Chapter 15

Grissom was once again in Alex's hospital room. Before entering, he noted the gentleman in a suit sitting outside her room and wondered about his purpose. He didn't give it too much thought, however, he was more concerned with Alex's well being.

They exchanged pleasantries but Alex could sense Grissom had something on his mind, but she wasn't sure what it was. After a few more minutes of mindless chatter, she decided to ask.

"You seem distracted," she started. "Do you have something on your mind?"

Grissom hesitated. She'd been through so much in the last couple days; he didn't want to put more on her. He knew, ultimately, that he had to tell her. "It's about Special Agent Thompson," he started.

Grissom saw the anger flashed in Alex's eyes. Before he could continue, she said, "He's missing."

Grissom was a little surprised that she knew this. Apparently, the surprise was showing on his face, because she started to give an explanation.

"Some agents were here today," she said. Grissom motioned to the gentleman sitting outside her room with his head. Alex nodded and continued, "They told me he was missing. They wanted to know what I might know about it."

"What do you know about it?" he asked.

She sighed and tears started to well up in her eyes. "More than I want to," she shakily responded.

After a pause, she continued, "Thompson is the one who got word to Martin about where I was. Apparently, Martin had been blackmailing Thompson and part of the pay off was my location."

Grissom didn't know about the blackmail and was astonished to hear of it. He was just starting to get an inkling that Sara's friends at the FBI didn't know the whole story. And he was starting to realize that Alex's captivity was enlightening to her.

"Martin told you?" Grissom guessed.

She nodded. "Martin told me a lot in between beatings." Her eyes started to fill with tears again.

Grissom was still new to the business of being a father, but tried his best. He placed his hand on hers, attempting to comfort her.

After regaining her composure, she spoke again. "Martin told me," she stopped. It was almost too much for her to say. "Martin told me that Thompson is the one who killed my grandmother and framed him. His alibi wasn't lying."

Grissom wasn't sure what to say. "Why?" was the only word he could find.

"I'm guessing you've done some research on your own?" she asked. Grissom just nodded and she continued, "You know about Thompson's daughter?" Again, Grissom nodded.

"Thompson blamed me for Martin getting to his daughter and was so angry he couldn't convince his daughter to press charges that he decided to get back at both of us," she explained. Plus, she thought, Thompson was still upset that I spurned his advances.

"Your punishment was the death of your grandmother. Martin's was supposed to be his life sentence for her murder," Grissom stated.

Alex nodded. "And Martin had evidence to prove that Thompson did it and was blackmailing him," Alex finished her explanation.

"And now Thompson is running scared, figuring that Martin told you where the evidence is. He never planned on you surviving," Grissom observed.

Alex nodded again. "Well, he was wrong about me, but right about Martin. Now the Bureau knows too. All they have to do is find him." He just better hope the Bureau finds him first, she thought to herself. "But until they do," Alex mimicked Grissom and motioned to the guy outside her door with her head. "Security."

"They aren't very good," Grissom mentioned. "He didn't even ask me for ID."

Alex laughed. "You aren't that oblivious, are you?" she asked.

"What?" Grissom didn't know what she was implying.

"There isn't an agent between here and Quantico who doesn't know who you are," she enlightened him.

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Greg was counting the hours till he visited Alex. He had planned what he was going to say. He planned what he was going to wear; a black button-down, his favorite shirt that he actually ironed, and black jeans. He wanted everything to be perfect. Now, if I could only speed up time, he thought and then got back to work—or at least tried.