Corrections Part 4
4
Gil sped towards the airport, his entire being frightened for Lindsey. He didn’t see how the man could have found her, but he wasn’t willing to take the chance. When his phone rang again, he snapped it up. “Grissom?”
It was Brass again. “We have a problem.”
“Lindsey? What happened?”
“Lindsey’s fine. We just spoke to her. She’s still on holiday with Nancy and her family.”
Gil’s blood ran cold. “Shit! He set us up! I let Catherine off at the front of…”
“I know,” Brass replied. “I rang the lab. Catherine never arrived.”
–
Catherine moaned, her head throbbing. The last thing she remembered was being about to go into the lab when someone pushed a foul-smelling cloth over her face and…
She tried to move her hands and then her feet, her eyes widening when she realized they were bound together. Catherine could feel the movement of the car, and she glanced around, noticing she was in the back of a van. Her eyes darted to the front of the van, but all she could see was a man and a cap.
Frantic, she began to work on her binds. She had to get out of here.
–
By the time Gil arrived back at the lab, his hands were shaking so badly that he could barely park the car. He’d promised her time and time again that he’d take care of her, and now he’d broken his promise. And she was alone. Scared. And about to be murdered.
“Griss.”
Nick stood in front of him, opening the car door. “Griss, we’ll find her.”
Gil said nothing, but got out of the car. He began to walk into the lab, as if he was in a daze. Warrick, Sara and Jacqui appeared, but Nick shook his head at them and they all remained silent.
–
Catherine almost sobbed with frustration as the van stopped. Her wrists were red and painful from trying to get loose from her bonds and she had a throbbing headache from the chloroform used to subdue her. She heard the car door open and shut, and her captor came around and opened the van door.
“Ah, Catherine. You’re awake. I hope you had a nice nap. You’re certainly going to need your energy for all I have planned for you.”
Her mouth bound with tape, Catherine was unable to make a reply, but she wriggled and fought as hard as she could when he picked her up.
“I always knew you were a wildcat, Catherine. When I first saw you at the
Catherine looked at him, trying to place his face. But try as she could, she had no idea who he was.
“Well, poor Stephanie knew exactly what I was up to, so she had to go. But then you started working for your Grissom.”
Catherine’s eyes widened when she heard him mention Gil.
“Oh yes, I know his name. It was hard not to know it, when you called it so loudly as he pushed himself inside you.”
She felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes. No more Gil. No more Lindsey. She was going to die.
–
Jim Brass burst into CSI headquarters,
“Grissom.”
The broken man looked up at him. He had the Watson case files strewn all over his office as he grasped for anything that might lead him to Catherine.
“Grissom, we got a call. Ted, from the
Gil was immediately on his feet. “Where is she?”
–
Tears streamed down Catherine’s face as she watched the man disrobe. She just wanted him to make it quick. Not painful. Just quick.
“Don’t cry, Catherine. You had to know that one day your past would catch up with you. Besides, it’s not as if you’re a stranger to sex. I’ve been watching you for years, as you jump from man to man. You’re a whore, Catherine. You’ve been one since the day I met you.”
Her eyes widened. Oh god. She knew who it was. She knew him.
–
“What did Ted say?” Gil asked, as he sat in the passenger seat beside Brass. The siren was wailing.
“He said that he was trying to remember people who were there the night Stephanie died and ones that were around Catherine a lot. It took him a while because he said his memory’s going, but he remembered that a guy was there the night Stephanie died and never returned.”
“That’s not unusual, Jim. We knew that a lot of patrons of the
“How’s this for different then? Ted told me that this guy is the same guy that brought Catherine to Vegas in the first place. Not long after they broke up, she started working at the
Gil glanced at the speedometer. “Go faster.”
–
The man unzipped Catherine’s pants, pushing them down to her ankles. “It’s not as if we’ve never had sex before, Catherine. I find the idea of your first being your last rather poetic, actually. Don’t you?” He undid the buttons of her shirt. “It was quite insulting that after me you went straight to whoring yourself for other men. I knew I’d have to kill you.” His fingers snapped the clasp on her bra. “A front clasp. How considerate, Catherine.”
Her fearful eyes watched as he stood up, stroking himself. She couldn’t watch and her eyes squeezed shut.
“Now, Catherine, your eyes are going to be open for this. Even if I have to tape them open. I want you to remember just who will be fucking you for the last time before you die.”
She couldn’t. She couldn’t watch it. She didn’t want to feel it. She wanted Gil. Keeping her eyes shut, she started to think of him. The way he argued with her when she was being stubborn. The way he would hold her close to him. The bath they had shared. Oh god, she could smell the man again. Think of Gil, Catherine. Think of Gil. The times he’d kiss her and when he made love to her. The man was touching her breasts now.
“Look at me, Catherine.”
No, she wouldn’t. Never. Wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She’d rather die thinking of Gil than die looking at this man.
A commotion. The man swearing. Sharp, cool metal against her belly. Gone again. Gunshots. Six. A dead weight on her. God. Was she dead?
“Get that piece of shit off of her!”
Gil’s voice. Gil…She felt the weight upon her being moved. She opened her eyes. Gil.
Gil had put his gun on the floor, and took the tape away from Catherine’s mouth. As he began to unbind her, he felt her hands grip him and he left his task, instead enfolding her in his arms. “Shh, Cath. I’ve got you.”
Catherine Willows burst into tears.
–
Gil Grissom had decided that he wasn’t going to tell Catherine how close he came to losing her. How that when he had burst into the house, Brass behind him, he’d come upon the sight of a naked Michael Bailey, knife poised in the air to stab into Catherine. How Gil had immediately fired and emptied his clip.
Instead, Gil had told her how much he loved her, how sorry he was for letting this happen, and how she was now safe. He had rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital, and hadn’t left her side, even going so far as to staying in the hospital when they kept her for observation.
Now she lay beside him in their bed, arms and limbs tangled with his. It had been two weeks since that night. Gil had been quickly cleared of any wrongdoing thanks to some very helpful statements from Brass and
He looked down at her, smiling at the engagement ring on her finger. If there was one positive to be taken out of the entire mess, it was that it had brought him and Catherine closer. A whole lot closer.
“You’re watching me again.”
“Of course I am. You’re beautiful.” His fingers gently caressed her hair. “I didn’t think you’d be awake.”
Catherine stretched, moving her body so that she now lay sprawled above him. “You think that just because we made love earlier that I’m now incapable of being awake?”
Gil smirked. “Well, darling, you did say something about being unable to move. And then you curled up and promptly fell asleep.”
“Mmm, true,” came her reply. “I couldn’t help it. You made me feel so good and so relaxed that I just wanted to snuggle up to you.”
“You slept okay? No problems?”
She leant over and kissed him deeply. “No problems.”
Gil put his arms around her, holding her tight to his body. “Love you, Cath.”
Catherine grinned back at him. “Love you too, Gil.”
And that was all they needed.
FINIS