CHAPTER 16

The break room was alive with activity as both night-shifts' supervisors, Grissom and Willows, enter. Catherine started loudly "all right settle down guys, assignments are as follows, Robbie and I have triple in Summerlin but Greg you might join in on the case after you're done with your smash and grab at the Tangiers please?" as she got the nod from Grissom. Greg also looking for the look of approval from his boss, took the slip off Catherine and headed out the door. Catherine continued, "Sara, you get a body dump at Lone mountain park, Brass is waiting for you and no heroics Sara, call if you need us you hear?" as she half scolded half warned the younger CSI but in a concerning manner. Sara nodded at her and made eye contact with Grissom, she could almost make out his, be safe, with his eyes, and she bounded out the door. She was so thankful she was not paired with Lemmur tonight, distance from that guy is what she needed.

After a 40 minute drive Sara arrived at her scene and approached Brass who seemed genuinely happy to see her. "well good evening miss sidle, its good to see you" he said with a friendly smile and it was well received by Sara who smiled back, " yes Jim and you, what have we got?" eager to get started on the scene as to avoid personal questions which were becoming harder and harder to avoid as news of her pregnancy was doing the rounds in the department.

"well I had hoped I would see your other half here as this scene is right up his alley" he smirked at her. when she didn't quite catch his drift, she raised her eyebrow which usually did the trick with Brass. "bugs" he said "lots and LOTS of bugs, oh and the corpse is missing both hands" as they walked through rough terrain he took her kit off her, "here let me, you shouldn't be heavy lifting in your condition" he eyed her. Sara gave him a hefty glare back, "I'm fine Jim and perfectly capable of being in the field"

Jim was right there was a lot of bugs surrounding the body, a lot of more different species too than what you would normally expect. "maybe Grissom should be here" she had meant to think but obviously had said it out loud. Jim looked at her, "great will I call him" he said eager to help out. "no, it's OK I'l do it"

Grissom only too delighted to get a phone call from her and also an opportunity to work with her on case, said he was on the way. In the meantime, she got to work photographing and tagging what she could find.

An hour later, Grissom arrived at the scene and met Brass as Sara was casting shoe impressions in the soil. He glanced at her seeing her busy at work and then back at Brass. Brass noting his eyes, "she's ok, I've been keeping an eye on her. Now anything you can find out from them bugs that can give me some ID on this guy" Grissom nodded, making his way down to the body. He looked at Sara," hey, you ok?" Sara wanting to get straight down to business started rattling off what she ascertained in the hour she had been there and processing, of course she already had theories on what may have happened here. They both went silent as Grissom took in the evidence she collected. He picked a couple of bugs out of the corpse and tucked them away in a specimen jar, "you shouldn't be here, and you certainly shouldn't be here" he said to the bugs as he deposited them one by one. Sara and Brass both exchanged amusing glances at one another knowing this to be typical behavior of the man who knelt down in front of them. Grissom then stood, while keeping his focus on the bugs he held in the jar, "lets hear it Sara, what do you want to ask?"

Sara loved that he knew how her brain and thought process worked, "everything about this scene, screams professional hit. The single bullet entry between the eyes, the hands cut off to avoid ID, the body dump itself out in the middle of nowhere, but the decomp of the body and the bugs are what's throwing me"

Grissom nodded knowingly. "Nicrophorus americanus. The burying beetle. And yes, your right, they shouldn't be here. Curious isn't it?" Grissom didn't elaborate further but rather went silent as both Jim and Sara once again exchanged eyebrow glances at each other. The ringing of Sara's cell phone broke their concentration.

She answered, but when she stepped away from the scene to actually talk, Grissom took a glance back with his own thoughts pondering. A few minutes later she arrived back but said nothing and continued documenting evidence and bagging it. David arrived finally to take the body and Grissom helped Sara with the remaining evidence to secure in her Denali. She hadn't said much since the phone call and Grissom couldn't help but worry If all was ok. " everything ok? You've been quiet since that phone call you got earlier?" he asked her as the trunk closed on the Denali.

His Question broke her from her thoughts and she shrugged it off, "yes, everything's Fine" there's that word again, fine, God he hated it. And when Sara use it he knew it was code for anything but. "you want to come over to mine after shift? I could make you omelettes?" he asked hoping she would agree and that he could spend more time with her outside of the lab and dead bodies. She deliberated for a few seconds but found that she genuinely wanted to be in his presence as much as he seemed to want to be in hers, "yes I would like that" she smiled at him. He felt like he had won the lottery, "great, I'll ah, see you back at the lab, safe driving" and with that he was gone.

Sara's drive back to the lab was spent mulling over the phone call she received from an old acquaintance from San Francisco, someone she worked with in the lab and someone she trusted. She had reached out to her regarding Robert Lemmur and if she had any contacts in the Lab or PD in Nebraska. Sara was surprised to hear from her so soon.

"hey Sara, its Ruanne, look I know you were looking for something concrete on this Lemmur guy, I don't have it. But your gut is right, as always, he is shady and it was not his choice to leave Nebraska, it was an or else situation by the looks of it. His last case he worked, according to Nebraska state patrol, had ties to the McCanles family mob, 2 people were assassinated but evidence went missing. There was a big IA investigation, rumor has it Lemmur and 2 other CSI's Luton and Smith were implicated. Then all of a sudden, CSI Sandra Luton commits suicide and the IA investigation dies with her. CSI smith retires and drops off the map and Lemmur was transferred to you guys. I don't think I could get my hands on the files without raising suspicion, you're going to have to find another way. I'm sorry but Sara, this guy is bad news and if the rumors are true about his connections to the McCanles Mob, then you better watch your back Hun"

After arriving back at the lab and logging her evidence, Sara went to the break room for a break, for the 1st time in months she noted she was actually hungry, like really hungry. It came out of nowhere, she wondered was she turning a corner or was this just another symptom to add to the list. She grabbed a sandwich and 2 bags of chips and a litre of milk from the fridge. She reminded herself she'll have to start bringing proper lunch to work in future. As she tucked into her lunch she also went to work with paperwork from the case. She was awaiting results from Hodges and Wendy. She was lost in reading when he walked in behind her making her jump, "break again Sara, oh what a life you have" Lemmur walked to the coffee pot pouring some into a cup. Her whole body tensed and she looked at the door hoping someone would come in. As much as she disliked this guy she wasn't about to do anything to set him off. Her friend Ruanne's words still ringing in her ear this guy is bad news, connections to the mob.

"Sara, did you hear what I said?" Lemmur stood on the other side of the table half smirking at her. Before she had a chance to answer, Grissom came to the doorway of the break room, "everything ok in here?" he looked between the two CSI's noting Sara's uncomfortable stance and the intense glare she was giving Lemmur.

Again, Lemmur smiled and answered for her, "all good in here in Gil, just asking Sara how she was feeling these days, pregnancy can take its toll on any woman and with our dangerous job its even more taxing"

Grissom's gaze was intently on Lemmur now, "you know all this from personal experience Robert?"

Lemmur was about to answer when Catherine bound into the break room with urgency, "Gil, Sara, Robbie I need you all to follow me to the layout room asap"

All three CSI's followed out of the room, Lemmur ahead while Grissom waited for Sara to come out and go with her.

In the Layout room, stood Catherine, Ecklie, Greg, Hodges and the case file from their scene littered the table. Catherine started, "we found evidence that connects our scene with yours"

Ecklie picked up a file and handed it to Grissom, "this is high profile Gil, I need you all on this, it's looking like a mob hit. We need to figure out which mob and fast before more bodies start piling up. It seems they went to great lengths to cover up your and Sara's body dump at Lone Mountain so that's the primary body for the meantime."

An uneasiness crept over Sara and she couldn't help but glance at Lemmur to see his reaction to this news. He shifted awkwardly on his feet and then directly looked at her. Ecklie piped up again as he was about to leave, "Warrick is on his way back from the airport from his conference, so you will have more help, the under-sheriff is already up my ass about this so I don't need to remind you all of the importance of no screw ups and getting quick results"