A/N: As always thank you for all your reviews, comments and PM's. They are always very much appreciated. A few speculations on who the mysterious CSI is...

Many, many thanks as always to my beta JellybeanChiChi, without who's help this story would not be possible.

CHAPTER 3

Jake Sullivan's smile didn't quite reach his hazel eyes, as he took in the appearance of the last person he ever expected to see again.

"And it's a pleasure to see you again, too, Sara," he said as he looked her up and down appreciatively, making no attempt to hide it. The light make-up she wore was flattering, and the way she'd allowed her hair to naturally curl, only added to her beauty.

"You two already know each other?" Karson asked sounding surprised, also picking up on the tension between them.

Jake answered before Sara could respond. "We worked in San Francisco together," not taking his eyes off Sara. "Quite closely," he added after a beat, a sly tone entering his voice.

Jake knew he'd nettled her, when Sara glared at him through narrowed eyes, her lips thinning in an angry gesture he knew well. But for her part, Sara kept a professional demeanour, even though she wanted to get as far away from Jake as possible.

"Well, since you two have worked together before, maybe it is best you and Sara work this case together," decided Karson.

Jake wasn't the only person who noticed the subtle cues Sara had shown and tried to hide. "Sara, why don't you sign off on that last case file, and then Jake can brief you on details of this case."

Taking a deep breath, Sara followed Karson down the hall where he stopped her after he was sure they were out of earshot from the break room. "Is this going to be a problem for you?"

"I would really rather not work with him, and honestly, it's not an advantage to have experience working with him. Anyone should be able to work this case."

"Doesn't matter. I assigned this to you," Karson said with a stern supervisory tone. "Don't make this personal, Sidle. He's only here for the time it takes to investigate this cold case, and then he'll return to Seattle. You're a professional. I'm sure you can put whatever personal issues you have with him, to one side, long enough to see this through."

"I get it. You're the boss," Sara said.

"Thank you."

"But I still don't like your decision."

The corners of Karson's mouth twitched upwards. "Then solve this case quickly."

Sara couldn't help but let out a frustrated chuckle as she went back to the break room. The smile faded as she rolled her eyes at seeing her ex-lover.

"So, it looks like we're stuck with each other," Jake beamed when Sara reluctantly returned to where he was sitting.

"Yes it does," Sara responded, with a marked lack of enthusiasm as she sat down, putting several chairs between them.

Jake watched her for a moment, before his smile became more genuine. "You're looking good Sara," he said, meaning it. "Vegas suits you."

Sara shook her head. "Jake, I'm really not in the mood for small talk. We're working a case; it's strictly professional between us. Anything that happened between us in San Francisco is off limits."

Jake chuckled, his smile turning into a smirk. "You've not changed one bit, Sara. Straight to the point as usual."

Sara watched him warily. He'd not changed all that much, since she'd left San Francisco. Obviously he'd gotten a little older, but his dark hair was the same she realised now. He'd grown a goatee over the intervening years. He was a good-looking man, and the trouble was, he knew it.

"Karson said this was a cold case," Sara said, matter-of-factly, leaving no doubt in Jake's mind that the pleasantries, such as they were, were over.

He straightened up and after removing a CD and some photos and evidence bags from a thick file, pushed the file towards Sara, as he explained.

"Three years ago, Tessa Driscoll was reported missing after failing to turn up at her friend's house. We canvassed the area, but as there'd been over twenty-four hours delay in reporting her missing, no one could recall seeing her, and the trail went cold. It was even suggested that she might have run off with her boyfriend."

Sara had been reading through the file, as she listened to Jake. Her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips, thoughtfully, as she picked up on his tone.

"Why was that considered unusual?"

Jake hesitated a moment, before showing her a picture of a smiling, green-eyed young girl, with shoulder length blonde hair.

"Tessa was 13 when she went missing. Her boyfriend was 23, and a teacher at her school."

Sara's eyes widened, and Jake nodded, as he handed Sara the evidence bag, that showed a strip of photos from a photo booth, of Tessa and her boyfriend, goofing around and kissing.

"The school made numerous attempts to contact him after he didn't turn up for work. After failing to reach him, they called the police. Those photos were found in his home office. His name is Bryson Ashwood. When I processed the house, I found two contributors on the bed sheets."

Sara couldn't help the groan, as she shook her head and glanced down at the two photos.

"They matched…"

She sensed rather than saw Jake nod his head.

"The semen was a positive match to Bryson, and the female contribution was positive to Tessa. Her friend admitted to lying. Apparently she and Tessa arranged to meet at the friend's house. But Tessa used that as a cover to meet up with Bryson. Even with an APB out on his car, they'd had almost a forty-eight hour window, and we had no solid leads, and the case was eventually dropped."

"So what's the link with Vegas?"

"A couple days ago, two Mesquite patrol men were on a routine call to a gas station. They were checking CCTV and checking the plates on incoming client traffic. One of the cars had a Utah license plate – officer called it in, and found out it was a part of our investigation. His captain then called us in Seattle."

"Are you sure it's them?" Sara enquired.

"See for yourself," Jake suggested as he loaded the CD into his laptop. "In the footage you can see the driver turn to the backseat before he gets out to fill the tank. It's the first solid lead in almost three years."

Sara leaned forward as the black and white CCTV footage played out. When Bryson climbed out of the car, she glanced at the photo booth photo and then back to the laptop. She frowned in concentration. It certainly could be Bryson Ashwood.

Sara's eyes narrowed even further as the footage continued to play out, as the passenger climbed out, Sara inhaled sharply, as she looked quickly at Jake.

"She's pregnant," she stated.

Jake nodded as he stopped the CD.

"In Seattle as well as Nevada, the age of consent is sixteen; and its still a few months before Tessa turns sixteen. I need to find them, before that happens, or they disappear again. They already have a head start on us. Right now, all we have to go on, is this and that they were heading towards Vegas."

"That's only if they were headed here," Sara proposed. "I-15 can to lead to almost anywhere. Like you've said, they've had a few days head start already. By the time an APB was put on the car, they could be miles away. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Right now this, is the best lead we have…"

"Only lead…" Sara interjected.

"So, how about a road trip to Mesquite?" Jake continued, a glimmer of his old smile returning. "Maybe the gas station attendant remembers something, he didn't tell the cops."

Sara drove towards Mesquite, while Jake silently watched the passing scenery. But his attention turned to Sara once again as the sun caught on the gold of her wedding band.

"Well aren't you just full of surprises?" he asked, as they stopped at a traffic light, pointing to the ring. "Since I've known you, you've never been all that keen on weddings or marriage."

"I just think you don't have to follow tradition for tradition's sake. I wasn't against marriage, just not with you." Sara replied. "I told you that at the time."

Jake sniggered, nodding slightly. "That you did, right before you walked out the door and never looked back." He was silent for a few minutes, lost in thought, before saying. "So what kind of guy did get you to marry him?"

Sara turned to him briefly, her face alight with the first genuinely happy smile he'd seen since she'd walked into the briefing room.

"A good one."

And Jake knew from experience and her tone that the matter was dropped.

The drive to Mesquite had proven to be an exercise in futility. The gas station attendant had been more than a little unhelpful – but Sara couldn't really blame him. It had, after all been several days since he'd seen the car or the suspects. It was just one more reminder that Grissom had been right – trust the evidence not the witnesses' account of the matter.

On the return trip, they'd stopped by several more gas stations, in hopes the missing duo might have made multiple stops. Their hopes had been raised when at the last station they'd learned that the sedan was indeed headed to Vegas. It was a tentative lead, Sara knew, but it was just marginally better than what they had at the start.

When they had finally returned back to the lab, she and Jake had spent the time going over the new CCTV footage they'd acquired and tracing the route Ashwood had taken. Sara knew it could take days before they stuck it lucky.

After a few hours, they decided to take a break.

"I need energy," Jake said. "You want a candy bar or something?"

"No thanks," Sara said, not taking her eyes off the screen. "I'll be in the break room in a few minutes."

"Suit yourself," Jake said, as he left for the vending machine.

A couple of minutes later, while she was still deep in thought, Sara sensed a familiar presence behind her. She turned to face Grissom, with a smile on her face, as he came to stand beside her, a visitor's badge, clipped to the pocket of the shirt he was wearing.

"You missed lunch, so I thought I'd bring you something," he said in way of greeting, handing her a lunch satchel with tupperwared goodies.

"I did?" she asked, before glancing down at her watch, and was surprised that it was well past the lunch hour.

"We were going to meet for lunch remember?" Grissom reminded her. "When you didn't show, and I couldn't get you on your cell, I knew it had to be a tough case."

"Sorry."

"I understand," Grissom said, as he put out his hand to pull her out of the chair. "Come on. We can have lunch in the break room."

The familiar journey to the break room seemed slightly different to Sara as she walked with Grissom. Although they were steps they had taken together hundreds of times before, not many of those steps were taken as husband and wife. It made her smile.

Without words, the duo set out to do their tasks. While Grissom put out the food he had brought, Sara heated up water for tea.

"So is it a tough case?" Grissom asked again.

"It is," Sara, replied as she took a bite of the veggie burger he'd brought her. "Where's Dan?"

"My mother whisked him away, for a few hours, so I decided to get some preparation done for the late morning lecture tomorrow."

Sara nodded, her smile broadening, as her eyes settled on the new haircut he was sporting.

"That's not all you've done," she said, raising her hand and lightly touching the newly close-cropped greying curls. "I think I could get used to it."

Grissom instinctively leaned into her light caress, closing what little gap there was between them, as he absently ran his fingertips down the length of her arm, leaving goose bumps in his wake, and felt her shiver pleasantly. He leaned closer still, his lips brushing against her ear, as he whispered in her ear.

Jake was just about to enter the break room, when he stopped dead in his tracks at seeing the man sitting with Sara. Jake pegged the man to be in his early fifties, with greying close-cropped hair, turning white near his ears, and a neatly trimmed beard.

From the soft smiles and the look on both of their faces, Jake understood immediately that he meant a great deal to her. And he felt an immediate resentment flare, bright, hot and fluid.

As he watched, Sara reached up to lightly touch the close-cropped hair, the gesture, both innocent and intimate at the same time. When the man leaned closer, lightly caressing her arm, the glint of gold around his finger was the final proof that Jake needed to know that this was her husband.

Jealously flashed in his hazel eyes, and he stepped noisily into the break room. Immediately Grissom moved away from Sara, and Jake felt a moment of satisfaction.

"Sorry to interrupt," Jake replied, although his tone said otherwise, and was pleased when he saw the mixed look of dismay and irritation on Sara's face. It only made him want to push more. "So is this the old man you talked about earlier, Sara?" With a big smile, Jake presented his hand to Grissom. "Name's Jake. I'll be working with Sara for a while."

Grissom took Jake's hand in a firm grip. "Gil Grissom. Sara's husband."

The handshake lasted a couple of beats longer than necessary, with Jake releasing first. "Oops. Probably felt like I was crushing your hand. Sometimes I forget my strength."

"It was fine," Grissom said, before glancing at Sara. He sensed the tension between Jake and Sara.

Without using words, Grissom raised a quizzical eyebrow to ask, "What's going on?" In a wordless reply Sara shook her head, telling her husband, "I'll tell you later."

"I'd better go," he said, and indicated that Sara should follow him.

While Sara stood up, Jake took her cup of tea. "I'll heat this up for you, Sar. I know you hate it when your tea gets cold." He looked at her with a sickly sweet smile and garnered a glare as her thanks. "See you later, Phil."

Grissom didn't bother to correct Jake, nor did Sara, who walked out with her husband without looking back at Jake. Grissom made sure his hand settled on the small of her back before they left the room. Something he wanted Jake to see.

"Are you okay?" he asked as they walked along the corridor together.

"Yeah," Sara said with a sigh, sounding distracted. Grissom knew not to push it, at least while she was at work. "I'll see you later. I'm sorry I missed lunch."

Grissom squeezed her hand reassuringly. "It happens, Sara. I used to do this too, remember? Don't be too hard on yourself, sweetheart."

He leaned closer, his lips grazing her cheek in a quick kiss, before he was gone.