Greg was ecstatic to see Sara. He missed her terribly but now that he was looking at her face he saw the redness and puffy look around her eyes and realized she had been crying. At that thought he saw a movement behind Sara and was startled to see Grissom. "Sara what's going on? Why is Grissom here?"
Sara smiled to reassure him and said, "Greg, come in and I'll tell you." Greg stepped around her as she held the door open for him. Grissom and Greg exchanged forced smiles.
Grissom's presence had spooked the young man so he remained quiet and let Sara speak. "Greg, the, umm, team is here for the Forensics conference. Their first night here they overheard a conversation between Jarod, Jackson, Matt and I. They know everything and Jarod more or less recruited them into helping us."
Greg's interest was piqued as he listened. "You mean their going to help find the person who set you up?"
Grissom discerned from their conversation that Greg had no idea about the two attempts made on Sara's life. "And helping to find who is trying to kill her."
Greg flinched when Grissom spoke. It had been awhile since he heard that voice and he had gone through a lot since then. "What do you mean, trying to kill her?" He turned to look at Sara who, if he was any judge of character, looked as if she were burning holes into Grissom with the flash in her eyes. "Sara, what are you trying to hide from me?"
"I'm sorry Greg, its just, well, I didn't want anyone making such a huge deal about this. It's not like Jarod and I can't handle it and besides, you just got here. Do you really think I wanted to pull you into this just after you arrive?" Sara had lowered her voice slightly to keep from showing how stressed she really felt.
"Hey, I'm not some breakable china piece and right now my main concern is you. I've completed the training," He stopped short as he realized what he was saying in front of Grissom and then Sara nodded indicating that that Grissom knew about his training. "Well, like I was saying, the training is complete and I'm ready to be put to good use."
"So what did you score?" Sara grinned at him. She knew he had done quite well.
"Let's just say that Matt will have his hands full if we train together later. If I had tried to do this right out of high school, well, I wouldn't have made it through the first week. It's tough, really tough." He dramatically wiped his hand across his brow, wiping fake perspiration away then grinned and said, "It's quite the learning experience." After that he glanced at Grissom and offered his hand to him.
Grissom accepted it and they shook hands. "It's good to see you Greg. You look," He hesitated, as he didn't want to come off sounding condescending. "Well, grown up. You've changed a lot."
"I had no choice." He smiled and continued, "It's really good to see you too. I've missed everyone. How are Nick and Warrick?"
"They're good, a little in shock, I think. They want to see you I'm sure." Grissom knew Greg and Nick had been really close before Greg left. Now that he knew about Greg's brother, he could understand what it meant to Greg to have Nick's friendship. They were like brothers and he hoped they would be able to patch their friendship back together quickly.
Greg looked back at Sara and could still see the signs on her face that she had been crying. He wanted to know why and whether or not it had anything to do with Grissom. "Sara. Have you been crying?"
Sara instantly put up her guard and managed her expression into one she was well trained in using to hide her emotions. "No, just haven't slept much. Do you want to get settled in a room and then we can meet later to surprise the others?"
Greg wasn't about to let it slide. "No. You have been crying and I want to know why." He turned to Grissom for information but Grissom shrugged to convey he wouldn't be forthcoming especially not when he had just gained some of Sara's trust.
"Greg, it's nothing, just reliving some old memories. I mean really old. It's nothing to concern yourself with. I'm fine and will be just fine as always." Sara wasn't about to tell him about her childhood years. It was bad enough that Grissom knew some of it.
Greg learned some things about Sara at HQ and wondered what she would do if she knew that he knew. He could let it slide for now as long as it had nothing to do with Grissom. However, he would step in if Grissom in any way hurt her. "Okay, I'll let it go this time. Where am I going to be staying?"
"I'll get you a room down the hall. I think the last one you were in is still vacant, we'll try for that one." Sara smiled, she was glad they didn't have to go into it. She hated it when she cried. 'Why do I cry so much now?' She wondered. 'I didn't when I was young, but then I wasn't allowed to.' That thought caused her to scrunch up her face as the memories came back. She tried to hide the look of disgust but Grissom caught it and she knew he had by the look she saw on his face. "I need to change. I'll be out in a minute." She quickly went into her bedroom and closed the door effectively shutting them out.
Grissom turned to Greg and looked him up and down as he studied him again. He was dressed in a dark suit including a tie which made him look more mature.
Greg felt the eyes on him and turned to Grissom and asked, "Is she really okay?"
Grissom knew Greg's reading of people had improved and so chose not to lie to him. "I don't know Greg. She's handling it in her own way but I really don't know. The Sara I used to think I knew isn't at all what she really is. I'm just now getting to know her all over again. It's been a rough couple of days."
Greg looked back at the shut door of her bedroom. 'What was Grissom doing here in her rooms? Should I ask or maybe its more personal than that?' Greg wasn't really sure where things stood. He would check and see later how everyone acted around each other and then maybe ask some direct questions.
A half hour passed by before Sara came back out dressed in a suit with her hair up again. She glanced at both of them and could feel the tension in the room and wondered what had been said. "I umm, need to go check on things for the activities tonight. Gris would you mind going with Greg to the Pit and find Jarod. They'll be wanting to see Greg."
"I wouldn't mind doing that except for the fact that you would then be left alone and Jarod would I'm sure not be happy about it. With what happened earlier, he doesn't want you left alone." Grissom didn't know where things stood himself and Sara but he was even more troubled with the fact that he didn't know where things stood between Sara and Jarod. They were very close and he would need to tread carefully until he knew just how close. To approach Jarod without Sara in close proximity might upset Jarod in that Sara wasn't being covered.
"Grissom, consider for a minute that if this woman who is after me could shoot someone dead in the middle of the front lobby with other people around, what's to stop her from shooting me in front of you or anyone else for that matter? The person with me may just as well have a bulls eye on the back of their head as well, because if it was me doing it, they wouldn't remain alive to be a witness." Sara's voice had risen slightly as she spoke which caused Grissom to realize that the incident with Sydney and Jarod hadn't been buried and was just waiting to spill over the edge. "Let's go. Greg I'll check into getting your room. But you two go down to the Pit."
"Umm, I don't have a card to get in Sara." Grissom interrupted her. He would go along with her decision for now and tell Jarod what was said and then leave it up to him to decide what to do about her being alone.
"You can use mine. Have Jarod issue all of you a card to get in and show you how to use it." Sara handed him her card as she spoke tersely.
Greg remained silent during this ranting session of hers. He wasn't one to argue with Sara and he didn't want to begin now. They all left the apartment and then headed down to the elevator. She explained to them what to do with the card when she would leave them in the elevator. They reached the first floor and she got out.
Sara went to the front desk and reserved the room for Greg and then headed over to the Events counter. She kept her eyes and ears open and only saw members of the hotel staff. No member of Jarod's team was present. She took note of that then went on to check the roster for the evening. She was scheduled to sing again that night and would need to choose the music but that could wait for a little later. She needed to think about how to surprise Catherine, Nick and Warrick with Greg's presence. As she thought about it, she kept tapping the clipboard with her pen. When she looked down, it dawned on her that since she had to sing that night it might be a good way to surprise the others. Smiling, she penciled in Greg's name next to hers and the symbol of a star showing it was a guest and surprise. She glanced around after writing it all down and still only saw hotel staff and nothing had happened as of yet. 'It may be a lead. I'll have to mention it to Jarod later.'
Grissom and Greg had made it successfully into the Pit and searched around for Jarod and Sydney. After searching awhile and not finding them, Greg thought they should check in the gym and just as they were about to head that way they heard a voice behind them. "Dr. Grissom."
They turned to see Sydney. He walked up to them and asked, "Are you looking for Jarod?"
Grissom replied, "Yes, do you know where he might be?"
"He and Matt went out to canvas the area that they think the shooter was positioned when Sara was hit." Sydney glanced at Greg and held out his hand. "It's good to see you again Greg."
"Likewise, Sydney." Greg took his hand and they shook then Sydney turned to Grissom.
"How is Sara doing?" Sydney really had wanted to see her himself but knew that she probably didn't feel likewise.
Grissom acknowledged the other man with a nod. "She's better but still quite upset. I think it would be best to keep your distance for awhile yet." Grissom didn't want Sydney anywhere near her at this point. He didn't know enough about Sydney to trust him and from what he could gather -Sydney had been a former member of the Centre's hierarchy. He didn't like where his thoughts led to in regard to him.
Greg watched the interaction between the two men with interest. Their stance toward each other was something to behold. Grissom's body language read "back off" and Sydney's seemed "repentant". He was going to have to find out what happened because it might have something to do with why Sara had been crying earlier. Maybe Matt would fill him in but he'd have to wait and see. "Grissom, maybe we should find Jarod and Matt and see if they need us for anything. Plus we need to get Jarod to issue more security cards for the others like Sara said."
"I tell you what Greg, you track them down and I'm going to go back and get some papers I need to be searching through for more evidence. But don't let the others see you. I think Sara wants to surprise them." Grissom then walked off toward the elevator and left Greg and Sydney to stare after him.
"I'm going to track Jarod down and then see what Sara wants me to do tonight. I'll talk to you later Sydney." Greg nodded at the older man and then sauntered off in the same direction that Grissom had just taken.
Sydney smiled at both of the men as they left. 'So much alike in many ways.' He was glad Sara had such good friends.
Grissom arrived back at his room and immediately located the papers he had left with Nick down in the lounge earlier when he confronted Sydney and Jarod about Sara. With the papers, he went into his bedroom and sat on the bed then proceeded to organize them into piles designated by guest, staff and team members. The guest pile was quite long and he decided that since they had all agreed it had to be someone on the staff or in the team, he put the guests' statements back in the file. That's when it hit him that there were only three statements left of the agents: Matt Calhoun, Jackson Haisley and Margot Alexander. He didn't know anything about any one of them but had discerned the closeness of Matt and Jackson to Sara and didn't think it could be either of them since they were male. That left Margot. He stared at her papers for awhile and then left the bedroom to get something to drink. As he was getting some tea, he remembered that both Matt and Jackson had made mention of Margot. He would have to go back and check their statements.
In the meantime, Greg had located Jarod and Matt who welcomed him with huge smiles and handshakes. "So you guys wanna' fill me in on what's been happening? I was just with Sara and Grissom and things seemed a little tense."
Matt and Jarod shared looks that told Greg that Grissom and Sara weren't just tense for no reason. Jarod however declined to say anything so Matt grabbed Greg by the shoulder and steered him away as Jarod continued to look for evidence of the shooter. "Greg, an attempt was made on Sara's life. She was on the beach last night and as Jarod approached her and said her name, she turned around, effectively missing being shot in the head. She was grazed however and spent the night in the infirmary. We think the person doing this may be the same one that set her up in Vegas to get her to run to Jarod. However, since you called Jarod and Sara didn't run to him it probably made things harder for her so she may be feeling desperate now."
"Wait, you said her, you think it's a woman? Why?" Greg learned well at the farm and his question hit the mark squarely.
"Well, Sara had received a note yesterday afternoon when Kristie was killed. It was placed in her hand during the melee as the press conference ended. She didn't see who gave it to her." Matt couldn't understand how Sara, trained as she was, could have missed something like that and to top it off so did Agent Alexander who was standing right by her. "The note said, 'I won't let you have him this time, now he will be mine,' and so from that we believe it's a woman and probably a member of the Hotel staff or Jarod's team.'
Greg spun his head toward Matt when he mentioned that they thought it was a member of the staff or team. "No way, your kidding right? Someone Jarod may have hired? They would've had to have been hired very recently then. Why someone of the staff or team?"
"Kristie was killed while she filled in for Sara and Sara was shot down at the beach. So far that is two times a hit was made while Sara was following her 'daily routine'.
"No wonder." Greg shook his head. "Anything else I should know before I go look up Sara again?"
"Well there might be but it's stuff that only Sara should tell you. Why are you going to find her?"
"She wants to surprise Cath, Nick and Warrick tonight with my return. I'm almost afraid to find out what it will be." Greg winced as he considered the possibilities.
"Well just remember, whatever it is she wants you to do, do it. She's had a really rough day and she deserves a little fun tonight." Matt put his hand on Greg's shoulder. "Greg, it's good to have you back."
"Thanks, it's good to be back." Greg smiled and then walked off in search of Sara.
