Entreaty
By: Manigault
Chapter 21
Wow. This was a long time coming. My thanks to those who are still sending me emails asking about this story and my apologies for waiting so long to get new chapters out there. I didn't want to send it out until it was finished and I didn't want to send it out without it being beta read. Thanks for anyone who still cares about reading this, trust me it is appreciated!
Thank you Donna!
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Sara closed the door to the breakroom, leaving the two men alone to handle the situation in the best way they could, with the most privacy she could give them. Facing her co-workers she gave them each a tight smile before looking pointedly at Catherine.
"Walk with me to see Doc Robbins?"
They walked along the corridor towards Albert Robbins domain. Before Sara could open her mouth to make her request, Catherine spoke. "I'm not going to say anything about you and Gil to anyone, Sara." The smile that she gave her allowed Sara some measure of relief. "I know how hard it's going to be with all of the rumors circulating about you and Gil; these long lost brothers, the two of you alone in the desert. There is enough inuendo without my adding to the rumor mill."
"Thanks, Cath." Sara told her with sincerity before asking the next question that was on her mind. "So, you didn't say anything at all to Warrick when you folded up the tent?"
"Ah, no." Catherine got a funny look in her eyes and shook her head. "Warrick is a smart man. You know what? I think that I'll go have a talk with him. Don't worry, I won't tell what I know."
Sara watched her dash off and felt a tinge of apprehension. Shaking it off, she braced herself for the next confrontation. Pushing the door open, she greeted him with as much calmness as she could muster, "Hey Doc."
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Grissom felt the tension in his jaw spread along the side of his neck as it climbed its way to his brain where the nerve endings began pounding in horrific ripples of pain. "Tom, what are you talking about? What could you have done to prevent this?"
"Kyle called me several months ago, concerned about Andy. He didn't know what to do and asked me for advice." Tom recalled the conversation with pain that echoed in his words. "I was busy and told him that I would call him back when I returned from a trip overseas. When I arrived back home a month later, I did call him, but Kyle brushed me off, said everything was cool."
"You couldn't have known how serious any of this was." Grissom said with genuine emotion. "Andy is a teenager and from what I know of that age group they're continually going through rough times. When you called back, Kyle must have felt everything was fine."
Nervous energy drove Tom from his seat where he paced around the breakroom. "Everything wasn't fine. Nothing will ever be fine again, will it, Gil?"
What could he say? Grissom had found and lost a half brother that he had not known even existed. Tom had not only known Kyle, but he had protected and loved the man for decades. "We can concentrate on finding who did this to him." Grissom finally said as he stood up from the chair and tried to catch Tom's eyes. "We can continue the search for Andy."
This last comment stopped Tom in his tracks. "What if Andy did this to Kyle?" Tom asked with sudden awareness. "What if he shot Kyle over drugs and then ran away?"
Grissom did not care for the wild look he now saw in Tom's eyes or the way his mannerisms were changing from grieving brother to furious uncle. "Then Andy would have had to have help from someone. He did not take the car, and unless he took off at a run into the desert, where did he go?" He wanted to tell this man that Andy was a kid who loved his dad and that he would never do something to his own father, but Grissom lived in the real world, a world in which kids did do the most horrible things for the most ridiculous reasons. Nothing surprised him.
"If he took off into the desert, then we probably will never find him." Tom continued. He cleared his throat and looked nervous again. "I would like to see Kyle."
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When Sara stepped into the room, she found that Doc Robbins was not alone, David was standing beside him and they both stood beside Kyle Gile's body.
"David." Sara greeted the younger man before she turned to face Doc Robbins. "What have you discovered?"
Robbins smiled warmly in her direction. He let his eyes flicker over her, taking in the wrinkled clothes and worn out expression. The grape vine had moved quickly and everyone was talking about Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom out in the desert in a tent. He glanced at the man on the table and lifted his eyes back up to Sara.
"He was shot. Once, but once was enough. It was a penetrating shot." He held up a container where a lone bullet rolled around, clacking against the sides. Before he could explain any further, the door swung open admitting Grissom and Tom.
"Doc found a bullet." Sara nodded towards the evidence.
Tom walked up to the table and reached out one hand to touch the still man's blond hair. Shivers assaulted him and his body began to shake with emotion. Grissom exchanged anxious looks with Sara and doubted his own decision to allow Tom into this room.
Deciding to distract the attention from the grieving man, he asked Doc Robbins for any other evidence. The question appeared to do the trick, because Tom's chin snapped up and he squared his shoulders as he took in Doc Robbins response.
"The bullet entered in the front, about here," he pointed to a barely noticable spot. "Your guys will have to determine the angle of entry, but I can tell you that it was not straight on and it was from some distance."
"Someone aiming from a plane?" Sara theorized.
"The shooter was either very lucky or he was an excellent shot," Doc Robbins went on to describe the direction of the bullet, before looking at the stranger next to Grissom. "He felt no pain."
Tom frowned and said with a furious calm. "He felt pain. He felt pain weeks before the bullet struck."
TBC