Foretold by SLynn

Summary: A woman walks into the crime lab only to tell Greg Sanders about her murder, a murder he's going to solve. Is she just playing games or is it something more?

Spoilers: Through 'Gum Drops'

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing and will return them all when I'm done, virtually untouched.

"When I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me.
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be."

The Beatles 'Let it Be'

Chapter 4: Trouble

Sara checked her watch again.

It was just after three in the morning, almost halfway through shift and Greg hadn't come in.

Typically, if he was going to come in on his night off, he'd be in before two. It was a fairly normal thing for him. Greg, like the rest of them, didn't seem to know when to quit. And even though Sara hadn't really believed he would show up tonight, she found herself disappointed as she realized he wouldn't.

Shaking her head and getting back to her photos from last night, it dawned on her that this was probably the longest she'd gone without seeing him in two or three months at least. Maybe more. Sara and Greg frequently worked the same cases. Even when they didn't, he would often come ask her opinion about something, or vice versa. In the very least she saw him before or after shift in the locker room.

Knowing that she wouldn't be seeing him tonight left her with an odd sensation in her stomach. A feeling she wasn't quite sure she was ready to touch on. Not yet at least.

Resolved not to check her watch again, Sara inadvertently turned to the clock instead earning a smirk from Nick.

"You got somewhere else to be?" he asked half-mockingly.

"No," Sara said, turning quickly back to the work at hand. "I just hate pouring through this mess."

"Since when?"

Sara rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"Well," he went on, coming round to her side of the table, "this may speed things up."

Nick placed a picture in front of her from the crime scene she and Greg had visited last night. He had agreed to take over in place of Greg without question, but the two of them weren't making any real headway.

"What am I looking at?" Sara asked.

It was a legitimate question given that the victim's apartment had been so littered with debris she and Greg had almost gotten lost in it.

"Check out the indentation on the carpet," Nick explained, pointing to a bare spot of floor. "Looks like something was taken."

"Or just moved," Sara countered.

Nick shrugged, not denying it.

"Still," Sara said, scrutinizing the picture once more, "it's something. More than we had at least. Judging by the size, it looks like there could have been a box there."

"Well what was in the other boxes?" Nick questioned, knowing it could clue them in on what might have been taken.

"Don't know. We never…"

Sara stopped mid-sentence at the sharp tap on the door. Turning as one, Nick and Sara saw Sofia peek her head inside.

"Sorry," she said as she took a step inside. "I was looking for Greg. I know he's off tonight but I thought he might have stopped by to catch up."

"Yeah," Nick answered first, "he was going to but he called a few hours ago and said he couldn't make it."

"He called?" Sara asked surprised, turning quickly back to Nick.

Nick looked from Sofia to Sara and back again not sure what was going on. Feeling that he was obviously missing something. Thinking he now knew why Sara had been staring at the clock all night.

"Is everything okay?" he asked. "He's not in trouble or anything, right?"

"No," Sofia said shaking his head, "nothing's wrong. Brass asked me to check out something for a case he's on."

Nick nodded, but continued to watch Sara who had keyed in on what Sofia was saying.

"I'll give him a call in the morning," Sofia finished, giving a short nod as a way of saying goodbye and heading out the door.

Before Nick could ask Sara exactly what that was about she got up and excused herself from the room.

"Sofia," Sara called out, "wait a minute."

Sara caught her just before she rounded the corner.

"What did you find?"

"I don't…"

"Jane," Sara went on, "I know that's what Brass had you looking into. What did you find?"

"I'm not really supposed to be telling everyone…"

"I'm not everyone," Sara interrupted.

Sofia sighed and motioned Sara towards the break room.

"We ran the photo of her through the counties facial-recognition program to see if she was on file," Sofia started as they sat down at the table with the folder between them. "We didn't have fingerprints and it was a long shot but we got a match. Woman's name is Ashley Baker. She's twenty-three, been arrested a few times for fraud."

"No convictions?" Sara asked as she flipped through the contents of the file.

"None," Sofia confirmed. "Charges were dropped both times. Her latest arrest was for the same. Also dropped."

"Why?"

"Because like the previous cases the victim wasn't the one filing the claim."

"I don't…"

"Each of the arrests, it's been a family member or a friend of the victim making the charge. Not the victim. Seems Ms. Baker here has a pattern of luring in a mark, befriending them and then taking what she can get until she's run off."

"So even after that," Sara said looking over the previous arrests once more, "after taking…wow…last time it was over seven thousand dollars? Even after that there weren't formal charges made?"

"Said it was a gift."

"A gift?"

"Yeah," Sofia said with a short nod. "Ms. Baker said it was a gift and she was backed up by Mrs. Juarez. Of course the family didn't agree but…"

Sofia shrugged her shoulders; there wasn't anything else they could do.

"But why would she just give her that much money?"

"Because she said she was psychic."

Sara just stared at her in disbelief.

"Mrs. Juarez said she gave Ms. Baker the money for helping her communicate with her dead husband."

Sara let out a huff of anger.

"All of the other charges were pretty much the same. All older people with recently deceased partners. This girl comes in, says she can get in touch with them…"

"For a price," Sara added.

"For a price," Sofia repeated with a nod, "and then does whatever it is she does, collects what she can and leaves."

"And these are the only charges…"

"So anyone without family to step in likely didn't. She's probably done it dozens of times. Nice scam she's got going on I'd say."

"Alright," Sara said after a pause, "then what's her angle with Greg? She can't believe he'd fall for this."

"I don't know," Sofia said, standing to go.

"Listen," Sara said following her once more, "I have to call Greg about a case we're working on tomorrow morning. I could pass this on to him if you want."

"You sure?"

Sara just nodded in return.

"Okay," Sofia said somewhat reluctantly handing over the file. "Just be sure to let him know right away."

"Don't worry. I've got it covered."

The first time he heard it, he ignored it. After all, it was nearly four in the morning. No one he knew came by at four in the morning.

Then he heard it again. Louder this time and much more persistent.

Taking off his headset, Greg turned away from his laptop and looked over his shoulder towards the living room.

And there it was.

Someone was definitely knocking, loudly, at his front door.

"Hold on," he called out as he made his way to the disturbance.

Maybe the building was on fire, he thought, as it was the only reason he could come up with to why someone would be banging on his door this late and with such intensity.

"Sara," he said, completely taken aback as he opened the door.

"You didn't answer your phone," she said, not waiting for him to invite her in and just stepping around him instead.

"It's four in the morning," he stammered back.

"And you didn't answer your phone," she repeated. "I called six times."

Greg didn't know how to respond to that so instead he turned lamely around the room looking for his cell.

"It's in your car," Sara supplied. "I checked it before coming up."

"Is there some kind of emergency?" Greg asked. It was the only reason he could think of that would explain her behavior.

"You're supposed to keep that on you at all times."

"And I do," he countered, "normally. I just forgot it I guess. Why? Is it one of those drills? Did I…"

"No," she cut him off, "I just… it's not important just don't do it again."

"Okay," he returned, still not understanding what was going on.

As they stood there in mutual silence Greg realized that Sara hadn't ever come by his apartment before and was a bit embarrassed at its current state. He wasn't a messy person, but if he'd of guessed she was coming over he'd at least have moved his laundry to the bedroom.

"Aren't you working tonight?" he finally asked.

"Yeah," she answered having apparently calmed down. "I can't stay long. I just needed to tell you that Sofia looked into that girl from the convenience store, the one with the false leads. She's not a Jane after all but an Ashley. Ashley…"

"Baker," Greg cut in, "yeah, I know."

"You do?"

Greg just nodded again, looking down and shuffling his feet.

"How?"

"I talked to her today."

"What?" Sara asked sharply. "When? Where?"

"You forgot why."

"I was getting to it," Sara returned seriously. "Why Greg? Didn't Grissom tell you not to?"

"He did."

"And?"

"And what?" he asked back, taking a seat on the couch. Choosing to ignore the look she was giving him.

"Greg."

"Okay, I know I shouldn't have. I should have just walked away, but I just wanted to hear her out."

Sara sat down as well, waiting for him to continue.

"I left my coat at breakfast this morning and went back inside to get it and Ashley was there. Waiting. Like she knew…but never mind that. We talked. She didn't really have much to say but…"

"But," Sara prodded.

"I don't know. She really thinks something bad is going to happen."

"Did she give you any details?"

"Not really," Greg admitted. "It was like she couldn't. She must know more than she's letting on but for some reason..."

Greg stopped talking as he noticed Sara had begun silently shaking her head.

"What?"

"She's a fraud Greg."

Greg continued to stare at her as if he didn't understand what she'd just said.

"She rips people off," Sara continued handing him the file she'd gotten from Sofia. "Tells them that she can help them speak with their dead loved ones and takes them for everything they have."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does."

"No," he argued. "This can't be the same person. Ashley Baker can't be that uncommon of a name."

"It's her," Sara returned, taking the file and flipping to the mug shot as confirmation.

"But what would she get by telling me…"

Sara stared at him as he struggled to work it out, clearly conflicted.

"…she wouldn't gain anything…" Greg mumbled as he scanned over the police records in hand. "…and how would she have known…"

"Known what?"

Greg looked up as it dawned on him he was talking out loud.

"Nothing."

Sara studied him for a second or two, completely unconvinced.

"When I talked to her today she knew things about me," Greg admitted.

"What kind of things?"

"Personal things," he answered bluntly, making it clear he wasn't going to divulge any more than that.

"Did she say anything else? Ask for anything?"

"No. She hardly said anything really. Just pretty much the same as she'd said before, about there being a murder and me solving it."

"So maybe…"

"No wait," Greg interrupted. "She didn't just say solve, she said stop. She said I was going to stop it all."

Greg stood up and began pacing the room. His conversation with Ashley had kept him up all day and night. There was no making sense of it and yet, even now, he couldn't let it go.

"Listen," Sara said, standing as she spoke, "I don't know why she's doing this. Maybe she got bored or thought there would be some type of reward or something. And I don't know how she found out what she knows about you. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that now that you know who she is you don't have to waste any more time on this."

"I guess…"

"No," Sara said quickly. "Don't guess. Do it. Just drop it Greg. Next time she approaches you just keep going."

"She's not violent Sara."

"You don't know that."

It was his turn to look at her disbelievingly.

"And you can't trust everybody," Sara went on, ignoring his look.

"I don't," he shot back, growing defensive. "Is that why you came over? To lecture me like I'm some third grader walking home from school alone for the first time. I know all about stranger-danger Sara."

"I was worried Greg," Sara returned evenly, "I came over because I was worried."

Greg went from angry to shocked in a split second. Shocked and borderline pleased despite the situation.

"I'm not trying to lecture you. I'm not," Sara continued. "And I don't mean to imply you can't take care of yourself or that you don't know what you're doing. But I've worked with people like this longer than you have and there is something not right about this woman. You have to just take my word for it. Actually no, you don't. Ask Brass. He knew it too. She's trouble. Trouble like you don't need."

Greg nodded, acknowledging the truth of what she'd said, but still unable to shake his own gut feeling.

"Listen," Sara said checking her watch, "I've got to get back to work. Keep the file, look it over and think about what I've said."

"I will," Greg replied as he walked her to the door.

"And keep your phone with you please," she said with a smile as she pulled the door open.

"Sara," he said, stopping the door with his hand and her with his tone. Standing a little closer to her then he knew he needed to be. "You don't have to worry. I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"I know," she agreed, not stepping away.

"Good. So goodnight or morning I guess."

Sara smiled at him again saying a quick goodbye before moving away. Greg watched her walk down the steps and out towards her car before finally shutting the door.

He knew what Sara was getting at. All signs pointed to Ashley being trouble, in the worst way, but still. He couldn't get over the look she had in her eyes.

It was the hollow, empty look he'd seen once before of a person with a secret. A secret so bad, so terrifying that they had to tell someone or else risk being consumed by it.

And despite every assurance he'd just given Sara, Greg knew he couldn't just walk away from it now.

This woman needed help and she'd reached out to him. He might be a fool for believing her, or for even trying, but it wasn't in his nature to just turn his back on someone in need.

Ashley might be trouble, but right now it just seemed like trouble was what she was in.