A/N – I plan to try and post a new chapter at least once a week that way there is more then enough time in between for reviews. I know that the chapters are pretty fast paced but I like that about this story. You don't have enough time to relax and breath easy, there's too much going on. So I hope you keep enjoying this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. This chapter is dedicated to my dog Shade who passed away on Friday night. We miss you very much old friend.
Chapter Three – Waiting For Magic
Grissom sat bolt upright in his chair, looking at Brass unbelievably. Nick shook his head hard.
"Nope, sorry. We have never dropped a case, and if you think we are going to drop one that involves one of our own…"
Nick balled his fists and continued to shake his head. Brass smiled widely at the room and held up his hands.
"Hold on and listen. Let's say I make an announcement saying that we had deemed this case unsolved, and that we are putting it to bed. They tell Zachary James, via TV. Think about it. If he thinks the heats off, he'll show his face more, which means we could catch him."
It took a second for the idea to sink in, Catherine catching on first, nodding in agreement, a small smile playing on her lips.
"It could work."
The only people not agreeing were Nick, and of course, Grissom.
"You make that announcement, we have to take cases back and put Sara's aside. I will have no part in risking Sara's life. This is not some random stranger who has shown up dead and on our table - this is Sara. And who's to say this guy didn't do it for the spotlight? What will happen when the spotlight is off of him? I am not going to have any part in this."
His voice was cold, shocking the rest of the team. He stood and walked out of his office, leaving the rest of the CSIs in stunned silence. After a few moments Catherine stood, about to follow him. She placed a hand on Brass's shoulder.
"Do it. Make the announcement. Grissom isn't thinking clearly."
Brass nodded and exited the room quietly, leaving Catherine to deal with the rest of the team.
"Greg, do you think you could handle two jobs?"
Greg nodded enthusiastically, moving closer to Catherine.
"Good. We will need help on the cases that are going to come here while we are waiting for the results of the announcement."
Greg nodded again and went to leave but turned back to say, "There is a tech I know who is out of the job - he just moved here. I could call him in to step into my shoes. That way I'm free to help completely."
Catherine nodded back at him.
"Call him."
She watched as Greg left, then turned to Nick and Warrick.
"Am I doing the right thing? Letting Brass make the announcement?"
Nick stood and put a hand on Catherine's shoulder.
"I don't agree, but we are running out of options and time…"
Catherine nodded, only slightly satisfied with their response. She turned on her heel and went to track down Grissom.
Other than his office, there was no real place in this building that made Grissom feel at home, so he went into the locker room, deciding to have a hot shower. He had just turned the spray off when he heard Catherine's clear voice bouncing off the walls.
"Grissom?"
Grissom wrapped a towel around his waist and shouted back, "Shower. Last stall."
He heard Catherine's approach thanks to her flats, the dull thunking sound bouncing off of the walls.
"Are you okay?"
Catherine moved around the stall, wanting to look him in the face.
"No. I did what I tell Sara not to do. I got too involved. This case should be no different from other cases. I should be able to step back and look at it from the outside."
Grissom stepped past Catherine, moving towards his locker, knowing full well that she would follow.
"Don't you dare get high and mighty," she censured him. "You are human, which means that if someone you love or care about gets hurt, you react. Don't start acting like you're above that, or I will belt you within an inch of your life. I am tired to the point of collapse and I do not have the patience at the moment to put up with doubt."
Catherine turned her back to Grissom as he began to change, but her voice was cold and steely, offering no opportunity to argue.
"I told Brass to go ahead and make the announcement. I did what I thought was right."
Grissom paused for a second, his chest hurting.
"I knew you would. I just couldn't do it."
Grissom finished changing and sat heavily on the bench behind him. Catherine sat beside him.
"This could work you know," she assured him. "We could have Sara back sooner then we thought. It was a good idea."
Catherine watched as a multitude of emotions flushed over Grissom's face, finally settling on guilt.
"I think even if it had a guaranteed chance of success, I would still be reluctant to take it. I don't like toying with Sara's life like that, and having it in my hands."
Catherine nodded her understanding, then told him the news of Greg and the new technician.
"We need all hands on deck if this plan is going to work, and a trainee-CSI is better than only four working a case."
Grissom nodded and stood, putting his old clothes in the locker. He turned to Catherine.
"Let's do this."
Together they exited the room, Grissom feeling renewed after borrowing some of Catherine's immense strength, each hoping against hope that Brass's plan would work.
Something was tickling her ribs, then her hip. Sara wrenched herself from her unconscious state, finding herself back in the dark room, the boards back on the window.
She moved slightly, finding the shackles back on her wrists. Her upper arm felt like it was on fire, the pain shooting down and licking around her side. I was shot. By my own gun no less. And not even in the line of duty. She smiled slightly when she realized how disappointed she was with that.
The tickling, she soon discovered, was blood slowly seeping from under the bandage that she could feel on her arm. The blood was pooling at the top of her thigh, making the area on her nightshirt sticky and warm. Bitter disappointment filled her chest as she remembered how close she had been to escaping. Her eyes felt heavy, and for the first time since this whole saga started, she felt tired, as though with every little bit of blood that she lost, a little bit of energy and hope escaped with it.
She heard his footsteps, and within seconds the door swung open, and a multitude of voices followed him.
"You're awake. As you can see, I have put your shackles back on. This is your punishment for trying to leave me. I have good news, listen."
He swung open the door wide, allowing the voices to clear, making Sara realize that it was, in fact, the TV. She strained her ears until she heard the worst news of her life. Brass's voice filled her ears as he spoke via the TV.
"The missing CSI we have been looking for, Sara Sidle, is still unfound. When this case started, all other cases were pushed aside, allowing for more concentration of this one. Miss Sidle has now been missing almost three weeks, and it has been decided that we put her case aside, allowing the CSIs to get back onto the other cases that have been piling up. We have in no way closed the case but it will now take a backseat to the others."
Sara stopped listening after that, bile filling her throat, and tears filling her eyes.
"They've stopped looking, Sara. My plan has succeeded, and now we can go on with our lives together. Great huh?"
His broad grin made Sara almost vomit, the sense of hopelessness almost swallowing her whole.
"We can finally be together."
He gave her one last look before turning on his heel and leaving, closing the door behind him. Sara allowed the tears to flow freely this time, her whole body wracked with sobs as a sense of finality filled the room and her heart.
Grissom was struggling. He couldn't do this. There was no way in hell that he would be able to focus on any other cases until Sara was home. It had been another 72 hours since Brass's announcement, and there had been no leads, no sightings, nothing. They were on the three-week mark of Sara's disappearance, and his confidence was waning. The only one that seemed certain that they would find Sara was Catherine, and that was only because she was far too stubborn to believe otherwise. How anybody expected him to work on this supposed suicide case, he didn't know. But he still felt incredibly guilty that they had all pushed their feelings aside and were concentrating on this case, picking up his slack.
Greg was doing great, or so Grissom had been told from Catherine and her daily updates, as was the new lab tech. But beyond reading the case file, he hadn't done anything. He couldn't do anything. It was as if he was physically tied to Sara's case, and the only cure was finding her.
He sat day after day in his office, reading her file again and again. And then reading the files that were passed on to him by the rest of the team. But then it was always back to Sara's file, and every time he read it, he felt more and more helpless. Catherine told him it was fine and that they could cope without him, but even with that reassurance, the guilt kept hammering. He knew that at some point someone will notice it was Catherine's signature on the bottom of the files - not his, which could get her into trouble as well as himself.
Grissom decided it was time for coffee, and headed for the break room, hoping to track one of his team members down. He found them all having their breaks, and drinking the sludge that passed for coffee in the office. He knew that they needed some food and maybe the treat of a Starbucks would lift their spirits a little.
"Hey everyone."
They all turned, surprised to see Grissom out of his office.
"I am feeling bad about being slack so I thought I would go on a food and coffee run."
Smiles and nods filled the room and Catherine stood and put a hand on his upper arm.
"I'll drive."
After taking the orders for food and coffees, they headed to one of the company trucks and hopped inside.
"I told you that it was no problem," Catherine reassured him, "You being out of the cases. We all need the distraction anyway."
She pulled into the mid-day traffic, carefully manoeuvring between cars. The team had been living at the building. Catherine was really the only one leaving, to take care of her daughter, Lindsay. On any other normal shift, they would all be home right now, sleeping and getting ready for the next shift, but instead his team had set up camp at work, napping in between all of the cases.
"Yeah well, that still doesn't alleviate my guilt. At least let me shout food and coffee, it's the least I can do."
Catherine nodded and parked the car in front of the local Starbucks, and handed him the list of coffee orders.
"You go in and order and I'll place the order for the Chinese, okay?"
Grissom nodded and walked into the friendly bright store. Ten minutes later he came out again holding a tray with seven styrofoam cups.
"Figured I had better get one for Brass. He said he was going to drop by at about this time."
Catherine nodded and they headed back to headquarters. They arrived just before the Chinese food, and they were greeted in the break room with cheers as they lugged the food and coffees to the table.
Brass arrived a few minutes later, smiling when Catherine shoved a styrofoam cup in his hand and invited him to eat with the others. Grissom sat back and watched as the food and coffee disappeared before his eyes. Not hungry himself, he sipped on his coffee, content to watch his team enjoy their reward. Catherine shoved some sweet and sour pork his way, and watched him carefully as he picked at it, taking a few mouthfuls.
"You'll be no good to Sara if you don't eat."
Grissom nodded and continued to pick at the food, not really putting any enthusiasm into it, and not tasting it. He honestly could care less about his state of mind - all he was focused on was Sara and her situation. Brass's phone pulled them all back into reality with a grinding halt.
"Brass… Where? … How long ago?… Registration… Okay, gives us ten minutes… Don't begin the interviews until we get there."
Brass closed his phone and pulled on his coat.
"Your guy was spotted at a McDonalds three blocks down from here."
The team all exchanged looks before all eyes settled on Grissom, who spoke calmly despite his heart pounding in his chest.
"Cath, Nick, Warrick - you're with me and Brass. Greg, stay here and hold the fort, okay?"
Greg nodded and watched wide-eyed as the team left the room, single file.
The door swung open for the third time that day revealing him holding a tray filled with McDonald's bags, his face was split in a wide grin. Sara was beyond tears now. Her heart was hollow, her eyes dry, and she was at the point were she could not have cared less.
"I brought you McDonalds to celebrate. I know that you don't like meat, so I got you a veggie burger, fries and a coke."
He placed the tray proudly in front of Sara, and stood back waiting for a reaction. Sara sat still, and continued to stare at the wall opposite her, pretending he wasn't there, not caring about the food or how much she needed it. He continued to watch her, then shifted to sit beside her, his body heat making her want to scramble to the other side of the room.
"Oh, I see what's going on here. You're sad that they stopped looking, aren't you?"
Sara continued to stare at the wall, shivering, as his voice grew low and greasy.
"You need to understand, Sara that in order for us to be together, we need to get away from the people who are taking advantage of you. Like for example, that Gil Grissom."
Sara's head popped up at the mention of Grissom.
"He never loved you the way I do. And what kind of person is that Catherine Willows? She thinks she is Queen Bee, when really it's you. She is jealous of you. Warrick and Nick are just sleaze balls, trying to take advantage of the fact that you're a beautiful woman. I know what's best for you, and this is what's best for you. Living with me will fix your broken mindset."
He moved to the wall opposite Sara and gazed at her in a way that sent her skin crawling.
"I know you love me. And as soon as we get some money together we will be married. You will soon be Mrs James. Mrs Sara James. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
His face had split into that wide grin again, and Sara had to fight the urge not to reach over and rip it off of his face. The only thing stopping her was the shackles that kept her arms in place.
The man reached over her and unlocked the shackles, releasing her arms, which flopped painfully to her sides. She took her time getting them moving again, getting the blood to reach her fingers. She realized that her right arm had been promoted to 'useless'. The bullet must have broken bone. Great. Bleeding, being hit on by a psychopath, and now I have a broken bone. Cherry on the top of a very sucky time.
He pushed the tray closer to her tilting his head slightly.
"Come now, celebrate with me and eat. We are finally free."
Sara shook her head and watched as his face slipped into anger.
"We've gone over this once," he threatened, "and I do not want to do it again. Eat."
He pulled out the gun again, this time playing with it - not actually pointing it at Sara, but she got the general idea. She slowly started eating the food, becoming all too aware of the fact that the food was doing nothing to fill the empty hole that was left by the announcement on TV, and by the hope that had somehow escaped her grasp.
Grissom sent Catherine and Warrick to interview the drive-thru staff at the McDonalds, and Nick to check out the video surveillance - leaving himself and Brass to check out the surrounding areas of the building.
Finding nothing, they waited for Catherine and Warrick to return with the interviews, and Nick with the tape.
Catherine and Warrick showed up first, slipping into the back seats of the truck, enjoying the air conditioning.
"Ok, we have good news and bad news. We got a positive ID, but no registration of the vehicle, though we did get a good description."
Catherine handed Grissom her notes from the interview, and he looked at her through the rear-view mirror.
"That's it?"
Catherine glanced at Warrick who grinned broadly and answered for her.
"James mentioned to the check out girl that he was celebrating with a lady friend."
He sat back and waited for a response from Grissom but got none. Catherine put her head between the two front seats so that she was more or less face-to-face with Grissom.
"Which mean's Sara's alive," she stated.
Grissom locked eyes with Catherine and shook his head.
"It could mean anything."
Grissom turned his attention back to watching the car park, his curiosity peaked as Nick come running up to the truck, grinning broadly the whole way.
"We need to get back to the office, ASAP. You need to see this."
Grissom nodded and they were soon speeding their way back to the office. Upon arrival they all followed Nick into the viewing room and waited as he set up the tape. They watched as Zachary James came up to the window, took his bag, then left. Nick looked excitedly at the team and just about bounced on his seat.
"Did you see it?"
Catherine, Warrick and Grissom exchanged glances, shaking their heads. Nick swung back to the screen and rewound the tape.
"Watch the bottom of the car, where the license plates are."
They all watched eyes glued to the screen and they all clicked to his point at the same time.
"You can read the numbers!"
Catherine grabbed Grissom's arm, smiling widely. She watched as Nick printed out a copy of the numbers, handing them to Brass. They all sat in stunned silence as they waited for Brass to process the numbers.
"It worked."
Grissom's voice was small and quiet as he tried to process the idea that he might have Sara in front of him soon. Catherine slung an arm around Warrick's shoulders, then Nick's, still grinning broadly.
"Was there any doubt?"
They stayed in the room, Nick chattering excitedly, Grissom in stunned silence, waiting for Brass's call. Even though they were expecting it, they jumped when they heard Grissom's phone chime.
"Grissom… Ok… You sure? … Yup, see you soon."
Grissom closed his phone and grinned.
"He just got pulled up for speeding."
Warrick and Nick high-fived each other, and then as one unit they moved from the office to the waiting car park.
They watched through the glass screen as Brass interviewed Zachary James, not really advancing past the initial stages of the interview. James was dressed in a pair of blue overalls, which were splattered with blood - blood Grissom was sure would be Sara's. Standing beside Warrick and Nick, Grissom could feel the waves of anger coming off them, and they were chomping at the bit to get in to that interview room. They were just waiting for a signal.
"Grissom?"
Catherine turned to face Grissom, her voice low.
"Hmm?"
Grissom kept his eyes trained on James and Brass.
"He was stalking her, right?"
Grissom nodded and watched as again Brass asked where Sara was.
"If he was watching her, wouldn't he recognize you and Warrick? I mean, you did say you went to her house before she got taken, didn't you? And he had photos of all of us with her at some point."
Grissom turned slowly to Catherine, nodding as he went.
"Yeah, he would. Maybe he'll talk to us."
He left the room quickly, Warrick trailing behind. He opened the interview room door, and watched as James's faced registered recognition.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Gil Grissom, and Mr. Warrick Brown…" A small confident smile stretched across James's face as he crossed his arms and looked at Brass. "You really are lowering your standards as to who is allowed in the interview room."
Brass rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, well it started with you."
Brass stood back and allowed Grissom and Warrick to step forward. Warrick pushed his face in James's until they were almost an inch apart.
"Where is she?"
James shrugged.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Grissom pulled Warrick back, and decided to take the friendly matter-of-fact approach, despite the overpowering need to throw the guy against the wall and wring his neck.
"Mr James, we have had you positively identified by the neighbour who saw you leave with Sara, we have samples of blood and hair that belongs to Sara in a car registered to your name - which also contained some photos, and we have a witness who saw Sara in your truck with you as you left a 7/11. Care to explain?"
James shrugged and stared back at Grissom.
"Sara and I are in a relationship, and have been for a couple of months now. Of course people would have seen her with me. The blood and hairs probably came from a bit of rough and tumble we had in the car. And as for the pictures, well, what can I say? Sara liked playing this silly little game where I took pictures of her without being seen. She got off on it."
A sick grin was spread across the man's sweaty face, his lank greasy blonde hair falling into his eyes as he pushed his face inches from Grissom's, and his stale breath filling the CSI's nostrils.
"Does it piss you off that I got her before you? Made love to the one woman you could never have?"
Grissom kept his breathing even and his fists on his lap as he stared into the man's watery eyes.
"She has lowered her standards as to whom she's keeping company with," Grissom said venomously.
James smiled again, this time revealing missing teeth cavities.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. She's a beautiful woman. Body to die for. And energy, let me tell you."
Grissom swallowed heavily, the pulse in his temple increasing with every breath.
"Care to tell us about what happened with your ex-wife?"
The man's smile fell from his face, to be replaced with a scowl that swallowed his features.
"What did that evil whore tell you?"
"That you kidnapped her, shackled her to a wall, raped her, and then left her in the middle of the Nevada desert."
"I got charged with rape, not the kidnapping. They never found any proof of that."
"Yeah well they didn't have us to solve the case. Where is she?"
James's self confidence returned, the smile again finding its place on the man's sweaty face.
"Sara told me how you are socially retarded, how you have nothing but your bugs to keep you company in the big lonely rock that is planet Earth. You know that that is so extremely sad, that you - a red-blooded man - could not see Sara. I saw her and now we are in love - a love that cannot be broken up by some jealous bug-man. I can understand though, her body is just so… I don't think there are words for just how good she is."
Grissom stood up and slowly left the room, allowing Warrick and Brass to step forward to finish the interview. He could feel the bile rising in his throat. He walked quickly to the males' bathroom, vomiting into the pristine toilet bowel. A knock on the swing door to the men's room made him raise his head.
"Grissom, it's me, is it safe?"
Catherine's voice filled the empty room.
"Yep."
Catherine moved into the room, leaned against the stall doorframe, and looked at Grissom sitting on the floor.
"He got to all of us. Don't beat yourself up."
Grissom ran his fingers through his dishevelled hair.
"I need you to remind me Catherine. I need you to remind me that I can do this… that we can do this. Because right now I am running on the last of my reserves."
Catherine went over to the sink and started running the cold water, putting some paper towels under the stream.
"We are doing this for Sara. You need to be strong, otherwise we have lost - despite having gotten so close."
She handed the cold, wet paper towels to Grissom, who placed them onto the back of his neck, sighing slightly.
"Thank you. Did he say anything when I left?" Grissom stood, moving to the sink.
"Nope. He was just mocking Warrick. The drugs have made him worse than he was before, that much is certain. He seems so confident that he and Sara were together."
Grissom ran the cold tap, throwing some water onto his face before he answered.
"Yeah, well, they aren't. All we need is this guy to tell us where Sara is."
Catherine leaned against the wall of the bathroom, arms crossed.
"He left her somewhere, that's certain. The question is just where?"
Sara was worried. She hadn't heard the man's footsteps for a while, and the drink that came with the McDonalds was long gone. She had heard a car leave quite a while ago, and it left at quite a speed. The tray was still sitting in front of her, where the man had left it when he had exited in a hurry. Sara had decided that it must all be a ploy - her team had not stopped searching for her. There was no way that any of them would let that happen. Not in a million years. Still, it was hard to stay confident sitting in the dark, shackled and bleeding with no chance of escape.
Fatigue was setting in and her body felt heavy and weak. She was so thirsty it made her head spin. Her lips were cracked and dry, and she felt like this was it. The end was nigh, and she was in no way ready for it.
"So why were you speeding?" Brass had taken his place back in front of the man, Warrick beside him.
James shrugged.
"Things to do. You know how it is."
Brass placed an evidence bag in front of him, the bag containing two gold rings.
"Do these have anything to do with the speed?"
James looked at the rings for a second, anger flashing over his face before his calm reverie returned.
"Two rings. Why is that evidence?"
Brass shrugged.
"You tell us. Where were you the time of Sara's disappearance?"
James sat back in his seat, his arms crossed.
"At home."
Brass nodded and glanced at the glass mirror.
"And where do you live?"
James smirked.
"I just moved, I don't know the address by heart yet."
Brass looked at Warrick then nodded at the mirror. Within moments, both Nick and Catherine had entered the room, taking their place, standing beside Warrick. Brass looked at James, shaking his head.
"You chose the hard road. I do not pity you in the least."
Brass stood, inviting Catherine to take his chair, then he left the room.
"Well, if it isn't the great and mighty Catherine. Sara has told me so much about you."
Catherine glared at the man.
"Ok, let's cut to the chase," Catherine started. "You took Sara, where is she?"
James shook his head, ignoring the question. "You know that Sara is better than you? For one, she never was a stripper. And secondly, she at least will marry a man who loves her. Me."
Catherine raised her eyebrows at Nick and Warrick.
"Would you look at that, boys? Stalking Sara was not his only hobby."
Catherine made eye contact with the man again, narrowing her eyes in hatred. "So you did some research, big whoop. It will take more than that to affect us. So what were the rings for?" Catherine pushed the bag closer to the man, crossed her arms and waited.
"If you must know, before she disappeared, Sara agreed to marry me."
Catherine snorted loudly, a smirk on her face. "Yeah, right. Why would she marry you?"
The man gritted his teeth, and put his clenched fists on the table. "I'm a lot better then some people, bitch."
Catherine nodded, looking doubtfully at the man. "Oh yeah, you're a right catch. You know, drugging Sara and then dragging her from her own home proves that. Have I missed out, or what…" she finished rhetorically.
The man kept his fists on the table, clenching and unclenching them, grinding his teeth so loudly that even Warrick could hear it clearly.
"She was immoral. What I did was save her from that situation. I saved her soul. Do you imbeciles not see that? I saved her because I love her and she loves me."
His voice was low, but everybody in the room picked up what he said. Catherine leaned forward slightly, her interest peaked.
"So you saved her. You know where she is, don't you?"
James frowned and glared at Catherine, teeth still grinding.
"If I did, why tell you? You will take her out of the safety and back into the bad world."
Catherine sighed and swapped looks with Nick and Warrick. She sat back as Nick moved over to James' side and leaned close to his ear.
"You need to tell us where Sara is, or else we may lose our tempers. And I'm sure that neither of us wants that to happen."
James shrugged.
"Hurting me will get you nowhere. You want Sara? Find the person who took her."
Warrick leaned forward.
"We did, and it's you. If you didn't take her, then why is all the evidence pointing to you?"
James shrugged, a slick smile blooming on his thin lips.
"Your evidence is all just circumstantial. Sara and I were in a relationship, so a person seeing us together is no big deal. And I already told you about the blood."
Warrick stood behind Catherine, pacing slightly, clenching and unclenching his fists. He was trying to contain his anger and keep from the killing the man. A few seconds later, James called his lawyer, and with no other evidence they had to let him go.
"So how long are we planning to follow him?"
Catherine's voice was low and uneasy as she shifted in the back seat behind Grissom, trying to make herself more comfortable.
"Until he goes home. Wherever that may be."
Grissom's voice was calm, his eyes never wavered from the supermarket entrance that James had just walked through, as though scared to miss him leaving again. They had been trailing him for a good couple of hours, relying heavily on the fact that he was stupid enough to return to Sara right away. If he didn't go back or if he had killed her, there was nothing they could do.
Silence fell in the vehicle again. The air conditioning's low hum sounding loud and violent. Sometime later, James left the supermarket, arms loaded with bags, and hopped into his truck. Grissom kept three cars behind James on the road, ensuring no detection. They drove for a good two hours until the roads became empty, the city and noise left far behind. They parked well away from the house that James had just entered, hiding behind trees and shrubbery.
Song: Waiting For Magic – Ace of Base