Catherine dropped her keys onto the foyer table and shrugged her jacket off. She wandered into the loungeroom, and smiled when she saw her husband.
"Hey," she said, wandering over and sitting on his lap. "Miss me?"
Gil hugged her to him.
"Always. How was the
shopping mall?"
"Exhausting." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Where are the kids?"
"Lindsey is at a sleepover. Katie said she had to go out somewhere and she didn't know when she'd be back."
Catherine widened her eyes. "And that doesn't worry you?"
"Huh?"
Catherine whacked his shoulder. "What happens if she gets hurt again? What if one of her wounds gets infected? How are we going to find her? How can we look after her if we don't know where she is!?"
"She has a cell, Catherine. And she is eighteen years old," Gil reminded her. "And she wasn't really going to let me say no."
Catherine sighed. "I know. It's just…"
"I know you want to
protect her, Cath. But we
have to let her grow up."
Catherine looked at him. "Don't you get it, Gil? She's already grown up. And looking after her…"
"Is the last hold on her? You don't really believe that. She loves you, and wants to spend time with you." He kissed her forehead. "Don't worry." His hand rested on her abdomen. "How's our baby?"
"Still there," Catherine smiled, kissing him. "So, we have the whole house to ourselves?"
Gil nodded.
"Hmm. What are we going
to do with
ourselves?"
************************************
"I think we should call Jim," Catherine said, pacing up and down.
Gil looked at the clock. "I'm starting to agree with you."
"Starting? Gil, it's three in the morning! Where the hell is she?"
Just as Gil went to get the phone, they heard the door shut and Katie hanging up her jacket. When she walked into the lounge and saw her parents, she paled.
"Uh oh."
"That's right, uh oh! Where the hell have you been?" Catherine cried.
"I can explain."
"Good, let's hear it," Gil growled.
"I was with Greg."
"Doing?"
Katie folded her arms. "Talking. We both went through a lot and we just wanted to talk and be close to someone. So we talked and watched a movie. I lost track of time."
"Just next time, call and
tell us where you
are," Gil told her. "We were worried."
Katie nodded. "Okay. Night."
Catherine watched suspiciously as her daughter closed her bedroom door behind her.
"What?" Gil asked.
Catherine debated on telling him her suspicions, but decided against it. If she were wrong, Gil would kill Greg. If she were right, Gil would still kill Greg. "Nothing. I'm just tired. Let's get to bed."
************************************
Catherine watched her daughter gingerly put on the shirt in her room, being careful of the bruises that still littered her body.
"Let me help you with that," she murmured, helping Katie ease her arms into the shirt.
"Thanks," Katie replied gratefully.
"So, what movie did you watch with Greg?"
"Moulin Rouge."
"It wasn't on TV last
night."
"He got it out on DVD."
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?
You seem a little…off."
Catherine sat on the bed.
"I know."
"Know what?"
"About you and Greg."
Katie was silent for a moment. "So does everyone else. We're dating."
"That's not what I mean,
and you know it."
Katie bit her lip and sat down next to her on the bed. "Ah." She stared at her hands. "Does Dad know?"
"I think he prefers to
think that when it comes
to his daughters, sex does not exist." Catherine sighed. "I however,
know better. And believe it or not, I actually was in the same
situation myself
once."
"This is so embarrassing."
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Talking about sex with
your parents. It's
embarrassing."
Catherine smiled wryly.
"I used to take my clothes off for a living. It
takes a lot to make me blush."
Katie started to smile, but quickly sobered.
"Just don't hide from us, okay? You're my daughter and I love you. I don't want you to lie to me."
"Okay."
"So, was it good?"
"MOM!"
Catherine chuckled. "I'm just kidding." She hugged her daughter. "If you ever need or want to talk, I'm here."
***********************************************************
Catherine stood in front of the mirror in Gil's office and lifted her shirt a bit, smiling at the tiny bump that had started forming.
"You're beautiful."
She jumped and turned to see her husband leaning in the doorway, a seductive smile on his face.
"You startled me."
Gil closed the door
behind him and walked over to
her, taking her in his arms. "I love you, Cath."
She kissed him lightly. "Love you back."
There came a knock at the door and the couple reluctantly pulled apart. Gil opened the door.
"Hey Warrick."
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything…"
"Go ahead," Catherine smiled, sitting on the sofa.
"We were just talking to
Barry Leeward…again. He
admits to making the bomb and planting it in CSI, but said he did it
under
orders."
Catherine stood up again. "You mean there's someone else out there trying to kill Katie?"
Warrick sighed. "That's the problem. We told Barry about Katie and he says he doesn't know who she is. He had a different target."
"Who?" Gil asked.
"He said that the target was Catherine."
"I want to talk to him. Now," Gil ordered.
**********************************************************
Barry Leeward drummed his fingers on the table, sitting next to his lawyer, with Brass across from them. Catherine stood beside her husband as they looked through the mirror.
"I will never let anyone
hurt you,
Catherine," Gil murmured. "Especially not this idiot."
Catherine's eyes closed briefly. "I know that. I know you wouldn't." She was silent and Gil turned to her.
"This does not mean what
happened to Katie was
your fault."
She looked up at him.
"Where did you get the idea that I was thinking
about that?" She paused. "Not that I was."
He turned her to look at him. "It wasn't your fault, Cath. Don't think that."
Gil leant in to kiss her and then Warrick came in.
"I'm having really bad timing today," Warrick mumbled.
"Sorry," Catherine said,
stepping back. "I better go and check on some results." She squeezed
Gil's hand and left.
"I'm really sorry, Griss," Warrick said. "I honestly
didn't know
you two would be having a private moment."
"It's okay. I'm just a little worried about her. When Katie was in hospital, she kept saying how it was all her fault. I stopped her thinking it, but now I think she's back there again." He sighed. "Let's talk to Leeward."
********************************
"I was just doing what I was told, yeah? That's it," Barry replied.
"You were told to bomb the CSI headquarters, kill a man and almost kill hundreds?" Brass asked, blinking.
"Yeah. Paid to do it actually."
Gil's ears pricked up. "By who?"
Barry shrugged. "I don't know his name. Just told me to get Willows out of the way, because it was the best way to get to Braun."
Gil froze. "Sam Braun?"
"Yep. He was the dude my guy didn't like. So…what do I get for helping ya?"
****************************************