----- ----- -----

Chapter 10

----- ----- -----

Two days later, Catherine sat in the locker room putting an a last few touches of makeup to cover up the buises on her face and neck. As she was closing her locker, Sofia appeared in the doorway.

"Any word?"

Catherine shook her head. "I'm really starting to get worried. It's been two weeks, and no one's heard from him."

"Well," Sofia sighed, "looks like we get to start another double."

"No, you don't," came a voice from behind them.

Confused, they both turned to see Grissom standing in the hall. Before they could get over their shock, he added, "Find the boys and get them all into the conference room. I've looked over the cases for tonight, and Vegas is a mess."

With that, he dissappeared in the direction of the conference room.

"Wait, Griss-"

Catherine's cry went unanswered and she was left gaping at the now empty hall from her place on the bench. She and Sofia stood staring in silence for a moment, trying desperately to understand what the hell had just happened when Greg, Warrick and Nick walked in laughing.

"Hey!" Nick called.

"What's up, boss ladies?" Warrick acknowledged the women before heading to his locker.

"Grissom just walked in and told us to go to the conference room for assignments," Sofia said flatly, as if still trying to absorb it.

"No way!" Nick and Greg shouted simultaneously, as all three men stopped what they were doing to stare disbelievingly.

"He's back?" Warrick asked in shock. "He's been gone for two weeks without a word, and now he's just suddenly shown up?"

Catherine hesitated. "Well," she said slowly, "not completely without a word..."

All heads turned her way.

"You spoke to him?" Sofia asked. "...And you didn't say anything!"

"He told me not to!" Catherineyelled in her effort to defend herself. "It was about a week ago. He said that he was fine, but he was going out of town and didn't know when he'd be back..."

"Oh, I've gotta figure this one out. Come on, guys." Warrick closed his locker and headed or the conference room, the rest in tow, with Catherine bringing up the rear.

----- ----- -----

"Good, you're all here. Before I pass out tonight's assignments, I'd like to thank Catherine and Sofia for taking over shifts while I was gone. Now, by the looks of things-"

"Wait," Nick interrupted. "You're not even going to tell us where you were for the last two weeks?"

Grissom shrugged. "No. Now, as I was saying, by the looks of things, we're still short-staffed, so I'm afraid we're going to have to continue pulling double shifts until all our empty postitions are filled."

"Ahh, man!" Greg sighed. "I don't know how much longer I can hold out. We've been pulling doubles for over a month, ever since Sara left, and-"

Grissom held up a hand. "I never said that I was finished. On that note, I've brought in some backup to help carry the load." Heads turned and interests peaked at his words. "She's a good friend of mine, and I think you'll approve. I have to warn you, though, she's been stationed in Quantico for some time, and-"

"Wait," Catherine stopped him, he hand cunconsciously moving to her neck. "You brought in a Fed?"

"That's the last thing we need around here," Nick agreed. "They practically took over the lab for the past two weeks."

"She didn't have anything to do with that, I promise. In fact, you'll have to fill us in on that later. I'm sure she'll be interested to know what's been going on lately." As confused looks were passed around the table, Grissom glanced behind them to see Sara in the doorway, silently smiling and awaiting her cue. Looking back to the others, he said, "Guys, I'd like you to meet my good friend, Agent Sidle."

At the sound of the name, all heads snapped to the door. Within seconds, everyone but Sofia was out of their chairs and crowded around her, all trying to get the first hugs. Smiling, Grissom watched the celebration from his place at the head of the table as they all began bombarding her with questions.

"Oh, my God," Warrick cried. "Is it really you?"

"You're a Fed!" Catherine asked incredulously.

"We missed you so much, Sara!" Greg's voice came from behind her.

Finally, Nick broke through, asking, "What's up? Why'd you leave?"

With that question, the room grew quiet once more as they waited for her response.

Sara sighed, glancing at Grissom and then looking at each of them in turn. "I'm sorry, guys. Why I left was... a personal issue, but it was something that had been botherine me for a long time, and I couldn't stand it anymore. But, that was no excuse for me to leave without saying goodbye. I should've at least warned you, but it all happened so quickly... I'm so sorry." Pulling each of them in, she squeezed her group of friends in a hug.

Watching from the table, Grissom turned to Sofia. "Nothing to say?"

She shrugged. "Nothing else needs to be said."

Soon they were joined at the table by the rest of the crew, talking and laughing as they took their seats. Sara took her regular seat next to Grissom.

"Okay, sorry to break up the party, but assignments are waiting," he started, clearing her throat. "Catherine and Warrick, 419 at the Belagio. A man was found dead at the craps table. O'Riley's there waiting for you. Greg and Sofia, you have the Parisian heist. Looks like the vault's been cleaned out, so don't forget to check survailance."

"Man, Vegas is going for the big bucks tonight," Warrick sighed.

"Not all of Vegas. Nick, you're coming with me and Sara. We got a 419 out in Henderson, suspicious circs."

"Alright!" Nick started to stand. "Let's roll!"

Sara gave one last round of hugs to those working on other cases and promised to hang out after shift, then hurried after Nick and Grissom, jumping in the back of the Tahoe, kit in hand.

----- ----- -----

Arriving at the scene, the three friends climbed out of the SUV to find cops everywhere, and none of them seemed want to go anywhere near the house. Climbing under the yellow tape, they were met at the door by Brass.

"Hey, guys," he started, then took a double take. "Sara! Is that you?"

She nodded and leaned in for a quick hug.

"Hey! Welcome back, kiddo! Good to see you.."

"Brass," Grissom chided. "the case, please."

"Oh, right, sorry. Where were we?"

"The body," Grissom prompted.

"Bodies," Brass corrected.

"There's more than one?" Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There's two. Mailman saw the husband through the mail slot, all bled out on the living room floor. No one knew about the wife till we did searched the rest of the house, standard procedure."

"Why is everyone outside behind the tape?" Sara asked.

Brass smiled. "You know cops... No one could stand the smell." A few chuckles later, he continued. "The wife's in the back bedroom. Last door on the left. Coroner already pronounced."

"Thanks," Grissom said, moving inside and setting his kit on the hall table, snapping on a pair of gloves in the process. Sara and Nick were close behind, following his lead.

"Wow," breathed Nick. "This place is a mess."

"Evidence of a struggle," Sara agreed. "There's shoe prints everywhere."

"Including a pair leading down the ahllway," came Grissom's voice.

"Let's follow them."

"You two go ahead," Nick said. "I got this."

Nodding, Sara and Grissom grabbed their kits and headed for the back bedroom, careful not to disturb the prints, but when they got to the door Sara stopped short. The scene was hauntingly familiar. The wife was tied to the bed with cotton strips, the cord ripped off the bedside lamp and wrapped around her neck. Sara looked down to see that the doorknob had been wiped clean, and looking around the room, a glossy sheen reflected in the window told her that it had wiped down too.

"Lividity's set," Grissom noted. "She died here."

"Petechial hemorrhaging? Defensive wounds on the hands and wrists?" she asked, not having move an inch.

He glanced at her questioningly, then checked. "Yeah, how'd you-?"

"Grissom, don't touch her."

"Sara, this is a case, I have to-"

"I really hate to do this, Grissom, but I outrank you and I'm telling you now to step away from that body."

A hurt and confused look crossed his face momentarily, but he obeyed, moving away from the bed and slowly towards her.

"I can't believe he followed me," she whispered.

"What's going on?" she asked, coming up beside her.

"This is my case... from Virginia. I was working this case."

"How can you be sure?"

"Everything's the same... Body position, ligature marks, defensive wounds, same kind of cloth, and you won't find any prints. He's wiped everything down. All his vics were married-"

"Wait," he stopped her. "We don't know that."

"Dude, you're slackin'." She pointed to the body. "Check out the left hand. Wedding ring."

"Alright, so what about the husband?"

Sara shook her head. "That part's new."

"Damn, he 's evolving... Alright, I'm calling Catherine and Sofia over here. We need all the help we can get."

"NO!" she yelled. "Don't bring them anywhere near this case! All the investigators that have worked it so far have been women, and they've all been drugged, raped, killed, and dumped. We never even found their bodies."

Grissom stood rooted to the spot, afaid of the answer to his next question. "If you never found them, then how do you know that?"

She sighed, then looked up and took a deep breath before answering.

"Because I was one of them."

----- ----- -----