Chapter Thirty-One

The subsequent weeks followed the same pattern with both Sara and Grissom calling each other whenever they had a spare few minutes during the day. It had now been almost ten weeks since they had seen each other, both of them trying but failing to have two consecutive days off together at the same time.

Sara's cases were very few, but she spent most of her time helping Treyson tie up loose ends and go over some of the cold cases that still remained unsolved.

Opening one of the evidence boxes, Sara pulled out the sealed envelopes that contained bloodied clothes from a murder that happened five months ago.

"What are you looking for?" Treyson asked quietly when he examined the written notes that came with the case.

"Well she was shot, right?" Sara asked as she spread the shirt flat onto the table. Lifting it slightly, she poked her gloved finger through the hole.

"Yeah, her husband came in and found her lying on the kitchen floor, no sign of a struggle or sexual assault." Picking up the file, he turned it around so she could read it for herself. "No motive, nothing was stolen."

"What about the husband?" Sara asked quietly as her mind slipped into past cases that she had covered before.

"He was at work all day, his secretary confirmed his alibi." Shaking his head, Treyson sighed heavily. "You know, some days I wonder why I do this job."

Sara smiled sympathetically and lifted her eyes to meet his. "You do it because you want to help people."

"Yeah…"

"You know, you remind me so much of Nick. He has a deep commitment to the victims and their families, and he feels as if he's failed if a case remains unsolved." Returning her attention back to the shirt, she leant in closer, a sweet smell invading her senses.

"What's wrong?" Treyson asked as he came around the table to stand beside her.

"Smell this," she offered, stepping aside so he could bend down to sniff the shirt.

"What is that?" he asked after rubbing his nose. "Smells like cheap perfume."

"There was no struggle right?" Sara asked, her enthusiasm building. "Nothing stolen, nothing to indicate a home invasion?"

"No, nothing."

"Chloroform," she told him quickly. "It leaves behind a sweet smell, and it could explain why she didn't put up a fight."

"Yeah…" Treyson nodded quickly, his own exuberance fighting its way through his words. "I'll get on it."

"Oh and recheck the husbands alibi," Sara told him as she held the shirt up before her, her eyes lingering over the bloodied shirt.

Treyson watched her silently as her mind churned over the evidence. "If she was standing, she would have struggled," she theorized. "These blood patterns fall to both left and right of the bullet hole, indicating that she was laying down when she was shot." Replacing the shirt on the table, she turned to the photos from the scene and looked over them with scrutinizing eyes.

"So if she was knocked out…" Treyson's mind joined with hers as a mental picture started to build. Flicking through the statements of both the secretary and the husband, he started to read aloud. "Trevor and I worked on some speeches for a convention we're both attending in a months time. I was with him for most of that time, except for twenty minutes when I took a break."

"So twenty minutes…" Sara nodded. "Could be enough time to drive home, kill his wife and return to work as if nothing happened."

"No, we thought that too at the time, but he never logged out. His car was in the parking lot until the end of the day."

With a heavy sigh, Sara closed her eyes briefly and could feel the burning pressure reaching up inside her shoulders. She wished Grissom was here, he always opened other avenues of investigation without thinking.

"Go and take a break Sara," Treyson offered, "you look beat."

"I'm fine," she smiled, "maybe I'll go and grab a coffee or something. Thanks Trey." Walking out of the room, she headed out to the break room.

Grissom was signing some papers when he heard his cell phone ringing. Putting his pen down, he pulled his phone from his pocket and flipped it open. "Grissom."

"Talk to me," Sara's voice groaned from the other end.

"Honey, you okay?" Sitting up straighter in his seat, all other thought fled from his mind.

"Yeah I'm okay," she sighed. "I just needed to hear your voice."

"Well in two weeks you'll be home and you can hear me all the time." His smile lingered when he heard her moan with contentment at the other end.

"Can I come home now?" she laughed, "I could really do with your arms around me right about now."

Grissom had known Sara for a long time and he knew most of her moods. "Tell me," he whispered, urging her to release the burden that weighed heavily on her mind.

"I'm working on an old case," she told him. "A woman found shot dead on her kitchen floor, no sign of a struggle and the husband has an alibi. There's a sweet smell on her shirt which I suspect may be chloroform. Treyson's running that through now."

"Was she assaulted?"

"No, nothing. No bruising, no sexual assault." Sighing heavily, she smiled into the phone. "I wish I was with you right now."

"I wish that too," he smiled. "Don't let this case get to you Sara, you know as well as I do that some cases can never be solved."

"I know, but something about this seems off, you know?" Taking a breath, she started to go through what little they knew about the husband. "He has an alibi, but there's twenty minutes when she wasn't with him, but according to Trey, he didn't leave the building. His car was still in the lot."

"And the secretary?"

"She said she was on a break…" Sara's voice stopped mid sentence as another possibility swam through her mind. "Why didn't I see this before?"

"You would have done eventually," he grinned.

"God I miss you," she told him quietly. "Are you alone?"

"Sort of, but not that alone, my door's open."

"Well I'm alone," she smiled softly, her heart aching, "I love you."

Grissom's face flushed slightly, he would never tire of hearing her say those words. "You too honey."

"Call me later?"

"Count on it," he smiled, leaning his ear closer to the phone as if he could keep linked with her for a moment longer. He heard her soft goodbye and waited until the line went dead before taking another breath, only then, did he close the phone and return to work.

Sara made her way back to the lay out room, ten minutes later, a new determination fuelling her movements. "Trey, check the secretary."

Looking up, Treyson watched her, his triumphant expression mirroring the sparkle in her eyes. "You were right, it is chloroform, and there's something else."

"What?"

"Perfume." Treyson pulled out a piece of paper from inside the open folder. "Our vic, Tracey Wilson, was allergic to all kinds of perfume products."

"So…was the secretary ever asked to give an alibi for her whereabouts?"

Treyson watched her silently, sudden awareness dawning along with the smile on his face. "She said she spent the whole time in her office, but there was no one to corroborate her story."

"I guess we have a new suspect," Sara grinned.

"I guess we do. I'm gonna go call Charlton and see about a warrant."

"Okay."

When she was alone in the layout room, Sara sat down onto the stool beside her and let a long breath escape from her lips. She had two weeks left in Maine and for the first time since Grissom had returned to Vegas, she found herself aching for him.

The silence around her was soon forgotten when Treyson returned triumphantly. "Charlton is sorting out our warrant, you wanna come along?"

"No I'll go through the rest of this evidence and see if there's anything else." She watched as he turned tail and literally floated out of the room, his previous depression at being unable to solve this case seemingly passed. Smiling, Sara searched through the rest of the evidence and pushed the thoughts of longing to the back of her mind.

Grissom was walking over to his Denali when his cell phone rang inside his pocket, and hurriedly flipped open the phone while he unlocked the door. "Grissom."

"Thank you," was all Sara said, her voice brimming with warmth.

"Why?" he smiled, "What did I do?"

"It was the secretary. She killed her boss's wife because she was in love with him and he rejected her. She admitted it in like two seconds."

"Ahh jealousy…hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Climbing into the Denali, he pulled the door closed. "How are you sweetheart, you sound tired."

"Yeah, I am a little. We worked through to put this case to rest. I'm off tonight though."

"I've just finished shift too, I'm on my way home." Closing his eyes, Grissom imagined her face, and the warmth of her body next to him. "These last few weeks have felt like years."

"I know honey, believe me I know." After a short pause, he could hear her voice shaking as she spoke. "When I come back to Vegas, would it be a problem if I stayed with you…just for a few days until I get my bearings."

"Sara…" his eyes clouded over with emotion and his voice softened. "You really think that after six months without you I have any intentions of letting you go back to your apartment?"

"I wished…"

"I know." Looking up, he saw Catherine walking over towards her own Denali and quickly sat up. "Listen, I'll call you when I get home okay?"

"Someone there?"

"Yeah Catherine, and you know she can sense stuff like this from miles away!"

Sara laughed lightly. "Oh God, get outta there or she'll hunt you down until you confess…I'll talk to you later."

"You will," he smiled, "Bye Sara."

Closing the phone, he caught sight of Catherine watching him curiously and started the engine before she made a move to interrogate him on why he looked so happy. With a courteous wave, he pulled out of the parking lot and made his way home, knowing that his home no longer felt so empty the second he heard Sara's voice. Soon she would be home and all his loneliness would be forgotten.

Sara was making her way past Andrew Dales' office and stopped in the doorway to say goodnight.

"Hey Sara, good work on the Wilson case."

Stepping into the room she offered him a soft smile. "Treyson did most of the work, this is all credit to him."

"Funnily enough he said the same thing about you," Andrew told her. "I know I'm wasting my breath here, but I wish you would consider staying on here."

"I can't Andrew," she sighed, the heaviness in her voice straining through every word. "If you'd have asked me before…I mean…"

"We're serious about Grissom, we would offer him a job to keep you here."

"I'm serious too Andrew, and as much as I have loved being here and being a part of your team, I just can't…" shaking her head slowly, she met his eyes with her own brimming sadness. "I miss him, Andrew."

"I know, and that's why we're letting you go early." Andrew watched her with an amused expression as sudden awareness dawned in her eyes. Before she could ask, he grinned his infectious smile. "Day after tomorrow Sara."

"But what about Jared?" Sara's heart was racing as she sank down into the chair opposite his desk, her voice shaking with a mixture of hurt and excitement.

"He's looking forward to coming home, I spoke to him a few hours ago and he's happy to return." Sitting forward, Andrew offered her another beaming smile. "His flight gets in 5.30 pm tomorrow night."

"But won't Cavallo be pissed that he's leaving early?"

"No actually, it seems your Director is anxious to have you back, something about solve rates…" His voice trailed off when he saw her burst into a beaming smile.

"Does Grissom know yet?" Sara could hardly contain her excitement as she spoke, her need to share her news with the man she loved overflowing from her heart.

"I thought I'd leave that to you," he smiled.

"Thank you Andrew," she beamed as she stood to her feet, "for everything."

"There's another thing by the way. There'll always be a job here for you if you should need a change of scenery."

"That's good to know," she nodded slowly, her eyes misting with tears. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," he nodded. "Now scat and be sure to tell that boyfriend of yours how lucky he is!"

Sara's answering smile was the last he saw before she pulled her phone from her belt and started to walk out of his office. Listening intently, he heard her delight as she almost shouted into the phone. "I'm coming home."

With a heavy sigh, Andrew Dale closed the folder on his desk and decided to call it a night. Sara Sidle was a lasting burst of energy that had taken the hearts of every man in the lab. He would be sad to see her go, but knew that nothing could compare to what she had to return home to, and as much as he wanted her to stay, he wasn't going to stop her.

Reaching the door way, he clicked off the light on his way out into the hallway and smiled. He felt good.

TBC