By then it had become completely dark and Sara handed Grissom her spare headlamp for the return journey. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her fear wasn't left unnoticed by Grissom as he gave her a reassuring smile. 'It's going to be alright, let's not pass judgement too quickly about the situation until we know exactly what's going on.' Sara could only hope he was right about the first part.
They headed back to camp, fearful of what would be waiting for them there. Trying to find your way in the jungle at night wasn't for the faint-hearted, as all kind of creepy crawlers come out of their hiding places. Choosing this time of night to go hunting for food. Sara knew she didn't have to explain this to Grissom, himself being an expert on the subject, yet she beckoned him to stay near and follow her closely. He quickly laid a hand on her shoulder and gave the smallest of squeezes to let her know that he was there with her.
Everything they had discussed just minutes earlier was forcefully pushed into the background, the situation at camp currently more pressing and something they had to deal with immediately. It didn't mean however that Sara had forgotten about everything Grissom had confided in her. She was fighting battles inside her head. On the one hand worry and fear over Lesley's kidnapping, on the other, Grissom's devastating news. It was almost too much to take.
During their walk neither said a word, both being fully engrossed in their own thoughts. Sara tried to focus on the case at hand and use this time to sum up some facts in her head that could help them save Lesley. Listing dry facts was the only way she could cope with the whole situation right now. So she went back to all she had read and heard about poachers in this area of the world.
It was a well-known fact that the smuggling of turtle eggs was a real problem in Costa Rica. Turtle eggs, especially those of the leatherback kind, was seen as a delicacy by the local population and people could earn a lot of money from the trade. Sara also understood that drugs became much more of an issue lately, due to an elaborate and growing international network. While Costa Rica as a whole was seen as one of the safest and most stable countries in the Americas, the shortage of authority in the Caribbean area gave free rein to poachers and drug smugglers alike. Gangs who were known to use brutal force and heavy weapons to get what they want. It wouldn't be the first time that scientists or environmentalists were kidnapped or worse in this region. Sara's thoughts went back to articles she'd read on the killings of environmentalists fighting for a great cause - just like she and the rest of the team were doing. A chill ran up and down her spine. She knew she shouldn't immediately fear the worst, yet she couldn't help it.
Suddenly she noticed that Grissom had fallen a bit behind. She turned around. 'Are you okay?' He held up a hand. 'All good. Just not as fast anymore as I used to,' he replied a little out of breath. 'Are you okay?' he returned the question. Sara's heart fluttered a bit by his concern for her. 'I'm fine, just worried about Lesley,' she replied. Grissom nodded.
They made their way as quickly and safely as they could back to camp. Once Sara noticed the first sight of the camp, she scanned the surroundings. Their tents were completely trashed. Kitchen supplies, research materials, bedding and all kinds of personal belongings were scattered around the grounds. A mosquito net was hanging in a nearby bush. Sara noticed a few of her personal belongings on the leafy floorbed. The crime novel she had been reading and her hairbrush were underneath a chair that was pushed upside down. Some of her clothes, covered in dirt, were spread out right next to it. Sara felt Grissom's hand on the small of her back. She was frozen, couldn't move. 'Oh Sara,' Grissom sighed. 'I'm so sorry.'
It wasn't the first time that her home was invaded. Yet, every time it felt like a personal assault like no other. Criminals looting the place, touching her personal belongings. Entering the only place she felt safe. She tried to shake off the gruesome feeling and focused on Brian and Rob, who they found sitting on the steps leading to the first tent.
Encouraged by Grissom's presence, she tried to sound as confident as she could. 'Brian, Rob, what the hell happened here?' The two researchers looked up at her as defeated as she herself felt. Rob with a face as white as a sheet and Brian with a distanced gaze. Sara noticed that his right eye was red and swollen. He also had a bloody scratch on his upper-arm. 'Here, let me help you with that,' Grissom offered as he took out some disinfectant spray and a sterile piece of gaze from his backpack. 'May I?' he asked Brian as he crouched down next to the injured man and showed him the basic medical equipment. It seemed that the question had woken Brian from his musings, as he turned his head to Grissom slowly and nodded, still not entirely present.
Sara was extremely grateful for Grissom's support and couldn't even begin to imagine what she should do without him. That thought made her belly twist in a knot and she tried to swallow a few times to get rid of it.
'There were four of them. Armed with guns. We didn't see or hear them coming. They were just… there.' Rob looked at Sara intently when he spoke. 'They shouted something in Spanish which I didn't understand.' Brian finally looked up to Sara. 'Danos la ubicación,' he almost whispered. 'They asked us for a location.'
Once Grissom was done taking care of the nasty scratch Brian suffered, he took two chairs and offered Sara one while he went to sit on the other one. 'What location were they after?' he wondered. Sara had an inkling. 'They wanted you guys to give them the location of the turtle eggs,' she stated matter-of-factly. Rob nodded. 'That's what we figured as well.'
Sara turned to Grissom and began to explain. 'The habitat of the hunchback turtles is changing. We only found out about this hedging location quite recently and tried to keep it a secret from the outside world.' Grissom nodded understandingly. 'You were trying to keep the location a secret, because of the poachers.' Sara muttered an almost unintelligible yes. 'Only a few people know about what we're really trying to do here. On the record we're conducting soil and water research. Off the record, we try to preserve the turtles.'
'How could they've known?' Rob asked agashed. 'I mean, we've been so careful.' Suddenly Brian looked up suspiciously at Grissom. His voice sounded cold. 'Isn't it quite a coincidence that you arrived here only a few hours before we got raided by those sons of bitches?'
Sara instantly was on the defensive and wanted to retort a forthright reply. Grissom's hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks. 'It's okay Sara, I completely understand why Brian here would suspect I've something to do with it. The timing of my visit is rather peculiar.' He took a deep breath. 'I'm not sure how I can prove this to you, but I assure you Brian and Rob,' he looked at both of them sharply, 'that I don't have anything to do with this.'
Rob seemed too confused still to make a clear judgement, but Brian wasn't done with Grissom yet. 'Then, why are you here? Sara told us that you guys have split up.' now it was Sara's turn to bounce back. 'Listen, Grissom is here to see me and I trust him. If you guys don't, then that means that you don't trust me either. If that's the case, please do say so now.'
Silence stretched between the group of scientists. Brian still had an apprehensive look carved into his face, but didn't say a further word. It was Rob who broke the silence. 'We're losing valuable time here,' he hoarsely spoke. 'We need to know where they took Lesley before it's too late.'
'Right,' Sara agreed and she looked around. Taking in the area a second time, more detailed now. How she wished she had access to her CSI kit right now so she could do some proper research.
She re-focused again on the things they did have. The only way this would work for her right now was if she tried to see this as an ordinary case like the hundreds she had handled back in Vegas. What did they have? They had two witnesses and a crime scene in this case. She took a deep breath. 'Could you see the people who raided the camp? Did you recognize any facial features?' she asked Brian and Rob. The two both shook their heads in denial. 'They were wearing black face masks. Only their eyes were visible. And then again, it all happened so quickly. I don't think they were here for more than a few minutes.' Rob agreed. 'It didn't help either that they held us under gunshot. You guys might be used to it in your line of work, but for us that was an entire new experience.' Sara tried not to get these almost accusatory words to her too much. It was evident that Rob also didn't entirely trust Grissom. His trust in her also seemed to have lessened.
'Do you know what kind of guns they were carrying?' Sara was glad when Grissom stepped in to ask another question. 'Bolt guns. The heavy kind,' Brian replied. Sara nodded. Bolt guns were reportedly used in previous cases of violent robbery cases by poachers in Central America. 'Is that also how they managed to take your friend…' Grissom looked at Sara for help and she replied with 'Lesley.' Grissom cleared his throat. 'Right, yes. Is that also how they managed to take Lesley, by threatening her with the shotgun?'
Sara pretended like she hadn't detected Grissom's minor error when he couldn't remember her friend's name, but of course she'd noticed it. It wasn't anything like him to forget a name. He always used to be the one with the infinite memory when it came to names. If she'd enquired him about cases they'd worked in the past, he would always be able to come up with all the names of the persons involved. This is how it starts. Alzheimer's. The short-term memory loss. She didn't want to think about it too much. About what pain and suffering this disease would cause him over the next months, the next years. Instead, she forced herself to focus on the matter at hand.
'I tried to give them the location when they threatened to take Lesley,' Rob explained. 'But it was Lesley who shouted at us that whatever happened, we should never give them the location.' He sighed. 'It all happened so quickly. While she was held under gunshot, another guy pointed his gun at us two and the two others raided the camp. I'm sure they were looking for anything that could lead them to Turtle Beach.' Sara recognized the nickname they'd given their precious little research area.
Grissom had his attention back on Brian. 'How did you get the scratch and the shiner?' he wanted to know as he pointed to the man's bruised eye. 'I tried to stop them when they took her, but this guy came out of nowhere and shoved the barrel of the gun right into my face. I black-outed straight away. No memories of what happened after that, just remember waking up on the floor and feeling my head pounding like hell.' Rob filled in the gaps. 'You weren't out for that long, maybe 30 seconds or so.'
Grissom wiped a hand over his face. Sara noticed that he looked tired. Exhausted actually. Quickly she turned her attention back to her friends. 'Did you guys see them taking anything from the camp?' Brian shook his head resolutely. 'Nope, but they did leave us something.' He moved his hand into the pocket of his pants and took out a small piece of red-coloured paper. No, it was some kind of wrapper Sara now noticed. 'What's that?' she enquired. 'Found this on the ground. One of them must've dropped it or something. It's a candy wrapper. But the interesting thing about it is that it's not from here.' Sara raised an eyebrow and Brian continued. 'When I was working on this preservation project in Nicaragua, I was addicted to these things. They taste a bit like cotton candy. The point is that it's from Nicaragua and that it's not being sold anywhere else in the world.'
'Do you think the poachers are from there?' Grissom asked. Brian shrugged. 'Not sure, but there have been talks about this gang of transnational gun and drug smugglers active in both countries.' Worry etched on Sara's face. This was getting much bigger than she'd thought. 'Guns and drugs,' she repeated. 'And what, the eggs are just a nice bonus?' Grissom turned his attention to her. 'The conditions are perfect. The Caribbean Sea, the river here. If they can use those as smuggling routes, they can kill two birds with one stone.'
His eyes narrowed as he focused on their surroundings. Sara loved how he always could completely be engrossed in his work, taking in every detail, not missing out on any scrap of evidence that would reveal itself to him. Without saying another word, he got up and started to walk around the grounds. Sara decided to follow him. 'These footprints,' Grissom pointed, not even looking up at her. 'They come from that way, but take a different path on the way out.' Sara noticed it too. An extra pair of footprints were visible leading away from the camp. 'Lesley wore flip flops this afternoon,' she mentioned. 'Right,' Grissom simply retorted. 'These are definitely her footprints. They're much smaller than the others. And uneven at points, indicating that she could have been dragged a few times.' Silence stretched again between the two when they followed the trace leading further away from the camp.
Suddenly, Grissom came to a halt and turned around to face her. His gaze was full of intent and he scraped his throat. 'Sara…' he began. She nodded, encouraged him to continue. He was about to say something important, she could feel it, and she wanted to make sure that he knew that he'd have her full attention. She tried to lock eyes with him, but he looked away almost shyly. 'Sara,' he tried again, 'from now on I need you to be my memory. We have to face the facts. I can't be trusted anymore when it comes to my short term memory. Everything else my brain can still do. I can observe, use my senses and make cause and effect analyses - although that's getting harder too. But I really need your help remembering. Can you please promise me that?'