For Disclaimer see Default Chapter
Chapter Five – Encounter in the DarkAt about ten pm Grissom parked the car on a shoulder. The last forty something miles was a hell of a trip. The road had narrowed and was in bad condition. All money for the big city, he thought, nothing left for the country roads. He had to avoid several potholes and bumps. The climate had not been very gentle to the streets up here.
Jackpot, Nevada. Pop. 883. A rusty welcome sign sieved with bullet holes. Probably pellets, his forensic mind stated. Target wouldn't move, easy prey.
City limit would be another five miles away. But before arrival he wanted to stretch out and also wake Sara. During the trip she was mumbling several times, but inaudible for his ears, although his hearing was pretty much back to normal after surgery. She didn't wake up and she did not respond to him asking if everything is ok.
"Sara", he whispered and gently touched her shoulder, "Wake up. We are almost there." She began moving and stretching and rubbing her eyes. Her hair became slightly messed up during sleep and she looked cute with this dozy look in her face as if she did not realize where she is. Stop getting into this, Grissom reminded himself.
"Hey, Sleepyhead. Get out and grab some air. We will be in Jackpot in twenty minutes and I want you to be fit and alert by the time we get there. Right?"
"Alrighty", she yawned and stretched again, not knowingly showing some skin and bellybutton between shirt and slacks. Now, she definitely has my attention, Grissom thought. His eyes where immediately attracted to that very pale spot. He blushed slightly and was thankful for the darkness in the car. Sara though didn't notice him struggling. She got out of the car and began to curse.
"Man, it's fucking cold up here." She pulled over Grissom's jacket and rolled up the sleeves. "XXL is not really my size, but at least it's warm", she said and while taking a deep breath of fresh air she continued thinking, and the gown had a scent of Grissom. Just like being hugged by.. No stop doing that, Sara, she reproved herself.
"Hey, look what I've found: Road sign shot to death. We must be in redneck country, huh?"
By the time they arrived in the centre of Jackpot, like a general store a gas station and a diner deserved that sophisticated description, everything was dark. "Well, that's a nice home coming party", Sara stated. Grissom remembered the location of the Sheriff's office and waved Sara to follow him. He knocked on the door while moving the door knob. It was open but nobody inside. Grissom frowned. Sara just slid by and discovered a note on the Sheriffs desk.
"Grissom, you can have the back office. See you tomorrow. Brooks." She read.
"Ok, Gris! Now, that's a nice friend. Just be sure that I never get to meet one of your enemies. And please don't tell me that Brooks doesn't know that's two of us."
"Hey, calm down, Sara. Let's first have a look, ok?" Grissom entered the back room and switched on the light. A bed, a couch and a couple of blankets. It was warm inside, heat still emanating from the wood burning fireplace, although only ember was left by now. On a table a stack of paper and the case file. The fridge was filled and a thermos flask of hot tea sat on a shelf waiting for them.
"There! Now let's have dinner first, you must be starving, well I am. You can start reading while I prepare some sandwiches. I know, no meat!" He answered smiling before she could add anything else.
With a cup of steaming tea she sat back relaxed on the sofa and put her shoes off. But instead of reading she watched Grissom making sandwiches.
"Didn't know that you can actually do that." She said.
"Well actually, I am a pretty good cook and that is not limited to preparing sandwiches, Sara." He simply answered over the shoulder to avoid the obviously irritated though curious impression in her eyes. "A bachelor's life does not necessarily exclude the joy of food preparation. It is distracting, creative and fun. You should try it."
Gallantly, almost with a butler-like gesture Grissom handed her a plate with two sandwiches, nicely decorated with parsley, tomato and carrot.
"Wow, it's real fresh food. Somebody around here has to know what to be put into a fridge. And, Gris, it's really good." She added between two bites.
"Sara, don't always go by the first impression. And that's not only valid for me." He winked. "People around here maybe different, but though they are still very human. Probably even more human than in the city. The really gruesome stuff happens back in Vegas, you know that."
After finishing their frugal meal in silence, Grissom collected and cleaned the dishes like it was in his natural behaviour. When he met Sara's surprised look he shrugged: "My Mom's drill."
"Well", he continued all-business, "I do not anymore expect to meet the Sheriff tonight, so we should rather try to catch some sleep. They are not running on nightshift schedule out here."
He left the room to give Sara some privacy to prepare for the night. After using the bathroom and taking a refreshing shower, she returned in her sweat gear. That would be warm enough to survive a cold night.
In the meantime Grissom got the rest of their baggage, the forensic kits and some sleeping bags from the car. Just to be on the safe side, he murmured, remembering last time's broken car window.
While Sara tried to make herself comfortable with the couch and covered herself in blankets, it was Grissom's turn to use the shower. He made it a quick one because Sara seemed to have consumed all warm water. But cold water was not the worst thing as he particularly needed to calm down anyway. Sharing a room with Sara, even under these circumstances, would be difficult enough. That's pretty much one step to close for me. He sighed. Need my distance back.
He also changed into sweaters and shorts. Sara had already switched of the lights. He couldn't see much in the remaining glow coming from the fireplace but managed to sneak in without bumping against furniture. Finally he laid back on the bed which Sara had already prepared for him and tried to ignore the pain strike in his spine after the long ride.
Would it be to awkward to say good night? He must have said it out loud because Sara answered: "Good night as well, Gris!" Well, that wasn't as weird as he thought it would be. As if synchronized both turned around to their walls. And sleep did overcome them quickly despite the fact of their closeness and the slight weirdness of their situation.
It must have been around three a.m. when Grissom and Sara woke up alarmed by loud noises. Somebody was bumping against the front door.
"Hey, anybody?" A male voice shouted. Grissom stood up, grabbed his weapon and the flashlight. "You stay down", he whispered. "I'll go have a look."
He could see the silhouette of a man in dark clothing, wearing a backpack. Grissom suddenly opened the door with a verve and put his gun in the man's face.
"Hey, back off, dude! Hands, where I can see them!" Gris shouted, praying that he would come across more self-confident than he felt.
The man stood in shock, terrified and stuttered: "I, I am Professor Philip Louis Solder and I was supposed to investigate a landslide here. What the heck are you doing with that gun in my face?"
Grissom put down his weapon, took a deep breath and tried to get his heart rate back into moderate scale again.
"Professor, well, it's in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere and we have learned to be careful. I am Gil Grissom and this would be Sara Sidle." He introduced himself and Sara, who just approached. "We are with the crime lab. And you must be the geologist, I suppose. Come in and, uh, sorry for the inappropriate welcome." Grissom apologized.