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Chapter 4
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Five hours later, Warrick went looking for Grissom. It was almost the end of shift, and he and Nick had come up empty. Checking out the remaining commandments, they could only match one to a member of the team: murder for Sara. No surprises there, but nothing for the rest of the team and they were running out of ideas. Now, Warrick headed for Grissom's office, hoping to catch him on the way out with any suggestions.
"Hey Griss, we got squat!" Warrick called as he knocked and opened the door in one swift motion. "Nothing on the Ten-"
He stopped short when a figure popped up from the couch gasping for breath.
"Sara? … Is that you?" Warrick headed for the couch. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she sighed a moment later, her breathing slowing now. "Bad dream, I guess."
"Sara Sidle sleeping? I don't believe it!" he teased, grabbing a chair from in front of Grissom's desk and placing it so he could face her.
"I don't know what it is." She shared a smile with Warrick before shaking her head. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Hey, you can't be too hard on yourself. Maybe you're catching up," he cooed soothingly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "After all that's happened lately, it's really no surprise. Plus, we've been up three straight days working this."
"Which I can usually do standing on my head, Warrick!" she said, exasperated.
"Hey, hey, cool it. Look, did you get some rest while you were at Grissom's?"
Sara cocked her head. "Wait, how'd you-"
Warrick laughed. "When Brass and Catherine called Grissom's house and cell phone the other day after court, you picked up the house phone remember? Not to mention, he drove you in to work right afterwards."
She winced. "Yeah, I forgot about that. Okay, yeah, I slept, but mostly that was from the medications I was…am…on. For the pain. But even that doesn't excuse falling asleep on the job, literally."
"Chin up, girl. Cut yourself some slack." Getting a smile from her, he asked, "Now how far did you get with your patterns?"
"Not very far."
Blushing, she picked up her papers and map from the floor beside the couch. The spiral that she'd discovered earlier was highlighted.
"I got as far as labeling every scene, red for the first four vics and yellow for the crew, all with names and other vital info."
"Why is yours in green?"
Warrick watched as her eyes dropped.
"I'm the only one who's been attacked that's survived."
Silence passed between them for several moments.
"Sara?"
Both Sara and Warrick looked up and were startled to see Grissom standing in the doorway.
"Can I speak with you please?"
Sara wasn't sure if Warrick saw the pleading eyes behind Grissom's otherwise emotionless face, but she did. Knowing how important it must be for him to show even that much, she nodded.
"All right, don't push me. I'm going," Warrick chuckled, putting the chair back in its proper place. He patted Sara on the shoulder, whispering, "Take it easy," as he made his exit, closing the door behind him.
Sara smiled. "What's up, Grissom?"
"Did you find anything?"
She hesitated before answering, "No, not yet." Looking deeper into the eyes that kept betraying him, she asked, "How much did you hear?"
He hung his head and smiled a bit. "Most of it, I'm guessing." His face turned serious when he looked back up at her. "Sara, why didn't you say that you were tired?"
Now it was her turn to smile. "First of all, you wouldn't have believed me. I never sleep, remember? … But, that's not why you came in here, is it, Grissom?"
His eyes fell to examine the pattern of the tiles on the floor, avoiding her knowing stare. "Sara, I think you should find somewhere else to stay for a while."
He huffed the words out in one breath, as if getting it out quickly would somehow reduce the pain. When he finally chanced a glance upward, he saw that he was wrong, as her papers all fell to the floor and a look of hurt and betrayal crossed her face before she covered it with her all to familiar look of stone.
The sadness that had flashed in her eyes prompted Grissom to explain. "For safety reasons only. Vivian has made it clear that she's out to get every one of us now… If she finds you at my house, she'll think it's a two for one and I won't have anyone get hurt just because I'm being selfish."
She dropped her gaze, struggling to figure out the many possible meanings of another one of Grissom's double entendres, trying desperately not to look as crushed as she felt.
Not being able to stand her silence and obvious confusion, Grissom searched for an excuse to leave. When none sounded good enough, he simply hung his head and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
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