CHAPTER ONE:

John O'Connor was finally driving home after a terrible day at work. Cruising down the strip, the familiar bright lights of the casinos cheered him up as always. It had been his dream to live in Las Vegas his whole life, ever since he first saw the bright colours and heard the melodic chimes of the slot machines that made Sin City. Smiling to himself, he let the happy memories of his time in Vegas drift through his mind and accompany him on his way home.

Suddenly, his brakes added to the bright lights around him as he screeched to a halt, narrowly missing the half-naked woman stumbling into the road ahead. Ignoring the beeping of cars behind him, John clambered out and followed her as she continued across the road.

"Miss? Miss, are you ok?"

She stopped in her tracks, her ripped blouse and skirt flapping around her in the breeze as she rocked on her heels. John stepped closer to her, intensely aware of the cars that had stopped around them and the bystanders pointing and staring from the sidewalk. He took another step forward, reaching his hand out towards her back.

"Miss? Are you alright? Do you need help?"

Somewhere in the distance, sirens sounded. The woman did not move but John heard a strange metallic thud. Looking down at the asphalt, John heard himself gasp as he locked eyes on a gun. He raised his eyes to her back, watching the blood seeping through the shreds of her clothing.

Slowly, she turned as the sirens grew louder. Her eyes were wide, their blueness intense against the deep red of the blood that was flowing like tears. Her lips were moving but over the wailing of the sirens and blaring horns, John could not hear what she was trying to say. Wary of the gun on the ground, he did not move forwards.

"Miss, I can't hear you. What are you trying to say?"

The woman fell to her knees and John rushed towards her, catching her as she fell forwards. He turned her so she was facing up at him, not even noticing the blood spreading all over his clothes.

"You're gonna be ok, everything's gonna be ok."

Her mouth opened, her breathe ragged as she tried to speak. He leaned in closer, ignoring the paramedics and police running towards them.

"What are you saying? I can't hear you."

He leaned in closer, so close his cheek was almost touching her bloody lips as the paramedics asked him to move away. He looked up at them and the cops, shaking his head slowly.

"It's too late. She's gone."

Crime Scene Investigators Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows stood over the body lying in the middle of the road, examining the half-naked woman without touching her. Catherine turned to her old friend, an eyebrow raised.

"What are you thinking?"

He shrugged slightly, looking around them.

"I'm thinking she had to come from somewhere and walking down the strip this time of night, someone must have seen her."

Catherine shook her head in disbelief.

"And should have helped her. So much for good Samaritans."

Grissom crouched down next to the woman's head and pointed at her face.

"Did you see this? It looks like her eyes were bleeding."

Catherine crouched down beside him.

"Yeah. She probably couldn't see a thing."

Grissom turned to look at her.

"Just like half the people in this town. You follow the big bright lights, you just get blinded."