A/N: Hello hello :) New chapter ahoy. Thank you to those who have left a review. Your wonderful comments always make me smile. Makes me happy the story is being enjoyed.
A huge thank you to my current Pat reon supporters – Nat, Mrs Crabby, Dbackfan, AliceC, ChristineS, DawnS, Jillian, IngridT, Tracer85, NiniZ and NancyB.
Always, thank you calim, for the beta and all of your support.
Oh, and I will be posting a new little one shot story very soon so watch out for that. It's set at the end of Immortality.
On we go…
Chapter 12
As Penny looked down at the paper, Grissom held out his hand.
"Can I take a look, Penny?" he asked.
Head rising, she gave the paper to him. Sara moved in close so she could see as the rest of the team followed suit.
"The writing looks like it's been stenciled on the paper just like the other notes," she said as her eyes drifted over the note. "It's certainly too straight to be freehand."
Grissom's eye twitched. "So we can't identify the hand writing, I'm sure."
"I wonder how many stationary shops there are in Vegas," Beau said.
Looking up to him, Grissom raised an eyebrow. "Most likely a lot," he said. "But stationary doesn't have to come from a shop these days. We'd never be able to track down the seller given how many thousands of providers there are online."
"Yeah," Beau sighed. "Pity."
As Grissom nodded his agreement, his eyes wandered to Penny who looked very deep in thought. All of a sudden, her eyes widened a little.
"What are you thinking, Penny?" he asked her.
"I think I know where the next clue might be," she replied.
Eyebrows now soaring, Grissom handed the note to Max and approached the young CSI.
"Tell me," he said.
"Well," she began clearing her throat then pointed at the book still in Grissom's hand. "Jekyll and Hyde had two faces, right?"
Grissom nodded. "Kinda."
"And what is the only thing you can do where you have two faces and one is looking back at you?"
His frown returned, eyes working in a circle. "Reflection. So, you'd be looking in a mirror."
Penny threw out that beaming smile everyone adored. "Exactly."
Grissom returned Penny's smile and it was just as big. That made Sara smile, as well. Happiness certainly was contagious.
"We checked the mirror in the bathroom," Penny said. "There's nothing there."
"There's a mirror in the bedroom," Allie added, gaining Grissom's attention. "Big one over the dressing table. We've only just gone in there to process so nothing has been touched yet."
"You have UV equipment in there?" he asked and Allie nodded.
As Grissom turned to Sara, she pursed her lips.
"Shall we go take a look?" she asked.
"Can someone pass me a new evidence bag?" he asked, holding up the book. "I'd like to take a good look at this when we get back to the lab."
Max gave her nod of approval as Allie picked up a new bag from the table and held it out. Grissom dropped the book inside and Allie sealed it. He then gave Sara a nod.
"Let's go."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
The group entered the bedroom, creating a line by the dressing table. Everyone looked at the mirror attached to it.
The ornate piece of furniture was silver in color and most likely made of wood with a resin finish. A decorative rectangular mirror was housed at the back of the table. Several small, square shaped drawers decorated the front of the table. On top were several candles, perfumes, make up, a hairbrush and several frames with photos inside.
Drawing closer, Grissom moved to the right of the table, leaning in to get a closer look at the mirror without compromising it. His eyes twitched as they moved up and down the glass.
"It does look a little smeary," he said aloud, noticing the slight smudginess to the glass.
Allie moved across the room and opened a bag sitting on the floor. Removing a UV light and red goggles, she returned to the table.
"Can someone get the drapes please?" Grissom asked as he took the offered goggles and handed a set to Sara.
"I got it," Beau replied, hurrying to the window and pulling them closed.
Everyone else took goggles, too, so they could see what was going on, huddling around Grissom as he took the UV light.
Taking a breath, Grissom flicked on the light and started at the top left corner of the mirror illuminating it with a purple glow. Slowly, he moved it to the right, his eyes twitching as they followed the light. Once he'd reached the edge of the mirror he moved the beam down slightly and started back the other way. No piece of glass would go unchecked.
As he got through half the mirror without seeing anything, he glanced over his shoulder. Were they wrong?
Sara gave him a smile. "Keep going," she said.
Right or wrong, they had to check. Her husband's own words from their previous visit to Vegas popped into her head – 'check every inch'. Her gut was telling her they were in the right place.
Back at his task, Grissom concentrated on the mirror again, left to right, right to left until he passed over something yellow. He stopped.
"I got something," he said, moving the light again.
"T," Sara read, as a letter was revealed.
"It's probably another word," Max guessed. "To go with the others perhaps?"
Nipping teeth into his lip, Grissom continued, drawing his arm to the left to reveal an 'X', a lump finding his throat as the next two letters to come were E and N.
"Next," Sara whispered and then her eyes widened as Grissom turned around.
Oh, shit.
Clearing his throat, Grissom's eyes floated to everyone noticing all looked a little stunned. They all knew what the other two words were and adding this third one into the mix gave them an entire new outlook on their mystery clues and what they could mean.
Sara's lips moved as her husband's attention settled on her, but no words seemed to come. She just wanted to go back to the hotel, pack their things and leave. For the first time, in a long time, Vegas wasn't on her 'places to be' list.
Max turned Allie's way. "Do you want to… take over processing?"
"Um… yeah," Allie quickly answered. "Sure."
"Get what you can," Max continued, "then pack up the entire thing to take back to the lab. Penny, Beau, go ahead and finish processing the room."
Grissom removed his goggles and handed them and the light to Allie as Max turned a look at both he and Sara.
"Shall we?" she said.
Quietly sighing, Grissom moved toward the door as Sara dropped off her googles and followed after him.
"Gil," Sara said, as Grissom just kept walking.
He stopped and turned around, a blank expression on his face. Before Sara could say anything, Max's phone rang.
"Damn it," she cussed, pulling out the phone. "I'll be right back," she said seeing the caller ID.
Sara watched her walk down the corridor then gave Grissom her undivided attention.
"Are you all right?" Sara asked concerned, reaching out to lay a hand on his arm.
"I'm fine," he said without hesitation.
Folding her arms, she studied him.
"This changes nothing," he continued.
"Gil, this maniac is directly threatening you. How can you say it changes noth…"
"Could be," he cut in. "We don't know anything for certain."
Taking a breath, Sara knew she had to keep her emotions under control and not just stand there arguing whether she thought she was right or not. But before she could say anything else, Grissom let out a huge sigh.
"Honey, look." His eyes closed for a second, another hot huff of air escaping his lips as he clenched his fingers in and out. "How many times has someone threatened me during my career?"
Her lips twisted as she thought. "A few," she admitted quietly.
"A lot," he corrected. "Threats are intended to put us off our game. And this to them is a game."
Biting on the inside of her lip Sara wanted to say it was much more than a game to her but Max reappearing halted their conversation.
"Okay, Cade. They can come and find me as soon as they arrive, bye." Lowering the phone, she rejoined the couple, sensing a little thickness in the air. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah," Grissom said immediately. "But we still have a lot to do."
Max glanced at Sara who didn't seem particularly happy. "You understand what that in there," Max said as she pointed to the bedroom, "could mean, right?"
Grissom nodded. "I'm well aware. But as we were just discussing, we don't know what this means for certain. I've been threatened before, I'm sure we all have but if this maniac really wanted me to be here to play their little game, I think the finish line is far from visible just yet."
Eyebrows soaring, Max again looked at Sara who just shrugged. She really wasn't sure what to say at that point. Whether her husband was right or wrong, it was obvious he was determined to continue with the investigation, and she wasn't about to leave him to it.
"Okay," Max said. "We can evaluate all of this when we get back to the lab. Help is on the way," she told them. "The undersheriff is sending teams from all shifts, and they should be here within the hour. So, I suggest we finish up what bits we have to, pack up what we can and get back there."
Safer surroundings. Sara liked that idea, and it certainly took away a little of that unease that was brewing inside. Not a lot, but some and that was better than feeling like she was walking on hot coals while her heart was in her shoes.
"We can start packing up what we have from the bathroom, right, Gil? And then someone can take over from us."
Grissom's head tipped his wife's way, eyebrows rising. "Sure," he said softly.
Max gave a nod. "Good. I'm going to update Allie and then check on the others outside. I'm not far away if you need me, okay?"
Sara managed a smile even if it was a fake one. "Thanks, Max."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
What a morning.
Well, as early afternoon was now fading away it was more like what a day. And Sara knew, as she opened the locker and slipped off her jacket, the day was far from over.
She suspected they would likely be working later than they had the day before although ultimately that would be Max's decision. But, there was a hell of a lot to do and yes, while there were only so many minutes in the day to keep some form of work/life balance, all the evidence wouldn't process itself and this murderer wouldn't likely just walk through the door and say 'hi, here I am.'
Hanging her jacket in the locker and pulling out her lab coat, she looked over her shoulder when she heard footsteps. It wasn't Grissom. She was half tempted to wait outside the bathroom for him, but figured he wouldn't appreciate that.
No matter what he said about not letting this lunatic intimidate them, she was nervous. In fact, she couldn't remember a time when she'd felt like this. Not about him. Yes, she'd worried about Grissom in the past due to his health or various cases, but nothing hit as personal or threatening as this felt. Even with Natalie Davis that violence was aimed at others and not him. Sara shivered. Still, after all this time, just thinking about that woman made her feel queasy.
Putting on the coat, Sara took out her phone and had just sat down on the bench when Max came in, pausing in the doorway when seeing her.
"Hey," she said.
"Hi," Sara replied.
"I saw your car outside," Max continued as she entered the room.
Sara nodded. "How about the others?"
"On their way back now." Max sat down. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Sara lied. "Just waiting for Gil. He's in the bathroom."
"And is he okay?"
Pursing her lips, Sara turned to face the director. "When I have a truthful answer for that I'll let you know."
Max gave a smile. "He doesn't walk away from things very easily, does he?"
Facing forward, Sara thought for a moment. "Only when the evidence or lack of it tells him to."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
At a sink in the bathroom, Grissom turned on the cold tap. Filling his hands with water, he splashed it onto his face. For a short time he just stared downwards, watching the water trickle down the plughole, his eyes fixing on the anticlockwise spiral sucking the water into the drain. After a moment, he grabbed a paper towel and dabbed his face dry. Raising his head, he caught his reflection in the mirror and stared into his eyes.
A memory suddenly kicked in of Debbie Marlin standing behind him. But, this time, unlike almost 20 years prior, she didn't morph into Sara. This time it was Kaitlin Rackish, Kevin Greer's victim, her mouth covered, eyes watering and pleading for mercy.
Swiftly closing his eyes, he flattened his palms on both sides of the sink as a wave of dizziness passed over him. Taking in several deep breathes, he tried to calm his thoughts before his stress levels shot through the roof. They were already on the 2nd floor and any higher would surely cause a serious problem.
A/N: Hmmmm, how much more personal can it get?