Disclaimer – Please see chapter 1
A/N – Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you all have a great one! Thank you all again for the continued great reviews and support of the story, it really is encouraging. My Vacation to Italy was great and much needed. But it was good to be home for the New Year with my family again. The story takes on a couple of twists & turns in the coming chapters, but I have, and am still leaving you all subtle clues, so hopefully if Grissom taught you well, you'll know who has Kye! Story is beta'd by myself so any remaining mistakes are all mine, so I apologize in advance. R & R Enjoy!
Fall Out Boy – Chapter 41 – Lying to Gil & Sara
"Developments?" Gil asked as soon as he saw the captain flip his cell closed.
"Have they found Kye?" Sara asked anxiously, almost at the same time.
Brass looked first to Catherine, then back at the couple seated on the couch, before speaking "Okay two of my guys just got called out to the Excalibur, where our Mr Carlton was creating quite the scene at the black jack tables after loosing twenty grand. They recognized him from the broadcast, and are now transporting him back to PD for me to interview. Under the current circumstances.........." Jim threw a look to Catherine as he chose his words carefully "They've had housekeeping unlock his hotel suit, but there is no apparent sign of anyone other that Mr Frosts associate staying in the room with him, and we're having his hired vehicle towed in to the lab for processing".
Anticipating Gil's next question, Brass forged on "Its a silver, Austin Martin DB7 Gil. Catherine already has Vartann checking out if either Frost, Carlton or......." Jim paused shooting a nervous glance at Sara, who was looking down at her lap, seemingly not with the conversation properly "Pettigrew have hired a dark colored Lexus in the last forty eight hours. Nick's heading out to the Exc..........." he said but was interrupted.
Sara's head shot up at this, a mild glare in her eyes "So your already investigating Hank?" she asked a little annoyance in her tone, feeling slightly hurt that they obviously didn't really need her opinion, and judgment when they asked for it.
At this Catherine spoke up "Sara we're just covering every base here, not leaving any stone unturned. You know how this works with these kind of time sensitive cases" she said hoping to placate her friend, as she locked eyes with Gil pleadingly for help.
Gil squeezed Sara's shoulders comfortingly, as he tried to connect his gaze with Sara "Cath's right honey, they're just doing what needs to be done right now, we just need to be patient and let them do their job" he said letting the endearment slip out in front of his two long time friends.
Still looking at Jim, Sara sighed heavily, then her eyes and facial expressions softened into an apologetic look, as she conceded that they were right, that her being on the other side of the investigation, her strong personal involvement was clouding her normally good sense of judgment.
"I know,...........and I'm sorry" Sara voiced sadly looking back down into her lap again.
Clearing his throat a little uncomfortably, Jim spoke again "I've got officers en-route to Mr Pettigrew's residence to check everything out there. They will bring him in if there is anything off or suspicious, or he can't account for his whereabouts this morning" he let out a breath, then cautiously continued "The Amber alert has been issued, and is in full operation now, so hopefully we should be getting some calls in very soon to give us something pertinent to help us" he said finishing.
Catherine's cell phone alerted her to an incoming message, so she took it off her belt and flipped it open, scrolling to her text messages, to open the one sent to her.
Warrick – The screen told her was the sender.
She glanced up catching Gil's worried eyes momentarily, before breaking the glance to step away from the three others, turning her back to read the message.
Pressing the key to open the message, Catherine took in a deep controlled breath.
Child's body en route with Dave to lab.
ETA Twenty.
Male, No identification.
Aged Approx 4-8yrs
No Obvious Signs of COD
Need 1 Hour to Process Scene.
See You Back at the Lab.
Catherine sucked in a quick breath at the information, then steadied herself as she sent a reply;
Will meet with Doc in morgue ASAP,
Await arrival of body.
Try to make a visual identification
based on Amber Alert Picture.
Page Me when you get back.
Hitting send, Catherine steeled herself for any questions, and did her best to apply a mask of unconcern before flipping the cell closed, then turning back to the group again.
"Just Rick informing me he has everything under control and doesn't need another CSI at the scene" she said not meeting the eyes of either Gil or Sara, afraid that the emotion present internally within her would be betrayed through her eyes.
Catherine hated blatantly lying to either Gil or Sara, but as a parent of a child herself, decided that it was worth it, if only to spare them the possible trauma of being aware of the finding of a child's body while they were going though all this, and the the inevitable identification needed, if she could prevent such a thing if the body proved not to be that of Kye, then she was willing to do everything in her power to prevent it from happening to them.
"So?" She added looking at Jim, her eyes widening perceptibly to let him know all was not good with the text message "Where are we at?" she added as she silently prompted him to continue and help her.
Gil's eyes narrowed in suspicion, at the awkward manner that the two seemed to be stumbling to continue on with the conversation, as he rubbed Sara's back in soothing circles, continually making her aware that he was there to support her no matter what.
Jim frowned, then spoke as if suddenly catching on "I've also got a tail on Frost, just to keep an eye on him, and to see who, and if, he meets up with anyone who might lead us the boys whereabouts" he paused then added "Where are you at with this mornings scene?" he asked Catherine, deliberately avoiding using any personal reference to Gil's home, and deflecting back to her.
Composure fully in check, and taking control again, Catherine turned her body more towards the anxious couple again "The guys have all finished up there a while ago, and all their evidence is still with trace, DNA and fingerprinting. We are just awaiting the results to see if we have anything probative. Nicks heading out to the Excalibur, and I'm going to get Greg to process the DB7 when it gets here" Catherine gave them a soft sympathetic smile "There is still an officer at the house, but we have now released the scene, if you want to return home".
Keeping his suspicious thoughts until a later time, but making a mental note of it, Gil frowned at the subtle hint, before nudging Sara to get her attention "Do you want to go home, freshen up? maybe get something to eat and take a nap" he suggested, but seeing her about to protest he added "It could be hours before there's any news, and I'm sure Cath and Jim will keep us up to speed. Let us know of any developments".
He said looking to Jim and Catherine pointedly "Wont you" he stated, more than asked.
At this point a knock sounded on the office door.
"Of course Gil" Catherine replied reading the warning in his words.
Brass opened the door quickly, and inviting the AV tech in, Archie spoke after a quick nervous glance to the couple on the couch "I'm still studying the tapes from the Bellagio, but I've got footage of Mr Frost leaving the hotel suit at eleven twenty three alone, other tapes show him entering the elevator and then leaving the hotel" he said looking at his temporary boss.
"I've still got hours of footage to check through, to see if he returned at any point, and who else entered or exited the suit in the ensuing hours up until the time of death of the victim. But I thought you'd want to know what I have so far" Archie said handing her a few stills photographs of Frost, waiting for Catherine's approval for him to get back to his task, and escape the tension in the office.
"Thanks Archie" she replied smiling as he slipped out of the office as quickly as he could, she was about to close the door again when Hodges almost barged in.
"Catherine" Hodges greeted, before puffing out his chest to speak, ignoring the others in the office that were out of his line of sight "The material found on the gate post at Grissom's this morning is a heavy expensive material, with a distinctive zig zag pattern, which is also quite coarse, one used best for longevity and durability. Wrinkles are uncommon and creases are unlikely to form........." he rattled out cockily, before a stern warning was issued.
"Hodges just get to the point" Catherine said testily, she wasn't in the mood for his lengthy explanations.
A little pissed that he didn't get to voice his full description, David simply delivered his results "It's from a Herringbone tailored suit, similar in weight to tweed. So your suspect is a snappy dresser".
Turning to look at Jim with a raised eyebrow, Catherine then looked back to Hodges "Anything else?".
Smirking now, he spoke "Actually I identified the red rubbery trace evidence from the Bellagio case, and its the exact same type of liquid latex substance used by suspects in another CSI case from a few years back, by some of the 'Ladies' and 'clients' of the dominion" he said emphasizing the last word, wiggling his eyebrows.
Losing her patience now at the seemingly useless piece of information, Catherine gave him a glare "And?" she said irritatedly, shooting a quick look to Gil who now looked a little uncomfortable.
His grin widening Hodges continued, ignoring her growing annoyance with him "For my 'piece de resistance'" he stated smugly "I found a couple of pubic hairs with their skin tags still intact embedded into the latex, both from different donors, that Sanders and Stokes failed to spot. I swung them over to Wendy, who's now running the DNA through CODIS" he said finishing, clearly happy that he had gotten one up on the CSI's for once.
Both Catherine's eyebrows were almost in her hairline, at the shock of Greg and Nick missing the DNA evidence firstly, but also at the fact that they may now have a decent lead in the other case, if they could only get a DNA match.
Being aware of the very nature of the 'S&M' type activities that had gone on in the Bellagio hotel suit prior to the victims death, no one so far had made any connection to Lady Heather or her profession, because evidence of peoples weird and freaky sexual preferences and predilections, were abundant throughout Las Vegas, not just at her place of work.
Making a mental note, she decided to send Warrick to the Dominion to see if Mrs Kessler had sent some of her employees out to the hotel room the night of the young womans death, just to cover all bases, while she dealt with the more pressing case of Kye still being missing, possibly, probably being harmed.
Seeing that Hodges couldn't see either Gil or Sara in the office, Catherine ushered him out into the corridor as she spoke "Okay good. Page me with any more results you get or Wendy does" she said dismissively as she turned and re-entered the office, closing the door behind her.
"Okay I've gotta get myself over to PD for that interview" Jim said grasping the door handle "You........coming with?" he asked Catherine tentatively.
"No. I got things I need to take care of here" she said with a knowing look to him.
"Okay I'll keep you in the loop" he said nodding to both Gil and Catherine.
"Sara, get some rest, you look worn out" he added in a fatherly tone "I'll check in with you later" he all but promised, before leaving.
Itching to get down to the morgue to meet with Al, to try to determine whether the child victim that was coming in, escorted David Phillips was Kye Merridian or not, so she could then tell the couple personally if needed, she just wanted to get the horrible task over with, whoever child this was, it was going to be the most horrendous news any parent would have to endure.
Turning to Gil again, who now had Sara's face hidden in his shoulder, as he wrapped both his arms around her shaking form, Catherine bit down the emotions in her the image provoked "Take her home Gil, there's nothing either of you can do here" she said gently, her ulterior motive of wanting them away from the lab if she were to find out that the child was indeed Kye, her reasoning was that here, would not be the right place for them to find out.
"I'll leave you two alone, but I'll ring if I have any news" she said, then slipped out of the room leaving them alone once more.
An audible, but muffled sob broke free from Sara, as her tears intensified yet again "Where is he Gil?" she choked out desperately, her voice breaking with emotion "Who's got him?".
Hearing her, and feeling her so upset, had Gil's heart clenching in his chest, his own emotions doing a number on him, as he fought to keep his own tears at bay "Heyyyyyyyyy........... I don't know, honey.....I really wish I could answer those questions, but I can't right now.....I'm sorry" he said into her hair as he tightened his arms around her.
Sara's hands tightened instinctively around him, she needed him and he was right here with her, when she needed him the most, even though she was asking him impossible questions, she knew he couldn't possibly answer, but she felt she needed to utter them non the less.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhh..........I'm here................It's okay Sara.......I'm not going anywhere, we're in this together okay" he reassured her, trying his damnedest to comfort her with both his words and actions.
"Do you want us to go home honey? there's not much we can do here but wait" he asked her gently as she seemed to start to compose herself again "And........And we'd be much more comfortable there" .
Gil wanted them both away from the lab now, they were not any use to the investigation here, the whole team were out chasing up leads, and quite frankly he didn't like the fact that anyone could barge into his office disturbing them, unless they had good news to bring, the other unthinkable possibility, he'd feel better if they were in the privacy of his home.
Shaking her head in the negative against his chest, as she sniveled and wiped her eyes, Sara answered "No........Not yet..........There might" she sniffed again "Be a break in the case......They might just get the call telling us where Kye is" swiping at her eyes again she finished weakly "I just..........Gil" she swallowed the battling emotions down again "I want to be here when we get news.........".
"Okay honey, whatever you want is fine with me" Gil soothed as he once again rubbed her back, but up & down this time as he leaned back a little "But Jim's right, you need to rest, all this stress isn't good for you" he said waiting for her to look at him and agree.
Connection her reddened, watery eyes with him, she nodded, at least he wasn't going to fight her on insisting he take her home for now, so that was something.
"But...." Gil said emphasizing his word pointedly "You need to eat and drink something, it's far too long since you've had anything, and we both missed breakfast" the worry in his look and his accompanying soft smile told her he was clearly concerned for her right now.
"Okay, a tea would be nice" Sara replied, as her hand went to his cheek, she rubbed her thumb over his cheekbone "Don't worry, I'm fine Gil" she told him, hoping to alleviate some of his worry.
Leaning into her touch Gil closed his eyes savoring the moment, then he turned his head, reaching up for her hand and placed a gentle kiss to her palm before pulling it away "I'll get you that tea and something to eat. Then you can take your nap" he said giving her chaste kiss then standing up to leave.
He was about to step out the door when she spoke again "Gil?" she said stopping him.
Gil chuckled "Yeah I know 'Vegetarian', how could I possibly forget honey. Back shortly" he said then left.
The buzzing in his pocket signaled an incoming cell call, getting it out. he flipped it open on his way to the break room, seeing it was an unusual number he'd not seen on his phone in a long time, he decided to ignored it rejecting the call, frowning at the timing of the call now.
Quickly setting about making himself a strong coffee and a cup of tea for Sara, he managed to grab a couple of granola bars from the vending machine, then ran into Henry on his way back to his office.
Not usually the type to ask a personal favor of his co-workers, but eager to make sure he could get back to Sara ASAP, but also make sure she had something of substance to eat, he asked the young toxicology technician to nip out to the local deli for him, which Henry more than agreed to do for his boss.
A while later Henry returned with the food order, then left the couple to eat in the privacy of the office, with a sincere thank you from Grissom for his help.
After much encouragement from Gil, Sara only managed to eat half of her feta and watercress sandwich, seeming to pretty much play with the rest until she pushed it away almost repulsively, as she held her tummy, then gulped the remainder of her tea.
Finishing the remnants of his own food, Gil threw the packaging away in the trash, then proceeded to find his thicker work jacket so he could place it over Sara on the couch, she was half sitting, half lying, but with help and reassurances from him, she eventually settled fully laid down and closed her eyes.
Gil sat on the edge of the couch by her hip, stroking her hair through his fingers, soothing her to sleep with whispered words of Shakespeare and love.
Once he was sure Sara was sleeping, he went to his door to open the blind, hoping that, by being able to see through it now, he'd be able to halt anyone waking her unnecessarily, but go out to speak with anyone who may have some news for them.
Placing a lingering kiss to her temple, Gil went to his seat behind his desk, where he was able to clearly see the door, but also watch over Sara, should she need him.
His own eyes drooping after staying so still watching the corridor, Gil first caught sight of Warrick passing with bags of evidence on the way to log in, return towards the break room, then he saw Catherine pass by his door looking tired, drawn and a little emotional.
He frowned as he stood taking steps closer to his office window, he opened the blind a little to look out, as Catherine entered the break room, Warrick approached her and they both looked to be discussing something that saddened them both deeply.
Recalling Catherine and Warrick's strange looks, and her odd behavior with Jim earlier after her text message, had Gil suspicions rising once more.
Seeing Warwick embrace Catherine in a comforting hug, and her swipe at her eyes, had Gil clasping the door handle of his office, but his cell phone ringing again had him stopping, as he fumbled to switch it off before it woke Sara.
Managing to do so quickly, he didn't even look at the caller display as he disconnected then set it on vibrate, he shoved it back in his pocket, then glanced over at Sara who was now beginning to mumble something quietly.
Stepping up to the couch, Gil sat down once more, placing his hand on her back to sooth her as he listened closely.
"Don't hurt him................Please...Just don't....." she mumbled and trailed off as she seemed to settle again with Gil's touch.
Letting out a slow even sign, he continued the comforting motion of lightly rubbing her shoulders and upper torso, as he crouched low whispering to her "It's okay honey.......Go back to sleep.......Everything will be okay".
"Shhhhhhhhhhhh................I'm here......Sleep honey" he continued as her breathing slowed and evened out to show she was settled once more.
A/N – Hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter, it was difficult to write with all the details and notes I had to make, trying to make sure I didn't forget what I wanted to include. There isn't much more to go with this story, it will be winding down soon, but we still have a few chapters left yet, and of course I will add an epilogue at the end. More next weekend, when we will learn the fate of young Kye. Thank you for reading.
Please take the time to review, leave a suggestion or theory, they are a very important tool for learning writers like myself, plus they encourage me to keep on writing to the best of my ability.