Not to proud about this chapter. I was having the occasional writers block when I wrote it. I'm too tired to even attempt to have it proofread. So I apologize in advance.
Chapter 3
"Let's just get this over with." Warrick stated, a hint of irritation in his voice. Grissom had ordered the two of them to process Sara's car and from the looks of it, Nick was not the least bit interested in getting it done. He slowly bagged one of the notes that Sara had received and frowned. "Man, are you even going to attempt to help me?"
"Look, man. I told you. We're not going to find anything." Nick answered, his hands waving a note that he had found a couple of days ago in his locker.
Nick,
Chlorine gas and a bunch of typewritten notes.
That's all they're going to find.
Charlie.
Warrick held no interest in the note. He took it from the CSI with one of his gloved hands and bagged it, much to Nick's surprise. "We really should start processing."
"What if we don't find anything?"
"What if we do?" Warrick replied, his eyes lingering on a picture of the team that Sara had kept in the glove compartment. It was way back in the days when Sara was fresh from California and he had gambling problems. Sara's face was cut out of the picture and he wondered whether it was Sara, or the suspect who had done it. 'Not Sara.' He told himself, realizing that it was definitely the latter. "The guy's human. He can slip up like the rest of us."
"He hasn't yet." Nick whispered, mostly to himself. He walked closer to Sara's car and started processing. It didn't make sense arguing with Warrick. Time was of the essence and every second he spent arguing, Sara was probably paying for with her life. As much as he had wanted to not believe the note, somehow a larger part of him did.
Hours later, they found that the note was, once again, right.
Chlorine gas and a bunch of typewritten notes. That was all they did find.
A sharp pain that traveled through her neck and head woke Sara up with a start. It only took her a second to realize that someone was going up the elevator. Drifting in and out of consciousness, the words Catherine uttered barely registered. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to concentrate.
"Grissom's in his office. He needs more help than I do." Sara blinked as soon as she heard Catherine say the words. 'In his office? Why the hell am I still alive?' She shook her head in confusion. It dawned to her that there were 10 elevators in the CSI building. She'd always thought that maybe whoever had done this to her had planned everything well.
'Perhaps not.' She told herself. She recognized Greg's voice as soon as he started talking and a look of confusion registered across her features. "Didn't the note specifically say that Grissom should stay out of his office?"
"So?" She heard Catherine reply.
'Stay out of his office?' Sara frowned. 'But that would save me.' It seemed ironic that her killer would say this. It almost seemed as if 'Charlie' was trying to save her life. It was either that or the reason he was telling Grissom to stay out of his office was completely unrelated to why she was in the elevator.
"Fine. I'll go get the lab results for the notes we found and get up there." She heard Greg say. She sighed in relief. That meant that Greg wasn't going straight up. 'Just how many shots at life do I get?'
'Notes.' She berated herself. She realized that the key to everything was for her to remember everything that had happened. She always had a good memory and she hated that her concussion was taking it away from her. She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to remember anything that might help her.
FLASHBACK:
"You should really watch where you're going!" Sara scolded as she helped the injured man up. She frowned in concern when she felt him shiver as soon she touched him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just a little flustered."
She chuckled. "You should be. You almost got ran over by a bike!"
"I've never seen you around here before." He replied, a grin on his face. She was surprised at how fast he had changed his demeanor. He seemed confident now and she raised her brow. Seeing him stumbling across the grass, he'd thought the man was helpless. 'Guess not.'
"That's because I've never been here before." She answered. She smiled at the thought of herself actually having a day off. It'd been a long time since she had gotten one and she never would've guessed that she would actually have fun. Grissom had told her to get a life, and here she was, getting one in Pahrump.
A smile spread across the man's face. "Workaholic?"
"You could say that." She replied and as if by cue her pager went off, the smile on her face quickly fading when she saw who had paged her. Grissom. "God damn it, Grissom! Case? What? Its my day off!"
"Your boss?"
"Yeah." She replied, already heading out.
"I didn't get your name!"
"Sara Sidle!" She yelled back.
His eyes flickered in the sunlight. "Sara Sidle."
"Catherine told me that you might need help." Greg announced as soon as he entered Grissom's office. The entomologist only grunted in reply and it didn't take him long to realized that he wasn't welcome. Grissom seemed to be busy with whatever he was doing. He cleared his throat, hoping to ease the tension. "What are you doing?"
"The note told me to stay away from here. I have to know why." Grissom replied, his eyes lingering on a piece of wire that led straight out. He had never seen it before, but then again he knew that the CSI building was doing some rewiring. He knelt down and touched it. "Greg, do you know what this wire is for?"
"Probably from all the reconstruction going on. Nothing weird about that. I think it leads outside." Greg replied. A curious frown was plastered on the supervisors face as he inspected the wires. Greg was right. It did lead out the door.
A frown spread across Grissom's face. "I can't see where it goes."
"Probably goes in the wall."
"Maybe." He replied. It didn't look like any work had been done on the wall. And the wire looked as if it went underneath the door. He looked at Greg who had begun inspecting the inside of the office with curiosity and sighed. "Did the labtechs find anything that might help us?"
"No." Grissom knew that he really didn't need to ask. If they'd found something he knew that Greg would waste no time telling him. Nevertheless, disappointment spread across his face. He clenched his teeth and stood up, thinking of useless he was without any evidence. 'Follow the evidence.' He had used to say. And now he didn't have any.
"You know what, we're looking outside of the door. Maybe what were looking for is what's inside." Greg suggested. He looked at Grissom who looked as if he was a million miles away and shook his head. "Let's close the door."
"No. Don't. I don't want anything to be compromised. I'm going to go check on Nick and Warrick. " Grissom replied. He looked at the doubtful look on the young's face. He stood up and headed out, not knowing Greg was about to disobey his next words. "Don't do anything I didn't tell you to do."
"Bingo." A smile spread across Greg's face as soon as he saw what had been behind the door. He had closed the door in half so he could at least see what was on the other side. Another note.
Grissom,
Didn't I tell you not to go in?
Charlie.
He gritted his teeth. He was about to rush towards the lab when he heard the phone in Grissom's office ring. He frowned when he saw that there was no number registering on the screen. He picked it up, already knowing who it was.
'Dr. Grissom?'
'It's Greg.'
'Greg Sanders. I applaud you for obeying my orders.'
'Where the hell is Sara?'
'Top the third elevator in the building that your in.'
'You're bluffing.'
'No, I'm not. I don't ever lie.'
'What did Sara ever do to you?'
'Nothing.'
'And you're hurting her?'
'Mr. Sanders. I suggest you head out right now. Sara could die.'
'Bullshit. I want you to stop bluffing. Sara's not on top of an elevator.'
'She is and you have twenty seconds.'
'Twenty what? Till she dies?'
'No. Fifteen seconds.'
Silence.
'If she really is there. Tell me why you're making it so easy for me.'
'I'm not. Ten seconds.'
'You are.'
'I'm not Greg. I'm only telling you because you're about to die anyway.'
'What?'
'Five seconds. Head out.'
"What the?" Greg mumbled as soon as the line went out. He eyed the room and for the first time, noticed the box hidden behind the door. It didn't even take a second for him to recognize what it was. Irony was all he could think about. If he'd had followed the man's orders and not pried he could have saved Sara.
The explosion came in an instant.
"Greg!"
