Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CBS and Anthony E. Zuicker; I own nothing but my DVD collection and my CSI companion books…
AN: Title and opening lines taken from 'The Hungry Years', written by Neil Sedaka.
Girl, we made it to the top; we went so high we couldn't stop…
The incessant chirping of a ringing cell phone pulled shift supervisor Sara Sidle-Grissom out of her dreams; something that she felt grateful for as such dreams only left her feeling depressed upon waking. "Grissom…" she answered sleepily, sitting up in bed and reaching over to switch on her bedside lamp.
"Sorry to wake you, Sara, but we've got a situation down here and I need to pull everyone in," Sara swung her legs out of bed, instantly alert at the seriousness of lab director, DB Russell's tones.
"I'm up…" Sara replied, rising from the bed with her phone clamped between her ear and shoulder as she snagged clean underwear from her dresser and started pulling on the denims draped over her chair. "What's going on?"
"Someone tried to blow up the crime lab," Russell replied sombrely, "a package was delivered last night addressed to the shift supervisor's office…Grave were all called out so it stayed in reception…"
"Judy…?" Sara gasped, thinking of the bubbly night receptionist and how she always greeted everyone with a chirpy grin whatever the hour.
"In surgery along with two security officers; Mike and Shelly were in the lab so they're both under concussion observation…I've called Grave in from the field to start picking through the blast zone, Swing will take over all other active cases; Ecklie's been liaising with the FBI to borrow some additional mobile labs, they're on their way over from Quantico so I need Days to set up a major incident station over in PD's back lot…"
"Let me just wake Betty and let her know what's going on…twenty minutes?" Sara finished dressing and started heading down the hallway towards her mother-in-law's room, hearing the smile in Russell's voice as he replied that he would meet her at PD. Russell was one of the few people at the lab that knew Sara's living arrangements. That Betty and Sara had run into each other during a visit to California, and that Betty hadn't had a clue that her son had divorced his younger wife, leaving her alone while he fulfilled a dream of running a dig out in Peru. Despite their initial differences and several misunderstandings, Betty grew to love Sara as a daughter and couldn't understand why her son had thrown his chance at happiness away.
Sara flicked on the small table lamp and gently rubbed Betty's shoulder to wake the older woman.
-Mom?- Sara stepped back a little so that Betty could clearly read her lips as she signed.
-Sara, what's the matter dear?-
-Sorry to wake you, mom, but I've been called in to work. There's been an accident at the lab-
-Oh, my! Was anyone hurt?-
-A few people, yes. They're sending mobile labs in from the FBI so I need to go and help set things up-
-Don't worry, dear, I'll take care of things here, we'll be fine-
-I don't know whether the TTY machine survived, but I'll text you later and try to call if he's awake-
Betty nodded and pressed a kiss to Sara's cheek, fingers flashing an 'I love you', sign, which Sara returned without hesitation before she left her former mother-in-law to settle back down to sleep. Resisting the urge to peek into the next bedroom along, Sara stiffened her resolve and headed downstairs, collecting her kit from the hallway closet and snagging her keys from the table by the door. Within fifteen minutes of receiving Russell's call, Sara was in her Denali and on her way over to Tropicana.
Flashing her badge at the guard patrolling the entrance to the back lot at Police Headquarters, Sara was directed to the front of the lot, pulling up to a stop just behind the first of the mobile Crime Labs that had arrived from Virginia. There were already people milling around the area setting up flood lights and canvas marquees, so Sara headed in that direction. Russell glanced up from where he'd been leaning over a set of lab plans laid out on one of the tables and lifted a hand to capture Sara's attention.
"Hey, Sara…thanks for coming in."
"No problem, what do we have so far?"
"A whole lotta glass and fragments of broken lab equipment," Jim's familiar Jersey accented voice said as he approached from behind the marquee, having walked over from the scene. "Your boy did good though, cookie…pulled this from in front of Judy's desk." Jim's latex covered hand held out a plastic evidence bag with a burnt edged piece of paper inside. Pulling on gloves of their own, Sara and Russell bent over the bag to try and read the contents.
"'The song says Sara smile…bet you're not in a smiling mood now, are you Sara? If you are, then you won't be for long…see you soon, or may be not…'" Russell read the note and his face paled as he came to a sudden realisation.
"The note was addressed to the 'lab supervisor', but it didn't specify a name; Sara, I think the bomb was meant for you…"
"Let's not rush to conclusions," Jim said, wrapping his hand around Sara's arm and steering her toward the marquee, nudging her down into a chair and crouching at her feet. "Look cookie, you and I have both helped put a lot of bad people behind bars where they belong, just because some sick perp mentioned your name on a scrap of paper that don't mean squat. I mean, you're the Day supervisor and the perp sent the package over at night…if they really wanted to get to you, they would have sent it when you were on shift, doncha think?"
"RUSSELL! Hey, DB! Bomb squad just got a call out to another explosion just off the Strip!" Russell rose to his feet at the sound of someone's urgent shout.
"Where?" he called back, already leaning down to pick up his field case.
"1425 Western Circle…" came the swift response, and both Jim and Sara sucked in a harsh breath at the familiar address.
"Janice and Kevin Masters," Sara confirmed in a shocked whisper.
"How?" Russell jotted a note down in his pad, tilting his head to one side as Rich from the Swing shift ran over to fill him in on the rest of the details.
"Neighbours confirmed residents are out of town so no injuries just a whole lotta mess to sift through, I'm heading over there now to start picking through the blast zone; I'll let you know if we find anything to match it to the lab blast."
"Thanks, Don," Russell nodded, and waited for the investigator to leave before swivelling around to face Jim and Sara, noting the white knuckled grip that Jim had around Sara's forearm, as if his touch were the only thing keeping her upright.
"Still think my name on that note is just a coincidence, Jim?"