finally putting the pieces back together. I'm not drinking, I'm moving ahead at work, I found my diversion, and I found you. Every time I take 2 steps forward, I get blown back a mile. I feel like I can never get ahead." She paused, trying to get the energy to continue.

"I met Molly, and it has been wonderful. I have something to look forward to and I feel like I've given her some joy too, and now this. If something happens to her I truly don't know if I can handle it Griss."

"Sara, the difference is now I'll be there with you, every step of the way. You know that don't you? I am done running, what happens to you happens to both of us. Sara, I love you, good times and bad. Let me help you Sara, please." Grissom's words were barely more than a whisper, but he hoped they were loud and clear in her mind.

Before he could answer Brass was back at the door.

"Grab your kits, we have a lead." He didn't miss a beat as he picked up his coat and the three of them walked to the door.

"Jim, what do you have?" Grissom needed to be prepared on where they were going.

"There was a possible sighting at a hotel outside of town. Other guests heard some struggle so the hotel manager tried to calm them down, but when he got to the room the guy was gone, but the room was trashed. That is all I have."

They drove in silence for a half hour and arrived at the hotel. They spoke to the manager and he briefed them on what he knew. Sara took the photos of Rich and Molly and showed them to the witnesses who had seen them. They agreed it was who they had seen, and for the first time all night Sara had hope. That is until she walked into the hotel room. The site before her frightened her to the core. Every piece of furniture was turned up-side-down. It was ransacked, and there was no site of two they were looking for.

Grissom felt he needed to remind Sara to not touch anything, but when he looked at her, she stood there paralyzed, he knew it wasn't necessary. He walked over to her and rubbed his hand along her arm in an attempt to sooth her.

No words were needed; she could feel the strength of his fingers on her arm. She closed her eyes and tried to get her thoughts straight, and then it hit her, she remember what Molly told her she did when her parents fought. Sara quickly ran through the room to find the closet. She found it and stood outside waiting for Grissom to catch up to her.

"What is it Sara?" He asked showing his concern.

"Molly told me when her parents would fight her Mom would make her a bed in the closet so that he wouldn't find her," she paused, "Please open this Griss."

Grissom slowly opened the door and the silence was broken when Sara exclaimed, "MOLLY?"

TBC

Be kind, please review! Sorry about the cliffhanger, it was a logical place to cut the chapter.

The remaining 2 chapters are written, and being reviewed.