A Breaking Point

By Jess aka willowaus

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI and I am in no way making any money from writing this, alas.

A/N: Lots of thanks to AussiRayne for the beta. Sorry for the delay, stabs real life…on with the story…

Part Eight

When he turned onto 4th Street instead of making a right onto Stewart she knew they were heading back to his townhouse. Passing each restaurant and diner along the way, she wondered if she was wrong, if he would pull over and they would end up in one these buildings. As he parked in front of his house, she leaned her head against the window. 'Should have told him you would follow,' she berated herself.

She turned to offer a forced smile, shaking her head instead at the patient look he gave her. At least she had her purse. She could always catch a cab if she really needed to. Unbuckling her seatbelt she heaved a heavy sigh and got out of the car, closing the door and leaning against it as she waited for him to exit.

Grissom started up the stairs, stopping a few steps up he turned and looked behind him. She had yet to move from her spot, still gently leaning against the SUV, her gaze far away. "Coming?" he asked and continued up the steps, confident that she would follow, squelching the urge to look back again.

A quote came unbidden to his mind, something long buried from countless Catholic Sunday school lessons. 'But Lot's wife turned back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.' His mouth twisted in thought as he placed his key in the lock, unlocking the door. If he looked behind would the same fate happen to him, or would it be worse? Turning the knob, he cringed and pushed the door open. 'Worse would be if she was no longer standing behind me…"

Walking further into his abode, a breath he didn't know he had been holding was released when he heard the door shut, followed by her footsteps behind him. He continued his course towards the kitchen, his brow furrowing as he wondered if he had anything she would eat. He opened the refrigerator door, a small smile gracing his face as he spotted the bag of apples on the bottom shelf. He removed the bag and shut the fridge, turning his attention to the cabinets. His smile grew as he removed a box from one cabinet. Quickly, he gathered the rest of the materials he needed and whipped up an easy breakfast, hoping she would like it.

Balancing the bowls he entered the living room, eyes on Sara's form as she stood in front of one of his displays. "Breakfast?" he asked, placing the bowls down on the table.

She didn't move, didn't acknowledge his statement in any form, one of her hands moving instead to touch the glass. He slowly walked towards her, careful not to startle her as he came to stand beside her. "My mother had this one," she said, her voice barely audible. "Myrtle's silverspot butterfly. They're native to where I grew up."

"They are endangered," he told her, his gaze focused on her instead of the orange butterfly.

"I found it for her," she continued as if she hadn't heard him. "I don't know how it died, but it was lying on our front porch and I picked it up and pinned it to a piece of cardboard. I had just read A girl of the Limberlost. Elnora gathered moths for her friend, the Bird Woman. I gathered a butterfly for my mother."

"She tore it to pieces one night," she finished, her hand dropping to her side.

"Breakfast?" he asked, motioning towards the table.

"I'm not hungry," she half-lied. She was hungry, but sleep seemed to be a much higher priority to her.

"You should eat," he admonished her gently.

"I should do a lot of things," she answered, shifting her purse, and walking towards his table, shoulders slumped in defeat.

She turned to look at him curiously, one eyebrow raised in amusement as she asked, "Frosted flakes?"

He sat down beside his bowl, placing an apple down beside hers. Sara took a seat, looking down at the flakes that were soaked in milk. "Comfort food," Grissom admitted.

She looked over at him, startled by the fact that he was sharing something with her. "Mine is Cheerios," she told him, taking a scoop of the cereal. "My brother was a fan of this Tony the Tiger cereal."

He nodded and silence enveloped the two as they ate, both of their gazes focused on anything but the each other. The point of this breakfast was for them to talk, to try and sort out the situation between them. He frowned and ate another bite, trying to figure out what to start with, unsure what to say.

Grissom's eyes finally traveled back to her, watching her as she ate, taking in her haggard appearance, the slowness with which she picked up the spoon. "Have you been sleeping?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Sara shrugged. "As much as I ever do," she answered another lie to add to her list.

"Sara," he said, the way he said her name causing her to look at him. "Are you--?"

She stifled the sigh of relief she wanted to exhale as his phone rang. He glared at the object before flipping it open and gruffly saying his name in greeting. She took the opportunity to stand up and bring her dishes to the sink, watching the milk disappear down the drain.

"That was Jacqui," he told her, placing his dishes beside hers. "She has a handful of matches to the prints found at the scene."

"I'll drive you back to your car. Go home and get some rest," Grissom continued, washing out the two bowls, letting the left over cereal slide down the drain before flicking the disposal on.

He stacked the bowls on top of one another and placed them on a towel. Grissom looked over at her, his brow creasing in worry as he looked at her. She was staring at the bowls, her gaze never wavering. "Sara?" he asked.

She blinked and looked at him. "Ready?" he asked.

She nodded and followed him out of the townhouse and back to his car. The drive back to the lab was driven in silence, Sara hoping that it would stay that way. As he turned the car of he looked over at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, lifting a hand to touch her.

"I'll see you tonight," she told him as she opened the door, getting out of the car before he could say anything else; his hand falling to his side as he watched her go.

As she drove back to her apartment, she couldn't help but think back to the bowls he had stacked up, and how perfectly they had melded together.

"I matched all of the fingerprints," Jacqui said with a wide smile. "Four of them belonged to the Corbin family. I matched theirs from the prints Dr. Robbins sent over. The other four sets of prints all have one thing in common."

"Oh?" Catherine asked, leaning back in her chair and nursing a cup of coffee.

The print technician nodded. "They all were fingerprinted to work at the Tangiers casino," she informed them, taking a stack of papers from the table beside her. "Benjamin Leonard, Molly Phillips, Chelsea Hunt, and Calvin Knight."

Grissom looked at the four copied driver's licenses before looking at Brass. "Shall we see why these four felt the need to be in the Corbin's room?" the captain asked with a smile.

The night shift supervisor didn't answer, merely took the papers and exited the lab.

"Gladly," Catherine answered, taking one last sip of her drink before walking out of the lab. "Thanks, Jacqui."

Brass nodded at the lab tech before following the two CSIs.

Her apartment. That was where she had been heading. Somehow, and Sara wasn't all that sure how, she had ended up in the parking lot of the Tangiers. It had been five minutes since she had first realized this and she hadn't budged from the seat, eyes locked on the casino. Her car was off, keys in one hand, the other clutching the steering wheel. She saw a Clark County Denali drive by, Brass's car following behind it, and held back the urge to duck from sight. 'They wouldn't have seen you anyway,' she told herself.

She shifted, her head coming to lean against the steering wheel, eyes closing, as images of her childhood forced their way into her mind. She watched as her eight-year-old self walked into the house behind her big brother, entering through the kitchen door. Her mother sat at the table, a black eye forming around one eye, bruises running along her arms, their father lying in a drunken stupor in between the doorway to the living room. Her brother's hand gripped hers, pulling her out of the house and into the afternoon light. She spotted a flash of orange to her right and yanked herself out of her brother's grip, scooping up the dead butterfly from the porch, cradling it in her hands, ignoring her brother's cries for her.

Sara blinked, pushing away the images, looking back up at the casino before exiting her vehicle. She walked into the building, sighing at the onslaught of flashing lights and noise. She spotted Grissom, Brass and Catherine walking towards the concierge desk and walked in the opposite direction, trying to figure out why she was there. Stopping, she smiled as she took in the large, sparkling KidsQuest sign.

Talking with KidsQuest had been on her list of things to do. 'Might as well get it done with,' she reasoned with herself and walked towards the sign. A family of five came bustling by, the kids running towards the area, their faces full of delight, and their parents full of quiet relief. Sara stood back and watched as the father jotted down information, showing his license and hotel card key. The woman at the counter attached name tags to the kids backs and they scampered off inside, absently waving to their parents as they disappeared through the doors.

Sara resumed walking as the parents left, coming up to the counter and standing beside it as she waited for the woman to return. "Hi, I'm Dana Riles. Can I help you?" the red head asked as she exited the doors, coming back around the counter.

"Sara Sidle, from the crime lab," she informed her and showed her CSI badge to the young woman and smiled, trying to ease the worry that was now in her features. "I have some questions about KidsQuest."

"This is about the Corbin family," the young woman whispered meekly. "Let me get my supervisor."

Sara watched her disappear into through the doors again and leaned against the counter, her eyes sweeping over the floor, unconsciously watching out for Grissom and his entourage. She heard the doors open and turned towards them, watching Dana and an older woman exit. "Hello, Ms. Sidle," the older woman said, extending a hand in greeting.

Sara shook it and smiled. "I'm Vivica Harrison," the woman greeted. "Let's take this into my office."

The two walked around the counter and into another set of doors, entering into a small office with glass windows overlooking the KidsQuest facility. Sara took a seat in one of the chairs as Mrs. Harrison sat behind the desk. "What can I help the Las Vegas crime lab with?" Vivica asked, leaning back in the chair.

"Julia and Ethan Corbin were at this facility Thursday and Friday from nine am until twelve pm," Sara said. "What are the procedures for KidsQuest? How are children dropped off and picked up? What security measures are there?"

"Whoever signs the children in must show a form of ID and preferably a room key if they are staying at the hotel," Vivica replied. "Children are not allowed out of the facility once they have been dropped off, until they are picked up. The child must be picked up by the person that dropped them off, and that person must have proper identification in order to receive the child. Employees are not to bring the children to rooms. We've had some issues with that before and had to change our policy."

She motioned towards the windows. "We have enough activities and areas that the children rarely want to leave. Food is served here and there are rest areas for those who need a rest," Mrs. Harrison continued. "Only authorized personnel are allowed in the facilities and all of my employees undergo the same rigorous process as other daycare employees."

"I need a list of all employees who would have come into contact with Julia and Ethan," Sara said.

"Why?" Mrs. Harrison asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Any information I can gather about the family will help in finding who did this," Sara answered.

The supervisor nodded and moved towards her computer, clicking a few files before the printer came to life. She removed a small stack of papers from it and handed them to Sara. "Here you are," Mrs. Harrison said. "I added their employee cards as well. Phone numbers are on there for your convenience."

Sara nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Harrison," she replied as she stood.

She exited the room and shook her head as she spotted Grissom, Catherine and Brass on the other side of the counter, conversing with Dana. She smiled weakly and continued her course, nodding to the three. Catherine and Brass's eyes rose in surprise but Grissom's face showed no hint of emotion, his eyes following her every move.

"Here is a list of all the KidsQuest employees who had contact with the family," Sara said, handing the papers to Brass.

"Is Calvin Knight in that list?" Catherine asked.

Sara watched Brass flip through the pages, ignoring Grissom's unbroken gaze. "Yes, he is," the captain said, removing the copy of the man's card.

"He did say he worked with them here and then brought the kids to the room on Friday for their mother," Catherine said with a sigh.

"He did?" Sara asked.

The swing shift supervisor nodded. "We just finished interviewing him. His prints were found in the Corbin's room," she informed the other CSI.

"They shouldn't have been," Sara replied. "KidsQuest employees do not bring children to guest rooms. Parents must sign their children out."

"Damn," Catherine said, shaking her head. "We had him."

Brass's phone was already out, against one ear as he relayed the information about their suspect to dispatch, hoping the young man would still be in the casino and easy to apprehend. Sara looked up and saw the young man in the picture walking towards KidsQuest, apparently finished with his break. He spotted the four of them and dropped his soft drink as he took off running in the opposite direction.

All four of them took off in pursuit, Brass relaying the information as he did so. Sara watched as the young man ducked through a row of slot machines, almost disappearing into the crowd. She stopped in her tracks as she watched Grissom fall upon the young man, dragging him down by the waist, landing a punch to his gut as the man swiped at him. She looked away from the scene, astonished by the fury she saw emanating from the usually stoic entomologist.

"I got him, Gil," Brass said, pulling the young man to his feet as two casino police came over to help.

"Catherine," Grissom said, causing Sara and her to look towards him. "I'm taking Sara home. I'll be at the station as soon as I can."

The swing shift supervisor nodded and followed Brass and the suspect out of the casino. Sara looked at her feet as she felt him approach. His hand gripped her forearm and he began to steer her towards the parking lot. "Which one?" he growled, the anger audible in his voice.

"Right out front," she said, her voice sounding distant to her. "Second row."

They walked in silence out to the parking lot, a thousand thoughts running through Sara's mind. She handed him her keys, falling into the passenger seat.

"I don't know what to do with you," he said as he started the car.

Tears welled in her eyes as she leaned against the window. "I don't know either," she whispered.

"You're off this case," he informed her. "God, Sara, are you trying to lose your job?"

Tears started cascading down her face, her body trembling. Fear enveloped her as she realized that she didn't care. "I can't find the beauty in this anymore," she said softly, eyes closing as her body shook with the force of her sobs, scared that she was losing her very being. 'Who am I without this job?'

TBC