A/N: Wow. I have nothing witty or pithy to say. Besides I hate my family. But other than that, we'll just stick with the regular disclaimer that the only part of CSI I own are a couple CSI books. Also, I know that the police wouldn't ignore a missing persons call in real life, but for now let's just play pretend, mainly because it's an important part of the story. Anything in the name of GSR, right?
Chapter OneSara wrapped Nick in a bear hug the second she arrived at CSI the first night he was back.
"It's good to see you." She squeezed him. "I missed you."
Nick, stunned by Sara's uncharacteristic display of affection, hugged her back. "It's good to see you too, Sar."
She sat down on the couch between Nick and Warrick. "Assignments." Grissom breezed into the break room, carrying a cup of coffee. "Nick, Warrick, floater at Lake Mead. Greg, you're with Catherine…hey, where is Catherine anyway?"
"No clue." Greg shrugged. "So, what've we got?"
"Oh, uh, missing kid in Summerlin."
"Oh." Greg turned subdued. "I'll, uh, go find Catherine."
"Good. Sara, I need to see you in my office, please."
Sara cocked an eyebrow. At least he said please.
Sorry. Nick mouthed.
Sara shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Sure."
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"So, what did you need?" Sara dropped into a chair opposite Grissom.
"Do you remember Victor Thomason?"
"Vaguely." Sara brushed her hair back. "He taught Forensics 102, right?"
"Right. His daughter, Amy, went out to a part last Friday and didn't come home afterwards. He assumed she stayed overnight at her friend Tricia Malone's house. When she didn't come home on Saturday, he got worried."
"So, what can we do for Professor Thomason?"
"He wants us to work Amy's case. We'd officially be on vacation. But we've both got plenty stored up. So, what do you say?"
Sara quickly analyzed the pros and cons. Pros: Time with Grissom, Ecklie off my back about that vacation time, a way to help Grissom out… Cons: …none.
"I'll go." She decided.
"You will?"
Sara nodded. "I never had his class, but if it means this much to you, I'll do it."
"I'll call Victor."
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Sara finished unpacking just as there was a knock on her door. "Come in!" She called.
"Hey." Grissom poked his head through the connecting door. "Victor is waiting for us downstairs."
"Be right there." Sara stuffed her suitcase under the bed and followed Grissom to the lobby.
"Gil!" Victor Thomason was still handsome, even at fifty-three. His sandy blonde hair hadn't lost much of its color and his arms were still muscular, chest still well defined. Victor's eyes were a soft, velvety stone gray color, open and shining with warmth, versus Grissom's shadowed, ice-blue orbs. Thomason had four inches on Grissom, placing him squarely at 6'2".
"Victor." Grissom gripped Thomason's hand.
"And this lovely lady must be Sara."
Sara nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Professor Thomason." Sara, too, held out her hand.
"Nonsense. Please, call me Victor."
"Of course." Sara couldn't help but wonder at Thomason's near-exuberance. It didn't make sense for a man whose daughter had been kidnapped.
"How are Veronica and Spencer?" Grissom asked.
"Veronica's pretty broken up." Victor admitted, becoming somber again. "Spencer is, as usual, trying to pretend he's okay." His bubble demeanor returned. "Now, what is this about you staying in a hotel? I insist that you stay with me. I've got plenty of room."
"Victor, really, the hotel is fine." Grissom broke in.
"Absolutely not." Victor insisted. "I'll have Lucia get two rooms ready right now." He whipped out his cell phone.
"Lucia?" Grissom asked. As far as he was aware, Victor was completely single.
"The maid." Victor answered.
Isn't he a college professor? Sara sent Grissom a text message.
Wrote a book. Grissom replied. Huge seller. Also invested in Regent Forensics Supplies.
Sara nodded.
"Ah. Here we are. Gil, Sara, please come in." Victor led them into his sprawling estate. "I'd like you to meet my daughter, Veronica, and my son, Spencer."
"Nice to meet you." Veronica said politely.
Spencer eyed Sara, causing Lucia to lightly smack him on the back of the head. "Nice to meet you." He grumbled.
"Let's go to my office." Victor led Grissom and Sara down the hallway.
"Victor, why aren't the police involved?" Grissom asked, point-blank. "Why call us? We don't have a crime lab on hand."
"Actually, you do. The director for a local crime lab is a friend of mine. He said you could use their lab if you needed." He sighed. "Gil, you know as well as I do that city-run crime labs are understaffed and overworked. I need someone who can guarantee his full attention to Amy's case."
"Okay." Sara pulled a notebook out of her purse. "Tell me what happened the day Amy disappeared."
"Amy, Veronica, and Spencer got up. It was Amy's turn to drive to school, but Spencer wanted to drive because Amy had gone to the grocery store for me the night before, so she'd already gotten her turn. I told Spencer to quit being a bully and stop whining. It was his turn to drive on Monday. I dropped them off at Highland High School. Sometimes on Fridays Amy sleeps at her friend Tricia Malone's house. Usually she calls, but sometimes she forgets. I figured she'd forgotten. Amy's always yelling at me because she says I treat her like a child. Tells me she's sixteen and nearly grown up. Doesn't want me calling her, embarrassing her." Victor let out a sigh. "When Amy didn't show up Saturday night, I got worried. I called the police. They said that Amy had probably just run off for a few days. They said that Amy had probably just run off for a few days. They told me to wait twenty-four hours then call them back. That's when I called you."
"Do you have Tricia Malone's phone number?" Sara asked.
"No, uh, ask Veronica. She's dating Tricia's older brother. I've tried calling Amy's cell phone, but there's no answer."
"We'll find her." In a rare show of sympathy, Grissom gripped the older man's hand.
"Thank you, Gil." Victor smiled wearily. "Thank you both."
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"I'll take Veronica." Sara volunteered.
"I guess that leaves me with Spencer."
"Lucky you." Sara found Veronica's door and knocked on the doorframe. "Veronica?"
"Come in." Veronica was furiously tapping away at her laptop. "Sorry about this. AP Gov essay due tomorrow."
"That's fine." Sara sat on the bed. "I just wanted to talk to you about Amy, maybe get an idea of where to start."
"On second thought, I can use a break." Veronica pushed away from her desk and opened her armoire. "Pop-tart? S'mores, my favorite kind. Dad is a total health nut. I haven't been able to eat Pop-tarts or cheddar-cheese popcorn in front of him since Mom died."
"No, thank you." Sara faced Veronica. "Can you tell me who Amy hung out with? Any boyfriends, that sort of thing."
Veronica sat back down, nibbling on the Pop-tart. "She and Tricia were way tight. She liked this guy, uh…Steve…um…Macklin, I think was his name. They both had Tripp first period for chem, which was where she met him. Amy wasn't a party girl or anything, but once a month Tricia's cousin, Michelle, would have a party. Amy would usually go to that party. Sometimes she'd stay at Tricia's afterwards. As far as other people to talk to, chat with the Science Club. Amy also would've known the people in Drama Club. Tricia's in the DC."
"Veronica, you seem to know a lot about Amy's life. Were you two very close?"
"Amy and I were practically best friends." Veronica took a hearty bite of the Pop-tart. "We did everything together. We worked out together, played foosball together…we don't date a guy if he doesn't pass the sister test."
"Wow." Yeah. Any and Spencer aren't very close. Spencer's been kind of a jerk-off lately. Probably just being a typical teenager. But he did love her, I know he did."
"Thanks." Sara stood. "I'll let you get back to your work."
"Yeah. I gotta tackle Calculus next."
"Ouch. Thanks again."
"Sure."
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"So, what've you got?" Sara asked Grissom.
"Talk to Tricia Malone. Party once a month. Amy isn't a social butterfly."
Sara raised her eyebrow. "Well, I got the more detailed version of that from Veronica. There was a kid she had a crush on named Steve Macklin. Gave me his phone number. Maybe they hung out. Veronica said that the once a month party is hosted by Michelle Malone, Tricia's cousin. Gave me Tricia's address. Amy was an introvert. Big time science and math geek."
"So, tomorrow we should talk to Tricia and Steve."
"Yeah." Sara moved onto the balcony of her room. "God, it's so weird being back here at Berkeley. You can see the campus from here."
"It's so pretty at night." Grissom leaned over the railing next to her.
"So, how do you know Victor again?" Sara glanced at Grissom.
"We went to UCLA together. He was the one who asked me to teach the guest spot at Berkeley. I was at Amy's first birthday party. She was adorable. Blonde hair, big blue eyes, and this gigantic smile. She couldn't' stop grinning at me. I thought to myself that if I were ever going to have kids, I would want one exactly like Amy."
Sara glanced at Grissom. "You been drinking?"
"Glass of wine with dinner, same as you."
Sara nodded suspiciously, still stunned that Grissom had revealed something so insanely personal.
"I'm going to go talk to Victor." Grissom pushed away from the railing.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go grab a beer. Night Grissom."
"Night Sara."
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"Hey." Victor swirled his scotch in his glass.
"Hi." Grissom stepped into Victor's office.
"You want a glass?"
Victor offered him the bottle.
"Please." Grissom sat in one
of the overstuffed chairs opposite Victor. "Victor," he
hesitated. "Were you and Amy fighting? Is there a possibility she
could have just run away."
"Not Amy. She wouldn't run away." Victor considered his scotch again. "Sara looks so much older than she used to."
Grissom nodded noncommittally. "She's different."
"How long have you two been going out?"
Grissom swallowed hard. "We're not going out!" He sputtered.
"You're not? I could've sworn that the way you two looked at each other…"
"We're just friends." Grissom wasn't sure who he was assuring, Victor or himself.
"Well, if you're not going out with her…I know she's younger, but I can't help but feel this attraction." He sighed. "I feel awful, thinking about women while Amy's missing. But she's just…there's something about her."
Grissom took a drink of his Scotch. "She's special." He agreed.
Victor abruptly switched subjects again. "Have you found anything yet?"
"Tomorrow we're going to talk to Tricia and Michelle Malone."
And for the first time, Grissom saw his old friend break down. "I can't lose her, Gil." Victor sobbed. "Amy was my baby. It seems like just yesterday that I was helping her memorize her times tables and all she wanted to do was hang out with me. Now she's dating and doesn't want me around. Veronica's going to college next year, and Spencer the year after that. Amy's trying to graduate early and go to MIT. My kids are all grown up. I know you don't have kids, Gil, but if you ever do, you'll understand how I feel. I just want them to stay here so I can protect them forever. You have to find her, Gil." He begged. "I couldn't live with myself if anything happened."
"I'll find her." Grissom promised.