Disclaimer/Author's Note – See Chapter One

Chapter Seven - Suspicions

Grissom sat for a few moments in the locker room, gathering his thoughts. He had known for a long time that Sara had feelings for him. At first he had put it down to the infatuation that many students have for their teachers. Then he put it down to poor judgement. He thought she'd gotten over it when she'd started dating Hank, and was blindsided when she had asked him out a little over a year ago. He was further blindsided mere months ago when he finally began to acknowledge the depth of his own feelings. He had dismissed his feelings for Sara as foolishness, the simple attraction of a middle-aged man with a pretty girl. But it was so much more than that. And it terrified him.

Leaving the locker room, he ran into the last person he wanted to see – Conrad Ecklie.

'Grissom,' came his self-satisfied voice, 'I've been looking for you.'

'Well, I'm kind of busy right now, Conrad. In the middle of a case,' Grissom said, striding past him.

'That's what I want to talk to you about. Sara Sidle specifically.'

Grissom stopped and turned. 'What about her?'

'Her fingerprint, hair and gun all tie her to this murder. Not to mention, the victim is her ex-boyfriend. Please tell me your, uh, personal relationship with her isn't blinding you to the facts of the case.'

'Nothing is blinding me to the facts of this case, Ecklie,' Grissom said firmly. 'Sara was unconscious at the time of the murder. Drugged with Rohypnol.'

'Very convenient,' Ecklie commented dryly.

Grissom squared up to him, furious.

'No, Ecklie, I think it's definitely not convenient for anyone to be rendered unconscious with a date-rape drug, so that someone can frame them for murder. If you don't have anything constructive to add, I strongly suggest that you say nothing at all.'

Grissom turned on his heel and stormed away.

'Quite a temper on you, Grissom,' Ecklie sneered to his back. 'Maybe we should be looking at you for this murder. Jealous of Sidle's ex, maybe?'

Grissom ignored him and went into his office. Catherine was waiting for him.

'I knew this would happen,' she told him.

'What?' Grissom replied gruffly, circling his desk and sitting down.

'The speculation. Particularly from Ecklie. It's a miracle the Sheriff hasn't been here to breathe down your neck.'

Grissom grunted in reply.

'Is Sara okay?'

'No,' he answered shortly. 'Has her friend, Jill, turned up yet?'

Catherine shook her head. 'Not yet. The police are looking for her, but there's no sign. I'm heading out with him now to talk to Hank's girlfriend. Elaine Alcott. Or, maybe I should say ex-girlfriend. Rumour is they were going through some problems.'

'Okay. Let me know how it pans out.'

When Catherine didn't move, Grissom looked up from his paperwork. 'What's on your mind Catherine?' he asked.

'Same thing that's on yours. This is every bit as personally directed towards you as it is Sara.'

'Why do you say that? It's Sara they're trying to set up.'

'Come on, Gil. The notes? The bugs? The fact that your fingerprints and epithelials have wound up on Sara's underwear and the second note?'

'There's an explanation for that. You saw me open the envelope.'

'Sure,' Catherine replied in an even tone. 'You mailed it to yourself so there would be a plausible explanation for your prints turning up on the evidence. And then there's Hank.'

'Catherine…' Grissom began angrily. Catherine cut him off.

'Anyone who knows you knew you were jealous of that guy when he started dating Sara. Christ, even Ecklie knows.'

'You think I did this?' Grissom demanded.

'Of course not, Gil,' she replied, exasperated. 'But don't you see? You're being set up every bit as much as Sara is. And assholes like Ecklie would only be too glad to believe it.'

'Sara told Jill all about me via email,' Grissom told her, his voice calmer now. 'That's where the details for the notes came from.'

'Looks even more likely that Jill's our killer.'

'I still want you to look at the girlfriend. Let's cover all the bases.'

'I'm on it,' Catherine replied, getting to her feet and moving towards the door. Pausing for a moment, she turned back and gave Grissom a long, appraising look.

'What?' he asked.

'You okay?'

Grissom hesitated. 'Ask me when this is over,' he finally replied.

Sara stepped out of her third shower of the day and towelled off. No matter what she did, so couldn't seem to feel warm or clean today. It didn't matter that Grissom insisted that none of this was her fault. She still felt responsible.

Towel drying her hair, she moved into her bedroom and slipped into a clean t-shirt and jeans. She couldn't believe how much she had revealed to Grissom. Her stomach clenched at the thought of his reaction. He looked so uncomfortable, so confused. She didn't know how to read him, but she figured he wished she had never said anything. Denial was always more comfortable for people like Grissom.

She'd tell him to forget it when she saw him next. Put it down to post-traumatic stress or something. Pre-occupied, she wandered into the living room, trying to decide if coffee would be a good idea for her nerves right now.

She didn't see the woman sitting on her couch at first. Slowly, awareness prickling on the back of her neck, she turned to see Jill sitting there calmly, holding her gun.

'How's your day been, Sara?' she asked, smiling.

Trying to ignore the panic screaming in her mind, Sara tried to work out if she's have time to get to the drawer in the sideboard, where she kept her spare firearm. Oddly Nick's voice floated into her head, asking if she had ever had a gun pulled on her. She'd have to change her previous answer to him. If she lived through this …