She could feel the bead of sweat slowly making its way down her forehead, heading straight for her eyes...
"Damn this heat!" Catherine cursed for the sixth time in less than an hour. She wiped her brow and stood up from her crouching position. She and Nick had been called out to Death Valley and the scene of a body dump. They had arrived just before dawn when it was still fairly cool, but the day just kept getting hotter and hotter. David had arrived and had taken away their Jane Doe, so it was now just the two of them left processing the scene.
With the unrelenting sun beating down on their backs it felt like they were in an oven. About an hour ago, Nick had checked the outside temperature gage in his Denali and had groaned when he'd seen the number.
"Cath, I think I'm hallucinating…it says it's 130°F out here!"
Vegas could get hot, really hot, but this was one of those scorchers that would go down in history. "It's days like this that make a girl long for the next ice age" Catherine thought to herself, chuckling.
"Hey, Nick! You almost done with the perimeter?"
"Yeah, I'll be done in a couple. Why don't you get out of this heat and I'll catch you back at the lab." He turned to her and grinned. "While I appreciate the company, I really don't need a babysitter".
"Okay big guy, just make sure you stay hydrated. The last thing I want to do is come back out here to process your dried up carcass after you've died of thirst"
Catherine smiled and walked back to her SUV. She placed the evidence bags in the back and turned on the air-conditioning full blast. As she pulled onto the highway, all she could think about was the end of her shift and going for a nice, long swim.
Back in Vegas, Warrick and Greg were just finishing up with a scene of their own; a home invasion gone horribly wrong. A couple of doped-up, punk kids had thought it would be fun to terrify an old woman and steal all her cash and jewels. What they hadn't counted on was the fact that the little old lady was packing - a nine millimeter to be precise.
She'd shot one guy in the shoulder, but the other one hadn't been so lucky. She had clipped his carotid artery and he'd bled out within minutes, dying where he fell, just inside the door of her bedroom. Detective Brass had taken her statement and had gone back to the station to question her further.
Greg and Warrick were still talking about what Brass had told them before he left. "A gift from her son…What was he thinking?" Greg asked, incredulous.
"Yeah", Warrick replied. "What makes it even harder to understand is that he gave her the gun as a Mother's Day present, and paid for time at the shooting range so she could learn how to protect herself from the good citizens of Sin City."
"So Warrick, would you ever consider giving your grandmother a pistol?"
"No way man!" Warrick answered shaking his head. "My Grams already is a pistol, she doesn't need a gun. She can subdue anyone that gets out of line with just one look and a few choice words. Believe me; no criminal would stand a chance"
Greg smiled at the mental picture that flashed before his eyes. It was kind of funny that such a little woman like "Grams" could put the fear of God into such a big, strong man like Warrick. "Okay, I think we're done here. Let's pack it in and head for some air-conditioning. I want to get out of this furnace and find me some cool"
Warrick nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan, but can we stop on the way to pick up something cold to drink? This crazy heat is making me thirsty"