9
Sara froze and the receptionist gasped as she brought her hands to her face. When she finally regained composure, Sara said, "I'm sorry. You must have the wrong person here. Dr. Grissom is not married. He doesn't have any children."
"Ms. Sidle, I can't discuss this any further with you. If you could just let Dr. Grissom know that I'm here and I need to speak to him about his daughter, I would greatly appreciate it."
"Could I, uh, have your business card or credentials please?" He handed her a business card indicating that he was a lawyer. "I'll be right back. Just have a seat please." She didn't know whether to be concerned or mad at this point, but either way, she was confused. Had he been lying to her all these years? He had a daughter? What reason would this lawyer have for lying to her? He had no idea they were dating. Christ! Did she even know who Grissom was? If he could hide something this big, then Jim was wrong; he was excellent at hiding the evidence.
Without knocking, she walked into his office. Startled, he looked up at her. When he saw the look on her face and heard the slam of the door, he got up and walked over to her, "Sara? What's wrong?"
She took a deep breath and tried not to burst. Silently, she handed him the business card. "What's this?"
"This is the business card for a Barry Sims."
"I can see that. What's it got to do with me?"
She took another deep breath and thought, 'Okay, maybe he really has no idea what's going on. Surely he'd recognize his own lawyer's name.' "He says he's here to talk to you."
"I need to keep watch on this insect activity. You talk to him. You're on the case just like I am."
"It's not about the case, Grissom!"
"Then what's he want?"
She couldn't help herself; she burst into tears, "He says he's here to talk to you about your daughter."
"My WHAT?" He gathered Sara into his arms, not caring who saw, "Christ, Sara! I don't have a daughter. Calm down. This must be some misunderstanding. Calm down." He didn't let go of her until her tears stopped. She pulled back to look into his eyes. She could she his desperate plea for her to believe him in his eyes. "Come on, let's go see what's going on."
She'd only seen him this mad a couple times. So, without arguing, she followed him back out to the reception area. "Mr. Sims?" The man rose and stuck out his hand. Ignoring it, Grissom continued, "Is this some kind of joke?"
"No, Dr. Grissom, it's not. Maybe we could talk about this in private."
"There's nothing to talk about, Mr. Sims. I don't have a daughter. I've never even been married."
"I realize that, Sir."
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm here because your daughter's mother was killed in a car accident a few days ago and she left you sole custody of your daughter in her will."
"But I don't have a daughter or a wife."
"I never said you had a wife. And I'm aware that you had no idea about your daughter. She left you a letter to explain."
"She who?"
"Sandra Spencer."
Grissom's face paled and his arms dropped to his sides, "Sandy?"