(11:30 PM)

Grissom watched from under lowered lashes as Sara grinned and turned to leave his office. As soon as she was out of sight he dripped the pretense of working on paperwork and sat back in his chair. He took off his glasses and tossed them onto the desk. Rubbing his tired eyes he sighed in frustration.

He should have been suspicious when Director Robert Carvallo had announced that there would be a meeting at eleven pm but he had figured that it was because he forgot to go to the day meetings. He had not been expecting an ambush. Grissom sat back in his chair as the meeting replayed in his head.

Grissom walked down the hall towards Carvallo's office thinking about Sara. He didn't know what bothered him more; the fact that Sara could have been killed and it didn't even faze her or that Detective Vartan was interested in her. He was saved from making a decision by Carvallo opening his office door.

"Come in Gil."

He stepped inside and his eyes narrowed when he saw the room's third occupant; Conrad Ecklie.

"Gil." Ecklie nodded at him.

"Conrad." Grissom turned to Carvallo. "I wasn't told the purpose of this meeting."

"I know Gil. Have a seat and we'll get started."

Grissom sat on the chair opposite Ecklie and Carvallo took his place behind the desk.

"Day shift's second in command is leaving. He put in his two weeks notice yesterday." Carvallo began. "Conrad doesn't feel that anyone else on the days is ready for this position. He wants to offer it to one of your guys."

"Well," Grissom paused. "Nick was recommended for the lead CSI position. You're welcome to offer him the option of going to the day shift." Despite having said this Grissom didn't think that they brought him here to ask his permission to promote Nick.

Ecklie and Carvallo shared a look.

"I want Sara."

'Yeah, you and me both,' Grissom thought to himself as he studied Ecklie for a moment as he continued to speak. "I don't know why you recommended Nick and not Sara, but I want to have someone with her drive and dedication."

"You want someone with her solve rate to make up for the rest of your shift Conrad."

"Her solve rate is a bonus I admit but so is her willingness to work with other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and Treasury. She has also worked well with both the swing and day shifts without being hostile, which is more than I can say for you," Ecklie added snidely. "I am confident that she'll want this position. She'll get a raise, more freedom in her work, and less babysitting by you. I heard that she's also taken to teaching Sanders on her breaks so I think that she will like the teaching and supervising that comes with the job."

Grissom listened to all of this and had to agree that she would want the job. He sighed inwardly. When he had said that things were going to change this was not what he had in mind.

"So why am I here if you've already made your decision?" He wasn't going to defend the fact that he recommended Nick. That was between him and Sara and none of Ecklie's business.

Cavallo spoke up then. "Gil you needed to be aware that Sara will be offered this position. Also I think that it would be more appropriate if you were the one to present her with the option of staying on the night shift or moving to days." He handed Grissom a folder. "These are the job requirements, description, and other specifics such as hours, pay, and so on. You have until tomorrow afternoon to talk to her about this and she has two days to make a decision. If she agrees then she will start her new shift immediately, if she declines, Conrad will have to decide what to do next. Thursday morning after shift I want both of you along with Sara in my office with a decision. Tell Sara that I will want to hear her reasons for whatever she decides. Any questions?"

Ecklie shook his head and looked over at Grissom who had been completely silent throughout Cavallo's speech.

"No." Grissom answered shortly.

"Alright then I'll see you both on Thursday 7 am."

Grissom and Ecklie stood and left the office each taking off in different directions without a word to one another. He went straight to his office feeling slightly off balance. He sat down behind his desk and took off his glasses. A moment later he heard Sara's voice coming from the doorway. "Hey."

"Hi." He wasn't ready to see her yet and couldn't think of anything to say.

"How did your meeting go?" God. Did she know? He stared at her. "You know, the meeting you said you had to go to?" She didn't know. Yet.

"It…uh…it was fine." Why did he lose the ability to speak coherently around her?

Then she told him about the incident report that he had already forgotten and the conversation went from bad to worse. She could read him like a book. Now here he sat trying to figure out how to approach this situation while she went to help Warrick. He rubbed his eyes again and sighed as he picked up his phone to check in with Nick.

Michael Richardson was having the most wonderful dream with beautiful fields of flowers and his grandchildren running around like maniacs. He and his wife stood hand in hand as the children laughed in delight. He turned his head to smile at his wife and a feeling of cold terror pierced his heart when he saw the look of pain cross her beautiful features as she opened her mouth in a silent scream. Suddenly a rough hand clamped down over his mouth and he was jerked out of one nightmare only to find himself in another.

Michael's eyes darted around and he let out a strangled moan as they came to rest on the barrel of the gun pointed at his face. His hand inched over to his wife and he felt her hand clasp his. He closed his eyes sending tears of relief sliding down his face.

He opened his eyes and met those of the man who held him at gunpoint. Michael shivered at the coldness he found there.

"Don't move." '

The coldness in the voice matched his eyes,' Michael thought. He shifted his gave to his wife of twenty-three years, and he almost laughed. Tears streamed out of her eyes but she still managed to glare hatefully at the man that held her down.

"Get over here." His captors voice startled him and he tried to figure out whom the guy was talking to. Michael's question was answered when a third man stepped forward and opened a black bag. He extracted a roll of duct tape and cut off a strip. He stepped over to Michael's wife, Evelyn, holding out the tape.

The man holding Michael waved the gun to get her attention. "If you scream or try anything I'll kill him," he motioned to Michael. "Understand?"

She looked at her husband and nodded slightly. The gloved hand was taken from her mouth and quickly replaced with the strip of tape. Next her hands and ankles were bound. While the cold man kept his gun on Michael the other two lifted Evelyn off of the bed and set her on the chair in the corned of the room.

One man stayed next to her while the other took the tape and covered Michael's mouth and bound his hands. The man with the gun sat on the edge of the bed. "Mr. Richardson-" Evelyn whimpered at the knowledge that the men knew who they were. "Mr. Richardson," he continued, "we need your help. We know that you are the president of the First National Bank of Las Vegas and we know that you have keys to the bank. You are going to let us in."

Michael started to shake his head and the man grabbed him by the chin. "If we have to convince you, we will." Then he pointed the gun at Evelyn. A muffled "No!" came from Michael and he began nodding his head franticly.

TBC…