Catherine knocked gently on the door to Sara's room, poking her head in. Grissom looked up, a little startled at the noise and motioned for her to come in.
"Hey," she said quietly, going to take the chair beside him, "how is she doing?"
"Not awake yet."
"How are you doing?" she asked, noticing how tired he looked.
"I'm fine."
"That's the worst lie ever Gil. You look like you haven't slept in days. Do you want to go home? I'll stay with her."
"No. I want to be here when she wakes up."
"That could be hours away still. Why don't you go home, sleep awhile, maybe get something to eat, and then come back."
"I can't leave her Cath," he replied, holding Sara's limp hand, caressing it with his own.
She knew that she couldn't convince him to leave, nothing would.
"Alright. Do you want some coffee then?"
"That would be nice."
Her pager began to beep and she looked down at it, "I'll grab you one on my way out. Brass needs Greg and I."
He nodded as she got up to leave the room.
"My client will confess to laundering money, but he had nothing to do with the kidnapping of Miss McBride or the bombing. He was depositing the fake money he made in the bank machine," Haley's lawyer told the two CSIs and Brass.
"Is your client aware that the fake money in his possession is the same as the fake money used to pay the ransom?" Brass asked.
"My client has no comment on that."
"So let me get this straight. First he tells us he won the money at the Tangiers, which he was never in tonight, and now he is saying he made the money, which he was going to deposit at the bank, who would have surely found out it wasn't real? Sounds smart, real smart. What about the gym bag that he had in his car? The exact one used to carry the ransom money? Coincidence?" answered Brass sarcastically.
The lawyer looked at his client, raising an eyebrow at him, "What gym bag Calvin?"
Catherine glanced at Greg with a smug smile on her face, "Care to explain that one Calvin?"
Haley looked nervous, and his eyes darted about the room.
"You look a little guilty there Haley," Brass commented.
Even his lawyer began to stare at him, "What haven't you told me Calvin? I can only help you so much, but you have to tell me everything."
"I…I…I didn't do it…" he stuttered, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
"You can tell yourself that all you want, but we've got enough evidence to bury you under," Catherine replied.
"Listen, there are two bomb squad members dead, a woman hanging onto life by a thread, and three of our own guys badly hurt. You've got a choice. Confess and you get life, but if you're convicted, we're all going to push to have you get the needle," threatened Greg, leaning menacingly across the table, then eyeing the lawyer.
"He's right Calvin. If you know anything you should talk. That's my advice," the lawyer added.
Calvin gulped, and then brought his eyes down to his hands, "You got to promise to protect me from this guy if I tell you anything…"
"What guy?" Brass growled.
"He organized it, I only helped, for Kelly's sake. But I swear I didn't want to hurt no one. I had no part in the bomb. He paid me off," he said, as he started to shake.
"Who Calvin? Who are you talking about?" Catherine pushed.
"I can't…no I can't tell you. He told me he'd kill me if I did."
"Would you rather get the death penalty? Cause we can arrange that," Greg said in a low voice.
Calvin's eyes shot up at the younger CSI, "You can't do that to me. I was a pawn in this plot. It was him!"
"Well then you have to tell us who he is Calvin," his lawyer said, trying to calm him down.
"Do I get a deal? If I tell, you won't tell him I told, and I don't get a full sentence?"
Catherine glanced at Greg, who looked furious with the suspect. She caught Brass' eyes and he nodded,
"We can't guarantee a completely shortened sentence, that will be based on what you tell us, but we can tell you we won't tell this guy you ratted on him."
"Fine. The guy who organized this, he got in contact with me a few months ago, knew I was seeing Kelly. He told me he didn't get a fair cut outta that CSI's kidnapping, said he never got his money. But he couldn't take revenge out on a dead guy, so he pulled this, just put his own spin on it. The guy's a nut, I'm scared of him, which is why I couldn't say no when he approached me. Plus I did it for Kelly, cause I know she didn't do what she's in prison for."
"Ok, so this guy was in on Nick Stoke's kidnapping, that's some good information. Now just tell us who it is," Brass baited the suspect.
"He's on the inside, one of your own, which was kinda genius on his part, no one would suspect him, which is why I'm scared of you telling him."
"Just tell us," Greg shot at Haley.
"Just remember, you said you won't tell him."
"We did, now tell us," said Brass, getting more frustrated.
"Officer Michaels did it."
"I knew it! I knew that son of a bitch was in on it as soon as Grissom told me!" ranted Catherine outside the interrogation room.
"We just have to prove he was in on it now. I just can't stand that bastard Haley getting a reduced sentence based on him ratting Michaels out. He's just as guilty," Greg said angrily.
"We've still got him Greg. That's what matters. Plus we now have a reason to question Michaels, not to mention get a search warrant for his stuff."
"That's true. We should call Grissom, tell him about this. He'll want to know."
"I'll call him. He'll be glad about this."
She took out her cell and dialled his number.
The steady beat of the heart monitor echoed through the room, and the machines providing life hummed in the background. Nick watched her, watched her chest rise and fall, forced to do so by the apparatuses she was hooked up to. He looked to her face, but it was partially blocked by the tubes sticking out of her mouth and nose. He held her hand, but even that had an IV protruding from it. The doctors had told him she had a fifty percent chance of making it through the next twenty four hours. He didn't know if he could get through the rest of his life without her.
"You've got to hold on Clara. You've got to get through this….please…" he whispered, tears streaking down his cheeks.
She slowly awoke, in a room that she didn't recognize. She had a dull headache, and her leg hurt slightly. She couldn't remember why she would be in a hospital room. It was then she saw the sleeping man in the chair next to her, leaning forward so his salt and pepper head rested on her bed, his hand in hers. Alarmed, she pulled her hand away from his, even though it took all her effort. She was so weak, but again, she didn't know why.
"Hello?" she said weakly, trying to wake him, not knowing why he was there.
He stirred, and his eyes fluttered open, blue ones gazing into hers.
"Sara! You're awake, thank God," he yawned, smiling at her, sitting up, and straightening his shirt.
She gave him a quizzical glance, reaching frantically for the nurse call button,
"I don't know who you are, but I'm giving you five seconds to get away before I call press this button."
To be continued…
Sorry it took so long to post this. I had a paper due last night, which I revised at 10 o'clock the night before, and finished at five pm the day of. But it got handed in on time, and now I only have two more papers to write before exams start. Fun. Not.
So enjoy, and more to hopefully come soon, as writing this is an excellent form of procrastination or break time from essays! -L