Later that evening, Maggie returned to the C.S.I. Headquarters for another shift on a starry and hot night, whistling and counting the days until she could have a night off from being at her demanding job. Three more nights and she had a night off from the grueling schedule Grissom had put everybody through, especially as of late (refreshing, but tiring to everybody). Plans and schemes already racked her brain, silly scenes with Michael often showing themselves to her. Finally, one popped into her mind of her, Michael and Nick having dinner and playing together, but she quickly dismissed it, knowing that it was perfectly unrealistic and could not happen, even to her own wishful thinking.
I cannot be thinking of Nick all the damned time, especially now. I may still love him and realize the mistakes I've made, but it doesn't mean that I want to jump back into a relationship with him. It's too soon. It's much too soon. I just kicked Eric out of the house. And luckily, he left without a complaint after our argument. Ursula and Michael are happy with the arrangement. I'm happy with the lack of slackers in the house…namely Eric. I don't care where he's gone. I'm just hoping that he's far from here and away from me.
Walking down the hallway into her office space, Maggie put her backpack and purse down and sat down at the desk she shared with Ursula. Pictures of their families dotted the desk (their children and sometimes family members), some of them Maggie did not notice until she looked carefully for the first time. Some form of friendship even remained within the office as both left things in the exact spots without telling the other…and each finding what they needed. However, as the C.S.I. surveyed the room, she saw that a random case report from two days ago laid almost forgotten and forlorn in the printer, something that should have been given to Ecklie, who was promoted to Assistant Director, but still doted upon the daytime shift (and headed it oftentimes), leaving Grissom the nighttime crew.
This isn't like Ursula. She's more attentive and responsible than that. Where is she? Maggie picked up the reports, put them in numerical order and stapled the papers together, waving down a daytime C.S.I. as she stuck her head out of the office door. Requesting that Ecklie get that report as soon as possible, she ducked back into the relative safety of her space, thinking about the report in the printer (a careless mistake or something more sinister, she could not figure out, but conspiracies were far from her mind). Then, as she turned to sit down again, she noticed Ursula's backpack in the corner of the office: forsaken, deserted and still full of her things. The two knew that the locker rooms were used for their things usually, but bringing their backpacks into the office made it more comfortable and personal, as if they had control of everything within the small space of work.
This is getting stranger. Maggie was about to turn around in her chair to grab the backpack, when Ecklie came into the office, waving the bunch of papers that Maggie had just sent to him.
"What's up, Assistant Director Ecklie?" Maggie sighed, seeing him in her doorway, clearing his throat and looking slightly irate.
"Where is Kearns?" he asked her without preamble, holding the papers on his hip as they waved in the air conditioning. "She's been missing since last night. She didn't come to her shift this morning and has not contacted anybody since yesterday afternoon."
"I'm sure she's around someplace and has a logical explanation for everything she's done," the younger C.S.I. answered, not confident in her answer. "I saw her briefly last night, but did not stay at the apartment long enough to know what she was up to." Maggie knew that Ecklie would not like to hear of Ursula's late-night adventures, so kept her mouth shut about it. Michael slept over her brother Chris' place (Robbie teaching him sign language, even though the older cousin could speak out loud and read lips), so was taken care of when she was working. However, being at the motel down the road chilled Maggie, a feeling she did not get often.
"I hope so, O'Keefe," Ecklie answered. "That's offense number one with Kearns. Remind her of that. Offense number two gets her suspended without pay. And you know what number three means."
"Yes, Sir." Without being sarcastic and saluting, Maggie almost mechanically turned back to her paperwork as Ecklie left the office, bumping into Grissom as he came. The two talked frantically as the night supervisor told him some news in hushed tones, leaving the Assistant Director utterly shocked and walking down the hallways in disbelief, ordering Grissom to give him more information when the time comes or to have Brass call him with updates on some case at a motel crime scene.
"Yes, Grissom? How can I serve my supervisor admirably tonight?" Without looking up, the C.S.I. knew that Grissom was in the room, flustered and anxious despite her annoyance at the disturbances of the night, Ecklie at the top of the list.
"Have you seen Ursula Kearns at all?" Grissom asked her quickly, frantically even, worry mixing in with the clear frustration he was holding back. Then, he suddenly threw his fists on Maggie's desk, attracting her attention and making her jump in her seat as she dropped her pen and her mindless study of her own affairs. "When was the last time you saw her?"
"Last night, just like I told Ecklie," she replied just as quickly, a tinge of nervousness in her own voice. "Why? I don't know what she does on her off-hours save for some meetings she has with some guy, watching Michael in the evenings and writing up reports. I have no names."
"This is worse than I thought." Grissom started pacing the office space. "This is worse than I thought, especially after all of this…"
Maggie stood up. "Grissom, what is going on here?"
The supervisor did not stop his pacing, but put his hands behind his back, muttering to himself until Catherine popped her head into the office, Nick right behind her as she moved in, closer to Grissom. By then, Grissom had stopped his nervous ramblings and looked to Catherine, who shrugged her shoulders and sighed, not knowing how to answer her boss. Nick appeared to be the same way, but was braver than Catherine to say the news that nobody wanted to hear.
"We traced the call from your office to the White Sands Motel on the Boulevard South," Nick quietly reported. "It was from one of the locked and unused rooms on the top floor. Brass is over there now, knocking down the door."
"That's down the road from where I live," Maggie added, recognition lining her words and understanding in her mind. "Ursula usually goes there for her meetings with some guy. Is she –?"
"She's been kidnapped," Catherine interrupted calmly, putting fear into her younger co-worker's heart, just as another did years before, two murders haunting her then. "Maggie, you can't do anything right now." She backed into the doorway with Nick next to her, blocking the C.S.I.'s exit, acting before she reacted to the news. "Right now, we have to wait for Brass to call."
Grissom's cell phone suddenly rang on cue, as if to confirm Catherine's statements, and the supervisor picked it up and listened for a moment, without saying a greeting to the person on the other end. Ending with, "We'll be there soon," Grissom hung up, motioning for Catherine to get moving.
"What's going on, Gris?" Nick asked as he was gently pushed aside.
"Nothing and nobody at the motel room, but it's clearly a crime scene," Grissom answered automatically to everybody. Then, turning to Nick, he added, "You stay here with Maggie. Catherine, Sara and I will handle this one."
"And what do we do in the meantime?" Maggie asked, feeling helpless…wanting to vomit all over again…wishing that Michael was in her arms, safe and sound. Was he? Is he safe with Chris and Rachael and Robbie? Jesus, I want him! He can't be left alone. No, no, no!
"Stay here with Nick, Maggie. Call Brass to tell him where Michael is. He'll escort your son here to Headquarters or have a uniformed officer do it for him." Grissom hurried out, motioning that Catherine to come with him. "If this is another kidnapping case involving your family, we cannot take any chances this time. We'll keep who we have safe and behind protective custody before something else happens and quickly gather the rest of them."
As Catherine and Grissom left, Nick looked to Maggie, searching for something out of her. What, she did not know. All she saw in his eyes was sympathy and some sort of helplessness, the same kind that she was feeling in the situation: numb, with no idea on what to do, no plan in mind, no way to figure this out.
Maggie sat down in her chair again, agitated, especially when Nick pulled up a chair from the hallways and sat next to her, holding her hand and rubbing it in circles with his thumb. Wanting to punch him in the face for intruding upon her personal space and thoughts did not help Maggie, but him being there could help her later on. She even almost smacked herself in the forehead for thinking that.
I can't be running to Nick every time something happens, just like last time. And even before trouble came to me, he was there, as always. He was there. Then, everything had to change. Now, at the first sign of trouble AGAIN, there he is. I can't let myself fall again, can't let myself fall in love again. No, no, no, no! I can't do it. Co-worker or not, he can't be my lover. And he's acting it, like always. No. I would like it, but I can't handle it.
"What do you think?" Nick asked Maggie calmly after a few minutes. "Jason Napolitano is dead. His son lives and is innocent. Who could be after your family now? Or is that even possible now? Can it be a sheer coincidence even?"
Maggie thought for a minute, knowing that all of the players of the past were dead and gone and that somebody new was out there, possibly even Ursula's mysterious man that she had been meeting up with for the past few weeks. Then, without an answer in mind but that, she only replied to Nick, "Somebody who just knows the past and isn't over it yet. And it's not going to be over unless they say so."