Chapter Eleven
6:00pm
Grissom woke up and slowly stretched. He was alone, but felt a calm that wasn't present before. He used the bathroom, washed his hands, and then slipped on a sweater and a pair of sweats. Walking down the stairs, he noted that he could only see Sara, curled up in the comfy chair by the stereo.
"Hi," she said, looking up at him.
"Hi, where is everybody?" Grissom replied, turning on the stereo and flipping to a blues CD by Eric Clapton.
"Roger is having dinner with your mother. The boys are outside. They felt we needed some time alone."
Grissom nodded thoughtfully. He walked back to the sofa and sat down, putting his feet up on the coffee table.
"How are you feeling? Ready to eat anything?" she asked, standing.
"Yeah, I guess." He said, leaning his head back on the sofa.
Sara walked over to him and sat down gently, careful not to bounce on the sofa. She reached for his hand and kissed it. He took a breath and hesitated as if unsure whether he should speak.
"You know, he spoke to me," Grissom said, looking to the ceiling, feeling her hand on his.
"Who?"
"Kevin, when I set him down. He said, 'kill them or you're as good as dead'. Then he passed out."
"I'm so sorry, Griss," she said, sliding her arm around his shoulders.
He blinked and tears streamed back to his ears. She reached her right hand to his face and turned it to her. She kissed his cheek gently.
"We'll get through this. One day at a time. Okay? Now, how about some plain pasta?" Sara said, trying to cheer him up.
"Okay," Grissom said, sitting up slightly with her help and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Great, oh and would you read your paperwork from Paul, please? I think you have to take your medication, soon." She said, heading to the kitchen.
"Where is it?" He asked, standing.
"On the breakfast bar, near the new phone,"
Grissom walked over to the breakfast bar and stood still for a moment, looking at the new phone and his old answering machine. Suddenly, the phone rang, startling the two of them. He picked up the phone and hit the blue button.
"Grissom,"
"Hey man, how are you feeling?" Jim asked.
"Tired and sore, what's up with you?"
"Nothing much, just chasing bad guys. Are you up for some company?"
"Sure, I'd like that. Just you though, okay? I'm not sure I can handle a lot of activity."
"No problem. I can't either. I just need to talk and unwind."
"I think I still have a full bottle of Jameson's in reserve for you. I'll see you when you get here. Oh, you may want to tell Seb you're coming over. It's like Fort Knox here." Grissom said.
"Good point, thanks, I'll do that. See you later."
"Bye,"
"Bye,"
Grissom hit the red button and set the phone back in its cradle. He picked up the sheet and started to read.
"Is Jim coming over?" Sara asked, adding the pasta to the boiling water.
"Yeah, he sounded a little edgy. I think he just wants a safe place to have a drink, talk, and sleep."
"He gets the sofa, Griss. Please, I want you to get some more sleep. Paul was very specific that you are to be quiet and resting until Monday."
"I know, I will," Grissom said, trying hard to stifle a yawn.
"Andy wants you to call him as soon as you can."
"Okay, let me try to eat something, first,"
She smiled, leaning against the kitchen counter and examining his face. He had missed his last two haircuts and his curls were definitely present, especially when he hadn't showered and used his 'man mousse' as she called it. His beard needed a trim and his eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles below them. The timer rang and she drained the pasta. Putting a small amount of butter on his bowl of pasta, she grabbed a fork and set it in front of him.
"Thanks, may I have a bottle of water, please?" he said, opening the pill bottles and tapping his allocation onto the countertop.
Sara opened the fridge and pulled a bottle of water out for him. She grabbed her bowl and began to add some leftover Chinese vegetables. Finally, she walked to the breakfast bar and sat with him, handing him his water. He opened it and tossed the pills into his mouth, chasing them with the water. Slowly, he began to eat the rotelli, one corkscrew at a time. Sara finished in her normal record time. Grissom had eaten half and then stopped. He massaged his temples with his fingertips.
"Not another migraine?" Sara asked softly.
"No, I don't think so, but my head hurts nonetheless. I need to lie down." Grissom stood slowly and was momentarily dizzy.
Sara reached out to steady him and guided him to the sofa. He lay down and immediately curled up in a position that Sara had only seen when he was coming out of a migraine. It was seven o'clock. She did the dishes, saved his pasta and put it in the fridge before heading up the stairs to change the sheets and clean up the mess he made in the closet. She finished at eight thirty and took a long hot shower.
9:15pm
Sara walked down the stairs and was not surprised to see he hadn't moved an inch. She took the wool blanket and draped it over him before she picked up her office trappings and headed out to work.
"Dancer on the move to the lab," Sean intoned.
"Bugman at the townhouse,"
"Artist at the Hotel,"
10:30pm
The door opened as Jim let himself in, waving to Lenny, who had moved inside when Sara and Sean had left. He shut the door behind him, leaving it unlocked as the agents had reminded him to. He took off his jacket and draped it over the back of one of the dining room chairs. He slipped off his gun, holster, and handcuffs, setting them on the dining room table. He walked to the counter and leaned over to pull the Jameson's from the liquor cabinet. Setting the bottle on the breakfast bar, Jim retrieved a glass from the kitchen cabinet and dropped in two ice cubes. He poured a more than liberal amount into the glass and topped it with a splash of water. Walking back to the living room, he smiled, realizing that Grissom was awake.
"Hi," he said, slumping into the comfortable chair opposite him.
"Hi," Grissom said, still under the blanket, slowly sitting up.
Jim kicked off his loafers and put both feet on the coffee table. He unbuttoned his top two shirt buttons and pulled his loosened tie off. He took a long sip of his cocktail under Grissom's scrutiny.
"Spill it, you'll feel better," Grissom suggested softly.
"I'm not sure," Jim said, switching his position.
"Are you hungry? I can make you something."
"Gil, this is me. You don't have to entertain me. It's just, well, it's been a tough couple of days. I think you know, even though I don't say it much, but you're my best friend. Right now, I just need to be with you, okay?" Jim said, his breathing ragged.
"Yeah, no problem. I missed you, too." Grissom said, as he lay back under his blanket and fell asleep.
Thursday
3:30am
The phone rang and Grissom picked it up after the first ring, having been awake for three hours.
"Grissom."
"It's Seb. I need you and Jim, now. Drive northeast towards Moappa on 93, we'll intercept you. Bring my boys." Seb said.
"On our way," Grissom said, hanging up without saying goodbye.
"Jim? Jim? We need to meet Seb. Let me get dressed. You're driving. I have to get my kit, though." Grissom said, nudging his friend.
"Where're we going?" Jim asked sitting more upright and alert.
Lenny stood and pulled himself together.
"Towards Moappa. Brush your teeth, there's a new tooth brush in the bathroom. You smell like a distillery." Grissom said with a small smile.
Jim headed to the bathroom as Grissom headed upstairs to change. Five minutes later, he was downstairs, gathering his electronics. He opened the fridge and pulled out six bottles of water and put them in a small Igloo case. He added his migraine meds and his ulcer pills. As an afterthought, he grabbed his Cellos In the Mist CD.
"Ready?" Jim asked, putting on his holster, gun, and cuffs.
"Yeah, let's roll,"
Jim turned to him and grinned as they walked out to pick up Scott. Grissom pulled his kit from his car and set in near his feet in Jim's car. Lenny sat in the back seat with Grissom as Scott drove chase. Grissom handed the CD to Jim who put it in the player, and sat back in his seat, listening to the music. Thirty minutes later, they saw the flashing lights of their escorts. Twenty minutes after that, they were at the scene. Grissom had his game face on, but he wasn't totally focused until he saw Sara taking photos of the crime scene. He carried his kit, Jim at one side, Seb at the other, and approached the body. The mud from the nearby creek covered most of it. It was a female, there were bugs present, and her face was not. She was nude without any overt identifying marks.
Grissom stalked the body and got his mojo working, tuning out everything around him. Seb stood apart, watching, fascinated. Grissom intellectually processed the scene and then got to work. He noticed the markers that Sara had laid out for the evidence that she had already photographed. Sara stepped up to him and brought her kit. She had a half cup of coffee and a container with beef jerky ready to pick up his tiny rock and rollers. She smiled, remembering how he had named all of the beetles in a case previously; taking great care with the Fab Four. Quietly, he processed the scene and then he stopped. There was something about the body that disturbed him. He sat back on his heels and stared.
David arrived and pronounced the victim.
"I'd say twenty four hours, but there's not a lot to go on, here." He said.
"Thanks, David. The beetles will get us a more accurate timing." Grissom said in a soft monotone voice.
He lay the body bag on the ground and was just about to move the body with his assistant when Grissom stopped him. He knew. Jim walked over and stood next to Seb as Grissom turned the body gently. Sara took photos as Grissom wiped the drying mud from the nape of her neck, revealing a tattoo. It was a butterfly and on its wings were the initials, GG. Carefully, Grissom lowered the body back to the ground. He picked up his kit and headed to the car. Sara finished bagging the evidence and meticulously packed up her kit, following him at a distance to Jim's car. Grissom placed his kit on the hood and placed his hands on either side of it. He started to hyperventilate, leaning over to avoid passing out.
"I'm sorry," Jim said softly, standing next to him.
"Is this what you couldn't tell me?" Grissom said, wheezing.
"No,"
"He couldn't tell you that we ran a DNA test on her toothbrush and discovered that she was your half sister." Seb said.
"The tattoo," Grissom whispered, his breathing quieting.
"Was the symbol of your father's new company; the one he started after 9/11." Seb replied.
"She said she got it for me. She said she loved me. She showed it to me when I took her out to dinner. That's when I told her that I was in love with someone else."
"Griss, we need to get to the lab to process," Sara said, walking up to the three men, unaware that she was interrupting anything.
"Uhm, okay, just let me get my cooler and my kit," Grissom said, trying to regain some composure before reaching into Jim's car.
He straightened, picked up his kit, and followed Sara to her car. Putting his kit in the back, he opened up the igloo and took out his ulcer meds and a bottle of water. Tapping out the pills into his hand, he took a mouthful of water, and drank them down. Sara started the car and waited for him to pack up his cooler. He closed the hatch and walked to the passenger side. Getting in, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning awkwardly, he faced Jim.
"Here's your cellos. Take it easy," he warned.
Grissom tried to smile but he couldn't. Pulling the door shut, he put the CD in the player, adjusted his shoulder harness, and slightly reclined his seat as Sara drove to the lab. Lenny and Scott drove chase, as did Sean.
4:45am
He opened his eyes when they pulled into the parking lot. He raised his seat, undid his harness, and got out. Walking to the back, he pulled his kit and cooler from the car. They walked into the building and went straight to an open lab. Sean followed silently with Lenny, who stood outside the lab door while Scott stayed with the car. Wordlessly, Grissom started with his bugs as Sara set up the cork board for him to pin his samples to. When he had everything set up, he turned to her.
"Can you watch for a little bit? I have to go talk to Doc,"
"Sure,"
He pulled off his gloves and walked up to her, hugging her intensely.
"It was Sofia. Apparently she was my half-sister." He said softly into her ear.
She pulled him to her tighter.
"I'm so sorry, Gil." She whispered back, her emotions now in turmoil.
They held each other for several minutes, until he felt he could walk down the hallway without tears. He broke away from her and headed out of the lab. Lenny followed discretely. Grissom walked down the stairs and heard a noise in Al's office. He vectored towards it and walked in. Al was sitting on his stool, his right prosthetic leg on his workbench.
"Hi," Al said, leaning over with an electric screwdriver in his hand.
"Hi, uhm, did David bring in my db?" Grissom asked softly, distracted by the mechanics of the leg.
"Yeah, but until I can fix this, I can't stand." Al said, frustrated.
Grissom walked up to him and took a look. He saw the problem and five minutes later, Doc had reattached his leg and stood.
"Thanks, Gil. Let's go take a look." He said, heading for the door.
Grissom reached out his hand and stopped him. Al turned and looked at his friend. The pain on his face was inescapable.
"What's happened?"
"It's Sofia," Grissom replied.
"Jesus," Al said, dropping his glasses to his chest and rubbing his eyes.
"I need to know cause of death. I…I can't be with you on this. I'm doing a regression upstairs. I'll let you know." Grissom said, not able to meet his look.
"What aren't you telling me?" Al said, putting his glasses back on and peering over them at him.
"Seb did a DNA analysis. She's my half-sister." Grissom said.
"Aw, shit, Gil. I'll take care of her. Is Sara upstairs?" Al asked, setting his hands on Grissom's shoulders.
Grissom nodded.
"Okay, if she's monitoring your regression, why don't you go up to your office and stretch out on the sofa. You don't look so good."
"Yeah, I think I'm getting another migraine, my head's killing me." Grissom said, walking out of the office and heading upstairs, his boy in tow.
Doc picked up the phone and called Steven.
"CSI, Steven speaking,"
"Steven, it's Doc Robbins. What lab is Sara working in?"
"Sara and Grissom are in Lab 4. Would you like me to transfer the call?"
"Please," Doc said, shifting his weight.
"Sidle,"
"Hi, Gil was just down here. I'm sorry about Sofia, Sara."
"Thanks, Doc." She replied automatically.
"You may need to hold down the fort a little longer. He looks like crap and admitted that he may be getting a migraine. He's headed to the office."
"Okay, thanks, I'll go check on him." Sara said, picking up his igloo and walking out of the lab to Grissom's office.
Doc Robbins hung up the phone and headed towards the autopsy room. He gowned and walked in, surprised to see a man looking at Sofia's body.
"Hi, brother,"
"Hi, A.J., what a mess," Seb remarked.
"Yeah, Grissom told me. Are you sitting in on this?"
"If you don't mind. Sara and Grissom are doing a test on some bugs found at the scene and Jim is finishing up at the scene."
"For the record, Sara is tracking the linear regression. Grissom is probably passed out from a migraine in his office."
"Just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Seb commented bitterly.
Doc looked at his brother and then started his exam.
"Female victim, approximate age, thirty-one. Extensive damage to the facial tissue. Gunshot wounds to the right occipital bone, exiting out the nose."
"Double tapped?" Seb asked.
"Yes, but the caliber is bigger than that which killed Mr. Grissom." Doc answered before resuming his exam.
"Continuing, no identifying marks or scars on the shoulders. Navel ring, appendectomy scar, help me roll her onto her stomach,"
"Wait, A.J., what's that?" Seb said, looking at what was in her mouth.
Doc took a pair of tweezers and probed the mouth tissue until he saw what Seb had glimpsed. He withdrew a printed silk scarf. He held it up to exam it. It was black, with a red dragon in the center. Doc shifted his glance to the extremities and saw no sign of restraints.
"I'm reserving judgment, but I may be changing cause of death. It may have been suffocation, not gunshot wounds that killed her."
"The scarf may be enough to tie it to Kang. That's his company emblem." Seb said, pulling off his gown.
"You done, here?" Doc asked, looking over his glasses.
"Yeah, I need to check with Sara, and tell her about the scarf so she can assign someone to fume it, if it's possible."
"Okay, well, changing gears, we're looking forward to having you to the house for dinner, little brother."
"Soon, A.J., as soon as this case wraps, I'm going to come and camp out in your guest room for a week," Seb smiled.
"Excellent, good hunting,"
"Thanks," Seb said, walking out of the autopsy room and heading for the stairs.
As Sara turned the corner with Sean in her wake, she saw Grissom unlocking his door. She walked quickly and easily caught up with him before he could shut the door. He continued into his office and sat down heavily on the sofa, leaning his head back on the cushions. She set the igloo on the table and opened it. He had put in his mild strength migraine medication and she hoped it would suffice. She took a pill out and set it in his hand. He swallowed it dry and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he was out, his mouth slack. She untied his shoes and carefully repositioned him into a reclined position on his side. She turned on his desk lamp and turned off the fluorescents and then sat at his desk. There was a stack of messages in his in box. Sighing, she took them and started to sort them into piles. She stopped when she saw the first message from the cemetery, confirming Mr. Grissom's interment for Thursday at 3pm. Setting that aside, she continued. Suddenly, her phone rang.
"Sidle,"
"It's Roger, where are you?"
"I'm at work. Can you head over and stay with Grissom?"
"What's wrong? Where is he?"
"Passed out in his office from a migraine. I can't leave him alone and I have a time-sensitive test I have to monitor."
"I'm on my way as soon as I call a cab,"
"Thanks," Sara said, hanging up her phone absently.
She stood up and walked to Grissom's side. Leaning over, she kissed him, feeling his hot skin on her lips. She straightened and walked out of the office.
"He's sleeping off a migraine. Roger is on his way to stay with him. Would you wait for him inside?" She asked Lenny.
"All right," he replied, stepping into the office.
Sara and Sean walked back to Lab 4. As they neared its door, Seb walked around the corner.
"Hi, boss," Sean said, in a casual tone.
"Hi, Sean, Sara. We found a silk scarf shoved down Sofia's throat. It has Kang's logo on it. I left it with A.J. Can you assign someone to check it for prints?" Seb asked.
"Sure, I think Greg is available, although I'm not sure what we can find, the viscosity and such." Sara said, reaching for her phone.
"Sanders,"
"Hi, Greg, are you in the building?"
"Yeah, I'm in the break room. What's up?"
"Can you go see Doc and pick up a silk scarf? I need anything you can get off of it." Sara said, trying to distance herself.
"Sure, Sara, no problem. Have you seen Ecklie?"
"No, I haven't, thanks, Greg," she said, suddenly thinking.
"You're welcome, bye."
"Bye," she replied, closing her phone.
"Did you guys track down Ecklie?" Sara asked, walking back to the table, and gloving up.
"He's disappeared. We've had a man on his apartment since this whole thing began."
5:45am
Roger walked into the lab building and straight to reception.
"Hi, I'm Roger McAllister,"
"Yes, Mr. McAllister, Sara told me to expect you. Grissom's in his office. Please wear this ID badge. His office is down the hallway to the end take a right and he's at the end. There should be an FBI agent floating around there."
"Yes, that would be Lenny, thanks," Roger said, slipping his ID badge and lanyard over his head.
He headed down the hallway and in short order walked into Grissom's office. Lenny waved to him and left the room. Grissom was asleep on the sofa, his Igloo on the floor by his shoes. The light was on at his desk, so Roger walked around and sat down. He looked at the stacks of messages and started to sort them. He too came across the phone message from the cemetery, reconfirming the time of interment. Looking beyond the computer monitor to Grissom's darkened sleeping form; he knew that he needed to reschedule this. He set that message aside and plowed through the rest until he came to a message from two days ago.
Tuesday 9:02am
Christopher Kang
Bellagio Hotel Suite 2550
Roger dug into his jacket pocket and found the slip of paper with Seb's number on it. Picking up the phone, he dialed.
"Robbins,"
"Hi, it's Roger McAllister."
"You're up kind of early,"
"Yeah, Sara's doing some experiment and Grissom is sleeping off another migraine."
"Where are you?"
"At his office, at the lab," Roger replied. "Look, I was organizing his messages and I came across one from Christopher Kang dated Tuesday. He's staying at the Bellagio, suite 2550."
"Thanks, we actually found that out when we dumped Sofia's phone records."
"Okay, just wanted to make sure you knew that." Roger said, slightly hurt.
"Thanks, again, Roger, really. I'm sorry, I need to get some sleep."
"Yeah, me too, night,"
"Night,"
Roger put the phone in its cradle and finished sorting the messages. He put his legs up on the desk and carefully lay back in the chair.
