Disclaimers in CH. 1/2

~*~

Martin and Samantha sat across from each other in a nice resturant.

"So, tell me, what's really going on between you and Jack?" Martin asked with a sly smile.

"Whatever do you mean?" Samantha asked.

"Oh come on..." Martin persisted.

"Ok. Well, we... there's a lot of tension. Chemistry between us, you know? But, he has kids..." Samantha trailed off.

"And you're just not for that?" Martin asked.

"No, it's just I don't want to play the 'evil stepmom' part," Sam admitted.

"But you wouldn't be playing the evil stepmom part. You're great..." Martin said.

"Aww, you're sweet." Sam smirks. "But, actually, we uhh...did sorta have an affair,"

"What? When he was married?" Martin asks surprised.

"Well...not exactly an affair. Just a small kiss, that's it."

"A small kiss? What's your definition of a small kiss?" Martin asked.

Sam laughs.

"Well, all right. It was pretty...passionate. But, then we realized what we were doing, pulled away, haven't talked about it since,"

"Do you regret it?" Martin asked.

"Regret what?" Samantha asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Regret not... making it bigger, I guess? Is that how you would word it?" Martin asked.

"No, I don't regret it. I don't want to be the woman who destroyed his marriage. What about you? Did you leave behind a girlfriend?"

"Well, a girlfriend, yes. But... you know, it wasn't...love. I guess," Martin said, before smiling at her. "What about you? A boyfriend?"

"Nope. I'm too busy working." Sam laughs.

They continue to smile at each other, before Martin notices something.

"Hey, isn't that Rosie?" Martin asks.

Samantha turns and watches Rosie taking a seat across from a man.

"Yea, it is. What's their story?" Sam asked.

"Maybe they're just having lunch... like us," Martin said smiling.

Samantha smiles back, before noticing Rosie and her company. The man handed Rosie a stuffed envelope.

"Do you think that's money?" Martin asked.

Sam's cell phone rang.

"Hello? Oh hi Jack. What? Oh ok. McNeil Financing Corp. Ok, we'll check it out. Wait, let me get those names..." Sam said. Martin handed her a napkin and a pen.
"Jessica Patterson, Lauren Becker. Maggie Johnson. Got it, all right. Good-bye." Sam hung up her phone and stared at Martin.

"Can we get that to go, please?" Martin requested.

~*~

SAN FRANCISCO:

"Sara... she's never had many friends. She was more concerned about...work, and...work." Laura Sidle cried.

"When she told us she was in a relationship, we were happy. We wanted to meet him. She said, she'd bring him to San Francisco when they had a chance," Peter Sidle said.

"Did she mention this boyfriend?" Vivian asked.

"She just said that she worked with him, have known him for years, and they were in a secret relationship,"

"I was a little concerned. I thought maybe he was married or something... that's why they were keeping it a secret. But, she assured me he wasn't, and told me they were keeping it a secret because they didn't want to jinx the relationship," her father told them.

"And you believed her?" Vivian asked.

"Of course! She's our only daughter..." Laura cried.

"Why? Is there something you aren't telling us?" Peter demanded to know.

"No. Not at all. We've met her boyfriend, Nick in New York. His story is clear..."

"Nick? It's Nick? Nick Strokes?" Laura asked.

"Yes. They've been dating for... you know Nick?"

"Yes. When they were working on a case in San Francisco, just a while ago actually, she brought him and introduced us."

"How long ago?"

"Umm... maybe two months ago?" Peter said.

"Did you like Nick?"

"Sure, he was polite. Charming. Why didn't I see it? Do you think Nick had something to do with Sara's disappearance?"

"This morning, Nick was reported missing too. We think, that, the same guy, or group, has him too."

"Oh my god...Peter," Laura said, breaking into tears.

~*~

"Okay. Rosie Walker... she's 26. Single mother... has a four year old daughter. Maid for... hey, she has a loan at the McNeil Financing Corp." Samantha read off her paper.

"Isn't that the same place at the three vics?" Martin asked.

"Yea. Ok, let's check out that place..." Samantha said, grabbing her coat.

~*~

LAS VEGAS:

"His name is Darryl Baker. Has a record for assualt and rape. He's on parole. And he also has an account with McNeil Financing Corp." Grissom explained.

"How did..."

"Warrick went back to the latest crime scene, found a fingerprint on the floor of where the third vic was killed. Since his fingerprint was already in the system...it was easy to trace,"

"If you don't need us, Mr. Grissom, we'll be going back to New York." Jack told him.

"Please, try to bring Nick and Sara back. We need them." Grissom said.

"We'll try," Jack said, before leaving.

Jack left the building and nearly ran into Danny.

"Hey! OK, get this. Sara Sidle's cell phone records, I got them. The night she disappeared, she placed three calls, one after the other, at 8:30 at night. To Las Vegas."

"8:30? To whom?"

"Gil Grissom," Danny said.

~*~

TEXAS:

"Nicky said he was in a relationship with a gal at work. Said her name was Sara," Patty Strokes.

"Did he say anything about the relationship? If it was good, if it had its troubles?"

"No... he seemed so happy." Ed Strokes answered.

"When was the last time you talked to your son?"

"Uhh...day before yesterday, actually. He was in New York. He called to say, that, he and Sara broke up,"

"He called you two days ago? To say that they broke up?" Vivian asked.

"Yea. He seemed awfully sad about it. He said he'd be stopping in Texas the next day. That he had finished his work in New York."

"He didn't mention anything else?"

"No, he didn't."

~*~

LAS VEGAS:

"Mr. Grissom. It seems, that, the night Sara disappeared, she made three calls to you. One after the other..."

Grissom looked at the papers on his desk.

"Can you explain this?" Jack asked.

"Sara told me that she and Nick were over." Grissom said simply.

"Were you and Sara having an affair?" Jack questioned.

"No! Of course not."

"Then what did she say, that took her three calls to finish?"

"She said... she didn't know what to do. She was hysterical. I asked her what they fought about. mistake or not,"She just kept saying that... they were over. She kept wondering if she made a big mistake or not."

"So, that was in the first call?" Danny asked.

"No... that was in the second call,"

"Then, what was in the first call."

"She just told me that they broke up. Then she accidentally hung up. And she called me back."

"What did she say in the third call?"

"She said..." Grissom took a breath. "She told me that she was resigning. She was moving back to San Francisco."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Danny asked.

"Listen, I was the only person Sara told of her relationship with Nick. I wasn't about to break that promise. And I thought... I mean, if she was resigning. It wouldn't seem like a disappearance, would it? It'd seem like she just ran away. And I know Sara, she doesn't run away."

"But she's running away from her problems with Nick,"

"No, she wasn't. She wasn't running away from anything." Grissom said firmly.

~*~

"This case gets more... bizarre every moment," Jack told Danny.

Danny nodded his head in agreement.

~*~

"Lauren Becker. Jessica Patterson. Maggie Johnson. DO you recognize any of these names,"

"I don't recognize them, but I could run them through the computer," Anne Shultz said.

"Thank you," Samantha said.

"Ok. All three of those woman have accounts here. And all three are deceased."

"Deceased? Since when?" Martin asked.

"Since... Lauren Becker, since April 11th, Jessica Patterson, April 13th, and Maggie Johnson, April 15th."

Samantha jotts these down on a notepad.

"Do you know who handled their accounts?"

"Uhh... yes. All by the same person. That's funny, uhh... John Lower," she read.

"What about Rosie Walker?"

Ms. Schultz typed in the name.

"She's very much alive. John Lower handled her case,"

"Ok, thank you very much."

~*~

Martin and Samantha are reading over the cases.

"Hey, Martin, what day did Lauren Becker die? In her file?" Sam asked.

"Umm... April 12th." Martin said, reading from her file.

"In the computer, it says April 11th."

Martin and Sam realize something.

"Someone at that company..."

"But, how does that relate to Sara and Nick?"

Vivian walked through the door.

"Hey, Viv, welcome back," Sam welcomed her.

"Welcome back..." Martin greeted.

"Thanks. What do you have?" Vivian asked.

"Well... it turns out that, on the McNeil Finance Corp. computer... the women's deaths are a day early."

"So, someone knew they were going to die." Vivian concluded.

"Exactly."

"What do you have?" Martin asked.

"Well, The Strokes told me that Nick called them the night of Sara's disappearance. He told them that they broke up, and he was going to drop by Texas after his trip to New York and stay there for a while."

"What about Sara's parents?"

"They knew she was in a relationship with someone from work. Turns out, Sara and Nick were investigating a case in San Francisco, swung by and visited her parents. Brought Nick with her."

"But they didn't know Nick was the person who she was having the relationship with?"

"No. They didn't know it was him," Vivian said. "Jack called me. He told me the night Sara disappeared, she made three calls to her boss, Gil Grissom."

"Three calls? Were they having an affair?" Sam asked.

"No, the first call was to tell him that she and Nick broke up. Accidentally hung up. Second call, she starts to get hysterical. She was looking for some comfort and support from Grissom. Accidentally hangs up again. Third call, she tells Grissom she's resigning, moving back to San Francisco,"

"This must've been a big fight." Sam says.

"But, there are still no leads on Nick and Sara," Martin says frustrated.

"Rosie Walker's a little suspicious." Sam says.

"John Lower was her officer," Martin says.

"John Lower was the officer for the three victims from Las Vegas too," Sam mentions.

"I'll go find him. You two try to talk to Rosie again. Ask her about the money..." Vivian said.

The group went their separate ways.