Disclaimer: Alas not mine in any way, shape or form.
AN: Thank you all for your R&R. This was a difficult chapter to write, but your support and encouragement kept me going. Additionalthank yous to my wonderful reviewers is located at the end.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The case file was spread out on the table. Standing at the door Gil Grissom took a minute to observe his crew unnoticed. The strain he felt was mirrored in the familiar faces sitting around the table. Catherine's appearance was the one that surprised him most. Her red hair was pulled back into a pony tail, most of her makeup had worn off and her clothes were rumpled. Over the years he'd used her appearance to gauge how his friend and the rest of the team were handling stress. She hadn't looked this bad even towards the end of Nick's ordeal. It was obvious that the team was worried about their friend and that the case wasn't going well.
Nick was the first to notice Grissom enter the break room. "How is she boss?" The Texan was trying to keep his own anxiety under control, but it was difficult. It seemed like everyone was constantly watching him, asking him how he was holding up. He wondered if they were waiting to see if he'd crack under the pressure of Sara's ordeal thinking that it was bringing back his own. He wanted to scream at them that it wasn't the same.
Watching Sara trapped in the cell was definitely worse, because he kept wishing it was the roles were reversed so that Sara was safe and sound. He remembered her quiet admission one night that she thought he was the strong one, because she couldn't imagine lasting that long. She had an aversion to being trapped that had only gotten worse since her encounter with Adam Trent at the Mental Hospital.
Nick tried not to glance at his watch, but found his eyes locked on the watch face. His brain not really noticing the time because he was occupied with not counting how many hours she'd been gone, or how many she had left. In the coffin the time had seemed endless. One long moment sliding into the next. The only break at first when he was thrust into darkness or light by turns. Now though he was acutely aware of the passage of time.
Like the others Nick chafed under the normal case delays. The finding and processing evidence, waiting for tests to run and following up leads was incredibly frustrating. He'd noticed even David Hodges was oddly silent as he examined and re-examined every piece of evidence looking for even the smallest clue that the first four examinations had missed. During the inevitable wait he tried not to think Sara's time running out, but it was never far from his mind and neither was his silent prayer for her safe return.
"The water's reached the bed." Grissom answered in a quiet voice, that was raspy from emotion. He didn't sit at the table, he wasn't sure how long he would be staying. Just being away this long was started to wear on his nerves, but he wanted to supervise the investigation as well. He needed to be part of the team trying to find her. "So what do we have?"
"The cloth we found at the bottom of the trap did test positive for ether, but other than that we didn't get much usable evidence from either house." Greg was drawn, pale and his hair looked like he'd been running his fingers through it. Grissom thought Sara would be proud of her protégé, the professionalism he was maintaining under the emotional strain. Grissom nodded, he hadn't really expected to get anything, their initial processing had been pretty thorough.
"After talking to the neighbors we discovered that the first house was recently sold. So I ran the title and called up the realtor to see what she could tell us based on the disclosure laws. She said nothing unusual every happened there, but that the other one was the scene of a double murder about twelve years ago." Nick flipped open his notes. "The remains of a woman and her infant son were found sealed behind a false wall in the garage. The husband was convicted, served eight years of a death sentence, but was released when DNA evidence exonerated him."
Catherine tapped her pen against her lips, her face a study in concentration. "I remember that case, it was one of the first we worked on Grissom. Steven Ray said he didn't do it. I think his alibi couldn't be verified and the circumstantial evidence was very convincing. During an appeal they re-tested some of the blood evidence using PCR and matched it to someone else."
"So we have a suspect. Good job Nicky."
"I'll have dispatch run Steven Ray see what we can get on him, like his last address and place of employment." Brass stepped away from the room a little to make his phone call.
"What about the cassette tape?"
"Still working on it, but so far nothing. It sounds clean. I'm also looking at recent homicides for a link to the girl, but nothing yet." Warrick tapped the stack of files sitting in front of him.
"Ecklie offered some of the staff from other shifts, let's get them in here to help with that." Catherine's eyes and nostrils flared in surprise, but she didn't say anything. It was highly uncharacteristic for him to ask or accept Ecklie's help.
Brass walked back in, "Last residence and employment are the same place. The information is about two years old. Apparently he's very familiar with The Black Velvet Motel and room 17."
"Isn't that the same room our package was found in?" Catherine nodded her reply to Gil's question. "So we need to find this guy."
"Since then he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth." Brass snapped his phone closed. "No forwarding address, no known associates and his family is all out of state.
"Cath I want you and Nick to review the original Ray case file. Maybe you'll find a lead about how this guy thinks and any leads where he might go. Greg what do you have on the water?"
"Water company says they don't know where the water's coming from they don't show any usage spikes that you'd expect for filling a room like that. The engineer I talked to say it could be pumped from a well, a pool or a large body of water like Lake Mead."
"So no leads there. Damn." Grissom exited the room unable to face his team and their fear any longer. He walks past the AV Lab and into his silent and dark office. The room brought him no comfort it only heightened his feelings of frustration and anger as memories arose unbidden of Sara leaning against the door jam with a smile or a question.
"Are you contacting her family?" Catherine hadn't leaned in the doorway, but just followed him in.
"I don't think she'd appreciate that when we find her."
"Is that what's best for Sara or best for you?"
"Catherine in all the years we've worked with Sara how much has she shared with you, me or the guys about her past, about her family? In the last ten years she's mentioned her mother, father and brother less than half a dozen times to me. Has she even mentioned them that often to the rest of you?" His back was to her, so he didn't see her shock. She'd known Sara was private, but until that minute hadn't realized exactly how private.
"Did any of us even notice that she doesn't celebrate any holidays? She works all of them, doesn't take vacations and rarely talks about anything other than work." It was only now as he voiced his thoughts out loud that he realized something. Years ago he'd told Warrick that he was a Ghost in high school. That when Grissom left the Crime Lab he'd just be gone, there'd be no goodbye party. Suddenly he realized that Sara was also a ghost, that she'd been slowly dying before his eyes for the last five years and no one had noticed.
Closing his eyes he promised himself, Sara and the God of his childhood that if only she was returned safe, he'd make sure that her life was different. He'd enlist the others to help her find a life outside law enforcement. Making sure the whole team would get to know Sara the person, not just CSI Sidle.
The knock on the door interrupted the conversation. "Uhm hmm." Archie stood in the doorway and cleared his throat. "Dr. Robbins wants you in the AV Lab. He thinks he has a lead."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Thanks for the encouragement, your kind words keep me smiling and writing even when the story seems to be stalled.
AnMaDeRoNi, anonymous01, bene, Cherrydrops12, GSBS4L, jbr12476, Lanta, mariposa510, stvinny, tefla,
AnMaDeRoNi: I considered your request for NSR, but it just didn't seem to fit this story. I hope you'll keep reading though.
