The first story in a series I wrote about a year ago. I'd appreciate any comments – in general, or on specific things – so I know what I've done right and what was a load of crock. I look forward to seeing what you think before I put the next story up.

"Hey, Doc."

Robbins looked up to see Greg and Sara, field kits in hand, "This is a bad one...identification is going to be difficult," he moved around the body and lifted a hand, "fingers have all been severed and her teeth have been knocked out – not enough left to compare to records." He didn't need to say that a photo would be useless – the woman's face was unrecognisable.

"What about ID on the body?"

Robbins shook his head, "Nothing, and a look around doesn't give you much either – middle of the desert there's no telling where she came from."

"Wanna bet against us?" Sara challenged.

A while later, Sara was taking photos of the victim when something caught her eye, "Hey, Doc? Can you roll the vic for me?"

Robbins motioned for the attendants to do as she said, "What do you see?"

Crouching down, Sara picked up a business card. Holding it up, she read the front of the card, "It's from the LAPD... What's that doing out here?"

Robbins could see the back of the card and read aloud, "One down...two to go..."

The CSI flipped the card over and read the handwritten message, "Hey, Greg? Call Grissom."

Warwick headed towards the break room at CSI. Grissom had paged him with a 911 to meet here. Seeing the rest of the shift already there confused the hell out of him. "What's going on? I was in the middle of a B and E."

"Maybe we're all getting promoted."

Nick laughed, "Last time this happened we got a roomful of mangled evidence."

Catherine mock-shivered, "Don't remind me."

"We're all taking the same case tonight." Grissom announced as he bustled into the room, tossing files to his team as he went, "Greg and Sara pulled a 4-19 off of Boulder Highway. No ID on the victim so far,"

Catherine interrupted her boss, "Ah, Gil? You haven't pulled us off our cases to help ID a body?"

"No. I handed your cases to Days," he emphasised, "because of what was found at the scene." He pushed a photo of the business card across the table.

Nick picked it up and read it, "You think we got a serial?"

"Possibly. The Sheriff's calling LAPD to ask for their help."

"What do we do?" Warwick asked, feeling the adrenaline of a hunt starting to kick in.

"We need to identify the victim. If we do that we can start to look for whomever may have wanted to kill her."

Sara had the unenviable task of attending the post of their victim. Walking towards Doc Robbins, she saw the real damage the killer had caused.

"Hey, Sara."

"COD?"

"Gunshot to the face – probably a shotgun judging by these pellets - at close range, multiple shots. The front of the skull is shattered, the force of the projectiles pushed the bone fragments back into the brain tissue...It would've been quick. Unfortunately, that wasn't what killed her."

Sara raised an eyebrow at that. "She did not live through that."

"No. She was already dead. Asphyxiation due to strangulation – broken hyoid bone." He noticed Sara looking at the victim's hands, "Digits were severed postmortem, the teeth were also removed postmortem. He went to a lot of trouble – there were tool marks on some of the stumps, it looks like they were snapped off with pliers off some kind."

"Someone didn't want us to know who she was."

"I've sent blood to DNA and Hodges has the trace."

"Maybe we'll get lucky...Thanks, Doc."

Greg was bored. It seemed a habit recently – being sent off to run someone through a database wasn't his idea of fieldwork. Suddenly, the computer let off a series off flashes and alerts - ...doesn't mean this job isn't interesting though... Seeing his supervisor on the other side of the glass wall of the lab, Greg jumped up and started banging on the glass.

"Greg...What the hell?"

"Griss, our victim just sent the computer into meltdown. Look...she's got FBI, US Marshall and LAPD flags on file."

Grissom rubbed the bridge of his nose. Feds. That's all I need right now.

"What do we do?" Greg asked excitedly.

"We follow the evidence."

"What about the feds?"

"They are more than welcome to follow it too." Grissom replied frustratedly as he disappeared out of the lab to meet the Sheriff and a detective from LAPD.

"Hey, Sofia...Wait up.." Jim Brass yelled as he pulled up in the PD parking lot.

"Brass."

"You know what this is about?" he asked as he waved his pager in the air.

"Nope, but I can think of about twenty things I could be doing instead..."

"You think Grissom got a new bug to show us?" he grinned, "Or maybe a shrunken head?"

Sofia Curtis shot him a 'If-it-is-I'm-going-to-kill-Grissom' look and made her way to the CSI layout room.

Sofia and Brass were still waiting in the layout room after nearly twenty minutes; Brass was leaning against a wall while Sofia flicked through crime scene photos that were spread on the table, "What the Hell's going on? We've been here forever..." Brass pushed away from the wall and moved to look over Sofia's shoulder, "What are these?"

Sofia looked up from the photos, "Vic's had half her face blown off – you recognise the case?"

Brass shook his head in reply, "One of Vartann's?" he guessed.

"What's one of mine?" Detective Vartann stuck his head in the door and caught his name being mentioned.

"Geez, Vartann. Did you feel your ears burning?"

Vartann gave Sofia a withering look before addressing his superior, "There's someone or something up at the front desk for the class clown." He jerked a thumb in Sofia's direction as he finished.

Sofia rolled her eyes at him, "Could you be a bit more vague – you know, at least let me have to work for it."

"Do I look like I could give a rat's ass? I'm just passing along the message out of the goodness of my heart. How should I know what kind of weird crap you get?"

"Hey! Children, take it out to the playground...Sofia, you might as well see what it is, if you're needed, I'll send my errand boy to find you."

Sofia accidentally-on-purpose shouldered Vartann on the way out and received a glare for her trouble. Brass couldn't figure out what it was with those two, but it seemed to work and neither of them took it to heart. Banter between the troops was a good thing – reminded him of his best friend from Jersey and his kid sister.

Brass shrugged it off as Grissom and the Sheriff walked in with a visitor.

"Jim...I believe you know Captain Kramer."

Brass smiled and nodded at the detective, "Annie. What brings you to town?"

"It's good to see you," Kramer evaded the question, "Shall we get down to business?"

All five gathered around the table as the Sheriff opened a file and continued, "Grissom, your 4-19 off of Boulder Highway,"

"We just confirmed ID with a DNA match...Sally Jessop...lives in Henderson."

"Sally Jessop was a key witness in an LA case against a big drug cartel. She was in witness protection." The Sheriff paused and looked around the table. Kramer had the same look she'd had when she arrived in LVPD, Grissom looked...like Grissom, and Brass was listening intently.

Kramer cleared her throat and reached for the photos Sofia had been looking at earlier, "Sally Jessop testified at the trial of Juanito. He worked for a big drugs ring headed by these two," Kramer laid out surveillance photos of a Latino male and a Caucasian female, "Carlos Meck and Lucy Evans. Juanito was their 'enforcer' and he was very violent and very good."

"We have no evidence linking him to our case, and if he's in jail..."

"Mr Grissom, Juanito escaped from prison two days ago. We have reason to believe he would come to Vegas."

"If he's jumped states, why aren't the Feds all over this?" Brass asked.

"I have a friend who's holding them off for now."

A knock on the door frame distracted everyone, "Hey, Griss? AFIS kicked out a name on the print Greg found on the duct tape. You coming?" Sara waited for Grissom to answer.

"We recovered a print on the tape used to restrain the victim." he explained to the room.

"What's the name?" Kramer asked.

"Marc Nolan. Minor drugs offences." Sara slowly answered, cocking an eyebrow at Grissom.

"CSI stays out of this until I say so," Kramer said as she headed for the door, "I've got to brief someone else on this so I'll take him with me.."

Everybody filed out but Brass hung back while Kramer collected her papers. He knew there was more to this than his friend was letting on.

"Where's Sofia?"

"She got called away. I can kinda see how you might want an old friend in on this...but why Sofia? And why freeze out CSI? There the best team I've worked with."

Kramer put her files back down on the table with a sigh. "The case was Sofia's when she was a rookie detective in LA. I thought she might want in. She's also the only one who can really handle Jake."

"Jake who?"

"Jake Barret. Her ex-" Kramer stopped quickly, then recovered herself, "partner. He's the one I've got to meet."

"I can let her know-"

Kramer quickly cut him off. "Whoa, Jimmy. Do not tell her Jake is involved."

"No?"

"I'm in no hurry for that little reunion."

Brass nodded his understanding; he didn't really understand, Sofia was a good cop and he'd never heard of any trouble in the department. He figured it must be down to this Barret guy.

"Hey, Jimmy?...Think you can get me out of this place?"

Brass laughed, "I think I can walk a lady out."

As the detectives got closer to the main entrance of the CSI building, Kramer recognised the shouting. She'd wanted to keep the two of them apart unless absolutely necessary. They rounded the corner and saw Grissom and Sara caught up in the middle of one Hell of an argument between Sofia and a well-dressed man. Kramer groaned, "Jimmy, meet Jake Barret. Special Agent-in-Charge of the Las Vegas Field Office."

"...No way!"

"If Juanito's there you'll need the help."

"Your staying at PD until further notice."

"You can't tell me what to do, Jake." Sofia snapped back and pushed past him out the door towards her car.

Jake grabbed Sofia's arm and pulled her back, "The Hell I can't. This is now a federal case. You'll do what I tell you or I'll have you detained for obstructing a federal officer."

She looked down at his hand and then back up to his face, silently testing to see if he was serious. Still looking at Jake, she addressed Grissom, "I'll need everything you have on Sally Jessop's murder – and I wanna be in the loop on any new evidence."

"Sara can you get the reports to Sofia?" he asked, although it wasn't really a question.

"I'll get to Juanito before you do Jake – I promised Sally."

Jake opened his mouth to shout after Sofia as she stalked back to PD but instead he wiped his hand across his face.

Grissom and Brass were left wondering what the hell was going on as Sara disappeared to organise the case files for Sofia.

"What the hell just happened?" The CSI asked his friend; he was not having a good shift and this was the last thing he needed.