TITLE: CSI: Is This Desert Hot or What?
AUTHOR: D M Harper.
SUMMARY: The lives of four professional women intersect at a crime scene one rainy night in Las Vegas.
RATING: M for mature readers.
DISCLAIMER: This story is simply for the entertainment of those of us who like to dabble in subtext. There is no intent to infringe on the copyright of CBS Paramount, creators Ann Donahue, Anthony E. Zuiker and Jerry Bruckheimer. No profit is gained from this hobby. This entertainment does feature consensual sexual interaction between two females, so if you are underage or unable to view due to restrictions in your part of the world, be gone with you and take my sympathy with you. If you find such material offensive, too bad, so sad, you chose to enter this web site of your own free will; hence you have no one to whine to except yourself - now bugger off!
Chapter 1
Crime Lab Assistant Supervisor Catherine Willows, a forty four year old strawberry blonde with piercing blue eyes and the owner of a showgirl body, reclined onto her office chair and sighed heavily. It was a nice feeling to be back on the Graveyard Shift as the Acting Supervisor while her old and dear friend Gil Grissom was on vacation.
Suddenly, a devilish grin spread across her face as she recalled Grissom's embarrassment when she confronted him over his blossoming liaison with Lady Heather. The somewhat eccentric Criminalist and Catherine had first made their acquaintance with the brunette beauty while investigating the torture and murder of one of Heather Kessler's employees back in 2001.
Lady Heather reacquainted herself with the Crime Lab again when two male prostitutes who worked at her Nightclub were found murdered. On that occasion Las Vegas Police Captain Jim Brass and Gil were the first to interview the woman and Gil had once again been smitten with the woman. Afterwards, Brass had been quick to share the information with the other CSIs.
Catherine remembered the episode for an entirely different reason. Her ex-husband Eddie had been shot while driving their daughter Lindsey in his car. The car had been submerged after Eddie had been killed and if not for Lindsey's quick thinking in calling her mother on her cell, she would have drowned to death.
Wiping away her tears from the memory, Catherine considered the last time she had seen Heather Kessler. A month had passed since the Crime Lab had been notified there had been an unsuccessful attempt on Heather's life and when the investigation began, the truth of Gil having had a prior relationship with her came out. It also prompted Gil to reassess his life and re-establish his unlikely companionship with the dominatrix.
Catherine had wished Grissom luck and a safe journey before he and Heather embarked on a trip across Europe two weeks back. In all the time Catherine had known Gil, he had never taken time away from the Lab unless it was somehow connected to work; maybe Heather was a good influence on him after all.
The only downside was that the case of Eddie Willow's murder went unsolved and was eventually closed by CSI Sara Sidle, which in turn created a fair amount of animosity between her and Catherine. The problematic issue had eventually resolved itself, much to the delight of Catherine.
Smiling, Catherine mulled over all the changes brought about at the Clark County Crime Lab during the past five years. Due to Assistant Director Conrad Ecklie's interference and spitefulness, the original Day Shift Supervisor, Sofia Curtis had been demoted and subsequently left the Lab to train as a detective. Unfortunately, her papers were pulled by the Sheriff due to a shortage of staff and she returned to work the graveyard shift as a CSI. Ultimately, Sofia took up a vacant detective's position with Boulder City, but returned to the LVPD Crime Lab when Jim Brass informed her of an available detective's spot.
Former DNA Lab Technician Greg Sanders was currently a Level 2 CSI on the graveyard Shift alongside Level 3s Sara Sidle, Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes. Warrick and Nick had previously been assigned to the swing Shift with Catherine and had only reunited with the graveyard two weeks prior to Grissom's break.
Catherine was thrilled to have the old team working together again, but she was especially elated to be spending more time with a certain CSI she harboured deep feelings for. Brushing the goose bumps on her arms, she remembered their first date two months ago and allowed it to play itself out in her mind. For three long years, the five foot six, 104 pound blonde, had avoided her growing attraction to her colleague by sporadically dating others, but nothing too serious.
After a harrowing case and while under the influence of heavy alcohol consumption and a considerable amount of soul searching, Catherine had sought solace from the object of her desires. Unsatisfied with her inadequate love life and tired of attracting men who always cheated on her, Catherine had shown up at Sara's apartment ready to reveal her true feelings. Having had several relationships with women over the years, she was more than comfortable with a same gender bond.
When Sara had first joined the Las Vegas Crime Lab back in 2000, Catherine had clashed terribly and often with the young brunette. The pair had verbally argued on a regular basis while Catherine felt Sara's presence threatened her position and the younger woman's infatuation with Grissom only compounded the situation.
Catherine's treatment towards Sara's investigation into her ex-husband's murder had severely damaged the progression of their relationship but after she had calmed down and spoken to Gil, she had begged for forgiveness from the younger woman. Sara had been deeply hurt by Catherine's comments but had understood the other woman's frustration with the case, and once they had talked for hours, the pair had amicably resolved the problem.
As time marched on, Catherine began to warm to the shy and reserved Harvard educated woman until they forged a strong friendship. Lindsey, Catherine's daughter had also cultivated a deep camaraderie with Sara and the latter spent the majority of her down time with the Willow's family.
With Catherine finally admitting her feelings to Sara, the brunette had burst into tears and confessed her undying love for the blonde. After allowing Catherine to sleep off her drunken stupor, the pair had laughed raucously over their stupidity and time wasting. Subsequently, the pair had gone on a date that night and had been together ever since.
Agreeing to take things slow, Sara had stayed the night at Catherine's for the first time a week ago and their relationship had become sexual. Catherine giggled as she recalled the look on Sara's face when Lindsey had bounced into the bedroom and dive bombed them the following morning.
Sara had been nothing short of flabbergasted when the young Willows had hugged her and announced, "Can you make pancakes for breakfast Sara? I like you very much, because you make my mommy happy."
It had taken the naked Sara a few moments to collect herself before answering, "Well good morning kiddo and if you give me a few minutes, I'll make you pancakes."
Lindsey had kissed her mother then jumped off the bed, "Okay and hello mommy."
Catherine's present thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone ringing, "Hello Sofia, what's up?"
"Hey Cath, we got a DB over in Henderson for you. It's just been called in by Uniform and I'm on my way to the location now."
"I'll meet you there; Sara and I are catching tonight."
Sofia gave the address before adding, "See you in a few."
Closing her phone, Catherine went in search of Sara and found her in her favourite layout room. Her girlfriend was hunched over the table viewing a series of crime scene photos taken from a liquor store robbery the previous evening.
Lab Technician David Hodges was currently analysing the trace evidence while the prints lifted from the store were running through AFIS for comparison.
Sara's shoulder length brown hair swirled as she turned to face Catherine with her trademark gap toothed grin, "Hello there."
"We have a DB over in Henderson, Sofia will meet us there."
Both women remained professional until Catherine pulled the black Chevrolet Tahoe out of the parking garage.
Sara automatically placed her left hand on her lover's knee, "Do you want to go to breakfast with the guys at end of shift or go straight home?"
"I'd rather eat with the guys, besides I think it is time we broke our good news."
Giggling, Sara rubbed her thumb over Catherine's knee, "Sounds good to me and Nick has already figured it out."
Catherine inhaled audibly, "How the hell did that happen? What gave us away?"
"Maybe it was the hickey on your collar bone and the one on my lower neck last week."
Tittering, Catherine took a left into the busy street, "Trust the Texan to notice."
"Greg did too, but he just gave me that hurt puppy dog stare."
"He really does need to get over his crush on you."
"Yes he does, because I am well and truly spoken for."
The comment brought a cheeky grin to the blonde's features, "Indeed you are babe."
Scanning the night time sky, Sara commented, "Looks like we are in for some rain."
"Well I hope it doesn't interfere with our crime scene."
It did, by the time the CSIs pulled in behind Sofia's truck, the heavens had opened and the rain was bucketing down. After collecting their wet weather jackets and kits from the Tahoe, Catherine and Sara ran to the front door of the bungalow styled house.
"Hello ladies, it's certainly not the best conditions for collecting evidence," said the five foot seven, blue eyed, long blonde haired detective.
"You can say that again," grumbled Catherine. "What do we have Sofia?"
A tall, dark haired officer approached, "Detective Curtis, body is out in the backyard, and so is your first suspect."
Three sets of brows rose in perfect synchronicity.
"Pardon Officer Collins?" queried Sofia.
"When my partner and I arrived on scene, Lucas and I discovered a woman digging in the dirt around the body.
"Shit!" exclaimed Catherine as she headed for the rear of the house, ignoring the ransacked living room.
Sara followed closely behind avoiding disturbing any evidence inside the house.
"We got an ID on the deceased?" inquired Sofia while making her way towards the back door.
The officer shook his head, "No Detective, not yet. We only got here five minutes ago."
"All right, go collect Lucas and start canvassing the neighbours and see if anyone knows the victim."
"You got it Detective."
-o-
Catherine placed her kit on the tiles under the awning and took in the sight before her. A tall blonde was holding up two large umbrellas over the dark haired woman on the ground and was facing the back door. The seasoned CSI scrutinised the immediate area while pulling on a pair of latex gloves and noted the deep trench that had been dug around the deceased.
That had been an intelligent move on behalf of the short haired blonde and led Catherine to believe this was not their killer.
"I tried to preserve the scene Willows," declared the younger woman.
Looking closer at the woman, Catherine thought she appeared familiar.
Sara had the same thought as she retrieved her camera and started to take photos, "You've done a first-class job."
"Not good enough," the other woman responded in a broken voice.
Sofia joined them and took in the scene.
Catherine and Sara set to work and moved around the blonde as she continued to shield the ground from the inclement weather.
Taking her notebook from her back pocket, Sofia looked directly at the woman holding the umbrellas, "Ma'am, I'm Detective Curtis with the Las Vegas Police Department. Can you please identify yourself and the victim?"
The taller, attractive blonde shuddered and answered in an emotional tone, "Danni Radcliff and I called in the 911. When I arrived on site twelve minutes ago, I found thirty five year old LVPD Officer Erin McIntosh."
Sofia understood the significance of the words and stopped writing, "You on the job?"
"Yes. The victim has been stabbed at least five times to the chest area. The weapon is under the barbeque with the handle sticking out beside the front right wheel."
Sara immediately moved to that locale and detected a blood trail in the process. "Hunting knife," she declared while bagging and tagging the evidence.
"We have fingernail scrapings," announced Catherine as she sealed the victim's hands with plastic bags.
"What is your relationship to the victim?" asked Sofia, although she was certain she knew the answer.
A detached voice replied, "A friend."
Detecting a slight sneer, Sofia continued, "I know this is difficult, but can you run through your movements." Already surprised by the previous answer, the blonde ponytailed detective was not prepared for the next one.
"Don't fucking patronise me Detective. I am not some bereaved member of the public, I know the drill and I'm aware of the fact I am your main suspect."
"That was not my intention," snapped Sofia.
"It wasn't?" retorted the taller blonde sarcastically. "And no, I am not your prime suspect. If you had any sense, you would see my clothes are relatively dry and I don't have any pools or splatters of blood on them. Neither does my body, which it should if I was the killer and do you think I would be standing here while the CSIs hopefully collect enough evidence to nail the real killer?"
With raised hackles from the dressing down, Sofia chose her words carefully, "As you are well aware, there is protocol to follow in these situations."
"Hey Curtis," scoffed the other woman. "Shove your protocol up your tight ass and get on with it."
Realising she was on a losing streak, Sofia continued, "Please describe your movements before you arrived at this locale."
"I was visiting a friend four blocks away when I got a call from Erin. She was distressed, panicky and yelling for my help."
"Can you remember her exact words?"
"Yes, but the second I realised something was wrong I recorded the conversation on my cell. Phone is in my left rear jeans pocket."
Catherine stopped what she was doing and stood up, "May I?"
"Go ahead Miss Willows."
Catherine bagged the cell phone then wrote on the label.
David Phillips, the Assistant Medical Examiner arrived and was greeted by her, "Hey David, we'll be finished in a minute. We're trying to collect as much as we can before the rain washes it away."
"Take your time Catherine."
"I've got a good shoe impression," announced Sara. "Several in fact, should be no trouble getting a comparison."
Danni exhaled loudly then resumed, "I jumped on my motorbike and rode over here, but I was too late. The front door was open, the living room was a mess and when I located Erin, it was obvious she was gone. I searched inside for the killer but came up empty handed. When it started to rain, I preserved the site as best I could."
"Any idea who would want to harm her?" asked Sofia.
"Yes, but this is not the place to discuss it. I will follow you to Headquarters once the Assistant Medical Examiner is done."
-o-
Two hours passed before Danni finally put her cramped arms down. She picked up her discarded bike helmet off the deckchair and moved towards the interior of the house.
All evidence had been collected from the scene and Erin's body removed.
Catherine patted Sofia on the shoulder, "Take it easy on her Sof; the woman's in shock."
The younger blonde gave her a nod, "Yeah, I know but she's holding back."
"Well that's your job Detective, I'll call you once we've processed."
"Thanks Cath. By the way, I'm happy for you and Sara."
Catherine's eyes widened, "How did you know?"
"Body language and the fact she held the front door open for you. It's about time the two of you woke up."
With a cheerful laugh, the CSI exited the house, "That's why you are the Detective."
Sofia approached Danni, who was rubbing the circulation back into her arms.
"Let's go do this interview," said Danni dully.
-o-
