Chapter 2
"Hey Morgan, Sara, I've got your results from Hodges," said Russell as he walked into the break room.
"Anything?" asked Morgan.
"No. It was just plain old dirt. But he did get something from the trace Nick found in the kitchen. It was concrete, but not from Vegas. He's trying to narrow it down."
"At least someone got a lead. Hopefully it will give us something to go on."
"Yeah. Sara, can I have a word?"
Sara stood up. "Sure. What's up?"
Russell led her to his office and shut the door behind them. "Akers gave me a sketch. Can you take a look?"
Sara took the paper from her boss. "It looks familiar, really it does, but I don't know who it is. Sorry."
"Don't need to apologise. If I can, would you like me to find out who he is?"
"Yes please, thank you." Sara gave him a smile and left the office.
"Hey Sar, what's wrong?" asked Greg.
Sara jumped. She hadn't heard anyone come in. "Nothing Greggo. Just concentrating."
"You sure? You seem really jumpy today."
"I'm just tired, I think. This case is weird."
Shift was almost over, and they hadn't made any progress yet. Hodges had been able to narrow down the concrete to somewhere in Oregon, but no-one had a clue as to what to do next. The concrete was the only lead they had, and they couldn't get any more specific with it.
"Yeah, Nick and I found some kind of dirt in the living room when we went back over it earlier, and it's just like the dirt you and Morgan found."
"How are we supposed to solve this case if we can't find any evidence?"
Greg shook his head. "I don't know."
"I'm guessing you heard about me collapsing at the scene?"
"Yeah. Are you alright?"
"Fine."
"Good."
Sara smiled. "You want to get breakfast later?"
"Sure. Can I bring Morgan?"
"Definitely."
"See you later then."
Sara waved goodbye and then returned to her work.
Morgan stopped at the lab that Sara was in, wanting to talk to her friend privately. She could see that Sara was working hard, having not noticed the coffee that Nick had dropped off at the end of shift, almost half an hour ago. Russell had told them to cancel their plans because they were going to have to work another shift. The day shift had refused to take the case, and everyone was annoyed at them for making them work longer.
"Hey Sara," said Morgan. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired."
"This case is going nowhere."
"I know. I've been going over all of our reports and the evidence, but there's nothing to find. My vision is getting blurry, that's how tired I am. You must be tired too."
"Yeah, I am. How are you doing after last night?" She knew that Sara understood the meaning behind the question.
"I don't know Morgan. He reminds me of my father, but it can't be. My dad's been dead for a very long time."
"I heard about that. I'm really sorry."
"Don't be. He deserved it." Sara hadn't meant for that to come out.
"But you're hurting over it."
"How can I not? He's still my dad, after all. Even if he wasn't the nicest person around."
Morgan grimaced. Her own family wasn't great, but at least they were civil around each other. "If you want to talk about it, you can come and talk to me, okay?"
"Thanks Morgan. I appreciate it."
"You're welcome. See you later."
"Bye."
The end of the day shift was approaching, and, although they had made progress on the case, it looked like they were going to be working the swing shift too. Sara and Morgan had finished off their reports and were attempting to have a break, but they weren't getting very far with everyone distracting them. Everyone wanted to go home, and everyone was exhausted.
"Ladies," said Hodges as he entered the break room.
"Hey Hodges," said Sara.
"You two make this coffee?" He pointed at the full coffee pot.
"Morgan did. It's nice." Sara took another sip from her cup. "And hot."
"And it's keeping us awake," laughed Morgan. "At least partly awake."
"Great," Hodges told her thankfully.
Hodges grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured some coffee for himself, then took a seat at the table, turning his chair to face them. His smile told both girls that he was up to something, and Sara had a feeling she knew exactly what it was. Russell had told her that Hodges was prying again.
"Sara, what happened at the scene?"
"None of your business. Stop prying into other people's business," replied Sara in as nice a voice as possible.
"Please?"
"No Hodges. Leave me alone." Sara stood and put her cup in the sink, then walked out.
Morgan glared at Hodges. "Why can't you keep your nose out of other people's business? She clearly doesn't want to talk about it, and you shouldn't be pushing her."
Morgan got up and washed the two cups in the sink, and then left to find Sara.
"Hodges, why am I hearing from Sara and Morgan that you're prying in Sara's private business? After I told you to leave her alone?" asked Russell.
"Seriously? She dobbed me in to you?" asked Hodges incredulously.
"She didn't have to. I found her crying in the locker room."
"What? She was crying?"
"Yeah. Just leave her alone, okay? Don't ask her again."
Russell told him off again and then left again to find Greg and Nick.
Sara came out of the bathroom with Morgan. Her face was still wet from washing it after crying. The two girls walked straight into Hodges without seeing him there.
"Sorry," said Sara blankly as she kept walking.
"Sara, wait!" called Hodges.
"What do you want?"
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I know I was overstepping the boundary when I asked about last night, but I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. Even if I don't seem like it, I do care about you. You're my friend."
"It's okay," smiled Sara. "I guess crying was a little over the top anyway."
"Friends again?"
"Friends again."
