Catherine kept looking out her rearview mirror to see if she was being followed, but she couldn't detect any of Braun's men behind her.

"Are you sure you want to go to Biggalo's?" she asked Lindsey. "Dante's is closer, and you like the pizza there."

Lindsey nearly went hysterical.

"No, mom! No! I wanna go to Biggalo's! Please! Please!"

"Okay, honey. Don't get so worked up. If it's Biggalo's you want, that's where we'll go."

Catherine sped up, taking the long way to the restaurant to be sure they were alone. When she pulled into the parking lot and got out, Lindsey didn't move.

"Are you coming, honey?" she asked, concerned.

"In a minute," the girl said, looking desperately around the lot.

"It's alright, Linds. We're alone," Catherine assured her. "No one is going to bother us, here."

Lindsey gave her mother a strange look. She hadn't been concerned about people bothering them, until she heard her mother's words. Now she was worried.

"Will grandpa hurt Uncle Gil?" she asked.

Catherine didn't know how to answer.

"Don't worry about Uncle Gil. He's a grown man. He can take care of himself," she reassured her daughter.

Lindsey only looked a little relieved.

"Are you getting out of the car, or are we going back to the mansion?" Catherine asked.

Lindsey sighed and climbed out of the car. She shut the door and looked around, again. Catherine was beginning to get worried, wondering just how much the move into Sam's house was upsetting her daughter.

"Let's go," Catherine said, leading the way and offering Lindsey her hand.

The child ignored her and started walking as slowly as possible towards the restaurant, still looking around. Finally, Catherine, growing impatient, seized her hand. Lindsey resisted.

"Wait, mom! Wait up a minute," she begged.

"Lindsey, what's the matter with you? Let's get something to eat, okay? We can talk inside."

"No!" Lindsey yelled, breaking away.

Catherine stared at her, then looked past the girl to see a dark SUV enter the lot. Lindsey, following her mother's gaze, turned around and spotted the vehicle.

Gil saw them immediately, faced off in the middle of the lot. He parked his rig and jumped out, as Lindsey squealed delightedly and ran towards him. Gil fell to his knees on the pavement and took the child into his arms, holding her as if she were his whole world. She was crying and squeezing his neck and definitely did not want to let go. Catherine just stared at them, as Gil, looking sheepish, gazed up at her.

"How did you...?" she began.

"Lindsey emailed me," he said. "She told me you'd be here. She told me what happened."

Catherine looked confused.

"What happened?" she asked Gil. Then, suddenly worried that Lindsey had been hurt, she knelt down next to him and turned to her daughter. "Honey, what did you tell Uncle Gil?" she asked, gently brushing the child's hair from her face.

"About you and grandpa fighting all the time and how you got sick last night and how he had to give you mouth to mouth," the girl blurted without taking a breath and without loosening her grip on Gil.

Catherine's jaw dropped, her eyes locked with Gil's, and she felt herself grow faint. Gil quickly stood up, with Lindsey still wrapped around him, and reached out a hand to help Catherine to her feet.

"Oh my god," she said, slipping her delicate hand into his strong, warm one, until she could stand alone. "Oh my god." She held onto the SUV for support, trying to wrap her mind around what her daughter had said and feeling sick.

"What happened, Catherine?" Gil asked, as Lindsey snuggled contentedly against his neck.

Catherine, pale, looked from Gil to her daughter and back again.

"Lindsey, honey, can you wait for us inside. We'll be right in, okay?"

Lindsey picked up her head to look Gil in the eyes. She was clearly afraid.

"You won't leave me, will you? You'll come in? Promise?"

Gil gazed into those innocent blue eyes and thought his heart would break. He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"I won't leave, honey. Promise. Your mom and I will be right in," he said.

Reassured, Lindsey gave him a kiss on the cheek, allowed herself to be put down and ran ahead to the restaurant.

"What happened?" Gil asked again, his attention now focused entirely on Catherine.

"I don't remember," she said, covering her face with her trembling hands and leaning back against the vehicle. "I thought I was drunk. I think he put something in the wine. I remember Sam helping me upstairs, and then I woke up with Lindsey asleep on top of me."

Gil felt his chest tighten. He seized Catherine.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked, holding her tight and burying his face in the sweet scent of her hair. "I swear, Catherine, if...."

"I don't think so," she said, resting her head on his chest and letting him stroke her back, comforting her. She could hear his heart beating wildly. She could feel each of his muscles tense up. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe. "When I woke up, I was still dressed. I don't think he touched me."

He pulled her tighter, desperate to hang onto her.

"I think you had the right idea when you said we should go to Canada," he said, kissing her forehead, and her cheek, and her neck.

Catherine, scowling, pulled away a little and looked up at him.

"I'm tired of beating you up and I'm tired of beating myself up," Catherine said. "This is a no win situation, Gil. I can't go on like this, and I don't think you can, either."

"What are you saying?" he asked, losing himself in her eyes.

"I forgive you."

His lips hungrily found hers, as he fought down tears. Catherine wasn't so strong. She cried openly as he held her tight.

"You goddam jerk!" she yelled, pulling away from him, and laughing and crying and hitting him at the same time. "Don't you ever put me through this goddam hell, again!"

"Never again, Catherine. I swear. Never again."

He wrapped his arms around her as he walked her to the restaurant, where Lindsey, kicking her feet, was impatiently waiting at the table.

*******

For about an hour, Catherine imagined she had a normal life. The three of them joked, and ate pizza, and didn't talk about Sam Bruan or Conrad Eckley or Carol MacEnroe.

Ghosts, Gil thought. Wherever he went and whatever he did, they would haunt him. But, for now, he could ignore them. At least until Jim Brass and Sophia Curtis showed up. Gil groaned.

"How did you find us?" Catherine asked, finishing her last bite of pizza.

Jim laid a pair of small transmitters on the table in front of her.

"This one," he said, picking up a transmitter, "is ours. This one," he indicated the other, "isn't."

"Are they still working?" Gil asked.

"You put a tracking device on my car?" Catherine demanded to know at the same time.

"No," Jim said, to Gil. "We disabled it. And, yes," he said to Catherine. "We had to know what was going on between you and Braun."

Catherine felt herself flush with anger.

"You couldn't just ask me?"

Sophia sat down across from Catherine.

"We need your help," she said.

Catherine turned to Lindsey, gave her a couple of quarters and told her she could play with the arcade machine.

"We need to talk about work," she said.

Lindsey sighed, but did what she was told, looking back once at Gil to make sure he was still there. He gave her a reassuring smile. The minute she was gone, Catherine erupted.

"I told Sam I was going out. He didn't follow me. But you disabled this," she picked up the device, "and, now, he's going to get nervous and he's going to send his goons looking for me. So, if you have anything else to do besides endanger my life, get it over with fast, before they get here!"

"We know Braun was blackmailing Conrad," Sophia said.

"Well, that's certainly his MO these days," Catherine snapped.

Gil's eyes fell to the table under Jim's glare.

"And we know he's keeping the evidence at his house, but we don't have probable cause for a warrant," Sophia continued. "We need you to carry a mike. We need you to get Braun to confide in you."

"No!" Gil interrupted. "I want her out of there, now!" He turned to Catherine. "Don't do this! It's not worth your life!"

Jim got up, grabbed Gil by the arm, and half dragged him out of the restaurant and into the parking lot, leaving the women to work out the details.

"I got news for you, bud," Jim told him, shoving his finger into Gil's chest. "You get no say in this. Now, I know you got your own goddam reasons for not finding those tapes, but we almost got this bastard nailed, and if I have to sacrifice you to do it, I will."

Gil stared at him.

"I don't want Catherine to get hurt," he said, defending himself.

"I'll believe that one when I see it," Jim snapped, then he turned on his heels and went back into the restaurant, leaving Gil feeling like he'd just been hit in the chest by a train.

"We're ready," Sophia said, as Jim marched in, dragging Gil behind him.

"You'd better get out of here," Catherine told them.

Jim took Catherine by the shoulders.

"Look, beautiful, I don't like this anymore than you do. And if anything happens to you...." He stopped. Then he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I wish there was another way," he added.

She nodded and looked at Gil.

"Do me a favor," she said.

"Catherine, I don't want you doing this."

"Will you do me a favor or won't you?"

He nodded.

"Take Lindsey. Make sure she's safe. Don't let anyone else have her."

Catherine turned to Sophia and Jim. "You heard me, right? You're witnesses. Lindsey goes with Gil, no one else." Catherine wrapped her arms around Gil and pulled him to her, so she could whisper in his ear. "I know about the gun, about what you tried to do," she said. He started to pull away from her, but she wouldn't let him go. "You're responsible for Lindsey, now. If anything happens to you, Sam will try and get custody of her. You have to make sure that doesn't happen. So, take care of my daughter, and don't do anything stupid!"

Tears burned in Gil's eyes as he bent to kiss her.

"I love you," he said. "Be careful."

"I love you, too," Catherine responded.

When everyone had left, Catherine sat down at the table and waited for Braun's men to show up. It didn't take long.

*******

"How about a movie?" Gil asked, as he and Lindsey drove down the boulevard. He was trying to stay calm and act natural, so Lindsey wouldn't know how worried he was about Catherine. And he didn't have the faintest idea how to entertain a child.

"Can we see A Bug's Life?" she asked.

He smiled.

"You're teasing me, Lindsey," he said. "You know that's my favorite movie."

"I know," she said, flashing him a charming smile that reminded him so much of her mother. "But it makes you laugh, and I like to see you laugh."

Sometimes, Gil couldn't get over how smart she was.

"Okay. It's A Bug's Life. But we only watch it once, okay?"

She smiled and nodded.

When they pulled into the video rental store, Gil checked the mirrors, trying to see if they had been followed, but he didn't see anyone. Lindsey was out of the vehicle fast, and Gil had to hustle to catch up with her.

"Hey, kiddo. Slow down, will you?" he asked.

She stopped and took his hand and dragged him into the store. She knew exactly where she was going.

"Hey, Grissom!" came a voice.

Gil turned to find Greg Sanders and a woman who appeared to be his date waving at him from one of the aisles. Gil glanced at Lindsey to make sure she was alright, before talking to Greg.

"What are you doing here?" Greg asked. "I didn't know you rented movies?"

"Greg, there's a lot of things about me you don't know," Gil said. "And I want to keep it that way."

Greg noticed how nervous Gil was, and given their prior exchanges, he knew better than to take the comment seriously. Just then Lindsey ran up with a video and a DVD.

"Do you have a DVD player, Uncle Gil?" she asked, waving both versions of the movie in front of him.

He nodded, and she ran to put the video back.

"You babysitting?" Greg asked.

"You could say that," Gil said. "Catherine is working undercover, tonight."

"Whoa. That's gotta be scary," Greg said.

Gil nodded.

"Whose that man with your daughter?" Greg's date asked.

Gil turned around in time to see a large man sweep Lindsey up in his arms, cover her mouth and stroll quickly towards the exit. The little girl squired and squealed and finally bit the man's hand. The minute her mouth was free, she screamed. Gil and Greg and his date were already in full pursuit.

"Stop him!" Gil yelled to anyone who would here. "He's kidnapping that child!"

Several people stopped to stare, but only one took action. Sometimes, one person is enough. A teenage boy, working behind the counter, had enough sense to grab a nearby broom and trip the would-be kidnapper.

Gil and Greg were on him in a heartbeat.

"Thank you. Thank you," Gil told the teen, gathering a crying Lindsey up in his arms. "Please, call the police."

Greg pinned the downed man to the floor, feeling a bit like a hero, as his date looked on admiringly.

*******

Back at the Braun mansion, Sam had only one thing he wanted to say.

"You disappoint me, Catherine."

-- TBC --