SLOW BURN
~ Chapter 9 ~
"Sometimes I wonder just how dumb they think we are." Pushing his camera back into his kit, Greg shook his head in disgust. "I mean, I don't mind people lying to me, I'm actually used to that, but they could at least try to come up with a plausible story once in a while."
"What?" Scribbling her signature on the last of the evidence bags, Sara looked up with a teasing grin. "You didn't believe him when he said he was simply taking a nostalgic walk around his old neighborhood and he happened to come across his soon-to-be ex-wife's house on fire?"
"Strangely, no." Swinging the kit into the rear of the large SUV, he rolled his eyes. "Especially since it turns out he's been living in Pahrump since they separated, he was taking his nostalgic stroll at 3am and the guy reeks of gas which, coincidentally, is the accelerant used to start the fire in the first place."
"You're becoming very cynical in your old age, Greg." Placing the bags and bindles safely in the back of the vehicle, she stepped back with a smile as he pulled the tailgate down. "You know that, right?"
"In our line of work cynicism is a little hard to avoid, isn't it?" Tugging his jacket closer around himself, Greg nodded towards the cabin of the truck. "Come on, let's get in out of this wind, huh?"
"My money's on a quick confession," Sara commented as she pulled open the passenger door and climbed in out of the cold desert wind that had been blowing in from the south-west all night. "He doesn't look like the type that'll hold out for long, he's just lucky his ex was staying over at her boyfriend's at the time or he could have found himself facing more than an arson charge." Pulling the seatbelt across, she clipped it securely. "You know, there's a diner over on Craig Road that I've heard does a pretty mean cheese omelette so how about we stop there on the way back and I'll buy you breakfast?"
"Is that you or the baby talking?" Settling himself behind the wheel, he chuckled. "I remember the days when the most you ever used to have for breakfast was coffee."
"Well, as far as I can tell, junior's asleep at the moment so I guess it must be me," she countered as she adjusted the seatbelt to more comfortably accommodate the swell of her abdomen. "And, for the record, apart from the occasional cup of green tea, I've been caffeine-free for months now which might just explain why I would kill for one of those omelettes so, what do you say?"
"I say we're stopping for breakfast." Turning the key in the ignition, he gunned the engine a couple of times before slowly easing the vehicle away from the curb and around the sole remaining fire truck. "This job might have taught me to be cynical about things but it also taught me never to pass up a free meal so, Craig Road here we come."
Situated at one end of a large strip mall, Lori's Diner was a little on the small side but bright, clean and surprisingly busy. They found an empty booth towards the back and had just placed their meal order with the waitress when Greg's cell phone beeped with an incoming message, the corners of his mouth rising into a satisfied smirk as he quickly scanned the contents.
"He cracked five minutes into the interview." He looked over, clearly delighted with the news. "Hendricks says they'd just sat down with him and his attorney when the guy told them he wanted to make a statement and then admitted to starting the fire; he refused to answer any questions so they've wrapped things up and he's being formally charged as we speak."
"Told you." Sara returned his smile with one of her own. "Well, that's just made everyone's jobs easier; with the amount of water the fire department used at the scene I was more than a little skeptical about some of the evidence we recovered; at least now, the case won't be dependent on that alone."
"Yeah, I thought about that too," Greg admitted. "But I guess we were worried for nothing." He sat back and smiled appreciatively as their waitress placed a tall glass of chilled water in front of Sara and slid a mug of freshly-brewed coffee towards him before turning his attention back to his dining companion. "So, what's it like?"
"What's what like?" Bemused by the question, Sara offered him a confused smile.
"Growing an entirely new person," he said, nodding towards her bump. "It's got to be weird, right?"
"Well, yeah, it is a little," Sara told him honestly. "But it's also wonderful, scary, exciting and…" She shrugged. "I don't know; it's lots of different things." She offered him a relaxed smile while her hand found its now customary place over the swell of her stomach. "You know, I never knew how much I wanted this and I probably still wouldn't know if it hadn't been for Gil bringing Ben into my life the way that he did." She chuckled. "It's funny, isn't it? There's a woman out there that I've never met and, if I'm honest, I hope I never do but she is ultimately responsible for both of my children – the first one because she chose to abandon him the way that she did and the second because if she hadn't done that, I am absolutely positive that I would never have even considered having a baby myself."
"You know, it says a lot about the person you've become that there's no jealousy or hatred there," Greg commented quietly. "I know you and Grissom worked through that whole Melissa thing but I can't help but think that if I were in your position I'd spend half my life wanting the woman dead."
"What would be the point?" Sara asked simply. "I have a husband I adore, a two year-old I can't even begin to imagine life without and we have a sibling for him on the way; I have the house of my dreams, a job that, even after all this time, I still enjoy doing and I'm surrounded by people who love and support me in ways that I didn't even know was possible." She reached for her water and took a sip before continuing. "So why on earth would I be jealous of, or hate, a woman who chooses to have nothing? She walked away from her marriage, her daughters and a newborn child she didn't even bother to look at. The only thing she has that she can truly call her own now is her alcohol addiction; I certainly can't be jealous of that and nor can I hate her." She shook her head as though to emphasis the point and shrugged. "In fact, the only emotion I have towards Melissa now is pity; she once had what I've got and she voluntarily threw it all away for the sake of a bottle."
"Now I'm jealous of you," Greg quipped with a half-smile that didn't quite manage to mask the longing tone of his words. "It sounds like you have everything."
"You know the more that I think about it, the more convinced I am that I do." Unable to help herself, Sara grinned contentedly across the table at him. "I love my life at the moment, Greg - backache, swollen feet and heartburn like you wouldn't believe notwithstanding - there's not a single thing that I'd change about it right now."
"Like I said, I'm jealous." He purposefully kept his expression neutral but Sara quickly picked up on the almost melancholic tone. "I'd give my right arm for even half of what you've got."
"No one on the horizon?" Sara queried, realizing for the first time just how out of touch she'd become with her friend's personal life. "I thought for a while there that you and Morgan-"
"Oh that was never going to work." Greg vehemently shook his head. "Thanks to you and Grissom, I saw first hand how difficult it can be to build and maintain a relationship with someone you work with and when you add to that the awkwardness of dating the sheriff's daughter plus the very real possibility that one day I might have ended up with David Hodges as a stepbrother-in-law…" Eyes widening in mock horror, he sucked in a sharp breath. "No, I think Morgan and I will be much better off just staying friends."
"Well, I wouldn't give up on the prospect of finding your perfect match just yet you know." Sara took another sip from her glass. "I mean, if Jim Brass is willing to give marriage another try then I think there's hope for everyone."
"Yeah, I heard about that," Greg chuckled. "After listening to him go on and on about his marriage to Ellie's mother and how bad it was, I'm surprised he's taking the plunge again."
"Well, it's not much of a plunge really; they've been together for two years, sharing a house for over half that time and Helen's grandkids have been calling him Grandpa Jim for months now so I think the ceremony will be more of a formalization than anything else."
They both fell silent as the waitress arrived with their meals - a fluffy, golden omelette and two slices of toast for Sara and a short-stack of pancakes coupled with eggs, hash browns and a mound of bacon for Greg. Sara watched, partly amused and partly dismayed, as he reached across for the maple syrup and liberally coated the entire contents of his plate before picking up his knife and fork and getting stuck in.
"Just sitting at the same table as that thing is giving me indigestion." She shook her head in amazement as she watched him ladle another forkful into his mouth. "You know, if you keep eating like that, there's going to be a whole lot more of you for the future Mrs. Sanders to love."
"Just have to make sure she's not the type to get hung up on appearances then, won't I." Picking up a rasher of bacon he took a large bite out of one end as he looked across the table at Sara. "Catherine said that you're changing your hours."
"Yep, thanks to her insistence that I get more rest I'm off from…" Sara checked her watch. "… now until Tuesday night and, thanks to the department's insistence that I use up as much of my accrued leave as possible before my maternity leave kicks in, it's been decided that I'll cut my working week down to four days starting from next week."
"Well that sounds kind of sensible," Greg nodded his agreement. "Although, with Ben running around the place, I'm not sure how much rest you'll actually manage to get."
"Ah, but that's what daycare is for." Using the edge of her fork, Sara sliced a corner from her omelette. "I plan to schedule at least some of my time off to coincide with days like today when Gil's out in the field and Ben's in daycare; that way I'll actually get to sleep in, have the house to myself for a while and get a little 'me' time in before they arrive home again." Popping the egg in her mouth, she chewed and swallowed before continuing. "The rest of the time shouldn't be too much of a hassle; I'm more than used to sharing my life with a mini tornado."
Greg smiled at the description of the sometimes overly-active toddler. "Are you ready for two of them though?"
"Nope," Sara admitted with a grin. "But, thankfully, it'll be a while before they're both on their feet and barreling around us." Her phone chimed and, pulling it from her pocket, Sara read the new text. "Just a reminder that Grissom's prescription is ready for pickup." She pushed the phone onto the table. "I'd better get that on the way home; he's working somewhere north of Vegas Bay today and, odds are, he'll forget to stop by on the way back."
Greg put his cutlery down. "I'm going to miss you."
"What?" She feigned confusion. "When I go to the Walgreens?"
"No smartass, I mean at work," Greg clarified. "First shorter hours and then six months leave." He shrugged a little self-consciously. "It won't be the same."
"Well, I'm cleared to work in the field until my twenty-eighth week and, after that, I'm going to be stuck in the lab reviewing old cases so you'll be seeing me around the place for a good while yet." Sara smiled. "And, no doubt, I'll be bringing the baby in so everyone can meet him or her but we only live twenty minutes away from you, remember and you're always more than welcome to drop by, you know that." She laughed. "After all, I can't think of anything better than hearing about the latest grisly murders and all the lab gossip to save me from the abyss of dirty diapers and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that I'm sure I'm going to find myself faced with."
Picking up her fork again, she cut another chunk from her omelette as she cocked her head in the direction of Greg's plate.
"Now, hurry up and finish that, okay; like I said, Gil and Ben are both out which means I'm going home to an empty house and, if there's one thing I intend doing, it's making the most of the peace and quiet while I can."
Climbing into the Prius in the parking lot of the Eastern Avenue Walgreens, Sara placed the white paper sack containing Grissom's newly-filled prescription along with a fresh box of her prenatal vitamins on the passenger seat with one hand while she fumbled the key into the ignition with the other.
She turned it over, a little saddened at the thought that she was doing so for, what would invariably be, one of the last times; with a trip to the dealership lined up for the weekend and Grissom's determination that both vehicles be replaced as soon as possible, her time with the aging Toyota was fast running out. She yawned then stretched as much as her seatbelt would allow before putting the car in gear and carefully pulling out of her parking space to, once again, join the steady flow of traffic heading south.
A little over a mile and a half along the road, she eased the car right onto Anthem Parkway and then onto Anthem Club Drive, the weariness that she been feeling lifting a little the closer and closer she got to home.
It was as she was slowing to make a right onto Woodland Drive that she first caught sight of movement behind her and, quickly shifting her attention to her rearview mirror she watched, transfixed, as the unmistakable shape of Zephyr Dillinger rose into view from the backseat.
His cold eyes locked instantly on the reflection of hers and the corners of his mouth curled up into a humorless smile.
"Hello Sara."
A/N: As always, thanks go to SylvieT for the beta.