Chapter One
David Hodges was lonely. He was still living at home with his mother which made him feel like a kid. He could move out if he truly wanted, but mother Hodges wanted her little Davy to stay put. If he moved he could move closer to the lab, cutting his commute down by at least a half hour. He only had access to the vehicle twice a week and since he was trying to save for an apartment, he had no vehicle of his own. He sighed and poured over his backlog of trace work. From Erotic Athletes to the fetish club on the strip – he had his work cut out for him. The fact he had no girlfriend made analyzing these kinds of cases really tough.
Wendy Simms had very little DNA on her table that night. She also had the cases from the Erotic Athletes and the fetish club on the strip, but she managed to get through those two cases in record time. She worked diligently and carefully and noticed that David Hodges was sitting at his table staring at her for some reason. Whether he was just staring at her just because he was Hodges, or was he staring at her because he was thinking about her or maybe she had some lettuce stuck in her teeth. She really didn't know and it was bothering her that he was staring at her for so long.
Henry Andrews, the tox tech had nothing on his table that night, well what he did have he finished as a toxicologist, every so often he had a slow night and since he had analyzed the tox in the two cases that the other two were dealing with already he had nothing left to do except watch Hodges stare at Wendy.
Archie Johnson was holed up in his AV lab working his ass off he had a bunch of various cases to work on. He was analyzing a kidnapping case in one of the many hotels on the strip. Someone had tampered with the cameras in the Elevator and he was trying to figure out how they did it. Also there was a few other cases he was busy with too. He had a lot on his plate and was dreading working a double shift.
Mandy Webster, fingerprint tech, was involved in the same cases that Wendy and David were involved with. She was trying to find out whose fingerprints were whose and if they were in AFIS or CODIS. Her table was back logged and she longed for Jacquie Franco, the other fingerprint tech to help, but Jacquie was strictly days now.
Grissom sat in his office studying the results of the fetish club situation. He shook his head. Lady Heather's new club. She had closed down her "domain" but she had opened up a smaller fetish club for her girls to dominate their clients. It was run well but unfortunately it had gotten out of hand and Heather was beside herself with anger and sorrow because of what had happened. One of the girls was dominating a client and the client's wife found about his extra curricular activities and barged in on them. The wife went ballistic and beat the dominatrix to a pulp and that woman was now suing Lady Heather and her club for lack of protection.
Gil rubbed his temples. "I can't take this much longer. I really am starting to fade. I understand more now why Sara left Las Vegas. Things are never going to change in this city. My love for my work is sincerely fading. What do you suggest I do?"
The visitor in Gil's office shrugged. "Gil I am surprised that you are actually coming to me for advice. Over the last god knows how many years we have always butted heads and rarely got along. But that being said… Gil, I can't tell you how to run your life, but after Warrick was murdered and it was found that our Undersheriff was the killer no less…." Conrad Ecklie shook his head. "Gil if you need time off, lord knows you have hardly taken a vacation day in ten years. As a colleague I would advise you to at least take a month vacation. Nick Stokes could take over your role for the time being , or Catherine if you prefer, I know she's your right hand."
Gil rubbed his temples again. "Thank you Conrad. I appreciate your candid reply. This is one of the first times in a long time that I can actually say that I think you're a nice guy" he said forcing a smile and gave his colleague a hand shake.
Conrad headed to the door, but stopped before exiting. "Gil, one last small word of advice. Go after Sara. You two need each other." He said and was gone
Grissom let out a long drawn out breath and started his email. He decided to take Conrad's advice and take a break. He wrote in his email that he was giving temporary leadership/supervisory role to Nick Stokes with Catherine working as his right hand. He said his vacation / sabbatical was effective right after shift. He addressed it to Robert Cavallo and Conrad Ecklie and copied the rest of his Graveyard shift team. Grissom knew that leaving Las Vegas would not be easy, but he had to do it to save his sanity. He sent an email to Sara to inform her of his decision. He had one more stop to make and then he was leaving.
