Desert Secrets

Chapter 1

The Vegas skyline looked beautiful even when the lightning flashed in the sky. It was comparable to the city that never sleeps aka New York. In fact it could rival New York since it was Vegas; it was Sin City and had history of sorts… if you were into the whole thing about the gangsters making the town.

It was a typical night for the usual types of things that went on, which was a bit unusual for a Sunday evening. For Sage Parker, it was something to get used to but then again she was familiar with the crazies in the French Quarter so she wasn't one to talk about that. At least in a setting that was familiar, she felt at home.

She was scheduled to start her shift at eleven that night. Traditionally it would be considered madness to be working on a Sunday but considering the fact that she had a pending case to finish evidence analysis and as well as the usual paperwork associated with that. Plus there was the case she had been working on with Warrick to work on with the DNA samples. She had a full load and was considering working a double but for now she was enjoying evening service.

Having been in Vegas a few months working at the lab… it had been a rather interesting time trying to find a place of worship. One of the things that threw people for a spin was that Sage was a firm believer. She was a Christian and she had paraphilia she wore like a Goth, a very mild form as she insisted, and she was a scientist. It was a walking contradiction and one that she had fun exploiting to the surprise of people. Certainly it was funny when her favorite lab rat caught her saying a short prayer over her lunch one shift.

Sage looked down at her lap at the Bible she had since she was twelve at the text that was the guiding point for the sermon. She pushed her glasses up on her nose to keep them from slipping and ran her finger along the text. Tonight's sermon was a nice reminder about the basic tenets she tried to live by and she couldn't help but get a little humorous about the whole row of love that was available in terms of shotgun weddings.

Service finished on time and Sage was walking out the door. It was eight o'clock, roughly three hours before her shift started. There was time to get something to eat before heading in maybe an hour early. It was a nice start unlike starting pulling a double like the Braun case even though that was a bit of a doozy. It was a sad thing though that one brother killed the other. It made her rethink how her relationship with Cassie was as it stood. At least it was better than that. She had no desire to kill her little sister but just wished that she was more responsible.

It was wishful thinking and Sage brushed it aside. At least Cassie quit pestering her at work with her messages. Sage tucked her Bible under her arm and headed towards her car. Maybe she might be nice and buy a cup for her partner knowing that it would be a set up for a round of bantering that would probably drive Grissom crazy. She was almost to her car when there was a squeal of tires and it sounded close.

Looking up Sage saw a black SUV round the corner and burning serious rubber. A door was open and something was falling out. It turned out to be a body and it landed with a dull thud and the SUV gunned the engine. It didn't get very far since it ran the light at the intersection and was instantly T-boned by a semi.

Sage blinked as she pulled out her cell and dialed in, "Dispatch this is CSI Sage Parker, I got a 401B at the Calvary Chapel off the strip, possible 419s. Multiple drivers."

She went over to check on the driver of the SUV and the semi. The semi driver looked stunned and ready to vomit. The drive of the SUV was unconscious and bleeding from the head. She peered into the SUV and pressed a finger to the neck to check. As she was doing so she felt a hand grab her shoulder.

It was reaction to yelp slightly and turn around to see who or what touched her. She turned and found a man, roughly in his twenties grabbing a hold of her. He was saying, "Please help me. They have her."

The guy started to grow faint and Sage reached out and grab him. She was still on the phone and continued, "Dispatch, send paramedics, we also have a 421." She ended up dropping the phone when the guy slipped in her grip and she reached out to steady him. She noted the blood was that coming from his head and his eyes were glassy. Any other injuries she couldn't see.

Sage looked around and noticed the crowd. Some were on their phones and calling 9-1-1 and others were just being onlookers. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It was the same anywhere; accidents drew nosy butts like moths to a flame.

The guy moaned and Sage said, "I got ya. Paramedics are coming." She looked around as the hiss of the heated water came up and she heard it. There were other sounds all around. It was almost like chaos.

"They have her. Need to find her…" the guy managed to breathe in before he passed out.

Sage held on even though the guy started to slip. She started to lower him towards the ground, trying not to do more damage to any evidence. She looked around as she heard the first signs of paramedics coming. She looked around and quoted one of her favorite hymns, "Come fount of blessing."

~0~0~

Warrick got out of the black Tahoe on the driver side and looked at the scene. He could make out the semi sitting there and a black SUV. The hood was smoking water or whatever was leaking. The passenger side was caved in, point of impact. He could see a gurney with a victim being loaded into an ambulance. Gotta be the 421, he thought.

"Hey, looking pretty grim," Nick said as he pulled his kit out from his side of the Tahoe.

"Yeah," Warrick replied in agreement as he went to grab his kit. "And I was looking forward to a quiet night."

"You and me both," Nick replied in agreement. He started following Warrick to where Jim Brass was getting statements. He looked around and noticed something familiar in the parking lot next to the church. He frowned a bit since he was sure that he knew that vehicle from somewhere but… He shook his head and walked to where Warrick was talking to Brass.

"So what have we got?" Warrick was looking at Brass knowing that Nick would take his cue to start photographing the scene.

Brass looked at Nick as he started getting to work and then turned back towards Warrick, "SUV comes barreling down the road to dump a body. Burns rubber and heads for the intersection. Runs a red light and…"

Warrick could get the picture. "Yeah. Semi versus SUV; not much to bet on who wins." He could visualize the accident as it occurred.

"Got that right," Brass replied, "Anyway two bodies heading to Desert Palms and the other to the morgue. Do you want to bet on who the stiff is?"

Warrick looked at Brass with a slight look. Nick was already photographing the body in the SUV. "So who called it in?"

Brass looked at Warrick with a frown, "Didn't you get the call?" When Warrick looked back at him with a confused look and the response that it was 9-1-1, Brass shook his head, "Dispatch got a call before the first 9-1-1. Parker called it in."

"Parker?" Warrick wheeled around and looked for the subject in question. He found her standing with the reporting officer, giving her statement. She was covered in blood. He walked over to her as she finished giving her statement and asked, "Hey you trying to run for sheriff?"

Sage looked up at Warrick and replied, "Very funny Warrick. What a way to begin the shift." She gave a sigh as she looked at the scene.

"Yeah but it looks like you got a piece of it before it actually started," Warrick replied pointing at her clothes. "EMTs check you out?"

Sage looked at her clothing and noticed the blood. She had been so preoccupied she had forgotten about it until the EMTs asked her about it. She said, "Oh it's not mine. It's belongs to the guy that got pushed out of the SUV before it sped through the intersection and…" She motioned at the semi still sitting there. "Truck driver is in shock and the body thrown out…"

"Okay, okay," Warrick countered with a gesture to calm Sage down. "We're gonna need your clothes. Evidence."

Sage sighed and looked at her clothes. She could see the blood and knew what that meant. "Yeap I know the drill." She let Warrick lead her over to the EMT still there after getting the coveralls from the Tahoe. She hopped in and said as she took off her jacket, "You know if you wanted to get me to take my clothes off, you could've asked me out."

Warrick chuckled as he stood with his back turned. He took the jacket and noted the nice look of the jacket and the cut. It was the kind that flared above the hips. It was definitely worn with the idea to drive Nick crazy since Greg would notice and start with the flirting. He replied, "Yeah I know we're tight but I'm not your type."

"Who says you weren't?" Sage replied as she removed her outer shirt and handed it over. She was glad she was wearing a tank top underneath. "Tall, handsome, and definitely knows how to talk to the ladies."

Warrick accepted the shirt and the jeans that followed. He gave a slight smile, "Sounds familiar. Do I know this guy?"

"Yeah," Sage replied as she emerged fitting the sleeves of the coveralls over her shoulders. She turned to look at Warrick and finished, "He's a good friend of mine and killer on the dance floor."

Warrick looked at Sage as she finished zippering up. She looked like she was getting ready to process a vehicle in the evidence garage and doing a good job of keeping it together. He returned the look with a slight smile and replied, "Yeah well you weren't so bad yourself."

"Maybe we should do it again," Sage replied.

"Maybe," Warrick replied, "When you have time in between what trouble you and Greggo get into." He then noticed something on her right ring finger. He noticed the ring and something was on it. "Parker, I'm gonna need your ring too."

Sage looked at her ring and spotted the blood. She slowly pulled it off and looked at it. She then handed it over to Warrick who sealed it in an evidence bag. "Can you take care of it for me? I would like it back when it's cleared."

Warrick saw the earnest look on her face and nodded, "Sure thing Parker. Listen uh… why don't you log in and take field notes? I'll let Grissom know."

"Eyes but no hands," Sage replied agreeing. She sighed again as she pulled a set of gloves and took the clipboard. "My kind of case."

"Least your handwriting is better than mine."

"Kiss ass." At the look Warrick shot her, Sage gave a slight smirk as she followed him back to the scene. She greeted Brass, "Hey Jim."

"Hey Parker. Reporting officer just gave me the details. Thanks," Brass replied giving a slight reassuring smile. He then went to continue questioning witnesses leaving the two CSIs to get to work with one following the other.

Nick looked at the area near the SUV. There was a lot of debris from the vehicles colliding. Not much in terms of other materials. He stayed near the SUV and looked around. It was dark but with his light, he was able to find some bits of what looked like blood. Kneeling he peered to take a closer look at the drops.

It looked consistent but wanting to be sure, Nick took the Q-tip and rubbed some of it into the blood. Doing a quick field test revealed that it was blood. So it was a bag and tag on that as well as photographing the drops. It was while he was photographing the drops that he noticed something else that had been partially hidden under the SUV.

On his knees, Nick peered underneath and saw what looked like a book and possibly a cell phone. Reaching for the phone, he pulled it out. It appeared scuffed like it had been dropped and it bounced and slid under the vehicle when it hit the dirt. It was consistent with the officer's report that someone had been at the SUV checking on the driver. The book was evident of that too.

Pulling out the book Nick slowly turned it over. The cover had scuffing from the asphalt as well as dirt. It looked like there might be some blood as well or fluid from the vehicle. Trace would have to deal with that one. Turning it over he noticed the title of the book in gold gilt lettering in the worn brown leather. "Holy Bible," Nick read. "Looks like someone was being a good Samaritan."

Out of curiosity, Nick opened the cover to find a dedication page. He peered at the curlicue script and frowned to make out the writing. It was fairly elegant like fancy engravings. Taking the time, he managed to read, "O Come Fount of Blessing our dearest granddaughter Sage Anne Parker."

As soon as he read the inscription, Nick frowned and looked around. Could it be? "Parker? Were you the one that called it in?"

One thought led to another since there was blood nearby. He needed to know if she was hurt or not. He continued to look around and spotted Warrick. Taking the Bible with him after noting its location and bagging it along with the cell phone, he walked up to Warrick and asked, "Hey, Rick, did you get who called it in?"

Warrick looked at Nick and saw him holding two bags. "Yeah, Parker called it in."

"She all right? I found blood over by the SUV."

"I'm fine Stokes," Sage said as she stepped into view, following Warrick with a clipboard. "Blood's not mine. It's belongs to the guy they took to Desert Palms. Was thrown out before that. Dump was over there." She pointed over to where she saw the body getting dumped.

Nick looked in the direction Sage pointed in and then at Warrick. They shared a look while Sage was writing down something. "I'll go check it out. You coming Parker?"

Sage looked at Warrick with a look. He said, "Notes only. Grissom's words."

Sage nodded and said, "Eyes but no hands." She shifted everything over to get a clean set of notes and followed Nick over to the second site. She stood behind Nick as he started an initial look at the scene. "Don't go assuming I did this on purpose now."

"I wasn't assuming anything," Nick replied as he shone his light. He was able to find some blood as well as what looked like some clothing. "I thought you were in trouble when I found your phone and the blood."

"Aww were you concerned?" Sage teased gently as she stood poised to write.

"At the rate trouble follows you," Nick replied with a slight smile. "I'm glad you're okay." He then got set to collect. He cleared his throat and said, "Looks like an initial blood spatter when the body hit the pavement. Some bits of clothing."

"Probably ripped upon impact or already falling off," Sage offered as she made notes of numbers and photographs.

"Maybe," Nick offered in agreement.

Sage looked as Nick was looking. She couldn't collect but she could take notes and it wasn't like she had to go anywhere since Warrick collected evidence off her and the hospital had been notified about the guy that grabbed her.

"I found a Bible."

Sage directed her attention to Nick. Now that things had calmed down a bit, she was able to process the events that had happened. "Oh that is mine."

"You read the Bible?"

"Doesn't everyone?"

Nick sat back on his heels to look at Sage. She was writing but she stopped when she realized that he was looking at her. At her look he asked again, "You read the Bible?"

"Yeah," Sage replied frowning.

"And attend service?"

"Your point?"

"Nothing," Nick replied in a manner designed to cover his curiosity. Of course that wasn't enough to hide from the look that Sage was handing him. He gave a smile and continued, "You wear dog collars, listen to Greggo's Marilyn Manson, and you work at a crime lab."

"I know. Walking contradiction," Sage replied returning the smile with one of her own. She started back into her writing but there was nothing to write.

"At face value," Nick countered. "Just something not expected since we deal with science and you know the whole thing about scientists."

Sage stopped pretending to write since it was pointless. She adjusted the clipboard and pretended she was working. Finally she said, "Religion is the explanation of man's search for the ultimate truth. Many of those intervention groups call it a higher power. Sort of like science." She gave a slight wry smile at that.

"I take it you've had time to think about this?"

"Since I was twelve. Before that I was the full on accept everything your parents say."

"What changed your mind?"

"Science camp," Sage replied giving a slight smile. "And a very interesting talk between me and a priest with a chemistry degree." She went forward with taking observation notes leaving Nick to figure that one out. She chuckled when she noticed him think about it and then go back to work. She knew he was going to think about it for a while and keep it on the back of his mind while his concentration was on the case.

"You know Grissom's philosophy is the shortest distance is science."

"I know," Sage replied as she looked around and described the scene in the notes. "But I'll leave it to you to figure out how I negotiate that. Just follow the evidence." She grinned as she heard Nick chuckle. It was a private joke of an ongoing dare to find out about each other especially if either one found something the other didn't know or it was strange and unusual. She won the first round with their voodoo/cartel case. Since then it was more of a game.

Nick chuckled as he recognized a challenge. It was only fair since the last one he accidentally revealed a slightly embarrassing detail about his college days and she was all over it. When he realized she wasn't going to let up on it, he challenged her to uncover it within a specific timeframe. The betting was simple and harmless but he was forced to endure some ribbing and the picture she took… He had no idea how she did it. "What's the betting?"

"Solve it by the time you get your ducks lined up in a row and I'll explain about the priest with the chemistry degree. I win, you accompany me to a free time event of my choosing." Sage narrowed her eyes playfully. "Unless of course you're not up to it."

"You're on Parker but I also want to add that in addition to the story you have to do something picture worthy for a time," Nick pointed out.

Sage thought about it for a time. She liked to play fair. "Alright. I guess I should give ya a chance to get ahead," she teased right back. The grin she was wearing though changed quickly as she spotted something that was slightly behind Nick.

Nick noticed the change in Sage's demeanor. He wasn't sure if she was remembering the scene or what so he asked, "Don't tell me you're backing out."

Sage was still frowning as she stepped around the scene. She squatted to look and replied, "Oh no. We're still on for the bet. Just looking at something that might help."

Nick turned to look at what she was looking at. He followed her gaze to the asphalt and what was on the ground. It was then he spotted it. He had missed it on his first run and looking at the way the lighting was, he could see why it would be easy to miss. He looked at Sage and noticed that she was staring at the object. He knew she wasn't supposed to handle evidence, just logging and taking field notes but the look in her face was not the kind she would have when she sniffed out a piece of evidence. This was totally different and he could pick up traces of what looked like fear or something. "Parker? Hey Parker?"

Sage stared at the object on the ground. She thought that the guy that grabbed her was rambling about something. She had had seen it before where victims were traumatized, they would mix up prior events with current ones. Yet seeing that was having her seriously reconsider what her previous thoughts were.

Help her… please.

It was a little doll. It wasn't large and easily missed on this street. It was raggedy like it was handmade and probably from materials that were available. It was unmistakably a doll thought. Sage remembered when she used to make them for Cassie since she was the one interested in dolls and when they were kids it was just her and her sister and she was always interested in the sports so she had to improvise.

"Parker?"

Sage looked at Nick as he noted the doll and had reached for a pair of tweezers. She was startled and started writing the details. She almost didn't hear Nick's inquiry as she snapped out of it, "Sorry, just thinking."

"You seem to be doing that a lot. You sure you don't want to sit this one out?" Nick eyed Sage with a worried look.

Sage was looking at the doll and thinking about what happened earlier. "I'm good but can you answer me one question?"

"Shoot."

"What if something you thought was babble might actually be truth?" She looked at nothing in particular as she asked the question.

"You remember something you forgot to mention? What exactly?" Nick finished bagging the doll as he looked at Sage.

"Just the fact that maybe there might be another person and they might be in trouble," Sage replied as she turned to look at Nick in the eye.

A/N: Welcome to a brand new adventure in the CSI stories featuring newest CSI Sage Parker. Things get off to an interesting start and might be a bit of a doozy. Keep watching for more Desert Secrets...