A/N - This was one of the hardest stories to write. It was based on a true one that I read in the paper only all of the little gir;s died, all of them met a very disturbing end. I wanted to put a bit more of a positive spin on it. As disturbing as it was to write, i still enjoyed getting to explore the darker side of the Greg and the softer side of Catherine as well as the friendship between Sara and Grissom. I hope thatI suceeded in doing this.
Chapter Four – A Girl Like You
Grissom didn't pay much attention as Sara and Catherine entered his office, not until Catherine spoke loudly as if he was senile and slightly deaf.
"Susan Fuller."
Catherine was smiling widely at Grissom, her face relaxed and excited.
"Susan Fuller is married to Cameron Fuller, one of the men on Sara's list."
Grissom took a moment to take in the power that came from the duo that was Catherine and Sara before standing and taking his coat off the back of his seat.
"I believe it's time to pay our friend another visit."
Sara, Grissom, Catherine, Warrick and Greg all poured out of the vehicle, nerves pulled taunt. The house looked like every other that was in the neighbourhood, but Sara still felt that sense of unease she had felt when she had visited the house days earlier. She knew now why she had felt so uneasy. Brass was standing at the front door, his voice low as he talked to the CSI's.
"I got one officer in the back, one on each side of the house and others up the street ready to come on my signal. Get your guns out and be careful ok?"
They pulled out their guns without question, each CSI understanding the danger they were in with a thoughtless killer such as Cameron Fuller. And as room was cleared one by one, they all began to breathe again. The house, despite being large and elaborately furnished, was devoid of any kind of real human touches. The house was spotlessly clean, not a magazine or pair of shoes out of place.
"Ok guys, it's all yours."
Brass lead the policemen out with him, leaving the CSI's to do what they did best, settling for waiting outside. It was Greg who noticed the loose floorboard first, jumping on it lightly, with one foot then the other.
"Hey Cath, check out this floorboard."
Catherine came to stand beside Greg, watching as he showed her the loose wood. She helped him move the heavy Oriental rug that lay over it, pausing when they uncovered a wooden trap door.
"Ready Greg?"
Greg nodded his gun at the ready. Catherine pulled open the door by the heavy brass latch and found herself faced with another trap door, this one heavy and metal with a solid lock on it.
"Get the cutters Greg."
Greg was back in moments, the heavy tool in his hands. He helped Catherine cut the lock before setting them aside and getting his gun out again as they made their way down the narrow stairway that the trapdoor had revealed.
"Hello? This is the police."
Catherine's voice seemed to echo on forever, bouncing off the walls and low ceiling. Soon the steps ended and they were faced with something they had never seen before. The walls were covered in blood, some of the original grey coming through in spots, but otherwise it was completely red. In the very furtherest corner of the room was a heavily barred cage and inside that was a small pile of bodies, no sound or no movement to be seen or heard.
"Get Brass to call in those Medics Greg. NOW!"
Greg took a second to move through his shock before he bounded back up the steps, leaving Catherine to try and process the horror herself. Soon the room was filled with people and the girls on their way to the hospital, all twelve of them in a critical condition. After all the excitement of finding the girls, Catherine let out the breath that she felt like she had been holding for the last week, before sitting hard on the bottom step, her shoulders slumped forward. Greg came to sit beside her, the shock coming off him in almost visible waves.
"How many years did he get away with this? How many girls screamed andwent unheard?"
Catherine's voice was scratchy and weak and it was too late by the time she realised she was crying, the tears rolling hard and fast down her cheeks. She knew they weren't tears for herself, for Eden or even for the girls they just saved, they were for the girls that went unheard, the ones who slipped away without anyone noticing.
"We saved them Cath. He will never be able to hurt them again."
Catherine felt Greg's arm rest over her shoulders, trying to comfort her.
"We have to catch him first Greg."
"And we will. If it takes days, months or years, we will."
Catherine nodded, feeling a little better and a little embarrassed. Someone clearing their throat drew Catherine and Greg's attention back to the top of the stairs where Sara stood.
"He's going back to Manilla, we have to move now if we want to get him."
Greg helped Catherine up with a warm hand and felt the adrenaline make its way back into his blood stream as they made their way to the airport.
Thanks to the picture that Sara handed out on the way over, Catherine's sharp eyes spotted Cameron Fuller right away, sitting waiting for his flight to board. She pointed him out to Greg before coming to sit beside the large man, her stomach in her throat over what he had done. He looked nothing like a killer but then again killers ever really did look like what they were. He had slicked back hair, beady brown eyes and a pinstripe suit, the sweat bouncing off the collar.
"I bet you have a tattoo."
Catherine kept her eyes on the planes that were gliding in and out of the airport effortlessly despite their impossibly large weights.
"How the hell is that any of your business? Who the hell do you think you are?"
The man's voice was angry and Catherine could see his fat fists clench at his sides. Catherine kept her voice low and cold as she responded.
"Don't talk to me like that you sick piece of shit."
Catherine turned cold blue eyes on the now surprised man, her voice maintaining the cold calm that it had adopted.
"We found Susan and the other girls."
The man moved much quicker then Catherine was prepared for, his hand coming to her face pushing hard so that she toppled over to the seat next to her, running for all his life was worth. Greg didn't pause to see how Catherine was, knew that he didn't have a second to waste as he bounded after the man. Despite his large size, Cameron Fuller moved quickly through the crowds of people, trying to get Greg off his back by throwing objects behind him as he ran. Greg, thanks to his youth and lack of girth, was able to dodge o jump over the objects easily and was soon close enough to Cameron to tackle him to the ground, the large man's face kissing the ground with a satisfying crack. With a strength he didn't know he possessed, Greg pulled the man from the ground and slammed him against the near by wall. Cameron struggled fiercely and Greg gave him a sharp kick to the shins, making the man howl with anger and struggle more. He tried to take a swing at Greg but thanks to the cut above his eyes, the blood was making it difficult for him to see and he missed by miles and Greg felt another wave of anger come over him. He took the hand that had held Eden's gently only hours earlier and wrapped it tightly around the bigger man's throat. Cameron stopped struggling as Greg's grip became ever tighter, making the man's eyes squint and bulge.
"What you don't know how to hit anything except little girls and woman? Well guess what? Where you are going, all those things you did too those girls will be done to you. You will get raped and beaten over and over again."
Greg kept his grip tight, feeling his fingers sink further and further into the man's extra chin flesh.
"Greg, let him go. We got you covered."
Greg heard every single gun cock and heard the reassuring clank of handcuffs but somehow could not bring himself to let the man go.
"He was resisting arrest, I had to contain him."
Catherine's voice was in his ear, her hand lightly on his shoulder.
"We know and not one person will argue with that. Let him go so he can go to jail."
Greg peeled his fingers back slowly, watching as the man flopped on the floor weak from the lack of oxygen. He felt Catherine turn him away as police officers dragged Cameron roughly off the ground, felt her turn him into a quite corner away from the action and excitement. Catherine's hair was a little mussed but otherwise she looked none the worse from her encounter with Cameron, and Greg felt the anger slowly seep from him. It was then that he noticed the sore knees from tackling Cameron and the aching wrist and hand.
"You ok?"
Catherine's eyes were searching his, trying to gauge how he was. Greg nodded slowly, already feeling better but still surprised at the anger that had pushed him so far.
"I could not believe the anger I felt."
Catherine clasped his hand in her own, her face concerned.
"I know but you're back right?"
Greg nodded again, smiling as Catherine slung an arm over his shoulder.
"Good because we have a scene to process and histories to get on all those girls. After tonight, there is going to be a line of people wanting to buy you a drink."
Sara stood on the other side of the interview room, not quite able to bring herself to share the same breathing space as Cameron Fuller. Grissom had volunteered to do the interview and so he sat, his normally controlled self, across from Fuller, his hands flat against the table, the file open in front of him. Sara didn't have to see his face to know that anger and disgust dwelled in his blue eyes and that he had forced himself to leave it at the door for the sake of the case.
"So Mr Fuller, care to give us the small nitty gritty details?"
The man shrugged.
"You seem to know it all already."
Grissom shrugged back.
"I would rather hear it from you then the evidence."
The man sighed and Grissom opened the file in front of him.
"How about we start at the beginning?"
The man said nothing, continuing to watch Grissom with his beady eyes.
"How long have you been bringing girls over from Manilla?"
"About five years"
"And how many of those girl's parents did you kill?"
"Three."
"How many girls have you killed?"
This time the man paused and Sara could see him counting on his fingers.
"Fifteen."
"Where are their bodies?"
"All over the Nevada desert."
Grissom made a quick note in the file before continuing.
"I suppose I should ask why"
The man studied Grissom again before responding.
"How many times have you asked that question and understood the answer?"
"Not many but I'm learning."
The man glanced at his wedding ring before he spoke.
"I never loved Susan, just tolerated her. Used her as a happy marriage front I guess. When I went to Manilla I went to a brothel that I had heard about and I was expecting woman, I really was."
Cameron's voice was almost pleading, asking Grissom to believe him but when the man in question said nothing, Cameron continued.
"They paraded these young girls around saying that their virginity would give their lover luck and good fortune. I brought one and the rest is history. I realised quite by accident how easy it was to bring them over here. It was all about greasing the right palms."
"Why did you kill your wife?"
The man sighed, shaking his head.
"She found the doors to the room and she asked me what was going on. I told her then I killed her. Unfortunate really."
"What is bugging me is why we found a pearl with one of the bodies."
"Oh that little shit? Well she tried to escape but got distracted by a set of Susan's pearls. I choked her with them before getting rid of the body."
Sara switched off the speaker at that point; she didn't want to hear anymore. She had more then enough to keep her up at night for the next few weeks. The only thing that brought a smile to her face was the memory of lanky Greg pining the man by the throat to the wall, bringing the much bigger man under his control as the suspect had done with the little girls.
Greg looked at the extensive list of names before him and sighed heavily. Of the twelve girls they had rescued, two were orphans, three had died and one was now in a severe vegetative state thanks to Cameron's beatings. As for the others, physically they would be ok, mentally, who knew.
"So Eden's gone huh?"
Sara stood in the doorway, her shoulder leaning against the frame, a sympathetic smile on her face. Greg sat heavily in his chair, nodding as he put his pen down.
"Yeah she's gone. She was fine once I told her we finally caught him. I'm going to miss my little shadow."
Sara came to sit next to Greg.
"You were amazing out there."
Greg shook his head.
"No I wasn't. I lost control."
"You were in more control then I would have been. I would have quite happily castrated the sick freak."
Greg pulled a face and crossed his legs, causing Sara to laugh.
"It's over now. Cameron is faced with so many charges that there is no way he will never ever see the light of day again."
Greg nodded and together they began to work through the list of names.
"They started a special case file called Operation Ruby to try and track down all the other bodies of the missing girls. They have already found four."
Catherine's eyes sparkled over her glass of Merlot, her smile bright from the two before.
"And Eden was placed with a great foster family"
Sara raised her glass of gin and tonic.
"And Cameron is finally behind bars."
Grissom raise his scotch and gently tapped it against Sara's.
"Here's to us."
Warrick raised his beer, lowering it again as Greg shook his head.
"Here's to all the girls, found and lost."
And so the team clanked glasses as the alcohol continued to flow.
"Warrick asked me to marry him."
The room let out a collective sigh of relief as Sara laughed.
"Finally! We've been waiting weeks."
Catherine continued to smile, her eyes half on Warrick and half on her ring.
"Yeah well at least it's finally happened. I'm getting married!"
Catherine sat on the sofa, Warrick next to her as they did that so-in-love-they-glow thing they did so well. Grissom glanced at Sara, his handsome face pulled into a disapproving frown and Sara pulled a face back, earning herself a broad grin. Everything was back to normal again.
"Greg you have visitors."
Jill, the lab receptionist, didn't wait for an answer as she led in the three visitors. It took Greg a second to realise who was standing before him; she had changed a lot in just two months.
"Eden."
Eden ran across the small room and threw her arms around Greg's neck and held on tight, pulling back only after she was done hugging him hard. Greg studied her and was satisfied with how she looked. Her hair was longer, the soft strands almost now to her waist, she had put on some much needed weight and for the first time in the time since Greg had met her, she looked happy.
"Amanda and Kevin, my foster parents, wanted to meet you."
Eden dragged Greg over by his hand to the couple that stood in the door way of the break room before she broke away and turned her affection to the other scientists in the room. Amanda was tall and slim with long blonde hair and narrow cheekbones. Kevin was shorter then his wife and a lot bulkier with dark hair and eyes. Greg extended a hand and a smile to the pair.
"Greg Sanders at your service."
Amanda ignored his hand and pulled him into a tight hug. When she pulled back she had tears in her eyes.
"Thank you for looking after her before she found us. We don't know what we would do without her."
Kevin took Greg's hand in a strong shake, a wide smile on his face.
"Thank you. We will forever be in your debt."
Greg, not used to the attention, blushed slightly under their gratefulness.
"She looked after herself really. How is she doing?"
Kevin's eyes followed Eden as she pulled Grissom into a tight hug.
"She's ok. Still suffers from nightmares and she goes to counselling twice a week. But she's stronger then she looks that's for sure."
Greg indicated the rest of the team with a slight nod of his head.
"Finding her was a team effort. I wasn't the only one looking after her."
Kevin nodded as his eyes locked with Greg's.
"Maybe but you made an impression on a scared little girl. She wants to be a scientist now."
Greg cocked his eyebrow.
"Really?"
Kevin nodded.
"Yeah she does. She's in the top 2 in the school and after an argument with her teacher, managed to lecture her science class on DNA. Whatever you did with her while she was here, it helped her heaps. She's a smart girl."
Greg smiled.
"Yeah she is. She's a lot happier then the last time I saw her. You've looked after her well."
Amanda shrugged.
"We love her, so it's easy."
Eden arrived back at Amanda's side, her hand finding her foster mothers.
"Can we come back next week when all the papers are signed?'
Kevin stroked Eden's head as he spoke to Greg.
"We become her parents officially next Tuesday; they just want to make sure there are no possible relatives overseas that want her."
Greg smiled widely at Eden as he knelt down to hug her again.
"I would love another visit. All of us should go out to dinner sometime huh?"
Eden nodded as she gave Greg another hug satisfied with his response.
"Thank you for looking after me while the bad man was out there."
Greg kissed the top of her head.
"Anytime Eden, anytime."
After many more farewells and promises to catch up again soon, the small family made their way down the hall and Greg returned to his seat next to Sara.
"Alls well that ends well huh? At least Eden got her happy ending."
Greg smiled as he felt a wave of happiness come over him.
"Yeah she did."