Disclaimers in previous chapters
4th Hour. Catherine's House.
When they walked through Catherine's front door, they saw Erika sitting comfortably in the darkness of the living room. The agent who had dropped them off told them that Erika would be waiting, but failed to answer Catherine's questions on how exactly Erika had gained admittance into the house.
"How did you get in here?" Catherine asked angrily, already overly tired of Erika's presence.
"I was worried about you two pulling everything off tonight," Erika ran her hand through her dark hair. She had no intention of answering Catherine's question since she figured the answer should be an obvious one. Houses were easy things to get into. "I didn't exactly trust you two to behave yourselves. Of course, I'm generally not a very trusting person so my mistrust wasn't entirely personal. Lucky for you both, the way a carefully placed agent named Tad told it, you two actually looked like a couple worth being jealous of."
"Was Marisa there?" Sara shifted awkwardly in her stance. She hadn't decided how exactly she wanted to feel about the dinner she had with Catherine. The reality of what had happened hadn't settled with her yet, and she found focusing her critical thinking skills on Marisa was a much easier task.
"Of course she was," Erika leaned forward and rested her elbows on her thighs. "She didn't much like the evening's entertainment either. Now we just have to give her the opportunity to kidnap you while she's angry. If we give her a chance to calm down then she probably will gain what little sanity she has left back again, and that's not something I want to happen."
"Kidnap?" Catherine hoped she had heard wrong, but already knew Erika to be the type to actually have that be part of her big plan.
"Yes," there was a grin planted on Erika's face. "If everything works out perfectly, then we'll nab her before she nabs Sara."
"Wait," Sara held up her hand. "If you guys saw her at the restaurant why didn't you arrest her then?"
"That's a good question," Erika began rubbing her chin. "If we had the perfect opportunity to arrest a serial killer why didn't we just take it?"
"We could do without the sarcasm," Catherine commented.
Erika shrugged. "Okay then I'll just tell you the obvious truth. Marisa is like a phantom. She appears and disappears very quickly. She knows we're after her. She'll only step out long enough to be seen, but the moment anyone blinks she's gone. We haven't been able to keep her in a place long enough to put cuffs on her. The agents did try to arrest her at the restaurant and they failed. Now we must pursue another avenue for her capture."
"If she's so quick then why are you letting her come after Sara? You've failed before, what makes you think you won't fail again?"
Erika jumped up from her seat and concentrated her attention solely on Catherine's eyes. "I did not fail. It would be best you remember that, Ms. Willows. The agents failed, not me. They understand their mistake and understand the consequences of a future failure."
"Let's say I do it," Sara held her hand up to stop any protest that was going to come from the blond standing next to her. "How do we get me out of this house without it looking suspicious?"
"You walk the dog."
"I don't have," Catherine began to say, but was interrupted by a furry German Shepherd barking as it barreled down the stairs. "What the hell is that?" she asked pointing to the huge animal.
"It's a dog, Ms. Willows." Erika replied with a straight face. "His name is Romeo."
"You've got to be kidding me," the dog went straight to Catherine and started sniffing her feet.
"It's really hard to go out and walk a dog without the actual dog," Erika called out to Romeo and the dog immediately went to her. "He is fully trained and will be Sara's best friend out there if the incompetence of the FBI continues."
Sara took a long look at the dog then sighed heavily. "Okay so when do we do this?"
Erika's eyes twinkled. "How's now?"
"This is crazy," Catherine turned quickly to Erika and started to approach the taller woman, but Romeo growled at her sudden movement and she stopped her forward momentum. "This is crazy," she said more calmly. "I don't think any part of it is the least bit safe."
"I thought you hated each other," Erika stated bluntly as she petted Romeo on the head.
"No we don't," Both women responded simultaneously then looked at each other, then quickly back to Erika.
"Well it really doesn't matter to me," Erika stood up. "I could care less how you define your relationship. I just want a serial killer off the streets." She walked away from the women and to the front door. "Romeo leash," she called to the dog who ran away and came back moments later with a red leash in his mouth.
"Smart dog," Catherine found herself saying.
"I'm glad you like him," Erika hooked the leash to Romeo's collar. "After we're done, he's going to be your dog. I'm sure your daughter will love him; he's a sweetheart."
The entire conversation seemed so out of place to Catherine. Then again, it seemed just about as out of place as the whole night had been. She turned to Sara and decided to take a risk by gently grabbing the other woman's hand. "Please don't get yourself killed."
Sara opened her mouth to say something reassuring but decided against it. She gave a slight nod of her head and squeezed Catherine's hand gently. She didn't have any words for a moment like this. She didn't know what she could say that would make things better or different.
"Lovebirds," Erika called out to them forcing them to break eye contact. "You can gaze longingly into each other's eyes another time. Now it's time to pretend Sara walks a German Shepherd named Romeo." She held up the leash and waved it in the air for emphasis.
Sara took the leash from Erika. "So what's the plan?" she asked softly.
"Go out and walk the dog. When you reach the corner of the block at that house that's for sale, stop and smoke a cigarette. I'm hoping she'll try to grab you from there," Erika quickly explained. "If she doesn't, then continue walking until you reach the other side of the block. There's a dark part of the street where the streetlamp has been broken. When you reach it let Romeo off the leash. We want him to be free to protect you. If she doesn't grab you there then she's not going to do it."
"So what do I do when I see her?"
"Fight back," Erika answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If she stabs you with a needle then she's drugged you and you're absolutely useless to everyone. The point of this is for you to actually not be kidnapped."
"Easily said," Catherine said under her breath.
"Not easily done," Sara added.
Erika looked at them then shook her head, wiping away whatever thought had crossed it. "Go walk the dog." She opened the door for Sara and shut it as soon as Sara had exited. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out the phone Catherine had thrown at her a couple of hours earlier. She dialed a number, spat out some orders then hung up.
"Aren't you going to follow her?" Catherine asked, unafraid to invade Erika's personal space now that the dog was no longer present.
"Marisa can't see me," Erika replied. "I don't want her to think I've set her up. She wouldn't chance taking Sara then. She might shoot her, but she won't stop to kidnap her."
"And you're positive that you know what she's going to do?"
"Pretty much," Erika moved so that she was standing directly in front of Catherine. "She's got a method to her madness, just like you were taught in those fancy classes you cop affiliated people take over offenders and victims."
"Some of those classes actually have come in handy," Catherine wasn't quite sure why she felt the need to defend the classes she was forced to take, she hadn't enjoyed them very much, but it was at least better than worrying about Sara.
"Would you believe me if I told you that I actually teach those classes?" Erika took a step closer to Catherine.
"I find a lot of what you say questionable," Catherine realized her voice sounded husky and tried to clear her throat.
"I go by the textbooks, just like everyone else. I teach the theories they have and all the while I'm laughing hysterically in my head. No one understands." Erika's hand reached out slowly for the strap of Catherine's dress.
The strap had slid down Catherine's shoulder and Erika pulled it back up in place. "I should have gotten you a better fit. You do wonders for the dress but I'm not sure if it does wonders for you."
Catherine's breath was quickening and her heart seemed to be beating just a little bit faster. She had trouble admitting to herself that her reactions stemmed from her fear. She didn't want to be afraid of Erika, she didn't want to give the woman that sort of power over her. "I think it fits fine," she managed to say.
Erika moved her hand away from Catherine's shoulder and ran it down the curves of Catherine's body. "I think you make it fit marvelously." She whispered into Catherine's ear.
Without the consent of her brain, Catherine's eyes closed and she released a slight gasp. There was something about the woman standing in front of her, that made her want to run away and hold on at the same time.
"I bet," Erika maneuvered herself so that she was standing behind Catherine, both her hands placed firmly on the blonde's hips. "You want Sara doing this to you right now. You want her hands on you, rubbing against your skin, claiming you as her very own. You want her to hold your pleasure in her hands again. You want everything from her, but get the psychopath instead while she's moved on to someone else."
"Yeah," Catherine found herself saying before she realized just what Erika had said. She pulled away from the intoxicating woman. Her face flushed in her anger, fear and lust. "What the hell are you doing?"
Erika chuckled. "Don't mistake me for Cupid, but I'd say you're not quite over your feelings for the woman who's currently risking her life to save yours. It would seem obvious that you want to hate her so much because you can't deal with how much you love her."
Catherine would have replied, but was saved from yelling out her anger by the ringing of Erika's phone.
"You're calling to tell me you've done it correctly, right?" Erika barked into the phone.
Catherine waited silently hoping that this was the call that would make everything okay again. Her hope went away soon after she heard Erika cursing at the person on the other end in a few different languages.
Erika slammed her phone shut then threw it against the nearest wall where it shattered on impact. She popped her neck then rolled her shoulders. Catherine could see the woman take a few deep breaths then turned back to face her.
"What happened?" She asked knowing she didn't want to know the answer.
"Marisa got her," Erika said softly.
"No!" Catherine yelled. "You were supposed to protect her!" she advanced quickly on Erika and this time her slap connected. Erika didn't even flinch. "No!" Her arms swung wildly at Erika's body and Erika did nothing to fend off the attacks. She let Catherine hit her until the woman didn't have the energy to do so anymore.
When the CSI was fully exhausted Erika supported her weight so she wouldn't collapse to the ground. She picked the smaller woman up and put her down on the couch.
"I placed a tracking device in Sara's belt buckle," she told Catherine. "I'm going to personally track her down and I'll bring her back to you alive."
"You better," Catherine responded coldly.
Erika bowed her head. "Romeo was shot," they're taking him to the vet. I'm going to drop you off with them."
"You want me to baby-sit the dog?" Catherine asked incredulously.
Erika shrugged and a pout covered her face. "Dogs need love too."
Catherine couldn't help herself. She laughed.
"I know you rather be out there looking for the person you claim to hate most in the world, but it's not safe for you. You should give Romeo a chance."
Erika had meant what she said. Romeo needed some people in his corner too. He had offered his life for Sara and that certainly was enough to earn him a visit, but what she didn't say was that she didn't want Catherine with her, and it wasn't because she cared one iota about Catherine's well-being.