Illusions
Author: Jess
A/N: Thank you for all the reviews :o). Rouch is my hero, thanks for all your help, and CSI4nsicAce for making sure my grammar is correct.
Disclaimer: I still do not own CSI.
Chapter Fifteen
'Stubborn. Hot-headed. Empathetic,' Grissom counted one Sara Sidle characteristic after another in his mind as he recorded a measurement. He placed the pupa back into the jar and pulled out another. As soon as they emerged from their pupae, he would be able to identify the different species found on the third victim and be one step closer to creating a timeline.
Over the last thirty minutes, he should have settled into a steady rhythm of measuring and recording the different pupae and larvae sizes. Usually, it took him five minutes to develop a rhythm to the process. But not today. Instead, he continually looked up at the doorway, waiting to see Sara walk in to help. It was distracting him, and no matter how hard he tried to control the anxiety, he couldn't.
Grissom frowned as he looked down at the pupa and then at the book he was keeping his records in. 'Did I record this one?' he wondered and counted the number of entries he had taken so far. Looking at the jars, he counted the insects inside to see if they matched up. He had recorded that one. He shook his head in frustration. He needed to focus.
Placing the pupa back into the jar, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, silently counting to ten. Distraction was never a good thing. He despised being distracted by things. Usually, he was able to block them out, to focus solely on the task before him. Well, except where Sara was concerned. She had a way of distracting him from the first time he met her.
He smiled gently as he reopened his eyes and looked down at the evidence jars, remembering the day they met. He had been halfway through his spiel on the importance of forensics and what the class entailed, when her hand shot up. Everyone else in the class had either been writing notes or looking off into space. She was the only one who had sat watching and taking in every word he said. He had been startled when her hand had risen into the air. Her in-depth question about Locard's Principle had intrigued him. Her focused, thought provoking discussion about forensics after class had amused and delighted him. And her gap toothed smile had enthralled and scared him.
"Well, the victim says it was her boyfriend who sexually assaulted her."
Grissom looked up from his measurements, confused to see Sofia Curtis sitting in one of the chairs across from him. She smiled at him before continuing, "I logged in all of the evidence, it's being processed, and O'Reilly took the girl's statement."
Grissom nodded and looked back down at the insects. "Is there anything that needs to be looked at on your end?" Sofia continued. "Do you need help with the insects?"
Grissom gave her a smile and replied, "No," before looking back down.
"I called Brass and gave him the list…" Sara said, her voice trailing off as she entered the room fully.
Grissom looked up, nodded for her to continue, and motioned for her to take a seat. She hesitantly did and nodded to Sofia in greeting. "He's on it," Sara continued. "He isn't sure when he'll know anything. He can't really start calling anyone at this time of day. Hodges is still processing any trace evidence that we found."
Grissom nodded. "I think I'll process the sheets," Sara said quickly and stood. "You never know, I might find something."
She exited the room before he could reply. Grissom looked back at the insects and frowned. "I'm sure you can find something to do, Sofia," he said, harsher than he meant to.
Grissom sighed exasperatedly as Sofia exited the room. He removed his glasses and massaged his temples as his head began to throb. A knock on the door caused him to look up. "Yes, Judy?" he asked, looking at the receptionist.
"There was a shootout in the 7-Eleven parking lot on East Bonanza road," Judy said and handed him the slip. "One dead."
"Thank you Judy," Grissom said.
He stood up and left the room, intent on finding Sara. Looking down the hallway, he saw her walking towards the layout room with an evidence box. She stopped and looked at him quizzically. "Shoot out at the 7-11," Grissom said and showed her the slip. "Take Sofia with you."
She opened her mouth to reply but he cut her off. "Humor me," he said. "Please."
He saw her struggle with his request before taking the slip. "Fine," she replied.
Grissom watched her walk away before returning to his office. He closed the door behind him and sat in his chair. Closing his eyes, he hoped he would be able to get at least some work done.
"Victim's body found near the store door. He appears to be going into the store. Two gunshot wounds to the back," Sofia said softly to herself. "Was he running from the perpetrator, or was he unaware of anyone pointing a gun at him?"
Sara shook her head and rolled her eyes as she took another picture. 'How can anyone not find that annoying?' she wondered as she bent over the body.
"We can't touch it yet," Sofia stated.
Sara looked up. "I'm not," she replied and leaned closer. "There's something by the victim's head."
She took a picture and reached into one of her vest pockets for a pair of tweezers. She carefully removed the evidence and held it up for Sofia to see. "A receipt?" Sara asked and placed the paper into an evidence bag. "The time stamped looks like one…something…I can't read the other part of it."
She looked at her watch. "It's 2:15 now, and it took us thirty minutes to get here. The call was placed in at 1:30. So sometime between 1:00 and 1:30 am," she calculated.
Sofia nodded and returned to processing the scene. Sara looked up at the store and smiled when she saw the surveillance camera hidden underneath the gutter. She turned and flagged Detective Vartann to her. "Do you see what I see?" she asked and pointed to the camera.
"I'll have the manager give us the tape," Vartann said and walked towards the store.
"Receipt found underneath the victim's body. Is it his? Or was it lying on the ground and he fell on top of it?" Sofia said as she continued to process the scene.
Sara sighed. 'It's going to be a long night.'
Sara breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled the Tahoe into the crime lab parking lot. Shift would be over in five minutes; she had no desire to stay and work further on any evidence. Her bath was calling her name enticingly, and she wasn't about to deny it her presence. 'I'll finally be able to get that bubble bath,' she thought and smiled as she turned off the ignition.
"Let's log in the evidence, and then I'll let Gil know where we are on the case," Sofia said unbuckling her seat belt.
"Sure," Sara replied and followed her to the back of the Tahoe.
'Five minutes and I'm free,' she thought as she removed a couple of evidence bags. Closing the door, she followed Sofia into the lab. 'Just five minutes.'
"I see you made it back in one piece," Grissom remarked from behind them.
Sara turned around and offered him a smile. "Yes, we did," Sofia replied. "The victim's wallet was missing, and he had just removed two hundred dollars from the ATM."
"Burglary?" Grissom asked.
"Possibly," Sara answered.
Grissom nodded. "We still need to look at the surveillance tapes," Sara said as the three started the trek towards the Evidence Room.
"I'm sure the tapes will corroborate the evidence we collected," Sofia responded.
Sara nodded and began logging in the different bags they had brought in. "There you are!" Greg yelled happily as he entered the room.
The three turned, unsure who he was talking to. "You, my friend, have one hell of an admirer," Greg continued and punched Sara playfully in the arm.
Sara looked at him confused. "I can't believe Judy didn't stop you when you came in," Greg said. "Though, she probably couldn't see over the vases covering the reception desk."
"We came through the back, what are you talking about?" Sara asked.
"Come on," Greg said and pulled Sara out of the room, Sofia and Grissom close behind. "They came in an hour ago. Over one hundred red roses, Sara."
Sara shook her head at the overload of information. She stopped dead in her tracks as the reception desk came in sight. Vases holding red roses were placed all along the counter. They heard a loud squeal of delight followed by Judy rushing over to the group. "Isn't it romantic!" she directed at Sara. "One hundred and twenty roses in ten different vases."
Sara shook her head. "But…" she said. "What? Who?"
She looked at Grissom, her expression one of complete confusion. "Oh, sorry," Judy replied and hurried back over to the counter.
She returned a few seconds later with a small envelope and handed it to Sara. Sara looked at the envelope, her confusion growing. Her name was written on the envelope. She carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the small white card inside. 'Thinking of You' was embossed on the outside. Opening the card revealed the message written inside. She blinked a few times as she reread the words.
"Well, what does it say?" Judy asked impatiently.
"And when love speaks, the voice of all the gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony," Sara replied. "I hope to see you again soon. Love, William."
"Who's William?" Greg asked. "Do we even know a William?"
Judy looked at the note and smiled. "That's Shakespeare isn't it? The quote he used?" she asked enthusiastically.
"It's from 'Love's Labor's Lost'," Grissom stated.
"Excuse us," he said, taking Sara by the elbow, directing her down the hall and into his office.
Sara continued her perplexed stare at the card as he closed the door. She looked up at Grissom, unable to read his expression. He also was intently looking at the card, his mouth scrunched, conveying his anger. She waited a few seconds, unsure as how to proceed. Finally, he snapped out of his daze and looked directly at her.
"I'm taking you home," Grissom stated and moved towards his desk, quickly putting on his jacket and searching for his keys.
"I think you're overreacting," Sara said and sat down in one of the chairs.
Grissom spun around, his mouth twisted in anger. "It's a note, Griss. And roses," she said and held the note up. "Nothing dangerous."
Grissom grabbed the note from her. "He's fixated on you," he spat. "Already, he's made two attempts to talk to you since your initial meeting. What do you consider that to be?"
"A way to show someone you're interested in them," Sara explained and shrugged. 'Something you wouldn't understand,' she added to herself, wisely not wanting to provoke him further.
Grissom glared at her, and she sighed. "Look, I'll grant you it's weird, but like Judy said, it could also be considered romantic," she said. "We have no proof he's 'fixated on me.' Maybe he just thinks I'm pretty."
"Or maybe he sees you as his next target," Grissom returned, his eyes narrowing. "Tall, brunette, extremely intelligent. I believe all of those characteristics describe the woman across from me."
"And I'm sure they describe a great number of other women in Vegas," Sara countered. She held up her hands in surrender. "Look, Grissom, I refuse to walk around always looking over my shoulder. I decided long ago not to let fear rule my life."
She looked down at her lap. "I'm tired," she said when she looked back up. "I just want to go home."
He opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off, "If you want to bring me home, fine. But how do you expect me to get back here tomorrow? And don't you dare tell me that I have the next couple of days off."
Grissom didn't reply. He simply removed his set of keys from the top drawer and walked to the door. "Coming?" he asked and held the door open for her.
Sara groaned as she rose. 'Oh, this is going to be fun,' she thought as they exited the office. They stopped by the locker room, and she removed her purse.
"Sara, what do you want me to do with these?" Judy asked as they passed reception.
"I don't care, Judy," she replied without looking back. "Let whoever wants to, take them home."
'Well, there goes my bubble bath again,' Sara thought as they exited the lab.
