Horatio and Sara watched Grissom and Nick leave, both becoming aware that they had been left behind at the same moment. He turned to look at her and Sara cursed herself when she looked away.
"Would you mind if I had a seat?" He asked, his voice husky but gentle.
Sara thought about saying 'yes' but reminded herself that wasn't how she wanted this to play out. "Go ahead." She cleared her throat and sipped her tea.
Pulling up a chair, Horatio sat and looked at her before looking at the screen that held her attention. They sat quietly for a minute.
"I gather by your suites that you had something fancier than a murder investigation planned for this evening." Sara finally said, succeeding in sounding casual.
Horatio chuckled. "The...Las Vegas Philharmonic."
"Do you enjoy the symphony?" Sara asked, putting emphasis on the last word. He looked like he could be the type.
"Um..." Horatio started, furrowing his brow, "I've never been."
"Ah. You were going for Grissom." Sara smiled.
"Well, I told him I'd try anything once as long as it didn't involve cheering for the Heat."
Sara frowned and looked at Horatio. "You don't cheer for your home town team?"
Horatio looked at her with soft, blue eyes. "Born and raised in New York."
"Mmm." Sara said, retuning her eyes to the search.
"Basketball fan?" Horatio ventured, wanting to keep some semblance of dialogue going back and forth.
"Hell no," Sara said, "big waste of time if you ask me. No offence," she added, looking quickly at Horatio.
"None taken. I can see how basketball would seem frivolous when you catch criminals for a living and save wildlife in your spare time." Horatio said casually.
This comment garnered a raised eyebrow from Sara. "You two talk about me."
Horatio leaned over, placing his elbows on his knees before looking sideways at her. "You're pretty important to him. You come up."
Sara's eyes widened slightly as her heart clenched. She had been wondering why Horatio was in here talking to her. He was looking for an opportunity. "You don't need to do this," she whispered.
"I'm terrible on the phone...but if you need anything, I'm here too." The look he gave her as he said this made Sara feel as if she were an open book to him. It also made her want to trust him which was uncanny.
Horatio stood and made to leave.
"I want to get to know you," Sara said softly, unsteadily.
He turned, a hand on the door. "Good. The feeling, Miss Sidle, is mutual."
They shared a look and he left. Sara sat, staring at tread patterns flashing by on the screen, perplexed by how Horatio had done what he had done. She felt exposed but not necessarily vulnerable, like a kind doctor had just looked under the dressing at a wound and told her he would take care of that in no time.
Horatio strode down the hall until he got to layout, wherein Grissom was leaning on the table, staring intently at something. Entering, he came to stand beside Grissom and found he was looking at a photo of Cody and two friends. On his left was a good looking girl with red hair, green eyes and faint freckles on her cheeks. To his right was a boy who was stockier than Cody, blonde haired and coming into his manhood quicker with wisps of hair on his chin.
"That's our rape victim," Grissom said, looking to Horatio.
"Do we know how they all fit together yet?" Horatio asked quietly, flipping open a file on the case.
"They're good friends, judging by the amount of phone traffic between them all."
"Could it be a coincidence that one gets raped... and the other murdered in the same night?"
Grissom looked at Horatio with a raised brow, the corner of his mouth quirked so his beard ruffled. "In a town where the odds always favour the house? I doubt it. Care to take a ride to Travis Beacher's house?"
Horatio rumbled his assent and they left layout.
The Beacher household was the same size as the Haglund house and Grissom guessed that Travis Beacher's father was defence attorney Richard Beacher. This was confirmed when the well known lawyer answered the door himself, looking displeased in his house coat.
"Gentlemen, do you have any idea of the time?"
Grissom cleared his throat. "Our apologies Mr. Beacher. We're with the Las Vegas Crime lab and we need to speak to your son." The CSI found himself wishing this was not Richard Beacher's house. The man was immediately suspicious.
"With regard to what?"
"May we come inside?" Horatio asked from over Grissom's shoulder.
"I'd prefer not. Tell me what this is about." Beacher crossed his arms.
"This concerns the rape of Sarah Broughton and the murder of Cody Haglund," Horatio cut in brusquely. It had the desired effect.
Richard Beacher's face became instantly stricken. "Sarah and Cody? Are you sure?"
"May we come in?" Grissom pressed.
He stepped aside and allowed the two men inside. Closing the door, he looked at Grissom and Horatio with shock. "What happened?"
"We can't go into details but there was a party this evening that Sarah was raped at. Cody Haglund was found in a dumpster in Meadows Village." Grissom said.
Beacher rubbed his face and shook his head. "Travis has been home all night. He wouldn't know anything about any of this...he's going to be devastated."
"Your son may be able to help us find who did this. Could we speak with him?" Horatio asked, looking askance at Beacher.
He thought about it for a moment before saying, "wait here. I'll wake him up."
In a minute, a trembling lipped Travis Beacher stood before them, his father's arm wrapped around his shoulder. He was so distraught that he couldn't think of anything.
He simply repeated over and over, "I should have been there."
"So Travis knew about the party but didn't attend," Grissom thought aloud in the Denali as they drove back to PD.
Horatio casually slipped his hand into Grissom's where it sat on the centre console. "You think he's telling the truth?"
Caught off guard momentarily, Grissom took a moment before he squeezed Horatio's hand. "I don't know. The evidence will tell us one way or another."
They found Jim waiting for them outside of interview one.
"That's Ingrid Broughton, Sarah's mother. She's not too keen on having her daughter here so make it quick, okay?"
Grissom and Horatio nodded before they stepped inside and introduced themselves.
Sarah eyed them sceptically. "Did you two just come from a wedding or something?"
Horatio smiled at her from where he stood near the one-way mirror but Grissom looked flustered for a moment before he sat down opposite Sarah and her mother.
"Uh, no." Grissom said. "We'd like to ask you about what happened tonight."
"You people have already asked her everything, twice," her mother said, her eyes red rimmed.
"Sometimes a person can recount an event differently from telling to telling," Grissom said gently, looking from Ingrid to Sarah. "You may remember something this time that you didn't talking to the officers at the scene."
"At 'the scene'," Sarah said with a frown. "I was raped Mr. Grissom. Call a spade a spade and spare me."
Both men narrowed their eyes slightly as he mother covered her mouth.
"Okay Sarah. Tell me what happened." Grissom said simply. He took the lead in all the questions from here.
"I went to the party, had been planning to for a week ever since Stephanie invited us."
"Us?" Grissom asked.
"Yeah, Cody, Trav and me."
"Are you always invited to things as a threesome?"
"Duh. We're the three musketeers, the three stooges. We do everything together." She looked at Grissom like he was ridiculous. "Been like that ever since we were kids." Her mother nodded at this.
"Did all three of you go to the party?"
Sarah nodded, her eyes glazing over as she looked at the table. "We all went. We were having a good time too."
"Were the three of you together all night?"
"No, we like to split up, reconnect, talk, split up, you know, mingle. I lost track of Cody and Trav around nine."
"When were you attacked?"
"About an hour after that. I went upstairs to see if I could find them, went to a bedroom and got jumped." She didn't cry. Horatio felt the strength of this child and it amazed him.
"Do you remember anything specifically about your attacker,a smell or scar?"
Sarah thought about this question for a solid five minutes before shaking her head. "I was out of it after...you know. But, he did say he was sorry. Picture that, he's sorry."
"Thank you Sarah," Grissom said a bit sternly, not wanting her to feel patronized.
She just nodded and got up, helping her mother up as she went.
"Travis Beacher was lying to us," Grissom said after they had left.
His phone buzzed on his hip as Sara entered the room. Grissom took the call, motioning to Sara to speak with Horatio.
"Got a hit on that tread pattern and I'd say it's definitely linked to our murder." She directed this at Horatio without hesitation, opening the folder for him.
"What was the car?" Horatio asked huskily, looking at the report.
"Jaguar XK150," She said, a little smug.
Horatio raised his eyebrows, "A 1950's sportscar. That's pricey."
"Yeah, I checked online. In good condition, that's 100,000 dollars pricey. Better yet, there's only two registered in Vegas." She showed Horatio the file with the registration details and he smiled. "Nice work."
Sara grinned.
"Guess who that receipt from the Ballagio belongs to?" Grissom asked, standing to face them.
"Travis Beacher," Horatio rumbled.
"Fake I.D.." Grissom shook his head. "We had him."
"Let's go get him," Sarah said, "We've definitely got enough for a warrant for his DNA."
Horratio nodded at her and looked to Grissom as his phone rang again. Once more he motioned for Horatio and Sara to get ready as he took the call, making his way towards A/V.
Nick informed him that they had found the murder weapon at the scene of the rape, in the backyard. It was a broken bottle and there were prints.
"Good work Nick. Get those back here and run them, I need it done yesterday." Grissom flipped his phone shut and looked at Archie. "We're looking for anything that might tie this kid to a rape or a murder, something he did or said to make someone very angry."
"Ah," said Archie, "I'm already ahead of you. I found Cody Haglund's online journal."
Grissom frowned with distaste, "Why online?"
"Mom and dad will never find it under your bed. Anyway, the entries In the last two months have him mentioning that he is in full blown puppy love and that he doesn't 'think that anyone will understand'. Does that mean anything?" Archie looked up from the screen to Grissom whose eyes were focused in the distance as he contemplated this.
"It could mean everything," he said as he left, leaving Archie to wonder after him.
"Something come up?" Horatio asked as he slipped on his suit jacket. They were joined by Brass as the four of them walked outside.
"Nick's got the weapon and Archie just found the motive."
"Cody falls in love with Sarah, doesn't feel he can tell her...or anyone for that matter. Feeling builds until he snaps, rapes her. Travis finds out and kills Cody." Sara mused from the back seat of the Denali as they buckled up. "Classic tale of tragic teenage love."
There were no lights on at the Beacher residence as the Denali, Jim's mustang and two cruisers pulled up outside. Jim and another officer went first towards the door, followed by Grissom, Horatio and Sara. It caught her off guard when she noticed that Horatio had his gun drawn, that he had slipped in out silently as they may their way carefully up the drive.
Jim looked over his shoulder and motioned the officers behind them to surround the house before pounding on the front door. "Las Vegas Police!"
It took a minute but eventually lights turned on upstairs and footsteps could be heard. Richard Beacher opened his door, about to give them a piece of his mind when Jim shoved a series of folded, blue papers into his chest and pushed past him. "Where's your son Mr. Beacher?"
"He's upstairs, he was sleeping-" Beacher began ranting.
Jim and the other officer moved towards the stairs, Grissom and company following. The sounds of an engine being revved and tires screeching from outside caused them all to look back.
Horatio took his foot off of the doorway and spun to see the backside of the Jaguar tearing down the driveway. Levelling his gun, he half closed one eye and sighted down on the tires, letting two shots rip through the quiet night air. The Jaguar jerked sharply to the side, slamming against the curb of the drive without going over into the flower beds.
Horatio walked towards the driver side door, gun still levelled, Jim and several officers flanking him. Opening the door, he saw Travis Beacher holding his hands up, lip bleeding.
"Nice work, John Wayne," Jim quipped as Horatio holstered his weapon.
Grissom and Horatio stood behind the one-way mirror, looking into the interrogation room where Jim sat motionless, staring at Travis and his father. The boy was in a Coyotes hoodie, cream and maroon coloured.
"Nice shot," Grissom said quietly, not taking his eyes from the glass.
"Nice work," Horatio replied in a soft, raspy tone.
A knock on the door produced Sara a second later, handing Grissom a file. She raised her eyebrows at him, "Uh...interesting."
Grissom narrowed his eyes at her before turning them to the file. He scanned it quickly, Horatio looking over his shoulder. His own brow raised in surprise and a look of understanding passed between him and Sara. Then he shook his head a little and she saw sadness in his eyes before he looked away.
Sighing, Grissom left the room and entered the door directly beside it, looking at Travis as he took a seat next to Jim. Travis' face, so distraught upon their first meeting, was now full of spite. He was a good actor.
"We know you raped Sarah Broughton," Grissom began, passing the DNA comparison to Richard Beacher.
"We know you killed Cody Haglund," he passed over photos of the Bellagio receipt, tire treads and broken bottle, "and dumped his body in Meadows Village, perhaps hoping it would look like he had been mugged."
Grissom sat for minute and scrutinized the boy but he wasn't quite a boy. There was a lot of anger in that young face.
"Yeah, I did it," Travis replied quietly, no remorse in his voice. His father looked sidelong at his son, there was definitely grief in his eyes.
Grissom leaned forward and put an elbow on the table as he withdrew a photo from the file and placed it on the table. "We know why you did it." His eyes were hard as he looked at Travis, disgusted.
Travis frowned as he looked at the photo, then back to Grissom. "What are you talking about?" His words were almost whispered, like he was afraid if he let them get too loud he wouldn't be able to catch them again, control them.
Grissom pointed to the outlined area on the jeans in the photo. "These are the pants Cody Haglund was wearing when he was murdered and this is your semen on them."
His eyes growing wide, Travis Beacher's jaw clenched and his breathing became irregular as a sheen of sweat broke out over his forehead.
His father looked at him, then to Grissom, then back. "Mr. Grissom, I don't...I don't understand."
"Your son and Cody Haglund have been friends for years, Mr. Beacher. Recently Cody thought he'd found the love of his life but that no one would understand. We thought he meant Sarah, but he didn't, did he Travis?" Grissom leaned back in his chair.
Travis was leaned over, trying to contain himself, his lip trembling as he rocked back and forth slightly. "Cody...Cody wanted to tell...everyone...but I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't...I'm not like that." He turned to his father with a sharp twitch of his shoulders. "It was just a few times, we were just...fooling around," he hollered.
"When Cody told you he wanted to tell someone, his mother perhaps, you panicked and stabbed him with a beer bottle." Grissom's lip twitched in disgust as he spoke the next sentence, "then you raped Sarah, someone you were familiar with...to prove your masculinity was still intact."
Richard Beacher was staring his son in the eyes, tears trickling down his face. "Cody and Sarah...that's what this was for?" He stood up and backed away from his son who looked after him, a pleading look in his eyes.
Jim signalled to a waiting officer as Grissom looked down at the table. He had seen and heard enough. He wasn't aware of Travis and his father leaving the room as his rights were read to him. He didn't hear the small words of comfort that Jim offered before he left, seeing a defeated look in his friend and wanting to help.
All he felt was a strong hand come to rest on his shoulder and grip it firmly. "Okay?"
When Grissom didn't respond right away, Horatio pulled the seat vacated by Jim close to his lover's side and waited for him to look up.
He kept his eyes on the table as he spoke, "those kids were 15 years old. Living and falling in love." He paused before taking a deep breath. "Travis Beacher was so afraid of being...different...that he would violate two of the most important relationships he had to hide it."
Horatio joined Grissom in looking at the table.
"Did you ever think that what we were doing...that it was..." Grissom tried, lips parted as he looked at Horatio.
"Gay?" Horatio let his eyes drift back up to Grissom's and saw the conflict in the granite grey that his eyes were when he got upset. Anger, frustration, uncertainty. He felt it too.
In the core of his being, Horatio knew that Grissom needed something right now, some sign that the world would make sense again and that they could wake up in it tomorrow and be okay. His stomach rebelling, heart in his throat, Horatio thought he'd try the one thing that kept him going whenever he'd stumbled over life lately. His sign.
"All I thought about...was your kiss and how much...I was falling in love with you." Horatio reached out and grasped Grissom's hand, as much to steady himself as to punctuate what he had just said.
Grissom blinked as he looked at Horatio and his jaw muscles quivered as they tried to decide whether to speak and what to say.
"Don't...leave me hanging." Horatio's words were shaky even as he tried to make light.
Grissom just shook his head and gripped Horatio's hand. "I new I was in love with you when you faked your death, I still can't believe you did that." Both men laughed a laugh that came from the nervous quivers in their stomachs. "It was only after I heard that you had been shot that I knew... and it was so unfair...to realise you love someone after they're gone." Grissom reached up and touched Horatio's cheek.
Desperately needing to relieve the emotional tension, Horatio said, "I didn't die...does this mean I'm off the hook?"
Leaning in to playfully nuzzle Horatio's cheek with some force, Grissom whispered to him, "don't push your luck."
Catherine opened the door first, giving Horatio and Grissom time to pull apart in surprise before the rest of the team spilled into the interrogation room.
She gave them both a killer smile. "You boys are all dressed up with no place to go."
"Amy Innocenzo is playing a show a club tonight, we can still catch the tail end of it." Nick said, a Texas grin on his face.
Eyes drifting casually to Grissom's, Horatio saw that he was not terribly interested. "What kind of music does she play?" He asked, eyes rising to the group of young CSI's.
"'Lotta rhythm, little bit a blues, I mean, she's not the symphony..." Warrick said from behind the group, shrugging off his last comment casually.
Grissom looked to his team, still full of smiling camaraderie and youth, and smiled in spite of himself.
He looked over to Horatio who shrugged, "you know I love the blues..."
The seven CSI's managed to squeeze up to the bar and order drinks. The club was the sort that attracted all types, it's ambiance casual with lighting that didn't offend the senses. It was clearly a place where people came to dance and groups of people were still moving to the music even though it was getting late, even by Vegas standards.
"I have surgery to keep my hearing just to have it stolen by this?" Grissom indicated the speakers thumping not five feet from their heads to Catherine.
She gave him a friendly fist to the arm, "shut up, she's great."
And she was. The singer wound down an upbeat R&B tune and began what was obviously a song to slow dance to. Taking a sip of the water in front of him, Grissom caused Catherine to look up as he pushed away from the bar. Horatio was having a somewhat heated conversation about basketball with Warrick and Nick when a hand was thrust towards him. All three men looked up to Grissom holding out his hand and looking fondly at Horatio, who, after a stunned moment, smiled and took it.
Sarah and Greg eventually looked over to see what had Warrick and Nick's mouths hanging open and Catherine smiling so genuinely. Their hands clasped firmly together, Grissom and Horatio strode to the middle of the dance floor. Grissom stopped them when he felt they had reached a good spot by turning to face his lover and slipping his other arm around Horatio's lower back, drawing their bodies together intimately. The hands that had been clasped together were drawn up to their chests to rest in the small space between them, the beating of their hearts felt beneath the thump of the bass. Horatio drew his other arm over Grissom's shoulder and leaned his forehead onto Grissom's.
Nick turned to his friend, a satisfied look on his face. When Warrick tore his eyes away from the men dancing on the floor he looked at Nick. "Come on. That doesn't count." He tried to argue.
Nick just shook his head and started laughing. "The deal was 'is Grissom seein' someone'. All right?" Nick laid his palms on his chest. "I bet good money that he was and you didn't so...Cough. It. Up."
Warrick scrunched up his face in mock upset as he took out his wallet, withdrew four 20's and flicked them on to the bar. Laughing, Nick scooped them up and returned to watching his supervisor. No one said it, as they all stood with their backs to the bar and watched, but they looked in love as they moved gracefully around the dance floor.
Horatio was glad that Grissom was a good lead, it allowed him to get lost in those grey eyes without worrying about stepping on Grissom's toes. A laugh escaped him as he thought about how they must look, dress shirts rumpled with the sleeves rolled up, bow tie tails dangling from their necks.
Grissom's whole face brightened a bit when he heard Horatio laugh and he pulled him closer. "I love you," he mouthed, their eyes connected.
Horatio put his mouth to Grissom's ear and said, "I love you too," before they kissed, oblivious of all the attention they were receiving, lost in each other.