Chapter Twenty Seven
When Sara barged out, Grissom was of two minds to follow her. He knew he couldn't leave her alone on whatever crazy mission she was on. But he also knew that she wouldn't listen to him. Not in this state. Watching the video had raised an infinite amount of questions in that short time and he was still reeling from its effect. He steeled himself from hoping too much, but the spark of hope that had erupted inside him was causing a fire of emotions.
It took him maybe a minute to collect himself before he called Brass. He quickly, and as briefly as possible, related to his friend the situation. He could sense Brass' befuddlement and was relieved when the Captain didn't ask too many questions. He promised Grissom that he will send an officer with Sara, an officer who wouldn't deter to follow orders.
Grissom had barely pocketed his phone when his pager beeped. He frowned when he recognized the message from the front desk. There was a visitor for him.
Most people felt intimidated, nervous or downright frightened in a police building. Lady Heather felt none of those. She had made more trips there than an average person, but that wasn't the reason for her relative calm. The authority or power that PD professionals possessed didn't awe her. Neither was she impressed by their supposed symbols of heroism. She was someone who used to operate in the shadowy border between normalcy and aberrance and the police was just a mere inconvenience to be tolerated on occasions.
She coolly looked up when Grissom approached her. The quick expression of surprise on his face would have been missed by anyone else. But she wasn't anyone else. She curved her lips slightly in a half smile. However, her rigid posture indicated the urgency of her visit.
"This way." He gestured for her to follow him. It was a relief for both of them that they didn't prefer useless platitudes.
It was the first time he had taken her into his office. Every time that she had been here, they had always held their conversations in the interrogation rooms. Needless to say, their encounters in the Crime Lab were never of a pleasant nature.
She liked his office. It suited his personality. She recognized some of the exotic species of the Arachnids. A few years ago, she had developed a desire to read more about insects. That desire, along with many others, was crushed after Zoe's death. For the first time since her daughter's demise she felt an interest ping her heart.
"Please take a seat." Grissom took off his glasses and waited for her to settle down. Then he did the same. "So, what brings you here?"
Lady Heather took out a snapshot and placed it on the desk in front of him. He tore his gaze away from her to glance at it. There was a moment of still silence as he concentrated hard on the image. Finally he whispered, "Who's she?"
"Joyce Dreyson. Her sister told me she went missing around the time of the shopping plaza's explosion."
"Why didn't she come forward before?"
"I believe you'll find that Joyce is wanted in the state of Texas. Her sister was hoping not to bring police attention."
"So, maybe she ran away?"
"The sisters are very close. Joyce would have told her if she was planning to run."
"But she could have run away nevertheless." Grissom stated. "Maybe she was scared. Maybe she wanted to protect her sister. Maybe she got noticed by the cops."
"Maybe she got killed."
His brows wrinkled.
Lady Heather leant forward. "Her resemblance with Catherine Willows, are you going to tell me that's just an eerie coincidence?"
"No. But if the alternative is true, I don't know what it means yet."
"You told me that you never recovered her body on the site."
"We didn't, but the place was a wreck and we just assumed that it was burnt, washed away or simply too fragmented." His voice was passive; his eyes were stormy.
Lady Heather took out and then tentatively held between her thumb and index finger a zipper bag. In it were brown hair fibers.
"Kayla couldn't give me any DNA samples from her sister, so I asked for some of hers. She being a blood relative could be useful, yes?"
He regarded her intently. "Yes, but you handling the evidence means we cannot use it."
"This evidence wouldn't acquit or accuse anyone. All she needs to know is whether her sister is alive." The bag landed on the desk with an inaudible crimple of plastic. She stood up from her seat. He felt his insides quiver at the tension cackling in the air. Her features softened. "I'll remember it as a favor."
"Heather?"
Her limbs froze in mid-action. "Yes?"
"Why did you remove yourself from your world?" He was surprised to hear himself sound so nervous. He had constantly reminded himself that what or why she did anything wasn't his business. But natural curiosity and concern for her fuelled his question.
She waited before replying. She didn't appear to be taking the time to craft a lie. He realized, with a sinking heart, that she was debating whether to trust him enough to open up to him.
"Grissom, I have done a lot of things that many people, including you, wouldn't approve of." Lady Heather gave him a pointed look. "But I had a single purpose in life. I wanted Zoe happy. Without her, the feeling I once had for life is no more. I don't need to earn to survive and I respect my business enough to not direct it without any passion."
They seemed to be not separated by a mere desk but by a vast ocean. The distance between them wasn't palpable but present all the same. Grissom usually never craved for more stronger interpersonal skills. But, of present, he was haunted by it. He wished he could offer Lady Heather some words of condolence and wipe away the gloom that had descended upon her powerful personality. He couldn't even touch her and express his understanding. He had forfeited that right a long time ago.
She looked away from him and gathered her purse. "I must go."
He wanted her to stop. He wanted to ask if they could meet again. He wanted to not rely on fate to cross their paths in some distant future. He wanted to be in her life. But he found himself unable to express any of it.
So he watched helpless as she quietly left the room.
"Can you drive faster?"
"I'm going the maximum, Ma'am."
"It seems more like the minimum." Sara muttered.
Beside her, Officer Randall remained unperturbed by his companion's obvious displeasure. His Captain had commanded him to give Sara security and that was what he was going to do. He believed in obeying his superiors and keeping his questions quiet when they weren't needed. He didn't know nor care where they were going apart from the directions she provided in clipped tones.
Sara faced the rearview and watched the dust settle behind their speeding car. She regretted telling Grissom about this little trip. She didn't want an officer to babysit her. She had to confront her brother in a roundabout fashion. She was still thinking of how to accomplish that when a uniform showed up and stopped her from leaving the parking lot. Now she had lost all hopes of keeping Sean from getting suspicious. Sara racked her head to vigorously come up with some plan.
"Oh, what is that?" Randall's rather boyish voice shook her from her thoughts.
"What is what?"
"There, up ahead."
Sara huffed impatiently when she saw that a sedan had blocked off the path a few meters ahead. The car was a dirty maroon color and it stood motionless across their way.
"Do you see anyone close by?"
"No... maybe… wait…" Sara squinted. Her gaze caught figures both inside and out of the car. She moved her head sideways to catch a better look. "It seems like there are three people."
"You think they are in trouble?"
"I think they just enjoy parking their cars in the middle of the road."
Randall ignored her sarcasm as he picked up speed. It was hard to get a good look at the people. One of them came to stand in front of the driver's window, obstructing its view. The physique was definitely male.
Randall stopped the engine at an appropriate distance from the road block. She followed him out of the car. The guy was standing in an odd position. He was half turned towards them, his right hand hidden away from sight. Sara still couldn't see the people inside the car, but by the occasional glimpses she got, she determined that they were both female.
"Problems with your car, sir?" Randall shouted out.
"I'm afraid so, officer. Could you please come and give it a look?"
Sara was unarmed and maintained a safe distance. From her position, she got a look at the road intersecting the highway exactly where the car stood. Thorny branches made it difficult for her to see much, but a lucky angle exposed the flash of black metal against the sun. She used the drilled geometry lessons in her memory and leant slightly towards the right. The glare had unmistakably been from the surface of a black vehicle. On impulse, her eyes darted back to the guy. Her mind took in the buff form, the tattooed dragons on his arms and the scruffy face. She realized with a start what had caused the feeling of unease in the pit of her stomach.
It was the same guy she had seen in the clinic's security tape.
Even before common sense could stop her, she yelled for Randall.
After that, everything happened in a rapid blur. All she registered was a series of gunshots, muffled screams and Catherine emerging from the sedan. Even before the idea that she was hallucinating came to her, she felt wetness soaking the front of her shirt. She glanced down and saw a large red stain blotched near her stomach. Some alien portion of her brain analyzed that a high-speed bullet had just exited through her, and possibly ruptured numerous blood vessels and vital organs in the process. But she strangely didn't feel any pain. Her head, though, started swimming and black-and-white, grainy images passed by her eyes in accelerated succession. She didn't know how or when she dropped to her knees and slumped backwards. The last thing she saw, before everything turned into final darkness, was Catherine's face.
Sara could feel her facial muscles strain into a smile.
Sorry guys for the enormous delay. Wanted to squeeze in as much fun as possible before returning to the start of semester. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. The chapter wasn't supposed to be this short. But it would have been insanely long otherwise. So, a lot of things will be explained in the next chapter.
Please keep the reviews coming :)
