Retribution

Chapter: 23

Catherine returned from her quick dash home to shower and change. Popping in the lab to check on things. She was getting hassle from Ecklie for Sara’s statement. She walked in the room to find Sara sleeping. Finally she had managed to drift off. Catherine sat for a while not wanting to wake her. She picked up a magazine and began to read….

Catherine looked up from her magazine as Sara began to moan in her sleep.

“No…..no…get…get away from me……noooo…..please…please…nooo..leave him alone….oh…god no….pleeeease…..”, she mumbled and then she began to shake in her sleep, tossing too and fro. Catherine shot up from her chair and went over to her. She sat on the bed and gently shook her, noticing the sweat which had formed on her face, now running down her cheeks.

“Sara? Sara honey wake up…..Sara.”

Sara’s eyes shot open and she sat up with a start, panting.

“Hey shush, it’s ok”, Catherine said pulling her into a hug. “It’s ok, your safe. You were having a bad dream, that’s all…..it’s ok”.

Sara breathed in deeply, trying to get her bearings. She swallowed hard.

“You want some water?” Catherine asked

Sara nodded and Catherine handed her some.

“Thanks”, Sara said sipping the water.

“You ok?” Catherine asked concerned.

“Yeah…thanks, I’m okay. Like you said, just a dream.” Sara didn’t sound too convincing.

Catherine cleared her throat. “Look, I know this probably isn’t really the best time, but we should probably get this over with. I need to know what happened Sara. You think your ready to tell me?”

Sara put the water down and nodded. ”Ok”.

Catherine reached into her bag for a pad and pen. She sat close to Sara ready to comfort her if necessary. “Take your time honey ok? Anytime you have to stop we can stop.”

Sara swallowed hard and nodded again. She took a deep breath and began…….

Catherine sat pretty much with her mouth wide open as Sara relived their ordeal…..Her abduction from the house. Being strung up like a rag doll and beaten until she could no longer hold up her own head. Grissom being brought to the house completely battered. Then the real horror…..The torture. Grissom loosing his finger because of her hesitation to perform the sex act that was demanded upon her. Then actually performing the blow job because she had no choice, while they made Grissom watch. Grissom’s cauterization and his screams….she could still hear his screams. Her failed escape attempt and the subsequent punishment which followed. Making Grissom whip her until she passed out and then beyond that! Then Kate raped him as she lay tied to the bed, barely conscious. Her ultimate dread as she was about to endure her own rape. Finally Grissom being stabbed when she actually thought it was all over.

A single tear fell down Sara’s cheek as she finished.

Catherine was gob smacked. She knew they’d been through a lot but…well, she couldn’t even comprehend how Sara must feel. She reached over and took Sara’s hand squeezing it tightly.

“It’s ok, they can’t hurt you anymore”.

Sara sniffed hard and blew her nose. Sara looked at Catherine. There was still one unanswered question.

“How did you find us?”

“Well…” Catherine began. “I called Grissom several times. There had been a massive shooting downtown and everyone had been called in. But he wasn’t picking up. I tried you and you weren’t picking up either. So I paged both of you and still nothing. I knew something was wrong and we both know Gil. He always answers his page, on or off duty.”

Sara smiled to herself a little. Catherine was right. She remembered the numerous times they’d been “interrupted” because of his damn pager. She’d learnt to accept that about him though. It came with the package.

Catherine continued…“So I drove to your place to quash my feelings. Unfortunately I was right. The front door was open and everything was silent.”

“Oh god…” Sara interrupted. “Hank! The sitter must be…”
“Don’t worry, Hank is taken care of, Lyndsey’s looking after him ok?”

Sara sighed with relief.

“I walked inside and found the broken coffee table and the blood. I found a note addressed to Gil. It said that they had you and that he was not to contact anyone, just instructed to wait. There was a picture of you tied up and at the time I didn’t think much of it but the message on the back was the key. “Answer your cell now”. Also a ring, which I’m pretty sure belonged to you.

Sara looked down at her hand, she hadn’t even noticed it was missing and she now felt sad for its loss.

“Can I have it back?” Sara asked.

“I’ll see what I can do about getting it released ok?”

Sara nodded.

“We should have got to you sooner. I’m so stupid!” Catherine cursed herself.

Sara frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The damn message on the back of the photograph. That was the vital clue. I didn’t even think about it until several hours later when I read it again. It must have meant they were watching you, watching the house some how. Otherwise how did they know he was looking at the photograph? We searched the house more thoroughly and found 6 cameras. We finally managed to trace the feed coming from them and where the images were being sent. That’s how we found your location. If I’d just thought of it sooner then……”

“It’s not your fault”, Sara said sincerely. “You did everything you could and you found us.”

Catherine tried to smile but she still felt guilty.

Now Sara took Catherine’s hand. “Thank you Catherine. Really. You did your best and you got to us. That’s all that matters.”