Sorry it took so long to get this posted, I had a 4-wheeler accident and broke my wrist, making it hard to type. I hope to get the hang of typing with a cast soon, and I already have the next chapter planned out. Please let me know what you think.

Jenna

Four:

An hour later, they were pulling into Catherine's driveway, Sara's face pale and tired. "Thank you so much, Catherine."

"It's not a problem, it's the least I can do to help you out. If you need anything at all, just let me know." Catherine replied, glancing at her younger colleague, "You did a good job today, not a lot of people could have stood up for themselves and made a report. I'm proud of you."

Sara stared out the window, her voice soft, "I just hope it will make a difference."

"You've got to have faith in the system, even if it's not always 100 percent fool-proof." Catherine reminded her gently, "I've got an extra bedroom, no one ever uses it. When my Mom keeps Lindsey, she usually sleeps on the couch. The bedroom's a bit cluttered, we've got a computer, bed, and storage in there. If you find it too cramped, I could probably move some stuff around to give you more room."

Sara shook her head, following Catherine through her house, "Clutter doesn't bother me...you've seen my apartment, there's not much room in there, either. You've got a beautiful home."

"One of the very few perks of my marriage. For awhile, we were making decent money, and this is one of the few things I have to show for it." Catherine replied, opening the door to the spare bedroom, which was nearly the size of Sara's living room. "Here you go."

"This is perfect, Catherine." Sara replied, setting her overnight bag down on the bed, "When is Lindsey going to be home?"

Catherine checked her watch, "About another three hours. Why don't you try to get some sleep? I'm going to try to get some rest as well, but let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you." Sara replied softly, sitting down on the bed and smiling shyly, "For everything, thank you."

"That's what friends do." Catherine replied, walking out of the room and leaving Sara to wonder if they were, indeed, friends now.

Catherine walked into her own bedroom, changing into her pajamas and collapsing on the bed. She had been awake for the majority of the last 24 hours and although she was used to working long, unconventional hours, the emotional journey she had taken with Sara today had completely wiped out her energy reserves.

She was still trying to grasp her mind around everything she had learned over the last few hours. Sara Sidle had always been a complete mystery to the entire team, and now Catherine was starting to understand why. If she would have gone through what Sara had, she wouldn't have spread her family's dirty laundry to her coworkers either.

If someone had asked her last week if she would ever invite Sara to stay with her, she would have immediately told them no, but after learning so much about her colleague, she felt comforted knowing she was able to do even the tiniest act to comfort the brunette when she needed help.

She had just drifted to sleep when she heard terrified screams coming from the guest bedroom. Jumping to her feet, alarmed, she rushed into the hallway, not bothering to knock as she burst into Sara's room, expecting the worst. Instead of finding Sara's mother hovering over the bed, she found the younger woman tangled in the blankets, thrashing in her sleep with loud whimpers.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Catherine gently shook Sara by the shoulder, "Sara, wake up, you're having a bad dream."

The whimpers and cries stopped, and the brunette stopped moving, her breathing evening out as her nightmare was interrupted. Catherine waited for a few moments, hoping that Sara's nightmare wouldn't resurface, and once she was certain that Sara was okay, she tiredly made her way back to bed, her heart breaking for her younger coworker.

Several hours later she was drawn out of sleep once again by shrill screams, this time coming from a much younger source. Catherine scrambled out of bed, running towards the sound of her terrified daughter. She found Lindsey in the back yard, her eyes wide and her face pale, her voice now hoarse as she continued to shriek loudly, tears running down her young face as she reached out to cling to her mother.

Catherine pulled Lindsey close to her chest, her maternal instinct causing her to shield Lindsey's eyes with her hand. Sara joined them in the yard, stopping as she realized what she was looking at and obviously fighting the urge to be ill.

Pinned against a tree in the backyard with what seemed to be a large stick, was Lindsey's latest birthday present, a 5 month old golden lab, his cold eyes staring towards them in a haunting fashion. Written on the nearby patio table were the words "I warned you". The world began to spin around Sara as the implications of this act sank in, and she fought not to black out as the fear and anxiety began to build in her chest.

Lindsey buried her head in Catherine's shoulder, sobbing hysterically, "Mom, why would someone kill Jasmine? Who could do this?"

"I don't know baby, but it's going to be okay. Let's go inside, you don't need to be out here." Catherine soothed her daughter, looking up with concern towards Sara, surprised to see the spot where the brunette had been standing vacant. "Sara, from work, is here and we'll find something to make you feel better."

Catherine led Lindsey inside, gently pushing her into one of the kitchen table chairs and brushing a strand of hair from her face, "I'll do my best to try and find out who did this for you, Lindsey."

"You catch bad guys all the time, you'll catch this bad guy too." Lindsey said confidently through her tears, accepting the ice cream bar Catherine had held out as a peace offering. "If Sara helps you find clues, you guys can find them twice as fast. Can you go to jail for killing a puppy?"

Catherine kissed the top of Lindsey's head, a soft smile on her face, "Let me see if we can find out who did this, and we'll go from there." She gave a sigh of relief when Lindsey retreated to the living room with barely a sniffle, comforted by the fact that 'Mom was on the case'. She wasn't positive, but she had a pretty good idea who could have killed their dog, and if her suspicions were right, they were going to be in for a long ride.

Catherine made sure Lindsey would be alright before heading down the hallway to the spare bedroom, now inhabited by Sara, and knocked softly on the door, "Sara?"

"I'm sorry I brought you into this." Sara said as she opened the bedroom door, duffel bag on her shoulder, "Laura Sidle is insane, and I had no right to bring you or your daughter into this mess. I'll be okay at my apartment, I can't bring anyone else into this mess."

Catherine put her hands around Sara's arms, pushing her gently back into the room, "We don't even know for sure that she did this. It could be someone's sick idea of a joke. I don't regret bringing you here, and I wouldn't feel safe with you alone at your apartment. You don't need to be alone, and if necessary, I'll have Brass send some units by every hour or so to make sure everything's okay. If it is Laura, she's just trying to get you riled up. Don't let her."

"What about Lindsey? What if she hurts Lindsey? She killed her husband and son, your daughter is a stranger to her." Sara replied, trying to make Catherine understand why staying with the blonde and her daughter was unacceptable, "I appreciate all you've done, but I couldn't live with myself if I inadvertently hurt your daughter."

Catherine took the bag from Sara's shoulder, placing it on the bed, "We can protect Lindsey. I've got a state of the art alarm system. We can get police protection. I saw the way she kicked in your apartment door, you aren't safe there. Please, stay." Catherine paused, tears welling in her eyes as she thought of what Laura was capable of doing to this young woman.

The room was silent for a few moments before Catherine whispered, "I want you to stay. I need you to stay."