Chapter 3
Looking up from his report Nick checked his watch and noted it was 8:45 a.m. "Sara…" For the last several hours she had been processing evidence from The Flying Aces murder with a passion. "Sara!"
She didn't lift her eyes from her microscope. "What?"
"It's 8:45."
"So."
Shaking his head he walked over and unfocused her microscope.
"Hey!"
"Good I've finally got your attention." He pointed to his watch. "You have less than fifteen minutes to clean up and get down to the coffee shop to meet Mike."
Enjoying the safety of the familiar setting, doing a familiar job with familiar people, she turned to her colleague and pleaded. "Can't you just go down there and tell him I got swamped..."
"Uh…NO!" Nick took her by the hand. "This isn't High School. If you changed your mind you need to be a big girl and go tell him yourself."
Reluctantly she removed her lab coat. "Okay…okay, I'll get a shot of Espresso and be back up here in ten minutes." Plodding out the door she ran into Catherine.
Noticing her coworker's dour expression she said, "Sara, you look like you're headed for the firing squad."
Nick snickered, "She has a date."
"A date?" Catherine suddenly felt two steps behind.
"It's not a date," Sara groaned. "It's ONE coffee at The Egg Stop with this cop from the scene last night. It's Nick's fault, he introduced him to me and…"
"8:53 Sara." Nick prodded while tapping his watch.
"Okay, okay I'm going."
Catherine waited until Sara was down the hall. "Nicky playing Cupid…very cute."
"Purely selfish." Chuckling he returned to his seat and picked up his next slide. "Things will be a lot less intense around here if Sara gets some action."
"You really think her one-track mind can be swayed by an ordinary cop." Catherine knew better.
With a wink he answered, "It's not her mind that needs swaying."
Catherine slipped into her lab coat, flicking her golden locks out from under the collar. "Not gonna happen. You see Sara needs her mind stimulated as much as…you get my drift."
Digging for his wallet he scoffed, "Twenty bucks says the cop will get a second date."
"You're on." She pulled up the chair next to him and began her line of questioning. "How old is this guy?"
"Forty-four."
With a knowing smile she chuckled. "Well that will significantly help his odds." She began a mental tally. "Looks? Bod?"
"6'2", dark hair, dark eyes, can out press me at the gym."
Raising a brow she inquired, "And why did you introduce him to Sara and not me?"
Lowering his voice to a sexy whisper he gave her the answer she wanted to hear, "because I was helping the needy and Catherine…you, my dear, are anything but needy."
Suddenly Grissom burst through the door. "Where's Sara?" Catching his breath he panned the room. "CODIS came through for her vic." He couldn't wait to tell her and begin the restoration process.
Catherine, much to Nick's surprise, announced, "she's on break at The Egg Stop. But if you want to talk to her you're going to have to hoof it down there because she left her cell phone and pager here."
Without another word, Grissom fled the room as if he were chasing a Bark Beetle.
Aghast at his so called friend's cheap tactic. "You manipulative b…"
"Hey, twenty bucks is twenty bucks." Catherine snickered. She knew as soon as Sara saw Grissom, coffee with the hunky cop would abruptly end. "Anyway it's for the best because your plan stinks."
"What? Why?" Impatiently Nick waited for an explanation.
"You actually believe the work atmosphere will improve if Sara gets lucky?" Shaking her head she eyed him like a naïve schoolboy. "Did you stop to consider how it would affect THE BOSS? Have you forgotten the cold front that blew in during the Hank months?"
A chill ran up his spine. "Damn."
Twirling her spoon in the brown pool of coffee, Sara searched for the desire to remain in her chair. Sure Mike was a nice guy but this was the last place she wanted to be right now. How she wished she had gone for the espresso shot instead of the grande.
Mike, sensing his date was a million miles away, offered her an out. "If you need to get back to work I'll understand."
Was she that obvious? " Sorry…" Placing her spoon on her napkin she finally looked up. "Certain cases really get to me and when I'm in this kind of funk I don't usually take breaks or have coffee with…people."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. Like I said last night, I'm really impressed with your dedication, Sara." Leaning in he smiled. "I'd love to sit down and discuss the details of your work. Forensic Science has always intrigued me."
"It's fascinating. I can't imagine doing anything else." Sitting back in her chair she sipped her coffee. The truth was she didn't do anything else. Did she even remember how?
"You must really need to decompress after cases like last night's." Intently, he studied her eyes. "What do you do for fun when you're not working?"
"For fun?" She parroted. "When I'm not working?" When she wasn't actually working she was thinking about work. "Hmm…"
In an effort to keep the conversation rolling, Mike prattled on. "Yeah, like I'm an outdoor guy, I like hiking, mountain biking, sailing. Although I haven't sailed since I moved from California. I actually sold my boat. My wife and I we had this great boat…" He stopped himself. "Sorry, that's the second time I've brought up my deceased wife. I really shouldn't…I have this problem of just saying what I feel. I really should keep my mouth shut…"
"No." Sara bolted up in her chair as if she had just seen an exotic animal. "I like that quality in a man. Feel free to tell me whatever your thinking." Talk about a one-eighty from Grissom.
With just the right dose of school boy charm he replied, "Right now I'm thinking I wish we were having dinner instead of coffee."
They shared a laugh and she eased back into her chair.
"So you didn't answer my question. What do you do for fun?"
"Oh yeah." She tried to think of an answer that wouldn't sound pathetic which meant the truth was definitely out of the question. "I like movies."
"Me too." Relaxed, he took another sip from his mug. "What was the last movie you saw?"
Busted she tried to cover. "I said I LIKE movies but I haven't seen one in a while because I've been pulling double shifts and…" Then she realized the irony of appreciating the guy for being honest while she sat across the table lying through her teeth. "Okay you know what…I haven't been to the movies in over a year." Tossing her hands in the air she gave herself up. "I don't have fun…at least what normal people would call fun. I work, I read, and ever so often I sleep. That's pretty much it. There you have it. I have no life. I'm pathetic." Maybe now he'd run screaming from the room and she could retreat to her safety zone back at the lab.
Engaged by her frankness Mike smiled. "Trust me; I know how easy it is to get consumed by the job. I did that for the first ten years of my career. You're not pathetic; you're just out of practice. So am I. Why not work together to break the cycle?" Knowing Sara was anxious to return to work he motioned for the waitress to bring the check. "How about catching a movie tomorrow? Maybe a bite to eat after?"
"Oh…ummm…" She just couldn't bring herself to do it. As nice as Mike was he just wasn't… "Grissom?" She had seen him out of the corner of her eye as he tore through the restaurant waving a piece of paper.
"Sara! We got a hit on CODIS." He rushed to her never noticing she wasn't alone. "Brass has the suspect under surveillance while we wait for the warrant."
Lit up like a Christmas tree she grabbed the file out of Grissom's hand. "I knew it wasn't that bastard's first time."
Mike cleared his throat. "Uh…Sara are you going to introduce me?"
"What?" It wasn't until she heard his voice that she remembered he was there. "Forgive me. Mike Rodgers this is Gil Grissom my…my boss." Yes, that's all he really was. "Mike was the supervising officer at The Flying Aces last night."
Grissom extended his hand while noting the badge information on Officer Rodgers' uniform. "I hear Sara really straightened out your boy."
Winking at Sara he said, "She scared the crap out of him."
Grissom kept his eyes locked on Mike while replying. "Yes, well he wouldn't be the first man she terrified." After all, he was a charter member of the club. "Well it was nice to meet you." Abruptly he announced. "Come on, Sara," while motioning for her to follow.
"Uh Grissom…I was kind of in the middle of something here." She flashed him a harsh glance. "Can you give me two minutes and I'll meet you outside."
Suddenly the picture in front of him came into focus and he didn't enjoy the frame. Irritated, he snapped, "If you're too busy I'll just pick up the warrant without you."
Her voice turned edgy. "Two minutes, that's all I'm asking. You can't give me two minutes?" That's all the time it would take to politely turn down Mike's offer. What the hell was Grissom's problem? Then she realized…it was one of those classic Grissom moments. He did this every time she had something else going on when he asked her to jump. Yes, he never wanted her too far away or too close.
Turning, Grissom headed for the door. "I'll just handle it without you and fill you in later."
Incensed, Sara jumped up from her chair. "No you won't, it's my case!" He was already out the door. "Damn him!" Looking down at Mike she hurriedly gave him a different answer than she originally intended. "Yes, I'd love to go out tomorrow. Four okay? Meet in front of the station?"
Mike, still trying to make sense of the drama, stumbled, "uh…sure, four sounds good."
Flashing a smile she said, "great and thanks for the coffee," before running toward the door.
xx
Catherine and Nick were comparing slides when Sara stormed into the lab. Immediately Catherine extended her hand ready to collect her twenty bucks from Nick.
Swatting Catherine's hand away Nick crossed the lab to interrogate Sara. "So…"
Still steaming from Grissom's power play she snapped. "What?"
Catherine eagerly joined in. "That bad, huh? Well at least it was only coffee so you didn't have to be tortured for long."
"Mike was fine. The coffee was fine." She tossed her sunglasses on the desk. "We're seeing a movie tomorrow."
Grissom slowed in front of the doorway just long enough to bark, "Warrant's ready!"
Sara lunged for her sunglasses and without another word made a beeline for the door.
Rubbing his fingers together Nick waited for his cash.
Catherine reluctantly reached into her pocket producing the twenty. "You might want to use it to buy a scarf because the wind shifted and the cold front is moving in."