Irrefutable
By: Manigault
Thanks so much for reading this story! Thanks to those of you who have responded with comments!
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Grissom found himself face to face with a revolver and a very calm, yet extremely angry Lady Heather. Pointing the weapon at his chest, she smiled tightly. "We're not returning to Vegas. Not until I find my grandchild."
"You're not thinking rationally, Heather. I promise that I've not given up on helping you find him, but we've been going about it the wrong way." Grissom realized as he spoke that she wasn't listening to him and at some point had passed the point of rationality.
"I know that we've been informed to drive to LA, not return to Vegas." Heather said with chilling calmness.
"Put that gun away, Heather, you won't shoot me."
"Don't test me on this Gil," Heather told him as sadness enveloped her voice, "Chloe was all that I had and now I only have her child."
"If we return to Vegas then we can work on collecting evidence on Lurie and find your grandchild," Grissom said urgently.
"No. You only care about protecting your lover," Heather waved the gun and pulled the trigger back.
Grissom took a deep breath and glanced around the gas station for witnesses. Nobody. They were alone. When he looked back at Heather, she had managed to calm her anger once again, but her eyes were unreadable.
"We'll drive on to LA," she demanded.
Grissom's eyes flickered to the gun and he took a step forward, his hand stretched out towards the offending object.
Heather stepped back.
"Don't!"
"Heather, stop!" Grissom used the safe word that had shocked her out of her last transgression.
With a soft shake of her head, Heather allowed a tight smile to curl around the edge of her lips. "That won't work this time, Gil, I'm not the same person."
"You are the same person," he insisted. "Put the gun away, Heather, and we'll discuss this like two sane adults."
"I was living my life in denial," she said without lowering the gun, "Zoe was everything and I pretended she was away at school, that she was safe."
The sadness in her eyes turned to pain as she recalled Zoe and the pain that had engulfed her again when she met a man that told her he knew where the grandchild was and would tell her if she did what he asked. Zoe's child. She hadn't believed that the child had survived. He had no proof to show her and she believed him anyway. She needed to believe him.
Grissom wouldn't accept her word, not without evidence, so she had contrived the DNA information. It had worked and he agreed to help her find him. The call from the man he called Lurie didn't hurt either.
Staring at the man she respected, and could have cared for deeply given different circumstances, she wondered if she could pull the trigger and what it would solve.
"He won't give me the information I need if we return to Vegas. This is something that you can't begin to understand, Gil, because you don't have children."
Grissom visibly shuddered as she spoke those words. "Heather, I don't need to have children to understand how much you want a part of Zoe to hold on to. But, this man, this killer, he's lying to you. Trust me."
"I can't," Heather said curtly. She kept the gun on him as her sadness turned back into determination. "You'll keep driving to LA."
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"We have more information on this Richards," Brass told Catherine and Sara as they sat in the conference room. Looking from one investigator to the other he decided to lay it out on the table. "It appears our male victim works in the same hospital as Dr. Lurie."
"They know each other?" asked Catherine, sitting up in her chair with an excited expression.
"It's a hospital," Brass said with a slight shrug. "I know that the two men have worked together in the OR. Richards was a scrub nurse."
"Lurie noticed the resemblance to Grissom," said Sara with a tired smile. "Richards was unlucky because of his physical appearance and now this."
Without conscious thought of who was present, Sara began to pry apart her cell phone looking for the bug.
"Sara? What are you doing?" asked Catherine.
Sara's eyes flew up to meet Catherine's curious look and she found herself at a loss of words. Shooting a pleading look over at Brass, she berated herself for being so careless and then wondered why it mattered at this point. Habit. That was the only thing she could think of as she faced Catherine again.
"I've been receiving phone calls from this man, the same one that killed those people," Sara took a deep breath and organized her thoughts, "he has my phone bugged, my car, cameras in my home."
Catherine gasped at this latest revelation. "He told you that he has cameras in your home? For how long?"
Sara kept her gaze steady and locked on Catherine's face. "Grissom told me, after the man taunted him with the fact."
Confusion swept over Catherine as she looked between Sara and Brass and back to Sara. "One of you want to explain everything to me? I have the feeling that I've been kept in the dark for much too long."
Brass raised both eyebrows and looked questioningly over at Sara who gave him a slight nod.
"We don't know if this is Lurie, but if it is, then somehow the man has seen her and become transfixed. He's been calling Sara for the past two days and using a voice disguisher," Brass hesitated,not wanting to give up Grissom and Sara's relationship.
"And how did Grissom come in contact with this man?" Catherine recalled her brief conversation with Grissom and his concern for Sara and the pieces of the puzzle began coming together, but she needed to hear it from Sara.
"The lunatic somehow found out about Lady Heather and her missing grandchild and is putting Grissom in the position of helping her find him, by driving to LA." Sara squared her shoulders and added firmly, "he also was told that if he didn't help him then I would be in danger."
"So, as we speak Grissom is driving to LA with Lady Heather and possibly into a trap?" asked Catherine.
"Grissom told me that he is on his way back," Sara couldn't keep the relief from her voice and was aware of Catherine's watchful eyes. She looked back at the phone and found the object which she had been searching. Holding it up for their inspection, she silently questioned Brass.
"I've wracked my brain and can't think of a time when he could have gotten hold of my phone," she hesitated and her eyes flicked over to Catherine's, "or Grissom's."
"I've wondered that myself," said Brass.
"Grissom's phone is also bugged?" Guilt spread thorughout Catherine's tone. "I could have alerted Lurie to the fact that we know we suspect him."
"If Grissom spoke with you then he knew the risk," said Sara. "I'm just relieved that he's on his way home."
Brass stood up and reached for his jacket that was draped over the back of his chair.
"I'm going to the hospital to speak with a few people, including Doctor Lurie."
Standing abruptly, Sara made to follow him when he stopped her with a sharp look.
"I'm going with you, Jim, I need to do this," insisted Sara.
"Well, I'm not being left out of this party," Catherine added as she moved to stand beside Sara as she gave Brass a reassuring smile.
Brass looked at the two stubborn women and shook his head, but said with a seriousness they each felt.
"If this is Lurie then he's gone over the deep end and there is no guessing the level of his madness. Stick together."
Sara had no intention of letting either Brass or Catherine out of her sight.
TBC
