The rains had flooded many of the Las Vegas streets by the time Sara pulled into the parking lot. Getting out and opening her umbrella, she spotted Grissom and ran to catch up with him.
" I thought we lived in the desert?" she noted wryly as he huddled under her umbrella.
" Throws you for a loop every once in a while." he replied; vaguely as usual. It seemed that he was staring at something across the lot.
" What is it Grissom?" she saw his eyes scan and survey the area as if he was looking for someting in particular.
" Nothing, I just thought I saw someone" he snapped back to attention and continued into the building.
Sara's first stop when she entered, was the lab. A faint oder of something rotten hit her as she passed through the halls. She stopped and sniffed the air, but could not figure out what it was and quickly moved on.*Probably one of Grissom's expirements in the fridge* she thought to herself. Looking through the glass window in the labroom door, she noticed that Greg was up to his usual antics. She couldn't help but chuckle at the young lab technician; he certainly brought life to the place.
"Greg...." she tapped him on the shoulder
"Huh? What....?" he spun aroung in his chair to face her. He had a look of pure terror on his face. " Sar...whoa slow your roll! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Slow my wha......nevermind, do have the results from the Seagle case? Because I have been waiting for them for two days and if you dont have them......"
" I got them, I got them. Just don't kill me alright?"
" Well then get me those results!"for being so smart, sometimes Greg was just to dense for his own good.
" Here, here, just take them" he shoved them in her direction.
" Don't be hostile Greg! Lighten up!" she said as she flashed a smile, one usually kept for rare occasions.
" Sure Sara, I'm the hostile one.....by the way have you seen Catherine around? I have her DNA results back."
" You mean she's not here yet? I could have sworn that I saw her car parked in the lot when I came in."
" I haven't seen her."
" That's rare. Usually everyone's down here doing something. I'm sure she'll get here soon but i'll tell her."
Sara tried to push the feeling that something was wrong down and out of sight. She was positive that Cath's car was parked outside, so where was she? As she headed to the locker room she passed by Grissom's office. Glancing inside she saw that he wasn't there, and neither was Catherine. The sick churning feeling she had in her stomach, began to grow. Something felt terribly wrong.
The door to the locker room was slightly ajar when she reached out to open it. It creaked loudly as she pushed it open. The same sick, rotten smell that was in the hall, was here as well; except it was much more pungent. It hit her like a ton of bricks, her hand swiftly moving up to face to try to block it out. With her free hand she flipped the light on, but nothing happened.
He saw the tall, brown-haired woman fumbling around the unlit room like a wounded animal. He could smell her fear from a mile away and thought about how sweet it would be to kill and disembowel her. It put a small but wicked smile on his demented, disfigured face. Oh how he wished his Catherine was here to see this. She would watch her friends suffer, like he had suffered, then she to would meet their fate......But not yet, no the timing just wasn't right. He didn't want to arouse that much suspicion. This one would have to wait just a little longer, just a little bit longer. He would have fun with her when it was time. His senses were going crazy for this one....but not yet. He would have to wait for her.
There was something sticky and thick on the switch.It took Sara's eyes a few minutes to adjust to the lack of light in the room but soon she could see fairly well. Her mouth dropped when she realized what it was. Blood, everywhere. It was on the floor, smeared against the wall, even on the back of the door. A half naked body was slumped up against some bashed in lockers and the sight of it made her sick. Upon closer inspection she realized who it was she was looking at.
"Oh my God." Sara pivoted on her heels and sprinted out of the room. She had to find help.
End of chapter two