Grissom was back in the lab now after having spent some time alone with Heather in the hospital. He walked passed a layout room to Sara with her nose down a microscope. He entered,
"Any results on Heather Kessler?"
"So far all the prints come back to her... there was some lipstick around the rim of a shot glass. I haven't had a chance to test it." She held it up and looked at him, "You think it's her shade?" She pursed her lips in a smile, providing him relief with knowing that it was all in good fun.
"Heather's not supposed to drink, because of her diabetes. Which could explain the hyperglycemia and shock." His tone was sad and distant.
Sara softened hers, "Catherine found a pair of men's underwear in the toilet. Any evidence on them would have been washed away... But she also found seminal fluid in a tissue on the floor nearby."
"She was sexually assaulted?" Sara watched as concern and disgust crossed his features."
"She refused an SAE kit so we'll never know."
"There were no defensive wounds No skin or rope fibers under her nails. At first blush I figured he might have ambushed her, except I noted three separate strangulation attempts on her neck." Sara paused, handing Grissom the photo of Heather's neck before continuing, "She would have had time to fight back."
Grissom couldn't take his eyes off the photo, "This makes no sense. She's very strong." His voice continued to be soft and sad. Sara watched him closely, "Tough as nails. Why didn't she fight?" He finally looked back up at her but Sara had to look down, to look away.
She was trying to be strong, to not be jealous or hotheaded but it was difficult to watch as Grissom displayed so much emotion for his friend. She had never cared that Grissom found it difficult to show or say his emotions to Sara. She thought their relationship was carried on by something stronger. She assumed that he didn't know how to show those emotions, not that they weren't there.
But seeing him now, with all of the concern and gentleness he displayed with Heather made her realize he wasn't incapable of it at all. Perhaps just incapable of it with her, which made it so much harder to swallow.
"You'll have to ask her that." She finally spoke, "I don't have that answer yet."
Grissom nodded.
Sara's voice was small and nearly inaudible, "Look, I—I don't know what it is that is between you and Heather... but,"
"Sara, DNA from the tissue is an unknown male." Catherine walked into the layout room. "I'm going to head back to the Scene with Brass, care to join?"
"No, no. That's alright. I'm going to finish processing this evidence first. Keep me updated."
Catherine agreed and left. Once he knew she was out of ear shot Grissom spoke,
"Sara..."
"Never mind. I'm fine." She forced a small smile and walked past him out of the layout room.
"Gate's open" Brass and Catherine walked back through the wooden gate into the wild west theme park.
"Okay, Jim. Give it up, I know you know something about Grissom and Lady Heather."
"I know something a lot juicer than Grissom and Lady Hea—" Brass' sentence came to a halt at the site of another body.
"Who shot the serif?"
An hour later Dave arrived at the scene to tend to the body. They went through the motions of processing the body. Catherine and Brass walked back to their respective cars.
"Are you going to spill?"
"What's that?"
"What's jucier than Grissom and Lady Heather?"
Brass smiled, and answered somewhat cryptically. "The answer is closer than you think."
"Hey Catherine! Brass." Sara approached, "Where do you want me to start processing?"
"I'll see you two later." Brass said as he slipped into his car.
"Come, I'll show you." Catherine spoke to Sara as they turned back to the scene. She couldn't understand what Brass was trying to say and it bothered her.
Sara went home after hours of processing the scene for a quick shower and sleep before next shift started. To her surprise Grissom was not there.
She turned on the shower and took a long, steamy soak, trying desperately to clear her head and give herself some perspective. She toweled off her hair.
"Gil?" She called out, but no answer. He still wasn't home. She sat in bed reading a while, hoping to see him before falling asleep. But soon her eyes grew heavy and she couldn't fight it any longer.
Sara woke five hours later to find the bed beside her was still empty. "Hank?" She called out. He wasn't in the bedroom so she walked out to find the dog laying by the front door. Something he did until both Sara and Grissom returned home for the night. She sighed realizing Grissom really never had come home.
Her phone began to ring, "Sidle."
"Hey Sara, Brass and I are headed to Heather's now with a warrant. Meet me back at the lab in about an hour?"
"Will do. See you then."
Sara quickly got ready and left for the lab. She walked the hallways looking for Grissom but he was no where to be found. "Where are you?" She texted him, but nearly half an hour later she still received no response.
Brass knocked on the door. A few moments Lady Heather appeared.
"This isn't a good time." She quipped quickly.
"We have a warrant to search your house. And you better put some sunblock on because we're going downtown. " Brass' tone was unamused.
"My memory isn't any better than it was yesterday." She looked between Brass and Catherine, "I'm not up to it."
"Then we can swing by the hospital and you can explain to them why you checked yourself out early against doctors orders."
"We're investigating a homicide." Catherine offered.
"I don't understand."
"Where were you last night?"
"You may come in."
Catherine and brass followed her into the foyer.
"I was here."
"Can anyone verify that?" Brass' disbelief and impatience rang through. "Preferably someone not on the payroll."
She gazed past them, "Captain Brass would like to know where I was last night." Catherine and Brass turned to follow her gaze and watched as Grissom emerged from down the hall.
"She was here. With me." Grissom spoke casually, sipping his tea.
Catherine and Brass exchanged looks of disbelief before Catherine turned back to Grissom. Anger etched across her face, "Outside. Now."
"What were you thinking?" The anger on her face laced her tone. "I can't believe you. As soon as a case—"
"Catherine." Brass hurried over and interjected. "Go finish out the scope of the warrant."
Catherine rolled her eyes at Grissom and walked off. As soon as she was gone Brass turned Grissom around and started to walk with him.
"Gil."
"She needed a friend."
"Does Sara know?"
Grissom shot a bewildered look his way, "Why?"
"Look, Gil. I know we've never come out and talked about this but you know that I know about you and Sara. So now, I'm taking off my detective hat and I'm asking you as a friend. Does Sara know you're here?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Why would she need to know?"
Brass sighed heavily, "You're creating some real trouble for yourself here Grissom. And not just about work." He took a moment to think as they approached Grissom's car, "Go back to the lab, find Sara and talk to her. You don't want her thinking something is going on here that isn't actually happening. Right? Nothing's going on?"
"Of course not."
"Good. Go do that then. Do you have any idea what kind of chatter she's had to listen to over the last day about you and Heather? You just better hope you get to her about this before the rumors do."
Grissom felt a hard lump in his throat. He hadn't considered Sara or her feelings once since this all started. He hadn't even given her a second thought.
Sara stood in the layout room with Catherine and Wendy.
"Mandy got a hit." Catherine spoke while ready a text from the lab tech. "Vinny."
"Well he definitely had access."
Catherine picked up her phone as she and Wendy exited the layout room. "Sara will fill you in." She said coldly as she saw Grissom approach.
"We may have a suspect." Sara said sadly. He took in her appearance. She looked tired and sad and her eyes were a little red. Had she been crying?
There was a long silence between them as they stood alone in the room. Sara busied herself with collected the paperwork and photos from the layout table.
"I'm the only one Heather trusts." He finally spoke.
"I get it." But her eyes said something different.
"Sara..."
"Yeah?" She looked up at him and watched as he battled with what to say. "It's fine." She relieved him, "Do what you need to do." With that she exited the room. Her cold, hurt, sad voice cutting through him. Jim had been right.
"Sara?" Grissom walked in the door and quickly greeted Hank. "Sara?" He tried again. No answer. He walked through the loft until he made his way to the bedroom. There she was sitting up in bed with a book perched open on her fingers. She looked up,
"You're home." It was now painfully clear she had been trying. Her eyes slightly puffy and a tissue in her hand.
"Sara..."
"What?"
"I want to explain..."
She took a seep breath in and exhaled heavily.
He spent the next few minutes explain the friendship he shared with Heather. That he had tracked down Heather's granddaughter for her and reunited them. That that was where he'd been for the past few hours.
"And where were you last night? When you didn't come home."
"I was with her." He moved closer to her and sat at the edge of the bed. "Nothing happened."
"What about last February?"
"Last February?"
"When you didn't come home after another case was closed involving her daughter?"
"No, nothing."
"How about ever?"
Grissom pinched his nose hard. His eyes squinted in perceived pain, "One night... over four years ago."
Sara nodded, "So Catherine was right."
"Sara... that was a long time ago."
"Did it make you sad?"
"I don't understand."
"Did having sex with Heather make you sad?"
He sighed, realizing what she was referring to now. "I did not love her then, and I do not love her now."
He moved closer to her and hesitantly wrapped her in his arms, "I'm sorry to have made you think that." He finally spoke as he felt her heave a few tears. Tears that she'd been bottling up for days. He rubbed small circles on her back with his pam. "If it makes you feel better, Jim is very angry with me."
She stifled a laugh, "Why would that make me feel any better?"
"Because I got a long winded lecture from him today about taking your feelings into account."
She laughed, "Really?"
"Yes. He's also very aware that we know he knows." He smiled seeing her features lighten up, "Come on, I picked up dinner from that vegetarian place you like." She grabbed his outstretched hand to let him puller her to her feet. He kissed her forehead gently.