When Sara came into the lab that evening, she immediately tracked Grissom down. She entered his office with her hands on her hips. "Where were you this evening?" Sara asked.

"Here at the lab. I left you a note."

"Well, I did not find said note. Why did you come in so early?"

"I needed to go and talk to the department representative to discuss our problems with the sheriff. As soon as you put your things away in your locker, you will be going to speak to him also, his name is Darius O'Connell."

"About?"

"About your pleasant discussions with the sheriff."

Sara threw her arms up in the air. "Wonderful! Thank you for ruining my evening," she said, turning to walk out the door.

"Sara," Grissom called in a warning tone, "you know this is the right thing to do."

"Yes, I do, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Sara fled Grissom's office and walked to the locker room to put her coat away.

When Sara entered the departmental office, there were very few people inside, for most of the representatives worked during day shift. Sara walked up to one of the secretaries and did her best to seem pleasant. "My name is Sara Sidle, and I am here to see Darius O'Connell."

"Ms. Sidle, I know who you are," the woman spoke, "head right on back, he's waiting for you in his office."

Sara walked through the mess of desks and entered Darius' office. "Ms. Sidle, please have a seat."

Sara complied and sat across the desk from Darius. "Mr. Grissom came to me earlier and spoke of problems that you have been having with the sheriff. It is my job to collect statements from you, the sheriff, and the rest of your coworkers. Then, if I deem necessary, a formal inquiry will be conducted."

Sara nodded and appeared to be processing the information that she had just received. "What do you need to know?" she asked.

"What is your relationship with Mr. Grissom?"

"He is my fiance. What does this have to do with the sheriff?"

"I just need to verify some of the facts. How did you receive news that Mr. Grissom's mother passed away?"

"Gil had off of work that night, and he got a phone call at home. As soon as he was notified, he called me, asking me to come home. Ms. Willows allowed me to leave, and I went home."

"Okay Ms. Sidle. What happened after that?"

"Not much really. Gil wanted to fly out to Marina Del Rey as soon as possible to start taking care of the funeral arrangements and such. We came back to the lab to talk to the sheriff and ask for a leave of absence."

"Did he grant you that leave of absence?"

"We wouldn't be talking if he did," Sara said sarcastically.

"Ms. Sidle, I just need to get the facts from you. I can't help you if I don't have the information."

Sara nodded. "Now, what happened when you asked for that leave?" Darius questioned.

"The sheriff told Gil that he could have leave, but he told me that I couldn't because I was on medical leave for an extended period of time, and I had taken Thanksgiving off."

"Is that true?"

"I was on medical leave because someone else in this department decided to kidnap me, tried to rape me, and then attempted to murder me!" Sara started to get angry.

"Ms. Sidle, I know this must be dredging up unpleasant memories, but please, don't start to get hostile."

Sara took a deep breath and regrouped. "Sorry, I just don't like talking about this."

"That's understandable. Now, did you take Thanksgiving off?"

"Yes, I did. I took the Wednesday and Thursday off, but those days were made up within the course of the week."

Darius nodded and appeared to be jotting things down. "Did the sheriff say anything else at that point?"

"He told me that if I didn't report to work the next shift, he would fire me."

"Did you eventually take leave?"

"Yes. After a media mishap, Ms. Willows, my interim supervisor, instructed me to take the next flight out to Marina Del Rey."

"Did you feel that you were up to processing that scene?"

"No, but I was forced to because my colleagues were at another multiple homicide scene."

"What did you tell the reporters?"

"I honestly don't remember. All I remember was trying to get them off of my back so I could bring the evidence back to the lab."

Darius nodded and made a few more notes. "The tape of you at the scene has been played over and over by the media Ms. Sidle, are you aware of that?"

"How could I not be? The sheriff was livid about that when Gil and I came back yesterday."

"What did happen when you came back?"

"I was waiting in the break room for assignments to be handed out when the sheriff came in. He told me that he needed to talk to me, and he demanded that I go up to his office."

"Did you comply?"

"Yes. When he got me up to his office he accused me of not acting professionally at a crime scene."

"What was he referring to?"

"The statement I gave to the reporter, and my departure soon after. I told him that I was just following the instructions of my supervisor when I left the scene."

"Okay, what else did he say?"

"He accused me of being a liability to the lab."

"A liability how?"

"He said that Gil and I hadn't been acting professionally around the lab."

"Is that true?"

"Hell no!" Sara barked.

"Calm down Ms. Sidle, I am not accusing you of anything. Did the sheriff say anything else while you were in his office?"

Sara let out a sharp breath. "He informed me that the two suspects arrested for the murders of the five people had been released from police custody because of my actions at the scene. As you probably already know, they are still locked up, and the sheriff was lying the entire time."

"Yes, I am aware of that Ms. Sidle."

"He also all but admitted he was trying to cover his ass so he could run for mayor."

"Ms. Sidle, I need you to write all of this down on paper. That way your statement will be official, and it will be prepared if an inquiry is needed."

"I need to get back to work."

"No, you need to write out your statement first, it is very important. Mr. Grissom knows that you will be here until you have completed your statement."

Sara nodded and allowed Darius to hand her some pieces of paper to start writing out all of the facts.

When Sara finished writing out her statement, she walked back down into the main part of the lab and found herself in front of Grissom's closed door. Overly frustrated from her dealings with Darius, she started knocking rather loudly on the door. "Grissom, open up!" Sara hollered.

Greg heard the racket from the DNA lab and poked his head out of the door. "Sara, give it up, he went out to a scene," he called.

Sara gave the door a sharp kick and walked down the hallway to the locker room. She rested her head against the cold metal of her locker and tried to calm down. Thanks Gil, you get me trapped inside of the lab for almost half a shift answering all of those damn questions. Meanwhile, you're off working at a scene so you don't have to write out yours. Sara was pulled from her thoughts when she heard someone come through the locker room door. "Having trouble in paradise Sara?" Greg asked, cautiously walking toward her.

"If you've just come in her to mock me you can turn back around and go back to your lab," Sara snapped, still not moving her head from the locker.

Greg sat down next to Sara, but still didn't touch her. "Sara, I'm your friend, I'm not going anywhere. What's going on?"

"This guy from the departmental office is taking statements about what's been going on around here with the sheriff."

"Griss told all of us that the rep would be calling each of us to take statements. It's all kind of hush hush."

"I figured as much."

"What's going on with you though?"

"Everything is just getting all drudged up again. Something tells me this is going to get a hell of a lot worse when the sheriff finds out."

"Ummhmm," Greg mumbled, "what did you need Griss for?"

Sara finally lifted her head off of the locker and looked at Greg. "I wanted to yell at him for getting me stuck in that office for half of the shift."

"Sara, he's just trying to make things better around here. No one needs the sheriff interfering when there aren't any problems."

"I know Greg, I don't need to hear it again."

"Are you going to go out into the field?" Greg asked, trying to change the subject.

"Is there anything to do around here?"

"You can help me finish processing the evidence from the hit and run Griss and I had."

"Okay, I think I'll stay in the lab for the rest of shift."

Sara stood up to leave the locker room, but Greg pulled on her arm. "What Greg?" Sara said, exasperated.

Greg gave her a quick hug. "I'm here for you Sara, if you need to talk, I'm all yours."

Sara nodded, and they both headed to the DNA lab.

When Grissom returned to the lab at the end of the shift, he found Sara processing evidence with Greg in the DNA lab. "How did your conversation with Darius go?" Grissom asked Sara.

Sara continued to look at the evidence under the microscope and replied. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Shifts over," he told the two of them.

"There's still evidence to process," Sara replied.

Grissom wasn't happy with Sara's demeanor. "Greg, start packing things away, this evidence can wait to be processed until next shift."

Greg nodded and started to clean up his workspace. Sara put away her things and walked past Grissom. "I'll meet you at home," she said coldly, continuing to walk away from Grissom.

Grissom turned to Greg in hopes of getting any information as to why Sara was angry. "You've got to talk to her Griss, I can't give you all of the answers," Greg stated before Grissom could ask any questions.

"What was that all about?" Grissom asked.

"She was up talking to that department rep for almost half of the shift. She was pretty angry when she couldn't find you when she was done. That's all of the information I have to give you."

"Thanks Greg," Grissom muttered before walking out the door.

I wonder what I've done now?