A/N: Hey guys. New chapter for you. Evil hat may be back, ha. I hope you enjoy :)
A huge thank you to my current supporters – Nat, Mrs Crabby, Dbackfan, AliceC, ChristineS, Jillian, IngridT, Tracer85, NiniZ, and NancyB.
Always, thank you to calim for the beta, suggestions and friendship :) Mwah!
On we go….
Chapter 27
All eyes fell to Penny at her suggestion and Grissom's eyebrows soared, head tipping Sara's way.
"She's got a point," Sara agreed.
"Yeah," Grissom said, nodding and looking at Max.
"She sure does," Max concurred. "And we all know just how many people have written in that book."
"Thousands," Catherine piped up. "Because we'd likely have to check a years' worth just to be sure if we go along with the timescale suggested by Gil when we checked the vault."
Max's eyes worked as she thought and then she glanced around at her subordinates.
"Any volunteers to make a start? Because we can't pass this off to someone else given we need to keep these details within our team."
"I think you should give the option to Penny first," Grissom suggested. "She thought of it so, if she wants to do it.…"
Penny bashfully smiled at Grissom's support. "I'd like to," she replied. "If… that's okay with everyone?"
"Fine with me," Max agreed.
The young CSI's smile grew. "Shall I get started?"
"Go for it," Max directed.
Pushing back her chair, Penny stood, her smile remaining as she passed Grissom and left the room. Sara smirked at the ever-growing connection between the young CSI and her husband.
"While we wait for the background check to get sorted for Doctor Gildroy," Max continued, "we still have lots of processing to do. So, let's get on with that and be aware that Detective Cross may very well be around. She will be keeping an eye on all of us."
As Grissom looked at her, Sara tipped her head his way.
"Goody," he said causing her to smirk.
"Best behavior, you got that?" she teased watching as he rolled his eyes.
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Inside a lab, both Grissom and Sara worked through the evidence envelopes from Meryl Jones' house. Currently, she was inspecting Lucas Henry's clothing while Grissom pulled the book they had found with the clue inside out of its evidence bag.
Looking down at the book's spine Grissom could see it wasn't new. As he flicked through it, he noticed that certain pages had more wear than the others and would drop open at certain points. That was usually a giveaway that those particular pages were popular to the reader. It was a big book and would take a long time to inspect every inch of it.
But one of the pages caught his eye. The print had a small smudge at the top of the page which meant someone had certainly been interested in it.
As he scanned the text, a specific part caught his attention where a little of the ink of the text seemed to also be smudged. He read it out aloud.
"This Master Hyde, if he were studied," thought he, "must have secrets of his own; black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll's worst would be like sunshine."
Frowning, Sara dropped the shirt in her hands and turned to him. "That's rather deep."
"Hmm," he agreed, holding up the book. "The text for that excerpt has a little smudge."
Heading towards him, she looked down at the page.
"Do you think it's another message?"
Looking at her, Grissom sighed. "I don't know. Maybe."
"What if there are more clues inside that book?" she suggested. "I know this might be a little far-fetched, but they could be telling us something through the writing."
"Considering what we've seen, I don't think anything right now would be too far-fetched."
Sara pursed her lips at him. "Maybe we should ask Max to get someone to process it. Every little inch. Because that's going to take time and with everything else going on, and your brain, I don't think we would be able to concentrate on just one thing."
Frowning again, Grissom looked back at her. "My brain?"
"I know how your mind works, Gil. How many thoughts do you have going on right now?"
"A few," he admitted.
"Exactly. Can you honestly tell me you could settle down in a room for a week and just process this book without doing anything else? Because it's going to need a lot of analysis."
Picking up the evidence bag, he dropped the book back into it. "Probably not."
"So, let's go and ask Max who she'd like to work on it and then they can update us if they find anything?"
Sucking his bottom lip into his mouth, Grissom nodded. "Okay."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Another day over, Grissom and Sara returned to their hotel, stopping by a pizza place to grab take out on the way. It made a change to be leaving the lab not completely stressed out to the hilt. In fact, this was probably the most positive they'd felt since arriving.
Yes, things were moving slowly but things were moving. Suspects were appearing and evidence was going somewhere. Well, hopefully. Eventually. But at least it was leading them in a direction rather than nowhere.
Max had asked for a volunteer to start processing the book and Chris quickly volunteered. Anything to get himself out of trash duty. No one seemed to mind including Max.
As Sara closed the door to their suite and followed her husband inside, the only thing on her mind was relaxing.
As he placed their dinner onto the table, Sara slipped her bag from her shoulder and approached him. Lifting her arms, she dropped them over his shoulders as he turned to face her. Giving him a kiss, she smiled when pulling back, running fingers through his hair.
"How are you feeling?" she asked softly.
Lips twitching as he entwined his fingers at the small of her back, he pulled her close.
"I feel fine."
"Good," Sara replied, fingers now fiddling with his shirt collar. "I have an idea."
"What's that?"
"Why don't we crack open a bottle of wine and enjoy our dinner while it's still hot. Then we can have a shower and an early night."
As he dropped a kiss to her forehead then skimmed his lips down to her ear, Sara shuddered.
"Can't say I'm feeling super tired just yet," he said.
Tongue running over her lip as he again looked at her, Sara tapped him on the nose.
"Who said anything about sleeping?"
Eyebrows rising at her, Grissom pulled her tighter against him. "What else did you have in mind?"
The devilish smirk she gave him made his eyes twinkle and her head dipped, lips hovering over his.
"Wait and see."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Sara's head shot up at the invasion of her slumber. What was that noise?
Looking to the left, her eyes fell upon Grissom, laying on his side with an arm drooped over her, seemingly still fast asleep.
"Gil?" she whispered, lightly shaking him.
"Mmmmm," he mumbled.
"Did you hear that?" He didn't acknowledge the question, so she shook him again. "Gil…"
Groaning, he opened his eyes and cleared his throat. "Honey, you've already tired me out," he moaned.
Rolling her eyes, Sara pulled the covers off both of them. "Not that."
Just as she spoke, she looked toward the door seeing a flash of light pass under it.
"There's someone in our suite, Gil," she told him with urgency now.
Grissom's head shot up as Sara flicked on a lamp and swung herself from the bed. In a flash, she put on her robe and opened the nightstand, pulling out her gun.
Following suit, Grissom swiftly got up and put on his robe, watching as Sara pulled the magazine from the gun, checked it, and snapped it back in.
Taking a breath, she moved towards the door, Grissom following. Quickly she grabbed his arm and pulled him behind her.
"Stay behind me, Gil," she ordered in a terse whisper.
No way on God's green earth was she letting him get in harm's way and whether he liked it or not, she'd be the barricade between him and whoever may be on the other side of the door.
Raising her left hand to the door handle while keeping the gun firmly held in her right hand, she pressed down and pushed the door open.
Gun aimed straight ahead, Sara's gaze flicked around the semi-darkened room. Unsure of the time, the flashing of neon lights through the closed curtains set an eerie almost light fog atmosphere throughout the suite. It reminded her of a strip bar, one of the dumpy ones where a corpse usually turned up in the back because someone's pimp got upset.
Throwing that thought out of her mind having no idea why she was even thinking it, she looked over her shoulder.
"Make sure you stay close," she whispered as Grissom nodded.
Slowly, they stepped out, Grissom staying very close to Sara as her arm moved from left to right along with her eyes. She would fire if she had to.
Inspecting the left side of the suite where the window was, she saw and heard nothing so turned the other way, again not seeing anything. The suite was an open plan with nowhere really to hide so it shouldn't be that hard seeing someone who shouldn't be there. And then her eyes passed over the breakfast bar to the kitchen behind it. It was the only place in the entire suite that she couldn't see behind.
Taking a deep breath and hearing her heart pounding in her ears, she slowly advanced, trying to prepare herself in case someone jumped out. But, much to her surprise, no one made an uninvited appearance. When she tentatively peered around the side of the bar and into the kitchen area, it was empty.
With a deep frown, she turned around and clashed eyes with Grissom.
"I don't see anyone," she said quietly.
Grissom looked around until his eyes settled on the drapes of the window. "What about the balcony?"
Sara's eyes flicked from left to right. Good point.
Motioning him behind her, she headed toward the drapes. Grabbing them she whipped them open in one quick motion. The only thing that greeted her were the lights of Vegas.
Clasping the sliding door, she attempted to open it.
"It's locked."
Chewing on his lip, Grissom looked around again before shrugging. "There's no one here."
Lowering her arm, she flicked the gun's safety back on then sighed.
"Am I losing my mind?"
Taking a step back, Grissom turned on the main light to the suite, illuminating the entire room. Indeed, there was no one there.
Looking at her, he shook his head. "I believe you, so no, I don't think you're losing your mind."
Smiling at him in thanks, a warm chill passed through her. She sighed with just a little relief. Just as she did, she watched Grissom step toward the table and looked down seeming to freeze.
"Are you okay?" she asked as she approached.
The lack of any answer made her nerves spike again. Moving close, she look down to see what had caught his attention.
Her heart froze.
"What the fu ….."
Her voice trailed off as she stared at a booklet that hadn't been there before they went to bed. And it most certainly wasn't theirs.
It was the In Memoriam booklet that had been given out to everyone at Warrick Brown's funeral.
A/N: Oh, boy… :P