Okay, so from here on out there will be clifhangers and blood. This is where the rating comes from, oh and all that swearing from before...
Tessa is awsome! We're working with differenttimezonesand she's still quick on getting back to me.
Keep reviewing, I want to know how I'm doing.
Grissom was right behind Sara when the receptionist told her she had a package. She gave Grissom a knowing expression and put on gloves before accepting it. They went right for an unoccupied lab with the package. He stopped her before she ripped it open.
"We need to process that. I'll go get my kit and check on the others before we get started."
She nodded and sat down in a chair to wait. She watched him leave then turned her attention to the thick package. It was smaller in length and height than the last two but it was wider.
Her name was proudly exclaimed across the top the same as before. A sense of dread washed over her as she thought about its contents. The stalker had been in her home and taped her…who knows what pictures he had sent to her now.
She made up her mind and picked up the package. She went to the break room and saw all her co-workers, except Greg, through the glass wall. She knew they'd been talking about before she came in because they had fallen silent and the air changed.
"Hey, girl. How're you doin'?" Warrick asked trying to ease some of the tension.
She smiled at him and it even reached her eyes.
"I'm fine. How's the coffee?" she didn't wait for the answer before going over to the counter.
"Uh, Greg made it so it should be primo." Nick answered giving the others questioning glances. Warrick and Catherine just shrugged.
Sara could see their reflections in the glass and bowed her head; she turned to them and sighed.
"Please don't do that. I don't want you to feel sorry for me or feel that you have to act like I might go off the deep end. I'm fine. We'll find the guy and this will all be over." She paused seeing their ashamed faces. "If you want to help me; pretend like nothings wrong." She took her coffee mug and her package and left without telling Grissom what she originally came into the break room to tell him.
Catherine opened her mouth to speak but Grissom cut her off.
"Sara's right, don't bother Catherine." He said holding up his hand, "Just do as she says. You have your assignments."
He found her in a rarely used layout room; she had gathered the necessities to process her mail.
"I thought you were waiting for me." He said as Sara picked up a pair of scissors to cut off the sealed opening.
"Changed my mind. Whatever is in here is personal and I'd feel better if I was the only one laying eyes on it." she paused just short of cutting open the envelope. "I'll page you if I need you." She finished with a softer tone.
"I'll be in my office."
Sara watched him leave and felt guilty because he actually looked disappointed. She cut open the envelope to preserve any evidence in the flap and set it aside while she dumped out the contents of her package.
A piece of paper fell out covered in numbers and a VHS tape clattered on the tabletop. She tried not to rush things by grabbing the tape and rushing to Archie's lab. So methodically she picked the tape up and set it aside then went about dusting in inside of the envelope for prints knowing the plastic interior would hold prints better than the outside.
She smiled triumphantly as she pulled a juicy print off the plastic, her heart racing because she knew the print was good enough to get at least seven common markers when they found the guy.
Continuing she dusted the tape just in case but found nothing. In her notebook she wrote down the numbers and began to translate them:
I MUST SAY I'M SURPRISED I DIDN'T KNOW U AND UR BOS(2) WERE TOGETHER. DOES HE KNOW UR SE(2)ING OTHER PEOPLE? DOESN'T MAT(2)ER U WIL(2) SE(2) THAT IM BET(2)ER FOR U.
A cold shiver passed though her as she read the finished note. Mentally she shook herself and gathered the note and tape went to the QD lab and sent the note through ESDA to see what else was on the paper. It looked like another journal entry.
She was about to work it out when Greg came in.
"Hey, Sara. Word around here's you got a secret admirer."
'Way to be tactful Greg-o' she thought. "Stalker, Greg. Big difference. Is there anything I can do for you?" she could hear the annoyance in her voice.
Greg shied a bit.
"I was just wondering how you were holding up."
"I'm fine Greg."
"Okay." He paused. "I'm there for you if you need me." He shuffled on the spot obviously uncomfortable and nervous voicing his feelings.
She held his gaze and her icy interior melted. She knew it wasn't his fault and he wasn't there when she berated everyone else.
"Thanks Greg. I appreciate that." She nodded. He tapped the doorframe with a fist and disappeared down the hall with the biggest smiled she's ever seen on him. She smiled and shook her head at his goofiness while turning the numbers into letters:
I WATCHED HER COME OUT OF THE BUILDING. SHE LOOKED SO SAD. I WANTED TO GO TO HER, TO HOLD HER BUT HER BOSS WAS THERE.
I TRACKED DOWN SARA'S DATE. HE WASN'T VERY HELPFUL. HE DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER BUT I STILL THINK HE CAN HELP ME GET HER.
YES SARA, MY LOVE. YOU WILL BE MINE.
With that done she felt she needed to take a break and gathered up the note, envelope and tape. She couldn't shake the eerie feeling she had after reading the passages as she walked down the hall to the break room.
She came around a corner and connected with one of the lab rats that she didn't recognise, knocking her down. It surprised her and she screamed. He tried to help her up but she swatted his hands away, closing her eyes overwhelmed with fear.
TBC…
Up next Sara calls Rick...
