Aw, you guys are the best. I can't thank you enough for reviewing this story. And it makes me even happier to know that you all are getting into it, and really enjoying my wonderful creation—Anna! Prepare to want to cuddle Flack in this chapter. LOL. The chapter title is by Rascal Flatts, which is about the only country I ever listen to. Haha. THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS AN EVIL CLIFFHANGER (but not as evil as next chapter). You have been warned. Read and review and enjoy! (Oh, and for the record, I don't know if you can still find blood in a burnt down building, so if it isn't realistically plausible, I apologize!)
Chapter Twenty-Four: What Hurts the Most
"Alright, cut to the chase," Baron said with a determined voice, "how did you find Mom?"
Greg looked hurt. "Hey now, I'm doing my best to tell this story. I'm sorry that I'm not as good at this thing as your Mom is," he said. I put my arms around his shoulders and kissed him gently on the lips.
"It's okay Greg, I still love you," I said solemnly. Greg grinned and kissed me back.
"Ew, gross!" the kids chorused together.
"Are your parents kissing in front of you?" Elsie asked, still on the other line from New York. We broke apart and I looked at my cell phone, surprised that my best friend was still on speakerphone.
"You're still there Elsie?" I asked curiously.
"Well, duh," she replied matter-of-factly. The kids laughed. "I want to hear the rest of the story too, ya know."
Greg smiled. "Alright, so, where was I in my story?" he asked.
"You and the other CSIs were examining that burnt down warehouse," Baron stated. Leala nodded and chimed in.
"And Mommy was being all angsty."
I raised my eyebrows at my youngest girl. "You know what the word angst means?"
Leala nodded and beamed. "I learned it last week in vocabulary!" she announced proudly. I looked at Eva, who merely shrugged and returned to examining her manicured nails.
"Go ahead Dad," she said, looking up. "Let's hear the rest of it."
"Okay, well, we began to process the warehouse…"
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"Have you found anything?" I asked Sara, who was examining the north side of the charred remains of the warehouse.
"Not a thing," she reported sadly, shining her flashlight on what appeared to be a badly burnt ceiling rafter. Danny and Flack were moving around the warehouse, occasionally pausing to examine the remains of a table or a chair. Both were optimistic at first that we would find something of use. But now, it looked like nothing would…
"Sara! Come here!" I yelled as my flashlight caught the glint of something. Carefully reaching down into the rubble, I pulled out a piece of silver material. It was melted and twisted, but I knew from the looks of it what it had originally been.
"Is that a knife blade?" Danny asked, holding it up to the Vegas sunlight, examining it closely.
"It looks like it, doesn't it?" Sara asked quietly. Danny's eyes widened.
"I think we've got blood on here," he replied. "Where's your phenothalin?" he asked. Sara dug in her kit and pulled out a swab, handing it to Danny. I watched Danny swab the apparent blood, and then place a drop of phenothalin on the swab. It turned purple before our eyes.
"Human blood," he said, staring at the knife. Sara took the swab of the blood.
"We'll get this back to DNA, see what we can get off of it," she replied, flipping open her cell phone to call Grissom.
"Yeah, we're sure it's human blood…okay…will do…thanks."
Sara snapped her phone shut and pulled out her camera. "We should probably start photographing, since this is now a crime scene," she replied diplomatically. Danny nodded and continued to walk around the building. Flack merely leaned up against the SUV, sunglasses on, staring off into the distance. I debated for a moment on what to do, and then decided that talking to the guy for a minute couldn't hurt.
"I know what you're gonna say," Flack responded as I came closer towards him. "You're gonna say 'Don't worry, we'll find her.' Right?"
I shrugged and exhaled. "I don't know Anna, but if she is a CSI, she must be thinking of ways to get herself out of this mess. She must be a very bright young woman."
Flack nodded. "She is."
I continued. "When Nick was taken, he was placed in a sealed coffin underground with a camera and his gun. The kidnapper wanted him to commit suicide, but Nick never did that; he was smart enough to figure out ways to keep himself alive. And then came the ants. He ended up beating the odds, though, Flack. He survived. And after all he's been through, to still be a CSI today is amazing."
Flack stared absentmindedly into the distance. "Your point being?"
"My point being that Anna can get through this too. I may not know her like you do, but the stuff that I do know about her assures me that she's gonna make it."
Flack nodded. "You're right, and I know you're right. It's just that…"
I studied Flack for a moment before I asked what had been on my mind during our car ride. "She's not just a girlfriend to you, is she?"
Flack shook his head and ran a hand through his short hair. I continued, lowering my voice.
"You love her, don't you?"
I knew that I was being nosey, but I really didn't care. All of my life I had been told that "love can move mountains", so I figured that finding out if Flack really loved this girl could make a difference. Who knew what love could do, right?
"Yes," he said after a short hesitation. "And now she's gone, and I can't tell her that."
"Naw, Flack, she's not gone forever," I tried to assure him. Flack shook his head, voice caught in his throat.
"Look, Greg, have you ever been in love with someone?" he asked, looking at me for the first time.
I thought about the question for a moment. At one point, I thought that I was in love with Sara, so I nodded my head.
"Then you understand my fear, right?" he asked. I nodded again. I clapped my hand on Flack's shoulder.
"We'll find her," I assured him again. Flack nodded, but I continued. "And more than that, I will make sure that if it's the last thing that I do, I will bring her back for you."
Flack studied my determined face for a moment. Here I was, someone whom he had just met a few hours ago, promising to find the love of his life, no matter if it would cost me my own life.
"Thank you," he said with a small smile. "Truly, that means a lot to me."
I nodded and then returned to examine the rest of the building. Poor guy, I thought with a slight shake of my head. Life is so unpredictable…
"I take my earlier comment back," Eva said with eyebrows raised, "this is ironic!"
Baron laughed. "Dad, why did you do it?"
Greg frowned. "Do what?"
"Make that promise to Flack," he said with his questioning brown eyes. I looked over at Greg, curious myself.
"Yeah, why did you make that promise?" I asked him. Greg studied my face and Baron's as well.
"I knew that this girl – Anna – meant a lot to Flack, and I knew that he loved her. I wanted to help him deal with his pain, so I figured that it was the least I could do."
Eva shook her head. "No, no, that's not why," she argued. "You didn't even know Mom and already you were starting to fall in love with her, right?"
I looked at Greg curiously and our children seemed intent on finding out the true reason for his promise. "Well?" I asked.
Greg rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you the real reason. Truth be told, even though I never met Anna – your mother – I knew that she was someone very special and I kind of wanted to play hero," he admitted. I swatted his arm playfully.
"You never even saw me and you wanted to be my Superman?" I asked with a toying grin. Greg shrugged.
"I was always more partial to Spiderman," he said with a playful little smile. I swatted his arm again and he caught my hand and kissed it.
The children, of course, let out another indignant chorus of: "Ew!"
Just to spite them, I snuggled closer to Greg and placed a kiss on his lips.
"Are your parents kissing again?" Elsie asked with a little laugh from the other line. I nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see me.
"Yes, Elsie," my husband and I replied together. I could see Elsie rolling her eyes.
"Can we finish up with the story Greggo? I have places to be and people to see…ohmigod. I just rhymed!"
The entire room burst out in laughter.
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Marjorie shook her head as she unloaded groceries from her car. She fumbled with the key to her house, stepped inside the house, and kicked the front door shut with her foot. She dumped the groceries on the kitchen table and exhaled deeply.
It couldn't have been anything to worry about. I mean…no, there wasn't really…
The young woman shook her head and began to remove her groceries from the paper bags. Ambling around her kitchen, she couldn't shake her thoughts away from a stranger on the street. Finally giving into her need to talk to someone, she picked up the kitchen phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Hey, it's me," Marjorie said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I wanted to tell you about something weird I saw today. I mean, it's probably nothing, but I needed to tell someone."
Tina Brown's eyebrows furrowed together and she sat down on her couch. "What is it?"
Marjorie began to explain. "I saw this girl today on my way to pick up a Lotto ticket. She was dressed in one of those Muslim dress things, and the strange thing is that she had really pale skin and these bright green eyes…"
Tina nearly choked on the water she was drinking. "Oh my God."
"What? What is it?" Marjorie asked, confused.
Tina's eyes widened. "It's just that Warrick called me from work. They're looking for a girl who has been kidnapped and disguised. Her name is Anna, she's from New York, and she has bright green eyes."
And that's all for now! Yes, I still kept Tina and Warrick together. (ducks from all of the Yo!Bling shippers). Read and review please!
