Chapter Two

Gun drawn, Nick waited for Warrick's next move. Both men held their breath as the lid to the trash can came off.

Nick glanced inside, "Nothing. Just garbage."

"Not quite," Warrick told him, handing Nick the lid to the trash can and pulling out his flash light. Nick watched Warrick swab the inside of the can then add a couple of drops of luminal onto the type. It turned purple.

"Blood," Nick said, "But how'd it get there?"

"Easy, the brother transported Erin's body in the trash can," Warrick told him. "Didn't want to get blood all over the inside of the car."

"Let's get the trash can to the lab, have Greg put a VIP analysis on the blood."

"Catherine," Jim Brass approached the CSI as she made her way to the break room.

She turned and smiled at him, "What can I do for you Jim?"

"Haven't heard from Grissom or Sara yet have you?" Brass asked.

"No, I take it they haven't made it to Gainsville?" Catherine asked.

"I talked to the owner of the bar were their vic worked, says he hasn't talked to anyone about the case at all," Brass told her, "The guy didn't even know his girl was dead."

Catherine already had her cellphone pressed to her ear and Brass waited for her to speak.

"Grissom."

"Thank God, Gil. Where the hell are you?" Catherine asked. "Brass and I have been trying to get a hold of you all night."

"Calm down Catherine, everything's fine. Sara and I are at a motel a few miles outside of Gainsville," he explained, trying to picture the look on the other CSI's face. "The Tahoe slid off the side of the road and we got caught in the storm. We're going to need a ride out of here."

"You and Sara at a motel?" Catherine shot Brass an amused look.

"Catherine."

"Sorry, Gil. Brass and I will be there as soon as we can," she told her, "Where exactly is this place?"

"It's not hard to miss," Grissom said coolly, "Follow 19 into Gainsville. You'll see the Tahoe and the hotel's probably a couple miles down the road on the right."

"Got it, we'll be there soon."

"And Catherine," Grissom said quickly, "No word of this to anyone."

"Right, see you soon, Gil."

The ringing of one of their cellphones pulled both Grissom and Sara out of a deep sleep. Grissom was the first to the field kit, handing Sara her phone while answering his own.

"Grissom."

Sara put her phone back into the kit and crawled onto the bed. She watched Grissom's posture as he spoke. He was stiff now, at attention. It must be Catherine, she thought. Grissom was staring at her intently and she smiled at him. She paid little attention to what he said, knowing he was only giving Catherine an explanation for their absence and directions to the motel. She listened to him ask Catherine not to tell anyone about the motel before hanging up.

"Brass and Catherine are on there way," he told her, making no move to get back into the bed.

"Great," Sara muttered.

Grissom knew she was disappointed. Somewhere in his own mind, he was too. But he knew that going back to work would be the best thing for them. He had to make her understand, "Sara, I-"

"Let's not start this again," she told him, stretching out on her back. "I don't want to fight with you. I know that you want to go back, Grissom. But I don't want last night to be the first and last time that you kiss me like that."

Grissom stood there for a moment, taking this in, before he took a step toward the bed. He reached out and pulled on her hand until she was standing beside him again, "It won't be."

Nearly an hour later, after Sara had washed her face in the sink and brushed her teeth with the complimentary tooth paste and tooth brush she'd gotten from the motel office, there was a knock on the door and Sara jumped. She'd been lying on the now made bed listening to Grissom tell her more information about entomology and house flies.

They both stood, straightening their clothes, and Grissom opened the motel room door.

Catherine smiled back at both of them and Sara noticed the way she examined the room.

"Rough night?" she asked, to whom the question was directed Sara wasn't sure. She nodded along with Grissom and they collected their things.

Sara, with her laptop in hand and her poncho draped over her arm, climbed into the backseat of Brass' Taurus beside Catherine. Grissom sat in the passenger seat in front of her.

"We'll have the Tahoe towed back to the station," Brass told Grissom, starting the car.

"We need to stop by on the way back though," Sara said, "My field kit's still in there."

"We'll have to find other evidence anyway. The stuff in your kit became inadmissible the minute we decided to leave it behind," Grissom explained. "You and I'll get your kit on our way back out to the bar in Gainsville later."

"You plan on driving back out here?" Catherine asked.

"We're still working a case, Catherine," Grissom told her, "We'll do what we have to."

"Would you like the good news or the bad news?" Greg asked, seeing Warrick and Nick approaching him.

"Give us the bad news first," Warrick told him, "I want to have something to look forward to."

"Right," Greg turned and pulled the trash can from their crime scene out of a paper bag. "I couldn't lift a single print from your can. Rain."

"So we don't have a clue if the brother even touched it?" Nick asked.

"Correct," Greg said, "But here's the good new. The brothers DNA and the blood on the trash can have thirteen matching markers."

"Same DNA," Nick said. "Please tell me it's XX."

"And we have a winner!" Greg shouted cheerfully, "Mom or sister."

"We'll get a warrant for the mom's DNA," Warrick said to Nick, "Thanks Greg."

"Just doin' my job."

When Brass pulled into the station parking garage, he noticed how eager Sara was to be free of the car. She muttered something to Grissom about meeting them inside and turned and sprinted to another vehicle parked in the lot.

"Where's she off to?" Catherine asked as Brass thought it.

"Clean clothes I assume," Grissom shrugged, "She didn't specify."

They watched Sara rummage through the backseat of her SUV for a moment before they turned to head inside. They were standing in the elevator when Grissom heard a car door close and boots on the pavement. The door closed before he got a good glimpse at Sara.

Sara stood in the women's restroom examining the job she'd done with her make-up. Nothing was smudged or smeared and her hair looked like she'd actually paid it some attention. She's put on a clean pair of black dress pants and a light purple scoop-neck sweater. She'd found a pair of high heels in her locker and was grateful to not be wearing Grissom's work boots.

When she finally emerged from the bathroom, she'd lost the rest of her team. Sara dropped Grissom's boots in his office and headed toward the breakroom, dying for something to eat.

"Nice to see you made it back," Nick said as she entered.

She smiled at him, "Nice of you to notice I was gone."

"What happened out there?" Nick asked, "Grissom finally snap?"

Sara's smile turned into a scowl and Nick knew he'd hit a nerve. He held up his hands in defeat and began to back out of the room.

"Hey," he called, almost forgetting to tell her, "I'm meeting Gris and Catherine for breakfast. Wanna come?"

He smiled as Sara slammed the refrigerator door. She nearly ran after him and they raced to the elevator.

"Are you that hungry Sara?" he asked mockingly.

Sara gave him the finger and he laughed. The elevator doors opened and they pushed to get inside. Both laughing the entire way.

"Hey! Where the hell are you going?" Warrick called to Nick, jogging toward the elevator.

Nick grabbed the door and held it open for Warrick. "Having breakfast with the boss," he told him, "Said all were welcome."

"The more the merrier," Sara said, her voice too cheerful for her own ears.

"As long as he's buying."

When they reached the diner, Nick parked his Tahoe beside Catherine's and the three younger CSIs entered the building. Grissom and Catherine sat at a booth to their right, no food on the table, and Nick, Warrick and Sara sat down. Nick slid in beside Grissom, Warrick beside Catherine, and Sara in her usual chair at the end of the table.

Catherine watched a look pass between Grissom and Sara. She smiled to herself and felt the need to intervene.

"Nick, why don't you switch Sara seats," she suggested, noticing Sara's immediate reaction. "I'm sure she'd be more comfortable sitting in the booth, she's had a rough night."

"No, Nick, you stay," Sara said quickly, "I'm fine. I don't like being cramped."

"Ah," Nick said, "Claustrophobic. I knew there was a reason you always had to sit on the end."

Not exactly, Sara thought. I just can't have my leg rubbing against Grissom's every two seconds without making an ass of myself. She smiled, "Ever since I was a little kid. I couldn't even have one of those big maze-like jungle gyms. They scared me to death."

Nick and Warrick laughed, adding nagging comments here and there. Sara let it go, she had to. She'd just lied to them, anything she would've said to defend herself would give it away.

She noticed Catherine watching her and looked down at her menu.

Catherine knew Sara well enough to know when she was behaving oddly. She also knew Grissom well enough to know that something was happening with him and Sara. She observed them as Nick and Warrick talked to Sara, making fun of her mostly, and she watched the way Grissom reacted to the things that they were saying. The man was a rock again, back to not letting anyone in.

As the waitress approached their table, Grissom watched the young woman smile at Sara. Sara smiled back, reaching into her bag and producing the entomology text he'd given her for Christmas. She handed the book to the waitress and the girl smiled again.

"Thanks, I start my entomology classes next session," the girl told her.

"Good, I think you'll like it. It's not as boring as you'd think. And I highlighted a lot of the interesting stuff," Sara said, glancing sideways at the rest of her table. The other four CSIs watched her for an explanation, "Guys, this is Sophia. She's a student at UNLV. She's studying to be a criminalist. Sophia, this is the crew of CSIs that I work with."

"Hi, nice to meet you."

"You, too, Sophia," Nick said, a slightly amused tone to his voice.

"Are you ready to order?" the girl asked, getting back to the job at hand.

When the group had placed their orders, the waitress picked up her newly acquired entomology text book and went back to the kitchen.

"You come here often?" Warrick asked Sara.

Grissom noticed she was blushing when she answered, "Three times a week. Sophia works on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I know her from a couple of classes I help with at UNLV during the week. I loan her my books every now and then. She's a good kid."

"That sounds really familiar," Catherine said, casting a glance at Grissom, "Doesn't it, Gil?"

"I don't know what you mean, Catherine," Grissom said, smiling at her.

The rest of the group laughed and Sara's face was flushed. She smiled, too embarrassed to speak.

"So," Grissom said, "Catch me up. How's the B n' E coming?"

"Just turned into a missing persons, possibly a DB," Nick told him, "The girl's a college student, Erin James. Her roommate said that Erin came home late Sunday night after her brother called and told there was a family emergency. No one's seen her since."

"And we found plenty of blood at the scene. Definitely female and thirteen matching markers with the brother," Warrick told them.

"Mom or sister," Sara translated.

"Right," Nick told her, "Now we're just waiting for a warrant for the mom's DNA."

"Good," Grissom said, turning now to Catherine, "How's your DB?"

"Suicide," she said blandly, "I found out about an hour before I called you. Case closed."

"Good," Grissom said again, "Sara and I'll be working our case all day. The evidence we collected last night has become inadmissible in court so we're back to the beginning."

"Wait a minute," Warrick said, "Weren't you two out in the field all night? How did you manage to lose the only evidence you had?"

"Because," Grissom told him, "We weren't in the field all night."

As if on cue, Sara sneezed, "We were walking in the rain for three and a half hours."

"What?" Nick asked, "What happened?"

"The Tahoe slid off the road, up on it's side and Sara and I had to shoot out the windshield," Grissom explained.

"So, where'd you end up?" Nick asked, passing an interested look at Sara who scowled at him again.

"The only dry place we could find," Grissom told them, "A motel."

Sara's heart felt like it was jammed in her throat. She could feel the fire burning on her cheeks and she looked back down at her cup of coffee. She sneezed again as Nick said, "Wait a minute. The two of you? Alone in a motel? Sara, is there something you'd like to tell us?"

"Go to hell," she muttered.

Nick and Warrick's pagers beeped simultaneously once again and Nick said, "You're lucky, Greg just saved you."

"Not really," Sara muttered, "I still need a ride back."

Nick and Warrick got up to go just as Sophia arrived with their plates.

"Sophia, could you please make these orders to go?" Grissom asked kindly.

The girl smiled, "Sure." Then she looked at Sara, "This always happens to you doesn't it?"

Sara actually laughed now, "You have no idea."