He quickly released Catherine and closed the passenger door. Warrick hurried to the driver's side when his cell phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his shirt and glanced at it. Tina. He sent the call to voicemail as soon as he made out the name.
Catherine watched him cross over the front of the vehicle. His words echoed in her mind and provided just a tad of comfort. She believed Warrick meant every word and that brought her some solace. He climbed in and began to drive off as his phone chirped, signaling that he had voicemail.
"Call Greg and see what direction we should be heading. If he doesn't know, then lets pay good ol' Sam Braun a visit. –Desperate times call for desperate measures," Catherine said stoically.
Her armor had returned. As Warrick dialed Greg, Catherine's cell rang. Warrick proceeded to obtain info from Greg while Catherine was getting info from Brass. The tracks placed the vehicle heading south, away from the Vegas strip. Warrick pulled over to the side of the road. Brass informed Catherine that the tag Ms. Rosen recalled matched the Buick model. He told Cath the address and that he was on his way with some uniforms. Warrick understood the conversation from Catherine's end.
"Greg says the tracks are heading away from the strip. Brass is already on his way to the address which is toward the strip, why don't we see if we come across the vehicle in the opposite direction?"
"Yeah, I'll call Brass and ask him to call me if he turns up anything. Let's find this bastard," Catherine answered enigmatically.
Warrick turned his truck around and headed off in the direction the tracks went. He glanced over at Catherine. She was stiff as a board. She was riddled with anxiety and filled with tension. As he drove, he noticed how white his knuckles were. He had a death grip on the steering wheel. He shared Cath's tension and anxiety.
He turned on the radio in attempts to ease some tension. Murderous thoughts ravaged his mind. He knew Catherine most likely was entertaining the same thoughts. An upbeat Motown oldie was playing. Warrick changed stations; it was more of an annoyance than a distraction. The next station had some disk jockey introducing "Now and Forever" by Richard Marx. Warrick didn't recognize the song and proceeded to the next station when Catherine shot up.
"Put it back! That song came out when Lindsey was born. I used to sing it to her all the time when she was a baby...,"she cried out.
The song was back before Catherine completed her thought.
"I just always replaced man with mom" she muttered, her voice filled with misery.
Warrick was clueless. He decided to listen to the song. A somber guitar solo started to play before a voice began to sing…
Whenever I'm weary
From the battles that rage in my head
You made sense of madness
When my sanity hangs by a thread
I lose my way, but still you
Seem to understand
Now & forever,
I will be your man
Catherine wrapped her arms around herself and stared out the window. Warrick could picture her holding her infant daughter. The song was haunting. If it was possible to see a mother's love, he thought he was doing just that.
Sometimes I just hold you
Too caught up in me to see
I'm holding a fortune
That heaven has given to me
I'll try to show you
Each and every way I can
Now & forever,
I will be your man
Now I can rest my worries
And always be sure
That I won't be alone, anymore
If I'd only known you were there
All the time,
All this time. . .
Tears streamed down her cheeks but they didn't stop her search for the vehicle in question. Catherine's mind scanned through all her memories of her daughter….
Lindsey was the only thing right in her world. The constant that had kept her going so many times she wanted to give up. From the day she was born, Catherine felt a peace she never had before in life. A peace that she continued to have every time she saw her daughter sleeping. Every time Lindsey laughed. Every time Lindsey told her she loved her. Her daughter gave her unconditional love; something Catherine had sought her whole life for. Even with the problems they started having as Lindsey became a pre-teen, Catherine would take the worst days every day for the rest of her life than not have Lindsey in her life.
Until the day the ocean
Doesn't touch the sand
Now & forever
I will be your man
Now & forever
I will be your man
She never broke her gaze. Not even to see how the tears flooded from Warrick's own eyes. Tears she wasn't meant to see… Or her eyes would not have spotted a dark late model Buick out off the main road.