A/N: Sorry, I know it's been a little long since I posted, but I had to take a break to get some re-perspective on this story and deal with RL. But here it is!
Chapter Ten"Okay, here's the plan." Lindsey's team huddled together. "Lindsey, you and Soph are pretty quick. You're going to be our runners. Everybody else, distract the other team. Shannon, you're going to be our fake runner. Make sure they think you have the flag. Everybody got it?" Dylan glanced from player to player. "Okay, break."
"Everybody read?" The ref called.
The two team captains nodded.
"3, 2, 1, go!" The ref shouted.
Lindsey and Sophie hid behind brush trees, waiting until the first round of chargers had passed. Lindsey lifted her head at Sophie and Sophie nodded. They sprinted towards the flag. Both Sophie and Lindsey grabbed at the flag, but Sophie got it, tucking the flag neatly up her sleeve, only the bright orange corner sticking out, as per the rules that at least one half square inch must be visible at all times.
Sophie and Lindsey dashed across the field in separate directions. "I got her!" Ben yelled, tackling Lindsey to the ground. "Unhand that flag." He joked.
Lindsey opened her palm. "Not it." She grinned cattily, chest heaving and pressing into Ben.
"You're…" He glanced up to see Sophie crashing across the divide between the two teams amidst cheers from her side. "Damn, Linds." He was still lying on top of her. "You're good."
"Thank you." Lindsey smirked. 'I should, uh, get back to my team."
"Oh, sorry." Lindsey tried to ignore the tingles prickling over her stomach and legs as Ben slid off of her.
Lindsey scrambled up and trotted off.
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"Good morning." Brass handed Sara a cup of coffee.
"Oh, God." Sara put a hand to her forehead. "How'd you get in here?"
"Cath let me in. You called her last night."
"I did?"
"Yep." Brass nodded. "You were pretty shaken up."
"That's good to know." Sara deadpanned.
"Sara, Gil sent you this letter." Brass sheepishly held out the expensive stationary. "I, um, read it."
"Jim!" Sara looked horrified. "You had no right to read this letter!"
"I know. And I'm sorry. But Sara, you were so out of it and you were clinging to that letter as if your life depended on it, so I thought it might have something important."
Sara sighed. "I couldn't finish reading it. What did it say?"
Brass handed her the letter. "How far did you get?"
"He said I was too dangerous." Sara snorted. She unfolded the letter and forced herself to read.
Jim poured himself a glass of water and watched the conflicting emotions flash over Sara's face.
"He loves me?" She whispered. "I mean, I know he said it in California, but I didn't think he really meant it."
Brass took her hand. "I'm glad you're okay, Sara. We were worried about you."
"Was I really that out of it?" Sara sipped at her coffee.
Brass nodded. "You weren't…Cath said you wouldn't talk to her and you were crying a lot."
"Wow." She sighed. "What am I going to do, Jim?" She leaned against the counter.
"I can't tell you, sweetheart." Brass considered Sara to be the daughter he'd never truly had. Ellie hadn't been able to save herself, but Sara had. "You've got to decide for yourself. No one can tell you what to do. It's got to be your decision."
Sara stared at the wall. "What do I do?"
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"Gil? I'd like you to meet my cousin." Anna Swanson was no longer the mousy brown-haired butterball Grissom remembered. She was petite, about 5' 3" and much slimmer. Her half-curly half –straight locks had been completely straightened with a flatiron and dyed to a more shimmering auburn.
But it wasn't Anna's new look that startled Grissom. It was her companion.
"Gil?" Anna's companion asked incredulously.
"Heather?"
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"Hi." Nick stood and pulled Kelli's chair out. "I hope this restaurant is okay."
"It's perfect." Kelli assured him.
"They have plenty of vegetarian dishes, if you're a vegetarian. My friend Sara is a vegetarian and she –"
"Stop." Kelli held up a hand. "Please stop rambling. I love it. It's great." She started laughing.
"What?" Nick demanded.
"Warrick said I had to watch out for you." She giggled. "He's a real lady-killer." She imitated Warrick's lower, scratchy voice. "He said you'd charm the pants off of me. You're not suave at all."
Nick recovered admirably. "How do you know this isn't just an act?""I guess I'll just have to take my chances." Kelli picked up her menu.
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"So?" Amy greeted Kelli at the door. "How did it go?"
"It went fine, Ames." Kelli shrugged off her coat.
"But you're home early." Amy followed Kelli.
"He had to go in to work." Kelli explained.
"But you're seeing him again, right?"
"Yes."
"Good. Oh, Warrick called. He told me to tell you that Gil will be back in town on Friday. Who's Gil?"
"I'll tell you when I know."
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"How do you…how did you meet?" Anna asked.
"Problems at work." Heather supplied.
Anna's smile faded. She'd always had a bit of a crush on Grissom and she had to have known what Heather did for a living.
"Not those kind of problems." Grissom clarified. "One of Heather's employees ran into a little trouble."
"Ah." Anna didn't look convinced. "Is your mother here, Gil?"
"Yeah. Upstairs." Grissom let them into the house.
With one last look, Anna started up the stairs.
"Gil." Heather practically purred. "It's been a long time."
Not long enough. Grissom thought darkly. "It has."
"You never apologized for siccing the police on me." She scooted closer.
"I'm sorry." Grissom apologized mechanically.
"Hmm. I know how you could make it up to me." Heather suggested coyly.
Grissom froze. How exactly do I answer that?
"You know, we never made it…as far as I intended." Heather pursed her lips seductively.
"Heather," Grissom hesitated. "I'm…you and I aren't going to happen."
Heather straightened up and her voice lost its soft smooth tone. "It's her, isn't it?"
"Who?"
"That brunette bitch. I saw you talking to her when I came down to the station for questioning. She's who stopped you from sleeping with me, wasn't she?" Heather had gone from cute kitten to angry tiger, claws fully out. "Did she finally let you paw around for awhile?"
"Don't talk about Sara like that." Grissom said quietly, firmly.
"Oh, you found her and that Nick going at it like rabbits, I bet." Heather tossed her hair.
"Heather, I'm warning you. Stop. It."
A delighted grin spread across Heather's face. "Well, well. You're still waiting!"
"Get. Out." Grissom clenched his teeth.
"But I have to wait for Anna." Heather's eyes went wide and innocent.
"Anna, how long will this take?" Anna came by every few days to check on Emily, keep her company, and prepare a few meals. She'd just stopped by to visit since Grissom was taking care of his mother.
"Done." Anna reappeared.
"Great. See you later." He almost pushed Heather out the door.
This isn't over, Heather fumed. A month. I can have her out of the way and be lying in Gil's arms inside a month.
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"Hey, doc's posting." Warrick grabbed Nick.
"Right behind you." Nick followed Warrick towards the morgue.
"Nick." Casey from tox popped his head out of the tox lab. "Got your results back on the Carlin case."
"Warrick, I'll met you at the autopsy, okay?"
"Sure." Warrick headed to the morgue.
"So, whatcha got?" Nick leaned against the wall.
"Methylenedioxymethamphetamine."
"MDMA?" Nick cocked an eyebrow.
"Ecstasy." Casey confirmed. "Pure. It's next to impossible to get pure MDMA in the US. Most E is laced with speed, Ritalin, or caffeine. Sometimes even heroin. That's what you're going to find at a rave. Pure stuff is more rare at a rave."
"Then why was she rolling?"
"That is your job." Casey handed off the report. "I just analyze."
"Okay, thanks." Nick made his way to the morgue.
"Your vic was probably…' The doc was saying.
"Rolling on E?" Nick asked.
"Yeah. How did you know?"
Nick held up the tox report. "Casey said the stuff was pure."
Warrick raised an eyebrow. "Doc, why would somebody take pure ecstasy? Don't ravers usually do a mix?"
"She could have a dealer friend." The doc replied. "Or she could be a dealer."
"Anything else?"
"Nothing that springs to mind. Small tears on the inside of her cheek and bite marks on her tongue suggest that she hadn't been using all that long, but her body shows signs of long-term abuse. It's a far-out possibility, but someone may have been drugging her to get her to lose her inhibitions."
"But that draws us back to why was the E pure?" Nick interjected.
"And why wouldn't someone who was just trying to get her messed up feed her vodka-laced drinks or slip her a roofie. Why go for E?" Warrick added.
"I didn't say it was a realisitc possibility. But if she's been a long-time user or if she's a dealer, she'd know to have some kind of a chew toy to prevent herself from waking up with a sore mouth." The doc shrugged.
"Hold on. I'll be right back." Nick ducked out of the morgue and dialed Kelli's home phone number.
"Hello?"
"Amy. Great. Was Amber a dealer?"
"Excuse me?" Amy seemed to choke on something.
"A dealer." Nick repeated.
"No!" Amy half-shouted. "I promise you that she was not a dealer."
"Okay." Nick said, not entirely convinced. "See you later."
"Bye."
"Amy says Amber was definitely not supplying." Nick reentered the autopsy room.
"I recant my earlier statement that someone may have been lacing her or that she was a newbie." Doc Robbins mused.
Both men arched their eyebrows.
"She's got 4-HTP in her system. It stimulates the effects and or reduces the severity of the crash after the user comes down from the ecstasy high."
"Was she rolling at time of death?" Warrick asked.
"Not a lot in her system, so either it was starting to wear off or she didn't take a lot. Like I said, the HTP might've boosted the effects, so she would've known not to take as much."
Warrick's pager beeped. "The dad's back in town. I'm gonna go interview him."
"And I'll check with Hodges on that green paint." Nick followed Warrick out of the morgue. "Thanks doc."
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A/N: Alright, who loved smart!Nicky all knowing what methylenedioxymethamphetamine was?
Teasers for the next few chapters:
Lindsey gets into a little more trouble than she can handle. Grissom finally comes face-to-face with his possible half sister. Does Sara show up or not? And Nicky and Warrick make a startling discovery in the Carlin case.