A/N: Please be forewarned. This chapter contains mentions of violence and attempted rape. If you are uncomfortable with these topics, please don't read any further.
PS: I still don't own them. :sigh:
Chapter TwelveSara covered Jim with the blue quilt on her couch. He'd stayed with her all day until he'd finally fallen asleep on her couch that afternoon.
He'd listened to her debate whether she should show up at Grissom's at Friday and whether Grissom's even deserved another chance.
Brass hadn't offered an opinion, only a single question. "Is he worth it?"
Sara didn't know. On some days, Grissom was more than worth it. Other days, she wouldn't have trusted him with his own safety, never mind that of her heart. With another glance at Jim's soundly sleeping form, Sara did the only thing she could think of. She pulled out a piece of paper and started a pro-con list.
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Grissom fiddled with his watch, trying to secure the clasp when his cell phone rang. "Grissom." He answered distractedly.
"Hey man, it's Nick."
"Hi Nick."
"Listen, we've got a case and Warrick and I are stumped. Our vic is an eighteen year old female, hit in the back of the head with a pipe, rolling on E, even though all her friends say she's clean. We thing she owed somebody some money."
"Any well-known dealers at her school?"
"I asked a contact. She said that RHS is pretty chem-free. The kids who are druggies get their stuff from Silverwood Academy."
"You get any names?" Grissom slipped his feet into his favorite loafers.
"Amy's working on it." Nick said absently.
"Amy?" Grissom didn't remember hiring any new nightshift techs or interns.
"My contact. Daughter of a friend." Grissom could tell Nick was holding something back, but he didn't pry.
"Well, when you get some names, you know what to do."
"I haven't found any motive that's led me towards anyone."
"Motive isn't your job, Nicky. You just find out who and how. That's all you need."
"I know, Grissom."
His tone made Grissom feel a little guilty. He sat on the bed. "You said she was taking E, right?"
"MDMA, pure."
"That's a start. You're looking for a high-end dealer. No cheapie's going to sell pure. Too risky and not profitable enough. They'd lace it with caffeine or another narcotic to make it more addictive.
"Well that narrows it down." Nick replied acerbically.
"Do you want my help or not, Nick?" Grissom snapped.
Cowed, Nick apologized. "I'm sorry, Girssom."
"Okay. So you're looking for an expensive dealer. Was she behaving oddly?"
"Her dad said she was extremely moody." Nick supplied.
"And what concentration of E was she taking?"
"Pure MDMA. I told
you that. Weren't you listening?"
"Nick. What are the
effects of ecstasy?"
"Limited inhibitions, limited short-term memory, euphoria…" Nick rattled off.
Grissom waited.
"And she was moody. So the MDMA caused her to have mood swings? NO, she was taking 4-HTP. The E would've been…to control the swings?"
"You're getting closer. The E wouldn't have controlled the swings, but…"
"The swings were a symptom." There was a scratching noise across the line, probably Nick rubbing his jaw where stubble had grown.
"She was depressed when she wasn't rolling. She was happy when she was. It looked like mood swings, but it was just because she wasn't consistent on her 'medication.' Make sense?"
"Yeah. I'll run that by Warrick. Thanks Grissom."
"Good luck." Grissom hung up the phone and stared at it. The background was a picture of Sara at a crime scene. A picture of Sara in a dress (last year's Christmas party) flashed whenever she called. That would be the last time Lindsey ever got a hold of his cell phone. How the Hell did she do it, and how to Grissom get rid of it? A picture of his roaches might've been acceptable, but one picture, never mind two, was just plain inappropriate.
Really, what were the odds of Sara showing up on Friday? He supposed he couldn't blame her. Grissom stared at the wall and sighed, waiting for inspiration to strike.
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"Nick, hi." Kelli leaned against the doorframe. "Um, were we supposed to do something today?"
"Oh, no. I…Amy said she had some names for me. The investigation, I mean. Is she here?"
"Uh, yeah. Hold on a sec." Kelli pressed a button on the intercom. "Amy, Nick is here to see you."
"Okay, be right down." A moment later Nick heard the distinctively light footfalls approaching. "Hey." She held out a folded sheet of paper. "Here are the names."
"Thanks." Nick stuffed the paper into his pocket.
"Okay…well…I've got homework to do." Amy glanced between the two adults. "Yeah."
"So, um, are we still on for Saturday?" Nick leaned against the kitchen counter, in an attempt to look relaxed.
"Yeah. Saturday." Kelli shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. "Listen, if you want to come over after shift, I could make some breakfast."
"That would be great." Nick worried his foot. "Kelli, I've got to be honest. A lot –"
Kelli held up a hand. "Please. If what you're about to say involves any past women you've dated or slept with, don't say it. I'd really rather not hear it."
"Point taken. I gotta get back to the lab, but I'll drop by around eightish?"
"Yeah. Sounds good." Kelli opened the door and let Nick outside. As soon as he was gone, she let out a deep breath. You're not being unfaithful to John. She reminded herself.
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Sara set down her list and pen, stretching her arms above her head. In the two hours that Sara had been sitting at her desk, she'd written a small pro-con list. Pro: his eyes. Con: the way he treats me. Pro: his hands. Con: he's withdrawn. Pro: he's smart. Con: he can be cruel. Sara considered the list in front of her. All of the pros, excepting for his intelligence, are physical things. All the cons are emotional things. When he chooses to be nice and sweet, it makes my insides melt. Sara picked up the pen and carefully added two items to her list. Pro: he's Grissom. Con: he's Grissom.
This time, Sara flung her pen down and dropped her head into her hands. She rubbed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. Sara groaned and picked her favorite necklace up off of her jewelry stand. The charm was a dragonfly with a small EG etched into the right wing. Grissom had given her the necklace for her twenty-third birthday. He'd sent her the necklace even though she hadn't asked him for anything and hadn't sent him anything for his birthday a month earlier. The necklace was obviously important to him, but not so important that he couldn't bear to part with it. What did it mean? Or was she simply reading too much into it? She snorted. With Grissom, there was no such thing as over-analysis.
Brass was beginning to stir. "Morning." He moaned, sitting up. "How are you."
"Better." Sara took a deep breath. "I've made my decision."
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"Mama, please may I go to the stables?" Lindsey begged. "Please, please, please?"
"Lindsey, please stop whining." Catherine closed her eyes. "I will take you to the stables, okay?"
"Thank you." Lindsey bounced up and down.
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"Please, Dylan?" Sophie begged. "I haven't had time to get my license yet. And mom isn't home. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't get to go riding, right?"
Dylan rolled his eyes.
"Please?" Sophie clasped her hands together.
"Fine!" Dylan shouted. "Just let me eat lunch and then we'll go."
"Thaaaaaaaaaaaank you." Sophie hugged her brother.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
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"Hey Lindsey." Ben poked his head out of the hay loft. "Is your mom here?"
"Nah. She just dropped me off." Lindsey bounced up the steps to the hay loft.
"Oh." Ben held out his hand to help Lindsey into the hay loft. "So are you going riding today?"
"Yeah, probably." Lindsey shrugged. "It's just nice to hang out here and not be at home." She sat next to Ben.
"I know." Ben agreed. "This is where I come to get away from my mother."
I completely understand. Lindsey thought adoringly.
"How old are you, Lindsey?" Ben asked.
"Fifteen." She replied.
"So you'd be in…"
"Ninth grade. What grade are you in?"
"I'm a senior." Ben stretched his legs out and crossed them again. "So why'd you start riding?"
"My grandfather left me horse."
"And the real reason?" Ben arched his eyebrow knowingly?
Lindsey glanced at Ben, ascertaining whether or not she could trust him.
"I feel stupid at school." She admitted. "I'm failing math and I can't pass a science test to save my life, even though my mom is a scientist. It's embarrassing."
"Well, I can help you with your math homework if you want? And I bet your mom would love to help you. Or if you feel uncomfortable asking your mom, what about one of her co-workers?"
Lindsey perked up. "That's a good idea. Warrick would help me."
"There you go. What else?"
"My dad. He died a few years back and I miss him. Not that he was a great person or even the best father, but he was still my dad and nobody will ever replace him, you know?"
"Yeah. Losing a parent is tough." Ben put an arm around Lindsey. "But you're a strong girl, Linds."
Linds. Lindsey loved the way her nickname rolled off his tongue.
"You'll come through it just fine. Just do what I did. Start a countdown to college. It helped me deal with my mother."
Lindsey leaned against Ben's firm stomach, absorbing the heat radiating off of him. I cannot believe this. He feels so good! She tried not to smile giddily, but could prevent a smirk from crossing over her face.
Ben leaned over and rested his head on Lindsey's, placing a soothing kiss on her head. He drew her in closer, lifting her off the ground and settling her on his lap.
What is he – oh my God, he is kissing me! Kissing! And where are his hands go – hey, that's my ass! Lindsey's eyes popped open. Wait, I should not be moving. Ben, put me down.
"Lindsey, Lindsey…" Ben murmured, covering her body with his and sliding his hand around to loosen her chaps.
"Whoa!" Lindsey tried to push Ben off of her, but he had a good 40 pounds on her lean frame. And he was definitely stronger.
"Come on, Linds. You'll enjoy it, I promise." Her nickname from his lips no longer sounded comforting and enticing, but menacing and threatening.
"No. Get off me!" She shoved him again.
"Don't fight me, Lindsey."
"Don't say my name." She yelled. Warrick's voice filtered through her panicked brain.
Bite him. Hit him. Kick him. He's not playing fair with you, you don't play fair with him. Lindsey clamped her jaws onto the arm that was trying to remove her shirt.
"Jesus, a little softer next time, Linds." Ben leaned over.
Lindsey bit him in the ear and kneed him in the groin. It wasn't a full-contact hit, but it was enough to get him to release her. Lindsey rolled away and made a break for the staircase. Ben grabbed her ankle, pulling her back down. Who the Hell are you? Lindsey screamed internally. This was not the Ben she thought she knew.
"Stop fighting me, Lindsey. I've seen they way you look at me. I know you want me." Unfortunately the kick had only been enough to unbalance him, not debilitate him. Ben held her down with renewed vigor.
Lindsey thrashed her arms at him, landing few blows. She screamed loud and long, praying that somebody – anybody – could hear her.
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A/N: In the next chapter, there will be a twist nobody was expecting. I'm probably going to be wrapping this up in a few chapters. I had wanted to extend it longer, but I'm afraid if I do, I'm going to ruin it, so I'm tying up the loose ends and then things are going wrap up. I'd like to thank everybody who's left a review, no matter how long or short, and everybody who's taken the time out of their day to read this story. I hope you're still enjoying it!