Chapter 8: Inside Man -Part 1

While Catherine and Sara left for home, Brass walked towards Grissom's office. He was ready to give that man a piece of his mind. He knew that he was close to losing his temper, and Grissom was the one to blame.

The Captain never had suspected that Grissom would react the way he did. And since Brass felt so strongly for Sara and her well-being he decided he would take on the fatherly role and point out to Grissom that his behavior was way out of line.

The door to Grissom's office stood ajar, and as Brass was about to enter he noticed the broken appearance of the graveyard shift supervisor. Seeing this he knew Grissom was already hurting from the inside.

So, he decided not to jeopardize his job, and turned to leave. He knew that if he had talked to Grissom he might not have been able to restrain himself.

***

Sitting in Sara's car, Catherine intently observed the brunette as she was driving towards her apartment. She noticed the clenched jaw, the white knuckles -revealing the death-grip she had on the wheel.

Trying to get Sara to ease up a little, Catherine placed her hand on the younger woman's thigh and started stroking with her thumb -a gesture that had the desired effect, because the minute her hand touched Sara, she noticed how the brunette relaxed.

Sara's mind kept replaying what had happened in Grissom's office…she hadn't expected him to react the way he did and unconsciously she was wondering what he had actually wanted to say to her about Catherine.

Stopping at a traffic light, Sara turned to face the strawberry blonde. Meeting the two blue pools that were watching her, and feeling the strawberry blonde's touch, soon all thoughts about their boss were lost and the only thing she craved for were those delicate lips in front of her.

Leaning over, she placed her hand in Catherine's hair, tugging her closer before engaging their lips in a crushing kiss. She hoped Catherine would understand she didn't want to talk about what had happened in Grissom's office…And Catherine did.

***

Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of Catherine's house. After Sara had kissed the strawberry blonde while waiting at the traffic light, both of the women felt the need for more. More touching, more kissing. So, when they finally entered the house they immediately grabbed hold of each other -as if their very lives depended on it.

Just as they were inside Sara's cell phone rang. Entangling one of her arms from Catherine's hair, Sara grabbed the phone and let out a sigh of frustration before answering.

"Sidle."

"Sara, it's Jim. I'm sorry to disturb you, but something has happened at the LVU dorm."

A concerned look came onto her face, and a bad feeling settled in her stomach. "Sophie?! Is she ok?" she asked.

"The bastard came back to finish things, but he failed. She's at the hospital at the moment. She-"

But before Brass could finish he was interrupted by Sara. "I'm on my way." Not waiting for the Captain's response Sara ended the call.

"Catherine," Sara said. "Could you please go to the hospital for me?"

"Hospital? Why?" Catherine asked, not knowing what was going on.

"The case I'm working on, at the LVU dorm?"

Catherine nodded, urging the brunette to continue.

"Well, Brass just called. Apparently the perp came back for Sophie, the girlfriend of the first victim. I need you to go to her, make sure she's ok, I need to process her room…again." Sara sighed before adding the last part.

"Sure, no problem," Catherine replied as she watched Sara grabbing all her stuff and heading for the door. Just before the brunette walked out Catherine spoke up.

"You know I love you, right?"

This statement stopped Sara who turned around, a big smile on her face. "Of course," she started as she took a step back towards the strawberry blonde. "And I love you," she added before claiming Catherine's lips once more.

"We'll finish this later," she added, a sneaky smile on her face as she looked at the breathless woman in her arms, then she walked off.

***

Arriving at the LVU dorm, again, Sara grabbed her kit, and dreaded what she was going to be met with when she would enter the room.

Walking through the hall she saw Brass standing outside the door, talking to an officer. As he noticed Sara coming his way he walked over.

"How's Sophie?" was the first thing the brunette asked the detective.

"She's one tough lady," Brass said. "She put up one hell of a fight, that's what saved her. This time it was the perp that got hit on the head with a candlestick. Paramedics said she has broken her arm, and that she possibly has a mild concussion."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh before he continued. "Before she was able to knock the perp, he banged her against the closet. After that he started beating her with some kind of bat."

Seeing Sara's eyes fill with sadness and anger, Brass knew Sara's investigative mind was already working on solving this case. "Sara, will you be able to handle this?" he asked, knowing how certain cases could get to the brunette.

"Yes Jim. I need to do this," She answered, her mind set on nailing the bastard who did this.

She had to, especially after what happened to Sophie already -losing her girlfriend. So she was determined that nothing or no one could get her off this case. She would bring justice for Chris and Sophie.

"Alright then," Brass said as he switched back from his fatherly protectiveness to the professionalism his job required. "Signs of forced entry, room's a mess."

Sara nodded as she inspected the tool marks near the lock of the door. Taking photographs of the marks she noticed something embedded in one of the scratches.

Taking tweezers out of her kit, she carefully picked the fiber that was stuck in the deep groove. It was dark blue, and apparently it was transferred from the tool into the groove.

After sealing the fiber in an envelope and placing it in her kit, Sara continued with processing the door.

The tool marks itself seemed to match those of a screwdriver. When she had made a mould of one of the marks, she checked the door handle, and the area around it, for fingerprints.

Finding about a dozen prints she let out a sigh. These were probably going to be of no help…but you could never know what might turn up once they were pulled through AFIS.

Now entering the room she saw all the signs of the struggle that had taken place. Apparently Sophie had been slammed pretty hard against the closet as there was blood smudged against one side of it.

On the ground lay a candlestick -similar to the one used to kill Christine with. But this time the blood on it wasn't from the victim. No, this time it was the perp who got a taste of his own medicine.

***

An hour later, Sara had photographed and collected all the evidence, and headed -together with Brass- for the hospital.

The ride to the hospital was silent and Sara felt the urge to say something to Brass. To thank him for being so supportive about her relationship with Catherine. So when she stopped at a traffic light she turned to face the Captain, who she was seeing as being her father more and more these days.

"We really appreciate your support, Jim. Thank you a lot."

"No thanks needed, why wouldn't I be supportive? Even an old man like me can see you two are happy together," he said as a small smile came onto his face.

"Yeah, well not everybody is as open-minded as you," Sara said, sarcasm noticeable in her voice.

Brass instantly knew who Sara was talking about. "As soon as he starts to bug you, you tell me and I'll make sure he'll never bother you two again."

"Whoa easy Jim. That almost sounded like a threat."

"Well, he shouldn't act like such a prick. Besides, you know you're like a daughter to me…so it's what dads do…watch out for their little ones."

Sara was touched by Brass' words and was completely in awe about the sincerity she heard in his voice.

"Well then," she started as she moved over to hug him, "thanks pops."

"No problem kiddo."

***

Ten minutes later they arrived at Desert Palms Hospital. Making their way through the busy halls of the hospital, they were discussing the things that needed to be done.

"…right before the paramedics took her along she said she had seen the perp, had seen his face. She told me she recognized the face," Brass said.

"Then I guess we should try to get a sketch artist to work with her. If it was someone she recognized, it could be someone from the LVU…student…teacher…anyone on or near campus."

Reaching the door to the room where Sophie was in, Sara stopped just outside -looking in through the window she saw the girl lying on the bed. She was awake and they were just finished with putting a cast around her left arm.

Next to the bed sat a woman Sara hadn't seen before, but seeing the similarities in their features, that woman had to be Sophie's mother. Worry was written all over the woman's face, as she watched the doctors working on her daughter's arm.

"I'll go talk to her first," Brass started. "To see if she's able to make a statement."

Sara nodded, her eyes still fixed on the Sophie. "Brass?" she called after him just before he entered. He turned around, his brows raised expectantly.

"Her mother doesn't know about…about her and Christine."

"I'll keep that in mind," he nodded.

As Brass entered the room, Sara felt a hand on her shoulder.


Chapter 9: Inside Man -Part 2

As she turned around she felt arms circle around her waist, and was pulled into a tight embrace.

Catherine looked up into the brunette's eyes. "Are you ok?" she asked.

"I will be," Sara started, reaching up and cupping the shorter woman's cheek, "once that bastard is behind bars."

Catherine leaned in to the touch, and closed her eyes. "I'm glad you're here. Sophie asked for you."

"Once Brass is done, I'll go inside," she said, as they both turned and watched Brass questioning Sophie. "That's her mother," Sara stated rather than asked.

"Yeah, the hospital called her. She just got here," Catherine said, turning her focus from the people in the room to the brunette standing next to her -their hands still entwined.

"Thank you," Sara said, locking eyes with the strawberry blonde. She leaned into the shorter woman, and just before their lips would connect, the door in front of them opened and the woman, now known as being Sophie's mother, stormed out -a look of disgust on her face.

"Mom, please…" Sophie called after her, but not once did her mother look back, she just left without saying another word.

As Sara saw the look of anger and disappointment in the eyes of Sophie's mother, she knew Sophie had just told her about her and Christine. That moment Brass exited the room.

"She didn't take thing too well, and before you start blaming me, it was Sophie who told her,"
Brass spoke, looking at the retreating form of Sophie's mother.

"Some people can be so narrow-minded, I mean, treating your own flesh and blood like that?" Catherine said as she watched Sophie sitting on the bed, her head in her arms, and her entire body shaking from the sobs she let.

"Sara?" a voice called. Sophie had noticed the brunette standing just outside her room.

Sara entered the room -leaving Catherine and Brass standing in the hallway. Walking over to the sobbing girl, Sara felt her heart sink -this girl had gone through too much the two days.

Placing her hand on Sophie's shaking shoulder, Sara tried to give the girl some comfort. The young woman looked up -bloodshot eyes finding Sara's- and Sara pulled her into a hug.

***

Meanwhile, Brass and Catherine were watching from the hallway. "I think she's becoming way too involved in this case," the Captain said.

"You know how she is with these cases, but she won't let her feelings interfere with her professionalism. She's way to determined to be taken off this case," Catherine smiled a little.

"You keep an eye on them," Brass started, "I'll make arrangements for a sketch artist to come." Catherine gave him a nod, and he walked off.

Stepping inside the room, Catherine caught the last part of a conversation between Sara and Sophie.

"I'll ask her, I'm sure she won't mind."

"I won't mind what?" the strawberry blonde asked as she walked over to her lover, who was seated on a chair next to the bed. Placing her hand on the brunette's shoulder she noticed two pairs of eyes looking at her hopefully.

"Well," Sara started, "As soon as the doctor comes over to sign her chart, Sophie will be free to go. She can't go back to her dorm room, at least not for now, and her parents are also no option."

At this remark Sophie's head fell, a single tear escaping her eye.

"I would offer her to stay at my place…but since I'm the lead on this case it's better for me not to get involved even more than I am already." Dark brown eyes met blue ones.

"You're more than welcome to stay at my place," Catherine said, her voice filled with sincerity.

"Just for a few days though," Sophie quickly answered, "I don't want to impose on you and your family. As soon as my room's cleared I want to go back there anyway."

"You're not imposing, but you'll have to cope with a little sister those days you stay. I'm sure Linds will be delighted to have an older sister for a few days."

"Thank you," Sophie said. "Both of you."

***

About an hour later, Sophie was released, and Catherine took her home. Sara went to the CSI HQ to analyze the evidence she had found.

As she parked her Tahoe on the parking lot at the HQ, she looked at her watch, and noticed that there were only four hours left before her shift would actually start. Taking her kit, and all the collected evidence out of the back of the Tahoe, her mind was already trying to puzzle every piece together.

She started with the fiber she had found in the tool mark. Walking in to the trace lab she handed Hodges the evidence bag.

"So," Hodges started, and leaded towards Sara before continuing, "is she good…in…you know?"

"Like that's any of your business," Sara snapped back, she really hadn't time for Hodges' remarks.

"Well, taking her job-history in account, she must be able to learn you a few tricks," the lab rat quipped.

"Listen, you shut the fuck up, do your job, and let me know as soon as there are results," Sara
said and turned to leave.

"Whoa…guess you're the one that wears the trousers in your relationship, huh?" he called after her.

Deciding to ignore that last remark, Sara headed for the DNA lab. The hair she had found on Christine's body hadn't yielded any DNA, but the blood she had collected from the candlestick Sophie had used to hit the perp would definitely be of help this time.

"Hey Wendy, got some blood for you."

"Yeah?" she answered, not looking up from what she was working on. "Well, you're not the only one. I'm way behind already."

"I really need these results," Sara said. "Is there any thing I can do to persuade you into moving mine up the pile?"

"You could lend me a hand, but I guess that wasn't what you meant," Wendy smiled at the brunette. "You know what, get me a cappuccino and some croissants, and by the time you're back I'll have your results."

"Thanks Wendy, you're the best," Sara smiled and walked off.

The evidence she had left were the fingerprints and the mould of the tool mark. Walking into an empty layout room, Sara placed all the evidence on a table. Since she was almost certain the tool mark was from a screwdriver, she decided to start on the fingerprints, hoping to get results that were useful.

***

After scanning the fifth fingerprint into the computer and checking it with AFIS, she still hadn't got a hit. Stretching herself, she decided it was time for some coffee. As she walked towards the break room, she passed the lab where Hodges was working.

"Sara?" he called, as she walked by.

Sending him an angry glare, Sara tried to convey she wasn't in the mood for any of his snide remarks.

He noticed and quickly handed her the results. "Blue fiber is cotton, nothing special. The dye, however, is often used for uniforms of security guards. That's all I can tell you about it."

"Thanks," the brunette said as she walked off.

Reaching the break room, she quickly grabbed herself a cup of coffee. Sitting at the table in the middle of the room, she reread the results she just got from Hodges. "Uniforms of security guards huh? That narrows things down already. How many security guards are there…20, 25?" she said to herself.

After throwing her empty cup in the garbage can, she walked back to the room where she had been working in before. "Let's hope that bastard was stupid enough to leave prints behind." There were seven prints that hadn't yet been check with AFIS yet.

When Sara ran the next print through AFIS, she got a hit: Dan Stevens, a 25 year old security guard at the LVU dorms. Just as she noted he also has blonde hair, Wendy came in.

"Sara?"

"Yeah?" the brunette answered as she looked up from the computer screen.

"I ran the DNA through CODIS, no hit though," she said as she placed the results on the desk.

"Thanks. I just got a hit of one of the prints I found. I'll call Brass to get the guy in for an interrogation. See if he can get a warrant for the guy's DNA. That way-" Sara started, but was interrupted by Wendy.

"That way I can make a comparison."

"Right."

"So…where's my cappuccino? And my croissants?" Wendy asked.

"Uh…after I get back from the PD I'll make sure to bring those along for you," Sara smiled sheepishly.

"Ok, well, I'll be waiting," Wendy said as she turned to leave. "Oh, and I'm happy for you…you and Catherine."

"Thank you, Wendy."

"Now, get going…and bring me back my reward." She winked before disappearing into the hall.

***

After calling Brass and sharing her findings with him, they agreed to meet at the PD -where they would interrogate Dan Stevens.

Grabbing her kit and heading out to the parking lot, Sara knew that they almost had him. It was already arranged that Sophie would come to the PD to meet with the sketch artist, but now she would be facing a line-up. Sara hoped she had seen enough to pick him out.

Fortunately, the DNA sample would already be enough to put him behind bars.

***

Fifteen minutes later she reached the PD where Brass was already waiting for her outside the interrogation room. Dan Stevens was sitting inside, trying hard to get his nerves under control.

"Let's close this case," Brass said as he motioned for Sara to enter first.

"Mr. Stevens?"

"Dan…cal me Dan."

"Alright, Dan. This is Sara Sidle she's with the crime lab."

The man nodded, sweat dripping off his forehead.

Sara noticed the bandages on his head...He definitely is our guy, she thought. "What happened to your head?" she asked him.

"Uh…I hit it while I was trying to fix the sink."

Sara and Brass shared a look, both thinking Yeah right. Brass continued to question him. "So, how long have you been a security guard at the LVU?"

"Not that long, about three months now I guess."

"Where were you this morning around 8?"

His eyes shot up, and nerves were getting the best of him. He immediately knew what they were talking about, and realized he was caught. "I want a lawyer."

"And I," Sara started as she turned to face Brass, "want a warrant."

"On it," Brass said as he stood up, and walked out to make some phone calls.

***

An hour later, Sara -and Sophie- were on her way back to the lab again -the DNA sample in her kit. The warrant hadn't been a problem. And Sophie had also picked him out at the line-up.

"We've got him, Sophie. After this is analyzed he'll have no way out. Neither for your case, nor for Christine's," Sara said as she watched the young woman. She expected that she would be glad with the outcome.

But Sophie's face still showed a sad look. "I know, but that won't bring Chris back."

Sara didn't know what to say to that.

As they arrived at the CSI HQ, Sara noticed a certain strawberry blonde coming their way. Catherine walked up to them and spoke up

"Hey. Heard you got him?"

Sara nodded, still thinking about Sophie's last words in the car.

Silence filled the air between the three women, and after minutes Sophie was the first to say something. "Sara, Catherine, thank you for everything. I'd rather go home, to my parents."

"Are you sure?" the brunette said, remembering the way her mother had stormed off while Sophie had been in the hospital.

"Yeah. I need to show them I'm still their daughter, still the same person," she answered, and before she continued, she stepped closer to Sara and hugged her. "All I can say is thank you. For what you did for me, and for Chris."

"You're welcome," Sara said, as she looked over the younger woman's shoulder and locked eyes with Catherine.

"Well, come on then. Let's go to my place to get your stuff. Linds will be disappointed to hear you're not staying any longer."

As Sophie was getting into Catherine's car. Sara walked over to the strawberry blonde.

"I'll just finish things up here," she started, placing a kiss on the smaller woman's lips before she continued. "And then I'll stop by your house." -another kiss- "And we can finish what we started this morning," she winked.

"I'll hold you to that," Catherine said, a huge smile plastered on her face.

Continued