A/N: Thanks to those that are still reading :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter Three:

Grissom sat in his office staring at the object on his desk. He had thoroughly inspected it for evidence but had come up completely empty. Beside him sat several evidence bags that contained the string, brown paper and bubble wrap. As he sat pondering what to do next, a knock on his office door interrupted his thoughts.

"Uh…yeah, just a minute," he shouted, quickly shoving the object into an empty evidence bag. "Come in," he said, grabbing a file from his desk and pretending to read.

The door opened and Nick poked his head in. "Er…Griss," he asked tentatively.

"Come in Nick," said Grissom looking up.

"We were just wondering if you are coming to join us," asked Nick.

Grissom stared back at him, uncomprehending.

"Assignments?" prodded Nick.

"Oh, yeah," said Grissom. "I guess time got away from me."

"No problem," replied Nick. As he was about to turn away, he paused. "Uh…Griss, is everything okay?" he asked.

"Sure Nick," replied Grissom. "Why do you ask?"

"Well I was just wondering if there was any particular reason that you are wearing latex gloves and reading that file upside down?" he said, a small smile forming on his lips. "New experiment?" he asked jokingly.

Grissom's eyes jumped down to the file he was holding, it was indeed upside down. "Uh, I was just trying to look at a scene from a different angle," he said, snapping the file shut.

"And you're wearing gloves because you…like the feel?" proposed Nick, making a 'what the heck is up with that?' gesture with his hands.

"Uh, no," stammered Grissom, his brain whirring furiously to come up with a believable reply. "I'm just trying out a new brand."

"Oookay," said Nick sceptically.

"Budget cuts," explained Grissom curtly, as he hastily removed the gloves. "I'll see you in the break room in a few minutes," he said, trying to avert further examination.

Nick let out a small chuckle as he turned. "Sure," he said, leaving the office.

Grissom let out the breath he was holding and removed his glasses. 'Why did I act like that?' he pondered silently. 'I could have just told Nick about the package, it's not like I have anything to hide.'

There was something about this whole incident that was throwing him off balance. He had a gut feeling that the package was something he should keep to himself, at least for now. He couldn't rationalise the feeling, he just knew that it seemed the right thing to do. He stood and picked up the assignments from his desk. Letting out a weary sigh, he made his way towards the break room, knowing that the rest of his CSI's would undoubtedly know about his strange little conversation with Nick.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sara carefully placed the rectangular object into her VCR and took a seat on her couch. Using the remote, she flicked her TV to the video channel and pressed play.

After a few seconds, an opening title jumped into life. 'Hmmmm,' thought Sara to herself. 'I'm sure I've seen a Morgan Freeman movie with that title, but I don't remember it starting like this.'

As she continued to watch, the first strains of music began to drift from her surround sound speakers. Next, she heard a voice, mingled with the music, a heavily accented voice. "What the heck??" exclaimed Sara loudly, her forehead screwing up in confusion as she watched the screen.

The first images faded up into view, causing Sara to do a double take as she jerked forward onto the edge of her couch, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. A slow blush crept up her neck and onto her cheeks as she continued to watch the images that played in front of her.

Reaching forward, she grabbed the remote and fumbled with it as she tried to locate the pause button. Finally, her shaking fingers managed to find their destination and the images on the screen froze. Although subconsciously she knew that no one else was in her house, she took an involuntary glance over her shoulder to make sure that no one else had witnessed what she had just seen. Realising what she was doing, she turned her head forward to stare at the remote in her hands.

Taking deep breaths, she sought to calm her pounding heart. Her mind was racing with a multitude of questions as she rose on shaky legs to retrieve a bottle of water from her fridge, desperate to ease the sudden dryness in her mouth. Gulping the water down she turned to face her TV once more, the silent flickering image drawing her closer.

TBC...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*