Chapter 5 – Las Vegas
It was Charlotte's birthday and Sara had taken her and 3 of her friends from her class out to McDonalds to celebrate. Sara had taken the day off so she could take them all out.
The next day Sara went into work at the San Francisco Crime lab. She had only been working there a little while but she loved it. She loved solving crimes and was progressing quickly in her field. She walked by the reception desk but the receptionist stopped her before she got very far. "Miss Sidle, you have a message."
Sara was confused. No-one had ever called specifically for her at work yet. She took the little yellow slip from the receptionist and read it while she walked down the hall. The name on the slip surprised her. She stopped in the hallway and read the name again. The message was to call back ASAP.
"Grissom?" she asked the wall. "What is he calling me for?" She went into the break room and took out her cell phone. She dialed the number on the paper and waited while it rang four times. Sara decided that he wasn't going to pick up just as he proved her wrong.
"Grissom," came his tired voice. The Grissom she knew was always happy and full of life. Something had to be seriously wrong.
"I was surprised to get your message," she said with a smile. He had always been her favorite professor.
"Ah, Sara. So nice to hear your voice," she could tell he was smiling into the phone.
"How are you?" She asked.
"I'm not good, Sara. We have a big problem here."
"Here? Where are you?" Sara asked. She hadn't heard from Grissom since she had met Alex. She had no idea where he worked.
"Vegas. I'm the night shift Supervisor here. But, Sara I need your help."
"Sure, Grissom. What do you need?"
"One of our CSIs has been shot. It was her first night on the job…it was terrible. We need someone to come in and work the case who didn't know her. No-one at the lab can do it, and Sara, I want you to came down and help." Grissom said it all in a rush. Sara could tell he was very stressed.
She thought a moment. Could she do it? She knew she could do it professionally, but could she leave Charlotte here to go all the way to Vegas. She made a quick decision.
"I want to Gris. But I need to work out a few things before I know I can come. How about I call you back?"
Grissom sighed. "Ok. Call quick. We need to get this resolved." And with that they hung up.
First Sara called Alex's parents and asked them if they could take Charlotte for a few days. Next she walked down to her boss' office. She sat down with him and explained the situation. He agreed to let her go. He had worked with Grissom before and signed her leave right there.
Sara called Grissom back from her car. She told him she could go and went home to pack. She met Alex's mother there and left her the information of where she was going to be. Grissom had faxed the flight information to the lab so she stopped there to pick it up before heading to the airport.
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The flight to Vegas was uninteresting. When they landed she was surprised at how hot it was. Just stepping out of the airport, a wave of hot air hit her. She caught a cab to her hotel and quickly dropped her stuff off before going to the hotel Grissom had said to meet her at. As she pulled up she saw a dummy fall onto the pavement. She smiled.
"Only Grissom," she said to herself as she got out of the car.
"Norman fell," Grissom said to himself as she walked under the tape.
"Wouldn't you if you were married to Mrs. Roper?" Sara asked with a smile.
"I don't even have to turn around," Grissom said, "Sara Sidle."
"It's me," she said taking off her sunglasses. He turned and went to greet her.
Grissom had already briefed her over the phone about what was going on. They talked awhile then Sara headed out to find Warrick Brown. He was supposed to have been watching Holly Gribbs when she was shot.
She introduced herself at a bar she found him at. He seemed like an ok guy, but frankly, Sara had turned herself away from men her age. She hadn't been on a date since Alex and wasn't planning to. Whenever she saw almost any man she remembered Alex, so she had trained herself to barricade herself from them. She found it kept her from thinking about Alex and that was a very good thing in her mind.
She found out as much as he could from Warrick then headed out to the lab. She had picked up a rental car so she wouldn't have to keep using cabs. When she got into the lab she asked the receptionist where she could find Catherine Willows. Grissom had told her she was working with her. She found the room and she knocked before going in.
She saw a woman with strawberry blond hair and big blue eyes sitting at a table. "Do you know where I can find Catherine Willows?" Sara asked.
The woman gave her a curt remark, and even though she said she wasn't, Sara figured she was looking at Catherine. She told her that they could work together or apart and Catherine finally warmed up to her.
Next she met Nick Stokes. Catherine introduced them in the break room. As soon as she saw him she thought he was cute. She smiled as she shook his hand, but stopped herself from giving some witty remark. He greeted her with a southern accent and a warm charming smile and she could help but smile back.
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It turned out that Warrick had been gambling on the job. Sara did feel a little sorry that he would loose his job, but it had to be done. At the end of the day Sara was called into Grissom's office. She hadn't really talked to him since Jerrod Cooper was brought into custody. When she walked in Grissom looked frazzled.
"Are you ok?" She asked. She was worried that this case had taken a lot of toll on him.
"Yeah. I'm ok." He said, sitting down and rubbing his temples.
"What's going to happen to Warrick?" she asked.
"I…I should have fired him. But he doesn't deserve that. It…it was a mistake. He will be on probation but he won't loose his job," Grissom answered.
Sara was a little surprised at this. She had expected him to be fired. "Are…are you sure that's the right thing to do?" Sara asked. She wasn't sure if Grissom was thinking clearly about this.
"Yes, Sara. Warrick is an excellent CSI. And a very good person. I can't afford to loose him. He isn't going to get off scott free, but he is not going o leave."
Sara looked at her hands and nodded. "I guess he knows him better then I do," she thought.
They sat in silence a moment, both lost in thought, when Grissom remembered the real reason he wanted to talk to Sara. "Sara you did very good work today," he said pulling the smile he had always liked from the woman across from him.
"Thank you," she said. "I had very good teacher."
Grissom smiled at this. "Well, Sara I want to make you an offer. I need someone to replace holly, and I was wondering if you wanted to transfer to Vegas. To this lab," He said trying to provoke her with his eyes as well as his words.
Sara's head snapped up. Work here? That was just crazy talk. She voiced her thought.
"Yeah. I could use a CSI of your talents at this lab. You would fit right in here," he was trying to push her that last little bit. He could tell she wanted to do it, but something was holding her back.
Sara was thinking about Charlotte. Could she just move her child over two states? She would love to work with Grissom. He was her mentor and working with him would be the best thing she could ever imagine. She smiled at the thought. Moving to Vegas. She thought she liked the idea.
"Ok. I'll do it," She said with a smile. Grissom smiled too. They agreed that Sara would get a few weeks to move out here then she would start. She left Grissom's office floating on a cloud. She hadn't felt this good about anything in awhile. She got into her rental car and put it in gear, sighing before starting to drive. When she got to her hotel she looked up a real estate agent. She was going to have to do a lot in the next few weeks and she needed all the help she could get.