Chapter 3

"I don't know Parker. It could be that he's out of it." Nick looked at Sage as they stood in the hall of the hospital. They were taking a break and Sage had wanted to talk to him about her suspicions with this kid. So far he thought that he might be a little bit delusional and only calmed down because Sage was a pretty girl.

Sage had considered that possibility but when the doctor checked the kid out, he ordered a second scan and now they were waiting. She replied, "That is a possibility but he was exhibiting signs of a concussion; the loss of focus and the sensitivity to light. He probably was having a headache and he spaced out a bit."

"Not to doubt you but how were you sure? He could have been tripped out on drugs and the way he took a swing…"

"He knocked my light away," Sage corrected, "And irritability is another symptom of concussion but I don't think he sustained it from jumping out of the vehicle."

"So you're a shrink and have an MD?" Nick meant it as a joke. He occasionally teased her about it when she managed to weasel something from day shift, primarily Ecklie.

"Don't be stupid," Sage countered with a little more force than she intended. She paused and took a breath before continuing, "Did you notice the bruises on his chest and the ligature marks?"

Nick knew not to take that personal. He pushed a bit too hard. He looked at her and replied, "Yeah. Kid said he was punished. Took the heat for another."

"I think he has been doing that a lot," Sage replied. Her voice got low to an almost near whisper, "The bruising, the concussion, it makes me believe that he has been suffering chronic abuse and not just him but whoever else was with him."

"So we're looking at…?"

"Right now an abuse case and all we have are names but not really identities," Sage replied. She tapped her fingertips together. "The only thing I have that has his name attached is a ten card and maybe we might get lucky if he happened to attend a school with a safety program or something." She frowned a little and turned to think about it a little.

"We have the kid's clothes and the vehicle is being towed to the garage. We might find something on that too," Nick pointed out. He could tell that she was thinking things through with her frown but it also more like she wasn't sure what to do next. He then said, "I take that back about the brown nose comment."

Sage couldn't help but chuckle a little. Before assignments were handed out Nick had noticed her cup of coffee and silently asked about it. It was kind of funny because they knew what they were talking about but others didn't. In this case it was the fact that Greg gave it to her. "Let go my Greggo," she replied. She sighed, "Well I guess we better chase the leads."

"Hey your case," Nick replied, "I'm supervising."

"That eager to get me out of your hair?"

"No. More like eager to get you in the garage with me and Warrick," Nick replied.

Sage almost wanted to laugh. She highly doubted that Nick realized how that sounded and she was guilty of that a couple of times. She knew though that it was to get her involved with their case since they were seemingly connected. She tried to keep a straight face but couldn't since she was smiling, "As tempting as that is, I think I should keep this case separate for now. Ducks lined up in a row remember?"

Nick smiled at that not realizing how his comment sounded. He was thinking more along the lines of cheering Sage up a bit. "Right I'm holding you to that. So you're thinking body shots of the bruises."

"Evidence," Sage replied. "There might be underlying bruises too. Best to document them and if this kid was abused, I wanna make sure that he gets the max if at all possible. Can you do that?"

"Me?"

Sage gave a wry look at Nick. "Hello? He's nineteen and he's a guy."

"This coming from the girl who once demanded a suspect strip." Nick knew what she was getting at. Besides, it worked the same way if the victim was a woman. It was a matter of reducing distress. "I should remind you that he requested to talk to you."

"I know but…" Sage made a slight movement.

"Don't tell me you…"

"Don't even go there Stokes," Sage warned him off. "I just have a thing about propriety." She crossed her arms across her chest defiantly. It was pretty funny if one stopped to think about it. Dead bodies she didn't have a problem with, male or female. It's when it was alive and could make inferences and… "Can you please do it before this gets any more awkward?"

Nick couldn't help but smirk at that. This was coming from a girl that could look at human remains like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. It was one of the reasons why he liked asking for her input when they weren't on a case. She always managed to surprise him. "Alright but you gotta process this you know."

"Don't talk to me like I'm a rookie," Sage replied as she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Don't forget the last time."

"A face full of lab coat," Nick countered smoothly as he went to unpack the camera that he would need. "I remember. Alright Parker I'll do this but you gotta give me something in return."

"Now I'm a ho?" Sage checked the evidence as she said it. Her drawl made it sound funny since it was more emphasized in an attempt to mimic Warrick.

Nick looked at her and tried not to laugh because it came out funny. "What?"

"You heard me," Sage replied aware that the first time was funny. If she did it a second time, Nick would be busting a gut and she would have another scene to process. She was well aware that her drawl put a different twist on normal words and for some reason it was funny with hers but not Nick's. "I ain't going to repeat it."

Nick chuckled. He had heard her correctly. He sobered though even though there was a smile on his face. "No you're not. Just calling in an even trade."

"What do you need me for? Greg's got DNA and trace if you need it," Sage replied. "Besides you and Warrick got the other part of this covered. You don't need me."

"Hey," Nick countered. "Come on I know you want in on the scene and for some odd reason when you work with Greg on the samples stuff gets processed faster." He looked at Sage who was making sure everything was in the carton. All they needed was the bullet. "Don't make me beg."

Sage looked at Nick. It was no secret that things seemed to pick up the pace when she and Greg were together in the lab but Greg was good on his own too. It was no secret either that DNA was a specialty of hers along with the psych stuff. She decided to have a little fun since there was some time to kill before the kid came back. "Stokes, when you need something from me, you don't have to hand me a bunch of lines, unless I make you say it. All you have to do is say 'Parker, you're my partner and we've been through a whole heap together and I really, really need you'."

Nick looked at Sage and could tell that she was being serious about this. He could just imagine what she said to Greg to get him to comply. The other lab techs… He figured it was that behavioral psych thing she was good at. Certainly a couple of interviews were interesting since the first one. Seeing that she wasn't going to budge, he sighed and said, "Alright Parker, you're right. You are my partner but as to being through a whole lot together…"

"Then I guess you just have to beg." Sage gave a smile that was meant to tease and say that you're screwed. "Right now we need get those photographs and maybe piece together a few more details."

"I really don't want to guess what you have in mind." Nick was certain of that. He knew that she had interesting ways of getting debts paid for bets made. Yet it always seemed that the lab techs got off easy compared to what she had him, Warrick and Sara go through.

"Good because it is a doozy," Sage replied as she started back towards the room now that the kid was back.

They spent some more time with Robert. Nick took the shots of the bruises that covered the kid's body and came to the conclusion that they weren't from the kid's fall out of the vehicle. Sage in the meantime managed to get a few more details out of him. She even managed to uncover that Rachel was kept with him and Jordan and Brian. It led her to believe that there were multiple kids going through what Robert did but until they found evidence to support it, they had to work with what they had.

"Your partner is not so bad."

Sage finished putting her stuff away. She had managed to talk to the kid and get responses from him. She replied, "No he's not. He's one of the best."

"Would he say the same about you?"

"Um…" Sage wasn't too sure about what to say. Finally she said, "He has my six and I got his." It was the best she could come up with and she was aware that it sounded strange. She was a military brat so they could sue her if they wanted.

"That's the same with me and Jordan. Rachel too." Robert had been looking off at the wall. Poor kid had a concussion. He then looked at Sage, "Will you find her?"

"I will if you can tell me where…"

"A big house with a dirt yard. That's all. We weren't let out much."

Sage frowned slightly as she processed that. It always seemed that she got handed the weird cases like it was a joke because she wasn't the cookie cutter model of professionalism. She took it because in a way it was true since she had started here. It was a far cry from D.C. Metro where it seemed like Greg reacting around Grissom. "Anything else you can tell me?"

"No but I like that song you sang. It was Rachel's favorite."

Sage recalled quoting the lyrics but not actually singing it. "Um… okay. Well I gotta get back to the lab Robbie. I'll be in touch." She was out of there praying that Nick didn't hear a word of that. Maybe some work processing evidence would help. She glanced at Nick noticed that he heard everything and made a slight motion with her hand to warn him before starting down the hall.

Warrick looked at the SUV as it sat there in the garage at CSI. He and Nick were going to have to do a whole sweep of it and maybe get lucky. The semi had done some considerable damage to the vehicle but it was largely intact. The right side was going to be difficult to get open but the driver side looked good. He flipped a light on and went about looking at the outside of the vehicle for anything that might suggest that the driver was intoxicated or something. Doc Robbins was busy with the autopsy.

He started a slow walk around the vehicle and noted that it was a fairly older model but it looked like it was in good running condition. Black and it had traces of the powder released from the airbags all over but he collected some for trace to verify. As he rounded the rear of the driver side, Warrick noticed something that didn't quite belong. He moved closer and shone his light on it to take a better look.

Upon closer inspection, he noted that it was a hole and not just any hole. It was a bullet hole. Immediately Warrick could picture the vehicle taking off and shots being fired but it was incomplete since he didn't have anything else at the moment. He popped open the back of the SUV trunk and looked where the hole was. If they were lucky, they might find a bullet and Bobby in ballistics could run it.

"See you started without me."

Warrick glanced up to see Nick coming in and getting ready to work. He replied, "Yeah I like to get a head start." He went back to looking at the door and feeling with his finger the hole. "So you were babysitting again."

"Just supervising," Nick motioned as he picked up a light and started looking through the front end of the vehicle. "Still have a probie."

Warrick made a slight sound at that. He knew that a lot of what was said between Nick and Sage was virtually talking smack. Neither of them meant it unless they really meant it and it usually resulted in one of them posing a challenge to the other. It was how he was suckered into the last one and ended up taking her to the nightclub.

Actually she won and she asked to be shown a sight that he would go to in Vegas. He just happened to pick it thinking that he could make her think twice about the rewards for a challenge. It didn't quite work out that way but he could admit that he had a good time. He replied, "Yeah well Parker's hardly that."

Finding what he was looking for, he picked up a pair of tweezers and reached in to grab the bullet. It was hard work since it had fallen in an awkward position. He managed to get it out and look at it. It looked like it came from a 9mm since it was roughly the right size. The best thing to do was to get it to ballistics and have them do what they do best.

Nick was going over the front seat. The blood on his side was consistent with the driver hitting his head on the glass and door. The guy didn't have a chance. Right now Nick was looking for something that might point them in the direction of where the vehicle came from and where it was going. He could recall the answers to the questions that Sage posed to the kid and low and behold he found something. "Looks like I found where our vehicle might have come from. Looks like dirt."

"Something that is all around outside Vegas. It's called desert," Warrick teased as he finished bagging the bullet. "Found a 9mm in the trunk."

"Well the kid at Desert Palms was shot. Bullet in the abdomen," Nick pointed out. He noticed that something else was with the dirt. It looked like plant material. That might narrow the scope down a bit for Sage's case.

"Thinking car chase?"

"No other vehicle reported," Nick replied as he went about collecting what he found.

"So what did Parker find out?"

"Ah kid was disoriented and had a near violent reaction to her penlight…"

Warrick raised his brow and looked over at Nick. Knowing him, Nick would have done something about that. He had to ask, "Smacked around our Parker?"

"Uh knocked it out of her hand," Nick corrected. "Don't worry Parker handled it. Figured out that the kid was concussed. Turns out the kid suffered chronic abuse." He finished processing what he found. "Got trace. Might narrow down where the vehicle came from."

"Oh we're really on a roll," Warrick deadpanned as he continued his search. He paused a bit and looked up. "You think Grissom should have given Parker that? I mean the kid specifically asked to speak to her. Gotta be something up with that."

Nick thought it odd but he had been watching how the kid reacted to Sage. "Well I think he was going to give it to us but you know Grissom. He knows Parker and I think it may have to do with the first case we worked on."

"Right the Ramosa case. How's that going by the way?"

"DA is filing for the killing of Suleiman with that kid from the voodoo community. The cartel guys…"

"Feds," Warrick replied with a knowing look. That was the way of it in terms of law enforcement cooperation. "I take it that they're gonna pester Parker?"

"Already did and she's not happy."

Warrick scoffed a bit, "When is she ever with them?"

Nick said nothing but continued to help Warrick process the SUV. Occasionally his thoughts drifted to Sage and how she was doing with her end of the case. Technically it was separate from theirs but they were connected and it was becoming obvious but as Grissom was fond of pointing out, you gotta follow the evidence.

Mandy was looking at the computer and running prints for one of thirteen active cases that were in queue. It was a usual night in the lab and if there was going to be an influx of prints with over a million hits, she was going to go cross eyed. The current case she was working on could potentially put a rapist behind bars. Greg currently was working on the DNA for the case.

"Hey Mandy."

Mandy looked up and swiveled in her seat to face Sage. She grinned, "Sparks. What brings you to my domain?"

Sage couldn't help but chuckle. Most of the graveyard called her 'Parker' as that was how she introduced herself. Greg knew her reasons why and most others thought it was a quirk that was new and strange. Combined with the fact that she hung out with Greg, they assumed it was a quirk. Mandy's nickname for her came from a case she had done in which the fingerprints she lifted had gold flecks in them, the same flecks from a shell casing tying the guy who was a painter to the crime. It caught on with Bobby in ballistics and it was a joke between the three of them.

Clearing her throat, Sage replied, "Hoping you give me something dandy." She handed the ten card over. "I pulled these from my victim at Desert Palms. His name is Robert but couldn't give me a last name."

"And you want me to do a search through local schools to see if it comes up," Mandy finished.

"Pretty much."

Mandy pretended to look like it was going to be difficult. "I don't know Sparks. I've got thirteen actives going and Greg has me on a race with his DNA and you know what his terms tend to be." She gave a look at Sage.

Sage knew what was coming. She was going to have to do something to get her stuff prioritized. She could go down the serious note and come down hard but she didn't want to be an ass. She did say, "Well my vic could have been abused for some time. Possibly abducted."

"And you will have my attention in the queue," Mandy countered. She would process it as quick as she could. Everything was priority since they solved crimes. It was hard to determine which came first.

Sage knew Mandy would do her job. She was good at it and admired her tenacity when it came to running prints. It was another part of the intricate system of the lab. Of course there were tricks to the lab that were utilized all the time and she knew how that worked. She knew just the thing for Mandy but she looked around to make sure that no one who loved to gossip was around. Clearing her throat, Sage began to sing Barry Manilow's 'Mandy'.

Mandy felt her eyes widen in shock when Sage started singing. She wasn't expecting that. She was thinking that Sage would do something more along the lines of a trick she could do with a beaker or something that was picture worthy.

"But I sent you away… Oh Mandy," Sage finished with a grin. She chuckled and asked, "Now will that get me some priority?"

Mandy was still in shock at what just happened. She did manage to compose herself and return the smile with one of her own. "I think I might be able to move this up for you." She went over to the scanner to scan in the ten card and went to do her magic. "I got to admit that I wasn't expecting that, Sparks."

Sage crossed her arms as she watched Mandy do her work. "Well I figured that the usual stuff wasn't going to cut it. I mean I gotta be original somewhere right?"

Mandy chuckled at that. "I guess so. Are you sure you're not trying to pay me back for your nickname now?" She looked at Sage and went to return the ten card now that the prints were scanned into the computer.

"Hey, I like what you and Bobby saddled me with. Nice use of my first initial and the shortening of my last name." Sage tried to keep a straight face as she said that. She knew the real reason but it was always fun to point out something that wasn't considered before.

Mandy smiled as she pulled up the prints on the screen. She set the markers and entered in the search. "Now I'll put it through the usual as well like AFIS as well as any databases for school safety. Keep in mind that if they were taken when your guy was a kid, they'll be smaller. So that might take a little more time."

"I've got it," Sage replied. "Thanks Mandy. You know maybe you should have CSIs sing it if they really want it and if it is a hot find. Nice way for the techs to have some leverage right?"

Mandy was going to say something when the computer beeped. She turned to look and it was showing a match. She frowned, "Didn't expect to see something that fast." She tapped a few keys and found out, "This is why."

Sage put on her glasses to take a closer look. "The Amber alert thing. Right. Says here that the print belongs to a Robert Callen. You got a picture?"

"Yep," Mandy replied as she pulled up the case file.

Sage looked at the photo. It was dated but she recognized the kid. "Hello Robbie. Thanks Mandy for giving me something dandy." She gave Mandy a pat on the shoulder and took off to pull the file on that case.

Mandy watched as Sage left. "Sure thing Sparks. Just tell Greg that there was a time out."

"Already done," came the reply and Mandy couldn't help but chuckle. Of course Sage would cover her bases when she needed something from the lab techs. She went back to work printing up the report for the ten card and checked to verify all the prints were a match.

A/N: Well more on the case and Sage serenades Mandy. Could be forshadowing for later. Stay tuned for more Desert Secrets...