4.
"You still forget to take a break when you're working a case."
Sara turned when she heard Doug's voice. He leant at the door frame, watched her working on the evidence.
"Somebody has to work or did you close the case already?"
"No, I didn't. Why don't we go and have a coffee? A sandwich."
"I've to work." I'm married, you're my ex, it's not right. Especially because you know me too well.
"Russell will agree on the fact you need to eat. And take a break. You start missing important details when you're tired, don't take breaks. Sara Sidle doesn't miss details, we don't want her to start with it now, do we?"
She knew this teasing tone in his voice. He used it years ago to make her do things, she didn't want to do, but did after he talked to her like this.
"Did your boss send you here for coffee and sandwiches? Or did he tell you to get the work done ASAP? If NTSB pays their people for coffee breaks, I might consider applying for a job there."
"Oh come on Sara, we both know, you're trying to find an excuse to stay here because you know, I get you to join me if I want. I always did. Why don't you safe us both some time and just come with me? Gets us both faster back to work and we'll be rested and refreshed."
"You're so arrogant." She grumbled and turned back to her evidence. He really believed all he had to do was mention their old time and she'd listen like a little dog? Apparently he didn't know her as good as she thought. Or he thought.
"While you're stubborn. Come on, lets take a break. Please. Pretty please? I pay."
"Don't you have colleagues with you, you can have a coffee with?"
"I do, but I can have coffee with them every day. A few days and I'll be back in San Francisco, why not use the time to catch up a little bit? Talk about what happened to us the last thirteen years."
Sounded interesting, as much as she hated to admit this. She wanted to know how his last thirteen years were, what had happened in his life, why he decided to go to NTSB. It wasn't like she didn't wonder a couple of times how he was, what he was doing. And it took a long time before she deleted his cell phone number.
"Can we meet after work? I'd rather continue to work and only stop at one point to have a coffee, a sandwich without a conversation."
"Some fuel to keep you going, I understand."
The problem was, he did. He understood. It wasn't a phrase. He understood what she did and why. And no matter what she did, he never got angry.
"How long do you want to work? Got a time frame?"
"Four pm." A double. If she could manage to concentrate this long.
"Sixteen hours. Why don't we settle on one pm? I know you can work longer, you're amazing, never needed a lot of breaks when you had a case, that got your interest. But you're a human being like anybody else, you need some rest too."
"If I can't work as good as I should, we can have lunch at one."
"Good. I let you continue your work and go back to mine." He sent a smile and left the room.
Sara followed him with her eyes until he was gone. Did she make it too easy for him? A few words and she agreed on lunch, going home early…he didn't expect her to take him home, did he? No, he knew she was married. And that her husband wasn't around. What would Grissom say when he knew her ex was here? Well, if he got his ass here he would know.
"The black box gave us no clue about why the plane crashed into the two houses." DB said in a team meeting. Or like he liked to call it: family meeting.
"Telling us, the plane wasn't the problem, not the technique. The reason must be something else. Did they ran out of fuel?" Greg asked.
"No, I checked that, there was enough fuel on board. If it wasn't the fault of the pilot, something out of the plane must have caused the accident. What did the witnesses say?"
"The plane came closer and closer and hit the houses. No turbulences, it looked like it went straight toward the house, like the house was its final destination." Brass said.
"In a way it was the its final destination." Brass said.
"Yes, sadly that's true. NTSB are working with us, they checked on the passengers on the plane. None of them was known as a terrorist, all ordinary decent people, at least from what they saw. They're digging into their files."
"In fact, we found something." Doug appeared out of the blue. All eyes were on him while his were on Sara.
"What is it?"
"One of the passengers, who was booked on the flight, is Adam Joseph."
"That Adam Joseph?" Sara asked surprised.
"Yes."
"Why do you know him?" Greg asked.
"Because he's from San Francisco. When I lived there, he was a small time bandit, so to speak. When I left, he was working his way up, we tried to get him a few times, the problem was, he was as slippery as a fish. You try to grab him, you lose him. Did you get him when I left?"
"No, we tried, he had a good lawyer and an alibi for everything. Joseph turned from small time bandit to big time boss. He runs a ring of drugs and prostitutes and word on the street is, he wants to expand; to Vegas."
"Great, we don't have enough of these guys here." DB sighed. "So Joseph is dead?"
"No, he isn't. He was supposed to be on the plane, but he changed his plans the last second. He's in San Francisco. alive and well. I talked to SFPD."
"You think somebody wanted him to die?" Nick asked.
"I'm sure your drug and prostitute bosses aren't too happy about his plans."
"The other people on the plane, belonged to Joseph?" Sara asked. "Worked for him in one way or another?"
"Yes, his people, he sent over to prepare his arrival. He'll come over Vegas, but didn't want to tell anybody when. Looks he's a little bit scared, didn't expect somebody being this mad with him. If this theory works out."
"We'll find it out." Russell said. "The thing is, when somebody from the ground shot at the plane, it had to be quite a big weapon and why did the plane went straight into the houses? The pilot should try to avoid them, fight over the control, he didn't do this according to our witnesses. Go back to work and find me answers, folks. Focus on the news from San Francisco. Nick, I want you to go with Officer Mitchell, there a few more witnesses, who called in last night. Talk to them, see what they tell you. The rest, back to the evidence. It tells us the truth."
The evidence never lies, it was that Grissom always used to say, Sara thought. She had to call him, maybe she could get him at this time of the early morning.
