So Caught Up In You
Chapter 6
Author's note: I don't own CSI but I do love to play with them! It's the sincerest form of flattery
Please don't forget to send me your feedback! I need to know whether or not to continue the tale or wrap it up. Please let me know!
This chapter is fairly clean, but the smut will be turned up in Chapter 7.
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They had been processing the room for about 20 minutes. Nick and Greg were working on the front of the suite where the living room area and Grissom and Sara were working on the bedroom and bathroom.
The bathroom area was luxurious – a separate shower and tub, with the tub being set in to the window area, where the occupant could see down to the water below. There was a double vanity with sinks and lighted mirrors and a small sauna. The commode was in a separate glass stall, right beside the shower stall. It was very plush.
Greg and Nick had been speaking in very hushed tones.
"So, he was in her cabin and he had no clothes on?" Greg asked.
"No, he was in her cabin and he had a housecoat on," Nick clarified.
"OK but what was her face looking like?" Greg continued.
"Peaceful… happy… maybe a little embarrassed?" Nick replied.
"Well its about freaking time, if you ask me," Greg said.
"I know, Greggo, but we gotta keep it under wraps for now," Nick spoke sincerely, "You know how important that is to Sara."
"Yeah I know; we got her back. She's had ours often enough, right?" Greg added.
They both loved Sara dearly; she was like a sister in so many ways. Considering how much they had all been through together, it was no surprise. They knew she would never give up on her love for the bugman. They had tried to get her to see other people, thinking that there was no way that that old dog would learn new trick. Apparently they were wrong.
Sara and Grissom worked silently, processing quickly and efficiently. They had a rhythm from working together for so long. Words were not needed to communicate what needed to be done.
Sara had been able to collect some clean fingerprints from the door of the balcony and the railings.
At about an hour into their two-hour window, they met in the living room area.
"Let's run it," Grissom said to Sara.
"Mrs. Grant was on the balcony," she began, "sitting there smoking a cigarette from the looks of the ashtray. From the scrapes on the floor of the balcony and the smudges on the glass window, it appears that she was pushed over the side. She was not a large woman, so it could have been done by anyone. And if it had been an accident, someone would have notified the captain to stop the ship."
"I agree," said Grissom, "but who would want to drop some poor old lady over the edge of the ship?"
"You never met Mrs. Grant," Greg replied, "She really didn't seem to be a very nice person!"
"So, it looks like we need to start asking some questions to get to the bottom of this," Nick suggested.
"I'll start with the security tape," Sara chimed in.
"I'll go with you," Griss replied. He looked at the two younger men and suggested they finish the bar area of the suite and then head down to the casino to see what they could find.
"I'll ask the Captain to keep the casino closed until we can process it. Or at least where the Grants were sitting last night," he added.
The Captain had been cleared to begin the ship's movement towards the Virgin Islands, as the Coast Guard and local military authorities had taken over the search for Janice Grant's body. Since the FBI and CSIs were certain Mrs. Grant had gone overboard, they were also able to let the people begin to enjoy the day on the ship.
Sara and Grissom left the two young men to finish their work and grabbed the forward elevator to head to the Captain's quarters.
After clearing their plans with the captain, they went down to the 1st deck and found the security office. The head of security was talking to Dr. Tanner.
"We have found the critical moment on the video tape," Benjamin Hurley said in his lilting Jamaican accent, "It appears that Mrs. Grant was pushed over the balcony by a female."
Dr. Tanner suggested that Grissom and Sara review the videotapes from the security office.
They set up at the desk in the security office and also set up their laptop and scanner. Grissom had sent an email to Catherine; preparing her to get Mandy ready to receive the fingerprints they had gathered in the suite and push them to the top of the pile.
Grissom began reviewing the tapes as Sara started scanning fingerprints into the database. As the ship began to move, the rocking was fairly noticeable in the enclosed cabin. At least twice Sara was rocked into Grissom, and they exchanged friendly smiles as he helped her get her footing.
Ben Hurley entered the room, looking sharp in his ship's uniform. He had found his cap since he last saw Sara and Grissom, and smelled as though he may have just found a cologne bottle on his way to the office.
"I am here to be of any assistance to you," he offered with a particularly bright smile to Sara.
"Thank you," Sara replied, returning his smile. Sara was familiar with how friendly and kind the Jamaican people were. She was not expecting Ben to be quite that friendly. "It will be about an hour until we hear back from our fingerprint technician, so we are just reviewing some of the video now to see if we can see a woman fitting the description of the perp in any of the film."
"Miss Sara," Ben said, walking up to stand next to her, "Are you ready for lunch then?"
"Um, yes Ben, I'm sure we will be ready for some lunch soon," she replied, not getting his drift.
"Well, it would be my pleasure to be your escort for lunch if don't already have a date," he asked.
Grissom looked over at Ben and Sara, prepared to defend her honor.
"Ben," she said with her very sweetest voice, "I'm flattered by your offer, but I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate me dating such a handsome man while he's left to work!"
She looked at Grissom's face when she used the word 'boyfriend' to see if he reacted. While they had 'slept' together, it wasn't a solid relationship yet and she didn't want to scare him away after they had made up so much ground last night.
"A shame for me, Miss Sara," Ben responded, "but of course such a beautiful woman would have a boyfriend," he then looked directly at Grissom and said, "he must be a lucky man right brother?"
"Yes," Grissom replied, "I am."
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Nick and Greg didn't have too much luck in the casino. They were able to retrieve fingerprints from the table but nothing seemed to be out of line.
They began the task of questioning guests who had contact with the Grants during the previous day. There were many people to talk to, as Mrs. Grant had made many friends by her outgoing and bubbly personality. Not.
Mrs. Grant seemed to piss off everyone she had any dealings with, from the cabin attendants, concierge staff, and other guests.
After conferring with Grissom and Sara, they agreed that they were looking for a fairly tall woman, light complexion, and long hair, perhaps dark blonde or light brown. This helped eliminate a lot of interviews!
Nick and Greg set up in the conference room where the lecture was originally scheduled to happen. They began with the cabin attendants. Since most of the attendants were from the islands, they were immediately eliminated as suspects. However their intimate knowledge of the suites and the exclusive clientele in the suites, made them invaluable in trying to understand the context of the situation.
Andrea Waite ended up being a wealth of information. She was able to provide Nick and Greg with a good summary of the comings and goings of the Grants over the past day. She was also able to give them details about Mrs. Grant's interactions with many of the staff. It appeared that her communication with most of the staff had been as rude and condescending as she had been with the boys in the casino the night before.
The next person on the list was Dr. Grant. They decided that it might be a good idea to get some lunch before they began to question the elderly gentleman. So they set off to find Grissom and Sara.
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Back in the darkened security office, Grissom and Sara had another problem. Ben Locke. He didn't seem to get the drift that Sara was not available and he certainly had not taken Grissom's admission to being her boyfriend as any reason to stop trying to get Sara to go out with him.
"Miss Sara," he said in quite a friendly voice, "When we get to the islands, I know a place that we can go and your boyfriend would never find out about it!"
Grissom, finally fed up with having to watch the handsome young man flirt with his Sara, interrupted.
"Ben," he said in quite a forceful voice, "I'm going to have to make this clear to you. She is declining your offer due to the fact that she is involved with someone else – someone that she will probably marry very soon, so please leave her alone."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to push myself on you Miss Sara," he replied, "but you are very striking and I just thought we would share our knowledge of security and crime over a nice meal."
"Ben," she replied, taking her cue from Grissom, "You see, what Dr. Grissom is trying to tell you in the most polite way possible, is that HE is my boyfriend and, while your offer is very flattering, I'm afraid neither Dr. Grissom, nor I, would be very happy with that situation."
Ben looked stunned.
"My sincerest apologies," he said, "But I just assumed that because of … well because you are so …. Um…." He struggled looking for the right words to say.
"Yes, I know," Grissom interrupted, "because I am so much older than she is, that you assumed we could not be a couple?"
"Well, in point of fact, yes. I'm sorry to be so rude to think that way. I hope you can forgive me?" he asked.
"Of course we can, Ben," Sara consoled him. And if you want to join us at dinner, you are more than welcome to do so."
Ben smiled at them graciously and left the room. As he left, Nick and Greg we heading towards him in the hallway.
"Is that the security office?" Greg asked.
"Yes, it is," Ben replied, "but don't go asking that girl out, because her boyfriend is a little over-protective!"
"Excuse me?" Nick asked, "Her boyfriend?"
"Yes," said Ben, "The older gentleman," he informed them as he strode past them, and disappeared down the hallway into another office four doors down.
Nick and Greg looked at each other, smiled, and decided that they really needed to hear the rest of this story!
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Just after Ben left the room, Grissom stood up and walked quickly to where Sara was standing.
"Boyfriend?" he asked her.
"Soon to be married?" she replied.
He leaned down to kiss her. She stopped him.
"Griss, this is not the right place," she said.
"I know, but I can't resist kissing my girlfriend."
She relented.
The kiss became hot and passionate. Her whole body seemed to mould into his as he pushed her up against the desk and spread her legs to stand between them. She could feel his body responding to her kisses and hands running down his back.
The door flung open, and standing there, in shock, were Greg and Nick.
"Um, Grissom," Greg said, "Aren't we supposed to be on our best behavior? Representing the city and all?"
Nick elbowed Greg in the arm. "Shut up Greggo," he said, and then added, "We are going up to have lunch, but I see you may already have plans so, we'll see you later!"
As the door closed, Sara looked at Grissom and asked "Your cabin or mine for lunch?"
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A/N Ah, something is "coming up" next. :o) Please leave me a review – it makes me work faster!