Spoiler: No Humans Involved
Disclaimer: They are not mine, but I took them anyway.
Thanks for everything. Writing the story is fun, and getting the feedback is like icing on the cake. Thanks again!
Sheila
Chapter 5
Nicky sat down to a bag of chips and a cup of coffee. It was not his usual dinner. He liked to eat healthy. It was an issue of control and discipline for him. But tonight, he didn't have the energy to go the extra mile. The gossip today at the lab worried him very much. There were snippets about blow-outs in Ecklie's office involving a cast of rotating characters such as Sara, Grissom, and Catherine. Brass had been in this morning. There was some crazy rumor that he had threatened to shoot Ecklie. Then Brass disappeared around lunchtime and never returned. What he heard that worried him most was the rumor that Sara had stormed off in the middle of shift last night. Today had been the day they were going biking, but when he went to pick her up, she hadn't answered her door or the phone. He assumed that she had buried herself at work for another shift. Now he wondered if she had been there the whole time, and had just not responded to him.
"Hey."
Nick turned his head and nodded at Warrick who was sitting down beside him with a cup of yogurt in hand.
"The palace intrigue is a little thick tonight, don't you think?"
Warrick nodded and then eyed the container he had pulled from the refrigerator.
"She never answered the door when I went to pick her up today."
"Yeah, she blew me off for breakfast yesterday."
"I don't get a good feeling about any of this."
"Hodges thinks Ecklie's going to fire her."
Nick grimaced. "Hodges also thinks that he's next in line for Grissom's job so we are not paying any attention to that guy, okay?"
Warrick showed no interest in eating the container of yogurt he rolled around in his hand. "You'll be happy to know that Mia's asking after you. Says you look sad. Thinks you are a sensitive guy. My eyes almost rolled back into my spinal column."
Nick snorted. "That must have impressed her."
"Yeah, I didn't really notice. Too busy trying to figure out what's going on around here."
"Last time, there was this much drama, we ended up on swing with a new supervisor. I'm not really interested in a sequel."
"Me neither."
"So this moping around thing sort of intrigues her, huh?"
"Yeah, apparently Mia likes her men moody."
Nick dropped his eyebrows and wrinkled his brow. "What do you think? Do I look brooding and intense? Kind of sexy?"
"I guess if she's into gargoyles, you might."
………………………………............................................................................................................................
The lounge was dark and stale. Men drank alone at the bar or at tables around a stage where a naked girl with lifeless eyes absently caressed a pole. Sara blinked against the smoky light, and started to wind her way around the tables. She found one in the corner of the room and sat down.
A waitress in shorts and a glitter gold bikini top stopped at her table. Hunger and hangover had combined to leave her shaky and uncomfortable, but she knew what was expected and so she ordered a mug of the cheapest beer they had.
She had no idea what the next step was, and so she slowly nursed the watery beer, and watched the dancing girl hypnotize men.
………………………………...............................................................................................................
The file lay on the desk in front of him. It contained the answers to many of his questions, but he couldn't open it. He wasn't sure if he was doing out of respect for Sara or because his own sense of privacy was so acute.
He tried to imagine what he should do next. In one scenario, he goes over to her apartment and delivers it in person, giving her an opportunity to talk about it if she wanted. In another, he destroys it, and doesn't tell her he has it. In the final scenario, he just sits there with the file in front of him and waits to see what happens.
Being someone who didn't always understand social needs of people around him, he chose to sit there and do nothing. He found that it was often the thing to do even though it was also the thing that aggravated people most about him.
……………………………….............................................................................................................
"So I bet you thought that was cute, pulling the sheriff out of budget meetings with your petty threats." Ecklie had fallen in behind Brass as he walked down the hall.
"Oh, it was something, all right." Brass didn't break stride.
"Didn't work very well, did it?"
Nope. Sheriff was pissed. He absolutely insists that I assault you off county property. Says the liability is a nightmare."
"Oh, that's rich, Brass."
"Just to let you know, on top of everything else I had to report, I told him those rumors about how you like to push old ladies out into traffic. He's launching an investigation."
"Okay," Ecklie pulled on Brass' arm. "What was the point of all that?"
"Sheriff needs to know that a law enforcement unit cannot survive without integrity. Something you lack in spades, my old friend."
"Protecting the unit is my job."
"Not when you violate peoples' rights to do it."
"Why would I expect you to understand?"
"Right." Brass took off in the other direction. At the corner, he turned his head and said, "Better watch out at crosswalks, Conrad. Sheriff says he's going to assign an undercover detail just to protect the little old ladies of Vegas from you."
……………………………….......................................................................................................................
"Are you into girls?"
The voice startled Sara. She turned to find a man in a leather jacket standing next to her. In response, she merely shrugged and returned to her beer.
"So, if it's not about girls, what brings you here?"
"What? Are you writing a book?" Surliness came easily in Sara's condition.
"Hey. Just trying to be friendly is all." He started to move away.
"Hey. Sorry. Come back. I'm not feeling that great today."
"Ahh, feeling sick, huh? Needing a little medicine that pharmacies don't stock, maybe."
"Something like that." Sara hunched over her beer nervous to make eye contact.
"Well, you picked a bad day, honey. Store's closed. Owner's out of town."
"Not what I heard."
"Well, you can't believe everything you hear now, can you?"
"I'll wait."
The man leaned over and peered into her face. "Not jonesing too bad, I see. Forehead still looks dry."
Sara cursed herself for this missed detail. "I said I could wait."
"Yes, you did, Sweetheart. Yes, you did. How about I wait with you?"
Sara closed her eyes. She wasn't sure how well she could hold up under more questions. But she dived in. As long as you're buying, I guess."
"You got it, Sugar." He whistled for the waitress.
………………………………...............................................................................................................
It took Warrick several minutes to understand what his second cousin was trying to tell him. At first, Warrick thought the man was just drunk. He hadn't had a job in 3 years, and tended to waste his days in bars. Warrick had long since given up on that relationship. But his cousin was insistent. Said that Warrick's white girlfriend was hanging out at the Oasis. Says he remembered her from the time he had bumped into them having breakfast at Caesar's. Says he was trying to protect his cousin from conniving women just in case, this skinny white girl was stepping out on him. Impatiently, Warrick let him stumble through his story. When he hung up, he was ready to forget the ramblings of his drunk, unemployed cousin except for the location; the one place identified by Sally Dutton as the hangout of Viktor the drug dealer gnawed at him.
………………………………...............................................................................................................
"Have you seen Sara?"
Greg looked up and shook his head. Sofia raised an eyebrow.
"Not like her to be late." Grissom was clearly agitated.
"Did you call her?" Greg asked.
"Of course, I called her, Saunders."
"Well, she did walk out last night," offered Sofia.
Grissom glared at her. "Let's drop it, okay?"
"Do you want me to go over to her house?"
"No, Greg. I want you to go to the Bellagio and process the guy who jumped off the 6th floor." He gestured at Sofia. "You too."
"You're not coming?"
"No, Greg. I think the two of you can handle it, don't you?"
Greg decided that Grissom was not actually looking for a response on this question. He gestured to Sofia, and left the older man sitting alone, arms folded, a frown settling into his face.
……………………………….......................................................................................................
The still, smoky air hit Warrick as he walked in out of the cool, desert evening. It took him a minute before he spied his cousin. He sat entranced by the bored gyrations of yet another young girl. Warrick walked over and shook his shoulder.
"Elmer, this better be good."
"Warrick! Haven't seen you in god knows how long. Glad you could come." A wave of sour whiskey hit Warrick and he wrinkled his nose.
"You said that one of my girlfriends was here. Where is she?"
His cousin smiled. "Going to put her in her place, are you? Good for you, boy. Never let 'em get the upper hand."
"Where, Elmer? Where?" Impatience threaded its way through every syllable.
Elmer looked over his shoulder and pointed at a dark corner. Warrick squinted, but couldn't make out anything more than shapes.
"Sit down, Warrick. I'll buy you a drink. Help you get over that girl."
"Another time, Elmer. Another time." Warrick walked around the edge of the room, focusing on a lanky female silhouette. She was seated with a man who was leaning into her. It took only a few steps for him to realize that Sara was indeed the woman that Elmer had seen. He stopped for a moment, startled. She looked tense, her body language belying the truth of her situation. She looked sick almost, and was wearing clothes that didn't match the meticulous woman that he knew.
The man leaned in more, and Sara stiffened. He kept inching a beer back into her hands. A wave of anxiety washed over Warrick as he realized what his friend was up to. She was playing some rogue undercover game with the big boys. The audacity of it stunned him. Without further thought, he walked right into her improvisation.
"Sara!" The sharpness of his voice caused her to jump slightly. The man whipped his head around.
"I'm busy, Warrick." Her voice was low.
"I can see that." He showed no sign that he was going anywhere.
The man pushed back his chair and stood up to Warrick. "Who the hell are you?"
Warrick ignored him. "Sara, you need to come with me now."
She dropped her head into her hands.
"She doesn't want to go with you, Player." The man was almost nose to nose with Warrick.
"She doesn't have a choice." His deep voice and his emerald eyes were steady.
"Warrick, please!" Sara said into her hands.
"I got this, Baby." The man moved in to Warrick who didn't back an inch.
"No! Sammy, stop! Warrick is a friend." She had backed out of her chair and was trying to move between them.
"If your girl wanted to come with you, she would have already left."
"Sammy," Sara was pushing the man away from Warrick. "I need to talk to him alone. Okay?"
"I'm not going anywhere." The man pushed back at Sara. Warrick tensed.
Sara steadied herself. "Sammy, please. A couple of minutes. I'm not leaving with him, okay?"
Sammy backed away. As he turned to walk away, he fixed Warrick with a glare. "She doesn't want you, Man. Take the hint."
Warrick eyed the man until he disappeared out the back and then he turned back to her. "What's wrong with you, Sara?"
"Look, Warrick. It's not what you think."
"Really. 'Cause it looks to me that you decided to play a little game of undercover spy."
"He's buying it, I can feel it."
Warrick put a hand on her shoulder and directed her back into her chair. "I can't even begin to tell you how messed up this is."
Sara's mouth tightened and she avoided his eyes.
"Sara, you need help."
She pushed at the table to stand up, but he had her arm. She stiffened. "I am not a problem. I am not your problem."
"No, you are my friend, and watching you hurt yourself like this is driving me--." Warrick stopped when he noticed the bruises on the arm he was holding. He turned it slightly and found the needle marks. He shook his head slowly. "Sara, just what kind of game are you playing?"
She pulled her arm back. "I need to look the part, not be the part."
"I don't understand this."
"I don't either, really. But I am suffocating at work right now from all of your concern and worry and pity. Everywhere I turn, someone is doing something for my own good. You and Nicky are a good example of this."
Warrick shrugged. "We care."
"And I love you for it. Well, sometimes." Sara closed her eyes for a moment, and then she learned toward him. "I'm lost right now. I have feelings, fears and anger, that I do not understand. My childhood lives in my head like it happened yesterday. And on top of everything, Brass won't work with me, Grissom stares at me like he waiting for me to have a psychotic break, you and Nicky are manipulating my life, and Ecklie says that he is going to supervise and counsel me. Life sucks for me right now, Warrick."
"I didn't know the part about Ecklie."
"It's mostly for Grissom's benefit, I think. Ecklie loves to hurt him."
"Sara, I have never pitied you."
"Sometimes, I can imagine talking to you about all of this. You know what it is like to lose your childhood early. And somehow, you haven't let it follow you into your adulthood."
Warrick laughed. "You've never seen me on Christmas day, Sara." He put his hand over hers. "Seriously though, it would be an honor to listen to your story."
She nodded at him. "None of that stops me from wanting to do this."
"I can't let you."
"I know." She pushed herself up. "Just let me use the bathroom and then we're gone."
"Sara." He warned.
"Sorry, 'Rick. Three beers. What can I say?" She smiled at him. Impulsively, she ran up and kissed him on the cheek. "Just be a minute, okay/"
Warrick settled back into the chair. The waitress stopped by, but he waved her away. For a moment, he watched the dancer, but he could find nothing sexy in a young girl gyrating in order to survive. After three minutes, he was concerned about Sara, drumming his fingers on the table. At five minutes, he stood up and went down the hallway to the bathroom. He rapped on the women's door, but got no response. He waited for a moment, and then pushed it open. The room was empty. He came out and looked both ways. Further down the hall, he saw a neon exit sign. He ran down and pushed through it. The alley was empty. He ran up and down it, calling her name. Finally, he stopped at a dumpster and kicked it soundly. In exasperation and pain, he yelled. He cursed himself again, and then grabbed for his cell phone.
………………………………..............................................................................................................
She sat slumped in the passenger seat, staring out the side window. Sammy grilled her about her conversation with Warrick, but she ignored him. The guilt she felt filled her body, almost physical throbbing. Images of Warrick and her other friends flashed over and over again in her head. Grissom's face came to her the most. He had not even been in the bar, and yet it was he that she felt she was betraying the most.
………………………………............................................................................................................
TBC