Chapter 8

Greg felt energized after heading home and catching a few hours. Now he was back on the case and finishing the DNA samples he had on the strange case that Warrick, Nick and Sage were working on. He was finishing the samples of the milky substance and running through and enjoying a fresh cup of coffee and he didn't have to tap into his special stash.

Ever since Sage made the first cup on her first case here, the others seemed to have paid attention. The motor oil batch occasionally showed up but for the most part, the strength varied depending on who made it but the pots were good. Even Grissom seemed more Grissom than usual. It allowed him to relax a little even though the graveyard shift supervisor made him nervous still.

Greg had come in early to get a start on his batch and started running them against his exemplars. He had his Marilyn Manson playing as he opened his cupboard. Hanging on the inside of the door was one of his wayward pictures from the last time he and Sage hung out. It was taken at one of those ghetto carnivals or something like that and they were about to go bungee jumping.

They were just hanging out and Sage spotted the bungee jumping stand. She had commented on it being a thrill rush. He asked if she had done anything like it. Her response was, "No, but I've gone skydiving."

Greg then said, "So bungee jumping is mild compared to that?"

"Hell no," she replied. "The thrill comes from the fact that you are at the whim of the forces of nature and all you have is what you've prepared for. Doesn't surfing work the same way?"

Greg couldn't say anything about it since he was at eh whim of the elements when he went after the waves. "Sure but I can't compare with skydiving."

"Then why not this?" She pointed at the bungee jumping. "You and me both jump."

Greg agreed to it after he allowed her to egg him on, calling him out on how daring he was on his other exploits. It was the best moment of his life. They snapped the picture and took additional ones when they were going to jump off. The attendant was nice enough to take that one he was looking at. The one he had hidden in his locker was when they went to the bar afterwards and had a couple of drinks and that was something to remember. Of course it sealed the deal on their relationship when he suggested the next week's activity.

Greg continued with his work as he ran the samples. He had his notes ready to go as they started ringing up. "Yes my baby gets me something."

The GMS always gave him a hit. He pulled the readings and looked them over. As soon as he read the results, he frowned. Something wasn't right about this. He was certain that he had done something wrong so he did it again. He went over it again making sure no shortcuts had been taken. His music was loud but it helped steer his concentration in the direction of making sure that his readings were right.

He was concentrating so hard that when Grissom passed by on his way to his office, he had to stop and take a second look. Usually he saw the DNA tech more… animated than that. Grissom blinked and studied Greg a little more before continuing on what he was going to do chalking it up to the fact that maybe some of Sage's work ethic rubbed off on him or he was working on something big. He passed Sara who was on her way to one of the work labs to analyze some evidence from their case. He passed by Warrick who was carrying a file and reading it. It seemed that everyone was busy and early and he couldn't say that he looked forward to the potential memo from Mobley about the overtime.

In the meantime Warrick was looking at the file. It seemed that Bobby managed to trace the serial numbers on the gun and it was registered to their dead suspect. So there was a dead end there. Trace from the vehicle and found on the clothes of the victims indicated a possible stretch of desert but inconclusive and the dead bugs that he had were typical of the area near Lake Mead, specifically Boulder City. So it was down to fingerprints and what Greggo could get in DNA and what Sage could pry out of Robbie and the girl Rachel when she woke up.

"Hey Rick."

Warrick turned to see Nick coming towards him. Apparently they had the same idea of coming in a few hours early to work the case and what Sage called housekeeping. "Hey Nick. Find out anything?"

"Just got in and going to see Bobby about the gun."

"Save you the trouble. Gun's registered to the dead guy from the alley and trace is basically somewhere in the area where we found the girl."

"So what we have is whatever Greggo finds and what Parker can squeeze out of the kid," Nick replied, coming to the same conclusion as Warrick. "Then again maybe the kid doesn't need to talk to Parker. We could do that. He did open up a little yesterday." It was a long shot but considering how open the kid was yesterday, it was worth it.

"You're serious?"

"Kid told me that Bob, the guy from the alley, molested his brother and I read Doc Robbins' report on that," Nick replied. "Could be that he's embarrassed or something."

"But when he came down here, he wanted to talk to Parker."

"Survivalist behaviors, Warrick," Nick pointed out. Even in his own ears it sounded like Sage's psychobabble but it was making the most sense at the moment. "Most likely the kid was fishing out who he can trust. He kept saying that Brian was supposed to be their friend."

"So maybe the kid will talk?" Warrick looked at Nick with a raised brow. He didn't doubt his friend but given the fact that previously the kid refused to talk to anyone but Sage, there was a little bit.

"Worth a try and if it doesn't he'll be open to talking with Parker." Nick gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. It probably wasn't fair to assume that Sage would even want to start another talking session with the kid since she seemed a bit down from earlier. Yet after working with her for three months so far, the whole team got the hint that when she was driven, she was driven.

Warrick was willing to go with it. "Alright let's talk to him. Where is he anyway?"

"Lockwood said that he would have him in the interview room today. He's still looking to see if there are any relatives that we might of missed on all three kids," Nick replied as he motioned towards the PD end. "He's also getting in touch with the foster parents for Robbie and Jordan."

"That's better than nothing though I would like to get the guy that did this," Warrick replied. "Just so wrong."

"Tell me about it." Nick would have said more but he couldn't and didn't. There were some things he wasn't ready to share or didn't want to share. It never was right when a crime against a kid was committed and it didn't matter how old either. It was just wrong on so many levels and he was guessing Sage felt the same way otherwise she wouldn't have been making fists in the car when he drove her home.

A few necessary hours of sleep, food and a bit of exercise perked Sage up a bit and she was ready to tackle another talking to with Robbie and explain the situation with Rachel. Dr. Brewer had left a message stating that the patient was stable. She was still unconscious but no signs of permanent damage… at least in terms of the physical. It was one less thing to deal with in terms of explaining things to the victim and any relatives.

At the last minute though, since it was early, way early, before her shift was to start, she decided to pay Rachel a visit. It probably wasn't a good idea and maybe it did fall in that category of getting personal with the case but it seemed like a good idea. She didn't say anything about when she was coming in since she assumed that her partners wouldn't understand where she was coming from since she could sound morbid and cold when getting down to the science.

Even though they had evidence, she wanted to take another look. She had always maintained that it was what wasn't being said that often had the most valuable information. She believed in Grissom's maxim that the evidence doesn't lie but people do. By observing Rachel, Sage thought that it might help in her thinking process and maybe figure out what Robbie had meant so when she went back to question him, she had something more to stand on.

Even though she didn't do therapy, Sage liked to get acquainted with the person. Even if it was a DB she wanted to get to know them, everything about them. It was how profiling was done. Victimology helped determine modus operandi and any other quirks that a suspect would have or go towards motive. While Grissom made it clear that they weren't in the business of motive, Sage believed that it contributed greatly. It was a difference of opinion really and they respected each other for it.

After checking her messages and a very interesting phone call, Sage found herself in Rachel's room just sitting in the chair provided and studying the girl. To an outsider, it would appear as if she were trying to will her awake or that she might be an artist or something. Dr. Brewer thought nothing of the sort when she did her rounds and checked on her patient. The silence was a bit unnerving though and she said, "You know you don't have to be so quiet just sitting there staring."

Sage looked up at the doctor and altered her expression, "Sorry. I was just… thinking."

"Thinking?"

"It's just something I do when I work a case. I observe the victims/suspects even after we collect evidence," Sage replied. "I just want to understand the why."

Dr. Brewer could get that even if it sounded a bit creepy but she had no reservations about the female CSI. What she saw was someone who felt deeply for the two victims but was self-conscious about showing it. She thought the woman was driven though and had confidence that she would catch the guys that did this to her patient. "I think I understand that."

"You'd be one of the privileged few Doc," Sage replied with a slight smile. She looked at the unconscious Rachel. "I've seen too many of these."

"As a CSI?"

"That and a trauma shrink for CPS when they were shorthanded or had a difficult case. You know it doesn't matter what age they are, it's just wrong."

Dr. Brewer could agree with that. Having seen the types of trauma human beings could inflict on each other, she was amazed that the species survived as long as it did. "You do know that talking sometimes helps. Stimulates brain function… I thought you were a doctor?"

Sage made a slight snort as she took in the teasing look Dr. Brewer was giving. "Please. I'm a Ph.D. and I may have a license in psychology but I'm not a neuroscience person. I'm a scientist first."

Dr. Brewer laughed a little, "Yeah well you better make sure that you don't terrorize my nurses with your staring. They think you're weird enough."

"They can join the club because I am certain my partner thinks the same," Sage replied as she bent over a notepad that was resting on her crossed legs.

"You mean the cute one that picked you up?"

"I hardly would call him that," Sage replied. She didn't deny or confirm but continued to write her thoughts and drew lines and made more notes. "He's a general pack mule like me."

Dr. Brewer made a slight sound at that. That wasn't what it seemed like to her but then again the woman was a different kind of normal. "A'right then. I'll leave you to your observations but like I said, don't scare my nurses."

"Oh you have nothing to worry about unless I was one of the patients," Sage replied as she looked up. "But scout's honor." She made the sign for a scout and gave a smile before going back to her notes.

Dr. Brewer left making another humming sound. She knew the patient was in good hands and that nothing serious was going on. She went to go check on another patient and work on paperwork. She did have another patient she was concerned about.

Sage, in the meantime, put her pen down on her notebook and looked at the girl. She studied the girl's features like one would a painting. As she was studying her, she noticed a chain around the girl's neck and fished it out using the tip of her pen. It was a small gold cross. Normally it would have been removed and placed into personal effects for safe keeping. There was the possibility that Dr. Brewer or one of her nurses put it on.

The one thing that characterized the three victims, she wasn't sure what to classify Brian as yet, had in common was that they came from families that were very devoted to the Christian life. They went to church every Sunday and from what she had been able to dig up on Robbie and Rachel was that they participated in church and school functions and they weren't ashamed about showing it. It went to speak that the abductor had a type he liked.

Other than that, she had nothing else and no idea to what else to go on. As she sat, she glanced at her watch and noted the time and then looked at the girl. "Why would he pick you?"

It was rhetorical and led to Sage looking out the nearby window and tapping her finger slightly on her notebook. As she did so, she began humming for no reason at all. It was a nameless tune until she started putting words to it and started singing softly, "Come thou fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace…"

It mumbled in and out as Sage picked up her stuff and made to leave. She had time to get a cup of coffee before starting and maybe she would be nice like she intended before this case fell in her lap. She walked to the nurses' station and said, "That was nice of you putting the girl's necklace back on."

"No one put anything on your girl's neck," the head nurse who was familiar with the case.

Sage narrowed her eyes at that realizing that someone else was there. She asked, "Can you tell me if anyone else came by to visit?"

"Yes… um… Uncle Moses."

Sage knew something wasn't right with that and asked, "Do you have security footage on this floor?"

"Yes, but why?"

"I think that whoever gave Rachel Lawson her injuries paid a visit," Sage replied as she asked the nurse to get a hold of Dr. Brewer while she pulled out her cell phone to make a call. She looked in the direction of the girl's room and looked around.

"Thanks for helping Sara but you could've just brought me a kit."

"No problem Parker," Sara replied as she went about her work processing the necklace and looking for prints. "Besides this is my area." She looked at Sara with her toothy smile.

Sage returned it as she looked for the guy that was supposed to be taking her to see the surveillance footage. She had called the lab but found that her partners were busy so she called Grissom and asked for input. He sent Sara, who was willing, and now she was getting recoverable prints and a ten card for exemplars.

Sage looked around the room to see if anything else was amiss while Sara was doing this. She replied, "Or are you trying to get me on the race track early?"

"Maybe," Sara replied, "Maybe I wanted to keep you on your toes."

"Still sore that I was able to follow up with my lead before you on that armed robbery case?" Sage glanced at Sara with a slight grin. The first time they worked together was a 419 and with Grissom. They discovered they had a competitive streak when they were tracking down leads and since then were always trying to see who could outdo the other.

It was more like keeping the other challenged. Occasionally Sara would point out something Sage missed and vice versa. It was a strange way of encouragement considering that they often would heckle each other but occasionally would behave like civilized beings.

Sara felt her lip twitch into a smile as she finished her examination and managed to get a partial and lift it. She teased, "Trying to compensate for something Parker?"

"No but I like a challenge," Sage replied as she finished her inspection. She knew that Sara printed the door handle but that looked like a mess in of itself and that was because there was the deal with the nurses and the doctor and anyone else wandering in. "I do feel sorry for Mandy."

"You'll make it up to her. You always do."

"Not always. She likes to take a rain check and spring one on me." Sage broke off the moment the tech came to get her. She glanced at Sara and said, "Thanks though for coming."

"It's no problem Parker," Sara replied as she was finishing. She liked the new CSI and an upside was that it cut down on Greg's flirting with her. "I'll finish up here and get it to the lab. Have fun with your videos," she said.

"Next time you bring the popcorn," Sage countered as she followed the tech to the room to view the footage.

The next half an hour had her looking at footage that would probably bore the hell out of a normal person. For now she wasn't normal. As Warrick put it, she was Robo-girl and she was on the war path to finding out who it was that paid their girl a visit.

Sage had a theory that it might be the guy that kidnapped them in the first place. Bob was more likely a pawn, a second in command. Brian was the first and probably raised that way. It would explain why Robbie felt so betrayed by him. It was that kind of loyalty thing that couldn't be changed overnight. You would need to use something probably like game theory to break them apart.

"Here's roughly ten minutes before your guy signed in at the nurses' station," the tech was saying.

Sage blinked slightly and nodded. "Go ahead."

The footage moved forward and she roved her eyes over the available cameras on the floor. She needed one good shot and Archie would be able to work his computer magic. She looked until she spotted something. "There."

The tech knew his cue and focused on the image. He cued it so they could follow him without having to sort through all the footage. "That your guy?"

Sage was focused on following the guy and barely gave a nod. She watched as their mystery man walked up, signed in and walked into Rachel's room. There was nothing serious going on since she hadn't coded or anything like that. Yet her eyes were narrowed and not in concentration but more along the lines that she was watching the guy that destroyed two families and two young people were going to be tormented by it for a long time. It just made her angry but she was more determined to catch the guy and prevent him from doing this again.

Her patience and waiting paid off when she got a good look of him. It was enough for Archie to play around with and she might be able to call in a favor. She kept viewing from the time he went in to the time he went out. She then said, "Okay, can I get a copy of this?"

"Been making it as we go along," the tech replied with a slight grin. "I got you everything and even highlighted what you were looking for."

It was probably overkill but Sage was not an expert on video and audio. She knew enough how to work with it and prepare for analysis and court but the real wizard was Archie for the graveyard shift. In her mind it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, she had confidence that Archie would be able to sort out the things he needed. He hadn't proved her wrong yet. So she nodded, "Thanks. That will do it."

It didn't dawn on her that the tech was a bit smitten with her since her focus was on the job. She gave a smile when he handed over the surveillance to her and thanked him again while she prepped the evidence envelope for it. She could hardly wait to get back to the lab to get to work on this and maybe Greg would have something from DNA.

Making her way downstairs, her phone rang. Sage gave an apologetic look to Sara and picked up the phone, "Parker here."

Sara watched as Sage walked to her car and proceeded to open the door. She was holding onto the surveillance like it was a lifeline or something. Sara figured that she had gotten something big from it and was anxious to get back to the lab. The shift was going to officially start in half an hour and they had already been working on it for half an hour. Sara could just imagine the overtime temper tantrum the sheriff was going to throw… not that it would detract Sage.

Sage in the meantime was talking to someone she had contacted earlier before arriving at Desert Palms. She listened to the information that she had requested and with an intense look at nothing in particular. "Sure you're sure about that?"

Yes. Sorry Parker but that's what I have so far. I'm still working on it. Glad you brought this to my attention.

"Yeah well you know me," Sage replied as she tapped the roof of her car gently.

You know I do. Don't worry. I'll figure out something for them both.

"Thanks," Sage replied and gave a slight smile as she hung up. She looked at Sara and said, "See you at the lab?"

Sara nodded. She wasn't going to pry into Sage's business but she suspected that it had something to do with the case she was working on. She had noticed that sometimes the new CSI went above and beyond on certain cases. Certainly she occasionally lent a hand to days and swing but only as far as lab work. Anything else, that was Sage's business but Sara wondered if she was pushing her luck in terms of energy and health.

Saying nothing about it, Sara replied, "Sure thing Parker. I'll take care of the prints in case Mandy's cross-eyed."

"Just be nice," Sage replied with a slight smile. "She's still upset with me."

Sara knew that she was teasing and gave a smile. She got into her vehicle and headed towards the lab. Meanwhile Sage watched Sara leave and glanced at the evidence envelope with the surveillance. It was time to get back to work so gearing up, she turned her classic baby towards the lab and sped off.

A/N: Looks like the case is moving forward and maybe Greggo found something. Sage and Sara have a moment of friendship. Keep watching for more Desert Secrets...