Disclaimer – Please see chapter 1
A/N – As always, thank you so very much for all your continued support of the story and the great reviews you so kindly post to tell me that you are still reading it, I appreciate it very much. This was a very hard chapter for me to write, which is why it is being posted later than expected. I'm still not completely happy with it after playing around with it so much all week, all the case details I had to remember to include, and the Grissom/Sara emotions, it wasn't easy I can tell you, but I hope you will enjoy it anyway. 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 42 Kye
Catherine and Warrick now temporary forgotten, Gil kept up his whispered words of comfort to Sara as he pulled his jacket up over her shoulders to prevent her from getting a chill, he feared with her emotions, the disturbed dream and this mornings events, that she may still be suffering from a little shock.
Gil kept up lightly rubbing her back, as he closely observed her facial expressions change in her sleep, they had gone from a tense, deep frowning, screwing her eyes up tightly as moisture pooled within them, showing obvious emotional pain and distress, to eventually seeing her relax her face muscles some, the deep stress lines easing away slowly, then disappearing, the previously escaped tears making her cheeks damp, her mouth slightly open now, as soft breaths were exhaled and inhaled rhythmically.
Seeing her so upset, stressed and afraid even, had Gil experiencing a strange uncomfortable tightness within his chest, and a churning inside his gut, he could almost describe it as some kind of physical pain, but not in the way his biology degree would have him as a scientist explain it, no this was only something that Sara had ever really evoked in him, something he still didn't quite understand, or know how to deal with.
With a slight perceptible shake of his head, he didn't want to dwell too long on her being unhappy and sad, so he diverted his thoughts, as he took in the more settled appearance of Sara huddled into the makeshift cover, one of his hands gently resting upon her healing digits, the other continuing it's ministrations.
Softly smiling as he watched her, his eyes explored the expanse of her pale, smooth skin, wandering over every feature and mark on her face as he cataloged every detail to memory.
He had always thought she was beautiful, since the very first time he'd ever laid eyes on her, but more recently with the developments of their tentative relationship, he'd had much better opportunities to unabashedly study her so natural, unassuming beauty up close, without feeling his former guilt for the frequent indulgence, or the feelings of being like some kind of weirdo voyeur, the type he often encountered in his daily job.
But now, he felt the complete freedom to do so, after Sara herself had taken to openly staring at him, appraising him silently with her own eyes at ever chance she could find, so he'd taken her actions as permission for him to do so likewise.
Twenty minutes later he was satisfied that Sara was sleeping peacefully, so he got up stretching his stiff muscles from the awkward position he had been sitting in for a while now, then made his way back over to his seat behind his desk.
The vibrating in his pocket alerted him to his cell phone ringing, breaking him from his thoughts of this mornings shocking discovery, and subsequent events.
Momentarily thinking whether to ignore it or not, he decided to see who was calling, reasoning that it might be very important pertaining to Kye's whereabouts, or the case.
Leaning over in his seat he pulled it free from his trousers, then flipped it open to look at the caller display.
A little shocked to see 'Heathers' name displayed upon on the screen, Gil shot a quick panicked glance over at Sara curled up on the couch, to check that she was still sleeping, seeing that she was, then letting out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, he fumbled a little to press the red button to ignore the incoming call, not wishing to speak with her right now.
Once done, he saw that there were two other missed calls from her number, so he frowned wondering what she could possibly want to speak to him about after all this time, it had been months since he had last seen her, and then they hadn't parted on the friendliest of terms either, after he'd suspected her in the case he had been investigating, involving some clients of hers.
Looking a little guiltily over at Sara again to check her status, he quickly entered his call log and deleted Heathers recent call history from his phone, then flipped it closed, slipping it back into his pocket once more, a further glance at her as he slowed his breathing and hopefully his heart beat too, he began to settle again.
About to begin the re-analyzing of his brief, but very foolish interaction with the dominatrix for the hundredth time, he looked up to see Warrick pass his office door shooting an odd look his way, before dipping his head and averting his eyes, rushing off down the corridor.
A long, boring hour passed by in the darkened office, as he continually tapped his fore finger lightly on his chin thinking of the events from earlier.
Gil's sense of curiosity reminded him of Catherine, Brass' and Warricks odd actions a short time ago.
His suspicions, compounded with the feel of himself getting a little impatient waiting for any news, he couldn't focus upon any of the paperwork scattered about his desk, so he decided to get himself a cup of coffee in the break room, and hopefully try to get an update on the case.
Slipping out of the office, but not before sticking a post it note on his door reading 'Do Not Disturb' on it, he entered the break room where Catherine had her cell phone to her ear listening intently, while Greg sat at the table with a file open.
Clearing his throat as he made towards the counter to make his drink, Greg shot Grissom a quick nervous glance and a nod, before he looked towards Catherine who was just finishing her call.
"Okay Jim, if any of my guys get anything I'll let you know ASAP" she paused to listen again then replied "Yes I'll let Gil and Sara know......... Later Jim" Catherine said ending the call and turning around to the others.
Hearing the conversation, Gil whipped around abruptly hearing his and Sara's name "Have they found him?" he asked anxiously.
Sending a soft sympathetic smile to her friend, Catherine shook her head in the negative, to which Gil dropped his gaze to the floor disappointedly, as he let out a heavy sigh turning back to the coffee pot.
"But Brass has just informed me of 'some' good news for you......And Sara" Catherine said sounding as positive as she could in the circumstances, while pulling a chair out to sit down.
Keeping his back to them, Gil poured his own drink, then proceeded to prepare a cup ready for Sara when she woke later "Uh huh. So developments in the case?" he asked less enthusiastically.
Catherine was a little perturbed by Gil's disappointed tone, so cast a worried glance at Greg, who just shrugged not knowing how to help her.
"A few" Catherine said opening up her file sat on the table "First off Vartann checked out any leads with the car rentals and there's nothing to suggest that a dark colored Lexus was hired in either Carlton's or Frost's names, because Carlton is now known to have chauffeured Frost around in the registered DB7 the whole time they have been here. Vartann did however pick up on the fact one of your neighbors has just purchased himself such a vehicle in the last few days, so the initial witness sighting maybe irrelevant to the case" she paused before telling him the next bit, as he came and took a seat at the table with them "Greg has just finished up processing the Austin Martin" she said indicating for Greg to bring them up to speed with his findings.
Avoiding his boss' eyes Greg spoke as he read from a sheet he picked up from the table "I didn't find much, it was pretty clean, but there were a few parking stubs for both the Bellagio and the Excalibur, and credit card, gas station receipts for various locations. I'm about to go check them against the time lines etc for all three crimes, and try to see if we have a tire match from the Merridian case, where we found some vehicle tracks" he said now looking up at Catherine.
"Go on" she prompted.
Quickly looking at Grissom he cleared his throat nervously "I did however find several small brown hairs in the trunk, DNA tags still intact, along with some brown fiber trace thats with Hodges right now" he said cautiously looking up from the paper again.
"Wendy is running the DNA on the hairs as we speak, and she's going to compare them with Kye's DNA that we already have in the database" Catherine added for her young co-worker.
Gil tensed on hearing Kye's name and the mention of a DNA comparison being done, it was in this moment that really brought it home to him how serious things were, that they might actually have some kind of evidence to suggest that the small boy had been locked in the trunk of a car, dangerously putting the child's life at risk of suffocation, he'd not even taken the time, nor thought, to there being a possible tragic outcome, he'd refused to even consider that daunting possibility until now.
But it struck him now like a physical blow to his chest, how painfully easy it was in Vegas, of all places, for a child to become one of the many tragic, crime related death statistics.
He ran his hand over his weary face as he looked down at the table top, to hide his tormenting emotions from view, no longer able to just automatically shift his stoic mask into place as their boss, as he felt Catherine's eyes upon him.
Kye was a sweet and innocent, but traumatized child, who had easily managed to weave himself inextricably into Gil's heart without any effort what so ever, and there it seemed he was destined to stay whatever the future outcome.
But Gil now feared that his previously held back, but recently released, intense love and affections for the woman he now personally considered to be his life partner, 'Sara', had made him open up slowly, become vulnerable like never before, and more susceptible to his emotions re-surfacing, painful ones he was sure he would experience if either Sara or Kye were to be hurt, or god forbid killed.
Seeing Gil was in his own world of thought, Catherine continued after a light cough to get his attention again "The good news I have from Jim, is that his guys have checked out Hank Pettigrew's place, and there's no reason to believe he has had anything to do with the boys disappearance" she paused, choosing her next words carefully.
"But what Pettigrew did inform the officers of, that Jim is now following up on, is that he has applied for a job transfer out of state, and he has instructed his attorney to begin the lengthy legal process of revoking all his parental rights pertaining to him being the biological father of Kye" she said watching as Gil's eyes now connected with hers.
His eyes widening in shock as the words registered, Gil then shook his head distastefully at the nature of the man that had once dated Sara, he'd heard about the details pertaining to the break up of their relationship, and it had disgusted him at the time, but this latest news that the very same man was now turning his back on his own child appalled him to no end.
"So.........." Gil prompted her to go on.
Sending him a soft smile, Catherine continued "So it means that he doesn't want anything to upset or spoil his nice new little family unit" she said with obvious disgust dripping from her tone "I'm not surprised, once a jerk, always a........" she mumbled and let the words trail off.
The side of Gil's mouth raised in a slight smirk at her comment, he knew he wasn't the only one who hadn't liked Pettigrew's treatment of Sara, but hearing his friend voice it, amused him a little.
Getting back on track, Catherine shook her own head then spoke again "Child services therefor will then have the legal right to put Kye up for their adoption program, seeing as there are no other living relatives wishing to take responsibility for him" she added hoping to put the seed of an idea into his head "Which means until then, he'll be re-united with his current foster care providers when he's found".
Bringing them back to the current situation of Kye still being missing, Catherine turned to Wendy as she came in to the room "Wendy?".
Handing a sheet of paper to her temporary boss, Wendy told them her latest findings "The partial smudged print off the gate lock from Grissom's that Nick lifted" she said looking at Grissom acknowledging him with a nod "Was not good enough to try to get a match in AFIS. However Mandy sent it over to me to see if I could get any DNA from it, and I did manage to get enough to run a comparison, and I hit pay dirt and got a match to an unknown DNA donor sample from one of the pubic hairs from the Bellagio, the case connected to this one" she said smiling.
"I'm running it against the swab from Nelson Carlton that Brass got for us earlier, but it's going to be a few more hours before I get the results" Wendy said finishing.
"Good work Wendy, page me as soon as you get the results will you" Catherine replied thoughtfully, dealing with all three cases for her was complicated enough, but now it seemed that everything was coming together, and maybe now they'd get a positive direction of who their main number one suspect was in finding Kye soon.
Wendy swept out of the room quickly, back to her lab to continue on with all the DNA matches she had going on there, ones that she knew were important right now, they were all rooting for the little boy, and desperately wanting to help their boss and co-worker as best they could.
Grabbing his cup and file, Greg stood to leave "I'm gonna get on with checking out those parking stubs and receipts against the time lines. I'll let you know if anything comes up" he said placing his cup in the sink, then briskly walking out of the room to begin his work once more.
About to carry on relaying all the information Catherine had from Jim, to Gil, Archie entered the break room "Hey Grissom, Catherine" he greeted as he held some still photographs in his hand
"You got something for us Archie?" Catherine asked.
Handing the pictures to Catherine he spoke "Yes I have, and as I already told you we got Frost on camera leaving the suit. So far we don't have him again entering or leaving the crime scene all night. But we do have Mr Carlton entering ten minutes later with two unidentified females and another male hiding his face with a ball cap pulled down low" he said pointing them out on the images he'd printed off.
"The women leave the room an hour later looking pretty inebriated or high, falling all over the place" he said pointing to another picture now on the table top "Carlton then opens the door to take the room service order of what looks to be more champagne".
Catherine looked up at Archie to continue.
"Carlton left, alone, some forty five minutes later in a rush, looking quite stressed and panicked. But our unknown male didn't leave until a further twenty minutes after Carlton, again keeping his face covered and head down, out of plain sight of the camera's" Archie paused, then added "I think he's your killer, being the last one to leave the room. I'm sorry but thats the best shot I could get of him in the elevator as he was leaving" he said tapping the image that was now on top of the others.
"Thanks Archie. Is that all the tapes from the Bellagio processed now?" Catherine asked.
"No, not yet, we have the parking level tapes to go through yet, so thats my next job. And thanks for the extra help you sent me, we got through them much quicker than expected" he said with an appreciative smile as he turned to leave.
"Good. Call me if you find anything else okay" she said as he left.
Where was I?.... Oh yeah, Jim" Catherine started before her cell phone interrupted them.
She pulled her cell of her belt and flipped it open "Jim" she greeted.
Catherine listened for a few minutes then spoke "Okay Jim, I'll let you know as soon as we have anything that might help, and I'll have someone bring anything useful over to PD ASAP".
She looked at Gil as she listened again "Catch you later Jim" she said her good byes, then flipped the cell closed placing it on the table.
"Jim said the people manning the phone lines for the Amber alert have a witness, who's stated that they saw a boy matching Kye's description, with a smartly dressed man, driving a silver Austin Martin, he's organizing an ID parade as we speak. And also he thinks Carlton is holding his own for now, but with something more solid to tie him to any of the three crime scenes, it will push him over the edge" Catherine said repeating the latest info to Gil.
Nick was just walking by the break room carrying several large bags of evidence on his way to log in, when Catherine called out to him "Nick".
Walking a few paces backward, Nick arms loaded stepped into the doorway "Just logging this lot in, then I'm right onto processing it" he said glancing awkwardly at Grissom, then looking to Catherine.
"You get anything on Carlton that Brass might be able to use ASAP, he's in interview with him right now over at PD?" she asked.
Nodding Nick spoke confidently "Oh I think I might just have the origin of where that fancy material, trace evidence came from this morning, attached to the gate post. I lifted two herringbone suits from the hotel room at the Excalibur, and if that wasn't enough I also think I have a pair of shoes matching a shoe print I lifted from the Merridian house".
"That's great news Nick, get any of the results to me ASAP will you please" Catherine said sounding pleased.
"I'm right on it now" Nick said with a nod to Grissom, before he went on his way again.
Gil stood grabbing his near full cup as if to leave, then he remembered the little scene with her and Warrick earlier that had piqued his suspicions again "Is everything okay Cath? It's just that earlier you looked really upset when Warrick returned from his scene and you got back" he said a little awkwardly.
Frowning a little before she eventually caught on to what he meant, Catherine nodded solemnly "Yeah, Warrick went out to a scene where a dead child was found in a dumpster, the description he sent me via text when he got there vaguely fitted Kye....So I thought" she was interrupted by Gil.
"You thought you'd try to spare us some stress and trauma if it wasn't him, by checking the body out yourself....................So I'm to take it that it wasn't him?" Gil asked, his heart rate slightly elevated at the very thought that either he or Sara might have had, or still have to identify Kye's body if it came to it.
"No, it definitely wasn't, this one has a very distinctive birthmark, and there were clear signs of recent neglect. But still, it was upsetting as a mother myself to see a dead child" Catherine replied her eyes becoming watery at the recent events of seeing the small body in the morgue.
"Thank you Catherine. We appreciate you saving us any extra distress at this time" Gil said giving her hand a little squeeze before releasing it, then dipping his head shyly, feeling a little awkward at his show of gratitude, not even realizing he'd spoken for Sara and himself, as a couple, quite naturally without a second thought.
Gil returned to the drinks counter and started the kettle, getting Sara's tea for her, he decided to waken her so that he could take her home, it wasn't doing either of them any good just waiting about at the lab for something to happen.
"Any time Gil, I know if our situations were reversed, you'd do the same for me" Catherine said standing up "Go home, I'll ring you if there is any news".
Completing making the hot drink Gil turned to her as she was leaving the room "I'm going to, just as soon as Sara's ready" he said, then his cell phone vibrated in his pocket, so he put the cup down and pulled the phone out answering it, not recognizing the number.
"Hello" he greeted cautiously, as Catherine paused at the door.
"Your speaking to Gil Grissom" he said eying her at the door and frowning.
He listened then, nodded his head as he spoke "Yes, Hank is my dog and Bruno is my foster son's pet..............................They're both recovered and ready to be picked up anytime, thats good news, thank you".
Searching around the makeshift kitchen area, Gil found a pen and paper, so he jotted down the address and number of the veterinarian practice where the dogs where at "Got that" he said then glanced at his watch.
"If you give me roughly an hour I will be there to pick them both up" he said picking the cup up again and making towards Catherine at the door.
Catherine smiled gently at him and indicated with her hand that she would call him, then walked off down the corridor towards the layout rooms.
"Okay and thank you again. Goodbye" Gil said ending the call as he re-entered his office to wake Sara.
Twenty minutes later they were ready to head off home, Gil first saw Hodges approach Catherine outside his office, they spoke, then Catherine's face lit up as the trace technician handed her a sheet of paper.
Nick then caught her just as she was about to walk off, he handed her an image which made Catherine look into the office with a satisfied smile, then Nick took off back to the layout room he'd been working in.
Stepping out of his office with his hand placed gently on Sara's lower back, Gil asked "Break in one of the cases Cath?".
Placing and organizing the latest crucial paperwork into the file she had in her hand, Catherine sent a gentle smile to Sara before speaking "Hodges got a match with the suit Nick brought back from the Excalibur to the fiber found on your gate post. And Nick made a positive match with a pair of Carlton's shoes and a print he lifted from the Merridian scene. We can now positively connect him to two of our crime scenes, so I'm on my way over to PD, to help Jim out with the interview, while we wait on the DNA results from Wendy, and any other findings the guys make".
Hearing this latest news, had a sudden, unusual feeling of malevolence rising within Gil, his having to wait things out, and not being actively involved in the cases was now trying his patience for one, but the fact that this scumbag associate of 'Frost' was now a primary suspect to the taking of Kye, and putting him and Sara through hell, had him wanting to vent that anger out on Carlton, in the hope of finding out exactly where the missing boy was right now.
He felt for the very first time in his life, that he would have no qualms, second thoughts or even guilt what so ever about dragging the information, by whatever means necessary out of the low life sat over in one of the interview rooms at LVPD.
Looking hesitant and indecisive, Gil glanced at Sara momentarily to check to see if she was still managing to hold it together, then at his watch quickly, everything inside him, told him to go over to the police department with Catherine, especially as it now looked very likely that the man had been involved with the distressing events this morning.
But he knew that Sara was still worried and fretting, still too emotionally unsettled enough to be able to go with him to see the prime suspect, he needed to stay with her, support her, and be there for her at her side, whatever was to happen in the coming hours and days.
Besides, they also had Hank and Bruno to pick up from the veterinarian's, it wasn't fair to leave them both in a strange environment after their debilitating experience.
Gil let out a slow controlled breath, mentally damping down his emotions and having made his decision "We are heading out to pick up the dogs, then home. You can reach us on either the home phone or our cells Cath" he said ushering Sara forward with his hand now slipping into hers.
Seeing Gil's indecision, Catherine patted him on the back of the shoulder as she walked with them "I'll keep you both informed of any developments, and try not to worry too much Sara" she said as they made their day towards the labs exit.
Sara was about to reply to her curtly, she was feeling much more than the implied 'worried', her mind was mentally visualizing any number of tragic scenarios that were tormenting her Psyché right now, but she bit back any comment she was about to say, just wishing to get out of the lab, and away from the persistent curious gazes of all her co-workers.
"Thanks. We appreciate it" Gil responded for them both.
"I'll walk out with you. I just need to grab my purse from the locker room" Catherine stated as they approached said room.
A couple of minutes later Catherine had her purse and jacket all set ready to go, her car keys in hand "Okay all set" she said smiling as she walked Just ahead of the couple still holding hands, she was amazed at Gil's openness and public display of affection towards Sara, in the lab of all places, but she was glad that he'd finally lifted his head out of the microscope and gotten his act together.
It was with this thought that she rounded the corner that led to the front entrance, double doors to the lab, the image that hit her as she looked forward, had her chin dropping, and her mouth gaping wide open in shock.
Catherine halted abruptly, Gil and Sara almost colliding with her before stopping themselves, and staring quickly forward to see what the hold up was.
"Grissom" Heather Kessler purred in greeted ,staring right past Catherine, flicking her eyes to the joined hands of the couple before leveling them again with Gil's.
Lady Heather stood still before them, dressed in dark blue jeans, open neck blouse and tank, with comfortable flat shoes, carrying a small boy close, in a protective embrace.
The maternal picture she now painted, was far removed from that of her 'Dominatrix' persona of the her chosen profession.
Sara attempted to remove her hand from Gil's grasp, but he tightened his hold, sending a reassuring look to her before looking back to Heather ready to speak.
"I've been trying to contact you all day Grissom, but you never responded to my calls" Heather accused mildly, the child asleep against her chest, now moved his head awakening, so his face came into full view of the three CSI's.
Sara gasped loudly, tears springing to her eyes in an instant as she saw clearly, who the woman was holding "Kye" she called out on a sob as she released Gil's hand, stepping up to Heather with her arms outstretched to reach for the child.
A/N – Awwwww! He's safe and well, back where he should be. You didn't really think I was gonna have him come to an untimely death did you? I've not killed off a main character in my stories so far, but in saying that............Ummmmm, I think someone is about to meet his maker very shortly. Guess who? LMAO! So Heather had him, but how in the hell did she end up with him? Answers in the next chapter hopefully next weekend.
Please take the time to leave a review letting me know what you thought of this chapter, or the story so far as it winds down.