First Date or Second Thoughts

Chapter Two – Business as Usual

The entire night shift sat around the table in the break-room waiting for Grissom to arrive.

‘Why is it that he can beat any one of us to a crime scene,’ Nick wanted to know, ‘but he’s never on time for briefings?’

‘It’s a matter of priorities,’ Grissom replied as he entered the room. ‘Sorry I’m late,’ he added pointedly in Nick’s direction.

Nick smiled sheepishly. ‘Hey, Gris.’

‘We’ve got a DB over in Ryder’s Lane,' he reported as he took his seat at the head of the table. 'Vinny McMann, loan shark. Cath, Sara, you’re with me. Warrick, Nick, how’s that home invasion/homicide going?’

‘We’re finally getting somewhere with the evidence,’ Warrick told him. ‘Pulled a couple of prints and got a hit on AFIS. Ex-con by the name of Jimmy Doures. Police hauled him in 15 minutes ago, and we’re heading to the interrogation now.’

Grissom nodded, ‘Great. You guys keep working on that. Catherine, Sara, can you both get over to the scene and process it? I’ll be at the autopsy.’

‘No problem,’ Catherine replied.

Sara nodded and smiled softly. Grissom tried not to allow his gaze to linger on her face. He noticed that she hadn’t said anything during the short briefing, but her eyes had occasionally flickered his way. Grissom was all too aware that they were in unchartered territory – the first shift after the kiss.

Having distributed assignments, Grissom headed down the corridor towards the morgue. He heard soft footsteps behind him. The tingles on the back of his neck told him who it was before she spoke.

‘Gris?’ Sara’s voice stopped his forward momentum and he turned to see her close the distance between them. ‘Hey.’

‘Hey.’

‘You got a minute?’ she asked, smiling.

Grissom hesitated a moment before replying. ‘Sure.’

He gestured for her to go into his office and took a deep breath before he followed. Sara cleared her throat. She seemed nervous.

‘Um, I know this isn’t really the appropriate time or place, but…’ she began, hesitating and clearing her throat again. ‘…But we never really got to discuss … dinner.’

Grissom looked at her, feeling pretty nervous himself. ‘Dinner?’

‘Yeah, remember? You asked. I accepted,’ she replied, trying to keep her voice light. ‘But we didn’t arrange the where or the when.’

‘Oh,’ was all he could say.

Flashes of the previous day came back to him. The overwhelming desire to see her, to finally tell her how he felt. The fear he experienced waiting for her to reply to his invitation. The feel of her lips on his. How difficult it was to go home instead of staying there, with her. The sharp pain of doubt that flooded back into him as soon as he got into his car. All the reasons he had resisted temptation, had stopped himself from becoming involved with this incredible woman had returned to his all too rational mind and, as much as he didn’t want to, he experienced a pang of regret.

‘Earth to Grissom?’ her throaty voice brought him out of his reverie.

Grissom shook his head as if to clear it. ‘Sorry. Uh, you were saying?’

Sara shook her head in exasperation. ‘I was saying that I’m free tomorrow night.’

All his doubts and reservations were choking him. He needed to buy more time to think. ‘I don’t know, Sara,’ he replied, trying not to sound dismissive. ‘We’ll have to see how… how this pans out.’

Confusion crossed Sara’s face. ‘How this pans out?’ she asked.

‘The, uh… the case,’ Grissom clarified, desperately wanting out of this conversation. He knew his track record all too well, and therefore knew how close he was to saying something stupid that would upset Sara and make him feel like an ass.

Sara looked disappointed, but shrugged in an attempt to hide it. ‘Oh… right. I just thought… Never mind. I’d better…’

She turned towards the door to leave. Grissom’s heart sank. Even by saying very little, he’d still managed to say too much.

‘Sara?’ he called out, unable to stop himself.

Sara paused at the door, but didn’t turn around.

‘Cath’s waiting for me,’ she somehow forced her voice to sound cheery. ‘I’ll see you later.’

She left and Grissom’s heart felt as though it would break. This is why he’d stayed away from her for so long. He always knew he’d end up hurting her with his bumbling, taciturn ways. And she, above anyone else in his life, had the greatest capacity for hurting him.

As Sara left Grissom’s office and made her way to the parking lot, she blinked back the tears which were making their presence felt. How could she have been so stupid? How could she forget the past four and a half years? Did she really think that Grissom could change overnight? Yet there she was, going to him, fully expecting to pick up where they had left off the previous morning. As a result she had been totally blindsided by his latest rejection.

The previous morning had been wonderful. Truly a dream come true. Grissom had been tender and warm. The feel of his lips on hers was everything that she had imagined and more. She had desperately wanted him to stay, but the voice of reason prevailed. The didn’t need to rush anything, Grissom had told her, and she had agreed. Now regret at missing her one and only chance of being with Grissom mingled with relief. If things were going to be this awkward between them after a simple kiss, she could only imagine how it would be if they had slept together.

She gave herself a mental shake as she stepped out into the evening air. She had work to do. Work was always her solace. She could lose herself in it for hours at a time. And if ever there was a time she needed to lose herself…

Nothing like an autopsy to take your mind off girl-troubles, thought Grissom wryly as he watched Dr Robbins work. The Y-incision had been made and the Doc was currently looking at the victim’s heart.

‘Heart’s a little fatty,’ the doctor reported. ‘Usual suspects – bad diet and alcohol. But, contrary to popular belief, this guy’s heart isn’t black.’

‘Metaphorically speaking only,’ countered Grissom. ‘Cause of death?’

‘Exsanguination. The cut on his wrist went right through an artery. He would have bled out in minutes.’

Grissom nodded. ‘What about the other cuts?’

‘Superficial at best,’ Dr Robbins replied. ‘The ones on the torso and arms bled freely until he lost blood pressure. The ones lower down, on his legs, hardly at all. They were inflicted around the time off death, when his heart had stopped beating.’

‘So the deep cut to the wrist was first,’ Grissom wanted to clarify.

‘First, or one of the first,’ Robbins told him.

‘What was the point in the shallow cuts?’ Grissom asked him. ‘The deep cut did its job, so why the rest?’

Robbins stopped examining the body and looked at Grissom, considering his answer.

‘Well, this is only speculative, but I did hear about a method of torture killing where the victim is tied up and shallow cuts are inflicted all over the body. Very painful, and it takes a while to bleed out from small cuts. Could take up to a day or more for death, depending on the number and depth of the lacerations.’

‘Cite your source,’ Grissom asked with a raised eyebrow.

Robbins grinned his reply. ‘Some slasher movie I watched last week on cable.’

Grissom rolled his eyes before replying. ‘So, assuming your theory’s correct, what went wrong here?’

‘Best guess, inexperience,’ Robbins told him. ‘Killer didn’t know what he was doing and cut too deep. Got the rest of the cuts right, but by then it was too late. And you might find this interesting.’ The Doc lifted the deep mans arm off the table and gestured for Grissom to take a closer look. ‘Abrasions on the wrists and ankles. Sign of struggle. And I found several fibers in his mouth, so he was probably gagged. Victim was awake and aware while the cutting was taking place.’

‘Supports the torture theory,’ Grissom said as he peered at the injuries. ‘So, maybe our killer drugged him, tied him up and waited ‘til he was awake before he started cutting?’ he speculated.

‘Tox is still pending,’ the Doc replied, resuming his work. ‘I’ll let you know.’

 

 

Chapter Three

 

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