Nick looked up when Warrick walked in. "Hey. How did it go?"
"Brass let Grissom do the interview. It was really hard." Warrick ran a hand through his hair. "Both for her to do it, and for us to hear it."
"I do have some good news," Nick told him.
"What?"
"Found the tread. Size 9 boot. Standard brand, one that most guys wear. But it did have some weird marking on the tread, so when we find the guy, we should be able to match the tread."
Warrick smiled. "Great! Any idea how Sara is coming along?"
"Sara has come along just fine," Sara replied, appearing at the doorway. "Swiss Army Knife."
Greg appeared in the room. "I've been thinking."
"That has me worried already," Sara teased.
Greg rolled his eyes. "Thankyou. What I meant was, has anyone found the drug dealer that Officer Clearwater was talking to?" He handed over some paper. "Because I did some research."
Warrick scanned the paper. "Officer Clearwater and his partner have been with Catherine at a crime scene for the past seven of her cases?"
"And then for the past twelve before that, it's been either him or his partner, Office Stan Graves."
"We need to find that drug dealer," Nick said. "He's the connection."
"And this means that Ray had to know what was going on," Sara commented.
Gil unlocked the door to Catherine's house and followed her in.
"So, are you hungry? Can I make you something? Or…"
"I'm really tired. I think I'll just go to bed."
Gil watched her go upstairs to her room. He followed her, albeit a far way back, and so was surprised when he saw the bedroom door shut. Before he could follow her in, the phone rang.
"Hello?" he said, after he made his way downstairs to pick it up.
"Hello, Gil."
"Nancy, hi. How's Lindsey?"
"She's good. She misses her mom, and is worried about her, but she's doing okay. How's Cath?"
Gil sighed. "She's…she's different. Physically, her injuries are starting to heal."
"But emotionally and mentally?"
"She's afraid of men. The only person she really allows near her is me. She isn't eating as well as she should, and she's always tired."
"Lindsey wants to see her."
Gil nodded. "I know. And I'm trying to talk her into it. I think being around Lindsey might help her. But at the moment…I don't know."
"Do you want to talk to Lindsey? Maybe if you tell her that her mother is doing okay, she might start to worry a little less."
"Sure. Put her on."
"Uncle Gil?"
"Hi, Lindsey."
"How's Mom?"
"She's doing fine. She's a bit tired, but I'm taking real good care of her, I promise."
"Why can't I see her?"
"Well, you know how when you had the chicken pox, you didn't want to go out in case other kids saw you all spotty?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, it's kind of like that with your mom.
"Oh." Lindsey thought for a moment. "Can I talk to her on the phone? I really miss her Uncle Gil."
"I know, Lindsey. Hold on for a moment and I'll go see, okay?"
"Okay."
Gil put the phone down and made his way upstairs. He knocked on Catherine's door. "Cath? Lindsey's on the phone. She'd really like to say hi."
There was silence for a moment and Gil wondered if she had gone to sleep. Finally, he heard movement and the door opened.
"The phone downstairs?"
Gil nodded. "I'll bring it up for you."
He soon returned with the phone, handing it over to her.
"Thank you," Catherine replied. She left the door open. Her eyes strayed to Gil's for a moment, before she went and sat down on the bed.
Gil took a deep breath and followed her into the room, sitting down on the chair in the corner.
"Hello?"
"Mommy!"
"Hey, baby."
Gil watched the first smile appear on Catherine's face in what seemed like years.
"I miss you so much, mommy."
Catherine took a deep breath, trying not to cry. "I miss you too, baby."
"Uncle Gil says that you don't want to see anyone cause it's kind of like it was when I had the chicken pox and I didn't want anyone to see me when I was all spotty."
Catherine looked up at Gil, who wondered desperately what they were saying.
"It's…yeah, it's sort of like that, Linds. But I promise I'm trying real hard to get back to normal again."
"I want to come home, Mommy."
"I…" Catherine sniffed up the tears. "Sweetheart, Mommy isn't really herself at the moment. But I'm trying really hard and hopefully you can come home really soon." She looked up desperately at Gil, who came over and sat beside. "I'm going to put you back onto Uncle Gil now, okay? I love you so much, Lindsey."
"Lindsey?"
"It's Nancy."
Gil took a deep breath. "Is Lindsey okay?"
"She's upset. She misses her mother."
"So do I," Gil murmured. "I…I'll call you soon, Nancy."
"Just find the guy who did this."
"I will," Gil promised.
After he hung up, he glanced at Catherine. "Cath?"
"She wants to come home."
"She loves you."
"She loves her mother, not some scared, pathetic woman."
"Catherine, you are not pathetic. Sure, you're scared, but look what you've been through! You've been so strong in this so far. I'm so proud of you. We'll get through this. I promise. And Lindsey will be back here before you know it."
"Thank you."
Gil looked at her. "What for?"
"For all this. For taking care of me."
Gil's eyes widened and he took her hand, squeezing it. "Catherine, I'd do anything for you. Never, ever forget that."
She looked up at him, a small smile threatening to break through. "I'd do anything for you too, Gil."
Gil hugged her. "It's all going to be okay, Cath."
"I hope so," came the small reply.
Officer Ray Clearwater watched Warrick and Nick with scared eyes.
"You know why you're here, don't you, Ray?" Nick asked him.
"Why?"
"We want to know who you were buying the drugs from. We want the names of everyone who was there that night and of everyone who you've ever had contact with," Warrick stated.
Ray shook his head. "No way, man. You know what drug guys are like."
"We're starting to get a picture of it," Warrick replied. "And I'm not your man."
"Look, I can't give you names. They'd kill me!"
"They almost killed CSI Willows. One of them raped her. We want names."
"I can't."
"If they go after her again…it's on your head," Nick promised him.
Ray sighed. "You got some paper?"
Warrick slid some across the table. Ray picked up the pen and began writing.
When he pushed the paper back across the table, one named leaped out at Nick and Warrick.
Dale Graves.