A/N: How is Grissom going to react to Dr Lurie? Should be fun. Hahaha. I'm having so much fun with my brain on this story :P Thanks to everyone for reading.
A huge thank you to my current supporters – Nat, Mrs Crabby, Dbackfan, AliceC, ChristineS, DawnS, Jillian, IngridT, Tracer85, NiniZ, JamieM, Gaelle, and NancyB.
Always, thank you to calim for the beta, suggestions and friendship :)
On we go….
Chapter 23
The two men stared at each other. Even the cop escorting Lurie could sense there was very little love lost between the two.
"It's been a long time, Mr. Grissom," Lurie finally said. "I didn't realize you were still part of the furniture."
Working his tongue into his cheek while willing his brain and his nerves to remain calm, Grissom cleared his suddenly dry throat.
"Life is full of surprises," he deadpanned.
"Hmmm," Lurie mumbled, looking Grissom up and down. "I see you changed your mind."
With a deep frown of confusion, Grissom stared right at Lurie. " About what?"
"I see a ring on your finger. I guess you decided you could do it after all."
Eyes narrowing, Grissom couldn't help work his jaw but then a voice behind him made his eyes widen a little.
"Ah, there you are," Sara said coming up behind him. "I was about to send out a search party."
Swallowing, his head slowly tipped her way and as she was more interested in him, she hadn't noticed the presence of Lurie yet.
"Are you okay?" she asked, laying a hand on his arm.
Eyes dropping to her hand, they then flicked back their lab guest and Sara followed his line of sight.
The second she saw Lurie, her heart began to thud, lips parting with a little shock as she promptly removed her hand from her husband's arm.
" What are you doing here?" suddenly came out of her mouth.
Lurie smiled, eyes flicking from Sara back to Grissom. The look he gave expressed immediate realization given the closeness vibe the couple exuded.
"Now I can see why you changed your mind," he told Grissom.
Before he could offer a response through the narrowed eyes he was yet again expressing, Lurie continued.
"But I digress. Your Director invited me to assist with a case and, of course, I courteously obliged."
Sara's eyes flicked back to Grissom who was standing still and she really wished she knew what he was thinking.
"Invited you to assist?" Grissom finally asked, his question coming with a hint of disgust.
"That's right," Lurie confirmed. "I'm sure you can ask her all about it and I think this kind officer has much better things to do than stand with me in a corridor all day, so I must get going and let him get back to his job."
Neither Grissom nor Sara responded causing Lurie to smile again as he walked around them.
"Maybe I'll see you again," he called as he walked away.
Turning and watching Lurie vanish around the corner, Sara swallowed as she turned to face Grissom who was still just staring where Lurie had been standing.
"Gil?" she said cautiously.
Slowly, his head tipped in her direction, and she hated the look he was giving her. It wasn't often he got angry or upset, but both mixed into one wasn't a sight she liked to see.
" I'm sorry," she immediately apologized. "I didn't know he was there."
Letting out a quiet sigh, Grissom shook his head. "It's not your fault."
Relieved to hear him say that, she checked over her shoulder just to make sure they were now alone.
"Are you all right?"
Eyebrows lifting, he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know." Lifting his free hand, he rubbed it over his mouth. "Do you know where Max is?"
"Not sure. What are you going to do?"
His teeth bit into his lip. "I want to know why she didn't tell us about him coming here."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Sara was nervous as she walked with Grissom through the lab in search of Max. It wasn't often he let his emotions show especially when it came to anger, and he was one hell of a force to be reckoned with when he was angry. But right here, right now and with their superior? Maybe she was over reacting? He was professional, more than most people and although she could try and talk him around something was stopping her. Maybe part of her knew he had to get this out and, quite frankly, part of her agreed with him.
However, right or wrong, Max was in charge, and they had to remember that. And Sara trusted her. No doubt she had her reasons for not mentioning Lurie was coming to the lab.
As they reached the corridor and started toward Max's office, Grissom suddenly stopped and so then did Sara, following his glance into the processing room. There was Max talking with Chris and Beau.
"Please don't go all guns blazing, Gil," she said softly.
His eyes flicked to her. "Would I do such a thing?"
"Right now, probably."
Nothing else was said as he moved towards the doorway, stopping just inside.
"Max?" he said. All heads inside the room turned and then they looked at each other when seeing Grissom standing there. "Can we talk to you for a minute?"
"Errr, sure," Max replied, picking up an evidence bag. "I'll catch up with you two later, okay?"
Beau gave her a nod as she headed towards the couple.
"Something I need to talk to you about anyway," she said as they left the room.
"Would that be Vincent Lurie?" Grissom asked with a little bit of a bite.
As they moved into the corridor, Max turned to face them, surprise highlighting her face at that question.
"That was on my list to talk to you about but.…"
" But?" Grissom interrupted. " Why didn't you tell us he was coming here?"
Sara clashed eyes with Max and she probably looked as uncomfortable as she felt.
"You're upset," Max realized.
Grissom raised an eyebrow.
"Look," she continued, "I thought you had enough to contend with without going out today with that man on your mind. And it would have been better to discuss with you after I'd spoken with him. But I apologize if you feel I didn't make the right call."
Sighing, Grissom looked away for a moment. "Fine," he said. "I assume as the good doctor has left that he is now cleared from the investigation?"
"It looks that way," Max replied. "I'm still clarifying his alibi but it's a pretty solid one."
"What's his alibi?" Sara asked.
"He's been in Europe for almost two weeks. Got back yesterday."
Grissom's eyebrows rose. "That's pretty solid, all right. But I did say I didn't think he'd be involved."
"Well.…" Max folded her arms. "You know as well as I do that we can't work off of suspicions or hunches. Considering the circumstances and links to your original case, he had to come in one way or the other and taken off of our list."
"I guess," Grissom reluctantly agreed.
"Plus," Max continued, "he did actually offer some good insight into what our killer may be able to do."
Sara swallowed, watching as her husband's forehead creased the biggest frown she may well have ever seen.
"Wait. What? We're taking advice from a killer now?" he just about growled.
Max seemed a little stumped by Grissom's tone. "He's a surgeon, Gil, and.…"
Swiftly, Grissom held up a hand and shook his head.
"I can't," he said, backing away. "I just can't."
With worrying gushing through every pore of her body, Sara watched as he walked away, a loud sigh leaving her lips as she turned to Max.
"I'm sorry, Max," she apologized. "He's just… very temperamental when it comes to certain people."
"It's not nice when someone gets away from you. I know that," Max told her. "And whether we like it or not, we had to question Lurie. I thought I was the best person for that job, considering."
Sara nodded, sighing again. "Yeah. I think all this being so personal is affecting him more than he's willing to admit." She pointed over her shoulder as Max nodded with a weak smile. "I'll go talk to him."
"Okay," Max agreed. "Come to my office when you are both up to it."
"Okay."
Stepping away, Sara walked quickly searching for Grissom. She checked each room as she passed but no sign of him. She checked the locker room and the bathroom, nothing. Pulling out her cell she called his number and he picked up after a few rings.
"Honey, where are you?" Sara asked worriedly.
"Just needed a minute," he answered glumly.
"Tell me where you are. Please."
Grissom let out a sigh. "Out front getting some air."
Turning, Sara immediately headed for reception. "I'll be there in a minute. Don't move."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Hurrying out of the main doors, Sara made quick work of rushing down the steps, looking from right to left in search of Grissom. It didn't take long to spot him sitting on a bench in the garden.
Taking a breath, she approached, noticing as he just seemed to be staring into nothing. Sitting down next to him, she looked dead ahead for a moment, wondering whether he was actually looking at anything or not. And then, the flutter of wings caught her eye as a butterfly jumped from one flower to the next.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Grissom said quietly.
Reaching to take his hand and hold it in her lap, Sara nodded, her eyes passing over every fine detail of the gorgeous blue butterfly with black lines and speckles.
"Very beautiful. The color reminds me of your eyes."
His head tipped her way, and she matched his movement, their eyes clashing.
"It's way off track," he told her.
Sara gave him a frown. "What do you mean?"
"It shouldn't be here. It's a Mount Charleston Blue Butterfly and usually only lives in that area."
"Oh," she replied, that information definitely new to her and her eyes flicked back just as it took flight and vanished into the sun lit sky. "I wonder why it's here."
"The mysteries of life."
Smiling at that comment, her eyes found his again and she squeezed his hand. "Are you okay?"
A sigh left his lips. "Seems I am letting frustration get the better of me."
"We're all allowed to get frustrated," she said softly. "And considering the circumstances, I'm sure no one will hold it against you for being that way."
"Even Max?"
"I'm sure she understands."
He sucked his lip for a moment. "I should probably apologize."
Sara's smile remained and she stood up, pulling him with her.
"Whatever you want to do I'll support you all the way."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Reaching Max's office, Sara spotted her sitting at her desk, looking through some papers. Knocking lightly on the door, she waved as Max looked up.
"Come on in," Max called, beckoning her in.
Looking at Grissom by her side, Sara gave him a smile and a nod before they both entered the room.
"Can you close the door?" Max asked.
"Sure," Grissom replied quietly, doing just that before they both approached the desk.
"Sit," Max urged.
The couple did so, and Grissom immediately took the lead.
"I'd like to apologize," he said sincerely. "I reacted unprofessionally."
Max gave a smile. "It's not necessary. I understand. I will try and keep you in the loop with everything from now on though. Okay? But you have to promise me something."
Frowning, Grissom gave Sara a quick look. "What?" he asked, focusing back on the director.
"That if you don't agree with me, you say so right away."
Grissom gave a light snort. "I can live with that."
Sara gave Max a smile who returned the gesture.
"I need to show you something," Max then said, pushing an evidence bag across the desk.
With a look of curiosity, Sara leaned forwards and picked up the bag, her eyes looking over the contents before they sprang back to Max.
" Where did you get this?"
Max cleared her throat as Grissom held his hand out and Sara handed him the bag. Immediately, his brow furrowed as he looked at it.
"Beau found it in one of the trash cans," Max told them. "Do you have any idea how someone could have gotten a hold of that?"
Grissom's eyes narrowed as he read over the prescription again, taking in every detail and then he shook his head.
"This is fake," he said, head rising as he passed it back to Max.
"Are you sure?" Sara asked.
He nodded. "There's no Doctor signature and no date."
Picking up the bag again, Max's eyes worked over it. "The surgery address is correct?" Grissom nodded. "What about the medication?"
Letting out a long breath, Grissom looked at Sara before nodding again. "Yeah."
"So, you are currently taking this medication?"
"Yes," Grissom confirmed. "I have a form of land sickness. It's why we had to leave the boat. You can't cure it, but the medication helps."
Max looked a little shocked by the admittance. "I'm… sorry to hear that."
"I probably should have told you," Grissom admitted. "I'm just trying to… not let it interfere with everything that I do."
"I appreciate you telling me," Max returned. "Who else knows?"
"Just Catherine. We told her the night we arrived."
Thinking for a second, Max leaned back. "No one else?"
"No."
"Well, someone else knows," Sara said and Grissom looked her way. "And it seems to be our killer."
A/N: Dun dun dun…