Chapter 11

Robbie paced agitated in the holding cell. He knew he deserved it since he had overreacted. He hadn't meant to take a swing at the lanky tall CSI Warrick Brown but he was so… angry. He had been taught better meaning that hitting a girl was wrong. His dad said that to hit a woman was to be a coward even if the woman was capable of fighting. Women were the other half of the equation when it came to creating life but also that whole spiel about love that Robbie didn't understand until later when he met Rachel.

She was just as scared as he was when she was brought in. That was when he and Jordan were playing along for a time. Then when the other stuff happened, she was given more privileges than he and Jordan and partly that was because they escaped one too many times or protested what they were being taught.

They all slept in the same room at night and she often cuddled next to him and they would talk. It was the only time that they weren't watched by that pervert Bob. Then he remembered that old biddy. She was around all the time too and she had a thing for Moses. That was gross. She was the one that made sure they conducted themselves properly.

That sure flew out the window when he and Rachel got serious. Since she was the only one that had been allowed to wander around, she got to meet other guys but as she said, they were nothing like him. At the time Robbie thought it was one of those awkward compliments. In the end she managed to admit to her feelings and they talked some more. Five years was a long time and then…

"Hey, do you intend on wearing a hole in the floor?"

Robbie stopped pacing to see Sage looking at him through the bars. He continued to pace but occasionally kicking at one of the objects in the cell. "I'm…"

"You're pissed."

Robbie paused in his pacing and looked at her. "Yes. I am."

Sage nodded and motioned for the officer to unlock the door and let her in. She walked in and the door closed behind her. She stood where she stopped and looked at Robbie.

Robbie looked at her and finally said, "If this is about me punching out that CSI… I'm sorry."

Sage gave a slight smile. She saw the mark on Warrick's jaw. "Don't worry about it. He's made of tougher stuff than that."

"Gotta be if you work this job." Robbie walked over to the bunk and sat down. He hunkered over and rested his arms over his knees letting his scarred wrists show. The gunshot wound didn't hurt much anymore.

Sage said nothing about that and walked over to sit beside Robbie. It was a big risk considering that everyone else was saying that he was violent. She didn't think so… at least not the kind that would fit the definition of violence in terms of a crime. "So what's the problem?"

Robbie looked at the floor and at his wrists. "Can you answer me a question?"

"We can go back and forth if you like but understand that my questions are specific."

"Will you use them to find her?"

"Whatever you can provide us will help." Sage studied the youth. It wasn't a matter of his concussion. She got the feeling that his ranting when they first met had something to do with mixing up events and blending them together. Now that he was coherent, he was separating them out and some things were things that were bad, ugly and if there was any good in there. "Can you tell me why you didn't tell us about the baby?"

"Protecting her and Rachel." Robbie stared at the ground for some time. Finally he looked up at Sage and said, "I know the stigma about kids having babies. I was an honor student in school. We…"

"You love each other," Sage supplied.

"And the proper response is that you would ask what do I know about love," Robbie shot back in a deadpan tone. "I know quite a bit."

"And maybe that suggested response would work under normal circumstances but in this case it is not." Sage studied the kid some more. She could see that he was not a bad kid. He did seem to really care about Rachel and from what had been told of his reactions, she was not one to judge too harshly. "How old is your daughter?"

"Couple of months. Her name is Rebekah." Robbie felt the tears come. He felt ashamed but he was tired and he still had a mile to run.

"That's a pretty name."

"It's spelled like the Rebekah from the Bible," Robbie supplied. "It was the one time he didn't punish me or Jordan. It was when she was born." He wiped a tear away and sniveled a bit. "She's beautiful… perfect."

Sage could recall when she first held Cassie as a baby. She didn't quite understand the feeling but she got that there was something about babies that just melted your heart. She had been enthusiastic to have a baby sister and loved her the moment she set eyes on her. Even when things were tough and the way things were now, she still loved her sister. "I thought the same about my sister when she was born but it's different when you know you created life huh?"

"I guess. It's hard to describe, the joy and everything. And Rachel was a trooper."

I'll bet. Sage could only imagine what it was like if there was no access to medical help or if there was then no one was talking. "I know you know she's in the hospital."

"He hit her," Robbie said as a statement of fact. "He hit her because she wanted to run with us. We wanted to be free."

"I'm with you on the fact that I'm pissed he hit her too," Sage countered. She sobered a bit since the next part was going to be hard. "Listen, I was there and she's okay but they induced a coma because there is swelling in the brain. She was hit pretty hard."

"Bastard."

"We suspect that it might be from a statue of a saint. We didn't find it at the house."

"Probably at the ranch. It's what he called it. Mostly it looked like a dump the few times Jordan and I actually got out." Robbie clasped his hands together and rubbed his palms. He studied the scars that were forming and the ones that had faded. "You're probably looking for the statue of St. Agnes. It was the odd ball of the lot but Moses got it because of Rachel."

"I'm familiar with St. Agnes. Her name has roots to lamb and she is described as gentle," Sage replied at an attempt to establish grounding even though she already had it. She was trying to make it easier for Robbie since he was the key.

"You don't need to impress me CSI Parker," Robbie replied with a slight smile.

"No?"

"I can tell that you know about that kind of thing. It's your job to know things." Robbie looked at Sage with a pleasant smile. He felt a little better about the whole thing and ready to give more if he were asked. "On the other hand, you understand because you have Him in your life."

"What do you mean?"

"Like I told your partner… Nick… you understand because you believe. It is rare to find someone who believes and does the work you do," Robbie explained. "You know because you are a believer."

Sage nodded a little. She didn't wear much in terms of Christian paraphernalia. She surmised that Robbie noticed the Bible she was holding and made the connection and she was there at the church. "How did you come to that?"

"Your Bible and the song you sang."

"You mean when I quoted it? It was something to say at the time but I can see your point. I do tend to refer to that hymn. It is my favorite and one of the first my grandmother taught me," Sage explained. She cleared her throat slightly and continued, "I think it helped in convincing Rachel to wake up a bit."

"Come Thou Fount is her favorite too," Robbie replied with a smile, "She told me that her mom used to sing it to her at night. Her favorite verse began O to grace how great a debtor."

Sage smiled a bit. "That is a good one. Robbie, when Rachel woke up she said something about a granary and Skylar. Can you think of why she would tell me that?" She looked at Robbie determined to get an answer and willing to push but she got the idea that he would tell her what he could.

Robbie felt his eyes widen slightly at the mentioning of the name. He replied, "Skylar is the name of the dump ranch. It was a dump because there was a lot of junk and maybe a couple of horses. Me and Jordan mucked stalls quite a bit."

"Was there a granary there?"

"Yeah but nothing was put in there of if there was… the bugs would have gotten to it. Moses stored bread in there and then when it was gross out it came. I don't know why." Robbie looked at Sage, "Is Becky there?"

"You tell me Robbie. Any landmarks you can tell me about the place. We know it was in the vicinity of the house you escaped from and that you walked there." Sage adopted a similar posture that Robbie was taking. It gave for a more casual environment and it relaxed Robbie a little more even though he was comfortable with her.

Robbie thought about it. He recalled everything he could remember from the times that he and Jordan had been outside. He could hear the noises and see things as he thought about it. He remembered some of the weird chores and some of the other things.

Sage let him think about it for a time. While the evidence never lied and people did, memories helped too. Of course they were human and they could fail at times but she knew a few things about trauma victims. There was denial that it ever happened and then there were those that remembered. They remembered everything and it depended on what they did with it. She had seen it go both ways before.

"Horses," Robbie answered, "We mucked out stalls. There was the roofing job. The granary. Had a picture of a bird." He kept trying to remember. He did remember the one time he was in the granary and his eyes opened wide. "Bugs… worms. Lots of them."

Sage noticed that he was starting to panic a bit. She was not the kind of person to make fun of phobias since she had one that people would laugh at. She put a hand on Robbie's shoulder, "It's okay. You're here at the LVPD headquarters. Nothing's gonna happen to you."

Robbie managed to slow down his breathing and breathe normally. He hated the granary. He knew what was down there. "Sorry. I just don't like worms. They look slimy."

"Nothing wrong with that," Sage soothed. She felt that she had enough to help out Warrick and Nick and provided that they got stuff from trace on the dust and the other things that they collected. It would help narrow the scope and Brass and Lockwood were on standby to help. "Do you happen to know what kind of a bird was on the granary?"

Robbie thought about it. He described, "Brown on top and pale on the chest and stomach and a fluffy do." He motioned with his hands as he thought about it some. It then came to him like a revelation and he clapped his hands together as he made a connection. "Like that skinny guy that was talking to the CSI that I punched. And there's the old biddy. She made us 'behave'."

Sage gave a slight look at that. He described Greg's hairstyle pretty well and at least she had an idea about what to look for. It was still going to be a search. Still it was more than what they had before and she was the optimist. "Thank you."

She got up to stand when Robbie asked, "You will find her?"

Sage had signaled for the guard to let her out when Robbie asked the question. She turned and asked, "Do you know your Bible?"

"The only thing I've been able to read for the last five years," Robbie replied.

"My favorite verse and one I think about every day is Proverbs 3:5. Trust the Lord with all your heart." Sage studied the boy as he sat looking up at her. "I remind myself that every day even when the bad things happen."

"I knew you were a believer," Robbie replied with a smile.

"We'll find Rebekah. That I promise," Sage said looking at the kid. She stepped out of the cell and continued out of holding. She sighed as she walked hoping that they would find where that baby was and get this bastard and that bitch.

"I got your results on that substance you sent from Robbie's shoes. It's a mixture of horse turd and tar. More specifically roofing tar."

Warrick looked at Greg and then Nick. "Well that narrows the scope a bit."

"Don't be a doubting Thomas," Greg said. "Your soil samples are consistent and there's the worms you got."

"Isn't a doubting Thomas who questions?" Nick gave Warrick a slight smile as he went to looking back at the map. On it was marked where the accident scene was, the house where Rachel had been and the location of the dust and plant traces that were consistent.

"Yeah well Sara gave me a swab and I was in the religious mood," Greg replied. He handed the report over. "By the way, epithelials list as unknown male probably your guy." He looked at the map and the markings. "You know mealworms are attracted to grains. They eat the stuff."

"Been listening to Grissom again?" Warrick looked at Greg.

"No I actually grew the things for biology class," Greg replied. "You know a granary would be the best place to find them. That and rats." He left to go finish some work on other cases after pointing at the duo.

"Well that narrows it down," Warrick replied feeling a bit frustrated. "Granaries are used on farms."

"Of if you're storing feed," Nick pointed out. He recalled the granary storage at the ranch back home in Texas. His parents had a nice stock of horses and a lot of them and they used a specialty brand that they kept under controlled conditions.

"But on Robbie's shoes there were horse turds. Why would there be mealworms in the granary then?" Warrick looked up confused.

"There would be if it was used for something else." Sage came walking in. She had stopped by and talked to Archie about making a query for ranches and holdings that recently had tarring done or ordered anything as well as a list of properties with granaries. "Robbie mentioned that it wasn't used for grain feed but bread was put in there and when it was crap it was removed."

"You're thinking that it was being used to hide something else?"

Sage looked at Nick and Warrick, "Possibly but not much to go on. Moses was clever in keeping the boys separate from Rachel. The boys were kept inside most of the time and it looked like Rachel was given free reign with the exception of nights." She looked at the map and then at the two CSIs. "They kept it quiet," she added with a slight smirk.

"I am not even going to ask how you managed to get that out of the kid," Warrick said as he held his hands up in mock surrender.

Sage looked at the lists that Archie pulled for her and started marking on the map with a marker pen. She gave a slight smile and replied, "That is something for me to know and for you to figure out ye of little faith."

"Oh I have faith but I don't know what you operate on," Warrick teased as he watched her mark the map. "What do you have?"

"Well Robbie mentioned tarring jobs and described the granary. He also said that the ranch was a dump but the funny thing was there were horses." Sage looked at her list and cross checked. "So I had Archie check for purchases of roofing tar or any kinds of tar lately and if any of the properties had a granary…"

"And you found them." Nick crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well there are six with granaries and all have horses," Sage replied as she finished. "Only one has a picture of a bird on the granary and according to Robbie… it looks like a dump." She straightened and looked down at the map.

"And all of them are within the area nearby the house we found Rachel in." Warrick made a slight face as he looked down at the map.

"So how are we going to narrow down the scope?" Nick looked at Sage and Warrick and the map.

"Guesswork," Sage joked knowing that the main rule usually was that the shortest distance was science. At their looks she gave a slight smile, "Or we could base it off the probability of walking distance as long as we take into account the possibility of injury and the fact that they most likely had the baby with them."

"Well we did find the two dolls," Nick pointed out. "Robbie could have carried them and at some point carried him."

"Her," Sage corrected. "Her name is Rebekah." She had a straight look on her face when she said it before bending over and pulling a pencil out. She grabbed some tape and made a makeshift compass and estimated her angle. She put the pencil point on the house. "Now there were four of them and the baby."

"Well the boys Jordan and Robbie had experience with escaping," Nick pointed out. "They could go much faster since they knew the way out and the ways towards the house."

"And Rachel wasn't used to it. She was the favored one and allowed a bit more freedom and more likely she had never been outside wherever she was being kept." Warrick looked at the map as Sage made the adjustments. She ran her finger and traced and invisible line as she made mental calculations. "Your math right?"

"Just taking into account certain factors," Sage replied as she continued her train of thought. "Now I've read accounts and runaway slaves back home in the day were known to have gone quite a distance on foot if they were carrying loads as heavy as a baby."

"And would home be bayou country?"

"Most assuredly," Sage replied. "However given that both boys had ligature marks and Brian had more substantial injuries the radius is narrowed even further." She made a circle with her compass around the map.

"That narrows it down to three," Warrick countered.

"Better than the six," Sage replied.

"Ever the optimist, aren't you Parker?" Nick gave a smile of encouragement.

Sage gave a slight grin, "I prefer to think half full. That and a few choice quotes I keep in mind.

"Well maybe I can help you on that," Sara said as she walked into the room they were in. She cast a grin at Sage, "After all I can't let Parker fall asleep behind the wheel."

"I don't fall asleep," Sage retorted giving the slightest of grins. "I prefer the wait and see approach." She gave a slight wink in Nick's direction hinting at their previous conversation. She could tell he got it because he gave a slight motion of his hand in return. She turned her attention to Sara, "So hit me."

If the playful punch by Sara surprised the two males they didn't say anything. Both women were smiling anyway and they sobered as Sara explained her findings, "Well the prints I got off that cross gave me a hit." She put the booking photo she had on file, "Meet Mark "Moses" Stratton, booked for disturbing the peace and assault. As it turns out he was a tent evangelist who really stressed the end of the world kind of thing and ended up losing it during one of his sermons."

"So he really is a crazy," Warrick said recalling what Brass had said earlier.

"You got lucky," Sage replied still keeping her attention on Sara. She crossed her arms over her chest and began to rub her finger on her chin in a thoughtful manner. She muttered mostly to herself but it was loud enough for everyone to hear, "So that would be why he took these kids."

"During his last sermon he said that the chosen ones would lead them to salvation and from the wilderness, from the desert… and so on," Sara motioned to emphasize her point.

"I hope you have a location on where they were supposed to come out of the desert," Warrick said looking at Sara.

"I do have something," Sara replied with that look that almost seemed expressionless at times. "Moses actually had properties, a pretty big deal considering he preached from a tent. One was a ranch property. The guy was a horse buff and…" Sara took the makeshift compass and removed the marker pen. She drew a circle around one of the three that was inside their radius, "Your ranch is this one."

"Well the owner was under a different name but that could probably be how he managed to keep it and still be a preacher," Sage replied almost spitting the word preacher out. "So let's get going."

"Wait, the property doesn't list a granary," Sara pointed out.

"Best bet," Warrick countered. "It is within the area that they could have come from."

"And it may have been added later," Nick pointed out.

Sage studied it. It was their best bet. She was anxious to find the baby and she could tell the others were too. They had to be smart about it though and make sure that the evidence supported it. As much as she wanted to say she felt it in her gut and she was sure that the others did too, they needed to have sufficient basis. She looked at Warrick since he was the lead, "Your call."

Warrick took a look at the map. "I'll call Brass."

Ten minutes later they were heading out to Stratton's ranch near Boulder City. It was late afternoon and the dusk was already setting in. Sage looked out the window on her side of the Tahoe and looked at the landscape and then forward. Her fingers tapped on the sill while she patiently endured Warrick's driving that was nothing like hers when she was teasing rookies. They would get this guy.

A/N: Sage goes in for one more round with Robbie and Warrick and Nick are narrowing the scope. Time to get this guy. Keep watching for more Desert Secrets...