Headliner
Chapter 25
It was one in the morning before Lexi and Luke snuck back through the streets to her house. Both walked cautiously to avoid police as it was past curfew. She kissed him once more before opening the door to her still empty house. The adrenaline rush of being out late was gone and in its wake was a sense of loneliness. At sixteen there wasn't much her parents could hide from her as far as the dangers of their job. She knew, partly because of Lindsey, about all of the attacks that had occurred and it scared her. The worst of them seemed to have happened to Nick. Truth be told, she hated being home alone sometimes. She would picture life without her parents and it was frightening. She liked it when she was younger and her mom had worked during the day. They were home at the same time. She always felt safe. As she stared into the living room with its cloak of silence, she didn't know what she felt.
Her bed was inviting and she climbed into it willingly. Before shutting her eyes, she glanced at the calendar that hung just above her desk. Only six days left, she thought, and then it's off to school again.
The feeling must've been circulating between mother and daughter because Sara was terrified. Nick had left a few hours ago on a suspect retrieval and no one had heard from him since. This didn't worry many people, however, and they just went about their jobs. Only Sara, who had been left behind to wait for Catherine to come in with evidence, seemed to have noticed that he was gone at all. She tried his cell phone once more knowing full well that he had it turned off. She had to do something to keep her from going stir crazy. The red-blonde locks of Catherine Willows came into view and Sara jumped up. "It's one a.m., what took you so long?"
"Las Vegas never sleeps, my friend; traffic was terrible." Catherine seemed unaware of Sara's discomfort and headed straight away to start processing the evidence.
"Have you heard from Nick lately?" Sara asked.
"No, but he's out getting a suspect for Grissom's case isn't he?"
Sara nodded and this time Catherine recognized the silence for what it was.
"Sara, don't worry; these things sometimes take a long time. I'm sure he's fine. We would've heard if he wasn't."
"You're right. I don't know what my problem is."
"Sure you do. You love him and the fact that you don't know where he is at this very moment shakes you to your bones. I know the feeling."
"Oh do you?" Sara said, suddenly taking interest in her colleague's personal life.
Catherine chuckled. "Yes, I do, but we're not discussing that now, are we?"
Sara looked like she was ready to address this statement, but Catherine stopped her.
"Come on; we have some evidence to deal with. Shift's starting to smell like a double and I really want to keep it from being a triple if you don't mind."
Eight hours later Sara got a phone call. "Sidle."
"Hey Mom, I was just wondering when you and Dad were going to be home. We have like no food in the house and since I still don't have a car, I can't solve that problem."
"Lex, we'll get home when we get home. I'll probably make it before your father. I promise that as soon as I get there we'll go shopping. Now, I'm expecting a really important call, so call the lab if you need to talk to me. I'll be here the rest of shift, okay?"
"Fine. See you later." Lexi hung up and Sara could almost hear the eye roll.
Sara maneuvered through the rest of shift only half working. Catherine noticed but decided not to comment. Love worked in mysterious ways and Sara needed to figure this one out on her own. "Good news," Catherine said around ten-thirty snapping Sara from a trance, "we're done. We can go home now and bask in the glory that is being finished."
"I guess I'll see you tonight."
"That you will," Catherine answered and patted Sara on the back before heading to the locker room.
Sara walked into her house and was shocked by the first sight she saw. Lexi sat on the couch with her feet on the table, a remote and a dark glass bottle in her hand. She turned around quickly at the sight of her mother. "Lexi what on earth are you drinking?"
The girl stood up and showed Sara the label. "Relax, it's soda. How was work?"
"Busy."
"Where's Dad?"
"He had a tough case." Not entirely lying, she thought.
"Can we go, then?"
"Go where?"
"Shopping. You promised and I'm starving."
"You could've ordered out."
"With what money?"
"Alright, let's go."
They were halfway through making salads after their trip when Nick walked in the door looking beat. Lexi ran up and gave him a hug. "Hey, Daddy."
"Hello, sweetheart. What are you making?"
"Salads. Fresh, too."
"You want to make me one while I hit the shower?"
"Sure."
He gave a quick nod to Sara before heading to his room. She was sitting on his bed waiting for him when he exited the shower. "We need to talk."
"Okay, shoot." He walked over to his dresser and pulled out some jeans.
"Why didn't you call me today?"
"I don't know if you noticed, but I was a little bit preoccupied." He chose a shirt from the closet.
"I understand that, but did you stop to think that I was maybe worried about you?"
He went into the bathroom and yelled so she could hear him. "Why would you be worried about me?"
"You were gone all shift and no one had heard from you. You were doing a really dangerous thing. Getting a suspect is never easy."
"No, it's not. Sara, I was doing my job. I wasn't in danger. If there'd been a problem, I would've called you. You've got to trust that I can do my job."
"I do trust you. It's the other people I don't trust."
He came out of the bathroom with a big smile spread across his face. He squeezed her tight and gazed into her eyes. "You know, I bet that girl of ours has a wonderful salad for me and I'm so hungry I could eat a bear."
"Isn't the phrase 'I'm so hungry I could eat a horse'?"
"Yeah, but I like horses. I'd never eat them."
"But you'd eat a bear?"
"Before I'd eat a horse, yes."
A/N: Let me know what you thought.
