Disclaimers in Chapter 1

2nd Hour. Motel Room.

She took them to a run down motel room. They had expected a big office. They had expected some more agents. They had expected a lot more than a motel room that obviously had questionable sanitation standards.

She sat them down on the single bed in the room and threw a file folder at them then started talking. "A couple of weeks ago Marisa wrote me a letter telling me that if I stayed on her case then she'd kill her daughter Lindsey Willows." The name immediately got Sara's and Catherine's attention tearing it away from the folder they had been perusing. "It was signed Catherine Willows' like all her letters to me have been. That explains why I'm not taking you to the nearest FBI headquarters. She's probably watching the building to make sure we don't walk in with you. I do have a few agents who are on their way here and who will hopefully be able to tell us if Marisa is in town or not."

"Is my daughter in danger?" Catherine's eyes were all fire now. It was one thing putting her at risk or even Sara at risk to stop Marisa, but Catherine wasn't going to do that to her daughter.

"Your daughter was taken from school this morning, put on a plane and sent into protective custody in Arizona."

"You took my daughter," Catherine rose carefully from the bed, "and you didn't bother to consult me?"

Erika's brow rose and she gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "If both of you had not agreed to cooperate we would have used the girl as leverage."

"Bitch," Catherine took a step closer to Erika. "You would use my own daughter against me?"

The agent held her ground sparing a quick glance at Sara who had thus far remained silent and still. "Yes, I would. I'm tired of seeing dead bodies laid out across the country. I'll use whatever tactics I deem fit to get Marisa into my custody. So I suggest you sit back down, Ms. Willows, accept that which you cannot change and read the folder I've given you to change the things you can."

Before Catherine could utter another argumentative sentence there was a knock on the door and Erika went to open it. Four more agents entered the room and took up residence against the wall across from Catherine and Sara.

"These are the other agents who have been working this case," Erika explained as she silently closed the door. "We'll answer all the questions you have after you read the file."

"I'm not going to do anything until you allow me to talk to my daughter," Catherine said defiantly.

Sara threw the file on the floor. "The same goes for me."

Erika reached into her pocket and pulled out a small tin box. She popped off the lid and took out something too small for either Catherine or Sara to identify, then popped it in her mouth. She stared at the two women for a moment more then started laughing. "Have it your way," she said through her laughter. "There are most definitely more important battles that need to be won." She reached into her pocket again but this time pulled out a cell phone. She flipped it open, dialed in a number then threw it to Catherine who fumbled with it before it landed solidly in her hands. "Ask for your daughter," Erika instructed.

There were exactly three rings before someone picked up. "Hello?" The voice on the other end sounded unsure.

"Lindsey?" Catherine pulled the phone closer to her ear and turned her back on all the agents.

"Mom?" Lindsey's voice was frightened. "What's going on?"

"Are you okay?" The CSI felt a presence come up behind her and instinctively knew that it was Sara.

"Yeah," the young girl was obviously frightened and nervous. "They told me that you were in trouble and that I had to leave. What's going on?"

"Everything's fine sweetheart. I just have a few work things that need to be taken care of. Don't worry about anything." Catherine was worried out of her mind and was sure that her assurances wouldn't make her daughter feel much better, but she at least had to try.

"When can I come home?"

"Very soon."

"I love you, Mom."

"Love you too, Lindsey."

It wasn't the type of phone call where conversation was abundant. There wasn't much either one of them could say. Lindsey was old enough and smart enough to know that things weren't necessarily going to be okay and Catherine knew her daughter well enough to know Lindsey couldn't be given too many false assurances before they unveiled the true need to be worrisome.

Catherine stayed on the line until she was sure Lindsey had hung up then slowly turned to Erika. "I hope to god that you know what you're doing." She looked at the small phone in her hand a moment then in her anger threw it back to Erika, aiming for the other woman's head.

Erika reached up and caught the phone before it hit her face. "Hate me later. Read the file now." To avoid another confrontation, one of the nameless agents standing against the wall took a step forward and picked up the file from the floor. He handed it to Catherine who accepted it silently. He gave her a boyishly handsome grin then took his place against the wall again.

Not wanting to sit back down, Catherine opened the file again and flipped through the contents. As she read she became more and more displeased with what she was reading. "What gives you the right?" she yelled as she closed the folder and shoved it at Sara. "This is my life."

Erika titled her head slightly and her eyes narrowed. "Bottom-line? I get my job done, which means I don't care about personal privacy or exposing hidden secrets. One doesn't go about solving every case that lands on their desk by being concerned with morals or ethics or whatever normally binds you locals into upholding the law."

Confused about the conversation, Sara opened the file and once again started reading the contents. She skipped the pages that were about Marisa and flipped to the back where every page was covered with every detail of Catherine's life. There was a copy of her birth certificate; pictures of her at work, at her house, at the grocery store, there were pictures of her with other people. There were pictures of them together, taken what seemed like forever ago.

"How is it that you've kept your job?" Sara asked as she closed the folder. "What you've done is illegal."

"You want to know a secret?" Erika reached out and took the folder from Sara. "I don't really work for the FBI. They do," she nodded her head to the agents against the wall. "I'm more of a civilian helper. There is no way I would ever be hired by the government. What can I say?" she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a girl with a past, and I hear our government frowns on hiring felons."

"What kind of past?" Catherine asked warily.

Erika smiled. "Well certainly not your kind. Not your kind either, Ms. Sidle. My past more involves psych wards and anti-psychotic medication."

"Is she serious?" Sara asked the agent who had handed Catherine the file.

"Yes ma'am," he responded with a nod of his head. "She's a special hire for cases that we have difficulty solving."

"You can follow all the evidence in the world," Erika looked from Sara to Catherine. "But you only catch people that are normally abnormal. You catch the textbook crazies. The real people who are insane—the kind that make insanity an art form instead of a punch-line—leave you breadcrumbs in the woods, not handwriting on the wall, and you only catch them when they want you to. You catch them when their masterpiece is complete and you've gotten so far inside their head you've forgotten what normal is anymore."

"Is that how you were caught?" Sara took an unconscious step closer to Catherine.

Erika shook her head. "I never was caught, because I never did anything. I had a daughter to be sane for."

"Had?" The usage of the past tense wasn't about to escape the grasp of either CSI.

"She was murdered by one of my fellow psychopaths." Erika turned away from the women questioning her. "I helped catch him and became a special helper for the government."

"Was that medication you were taking before?" Catherine's voice was soft, it even held a not of compassion.

Erika chuckled. "No. It was a breath mint." She turned back around and walked so that she was standing directly in front of Catherine. "I'm not on medication. They tend to dampen the insanity, and then I'm no use to anyone."

"You're serious," Catherine took a step away from the taller woman. She was surprised that she hadn't felt there was anything strange about this woman. She always had a certain amount of pride in her gut instinct, which seemed to have failed her completely on this occasion. When she had seen Erika in her office, she just saw a beautiful, charismatic, stoic woman who needed some information. She had all the proper identification and all the right words.

"Yeah, so how does it feel being attracted to a psychopath?" Erika smiled broadly. She had a beautiful smile.

"I wasn't," Catherine began to say but was quickly interrupted by Erika. "You were. One of the things I was actually counting on was that you would be attracted to me so that getting you to join the case would be easier. Sex appeal does have its advantages, doesn't it? I understand that's certainly something you know a lot about Ms. Willows. You're not completely unattractive yourself."

"This is unbelievable," Catherine pushed past Erika and walked to the door. "This is crazy; I'm not going to put my life or Sara's life in the hands of a psychopath."

Sara followed Catherine to the door, reached out and grabbed a hold of Catherine's arm. "Marisa still wants me dead." The words stopped Catherine in her tracks.

"It took me forever to talk Marisa into coming after Ms. Sidle, Ms. Willows. It took me forever to convince her that you had found the love of your life and would never be satisfied with what Marisa was doing for you, unless Sara was out of the way first."

"You set me up?" Sara released Catherine and turned back to Erika.

Erika seemed confused by the question. "Of course. Why would I wait for her to just come to Sara's name on her relatively long list?"

"You set her up, knowing we're not together anymore. You put her life at risk." Catherine moved past Sara. She stood in front of Erika and with calculated movements raised her hand and swung it at Erika's face. Erika grabbed Catherine's wrist, stopping the attack mid-swing.

"No matter what now, Marisa is after Sara. So like I said, hate me later."

Catherine yanked her wrist out of Erika's grasp. "So what happens now?"

Author's Note: I'm really sorry about the cliff hanger here. Normally I don't try to do that sort of thing, but I promise to try and make it up to everyone come Chapter 3. Remember Reviews are welcome, slightly encouraged even.