I'm Back

Chapter 13

The man frantically paced back and forth and kept looking to the wall. "Why are you doing this Sara? We are soul mates, we were meant to be together and we will be together. We've hit a little bump in the road but I know we can get through this. I just have to approach this from a different perspective." He stopped pacing and stood staring at the wall. "You seem to have matured since you got to Nevada. I like your hair when you let it curl just that little bit on the ends. I've always adored that little gap in your tooth did you know that? I just wish you would admit that you feel the same way that I do and stop fighting me. I've seen you throw away my gifts and the fear that comes to your eyes when you receive them. I don't mean to scare you, I just want to show you how much I love you and how we belong together."

He stood up again and started pacing and soon his demeanor became less frantic and turned angry. "Catherine made a mistake when she showed up at the crime scene instead of you. Yes I set it up and was hoping you would be the one to show up but that bitch showed up instead and ruined everything. I was so close to having you with me forever but you managed to find a way to escape. I applaud your ingenuity and your ability to escape from an almost impossible situation and you are proving to be a worthy adversary. I do believe that I may begin to enjoy the chase and it may make the capture all the more pleasing. Look around the room I have prepared for you."

He spread his arms as if she were there with him. "It's an exact replica of your bedroom in your house on the beach in San Francisco, you were so happy there so I thought it would be nice to bring you back here and you would feel comfortable. I spent many hours just sitting in your room while you were at work, you didn't even know did you? I created one in the house I had just down the beach from you in California too but you never gave me the chance to show you. Why did you run Sara? I loved California, I hate Las Vegas. I can tell you hate it here too maybe we can return to California together. We can run in the surf together like you used to do every morning. I loved to see you in that black bikini that you used to wear when you and your friends had those bon fires on the beach. Can't do that here can you? Kind of hard to surf at Lake Mead now isn't it? You belong on the beach my love. You have no idea the joy I felt when you would be out on the water on your surf board. Those long legs were meant for a surf board, all those muscles rippling as you had complete control of your board."

He appeared to be becoming more agitated as he spoke. "They are stifling your creativity here Sara, we need to go back to California. I know there are some issues that need to be addressed and I will be there to help you work through them. Your Mom is not a happy woman in that female prison in Chowchilla but that's where she belongs. The last time I talked to her before I moved here she was still very angry at you for testifying against her at her trial. I know you did what you had to do but she doesn't understand you like I do. But you have to face your past to go forward with your future and your future is with me. We can and will be happy all you have to do is stop fighting me. Soon you will see all that I have done for you and you will learn to love me. Once I have you out of here and you see this room you will realize that I am what is best for you. First I have to get you away from the rest of the CSI's, especially Catherine so I can show you that we were meant to be together."

He left the room and walked through the rest of the house all the while he was able to see the many things he bought to make Sara comfortable. The hanging wicker chair was one of his favorites because he remembered watching Sara on her deck as she would sit in a chair just like it and watch the sun set almost every night. Her eyes would grow wistful as she laid her head against the side of the chair and watched the last rays disappear below the horizon. She would sit there until the breeze from the ocean became chilly and then sigh a deep sigh and head back into the house. The same routine every night. She had loved her little house on the beach and that was why he bought it after she left California and he planned to bring her back to it once they were together. "You will be happy again and we can sit on the deck together and watch the sunset. We will be happy together if we have to die together to accomplish that then so be it."

He went into his bedroom and opened the closet and tried to decide how he would disguise himself today. "They will be looking for a cop today so it would be best if I wore something that would blend in with the rest of the people at the hospital. Ah yes this will do nicely. I haven't used this one since California."

That night at the crime lab the guys were busy sifting through all of the stuff that Ecklie's day shift crew had found in the mobile home out in the desert. "Do you think these guys left anything in the mobile home or did they just grab everything and bring it back here?" Nick picked up another bag and dumped in on another table. "Looks to me like Ecklie may have grabbed everything and thrown in some other stuff just to keep us busy so his guys can look good."

"Hey Nick look on the bright side, at least he's letting us work the case. He could have said there was a conflict of interest and not let us work it at all. I'm going to go talk to Grissom and see if we can use Greg to sift through some of this crap."

"You're a braver man than me Warrick Brown. You saw the kind of mood he was in and you are willing to face him? I bow to a greater man." Nick actually bowed and when Warrick slapped him on the back of the head he stood up. "Ouch man what was that for? I think you're either the bravest man or the stupidest. I'll reserve judgment for later as to which it is." He laughed as Warrick left the room. Then he turned back to the table he was working on and started sifting through the rubbish. He laid the duct tape on the table and carefully tried to see if he could lift any useable prints. He used the lift tape and had a print that he then scanned it in the computer and went back to work while it searched through Automated Fingerprint Identification System commonly known as AFIS. He was still sifting through the same stack when Warrick came back into the room.

"Man why didn't I just listen to you? How long do you think Grissom is going to be mad at Catherine? It's not like she stole Sara away from him, these vibes have been bouncing all over the place between Catherine and Sara since day one. If Grissom was any kind of people person he would have seen it."

"You guys talking about our two favorite girls again?" Greg entered the room with his usual panache. "Grissom said you needed some help. Wendy is going to cover my caseload so I can solve this crime for you guys."

"Yeah like a lab rat is going to be able to do that." Nick turned when he heard a beep from the computer running the fingerprints. "Say it ain't so. The guy isn't in AFIS. Strike one."

"Well then I have strike two." They all turned to see Archie standing in the doorway. "I just reviewed the video from the hospital and it looks like the guy knew about the cameras. He kept his hat on and head down enough so that there isn't one useable picture of him on the entire video. There are pictures of him coming into the hospital, pictures of him at the information desk and the ICU desk and sitting in the chair in the ICU. And in all of them he kept his face hidden. Sorry guys, I already told Brass and he said he'd tell Grissom and Ecklie. Sure wouldn't want to be anywhere near Grissom when he tells him. You guys have any idea what or who put the burr up Grissom's butt and put him in such a bad mood?"

Warrick, Nick and Greg all looked at each other and smiled and then turned to Archie as one. "No idea man, nope sorry, heck no" and they all turned back to the table and lowered their heads.

"Oh no you don't you guys know something. Come on I'm bored, I could use some gossip and from the looks of you guys it's something good."

"Man we would if we could but we made a promise not to say anything about it and a promise is a promise."

"Come on Warrick, I am begging you man." Warrick just shook his head so Archie turned to Greg. "Come on Greg you owe me."

"Archie, begging does not become you and it's not that we don't want to tell you but if we did, we'd have to kill you."

"If we didn't kill you Grissom would. And you know better than anyone that if he killed you they would never find your body. So like we said we can't tell ya Arch we like ya too much."

"Nick you guys are so cold, and so unfair."

"Hey if you want to know, go ask Grissom."

"No way, but I will find a way to find out what is going on. Maybe I'll ask Brass."

"He won't tell you either."

"Is this a conspiracy? Speaking of conspiracies, has anyone seen Catherine or Sara?"