Chapter One
Distant thunder rumbled in a deep ominous tone. It seemed to be charging nearer and nearer until it shook the glass in the windows. The floorboards protested in indignation with vibrating groans. It seemed as if Armageddon would be arriving early.
Then, with a sudden leap like a wild stallion, it was gone. Just as suddenly, rain crashed down from the heavens. The stallion snorted one last time in the distance. Waves or rain poored down, booming against the sides of the small house. Clouds the dark color of tea leaves obliterated the helpless moon in an instant. The air had a scent, an expectant, charged smell. But, no flashes of lightening lit up the dark world.
There was only the roar of thousands of pounds of water bombing the dry desert.
Sara lay awake, wondering if she should get up and look out. She wanted desperately not to be afraid. It was a simplistic, childish fear she told herself. After all the human-caused destruction and terror she saw at work, the thunder should be the least of her fears. But it wasn't. Each sudden punch of loud thunder caused her to jolt in surprise. She was painfully conscious of how alone she was and how much she wished there was a warm body in the bed, next to her.
She decided to distract herself from the storm outside but was confronted with her own inner storm. Thoughts and images from the past streamed through, behind her eyelids. A whispered word, a secret smile. Intense blue eyes showing love, lust, anger, pain. It seemed that each time a spark flew, and she tried to catch it, she was burned.
Grissom, too, was lying awake, but not because of the storm. Not the one outside, anyway. He was drowning deep inside an emotional one. Two conflicting feelings, two parts he wanted to play; boss and lover. Each right and wrong in its own way. Should he call? Should he talk to her at work?
He knew she would be afraid of the storm. The simple fact that he knew such an intimate quirk put him in deeper agony. One thing was certain, a boss shouldn't know that. He had always hated himself for having to be so distant with her. But, when he occasionally let his guard down, and his feeling show through, he had no power to make her trust him.
Finally, he thought, she needs me either way.
Sara finally gave up on tossing and turning in the dark bedroom and flicked on a light. She grabbed some pajama pants and put her hair into a loose pony tail. The fingers of the rain tapped on her windows. She shuffled to the kitchen, wide awake, but decided to make some coffee any way. She smiled as she pulled the bag of Blue Hawaiian, a present from a very eager Greg, from the cabinet. As she set it down on the counter, she looked absently over at the phone. The message light was blinking. She was tempted to ignore it, but curiosity got the better of her.
She plucked the handset from its cradle and typed in the pass code to access voicemail. A cold, female voice ordered her to wait. Thunder roared again, causing her heart to jump, or maybe it was because she recognized the number. She calmly listened to the message, but as she put the phone down, her hands began to shake.