Chapter 25

Grissom, Warrick, Nick and Greg charged into the room with the others, stopping abruptly upon seeing Sara holding the knife with a glove to guard it, Catherine putting the wig into a bag as evidence and Ecklie holding a gun on the still unconscious deputy. Sophia stood scowling down at the man with heavy rouge, lipstick and eyeliner; the false breasts that were now lopsided and ridiculous and the rest of his attire that screamed transvestite with mommy problems! Without warning, she kicked him in the side, producing a moan from the assailant.

"It "was too" four strokes and a grunt!" Sophia growled as she held her hand to her face.

"Four strokes and a what?" Ecklie looked at her strangely.

"Nothing," she grumbled then looked up at the balding man before her.

"Nick—Warrick—take over here," Ecklie told the younger men then stepped closer to Sophia as he bent slightly to look more closely at her swollen lips with blood smeared on them. "You're hurt, Sophia."

"So?" She pouted then let her eyes moved over his tee-shirt-clad chest before slowly coming back up to his eyes. "I mean. . .yes, I am."

"It doesn't look like Deputy Higgins is in very good shape either," Greg spoke up as he looked at the gaping wound on the man's forearm. "She damn near bit his arm off!"

"Shut up!" She hissed then looked back at Ecklie as her eyes softened dramatically. "You—you saved me."

"Well," he said reluctantly as he ushered her to the edge of the bed then got a wet cloth and dabbed at her mouth. "How badly did he injure you?"

"I think he tore my lip," she said quietly as her eyes stayed on his although he was watching the area he was wiping the blood from. "You came in here and saved my life, Conrad."

"Well, I couldn't let my CSIs get hurt, now could I?" He soothed as he continued to swab the injured area then gave her a small smile. "You can be pretty ferocious when you have to be, can't you?"

"I guess I can," she gave him a small smile back.

Sara looked over at Grissom and gave him an amazed roll of the eyes before they looked at the man who was now beginning to regain consciousness. Grissom stepped to the side as the sheriff rushed into the room then gave a sorrowful moan as he knelt down next to his deputy.

"Ah, boy," he said quietly as the deputy slowly opened his eyes and looked at the older man. "What's gotten into you?"

"I told you before, Delbert," Deputy Higgins responded in his falsetto voice. "If we let that boy loose, he's going to be getting himself into trouble before we can stop him. Every time he sees one of those girls, they have to push and push until they overpower him and fill him with lust."

"Jer?" The sheriff knit his brows as he stared in disbelief. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I told Jeremy," Higgins continued, clearly not in his right mind. "I told him how you loved me. I told him how you couldn't marry me because I was only sixteen and you were married. I told him that you couldn't tell anyone that you were his daddy because you wouldn't be elected sheriff. I explained to him that it was all my fault. . .that I taunted and teased you until you had no choice but to take me to your bed and relieve the ache in your loins. . .relieve the lust that filled you as I would beg for you to be with me. I told him that he had to stay away from girls like that—or they'd ruin his chances of becoming sheriff some day like his daddy. But the girls wouldn't let him go! I had to take care of them so they wouldn't tempt him anymore. And then, of course, when the others got too close to realizing what they were doing to our baby, well, I had to take care of them too. You understand, don't you, Delbert? You know I had to protect our baby."

The sheriff watched the young man go on and on, then slowly pulled his cuffs from his belt and placed them around the deputy's wrists. He assisted him onto his feet and caught him when he stumbled on his three-inch heels, then in a moment of grief, wrapped his arms around the young man and hugged him to him as he let only one sob escape. Two other offices stood in the doorway, aghast at the scene before them, until with a large sniff, the sheriff held the deputy out from him and looked closely at him.

"Jeremy—son. . ."

"It's Angie, Delbert," Jeremy smiled at his father. "Don't tell me you don't recognize me."

"Jeremy, you're going to be fine, now. But we've got to go to see a doctor right now, okay?"

"That boy!" Jeremy gave a small laugh. "He's going to be the death of me! You watch! Him with his nasty ways. Watching, always watching those girls! He thinks no one sees him. But I do. I always see him. I know what corruption goes through his filthy little mind."

Grissom moved out of the way as the two officers and sheriff took the deputy out of the room and placed him into a squad car.

"Are you okay?" He asked Sara quietly and she gave him an affirmative nod before they looked back at Ecklie and Sophia who were still at the foot of the bed.

"I think you're lip is going to be alright now, Sophia," Ecklie told her as he put the cloth into her hand then stood erect and turned back to Grissom. "I don't know that there's much more evidence needed for this case, but we don't want to let anything slip by. After what the ladies have been through, we ought to let them get some sleep. They can go to my room while we're collecting what we can in here."

Grissom nodded his head then walked out the door with Sara. He took her down to the truck that had been returned to the parking lot, now in reasonable working order since their little mishap the other night.

"I—was frightened when I heard the screams," he said quietly as they stood with the truck blocking the other's view of them.

"I'm just glad you were out there. I thought you had gone to bed."

"I couldn't sleep," he explained with half a smile. "I tried to but thoughts of a certain brunette kept swimming through my head and then when I remembered you standing there with those pink panties hanging out of your front pocket, the contrast between the denim and the satin and lace. . .well. . .let's just say it wasn't doing me a bit of good being holed up without you. I got up and left the room and Warrick and Nick were already outside. They grabbed some soda from their truck and told Ecklie to give you and Catherine some."

"I saw that. But he ended up giving it to our local transvestite deputy instead—right in the face!" She took a step closer to him. "So, do you want to tell me a little bit more about images of me with my panties, which by the way, you removed from me?"

"I guess I could ask why they were in your pocket, but considering how quickly we came back here, I presume they got lost in the darkness then were found after you had your jeans on."

"Mmm," she hummed as she stepped up and pressed her lips against his. "You're so smart. You figured that out without any help from me, after all."

"I had some entertaining moments to think about it while I was leaving my motel room," he smiled as he put his arms around her waist.

"I don't suppose there's any way we could trade Greg off with Catherine or Sophia for the rest of the night, is there?"

He groaned his desire and disappointment as he pressed her back against the truck and gently gyrated the evidence of his need against her pelvis. "I wish."

"Boss! Do you have any extra gloves in there? I went through my supply over at the graves today." Nick came around the side of the truck just as Grissom was releasing Sara.

"Well, I've got to go get some sleep," Sara said with a teasing smile to Grissom as she started toward the front of the truck. "I'm going to bed and won't be up for days."

"A few hours," he called after her. "Then we should have things wrapped up and be on our way."

True to his word, by noon the following day, the crew of CSIs were packed and loading their vehicles just as the sheriff drove up to them. He got out of his car and moved toward Grissom and Ecklie, exhaustion showing clearly on his worn features.

"I suppose an explanation is in order," he said as he held his hat in front of him. "Jeremy, as you've probably already figured out, is my son to Angie Higgins. And much of what Jeremy said last night is true. I couldn't marry her. She was too young—only sixteen when she had him—and I was already married with three other children. But I always treated Jeremy as if he were one of my own. He never wanted for anything. . .well, maybe except legitimacy. His mama, by the time she was eighteen, moved on from me. I can't really say that I blame her. I wasn't prepared to leave my wife. So, Angie started seeing more than her fair share of men. She was actually quite popular around here. She was young and beautiful, trendy, I guess you could say. She was a child of the eighties, so as you could see, the clothing Jeremy was wearing was almost exact replicas of what his mama used to wear. . .up until she died. Jeremy was only about fifteen when the accident happened. She came home drunk with another man and it was always presumed that one of them fell and knocked over the candles that were burning. The wax spread quickly and soon the whole room was ignited. Neither of them made it out alive. . .only Jeremy who said he had been sleeping in the next room."

"And you're convinced he's behind all of these killings over the years?" Ecklie asked.

"I think it's going to take a lot of therapy to get to the bottom of it, but from what I could gather, the killings started after his mother died. Whether or not she died by his hand is up for grabs at this point. He quickly stepped into his mother's persona and went into a fierce battle with his conscience every time he was with a woman. Between his mother's loose behavior and her over-protectiveness toward him, he had a major conflict going on inside. I'm suspecting things may have gone a little farther with Angie than I had ever believed, but I'm going to hold my opinion on that. We'll let the professionals sort that out. Right now, I'd rather remember Angie as the young beauty who was in love with me, than anything that she could have become." The sheriff gave the men a brief nod then turned back toward the other officers who were milling about.

"Conrad?" Sophia moved up between Ecklie and Grissom, barely noticing Grissom as she slid her hand up a surprised Ecklie's arm. "I've barely had time to thank you for saving my life last night."

"Oh. Well," Ecklie sputtered as he took a step back from her. "I—um—yes, well—you're welcome."

"Oh, but that isn't nearly enough," she said as she started walking after him, keeping pace with his increased speed. "I could take you out to dinner."

"Um—no, thank you. . .this case wore me out. I'd really just like to go home and relax for a few days." He kept walking and kept nervously glancing down at her as she held onto his arm in a more than affectionate fashion.

"Then we won't go out. I'll make dinner for you. I'll rent a movie and we'll just stay in and eat and watch TV and see where the night takes us."

"Uh. . ."

Sara moved to stand next to Grissom as they watched the other two getting into one of the trucks; Ecklie looking extremely frazzled while Sophia was looking completely smitten.

"Ahh," Sara said as she glanced up at Grissom. "Looks like she's all over her infatuation with you. Think you can deal with it?"

"Just so "you're" not over "your" infatuation with me. I'll be fine."

"There still might be a spark or two left in me," she gave him a wry smile.

"You ready for that ride back to town?" He opened the door to the truck and closed it after she got onto the seat. "We can always stop in for something to eat on the way."

"Actually—I'm famished."

He got into his side of the Denali and started the engine. Within two hours, they were pulling into the old diner they had eaten at during the beginning of their journey.

"Well, now," Marg commented as she poured a second cup of coffee for Grissom, this time looking down at Sara. "Looks like a few days in our desert has done you both some good."

"What do you mean?" Sara asked with half a smile.

"Well, that smile, for one. And all the tension is gone from your friend here. I guess you both found what you needed after visiting "ol' Marg" and eating some of her goodies."

"I didn't eat anything when I was here," Sara told her.

"Hmm, coffee and turkey club for the gent, and an unsweetened ice tea for the lady. I remember. It's not uncommon for my diner to initiate the beginnings of what you two found."

"And what would we have found, Marg?" Grissom asked.

"You all found what was inside all along. Just needed some time and space to see it. Sometimes a good meal and clean air makes things clearer. I'm glad I could help ya find it." She gave them an exaggerated wink. "You both come back again, ya hear?"

They both gave her tiny smiles then finished their meals. With full stomachs and plans to work some of those calories off later that night they started down the highway that would lead them back to Vegas. It was only a few seconds after hitting full speed that Grissom looked into his rear-view mirror, his foot coming off the accelerator immediately. He pulled to the side of the road and turned to look at the building they had just vacated, not five minutes earlier.

"Sara?"

Sara turned and looked in the same direction that he was looking only to find a weathered, dust-covered building with broken windows and half of it's porch roof decayed and falling to the ground. Tumbleweeds were blown around the phantom building as the sign that said, "Marg's Diner," hung awkwardly by a single latch from the pole it swung from. What had just been a half-filled parking lot was now empty with no signs of anyone having been there in years.

Sara sat up in bed so quickly that she nearly knocked Grissom out of the other side. She glanced at the foot of their bed where the television was sitting with the frozen picture indicating that the DVD of Psycho had ended and gone back to its original menu.

"That's it!" She breathed loudly as she shook Grissom until he woke up. "No more Hitchcock before bed!"

"Another nightmare, huh?" He chuckled as he reached for his cell phone that was beeping. After a moment he turned back to her. "Well, it looks like our night off is cancelled. Ecklie called with a case for us."

Sara sighed deeply as she got up from the bed and watched as Grissom did the same. "Where is it?"

"Actually, we're in for a mini-vacation. It's in the desert. A four-hour drive. . ."

THE END (sort of)

A/N: I hope you enjoyed our little four-hour drive into the desert with our favorite group of people. For those of you who like Sophia Curtis, I apologize. She was just so damned fun to write for as the dizzy blonde victim. In reality, I don't really hate her (once she gets past trying to come between our Sara and Gilbert, of course). I've had fun with it—I hope you did too.