Chapter 2

'Hey Catherine, this must be the slowest night on record' stated Warrick.

'God, I know. Hey Gris- you finished your case?'

Grissom looked up distractedly, he was too busy thinking about Sara. -'What? Sorry Catherine I wasn't listening.'

'Never mind, hey shouldn't Nick be back with Sara by now?'

'I know man, he went for her almost an hour ago.'

'Guys, you need to come and have a look at this.'

'Nicky, where the hell have you been?'

'Come on, I'll fill you in on the way.'

Sara was waiting for them in Trace. She had already given Greg a very clear look that said- 'even try to talk to me and I'll introduce your head to your pancreas.' Greg knew when to shut up and just work.

'Nicky, did you open the envelope?'

'Yeah, Sara did.' Gil opened his mouth to reprimand him for letting her do that but Nick realized what was about to come his way and started talking again. 'We dusted the envelope for prints.'

'And..'

'Nothing.'

'Ok, firstly I need a vodka and orange. Secondly, what was in the envelope?'

'An eyelash, Greg's running it through the database for a match as we speak.'

'Hey Sara, I've got a match.' The other 4 CSI's walked into the room. Damn thought Greg.

'Well whose is it?' asked Grissom

'Well it's a male, he's from San Francisco and he doesn't have a criminal record.'

'Greg someone broke into my apartment while I was sleeping. I'm not in the mood for your games.'

'Ok. He's a firefighter by the name of Justin Rossman.' Externally, Sara went three shades lighter. Internally, she wanted to throw up. The others sat down around the table. Sara stood up, she didn't want her face to betray her.

'Greg, can you give us some privacy and don't mention this to anyone.'

'Sure boss.'

Warrick was the first to talk. 'So did this Justin guy do it?'

'No, it was too obvious. The eyelash was planted. I mean what kind of criminal leaves his own eyelash in an envelope for us to find?'

'So the eyelash was planted.why?'

'He's sending us a message.'

'Ok, so what is it?'

'Maybe Sara can tell us', stated Grissom as he gave Sara one of his piercing gazes with his blue eyes. Sara looked away, she knew she couldn't lie directly to him.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' All 4 CSI's were trained and experienced in spotting a liar and Sara was definitely holding something back.

'Sara someone is sending you this message. Whatever you're not telling us is probably the secret to figuring out what that message is.'

'And I'm telling you, I have no idea what this is about.'

'Bull'

'Ok', Catherine felt the need to intervene. The last thing they needed was Gil and Sara fighting. 'Who is this Justin guy?'

'He's an acquaintance. He's a San Francisco fireman, I was a San Francisco CSI. We worked together a couple of times.'

'Sara, you're a terrible liar. Level with us', Grissom wanted to say level with me, 'Who is this guy..because I can always call your old boss in California and see what he knows.'

Sara cringed. 'He, he and I, he's an ex-boyfriend.' This time it was Grissom's turn to cringe, Catherine and Nick both noticed it.

'How long?' asked Warrick.

'I don't have to tell you that'. Suddenly Grissom turned into the investigator.

'Yes, you do Sara. You are officially a potential victim, so start filling in the blanks for us.'

'12 months, I moved in with him after 4 months. 6 months later I left him.'

'Ok. So our suspect is sending Sara the eyelash of an ex-boyfriend'. Nick still thought she was holding something back but he decided to drop it and move on, for the moment at least. 'So what's the message?'

'Something to do with her past?'

'Maybe he's telling her he's been following her?'

'Could be a jealous lover.'

'Or psychopath.' Everyone paused after this statement.

'I'll call Brass. Get a couple of guys on detail.'

'No.'

'Sara, I'm not having this argument with you.'

'Whatever, I'm going home.'

'I don't want you going back there Sara, he can get in', Grissom said.

'If he wanted to hurt me, he could have done it by now.'

'That doesn't mean he won't. You're staying with me for the rest of tonight. Nick, Warrick process Sara's apartment. Catherine, call Brass and fill him in. See if he can have the detail ready by tomorrow afternoon.'