The Calvary
Las Vegas 1:32 p.m.
There was a thin layer of white powder around the trim of the room. At first, Lindsey had thought it might have been flecks of paint, or perhaps rat poison. "Mad"ison had informed her that it was actually limestone powder, apparently, it kept the cellar cool or free from rodents, or something. Lindsey hadn't actually listened when the woman was talking, she'd been looking at the door she'd come through. There was not a knob on her side, but there was on the outside, along with a bolt and what looked like a chain as well. So kicking down the door was not an option. Okay, so that had never been an option. She didn't even weigh a full hundred pounds, but the idea of kicking down the door was satisfying.
Lindsey had gone beyond terror; this whole ordeal took her right back to her Daddy's car on that God-Awful night in the culvert. Then she'd cried like a baby, she didn't want to die. Then she'd moved on to anger and she'd stayed there. Had Sam been there, he'd probably have said that she was too much of a Willows to not be mad. She knew that her Mom was looking for her. So was Warrick and Nicky, Greggo, Mr. Grissom and even Sara. All she had to do was keep the crazy woman calm long enough for them to find her. In her weaker hours, she lamented that they would never find her on time, that she would end up just another picture on the wall.
One of the walls had pictures on it, all in matching frames, all lined up like soldiers. Lindsey recognized some of the girls, they'd been from Vegas. Others she did not. All she knew about them was that they too had blonde hair and blue eyes. There were all dressed alike, in white dresses with black shoes...and in the pictures, they were all dead. They lay on the frilly bed, the one that she refused to sleep on, with their necks cut and their eyes wide open in terror.
The pictures, while they were the centerpiece of the room's decorations, were not the only things to look at. Stuffed animals took up one whole corner of the room. She had, for a brief moment, thought about hiding herself in them, but had disregarded that idea quickly when she'd found a big red stain on one of the teddy bears, it had been blood. She'd not touched the animals again. There were some books, but none that really appealed to her, and none heavy enough to use as any kind of weapon. Most of them were old text books, like from the fifties old. Dick and Jane shit. "See Spot run..." and all that good jazz. Pieces of cross-stitching was framed up everywhere. Old sayings like "Home is Where the Heart Is" and lists of good behavior. Scenes of little girls in big frilly dresses sitting up straight and obeying their parents. It was like a warped After School Special. This woman was, Lindsey decided, Mary Poppins minus the Prozac, catchy tunes and weird accent.
LVPD Crime Lab 1:45 p.m.
Dr. Parker, flanked by two local FBI agents, burst through the door and breezed past the receptionist. She headed back through the halls, her heel clicks echoed off the glass walls, warning all that she was on her way.
She knew where they were going to be. The conference room was packed with CSIs and detectives. A case board had pictures all over it, the table was littered with files, notes and empty Chinese take-out. Heads snapped up as she entered. Sofia, mouth and hands full, looked at her, blue eyes confused. She swallowed her food and took a sip of the soda at her elbow. "Cami?" Grissom was right behind her, "Dr. Parker?" She looked at them both, "These are Agents Yaris and Pascall, I called in a favor." She threw the folder full of faxes the Las Vegas Field Office had just received. "There are eight more murders, same M.O. from Carson City and DC. I've not investigated it, but I'll bet the bank that Daniels did these too."
Sofia paged through the files. "If the Feds try for the warrant, they'll get it a lot faster then any of us" She motioned to herself, Vega and Brass, "Could ever dream of." Nick, who was sitting at the table, his eyes locked on the girls who's faces decorated the board spoke up. "Sara was right the whole time, wasn't she?" Grissom nodded and looked to Cambridge. "So the FBI is officially involved now?" The raven haired PhD nodded, "I put in the call, wait, Assistant Director Johnson didn't call you?" Heads all around the table shook.
One of the agents, the over-muscled Pascall, cleared his throat. "Well he talked to someone, a CSI. Sawyer or something, Sickle or Saydee."
Sofia's blue eyes met Cambridge's green one and a sudden and terrible realization hit them. "Sara. Sara Sidle." The other agent, a smaller, darker man, shrugged, "Sounds right."
Greg, who had been quiet up till that point, stood. "You guys don't think that Sara..." Sofia had her hand covering her mouth, unable to fully process the horrible thoughts that flashed through her mind. She couldn't find a voice to scream with. Cambridge, shaking slightly, slid into a seat, she spoke with a low and shaky voice. "Oh God. She wouldn't. Oh God...Yes, yes, she would. In a heartbeat."
A new voice came from the doorway. Raspy with tears and grief, it echoed through the horror struck room like a scream. "I just got this." A very pale Catherine Willows handed her cell phone to an equally pallid Grissom. There was a single text message on the screen. "I FOUND HER. SEND SWAT TO DANIELS."
Captain Jim Brass ran his hand over his face. "Oh Jesus." There was a moment of horrified silence and then, Grissom stood. "Go. Now." No one had ever heard Gil Grissom sound so terrified and determined.
Guilt, fear, and hope shot through the gathered group's veins along with the adrenaline as they began to move. They were working against the clock, racing certain death itself. They were going to combat one of the demons that preyed on the innocent. They were on a crusade to rescue two of their own from the bowls of a hell that had been hidden and protected by the very city they fought for.
Author's Note: I was going to have this up earlier, but my apartment complex lost power which sent the server haywire and it's just now been fixed.
Aaaaand the race is on, very exciting stuff.
I meant to put this last chapter, but was rather rushed and forgot. Melissa Winters (No relation to Nadine Winters) is from episode 3x14: One Hit Wonder. The quote is from her closing statements at a trial shown during the first half of the episode, good stuff. I hope to, one day, go back and take a look at her closer look at Melissa Winters. All in good time, I suppose.
Speaking of quotes, "Mad"ison was the brilliant brainchild of HoneyLynx86 and "Mary Poppins off Prozac" comes from the wonderful icklebitodd. Both were just far too humorous and dead-on not to use.