Miami
Day 3- 7:45 AM
Miami International Airport (MIA)
The world rushed past Gil. His brain was in a fog; had Stella just said Catherine was gone? That couldn't be right—he was just with her, wasn't he? He'd watched her walk over to the Starbucks with Stella and Calleigh moments before. She'd turned and smiled her Cheshire-like smile she reserved only for him-she'd stayed with him last night, for God's sake! She'd hidden from her nightmares in his room! She'd even told a flight agent she'd never seen before in her life that they were married!
Slow down, he thought to himself. Stella was leading him over to one of the chairs outside the gate, speaking words to him that never made it to his ears. Catherine was gone. It seemed impossible, ridiculous even, for the notion to be true. Gil had watched her the whole time. Made sure he knew where she was, what she was doing.
"Grissom." Stella's voice penetrated his thoughts. "Grissom, talk to me."
He shook his head a little. The fog began to recede, only to be replaced immediately with panic. They had to find her! Catherine!
"Stella," Gil finally saw the curly-haired woman in front of him, "did you see her leave? Did you see anything?"
Stella sighed and shook her head. Her curls bounced off her shoulders. With a pang, Gil remembered the same move Catherine had made when they had worked the strange case of a plushie convention and a dead 'racoon'.
"No. It all happened so fast, Grissom. I couldn't see her from where I was. It was crowded."
"Okay."
Gil stood and crossed the throng of people being sheparded by security guards and made his way to the back of the coffee shop, where Calleigh was crouched with Horatio and Mac.
"There's no way to tell how he did this," Mac was saying, "but my best guess? He had her at gunpoint. Threatened her."
"Oh, likely," Calleigh said. A security guard came up to the group and placed three crime scene kits next to them, then took the three remaining from the guard behind him and added them to the pile, too.
"Figured you guys would need these. Found them at the baggage carousel."
"Thanks." Horatio pulled his kit over and began to collect the gun and ID for printing.
Gil retrieved his own kit. He was about to open it, when the corner of what looked like a piece of paper caught his eyes, wedged in the opening crease of the silver case.
Stella leaned over Grissom's shoulder to see what he was staring at.
"Problem?"
"Could I borrow a pair of gloves and tweezers, please?" Gil's eyes never left the paper.
Puzzled, Stella obliged, and soon Grissom was easing the paper out of the kit. It was folded, and when freed, a picture fell out from between its walls.
Gil picked it up.
Catherine was smiling softly at the him in the photo, her hand closely entwined in his while they waited to board their flight just hours before at the Raleigh-Durham airport.
"How—what?" Stella fought for words. "There's no way."
"Apparently," Horatio said, joining the two in gazing at the picture, "there is."
Gil shook his head.
"He's just toying with us. It's nothing more than a scare tactic. Not important."
Horatio stared at the man.
"I think this may be important, Grissom." Horatio said.
"No, it's not," Gil snapped, "Finding Catherine is important."
Miami
Day 3- 8:30AM
Miami Dade County Crime Lab
Stella had never been in the MDPD Crime Lab before; the high glass walls lit with a soft orange and yellow glow reminded her of Mac's office at sundown. What was different, she thought, was the relaxed manner that ran through the lab—she supposed it was a reflection of the kind of people that inhabited Miami. It certainly reminded her of Horatio, at any rate.
The man himself was currently leading the group of CSIs—now down to five—into the Layout Room. The evidence they had collected at the scene had been packaged and delivered straight to the room for processing.
"We're pushing the clock now," Horatio said, placing himself next to Calleigh at the illuminated table. "We have maybe eight hours to find Catherine. After that…" He trailed off.
"Well, let's find her now." Stella leaned forward onto the table and snatched the bag containing video surveillance from the gate and shops Catherine had disappeared from. She turned to Grissom. "Why don't you and I go over this?"
The quiet man stared at her like she was from another planet.
"You know her. If anyone can pick her out from a crowd, it's you."
Grissom considered for a moment before trailing after the curly-haired New Yorker, mind on his partner.
"Right. Let's get to work."
Miami
Day 3- 8:45AM
MDPD Crime Lab A/V Department
1 Hour and 15 Minutes since Catherine's kidnapping
Though he hadn't slept, eaten, or thought about anything but his partner since her kidnapping, Gil Grissom took a moment to observe how bizarre it was to watch himself on tape. The him moving around the Miami airport had just departed from Catherine and taken a seat next to Mac and Horatio at the gate, while the tiny Catherine, Calleigh, and Stella disappeared off the screen.
"Freeze it."
Stella hit 'Pause'.
"Continue in slow-motion."
The screen crawled forward. Grissom leaned in, nose inches from the scene. He spotted a flash of strawberry blonde hair turning the corner and disappearing from sight.
"There!"
Stella re-wound the footage and watched as Catherine exited the shop, hidden from sight by the stature of the man accompanying her; Grissom spotted the odd angle the man's arm was at and guessed he was clutching a gun to her side.
"She went right by me," he sat back in his chair and removed his glasses, the bridge of his nose pinched moments later in frustration. "I was right there and I never saw her."
Stella's mouth twitched to the side in a sad smile. She laid a hand on his arm.
"There was nothing any of us could have done. He took her at gunpoint. But what we can do is find her—and we will."
Gil nodded. Next to him, Stella's cell began to ring. To give her some privacy, and to continue to trace and re-trace his missing partner's footsteps, Gil pulled himself up to the computer console to view the tape again.
"Bonasera."
"Stell, it's me. We have some information."
Grissom zoomed in on the two people slipping out of the shop. Catherine, her face fuzzy at best, was obviously keeping still to avoid her attacker's potential hot-under-the-collar attitude. Her gun holster was empty.
"What kind of information?"
Her ID clip was missing from her belt loop.
"We've been examining the picture that our kidnapper left in Grissom's kit."
Grissom zoomed in further on his partner.
"And?"
His eyes widened.
"I think we may have a way to contact Dalano and Catherine."
The odds of Dalano missing what stuck out of Catherine's pocket were minimal.
"How, Mac?"
Gil stared down at his cell phone that had made it to his hand. He spoke at the same time Mac, on the other line, did.
"Catherine's cell phone is in her pocket."
The group joined together in the A/V Lab seconds later. Their path to finding Catherine was finally starting to look like the Yellow Brick Road.
Grissom had a feeling they would need more than a pair of ruby slippers to help them.
A/N: So I know this took a little while, but life got a little crazy in the past two weeks—finals and projects and work, oh my! Many, many apologies, but I do know that since Christmas break is almost upon us (well, me, at least), this will (hopefully) be finished by January! Yay! And once again, a Thank You must be bestowed on my lovely reviewers, who always make me smile and who are inspiring every time.
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