Catherine pulled up in front of the school and turned the car off. The two CSIs looked at the building, neither making a move to get out. After a couple minutes, Catherine decided to break the silence. "Are you ready?"
Grissom turned to look at her; his eyes shining with unshed tears. "No. How am I supposed to tell her that she's never going to see her parents again?"
Catherine took his hand. "It's going to be hard, but she's got you."
"And I've got you," Grissom said quietly, sending her a small smile.
"You got that right," she replied with a smile of her own.
Taking a deep breath, Grissom got out of the car and headed up the stairs of the school, with Catherine close behind. They made their way into the front office where an elderly woman sat behind a desk, reading a book.
Hearing the door open, the woman looked up. "May I help you?" she asked, gazing at the pair suspiciously. Parents didn't usually stop by in the middle of the day.
Catherine showed the woman her ID and said, "I'm Catherine Willows and this is Gil Grissom. We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. May we please speak with the Principal?"
The woman nodded and picked up the phone. "Principal Green? There are two people here from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. They want to speak with you." She paused, listening to the Principal's response and hung up. "He'll be right out." She had just finished speaking when a door to the right opened and a man walked out.
Principal Green was a tall man with a warm smile. Sticking his hand out, he greeted them, "I'm Ed Green. How may I help you?"
Catherine shook his hand, introducing herself and Grissom. "Could we go into your office?"
"Of course," he replied and ushered them in, gesturing the chairs in front of his desk. Once they were all settled, he said, "I hope none of my students are in trouble."
"No one's in any trouble, Mr. Green," Catherine replied. "I'm afraid though that one of your student's parents have been killed."
Principal Green sat back in his chair, shocked. "What happened?" he finally asked.
Glancing at Grissom, Catherine replied, "I'm sorry, but we're not able to discuss the case at this time. We're just here to inform the student."
The Principal nodded. "What's the student's name? I'll have Mrs. Pinsky call them down and then look up their emergency contact information."
"That's not necessary," Grissom replied, speaking for the first time. "I'm her uncle."
Principal Green nodded, once again surprised. "I hope you understand Mr. Grissom, that we'll still have to verify that." When Grissom nodded, he continued, "What's your niece's name?"
"Lacey McDonald."
The Principal picked up his phone and said, "Mrs. Pinsky, could you please call Lacey McDonald down to my office and then look up her emergency information." After receiving a confirmation, he hung up the phone. The three adults sat there in silence until the phone buzzed again letting them know that Lacey had arrived. Principal Green stood up. "I'll just check out her file and then send her in." After receiving nods from the two CSIs, he left the room.
The two of them looked up when the door opened again. Catherine didn't know what to expect; she hadn't seen Lacey in over five years. Not since Grissom had had a falling out with his brother-in-law. Philip and Grissom had never gotten along very well, but they tolerated each other because of Judy. Philip was an accountant and thought what Grissom did was too gruesome. Lacey, however, was fascinated by what her uncle did and loved to visit him. During one visit, Lacey had convinced Grissom to take her along to an autopsy. When she went home, she couldn't wait to tell her parents all about it. Philip had exploded, saying how he didn't want his daughter exposed to that kind of stuff. The two men had gotten into a huge argument, ending with no more weekend visits for Lacey. After that, Grissom saw her a couple times a year on holidays and birthdays, but that was it. Looking at the young woman standing in the doorway, Catherine was amazed at what a beauty she had become. Lacey had inherited the best qualities from each of her parents. She had her father's auburn hair and her mother's blue eyes. Grissom's blue eyes. Said eyes lit up when they saw who was in the room.
"Uncle Gil! Catherine! What are you guys doing here?" Lacey asked with a smile, shutting the door behind her.
"Why don't you sit down," Grissom replied quietly, patting the chair next to him.
Lacey looked first at him and then at Catherine. "What's going on?" she asked warily.
"Sit down," Grissom repeated.
"No," Lacey said, shaking her head. "Just tell me. Where are my mom and dad?"
"Lace, I'm so sorry," Grissom started, but Lacey interrupted.
"No!" she cried. "No!" She sank down on the floor in front of Grissom, burying her head in his lap as she started to sob.
"I'm so sorry, baby," he said, through tears of his own. The two of them sat like that for what felt like an hour, but in reality was only minutes. Grissom sat, softly stroking her hair as she cried. Finally she pulled back and Grissom gave her a hand up. She took a few deep breaths and sat down next to him.
"What happened?" she asked quietly.
"They were… oh, Lacey, they were murdered," Grissom choked out.
"Why?" she cried. "Why would anyone want to murder them?"
"I don't know, honey," Catherine replied. "But we're going to find out."
Lacey nodded. "What's going to happen now?"
"Well, right now, I'm going to take you and your uncle back to the lab so he can pick up his car," Catherine stated, taking charge. "Then the two of you are going to go home and get some rest, while I see how the case is going. I'll stop by after I pick Lindsey up from school and the four of us can have dinner together." Grissom shot her a grateful look as the three of them exited the office. Catherine sent him a quick smile and squeezed his hand. She hated seeing the people she cared about in pain and she was going to do everything she could to ease as much of that pain as she could.