Chapter Sixteen
"What is going on?" Sara narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Not only had she been prevented from going towards the building area where the labs and workstations were housed, she had been ushered by a guard towards the interrogation room. And now she saw Grissom and Brass standing near it, along with the rest of the guys. Grissom was deliberately avoiding her gaze but he was the one she had directed her question to.
"We would like you to come in here." Harper gestured towards the stark interrogation room.
"Why?"
"Ms. Sidle, it's just some regular questions. Won't you help us?"
Grissom felt bile rise up in his mouth at the cruel smile on the man's face.
"Sara, please do as he says." Brass patted her gently.
Sara could sense that whatever was coming wasn't good. But she could also sense no support coming from any direction. She stiffened and walked into the room.
With the door closed, the questioning room had a gloomy claustrophobic air. Sara shifted uncomfortably. She had been in this room countless times but never had she sat on this side of the metal table. Now, sitting opposite Harper and staring down at folders containing unknown facts, she became nervous. The fact that Nick was also there, offered her little comfort.
"Would you like a drink, Ms. Sidle?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." She turned towards Nick. "Can we just get to the point?"
"Alright." Harper cleared his throat. He opened one of the folders and extended a large snapshot in front of her. Even as Sara started to recognize the woman in the picture, he spoke, "Do you know a Courtney Andrews?"
"What has she got to do with anything?" Sara asked, after recovering from her surprise.
"Do you know her, Sara?" Nick queried gently.
"Yes." She leant back, eyeing both men in front of her.
"In what capacity?"
"She's a good friend."
"Oh." She could almost hear Harper give a snort before he continued. "Do you usually get into a domestic partnership with your good friends, Ms. Sidle?"
Her fingernails dug into her skin. "We dissolved the union a while back."
"A while back? Could you be more specific?"
"A month, maybe."
"Well." Harper pretended to look confused. "The registry from California speaks otherwise. According to it, you are still legally in that partnership with Ms. Andrews."
"That's bullshit! I signed the papers for the legal separation."
"I see." He cocked his head to the side. "Did Catherine Willows know about this partnership?"
"Of course!" Sara scowled.
"She did?" He clearly looked dubious. "It states here that you and Ms. Andrews were legally united in the March of last year. Would it be safe to say that you and Ms. Willows were in a relationship that time?"
Sara didn't answer but she caught his drift.
A hard smile crossed his face. "It seems interestingly open-minded of her to be acceptable of this… arrangement."
"That's none of your business. It's personal." She seethed.
"I'm sure it is. But right now, your personal life is imperative to our investigation."
"What the hell is going on?" Sara stared at the two-way mirror, beyond which, she knew, stood her friends and colleagues.
"We recovered Courtney Andrews' license plates from the parking lot at The Boulevard." Harper answered, lacing his fingers together. "The same parking lot that was bombed. The same parking lot where, we believe, Catherine Willows was killed."
Sara shot him a bewildered look.
"We even collected DNA samples from the driver, or what was left of her. It came back a match to Courtney Andrews."
"What are you saying?" She whispered.
He didn't reply immediately, all the time looking intently into her anxious eyes. Finally, he gave a small sigh. "What I'm saying is that Courtney Andrews was also one of the fatalities in the explosion."
Sara just gaped wide-eyed at the man, not trusting herself to be capable of anything else.
Nick wanted to reach out and touch Sara but he knew he couldn't. Instead he said, "Sara, the bomb fragments that we found were attached to Courtney Andrews' car. So…"
"So, you see how intimately connected your private life is to this case." Harper rudely interrupted. "Your fiancée and your legal partner were killed in the explosion caused by the bomb in your partner's car."
"No." Was all Sara could force out of her dried lips.
"Unfortunately, yes." He made a show of appearing disheartened. "Now you must understand how important it is for you to cooperate. You have been a CSI. You know the drill…"
"I want a lawyer."
Both Harper and Nick were taken aback by Sara's insistence. Nick briefly glanced at the mirrored wall before turning towards her.
"Sara, just tell us…" He began but he forgot the rest when she gave him a cold look.
"Ms. Sidle, you know we can get a warrant." Harper gave her a condescending look.
"Then get one." She met his eyes in challenge. "Until then, I'm not saying another word without an attorney and my representative present. Now if you excuse me."
"This is not an interrogation… yet. Don't force us into one."
"Do what you have to." Without another look at him, she opened the door. She strode towards where Grissom and the others were waiting.
"How could you let him do this?" Sara thinned her lips, hurt flaring up within her.
Before he could say anything, she had turned to the others. "How could any of you let him do this?"
She shook her head in disbelief before marching away from their sight, leaving all of them stunned into silence
Harper wiped his face with his handkerchief. "Well, this sure as hell makes her look guilty. I'll get a warrant."
"No!" Everyone's simultaneous rejection halted him.
"No warrant." Grissom mumbled, his gaze still lingering at where Sara had recently stood. "I'll speak to her."
"Like hell you will." Harper snorted.
"Arnold, I'd like to talk to you." Sofia leant towards him with a meaningful look. "Alone."
He shrugged and followed her.
Once they were in a corner, comfortably away from everyone's hearing, Sofia stopped. She made sure she appeared serious enough.
"Don't do this, Arnold. Over-zealousness can get you into a lot of trouble."
"Yeah, like you would know."
"I would. I've been there."
He silently measured her words before sighing, "So, what are you telling me?"
"If you charge or even so much as point a finger on someone from inside, you are risking a major backlash. In case you are wrong, you know that's your career down the drain." Sofia crossed her arms. "You want to be sure and you want to be supported. Later on, no one can accuse you of being biased."
"Kinda like what happened between you and Ecklie." He sneered.
"Not exactly." She shrugged. "But if it helps you to have that as an example."
"Look, we both know that Grissom's a pain in the ass. His I-don't-ever-need-to-explain-anything-to-you attitude is not liked around here. Nailing him and his department will be a relief to many."
"Yes, but you want to make sure that you are not nailing any part of yourself along with him." Sofia angled her head. "Let Sara Sidle loose but on a leash. That way you can jerk her back whenever you want. But apply too much force this early in the game and you know you'll have to answer to a lot many legalities."
"I know." He looked thoughtful. "But what if she slips away?"
"You mean if she skips town? Even if she manages to do that, it's her entire life ruined."
"So, you are saying I should gather more evidence?"
"Appear sympathetic, Harp, it's going to look good in the long run."
He smiled at her conspiratorially. "I always knew the day shifters were smart."
"Of course." Sofia winked at him.
She watched him amble confidently towards Grissom and his crew and gave a sigh of relief. Sofia knew the exact place where the weak points for guys like Harper lay. His mind ran in a linear track and its goal was status. He would do anything to get himself elevated to higher positions in the department. While such ambition was dangerous, it was also easy to manipulate. He would never risk doing anything that could jeopardize his upward rise.
"What did you tell him?" Greg approached her after Harper had left.
"I just pushed some of his buttons." She smiled.
"Must have been some buttons."
"Enough to buy us some time for Sara."
It was the first time since she had returned to Vegas that Sara had gone home. Home? Sara wondered if that was the word that she could use anymore. Nothing had changed. And yet everything had changed. She no longer saw the carefully mowed grass but instead noticed the weeds sticking out amongst them. She no longer admired the freshly painted garage doors but instead turned her eyes away from its blinding brightness. She no longer looked at the perfectly laid shingles on the roof but instead saw the cracks, which they had tried to repair. Distortion and ruin stood out despite the lovingly kept house.
Kind of like her own life.
She was angry, very, very angry. She was angry at her colleagues and her team for having betrayed her to a stranger. She was angry at fate for having snatched away the one most amazing person from her life. She was angry at her brother for trying to claim a relationship after two decades of disregard. She was angry at her parents for choosing the paths they had chosen, leaving her bereft of a wondrous childhood. She was angry at Courtney for taking advantage of their friendship. She was even angry at Grissom, who of all people should have taken her side.
But most of all, she was angry at herself. Deep down, she blamed herself for everything.
She didn't know how long she stood staring at what was once her home, now nothing more than a cold building. When the front door opened, she just returned Lily and Nancy's surprised expression with a blank look.
"Sara, we were trying to call you but couldn't reach your cell." Nancy walked towards her friend.
"All of you are going somewhere?" Sara noted the bags in their hands.
"Sam thought it was best that Lindsay and I shift into his house for a few days." Lily explained. "He even asked if you would like that."
Sara glanced at Lindsay emerge from inside. "No, I'll be fine here."
"Are you sure, dear?"
"Yeah." Sara nodded. "Can I talk to Lindsay for a minute?"
"Yeah, go along. We'll load the bags in the meantime." Nancy said.
Lindsay had her head hung low. Her boots played with the dirt underneath.
"Hey." Sara managed a smile. "I'm sorry, we couldn't talk earlier."
"It's ok." Lindsay sounded stable but she could make out the forced voice.
"Do you want to go to Sam's?"
The girl shrugged. "I don't care."
"Yeah, it's probably for the best." Sara whispered, more for her own benefit. "I'll come and see you later, okay?"
"Sure."
"Lindz?"
Lindsay finally looked up and Sara almost forgot to breathe when she saw the tear-filled eyes. Impulsively, she hugged the girl tight.
"I'm so sorry, honey." Sara spoke in between stifled sobs. "I'm so very sorry."
Lindsay hugged back. "Sara, would you do something for me?"
"Anything." She ran a hand along the girl's back
"Catch the person who did this to Mommy." Lindsay whimpered. "Please?"
"I will, Lindz. I promise you, I will." Sara dug her face into Lindsay's hair and let her cries flow freely. "I promise."
When Lindsay finally extricated herself from Sara, she gave a little sad smile. She gently wiped the brunette's face.
"You don't look good crying."
"I wasn't blessed with your looks, Miss Nevada." Sara let out a small chuckle.
"I have to go now. But you would come to visit?"
"Of course." Sara tried to look convincing. She didn't want Lindsay to go. The girl was the only person left in her large, empty life. She was the last link to Catherine. She was probably the sole figure to look forward to. All other portions of Sara's life had been sucked into a cavernous black hole.
Sara watched Lindsay get into the backseat of Nancy's Explorer.
"Sara?"
She turned towards Lily. She had always marveled at how the woman never appeared close to the seventy she was approaching. But the strain of the past few days had placed twenty more years on her face.
"Since we won't be able to conduct a proper funeral…" Lily breathed. "We thought we should grace Catherine with a service at least."
Sara nodded. "As you think best."
"We are, umm, arranging a special service the day after. I've informed most of our family members and some friends."
"Anything I can do to help?"
Lily smiled shakily. "You probably have a lot on your hands already. Sam has his people doing the necessary."
"Okay."
"Are you sure you'd be alright alone?" The older woman cast a worried glance over her.
Sara looked away. "I will have to learn."
