Chapter Three
Gil sat in his silent office, surrounded by his collection of bugs and books. The low-key lighting making the insects look darker and scarier. More like something out of an old horror movie than their real life selves. The silent tension that filled the room was almost unbearable. Even the crickets had felt the tension in the air and were quiet. He had sent Brass, Nick and Warrick out to the scene on Henderson thirty minutes ago and had not heard from them yet. He had shut himself in his office when they left and hadn't gone out since. That's not why he sat like stone, watching his cell phone which lay on his desk, though. He intently watched his phone waiting for the second call. Waiting for his chance to rescue Greg from the man who had taken him. He absent mindedly messaged his right temple, but his gaze was never broken from the object of his focus. He had tried to tell himself not worry, that it would do neither him nor Greg any good if he worried, but it was impossible to keep it from oppressing itself on him. The images that his mind conjured up terrified him and no matter how hard he tried to change gears in his mind the images would push themselves through.
"Gil?"
He looked up to see Catherine and Sara standing in front of him. He hadn't heard them the number of times that they had knocked or when they had let themselves in or when they had tried to get his attention the first two times. Catherine was worried that it was his hearing acting up again but didn't pursue the thought any further when he looked up at them and she saw the lines of concentration on his face. It almost looked to her like he had been trying to will the cellular phone to ring and was losing an uphill battle.
They looked tired and disheveled to Gil. They had matching dark circles under their eyes and worry lines across their faces. They could almost be twins. He thought absent mindedly.
"How are you doing?" Catherine asked.
He missed the concern in her eyes at seeing the worry in his. When he looked at her an image of her daughter flashed across his memory. An image, of him, at Lindsey's tenth birthday party. The smaller, almost identical version of her mother, blowing out the candles on the cake and her mother giving her a loving hug from behind. Such a proud look on her face.
He slowly shook his head but said nothing.
"I called Ecklie." She continued. "He's on his way in."
He nodded then turned his gaze to meet Sara's. The tall brunette met his baby blue orbs with her own chocolate ones. He could see that she was fighting back her tears. Probably not wanting to reveal herself in front of Catherine. Although the relationship between the two women had come a long way since Sara joined them several years ago they still had a rough history together and Sara found it very, very difficult to fully trust most people with her personal thoughts and feelings. He knew that she needed to be held and comforted by him and he looked back to Catherine, who hadn't missed the silent connection between her two friends, and her face softened with compassion.
"Can you give us a minute?" He quietly asked.
"Sure." She whispered.
A lump had formed in her throat upon realization of their secret relationship and her eyes began to mist as she also realized what was about to happen. She wondered how long it had been going on between the two of them and kicked herself for not catching on earlier. Some CSI you are, Willows. She thought, almost bitterly, to herself.
She quietly shut the door as she left his office and hurried to the bathroom. She entered the first empty stall and, after locking the door, sat on the seat of the toilet and wept. Although he hadn't said so she was sure that she was about to lose one of her closest friends. Once, after they had rescued Nick from his would be plexi glass grave, Gil had confided in her how guilty he felt about Nick being in that horrifying position. He had told her, with the hint of a tear in his eye, how responsible he felt that Nick had almost lost his life while being under his supervision. She had tried to console him that he hadn't ordered Nick to go. It had been between Nick and Warrick to decide and, besides, they had rescued him and he was alive. Gil had not been swayed though and although he had never spoken to her about it again she always new that he still felt guilty and responsible.
As soon as the door was shut Sara lost her reserve. She covered her face with her hands as hot tears flooded down her cheeks. In a swift movement he was around to the front of the desk and wrapped his arms around her. She buried herself into his chest and wept freely. His heart ached as he knew that his decision might break her. There was nothing that he could do about that. He could not leave Greg to an unknown, but most likely terrible, fate. As he did his best to sooth her sob wracked body she lifted her head just enough to speak.
"I don't…want… to lose… you." She managed to plead between sobs.
Tears began to fall from his own eyes and into her hair. The thought of hurting her so badly made him hate himself.
"I know." He whispered.
Silence hung over them and was broken only by her muffled sobs. The desktop phone rang, startling them both. He reluctantly released her and she reluctantly moved away. He picked it up on the third ring.
"Griss-." His voice caught and he cleared his throat before trying again. "Grissom."
"Hey, it's Brass. Sorry it took me so long to call you, but this place is a mess." The detective sighed. "Officer Talbot was shot in the back of the head. Execution style."
Brass sounded as matter of fact as anyone could sound, but Gil knew he was just trying to detach himself after losing one of his own so he could complete the task at hand. It was Gil's turn to sigh. He was sure he knew the answer to his next question but he still asked.
"What about Greg?"
"Greg's not here. His kit's here and his SUV is still parked on the curb, but no Greg."
"What about the scene?"
Sara stepped over to the door in order to compose herself. She took a couple of tissues from a box on a nearby shelf and wiped her eyes then blew her nose.
"We're pretty sure the kitchen is where it went down. That's where we found Talbot." Another sigh. "It's a mess in there, Gil. We're gonna be here a while."
"Alright, I'll send out someone from days to help with the processing as soon as they start coming in, which should be…" He looked down at his watch. "In about half an hour."
There was a reluctant pause on the other end of the line and Gil could picture the other man debating whether to ask his question or not.
"Any more word from the kidnappers?" Jim finally asked.
"No, not yet. I'm still waiting."
"Alright. I have to question a few of the neighbors. I'll talk to you later. Gil?" He paused to wait for a reply.
"Yeah?"
"Hang in there." His friend encouraged.
"Thanks, you too."
Gil set the receiver down in its cradle and looked to where Sara was standing, casually watching his pet tarantula sit in its tank. He watched her until she realized that his conversation was over and turned to face him again. He gave her a weak smile in an attempt to cheer her up.
"I should probably go clean up." She motioned to her tear stained face and red rimmed eyes.
What was intended as a light joke came out sounding awkward and they both stood silently for a moment.
"Yeah, probably." He forced a half smile.
As she put her hand on the door knob he stopped her.
"Sara?"
"Yeah?"
She turned back to face him and couldn't miss the sorrow in his eyes. He crossed the short distance to where she stood and caressed the side of her face with his hand and she leaned into the simple embrace.
"I'm so sorry for all the times that I hurt you." He paused for a moment to think. "The last eighteen months have been the happiest months of my life and I am so grateful that, despite everything I put you through, you still love me and have shown me how to love."
She smiled as again tears began to fill their eyes. She threw herself into his arms and tightly embraced him, not wanting to let go.
"I love you too, Gil" She choked through the lump in her throat.
He pushed her back far enough to kiss her passionately on the lips before letting her go and she left his office. He felt his heart speed up its pace and he began to feel anxious over what might happen. Just as his mind was about to return to the images of before the interruption his cell phone rang from where it lay on his desktop. He turned and stared at it, his heart gripped with fear, until he mentally shook himself and answered it on the fourth ring without looking at the caller ID.
"Grissom." He said hurriedly.
"Away?" Asked the voice of Greg's kidnapper. He sounded annoyed.
"I'm sorry." Gil tried to appease.
"I don't want your weak apologies!" He snapped. "They won't do you any good!"
There was a long silence and Gil didn't dare speak.
"Are you listening?" The kidnapper finally asked.
"Yes."
"Good." Gil thought he detected a sadistic tone. "From now on you will call me sir. Is that understood?"
Gil swallowed hard and was sure that it was audible on the other end of the line.
"Yes…sir" He tried to hide his hesitancy but was sure he failed.
The nervousness beginning to well in his stomach was making him nauseous. His breathing had not calmed and now he closed his eyes and forced the air slowly in through his nose, deep into his lungs. Then slowly out his mouth and back into the room.
"Good."
Gil thought that he could hear a smile in the man's voice and he definitely heard the satisfaction.
"Are you ready to save Gregory?"
"Yes, sir." No hesitation this time.
"Good. Then do exactly as I tell you to or you'll upset me. You wouldn't want to upset me would you Grissom?"
"No, sir."
He was fighting the powerless feeling that was overcoming him and he was losing. He couldn't understand why but each time he called the unknown man sir he felt a little more humiliated and a little less in control.
"Good. This is what you're going to do so listen carefully because I don't like to repeat myself."
Gil remembered hearing him say that when he called before. Another thing to add to the faceless profile. He's impatient.
"Quietly get in your car, you're going for a drive. Do not tell any one that you are leaving. If you are followed Gregory will lose his life. So be sure that you are not. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'll even be kind enough to let you leave a goodbye note to your friends, so be quick."
It took Gil a moment to realize that the man had not hung up and expected Gil to remain on the line as he quickly tried to figure out what to write and to who. He sat back down in his chair and grabbed a pen and pad of paper. He thought for a moment, then hesitated for another. He quickly wrote out his note and stuffed it into an envelope. After sealing it he wrote the name James Brass on the front and left it in plain sight on his desk.
"Alright," Gil sighed. "I'm done."
"Good. Now walk to your car and talk to no one, and above all do not disconnect this call. Consider it Gregory's lifeline."
The thought sent a chill down Gil's spine as he walked out of his office. He walked down the familiar glass walled corridor and was silently thankful when he didn't see Catherine or Sara and no one tried to stop him for anything. He made it past Judy who was sitting at the front desk and through the front door into the parking without saying a word to anyone. He passed two uniformed officers on his way out the door but all they said to him was good morning. He climbed into his SUV and shut the door. He hadn't realized that his hands were shaking until he tried to put his key into the ignition. After the fourth attempt he pushed the key into its slot and turned the engine over.
"Where…do you want me to go, sir?" The hesitancy returned to his voice.
"I want you to head North on I-15 to Moapa Valley and remember, do not disconnect this call." There was a pause. "Oh, and by the way, we have quite the sophisticated police scanner and we can pick up any calls that you may try to make over your radio. Let me just remind you that young Gregory's life depends on you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
He put his car into drive and followed his orders.
Attn: Wow, that chapter was hard to get started. I'm not too good when it comes to the mellow stuff. I never understood why all the other writers liked receiving reviews so much. That is until I started to publish. They're what gets me up in the morning. Seriously though, I love hearing (or reading rather) from you guys. Tell me what you think of chapter three and perhaps it'll keep me motivated to do the chapter four. Peace out. -Esther
