Chapter XX

Race the Wind

Sofia had never really understood the term, "Moving Heaven and Earth"...now though, as she urged her sedan faster down the desert highway...well now she had a good idea. At the junction, she could see a black blur with blue lights merge into their lane. Beside her, Catherine let out a gasp... "Is that..." Sofia nodded grimly, "That's Sara." The Tahoe was traveling at dangerous speeds, flying along the asphalt as if it was in a race against the devil himself...and maybe...maybe they were. Sofia gripped the wheel... She hadn't been there for Jim...she wouldn't let Warrick down too.


Catherine indulged in something she rarely did...she prayed. She prayed for Warrick. Fear held her heart in it's icy grasp. Back up was coming...but she wasn't sure if they could make it... Warrick had went like a lamb to slaughter... She didn't know what she would do if they didn't make it time...she just didn't know. She fingered her upholstered gun... Her mind flashed back to a case years ago when Grissom had almost died...she'd killed then and she was sure she would kill again...to protect Warrick...to save him.
Sara's hands were in a death-grip on the Tahoe's steering wheel. The beast of a machine wasn't really meant for the speeds she was driving at...the vehicle shook...it would get her there no faster.

If she had looked closer at the evidence...if she'd insisted on going with him...if she was a better CSI...Jim wouldn't be in the hospital and Warrick wouldn't be in danger. She could just see the sign for the museum in the distance and she drew in a breathe.

Warrick couldn't die...he just couldn't. She couldn't have his blood on her hands... not his too. She veered off onto the driveway. She could see a blue truck, Warrick's Denali and the closed gate that separated her from them. She didn't let up. She crashed through the gate, smashing it's metal arms wide in a shower of sparks. She barely felt it. She slammed both feet on the brake and felt the SUV skid to a shaky stop. She didn't even bother to turn it off. She jumped out of the SUV. "WARRICK!" Her headlights illuminated one thing...Warrick's flashlight...abandoned in the sand. "WARRICK!"


Sara crashed her Tahoe through the gate. Sofia's breathe caught in her chest and she swerved around Sara's car and stopped. She jumped out. Sara was already looking around...gun in hand. Sofia's hand went to her own gun. "Where the hell is the uniform?" Catherine stalked past her. "He better have a good fucking excuse!"
Sara was bent over the ground. "Fresh skid marks...a little blood...That bastard hit Warrick and drug him this way." Sofia grabbed Sara and jerked her back. "I go first." Sara's brown eyes flashed. "Sara I'm the officer. You go BEHIND me." Sara cocked her gun. "Hurry." They all three broke into a run, following the drag marks...procedure abandoned...fear and adrenaline took over. There was a shack on the back of the lot where the neon was kept and that was where the killer would be...where Warrick would be.