Title: Vengeance is Mine, chapter 2
Greg and Catherine headed back to the lab. While Catherine looked around for Grissom's contact information, Greg stole away and pulled out his cellphone, dialing Grissom's number. "Please answer," he pleaded silently.
"Hello, Greg," Grissom answered, recognizing Greg's number from the caller id.
"Grissom, thank God. I wasn't sure I'd reach you. I figured you might be in the air already," Greg said breathlessly.
"I'm on the plane, but we're still boarding, so I don't have much time before they'll tell me to hang up. What's up, you sound upset?" Grissom asked.
"It's Sara, she's been kidnapped," Greg stammered.
"Kidnapped? By whom?" Grissom asked.
"Roger Jennings. There's been two murders, Father Powell from St. Mark's and DA Robin Childs are both dead. Sara was nabbed while we were processing the DA's murder at her home," Greg answered.
"Why does he have Sara?" Grissom asked.
"He's looking for you. You're next on his list," Greg replied.
"Next on his list?" Grissom asked.
"Yes. Sara found a newspaper clipping about Benjamin Jennings' arrest with the names of the priest and the DA circled. Your name was also in the article and he had it circled," Greg said.
"What's Catherine doing? She's the acting supervisor," Grissom stated.
"She's looking for something in her office, probably the contact info for the seminar you're teaching," Greg answered.
"She's actually thinking of giving him that information?" Grissom asked.
"If she doesn't give him the info within the next hour, Jennings said he'll kill Sara," Greg said gravely.
"Put Catherine on the phone, now!" Grissom demanded.
"Alright, but she's not going to like the fact that I called you," Greg said. He walked down the hall and found Catherine in Grissom's office, rummaging through paperwork. He handed her the cellphone. "It's Grissom, he wants to talk to you," Greg said.
"You called him? I thought I made it clear we weren't going to bother him with this," Catherine snapped, snatching the phone from Greg. "Hi, Gil, it's Catherine."
"What do you mean you weren't going to bother me with this? Sara's life is in danger," Grissom demanded.
"You don't trust me to handle this? You did appoint me acting supervisor," Catherine retorted.
"Where is he holding her? Was she able to tell where she was?" Grissom asked.
"She said some trailer in the middle of nowhere," Catherine said.
"We've been to that trailer before. Grab his case file, look up his address, and get Brass and his squad out there now. And don't tell Jennings where I'm going. Bring him into custody. Don't call me again until Sara's safe," Grissom ordered.
Catherine hung up Greg's phone and handed it back to him, stunned. She looked around for Grissom's file cabinet.
"What did he say?" Greg asked, concerned.
"He said we've been out to his trailer before, and that it's likely that's where Sara's being held. He said to send Brass and his squad out there to pick him up," Catherine answered.
"We have less than an hour before he calls back. Can we get there in time?" Greg asked.
"We'll have to take our chances," Catherine said, reaching for a file with the name Jennings on it. She found the address for the trailer and pulled out her cellphone. "Jim, it's Catherine. I have an address for Jennings' trailer. Gil thinks that might be where he's holding Sara. Yeah, Greg called him. Alright, we'll meet you there." Catherine hung up the phone and turned to Greg. "Let's go, we're on a rescue mission."
Catherine and Greg arrived at the trailer just after Brass and his officers did. Brass took Greg and a couple officers with him around the back of the trailer, while Catherine and a couple officers entered the trailer from the front. Neither Roger Jennings nor Sara were found inside the trailer. As Brass and Greg and their entourage were sneaking around back, they saw Roger shoveling dirt into a large hole, large enough to be a grave. Greg's stomach churned, were they too late? To his relief he heard muffled cries coming from the makeshift grave–Sara was alive! But she was being buried alive.
"We've got to stop him," Greg whispered to Brass. "He's burying her alive!"
"I see that, Sanders. Let's move," Brass said. "LVPD! Drop the shovel and put your hands up!" Jennings ignored the order and continued to shovel. Sara screamed as loud as she could through the duct tape across her mouth.
"I said, drop the shovel and put your hands up, or I'll shoot," Brass demanded.
Jennings dropped the shovel, but pulled a pistol out of his waistband. " I could kill her a whole lot quicker with this," Jennings threatened, aiming the gun at Sara.
Out of the corner of his eye, Brass could see Greg had picked up a blunt object and was stealing around the trailer with an officer, looking to circle around Jennings from behind. Brass took the opportunity to stall Jennings.
"Listen, you don't want to hurt the pretty lady. We've got Catherine Willows with us, she can give you Grissom's contact info, and you can let Sara go. That's what you wanted isn't it?"
"Time's up. I said she had two hours, that was a half an hour ago. The pretty lady dies,"
Jennings said, cocking his weapon.
"Drop it," said the officer who had cornered him from behind. Jennings turned as if to fire at the officer, and Greg hit him on the back of the head with a shovel, sending him to his knees. The officer quickly cuffed him, while Greg dove into the hole to rescue Sara.
She was covered in dirt from the waist down, crying hysterically, hands and feet bound with duct tape and duct tape over her mouth. Greg knelt down, dug her out, removed the tape, and wrapped his arms around her tight, rocking her slowly as she cried.
"I've got you now, you're alright. You're safe now," Greg whispered tearfully as he held her. Sara wrapped her arms around Greg, burying her face in his neck as she cried. Greg scooped her up in his arms and hoisted her up so that Brass and the others could help her out. Brass lent Greg a hand to pull him out, and Greg led Sara over to a waiting ambulance to be checked out. He sat with her while the paramedics looked her over. As Sara was being tended to and Jennings was being led away, Greg pulled out his cellphone.
"Greg, I told Catherine not to call unless she had good news," Grissom answered.
"Well, we do. Sara is safe, and Jennings is in custody," Greg smiled.
"That's wonderful. Tell Sara I'm glad she's safe. And thank you for making me aware of the situation," Grissom said.
"Actually I should be thanking you, you told Catherine where to find Jennings' address. That bit of information saved Sara's life. She's right here if you'd like to talk to her," Greg said.
"I'm sure she's not in much of a mood to talk. Besides, I trust that if she's with you, she's in good hands. Just tell her I'm glad she's safe. Good work, Greg. See you in a few weeks," Grissom said, hanging up the phone. Greg hung up the phone with a disappointed look on his face. He then glanced at Sara, feeling sorry for her that Grissom wouldn't even speak to her after all she had been through.
"Was that Grissom?" she asked.
"Yeah, he said to tell you he's glad you're safe," Greg said softly.
"Typical," she said, as the paramedic finished his work. Sara reached for Greg and laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, burying his face in her hair.
"I'm glad you're here with me. I knew you'd find me, that you'd save me," Sara whispered.
Touched by her words, Greg kissed her on the forehead. She reached up and took his face in her hands and kissed him fully and gently on the lips. He responded to her kiss, running his fingers through her chestnut hair. He gazed deeply into her eyes.
"Let's get you home, okay?" he whispered. She nodded. He helped her out of the back of the ambulance into the Denali. He motioned to Catherine that he was going to take her home. She told him that she'd catch a ride with Brass.
Greg took Sara back to her place, stopping on the way to pick up some take-out for dinner. They shared their meal in silence, then sat beside each other on the couch, holding each other. Greg softly ran his fingers through Sara's hair as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Sara," Greg said softly. "Do you love Grissom?"
Sara thought for a moment, trying to formulate an honest answer.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Greg said, filling the silence.
"No, it's okay. The least I can do is give you an honest answer after today," Sara started. "Grissom and I are complicated. I've had feelings for him for a long time, you know that. But he's emotionally unavailable. He's unable to give me what I need, and today was a prime example."
"What attracted you to him in the first place?" Greg asked.
"He wasn't always like this. He and I have always been close, ever since we worked together in San Francisco. But I think over the years he's changed. He's become more withdrawn, harder to reach. I think our relationship frightens him. I think he's worried that we'll both lose our jobs over it. But to be honest, I don't think there will be much of a relationship when he comes back," Sara said.
"Why is that? You don't love him anymore?" Greg asked.
"I don't love knowing whether or not I'm loved in return. I don't love not knowing what true love feels like. I know I could be much happier...with someone else, someone who truly loves me," Sara said, looking into Greg's eyes.
"Me?" Greg asked. "You want to be with me?"
Sara nodded, and Greg pulled her closer to him and kissed her gently.
"I love you, Greg," Sara whispered.
"I love you, too, Sara," Greg said.