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Chapter 5

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Immediately, the silence was broken as the room erupted in conversation about what they'd just heard. Archie stopped the tapes and ran to make copies while Grissom pulled a Bible for m the stack of books on the floor. Sara glanced his way to see him lost in thought.

"Hey, Griss!" she called over the noise. "What's up? You've got that look."

The others stopped their chatter to hear his response. They all knew "the look."

"Did you get that message?" Nick probed. " 'Cause it was lost on me."

"Jeremiah, Chapter 35, verse 17," Grissom said without looking up. " 'Therefore, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Because you refuse to listen or answer when I call, I will send upon Judah and Jerusalem all the disasters I have threatened.'"

"I'm still lost," Nick shrugged, looking to Warrick for confirmation, who shrugged in return.

"Think!" Grissom leaned forward. "The tribe of Judah… that's us. Jerusalem… that's Vegas. She's playing God with us right now. She's saying we're not listening to her."

"Is she insane! We just played 20 Questions with her!" Sara exclaimed in frustration.

"That's jus it, Sara. We determined the direction of that entire conversation. We wanted the answers to our questions, and we never gave her the chance to truly make her point. You've got to start thinking, Sara! You've got to dig deeper!"

Silence ensued as the team watched for Sara's reaction. To no one's surprise, Sara got up from her seat across from Grissom, leaving all her papers on the table, and left the room, her eyes filling with tears.

"Grissom, you ass!" Catherine near screamed, when everyone had returned to their workstations and Nick had run after Sara.

After Sara had left, an awkward silence had filled the room before Catherine had them all get to work on the analysis of the recording. Now she was in Grissom's office, pacing the floor, and giving him a piece of her mind.

"Catherine, please," Grissom pleaded.

"Please what? Look, I don't care if you're my boss. I don't care if you fire me, but you had no right to call Sara out like that! You embarrassed her in front of the ENTIRE lab! You've got to stop punishing her professionally for personal issues!"

"Whoa! Okay, hold it. That's not what's going on here," he cried in his defense.

"Don't tell me that, Grissom. Do you know where she is right now? She's in the locker room with Nicky, crying her eyes out because she thinks you hate her."

"I don't hate her! It's just the opposite, Catherine, and you know it!" Grissom challenged.

"But she doesn't, and she's gotta hear it from you." Leaving Grissom to his thoughts, Catherine left his office and headed to her own workstation to listen to the tape.

When Catherine got there, she barely had time to sit down, let alone push the play button when Nick rushed in.

"Cath," he panted. "Sara's… gone."

"Gone!" Catherine sat straight up in alarm. "Gone where?"

"She went…to the home…of the…last vic," he managed. "To talk…to the wife. I couldn't stop her."

As soon as the words were said, both CSIs jumped as they heard sudden footsteps run in the opposite direction down the hall. Grissom had evidently overheard the conversation because now he was headed to the parking lot to chase after Sara.

Catherine slouched and laid her head in her hands, rubbing her temples.

"Great," she moaned. "Sara's gone to the sadistic wife's house and Grissom is running after her. Just great." She leaned over her desk and grabbed her radio, requesting backup to arrive at the house.

The last victim was a man by the name of Victor Simmons. He'd also been found whipped to death in his home in suburban Vegas, near Henderson, and Miriam had killed him for adultery. The wife had become infuriated when the team told her they'd found nothing and filed the case as unsolved, screaming at them to get the hell out of her house.

Now, it was all Catherine could do not to rush over there and make things worse. She was almost desperate enough to pray that nothing went wrong.

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