Chapter Twelve

10:00am

Grissom's pager went off, waking both him and Roger. Roger picked up the pager and looked at it.

"Sheriff Atwater wants you to go to the break room." Roger said, softly.

Grissom sat up slowly and put his feet on the floor. He reached for his shoes and felt the sharp stab of pain in his temples. Gritting his teeth, he growled and picked up his shoes. Suddenly, he felt a strong pair of hands help put his feet into his loafers.

"Okay, let's get you up," Roger said, helping him to his feet.

"Right desk drawer, dark glasses, please," Grissom managed.

"Okay, just don't move." Roger said, reaching over the desk to retrieve the glasses.

Handing them to Grissom, who put them on immediately, they left his office. Walking slowly to the break room, Roger was on his right, while Lenny trailed them. When they walked into the break room, Grissom stopped. The room was filled with the entire graveyard shift staff except Sara. They stood when Grissom walked into the room. He looked at their faces and then at Rory, who was at the head of the table. Grissom leaned against the door frame and waited.

"Now that we're all here, I wanted to officially inform you that one of our CSIs was found murdered late last night. Sofia Curtis was positively identified. There is a possibility that she might have been murdered by the same man who killed Mr. Grissom. That's all." Rory said.

Grissom straightened and walked toward Lab 4, leaving the rest of the group sitting in stunned silence. He walked in with Roger and found Sara, carefully taking notes.

"Hi," he said, softly.

"Hi," she said, looking at him.

"How's the regression going?" he said, trying to stay focused.

"Just finished," she said, standing. "Tuesday six pm,"

" Good job," Grissom said, adjusting his glasses.

"I had Greg process a silk scarf found with Sofia. He found fagara, a type of pepper only available in China."

Grissom stood silently, shifting his weight from leg to leg.

"Can you give me a half an hour to clean up?" Sara said, standing in front of him, trying to read his feelings through his dark glasses.

"Would you mind if I helped?" Grissom asked.

"No, of course not,"

"I need to make a phone call. I'll be in your office when you're ready to leave." Roger said, leaving the lab.

"Thanks, Roger," Sara said, before turning back to the evidence spread out on the corkboard.

Grissom reached into a box on the wall shelf and pulled out a pair of latex gloves and put them on. He carefully gathered up the different samples of bugs and the cork board that represented the time line. Sara called down to Doc Robbins to give him the regression findings.

"Thanks, Sara. I'll call Seb. How's Grissom?"

"He's here with me cleaning up, then we're heading home."

"Okay, sounds good. Bye,"

"Bye," Sara said, hanging up.

Turning to help Grissom, she realized that he had cleaned up everything and was staring out the window back into the hallway. She walked up behind him and touched his shoulder. He flinched in surprise and then calmed.

"Come on, I just need to drop this off at Evidence and then we'll go." Sara said softly.

She walked to the table and picked up the cardboard box containing their test results and walked out of the lab towards Evidence. Grissom followed with Lenny now at his side, Sean following the group, noting that Grissom was looking paler and more exhausted as each moment passed. Sara logged in the evidence, signed the report, and slid her arm around Grissom's waist. They walked back to his office.

"I'll meet you at home. Uhm, I'm gonna have Scott drive me." Grissom said, turning to walk to the parking lot.

"Okay, we'll be right behind you,"

Grissom walked down the hallway with Lenny at his side. Lenny called Scott to have him bring the car up to the employee entrance. Moments later, they were off.

Sara walked into Grissom's office while Sean stood outside and found Roger packing up the igloo.

"Hi, where's Grissom?" he asked, opening an envelope and filling it with phone messages.

"He went ahead with the boys."

"Okay, I have his pager, phone, the Igloo and his important phone messages." Roger remarked.

"Great, I'll meet you out back. I have to get my purse and coat from my locker." Sara said.

"Okay,"

Sara walked out into the hallway towards the locker room with Sean in tow. Roger set the door lock, gathered up Grissom's belongings, turned out the light, and pulled the door shut behind him. He walked to the employee entrance at the same time Sara was driving up in her car and got in.. Sean pulled up behind her in his company car.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at Grissom's townhouse. Locking the car, they walked side by side up the short staircase and walked in through the open door to find Lenny on the phone speaking in terse short phrases, while Grissom stared at calligraphy painted in flowing script on the wall above the sofa. He shook his head slowly and turned for the staircase.

"Grissom, can you read it? Do you know what it says?" Lenny called, his phone still to his ear.

"Yes, it's running script. It says, Bou fuk," he said, over his shoulder.

"Which means?"

"Revenge," he said, starting up the stairs.

"Grissom, wait, don't go up there. I haven't cleared it." Lenny called, handing his phone to Sean as he charged up the circular stairs.

Grissom opened the door to the bedroom. The room had been ransacked. The photos had been pulled from their frames and cut into shreds. The Jenkins painting, a gift from his mother, lay damaged on the floor. In its place was more running script. Their clothes were strewn everywhere and the furniture was all overturned. He backed out of the room quickly, turning into Lenny and pushing him against the railing.

"I have to go, I have to go, now." Grissom said, his voice low and edgy.

"Yeah, Grissom, you do. You, Scott and I are heading to The Hotel. Sean? Stay with Sara and Roger. Sara, you have ten minutes to pack up what you need." Lenny said, walking slowly down the circular staircase, feeling Grissom's hand pushing on his shoulder.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Grissom headed to the door. Lenny caught up with him, stopping him for the moment. Sean handed his phone back to him.

"Roger, put his meds in the Igloo with the doctor's directions, please. I'll take that with us." Lenny requested, physically blocking the door

"Please," Grissom said softly, his hands clenching and unclenching.

"Hang on, Grissom," Lenny replied just as softly, as Grissom pushed against him to leave the townhouse.

Sara walked up to him and put her hand on his cheek, seeing the fear and anxiety in his eyes. He put his hands on her face, drawing her into a kiss. Taking the Igloo from Roger, Lenny escorted Grissom down to the waiting car. Lenny got Grissom settled in the back seat and then ran around the car to sit next to him. As Scott put the car in gear, Lenny pulled his phone out and dialed Seb.

"Robbins,"

"It's Lenny, there was more in the bedroom. Grissom is with Scott and me. We're heading to The Hotel. Sean is following with Sara and Roger. Can you alert Tibbs that we're coming? Grissom needs some R & R."

"No problem. I'm calling Jim and sending Tyler and his team to work with Catherine and her team. Between Quantico and Vegas, the top two Crime Labs in the country, we should know everything."

"Right, thanks,"

"Bye,"

"Bye," Lenny said, shutting his phone.

11:15am

He looked at Grissom. He had shifted and was sitting upright and forward, his head in his hands. Lenny looked to see where they were. Scott slowed for a red light and Grissom unbuckled his harness, opened the door, and walked out into the traffic and then the crowd.

"Shit, I'm on him, I'm on him," Lenny said, jumping out of the car to follow Grissom.

Scott pulled his phone out as he maneuvered the car to the right hand lane, using the walkie talkie feature of his Nextel phone.

"Robbins,"

"Bugman is on the move, on foot. Lenny is with him,"

"Okay, it's okay. He gets panic attacks. I should have known this would happen. I'll call Sean and Tibbs. Call Lenny; tell him to be loose, but cautious. This may go on for a couple of hours until he tires." Seb remarked.

"Roger, that," Scott replied.

"Robbins out,"

"Hayfield out," he said before pressing the code for Lenny.

"Spradlin," he answered his breath in spurts.

"Boss says stick with him; be loose but cautious. This may last for several hours."

"Terrific, we're heading north, passing the Nugget."

"I'm on my way. Are you walking or running?"

"We were walking and now we are running."

"I'll be there as soon as I can,"

"Thanks, we may have to switch, if he keeps up this pace. I'm not the runner, you are!" Lenny joked.

"Hayfield out,"

"Spradlin, out,"

1:34pm

Grissom slowed finally and stopped. They were somewhere in sight of Route 147, northeast of the city. Scott stood next to him, also leaning over, their breathing filling their ears with sound. Lenny pulled up alongside and put the car in park.

"Hey, Grissom? Let's go see Sara, okay?" he suggested.

Grissom turned to look at him and silently got into the car. Scott sat next to him, casually draping his arm over Grissom's shoulder in an effort to control him. Grissom seemed to welcome the human contact as he looked out the window. Lenny called ahead to find out what suite Sara was in. It took them almost forty five minutes to get to The Hotel. Scott and Grissom walked into the lobby with Lenny five steps behind. The three men looked disheveled, not the normal hotel crowd, and when the elevator came, they had the car to themselves. They were silent, looking ahead in the car until it stopped on the fourth floor. Lenny took the lead, heading out and turning to the left. At the end of the hallway, Lenny stopped and knocked on the door of suite 424. Sean opened the door and Grissom walked in. Lenny put the Igloo on the nearest table and followed Sean out of the suite.

Grissom was physically exhausted, but still mentally revved up. He walked into the bathroom and stripped. Stepping into the small bath/shower combo, he remembered how much he liked his shower at home. He soaped and rinsed, completing his task in less than fifteen minutes. He turned off the water, toweled off and walked into the bedroom. Sara was asleep. On the bureau was a stack of shorts and t-shirts. He pulled one from each, got dressed and slipped into bed quietly. Grissom reached for her gently and then relaxed, smelling her shampoo, and her.