Chapter 5
"Catherine? What are you doing here already?" Sara stared at the older woman.
"I could ask you the same thing," Catherine said. "What are you doing here with Lindsey? Why is she here?" She turned around, seeing Jason's father standing there. "Kevin? What's going on?"
"Wait, you know him?" Sara exchanged a worried look with Greg, she started to feel sick as she understood why Lindsey didn't want to tell her mother anything.
"Catherine, is Kevin your boyfriend?"
"Yes, he is, now what's going on here? Why is he here? And why is Jason here? And Lindsey?"
Sara hugged Lindsey, the girl was in tears again. "Linds, tell her!"
"I can't, Sara, I can't!"
"You can, honey, tell her now!"
Catherine took Lindsey from Sara. "Sweetheart, why are you here? And why are you crying?"
"Jason raped me!"
Catherine fell silent. She stared from Lindsey to Sara and back to Kevin.
"She hates me for being with you and now she's making up such a story," Kevin said. "Unbelievable!"
Catherine stood up straight. "I know my daughter a lot better than you, Kevin. I know she can be a trouble sometimes, but she's not the kind of girl to make up such a story!" She hugged her daughter. "It's okay, sweetie, I'm here now. It's okay, I love you, sweetheart!"
"I love you, too, mommy, please believe me! I didn't make it up!"
"I know you didn't, sweetie, I know you didn't. Oh my god, you poor thing!" Sara saw Catherine's face wince with pain as she thought of everything her little girl had gone through. She stepped back to allow Catherine to comfort her daughter and to watch Greg confronting Jason with the evidence. He tried to deny it at first, but he finally confessed he did it. Hearing this, Catherine wanted to storm into the interview room, but Sara quickly stopped her.
"I already slapped him, Cath, I think that's enough."
Catherine turned to Lindsey again. "Why didn't you come to me right away? Why go to Sara?"
"You wouldn't believe me, you'd be mad at me, I know you're always mad at me for what I do," Lindsey sobbed.
"Lindsey, that's not true, sweetheart, how could you think I'd be mad at you? Sweetie, I love you more than anything else in this world and of course I'd believe you! For goodness, Linds, I'm a CSI like Sara, you could have known I'd believe you! Come here now!" She hugged her daughter and kissed her. "I'll take you home and I'm staying with you tonight." She looked at Kevin. "If I ever see you or your son near my girl again, I'll make sure I'll get a court injunction against both of you! Come on, Linds, we're going home." She left with her daughter. Kevin turned to Sara. "Did he really do it?"
"Yes. We have plenty of evidence."
Kevin shook his head. "I never thought he'd actually do this."
He left the room just as Greg joined Sara. "We've got him, Sar."
"Yes, I know," Sara sighed. "He'll get out of jail in a few years time while Lindsey will have to deal with this her entire life. It just isn't fair." Greg pulled her into a hug. "I know, Sar, I know, it isn't fair. But we've done everything we can."
"I know, but I still don't feel any better."
"Honey, what you did for that girl is incredible, you should be proud of yourself."
Sara looked directly at him. "I can't."
An hour later Sara felt like company again. She went to the break room where Grissom and Greg were drinking coffee.
"Hey," Greg softly said. "You okay again?"
Sara nodded. "Yes, I think so."
"You two did a good job," Grissom said.
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier about the case," Greg said. "Lindsey was…"
"It's okay, Greg, you did the right thing for her," Grissom interrupted him. "I'm proud of both of you."
"Really?" Greg stared at his supervisor. Grissom smiled. "Yes, Greg. I am. Thanks to the two of you, Lindsey may get some sleep again tonight."
Sara felt too tired to mention Catherine, she fell down in a chair and closed her eyes.
"She's going to be okay again, Sara, she's a tough kid," Grissom said. "It's not something she'll ever be able to forget, but thanks to you, she'll be able to deal with it one day."
Greg pulled Sara out of her chair. "Come on, I'm taking you home."
"Greg, don't…"
"Sara, I'm only trying to be a good friend," Greg honestly said. "I promise I won't do anything silly, okay?"
Sara felt relieved when her mouth formed a smile. "Okay then, let's go."
A few weeks later, Catherine brought Lindsey to the police department. Lindsey immediately hugged Sara when she saw her. "Sara, I don't know how I'll ever thank you," Catherine said. "I'm sorry if I acted a little weird when I first heard everything."
"It's okay, Cath, she's your daughter," Sara said. She looked at Lindsey, who was still hugging her. "Don't worry, Linds, you're okay now."
"I know, Sara," Lindsey softly said. "Thank you for helping me through it all."
Sara hugged her. "I'll always be there for you, Linds, just so you know!"
"I know, Sara, I know," Lindsey smiled. Sara felt good when she saw it.
"So, tell me, Sara, is there now really something going on between you and Greg?" Catherine asked. Sara smiled. "Cath, what do you think?"
"Ah, so it's true. Looks like we're going to attend a wedding soon, Linds!"
"Cath!"
Even Lindsey giggled. Like Grissom had said, she'd never forget what had happened to her, but at least she was now able to move on.
