Again, special thanks to CSIGeekFan for the beta. Your help has been great!
Chapter 5
David Hodges hunched over his microscope and examined the trace evidence that had been brought in from the warehouse. Confirming his results from the computer readout, he quickly crossed the hall to the layout room where Warrick and Greg were examining photos and fingerprints.
"Blood on the rock matches to Sara's DNA on file," Hodges reported. Both Warrick and Greg looked up and nodded, not surprised. "I did find epithelials on the rock and am running that through CODIS," he continued. "The results should be here momentarily. Some of the blood from Griss's Denali was not Sara's though. Looks like our Ms. Sidle inflicted a little damage on whoever took her. The epithelials and some of the blood from Griss's Denali are a match."
"Good work, Hodges," Warrick said with a nod. "What about the evidence Catherine brought in from the hospital? Anything there?"
"That's next and I'm on my way back to the trace lab to work on Grissom's clothes and the trace," the lab tech replied and left as quickly as he had come.
Turning back to the layout table, Warrick stared at the photos and studied the captured images of the crime scene.
"Bobby reported that the bullets taken from our vic all came from Grissom's Glock, but the bullets that were recovered in the wall behind Griss did not come from the vic's Beretta. From the photos, it looks like the gunshots that were fired at Griss came from these crates near the other door."
"Griss's Glock was empty. He not only fired at the vic, but towards where these bullets were fired from. Have all the recovered bullet fragments been processed?" inquired Greg.
"Bobby's still working on it. We should have the results soon."
Nick Stokes entered the layout room just as his cell phone rang.
"Stokes." Nick answered. After a moment, he hung up and turned to Warrick with a smile. "That was Catherine. Griss is awake and chomping at the bit. She'll be here in a while with Griss in tow." The tall Texan shook his head. "I would have loved to have heard the conversation between her and Grissom. She was none too happy about him coming to the lab, but he must have talked her into it."
Warrick grinned, "I'll take Grissom any day over Catherine. Don't know of anyone who can hold his own in a debate with him. Even on his worse day, he's hard to beat. I'm kinda surprised Catherine didn't have him strapped to a bed in the hospital, but Griss can be pretty persuasive."
"Well, if Grissom is going to be here soon, we had better have something to show both him and Catherine. Hopefully, we can have the profile set up on the body in the morgue and trace might come up with possible suspects," Greg piped in.
Sara woke up with a slight throbbing in her head. Her hands and feet were still bound, but the duct tape had been removed from her mouth. She wriggled around and tried to get to a more comfortable sitting position. Sara had been lying on a mattress pushed in the corner of a small room. Looking around, she took in her surroundings. The room was the size of a small bedroom with a slightly warped wood floor. Except for the mattress that she was sitting on, the room was void of any other furniture. There were two windows, but they were both boarded up. A few dusty rays of sunlight were the only evidence that it was still daylight.
Sara could hear faint voices beyond the closed door. Heavy footsteps indicated that someone was approaching, and she quickly lay back down and shut her eyes as the door creaked open.
"See, Lucas, she's still out. I told Ricky not to hit her so hard with that rock, but the kid never listens to me."
Lucas Mallory, a medium-built man with a short military style haircut, stared at the slender brunette lying on the mattress. "You guys were supposed to bring Grissom, but instead you bring some girl. Maybe we can use her to get to Grissom. You say she was with him before he entered the warehouse? I wonder what she was doing there. At least you didn't waste Grissom. I'll just have to find another way to get my dear friend," Mallory mused more to himself than to his companion.
"Sam, when she wakes up, bring her to me. She might prove useful," growled Mallory. He turned and stalked from the room.
Sam Baker nodded and sighed. It was not a good idea to be on the bad side of Lucas. He had found that out in prison and quickly learned that crossing Lucas tended to be detrimental to one's health, both physically and mentally. In prison, Lucas' sadistic tendencies developed to the point that he was sent to the prison mental health facility for a full evaluation. It was from there that Lucas escaped from the great state of California and made his way into Nevada. Lucas was a genius, but also enjoyed sadistic games in controlling and hurting others. After Sam's release for serving his time of aggravated assault on a police officer, Lucas contacted him. Sam knew better than to turn down Lucas and so had come to Nevada.
He turned from the seemingly unconscious young woman on the mattress and left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.
Sara cracked her eyes open and contemplated her situation. Escape was definitely high on her priority list. Her thoughts turned to Grissom. Brass must have gotten to him in time. She shuddered as she remembered the panic in his eyes as he tried to create a diversion to draw the men's attention away from where she was hidden so that she could sneak out the door and alert Brass. He had sacrificed himself for her and had fought desperately against the two men who had him backed up against the wall. Though older than the two assailants, Grissom held his own against the younger, more strongly built men. She heard the gunfire when she reached the truck, but didn't know whether Grissom had been shot. Sara was relieved to learn that he was still alive, but didn't know how seriously he was injured. Sara needed to find a way out of this predicament before Mallory got to Grissom. The senior CSI would move heaven and earth to find her, which would play right into Mallory's hands.
Grissom rested his head against the cool glass of the passenger seat window as he waited for Catherine to get in the driver's side. He closed his eyes, hoping the dizziness and throbbing in his head would subside. Upon being released from Desert Palm, Grissom promised to get plenty of bed rest. Dr. Taylor prescribed pain medication for the dizziness, pain, and headaches and wanted to see in him in a couple of days to check his progress.
"Gil, your house was clear. Brass has a guard there, and it has been secured. Really, let me take you home. You'll get…." implored Catherine implored softly, only to be cut off.
"No, I'm fine….I'm just bound to be a bit woozy from all the meds they gave me," interrupted the weary scientist. To prove to Catherine that he wasn't as bad off as she thought, Grissom sat up straighter and gave her a wan smile. "See? Good as new….just a few aches and pains is all. Let's just get to the lab and see what the guys have going."
Catherine just shook her head and said, "I've seen corpses that look healthier than you look right now. I just don't think this is a good idea. Besides, you're officially on administrative leave anyway. The lab is supposed to be off limits to you."
Grissom turned his head and gave Catherine a hard stare. "Administrative leave? What for? Is this Ecklie's idea? I feel fine," growled Grissom.
"SOP, Gil, you should know that. First, you fired your weapon and killed a suspect. IA has to review that. Not to mention that you were beaten and shot, which not only requires medical leave but PEAP counseling before you will be cleared for work. So technically, I am violating procedure by taking you to the lab in the first place. My ass will be on the line for even bringing you in."
Grissom just sighed. He had forgotten about all the procedural red tape that would come from this. Damn! "Just take me to the lab anyway. I'll talk to Ecklie, if I see him. In the meantime, I'll just stay in my office. Cath, I promise to keep a low profile, but I have to be in the middle of this. I- I'm responsible for what has happened to Sara."
"You're such a pain in the ass, Gil. You don't know how to keep a low profile. Politic, Gil. Remember, politic? Besides, don't you think I know how much Sara means to you? How much you mean to each other?"
Catherine shot Gil a sidelong glance and smirked at his surprised look.
"Sara and I aren't….I would be doing the same thing if it was anyone else on the team," Grissom tried to explain.
"Save it Gil," Cath said with a wave of her hand. "I've known about you and Sara for a long time. It's been obvious for a while. Look Gil, we've known each other for a long time. You are the closest friend I have. I made a big mistake a long time ago when I hooked up with Eddie. You were always there to pick up the pieces when things went wrong. The only good thing that came of that marriage was Lindsey. I didn't see how much you cared for me back then and I blew it…"
"Cath…you didn't…" Grissom tried to interrupt her flood of words.
"No, you listen. You're special to me and I didn't realize what you meant to me. What you have with Sara is special. I'm not jealous. I'm thrilled for you both. So I understand your need to be in the thick of things," Catherine let out a long breath. "You've always had my back. Well, I now have yours. I will be the lead CSI on this case and I will keep you informed, but you can't 'actively' be involved. You know that. Gil, you play by my rules or I go to Ecklie."
"Catherine…..you'd do that…go to Ecklie," Grissom said softly.
"In a heartbeat…don't push me on this. I won't bend that much."
"Okay, we play by your rules then," Grissom said sinking back into his seat and closing his eyes for the rest of the drive to the lab.
Upon arrival at the lab a few minutes later, Catherine reached over and gently shook Grissom. "Hey Gil, we're here."
Wearily, Grissom opened his eyes and nodded slowly, not wanting to let Catherine know how much his head hurt or how dizzy he felt. Catherine quickly grabbed his laptop and files and hurried around to help Grissom out of the Denali. Gingerly, he lowered himself out of his seat and stood up a bit unsteadily.
"You okay?" Catherine asked worriedly. "Gil, I still don't think this is a good idea. You just got released from the hospital."
"I'm okay. Just give me a minute. I'm fine. I…I just need to get my bearings.." Grissom closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Damn! Forgot about those ribs! No deep breaths. Wincing, he held his injured left shoulder and wrist close to his injured side and made his way to the entrance of the lab.
Grissom sighed with relief as he entered his office and gingerly lowered himself down in his office chair. At least he had not run into Ecklie; it was the last thing he needed right now. Catherine opened his laptop and laid the file on Mallory next to the computer.
"I'll be back in a sec with the guys. Don't you dare move out of that chair." With that, she turned and quickly left Grissom's office, closing the door behind her.
Yeah, like I could move out of the chair if I wanted to. Grissom stared at the closed door and contemplated how much he should reveal to his team. He was determined not to make the same mistakes he had made when he was the coroner in Los Angeles. Memories and guilt started to wash over him, and he rubbed his forehead with his right hand trying to soothe the ache that was still there.
He trusted his team immensely, but he also was protective of them. Grissom remembered the emotional and personal toll he went through in the process of hunting Mallory down and bringing him to justice the first time. He pursed his lips and looked up as Catherine entered his office with Nick, Greg, and Warrick close behind. This was his makeshift family and he cared for each of them more than he cared to admit. Leaning back in his chair, he realized that he also would need them to solve this case. Making his decision, Grissom opened the file on his desk.
A/N: Another chapter is up. Thanks again to all of you who have reviewed. The support and reviews have been much appreciated.