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Chapter 3

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"You've got to be joking me!"

Flipping through the file, Sara was appalled. Though there were subtle differences in this case, thephotos of the victims were so hauntinglyfamiliar it made her nausious. The cord was ripped off the bedsid lamp. The girls' bodies were tied to the beds instead of posed. From the greasy streaks on the bedside tables, doorknobs, and window panes, it seemed as though the suspect had wiped everything down rather than wear gloves. Unlike other criminals, this suspect was smart enough to not ejaculate in the room, leaving no DNA other than a few stray hairs which turned out to be of no help as the DNA wasn't a match to anyone in CODIS.

Flipping through once more, Sara further noticed that anyone who had previously worked the case had turned up missing. All the names on the list were female.

Staring at Culpepper, she yelled again, "You've got to be kidding!"

"No, I'm not," he sighed. "I thought you'd be happy with a case like this."

"A copycat case? Come on, you know as well as I do that copycats are harder, since they always fix whatever mistakes the original made, especally the ones that got them caught... And this particular original was maticulous!"

"All the more reason for you to take it. You always said you enjoyed a challenge," he crooned.

"I never-"

"Think of it as a way to make a great first impression. After your eagerness to stop the original, we figured this would be the perfect case for you. Good luck, and welcome to the team."

She stared at his retreating form in shock, anger, and confusion, but a half an hour later, as she locked the door to her new apartment behind her, the most overwhelming emotion she felt surging through her was fear. Not just fear for her life, but fear that she'd fail and that her failure would lead to the torture and death of more innocent women. How could they expect her to take this on alone? It had taken the entire Vegas eam to take down the original, and Grissom had almost-

'No,' she chided herself. 'I didn't move 3,000 miles across the country for his name to pop back up. I'll do it alone and I'll show them all... I don't need him...'

Sighing and wiping away the beginnings of a pool of tears, she realized this was going to be a very long - however long she would stay. Coming to the bedroom, she strew the case files on the bed, grabbed some clothes from her yet to be unpacked suitcase, and went to the bathroom. A good soak in the tub would straighten her out.

As she waited for the warm bubbly water to fill the tub, she set about making the room a bit less empty. She set her few candles by the tub and lit them with a match. She brought in and put away what few toiletries she'd brought with her. She even started taking clothes out of her bag and putting them in the small armoir, suddenly very glad she'd chosen an already furnished apartment until she could send for her things and find a larger place of her own.

But each item she pulled out of her suitcase brought with it another memory and a fresh onslaught of tears, leaving her with a sudden and overwhelming desire to hear the voices of those she'd left behind. Deserting all notions of a hot bath, Sara drained the tub and dug through her purse for her new cell. Without any thought of hesitation, her fingers flew over the keypad, automatically dialing the number she knew by heart. Only when she heard him answer did the memories of all that had happened between them resurface.

"Grissom."

Surging emotion replaced all concious thought. Despair, anger, confusion, and frustration alternately assaulted her brain as she fought to remember exactly why she had called him. She iped at the wetness that had trailed down her face, tasting the salt left on her lips.

"Hello?"

When he spoke again, she realized she had to say something, though her mouth was dry and her brain was blank. She considered simply hanging up, but she couldn't do that to him, not now... not after the way she'd left. But what was there to say?

When he called out a third time, he sounded agitated yet somehow desperate.

"Hello?"

"I-" Her voice cracked as she stammered. "I - I'm sorry... I - I don't know why I called.."

With that she hung up, no hearing him call her name.

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"Sara? ... Sara, please don't-"

The dial tone was shrill in his ear as he clung to the phne in desperation and disbelief. Could it have been her? The answer was immediate: He'd known it was her from the moment he'd heard her voice. The only question now was should he call her back... She was obviously distraught, but once again the answer was clear. If she'd called here after a week away without a word, that could only mean that se missed him, which was a good sign.

Thumbing his way to the Call History, he redialed the number hoping against hope that she'd answer. By the third ring, he'd almost given up, but just as he was about to pull the phone from his ear, he heard a click and a sniffle, foolowed by the harsh command:

"Leave me alone, Grissom. I don't know why I bothered."

"No, Sara, please don't go," he pleaded. "There's so much that I need to explain."

She scoffed. "Now you want to explain? Uh-uh, you know what? Save it for Sofia!"

Grissom stared at the ground. As much as the comment stung, he couldn't say that he didn't deserve it.

"Sara, I don't know what you think happened between me and Sofia, but watever it is, it's not true."

She let out a forced chuckle and then sniffled again. "It doesn't matter, Grissom. It was true to me. 'Truth is only that which is taken to be true. ... There may be nothing behind it, but it doesn't make any difference so long as it's honored.'"

He paused for a moment before speaking. "I would've thought Stoppard to be a bit modern for you."

"Whatever," she sighed. "The point is, I'm sick of playing your games. I'm done with it... Goodbye, Grissom."

He heard a click and a second later, the dial tone once again asaulted his eardrum.

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