Impact

Chapter 3

Any lingering annoyance Greg had been directing Grissom's way is gone instantly, with one look at his boss' face.

Grissom has turned terribly pale, as he looks back and forth between Catherine and Nick. "What. what do you mean, missing?"

"Detective Vega left their scene as they were packing up the car with evidence," Nick says. "That was around 2 AM, and nobody's seen or heard from them since. They're not answering their phones."

"Okay." Grissom sits down in a chair, a little shakily. "Let's not jump to conclusions. They could have gotten a flat tire on the way back."

"Then they would've called us," Greg says.

"One of them could have gotten sick."

"Again, they would've called."

"Could be in a spot that doesn't have cell phone reception." Grissom's voice is calm, but no one in the room is fooled. "There are plenty of places in the desert that don't have cell towers nearby. Where were they traveling?"

"That's another problem, Gil," Catherine supplies. "The scene was just off Route 95. If they got into any trouble on the way back to the lab, they should have been able to flag down another driver."

Grissom nods, slowly. "Okay. Who's able to help look for them?"

All three raise their hands, to which he gives a ghost of a smile.

"Okay. Nick, Greg, you both know that area pretty well. Take a uniform and go retrace their steps, see if you see anything. Look for skid marks, tire shreds, anything that looks suspicious."

"Will do," Nick nods, as the two jump to their feet and head out the door.

"Where do you want me?" Catherine asks, leaning forward.

Grissom rubs his palm over his chin. "You sure you can do this, Catherine? What about Lindsey, won't she need-"

"I've taken care of it already," she interrupts. "It's Warrick and Sara, for pete's sake. I want to help."

"Okay. I need you to talk to Warrick's wife, Tina. Find out when she last heard from him."

She blanches a little, but nods.

"When you're done, come join me and Archie. We'll see if we can locate them through the car's GPS device."

o-o-o-o-o

The sun is pretty high in the sky. I'd guess it's around ten by now.

Grissom and I had plans for a nice brunch over at The Ivy this morning. We go at least once a week, to decompress and reconnect. I get French toast with strawberries, and he gets Eggs Benedict. After the waiter takes our orders, Grissom turns to me and sings softly "Well there's no place like hooome for the hollandaise."

It's a silly little tradition. But I don't have many silly little traditions (never have), so it never fails to make me smile.

We talk about anything and everything. Work, family, the recent episode of SVU. no subject is taboo. Which makes for a relaxing, intimate meal. We split the tab, not because it's expensive or because I'm that much of a feminist. It's just how we do things.

We like to share the load, I guess.

This especially would have been true after the meeting with Ecklie.

My ankle's been aching for at least an hour. The front of the car is crumpled, and both of my feet are wedged next to what used to be the gas pedal. But only my left ankle hurts. The right one is just stuck, I think.

I glance over to my right again, trying to assess the situation clinically. Detachment, Sara, that's how you'll get through this.

If I get through it.

Warrick's looking about the same. Which either means his condition isn't declining. or it means he's dead. I try to reach out my right hand to take his pulse, but pain shoots down my spine again.

I've called to him hundreds of times by now. For the better part of eight hours. But I can't help trying again.

"Warrick? Can you hear me?"

There's no response. Not even a twitch. I swallow a sob, and watch the sun climb higher.

They must be looking for us by now.

o-o-o-o-o

"Okay, here we go," Archie says, opening up the Global Positioning software and switching the monitor view to the projector. "This should give us their location within a radius of about a hundred feet."

"Perfect," Grissom murmurs, sitting down beside him. He's trying not to panic, but he also knows me. He knows I'd never go this long without checking in, unless something was seriously wrong.

Catherine sweeps into the room, gathering her long hair into a ponytail. "Hey. I got in touch with Tina. she said she hasn't heard from Warrick, and he was supposed to meet her at nine this morning. Guess they're looking into buying a house together. Anyway, she and the realtor were trying to reach him on his cell, but you know how that turned out."

"Yeah," Grissom nods. "Well, I figured it was worth a shot."

"Guys?"

They look over at Archie, whose brows are furrowed as he stares at the screen. "We've got a problem."

"What is it?" Grissom asks, standing up and squinting at the screen. "Where does it say they are?"

"That's the problem," Archie replies grimly. "There's no signal. Wherever they are, their GPS device has been dismantled. or destroyed."