Irrefutable
By: Manigault
Thanks again for the reviews and to those who are reading this story!
It was never my attention to dumb Sara down, hopefully she will be redeemed a little bit. Sigh.
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"Talk to me, Jim," Grissom caught the curious eye of Detective Thompson and averted his gaze as he concentrated on what Brass was relaying to him.
"Sara left a message on your closet floor," Brass held his hand over the mouthpiece and asked Greg to repeat what it said to Grissom while he made some phone calls.
Grissom found himself listening to Greg who was excitedly explaining to him that Sara had left a message telling them where she was going and the name of the boat.
"The Marlin," Grissom repeated with feeling, the confirmation that the madman was Lurie was no comfort and now Sara was playing straight into his hands. Sara was too smart for this bullshit. The problem was he didn't have a leg to stand on since he, too, had played the warped game.
"Griss, we're heading out. I'll call you back."
Greg hit the end button disconnecting him from what was going on in Vegas and he felt both hopless and angry. Glaring at the phone he looked up when he felt a hand on his arm and found himself staring into kind eyes.
"It sounds like you need to get back to Vegas. I'll drive you to the airport but you'll have to make the call to book yourself a plane." Alec turned away from him and didn't wait for the distraught man to catch up before saying over his shoulder. "We better get going since it sounded like time is of the essence." Having heard the entrie conversation it had occurred to him that his wife was not lying when she said the sound was turned up too high, but in this instance he was happy that he had ignored her comments.
Grissom dialed Catherine's number and was relieved when she picked up immediately. "No questions, Cath, I need a favor." He went on to ask her to check the departure times from LA to Vegas and requested she call him back on the number he used to call her on. Drawing a deep breath, Grissom tried to settle back in the passenger seat of the car that Alec had led him to when they exited the ER.
Alec wasted no time putting a siren on top of his car and pulling out onto the road with the intent of getting his passenger to the airport as fast as possible. He spared one look over at Grissom and felt his heart go out to the man. "Your girlfriend must be in some serious trouble. This man is nobody to mess with?"
Grissom didn't feel like discussing Lurie, but Alec was being so helpful and he felt he owed him that much. "Lurie is the bottom of humanity."
He would have given a synopsis, but his cell rang identifying Catherine as the caller. "What do you have for me?"
"Nothing, Gil, not for the next two hours. I'm sorry. I did book you on the earliest flight that I could get you on but it's the best I can do." He heard her pause and then she said softly, "I spoke with Warrick and he filled me in on the latest. Jim has every cruiser in the vicinity heading in that direction."
"It's not enough," Grissom asked for the information of the flight and told her he would talk to her later, but to call if she had any news.
"No luck?" Alec asked with geniune concern.
"No flight out for two hours."
"Let me have my phone for a second," said Alec with a tone of determination. He pushed a few buttons and asked to speak with Hugh. After a brief exchange, Alec went in for the reason of his call. "I'd like to cash in on that favor that you owe me, Hugh. Very important. This week? More like right now. Serious. It's a matter of life and death. No kidding. Fantastic. I owe you pal!"
Grissom stared at Alec with a curious look and didn't have long to wait for an answer.
"Hugh and I were in the military together, we go way back," Looking in the rearview mirror, Alec made a complete u-turn in the middle of the road and hit the accelorator.
"You saved his life?" Grissom guessed, still confused about the importance of this favor that Hugh could provide.
"In a manner of speaking," Alec let a brief grin flash over his lips before turning serious. "Hugh owns a private airport and has a private plane that can take you to Vegas."
They reached the private airport in record time and Grissom found himself caught in a whirlwind as Alec introduced him to Hugh, who motioned towards a plane that was on a the runway.
"Good luck," Alec said holding his hand out to Grissom who took it with a firm grip. "Keep it," Alec said when Grissom tried to hand the cell phone back to him, "when you get your girlfriend back then you can mail it to me." Alec pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to Grissom. "My wife has a catering buisness from our home and the address is on the card. Take care."
Grissom nodded and thanked him again as he let Hugh lead him out to the runway and his destination home.
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Lake Mead Marina. Sara drew a deep breath as she pulled into a parking space and asked herself what she was doing meeting a lunatic who had murdered at least four people. She was working on emotions and accepted this fact about her actions, but it didn't mean she had to walk onto this man's boat and most possibly into a death trap. With new resolve she turned off the engine and slowly stepped from her car, thankful that it was daylight and there were people milling about the Marina.
With a defiant lift of her chin she walked along the dock and searched for the Marlin which she spotted at the end of the dock consciously aware of the feel of the gun she sported beneath her light jacket and along her back. She had placed a knife inside her shoe and another one against her left leg hoping that it wouldn't come to the point where she would have to use either one of them.
Her heart sped up when she saw a man step onto the deck of the Marlin and stare straight at her with a smirk. Lurie. He was the man she remembered from the interrogation room only this time he was wearing tan pants and a light yellow polo shirt. His smirk changed into a full blown smile when she stopped walking twently feet from the boat and glowered at him.
"Come on aboard, Sara, and I'll show you around."
Sara placed her hands on her hips and slowly inched her right hand around her back until she felt the handle of her gun. With one swift movement she pulled it out and pointed it towards the man on the deck whose smile was faltering and morphing into one of bafflement.
"What are you doing? You came here to escape from your incredibly boring life, didn't you?"
Pulling the trigger back, Sara glared at the lunatic who had wrecked havoc on the life that she had worked so hard to obtain.
"Shut up, Lurie, it's my turn to talk." Sara fought hard not to pull the trigger and end this nightmare, but her own self control won out as she fought the sickening feeling that washed over her at the thought of taking another life, even a crazy murderer who was threatening Grissom. "You've invaded my home, my life, you've threatened the only man that I've ever loved and planned to grow old with, you've pushed me to the point where I will be forced to stop you so you can never harm anyone again," Sara took a deep breath before continuing, "I despise you and this is where it ends."
Anger flashed over Lurie's face as he took in the seriousness of Sara's posture and words. "You wouldn't dare shoot me."
"If she doesn't, then I will."
Sara almost dropped the gun at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and risked a quick glance to her right to take in a bulky man, mid-forties, completely unknown to her memory, who had a gun pointed in the same direction as her own.
TBC
