The full moon will shimmer with her white brilliance once again in another two weeks. The waiting did not matter, the killer enjoyed the time spent between each harvest, watching the prey, memorizing its moves, and making sure that when its time was up there would be no escape. The killer knew it was a risk coming to Vegas, but the remaining human organs, needed to complete the ritual, had gathered in the desert city. The killer had come to Vegas a few times in the past and remembered the night shift well, especially their supervisor, and so had made the first acquisition in Vegas during the day. Sure enough, it had been ruled accidental. Chicago had been easy and fun, the police clueless as ever, but Vegas would be a well-earned challenge. The circle would soon be completed and all the power promised delivered. The killer had always strived for perfection and excellence, but age had taken a toll. Younger competitors had crept up and taken over, this would bring back glory. Once again, the killer would be in control.

Sara walked into the lab with Harry in the evening, “Let me do the talking, and please not a word about your mysterious talents.”

“Sara, please, I do this for a living. And I wouldn’t order me around just yet; you did put grasshoppers in my pancakes.”

“Can’t prove it. Besides you loved them, until you noticed the wispy legs swimming in the syrup.” Sara laughed at Harry’s look of disgust.

“Please no visuals right now. I might throw up again, and this time I won’t miss you.”

Sara continued to laugh until they were outside Grissom’s office. Sara’s face changed from carefree, to somber and serious. Harry raised his eyebrow at Sara, but she just straightened her green rhinestone belted tunic and opened the door. “Hi,” and stepped inside.

Grissom took off his glasses and looked up at Sara with a smile; she looked beautiful in green. However, Grissom’s daydream of him and Sara walking through a wet lush rainforest was rudely interpreted when he noticed Harry coming in behind her.

“Do you have a minute?”

“Sara, sure.” He waved his hands toward the chairs in front of his desk.

“Grissom, this is Harry Dresden. He’s a private investigator affiliated with the Chicago PD.” Sara said as she and Harry sat down. “He needs our help in solving a serial case that started in Chicago, but now extends to Vegas.”

“Uh I wasn’t aware we had a serial on our hands, Sara.”

“It’s a serial case Griss, and the latest murder was two weeks ago.”

“Umm, well why haven’t the Chicago PD contacted me?” Grissom asked Harry suspiciously.

“Oh Murphy, the lead detective, told me to have you call her if you had any questions.”

“Right. So what’s the case?” Grissom looked back at Sara.

“We have three confirmed kills. First victim had a hole drilled at the base of his skull. Second one had an exenteration and a deep cut across the forehead, and the third victim was beheaded.” Sara opened the two case files and showed Grissom the pictures of the two dead victims.

“Are you sure this is a serial, the MO varies significantly?” Grissom said, reviewing the pictures of the skull hole and the empty eye sockets.

“It’s the same killer,” Harry stated firmly.

“Where is the third case file?” Grissom asked ignoring Harry’s declaration of conviction.

“Grissom the third victim’s death was ruled accidental by the day shift.”

“Sara if it was an accident and I think this is about the supervisor’s misshape over at MicroGroup,” Grissom continued when Sara nodded, “I think that case is closed. There was no evidence of foul play; the man was alone in the room.”

“I know, but I think there might be some evidence if we look at the three cases side by side. I’m not asking for the lab’s time, just the case file. Harry and I will go over them after shift and if something pans out, I’ll report it.”

“Sara, is there something you’re not telling me.”

“No… No Grissom. I just have a hunch that these killings are not random but the act of one calculating person. Harry here also thinks it might be helpful if we look over the cases again. He came all the way from Chicago to ask for help.”

Grissom studied Harry closely, “Chicago, that’s a long way. What evidence do you have that connects our accidental beheading to your killings?”

“Grissom,” Sara interrupted, “he has a hunch, no concrete evidence yet. We just want to read the forensics report from the accident. That’s all.”

Grissom continued to look at Harry with his patented cold blue stare that he usually reserved for the most heinous of criminals. Harry was intrigued; most people couldn’t even look at his eyes much less stare so intensely. To look at a wizard’s eye was to allow him access to your soul, it was unnerving to say the least. Sara’s Grissom however was not deterred. Harry knew he would pay hell with Sara after this, but he had to do it.

“Actually I do have concrete evidence, Dr. Grissom. I have visited all three crime scenes and I can assuredly say that the same person committed each murder.”

“Oh, no.” Sara muttered and closed her eyes.

“Really, do you have a single fingerprint, footprint, or a DNA sample?”

“Much better, I felt a unique presence at each of the scenes indicating a singular killer.”

Silence, no sound, not a word, and then, “Excuse me,” Grissom managed.

“What, you have your abilities reading physical evidence, and I’m attuned to the metaphysical plane. We both solve crimes nonetheless.” Harry said with a seemingly innocent smile.

“Mr. Dresden, what kind of investigator did you say you were?”

“I didn’t say, as I’m sure you know— but I’m a wizard.”

However before another bout of silence, Harry interjected, “I don’t do parties or love potions.”

Sara wished she had a camera; Grissom’s face was a portrait of shock, disbelief, and disgust. She now knew for certain what Grissom would have looked like if she had told him, but this was not about her anymore; they had a serial on the loose.

“Grissom, Harry might be unconventional but the Chicago PD has consulted with him on many cases. Call Murphy, this is her card; she will answer your questions. But please let me look over the third case folder, it doesn’t hurt to make sure.”

“Sara can I talk to you alone.”

Sara huffed, “Ok, Harry can you wait for me at the front lobby. I’ll meet you there.”

Harry got up and opened his mouth to say something, but Sara shook her head and mentioned him out. The door closed with a soft click.

“Sara what is this really about? Do you even know this…man?”

“Grissom be fair, this is about a killer who has killed three people with precision and has left little to no evidence behind. Harry is a dear old friend of mine, he can see and connect things that most people ignore or don’t notice. If you call Chicago, they’ll vouch for him as I am. If there is a clue, Harry will find it.”

Grissom couldn’t believe his ears, maybe he had lost his hearing and was reading Sara’s lips wrong. She, a woman of science, a gifted investigator, a brilliant mind, was defending a…a…wizard. A man that, as far as he could see, was conning innocent people with convincing lies, and now toying with his Sara. Grissom lifted his eyes and looked at Sara, she had the Sidle look; she was not going to back down.

“Fine. You can open the day shift file, but you have to keep me informed if anything pans out.” Grissom hoped this would quell her down. He didn’t want to push her further towards Dresden, but that dear old friend line did unease him. However if they could only get together between shifts, this would work out splendidly; Sara most likely wouldn’t get time to see Dresden. She was a workaholic, and for once, he was not worried. She would spend most of the time here in the lab working real cases with him; this could work out.

“Sara I trust you, your one of my best CSI’s, so if you think this case is not closed, I trust your judgment. Oh by the way, you should recommend the Bellagio to Dresden; they have excellent accommodations for law enforcement and their affiliates.”

“Uh thanks Griss. I appreciate the confidence; call me when you want an update.” Sara moved toward the door, “Oh and Harry doesn’t need the Bellagio, he’s staying with me,” and closed the door with a soft click.

Grissom let out a string of words that make even a seasoned sailor blush, what was Sara going at? She just let a strange man live with her. Alright, so she knew him, but that was years ago. Dresden was taking advantage of Sara; Grissom knew this to be fact. With frustration mounting and a touch of jealousy to spur him on, Grissom picked up the phone and asked Judy to connect him to the downtown Chicago precinct.

A moment later a chirpy upbeat female voice answered, “CPD, how may I help you.”

“Yes, can you connect me to a Detective Murphy? This is Gil Grissom from Vegas.”

“Excellent choice, Detective Karrin Murphy is one of our best. Please wait a moment, I’ll patch you through.”

Grissom grimaced, there was no reason to sound so happy; he wondered what kind of ship they ran there.

Three bells followed before the detective answered, “Murphy.”

“Detective, I’m Gil Grissom, supervisor of the night shift here in Vegas.”

“Is Harry alright? Did he check-in with you? I told him flying is much safer, even with his eccentric problem with electrical appliances, but no, he insists on driving. I…”

“Detective,” Grissom interjected, “Dresden is fine. I would just like more information about him, since he’s not a police officer just a consultant. It would be helpful in case of a legal issue with the suspect’s lawyer.”

“Wow he already found the perp.”

“No…No, he just explained the case and I’m calling to verify, confirm the official position of your department.”

“I see-- I’ll email you his city file, but you should know Harry has always been a big help on the cases he has consulted on. He sees and connects evidence and facts like no other. I don’t tell it to his face, but he’s a great partner… on cases.”

“Thank you for your help, and I’ll call if I need anything else.”

“Sure, nice talking to you Dr. Grissom. Can you ask Harry to call me; I think I might have more info for him.”

“Yes I will, Goodbye.”

Sheesh what was it with Dresden and the female population; he was some sort of crime super-hero. Grissom had worked in the field for twelve years and there were some cases that he had to let go and label “cold.” The fact that this Dresden character was a 'go to guy' who constantly delivered, was fishy, no offense to his ‘Big Mouth Billy Bass.’ Dresden was hiding something; how many grown men go around as ‘Wizards.’ Sara might not know it, but there was more to this case then Dresden was letting on. Grissom opened his email account and downloaded the file Murphy had sent. Grissom scrolled through the pages scanning for anything odd. Well his face matched his picture, so the imposter theory was thrown out. The file was nothing but a testament of an excellent solve rate. Grissom frowned when he looked up at the clock; he was going to be late in handing out the night’s assignments. He gathered up the slips looking through them for a time consuming case to hand out to Sara. He didn’t like Sara working long hours, but he liked Dresden even less. Besides, he would pair himself with her and stay just as long. Grissom stepped into the break room and spotted Sara sitting, without Dresden. He was not jealous, just concerned.

Sara wondered what Harry was doing. She had found him at the front desk chatting with Judy. Poor Judy, she was flustered with the attention, and so Sara went up to them and dragged Harry outside. “Hey I was talking, gees sis.”

“Right, I have Grissom’s permission to open the third case. You can go home and we’ll talk later after shift.”

“Grissom’s permission, huh. He doesn’t like me, thinks I’m poaching on his territory.”

“No, Grissom doesn’t like wizards. What possessed you to say that, I told you to let me do the talking. Now he thinks your some con artist taking the lab on a wild goose chase. So please behave with him, we have to solve the case.”

“Sorry, your right. The case, time is running so can you tell me the highest point in Vegas?”

“The Stratosphere Tower, but why…a… never mind, I’ll see you after shift. Grissom should be passing out assignments soon. Take care.” Sara hugged Harry and rushed inside to the break room while Harry drove off in his jeep. The previously stunned shadow in the parking lot stirred and an excited Hodges squealed into the night air, finally he had something to taunt Greg with; Sara had a boyfriend.

Grissom handed Greg and Nick a fairly straightforward B&E; a junkie had been caught breaking into a pharmacy and all that was left was processing the evidence for filing. Warrick and Catherine had evidence to go through for their court date. And so, Grissom and Sara were left with a 405/425. Grissom smiled, this should take some time. Brass had called them on a suicide under suspicious circumstances, and with Brass that meant a homicide cover-up. These cases were messy affairs under the best of times, and tonight Grissom welcomed the complications. “Well Sara, I think we should hurry, Brass has been on the scene for over an hour now.”

High above Vegas, Harry stood on the ledge of the Stratosphere Tower and closed his eyes. He picked up a seemingly innocent looking hockey stick and held it out away from himself. If people could have seen him, they would have thought him crazy, or insane. But Harry was holding out his wand, an object that concentrated his power into one highly charged focal point, and was feeling the city down below. The emotions of 1.4 million people rushed upward and Harry filtered out the despair, misery, the euphoria, excitement and concentrated on the emotions on the fringes of the spectra. A familiar feeling overcame him. He knew this signature, a cold calculating evil; the killer was definitely in Vegas.

The night air was slightly nippy but equally refreshing; Dr. Teri Miller stepped out of the stuffy Las Vegas Convention Center and called out for a taxi. She mused at how life changed from a high and crashed to a crippling low. Last time she was in Vegas, she was a prestigious anthropologist happily married, but now divorced with a tanking career. She wasn’t even second nor third, but a lowly sixth in ranking. Her marriage had been on rocky grounds for some time, but with the confirmation from her doctor that she was infertile; her husband didn’t even try to hide his affairs. When his young secretary got pregnant, he demanded a divorce and left with half of everything. The months following the divorce had been dark and cold, but now she was in Vegas, her luck was going to change. Teri smoothed out her hair, and retouched her makeup. Instead of directing the driver to the Las Vegas Hilton, she was heading down Tropicana towards Westfall Avenue. Last time she had made a mistake writing off Gil Grissom, but this time, looking into her compact mirror, she would have him and reapplied her red lipstick.

Grissom looked at his wristwatch; they had made it back with only thirty minutes left on the clock. The case didn’t take as long as he had hoped. The suicide, as suspected, had not been a deliberate self-attempt, but neither was it a homicide. The victim, a Shelly Carson, owned two golden retrievers and during what was supposed to be a relaxing bubble bath, the two dogs collided with the bath side cabinet and knocked the still plugged hairdryer into the bathwater. Tragic but not murder, so all that left was to fill out the proper forms and close the book on the case.

“Griss,” Sara said walking in behind him, “I’ll fill out the forms and give them to you for review in ten minutes or so. Will you be in your office?”

“Yes, I’ll be there.” Really, where else was he going to be? He still hadn’t had a chance to ask Sara out for that breakfast, and the way things were going where just might not be a breakfast together, ever.

Grissom headed towards his office. He noticed the lights on and door ajar, who could it be? Ecklie maybe, but he was sure he had finished all deadline pending paperwork. He stepped into his office and saw a blonde bent over Herbert’s cage. She was holding the Orange-kneed Tarantula in her palms, “I think he remembers me.”

“Teri, what are you doing here?” This was not a good time; Sara would be checking in soon. And really, the way Teri was clutching Herbert, the spider was going to bite her. However, Grissom needed her gone, and so walked up and gently took Herbert back to his cage. “I wasn’t aware we had unidentified skeletal remains.”

“No silly, do I have to be here on a case. I was attending the Annual Anthropology Convention, held here in Vegas, and so I decided to drop by,” she moistened her lips with her tongue and continued lustfully, “to see you.”

Ok this was weird, even for Teri, what was wrong with her lips? They were painted blood red and plumped out grotesquely. How to get rid of her, “Oh that’s nice, but I’m sure your husband will enjoy your company.” There that should remind her to back off and leave. Instead, Teri threw her head back and laughed.

“I’m divorced Gil, the bastard dumped me for his bimbo secretary.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe you should take time for yourself and relax.”

“Please, I’m soo over him; I really didn’t love him at all. I only married him because I knew you…”

“No Teri,” Grissom interjected, this was going downhill, he didn’t need her declaration of unrequited love, “I’m sure you loved your husband very much, he just hurt you, bad. You should talk to Catherine, she’s also been through a messy divorce, she’ll understand. Even better,” Grissom edged towards his desk and picked up his phone, “I’ll call her.”

“No Gil,” Teri stepped forward, took the phone from his hands and placed it back, “I thought you and I could have dinner and then some dessert,” she purred.

“Griss,” Sara burst into the room breathlessly, “I have the pap….” She stopped mid-word and took in the scene before her. Grissom, near his desk, entwined with a blonde-haired woman in an outrageously deep cleavage bearing red dress. So this was it, Sara thought, he will never want you. “I’m sorry… ah, hello Dr. Miller, nice to see you again. Dr. Grissom, I’ll leave the papers in your mail slot. Good bye.”

Grissom slumped back; Sara was leaving him. This was not how he had envisioned his morning, and with a tug, he dislodged Teri and ran out, “Sara.” He didn’t care for the many eyes that turned and focused on him, Sara could not leave like this.

“Sara I wanted to ask you something yesterday, but you told me to wait till today.”

“What is it, Dr. Grissom?” Sara didn’t care if she sounded belligerent, she wanted to go home and cry her misery out.

“Sara please,” he grabbed her hands and walked her to an empty layout room, “don’t call me that, you haven’t called me that since the day we met and then I asked you to call me Grissom.”

“Fine, Grissom.”

“I was wondering if you want to have b- I mean dinner with me.” It was time to take a leap, this could be his last chance.

Sara frowned and opened her mouth, but Grissom rushed on, “Dinner with me at a vegetarian place. There’s this new restaurant, the Vegan Bowl, I hear they get high reviews.”

“What about Teri Miller, she’s still in your office.”

“I really have no idea why she’s here, something about a convention. But Sara, she doesn’t matter. I’m asking you out, how about we meet there at six, today. We can have dinner and still be on time for the start of shift.”

“You don’t have to eat vegetarian, I won’t mind you eating meat.”

“No Sara, actually my doctor recommended I make healthier choices, its fine. So will I meet you there at six?”

Sara looked at Grissom and let go of her many reservations, “Yes you will. I’m going to go home, get some rest and then meet you there. We can be healthy together.” Sara smiled as Grissom nodded, “Great, see you soon,” and walked out towards the front door.

Grissom looked at her retreating figure, still smiling. Sara had said, ‘healthy together.’ Together, what a wonderful word, it meant him and Sara sitting close, just the two of them. Grissom looked at his watch, ten minutes left on the clock. But for once, Grissom felt happy work was over, he had a date tonight with Sara.

Sara was still in shock as she lumbered into the break room, not noticing the others already sitting at the conference table eating their mid-shift snack.

“Hey Sara,” Greg said, “heard about the fake kidnapping. Give us details.”

“Yeah that must have been pretty weird, why did he have to fake it to leave the house,” Nick wondered aloud.

“Nicky, you can’t leave your house for the Naught Kitty letting your wife know, it would have been a homicide instead; it still could be when he gets home though.” Warrick said feeling for the man. Since he had married his wife Tina, she had started to change everything, sometimes he felt buried under all her expectations. The marriage wasn’t going as he had planned either, but he was dealing with it instead of demanding her to change. He hoped things would get better soon for both of them; he really wanted this marriage to survive.

“What’s there to wonder,” Catherine interjected, “he’s a cheating pig. This was just a whole charade to embarrass his wife.”

Sara looked at them then and shook Grissom and their last conversation out of her head, “Actually in this case, daddy bought his daughter a husband, who she kept on a short leash. I think the only time he was alone was in the bathroom. Coincidently that’s where we found his more personal things.”

“Geez, this is the worst case of the balls and chains yet,” joked Greg.

They all looked at Greg and burst of laughing.

In the midst of all this merriment, Hodges enters the break room holding a report, “As usual, I’m the one that breaks the case for the Grissom,” he snared.

“Yeah whatever, is this the trace report from our case,” Nick asked.

“Yes, the fiber you found on the DB is fur from a bighorn sheep. This looks like a shooting accident.”

“Hodges, if this was a Dick Cheney, then why was the body floating on the lake and not on land,” Greg looked triumphantly at Hodges. “Guys this looks like murder disguised as a shooting accident.”

“Thanks for your help Greggo, but me and Nick can figure this one out. Don’t you have tons of fingerprints to review from the bodega?” Warrick pointed. He nodded to them and took the results from Hodges as he and Nick left the room to interview their DB’s best friend and hunting buddy.

“Warrick’s right,” Catherine said and also headed towards the door, “Greg, go see if Mandy is finished processing the prints. I’ll be in my new cramped office.”

Sara picked up her papers and left the now empty break room walking left away from Grissom’s office. She found an empty layout room away from the noise and traffic. She was going to finish her report and leave on time. She still couldn’t believe she had asked Grissom if he had ever loved someone. She ran from the car as soon as her words had registered in her mind, she was scared. Scared he had an answer, and that would mean it wasn’t her. Scared he had no answer, but that would mean it never could be her. Either way she lost. Oh why was she doing this again. She was a masochist for pain. How can one man make you hurt so much? Sara wiped the tears that trickled out, she was strong, an independent woman with a wonderful career. She would and could get over Grissom.

Sara wrote in her last words and slammed the finished folder shut. It was just five minutes to six; she had finished on time. Now what to do with the report? Usually she handed it to Grissom and they talked for a few minutes, but today she had enough of over-talking and most likely Sofia would be there chatting him up. Well Sofia could have him; she was going straight home and having a nice relaxing bubble bath. She gathered her things and put the report in Grissom’s mailbox all without walking in front of his office. Sara stepped outside and walked towards her car. Just as she turned the ignition, her cell rang. Oh please don’t let it be Grissom, please, she thought as she picked up the cell and looked at the caller ID. She smiled when she read the name, “Hi, I was wondering when you would call.”

Grissom sighed and closed his folders. It was six o’clock, shift had ended, Sara should come around about now with her report. But he knew she wouldn’t, she had been avoiding him all through shift. He had called her once from his office, but she had plainly stated she was finishing her long overdue paper work and would have his report in at the end of shift. Maybe he should call her again and ask her out to breakfast; there was no paperwork now.

Grissom picked up his cell and pressed number one on his speed dial.

“Sidle.”

“Sara, I…”

“Grissom is this about work.”

“No, um actually…”

“Great, if it’s not about work then can it wait till shift, tonight? I have friend on the other line and we haven’t talked in a while, so please can it wait?”

“Sure…sure it can wait…I umm…I’ll see you tonight then.”

“Goodnight Grissom.”

“Goodnight Sa…” Grissom started but Sara had already hung up. He put down the phone and sighed, why was it so hard to talk to her? It wasn’t like this before, before Vegas. Before in San Francisco, during that blissful summer they had talked and talked for hours walking on the beach, watching the sunset and then the stars at night. It seemed so simple then. But he was not going to give up; he would try again tonight. Sara was too important to let go, he missed her.

Sara stared at her cell, shaking her head. What did he want to say; well she was sure to find out tonight. Sara reconnected to her other call, “Hey you still there?”

“Yes, was that work? Do you have to go back in?”

“No Harry, it was just Grissom, my boss.”

“Oh the same boss you dated back in Frisco,” Harry said.

“No, we never dated. We were just friends. Anyway, what’s up with you? Chicago still treating you good?”

“Well the wizard detective business in not booming,” Harry replied, “but it pays the bills, most of the time.”

Sara laughed, “Well I’ve bought a house.”

“Nicely done, Sara. So guess where I am?”

“Is this a trick question? Are you in trouble?”

Harry smirked, "Do you think I only call when I’m in trouble?”

“Ok, I’ll bite, where are you?”

“Have you reached your house yet?”

“Almost there, just another street, why?”

“Hurry up then, it’s a surprise,” Harry said mysteriously.

Sara laughed again, “I’m home now.” Sara opened the gates, drove up the semicircle driveway, and parked. She got out of the car and walked up the front steps.

“Harry, you’re here!” Sara gushed and ran into his arms.

Harry wrapped his arms around her, “I missed you, little sis.”

Sara looked up at him and grinned, “I missed you, too.”

Sara released her grip and got her keys, “Come inside, you’ll love the house.”

“I’ll come only if you have some food, I’m starving.”

“Come on brother of mine, I’m going to make some Boca spaghetti with garlic bread.”

“Gee, that sounds good. How can I help?”

“I’ll make the sauce, you can boil the spaghetti,” Sara said as she handed him the pan.

“Nice kitchen,” Harry commented as he flicked his finger toward the sink, sending the pan under the running water. The pan filled and returned to the stove.

“Showoff,” Sara teased. She in turn pointed to the pantry and out flew olive oil, chopped red pepper, salt, garlic, lemon zest, and a can of crushed red tomatoes.

“Ahh, so the ban on magic has lifted.”

“Yeah, I thought it was about time I learned to accept myself and be happy.” Sara combined the ingredients together in a saucepan and turned on the heat to medium.

“That’s good. I thought I might have to persuade you to dabble in a little spell chanting, but this is better.”

“What do you need me for,” Sara asked.

“First we eat,” Harry lifted his finger when he saw Sara open her mouth, “and then I’ll tell you everything.”

“Well then watch the water, its boiling.”

Harry looked at the water, “Right,” the noodles flew from the box inside the pantry and settled into the water. “Is that better.”

“Much.” Sara turned toward her pan and tasted the sauce, “Umm…perfect.” The Boca floated out of the refrigerator and Sara combined it with the sauce.

Eventually dinner was served, really between a witch and wizard, cooking was a five-minute process. They sat together on the shaded porch outside. They ate and talked, catching up with each other’s lives.

Harry told her about Murphy, the beautiful brunette haired detective he worked with. “She’s just brilliant, Sara. Smart as you, nothing gets by her. Every time I think it’s too much for her, she just kicks back and makes me tell her everything.

“She sounds wonderful, so have you asked her out.”

“Sara it’s not that simple,” Harry explained as he sipped his wine. “She’s human, I’m a wizard. Besides she has a kid, it might not work out and I don’t want to hurt her.”

“What is it with men and excuses? Do you want to let this brilliant woman walk away, without her knowing how you feel for her?”

“Yeah maybe I’ll do something when I get back, but what about you? How are Grissom and you coming along?”

“You know very well, Grissom and I are just friends. Maybe not friends, anymore, but he’s my supervisor and that’s it. And before you say I should take my own advice, I asked and I was shot down, repeatedly.”

“Oh Sara, he’s a fool for not taking you up,” Harry palmed her hands between his, lifted them up, and kissed her hands, “You are a powerful witch and he’s a slimy toad.”

“Oh, stop it, you. He’s not a toad, he’s a brilliant toad,” Sara laughed. She put away the leftovers and brought out dessert, chilled watermelon sorbet. “A much as I love to have you here, what gives? You didn’t fly here since you and airplanes, well anything electronic, don’t mesh well. You call occasionally for the same reason, and yet you decide to drive all the way from Chicago to Vegas. And you don’t even like to drive that much, is everything ok?”

“Sara, I’m sorry I haven’t called you as much as I’d like, but your right, there is another reason I came to see you. I need your help with a case.”

“What case? Here in Vegas?”

“Yes well, let me start from the beginning. Two and half months ago, Murphy called me in on a homicide. It looked routine, elderly man died in his sleep, but when the coroner moved him, there was a dime size hole at the base of his skull. The killer had drained the brain matter out. I thought it was a human killer, because there’s no spell that calls for brain matter. However when I touched his eyes, the last image stored was him entering his house, not seeing the killer, or how he ended up in bed. That was unusual; no wizard can erase memories of the eye that efficiently. Yet there was no trace of magic anywhere in the apartment. I was stumped. I asked around and asked my local sources, but no one had heard anything about it. The case went cold.”

“Harry did you check for fingerprints, fibers, or other forensic evidence.”

“The forensic team did look around, but I don’t think they found anything conclusive. Anyway, there’s more. About a month later, there was another killing. This man had his eyes removed and across his forehead was a large cut. The crime scene was clean just like the last one. However, I did sense magic in the house; it was faint not strong enough to account for the violence of the attack, but it was a start. Unfortunately, it was only present in the room; there was no magic outside, no trail. That was odd; magic always leaves a trace, a fingerprint of the spell caster and a trail. You can try to hide the scent, but it never disappears. I tried everything; even Bob was shaking his head.”

“Bob doesn’t know…I mean even though he’s dead and stuck in his skull; he’s an ancient wizard and knows almost everything. Did you bring him?”

Harry laughed, “Bob’s in the car. I thought we’d have this conversation without him gushing all over you. You know he thinks you’re his most prized student.”

“Oh you’re just jealous I beat you in every challenge task he devised.”

“Please I let you win. You were sixteen; I just wanted to boost your confidence.”

“Right. Anyway, I take it the second case went cold also. Is there anything else?”

“Yes, another murder. This time it was here in Vegas, two weeks ago.”

“I don’t know Harry. The team hasn’t investigated anything like this lately?”

“Sara the case I’m talking about was processed by the day shift, anyway they ruled it accidental.”

“Oh you mean that freak beheading of the supervisor at MicroGroup? Harry they say the man tripped while operating the cutting laser and offed his own head without any help. They had no video surveillance, but no one else was there either, the key card system only showed his name.”

“Sara it’s related. I went to the company and looked at the room; it also had a faint trace of magic, the same trace I detected at the last crime scene. I think the killer has moved to Vegas to continue his work.”

“Fine--- you know what this means. The killer is virtually undetectable and he’s a serial; they’re the worst kind, they don’t stop until they’re caught.”

“Yes I know. I really need your help. The magic angle alone isn't working. The Chicago PD Forensic Team went through the crime scenes thoroughly, but they don’t have experience with magic and can’t make the connections. So I was thinking that you can put the two things together and we can solve this thing.”

“Ok but it’s not going to be easy. First I need the case files and evidence from the Chicago killings.”

“I have them,” Harry interrupted, “Murphy made copies of the original files for me, and the evidence will be sent to the Crime Lab via courier to you. Since the second killing, I have been tracking the killer through the newspaper for any unusual deaths. When I saw the report from Vegas I knew it was connected and I got the files and came right away.”

“Great, but I also have to somehow get the case file from the dayshift. That’s not going to be easy; they might think I’m questioning their finding, even though I am. Umm…I’ll ask Grissom to borrow them, tonight at shift.”

“Sara thanks, I know you’re going out on a limb there. But I promise you these deaths are connected somehow and---”

“Harry you’re my only family. I thrust your judgment. The killer has to be stopped, and I want to help you.”

Harry hugged Sara, “Well, I’m going to sleep now. I’ll take one of the guest rooms, ok.”

“Not so fast,” Sara grabbed his arms and said pointedly, “you have to bring Bob from the car.”

“Darn, fine. I’ll bring him, but no conspiring whispers behind my back.”Harry said sternly and went out to the car.

“Please, that’s the whole point, to catch you off guard.” Sara laughed at him. “Poor Harry, we’ll go easy on you.”

“Hey Sara sweetie, how have you been?” Bob greeted as Harry brought his skull inside the house.

“Perfect now that you’re here.” Sara smirked and took the skull from Harry.

“Harry the bedroom is upstairs. Bob and I are just going to talk down here, you go get some rest.” Sara said with a devilish smile and disappeared into the living room with Bob’s skull.

“Sure, ‘go to sleep’, she says.” Harry muttered going up the steps. “I better not wake up with toads in my bed.” He yelled. Humm--- sisters, I forgot how evil they can be.

As Sara neared the front door, she groaned, this was not her night. Detective Sofia Curtis was standing there waving at them, “Hi.”

“Sofia, I thought you were in Boulder City, what happened.” Sara asked in a tone that she hoped sounded nice and friendly.

“Well there was an opening here at the station for Lead Detective, and so obviously I took it. I just missed the people here.” Sofia answered the last part looking over Sara’s shoulder at the figure coming up the driveway.

“Right.” Sara punctuated with slight sarcasm creating a marked moment of silence.

“Detective Curtis, how nice to see you.” Grissom said oblivious to the unacknowledged tension between the two women.

Yup, just great, this night just gets better and better, thought Sara bitterly as she stepped into the house. Lights dangling from a high crystal chandelier greeted her with blinding light. The hallway was crowded with paintings of abstract art and English landscapes. Inside the sitting room, a grand piano, crowded with pictures of the couple and family members, glowed with warm light emanating from the lit fireplace.

Sara stepped into the slightly overheated room and observed the woman is a straight black dress. She had her long straight hair rolled up in a bun held high up on her head, while several strands of white pearls hugged her thin long neck. Everything about her, from her manners to body expression, oozed privilege and wealth. She spoke to the group of police officers in front of her with an accent that established her as an upper class Harvard graduated Bostonian socialite. Oh, Sara remembered her type from her days of trolling among the privileged on the arms of her many boring dates while in college. This was not going to be pretty.

Harriet Orlowski stopped talking when she noticed Sara and rushed towards her. “Finally, you get here. You people sure take your time. My husband is probably in grave danger by now.”

“Excuse me.”

“I am Mrs. Milone. And you are the lab people, right. You have your kits to take samples and what not. Well start your job and find my husband.”

“OK Mrs. Milone, I’m sure you’re under a lot stress right now, but please calm down.” Sara said disbelieving. She had enough of aggregating women for one night, thank you very much.

“Please Mrs. Milone can you repeat your statement to these CSI’s. It would help greatly in finding Mr. Milone.” Sofia stepped up towards her.

“Hah, fine.” Harriet started, “I came downstairs to the dining room when Pilar, my housekeeper, announced dinner. Naturally, I assumed Neil had already come home and was in the library, reviewing his notes for his monthly chat with daddy, but he wasn’t there. Esteban, Neil’s personal driver, came home with only an envelope addressed to me. He said a bald man with sun glasses had handed it to him in the parking lot.”

“Do you have the envelope and the letter,” interrupted Sofia.

“Of course,” Harriet handed the paper over to Sara, who opened it with glove-clad hands.

“Send 30,000 dollars to account #45635673563456. You have three days. Do NOT call the police.” Sara read aloud and put the letter in a plastic bindle. Harriet burst out crying, sobbing that she could not lose another husband.

The letter didn’t sound right. First, the money was pocket change to these people, so why ask for so low. Then there were no specifications, just account number and the standard “do not call police” line. The only personalization was Harriet’s name on the envelope and the husband didn’t even warrant a name or mention. Something was off, and Sara wasn’t the only one who thought so. Grissom met her gaze with a questioning look of his own and nodded slightly.

“Mrs. Milone, can we see the bedroom and Mr. Milone’s home office,” Grissom asked.

“Why, he wasn’t taken from the house. You have to start at the office,” she sniffled.

“Well, there might be some evidence that can help us. You do want to find your husband as soon as possible, right.”

“Of course, umm, the bedroom is upstairs and the office is down that hall. Where do you want to go first?”

“Oh its fine, we’ll find it on our own. You can stay here with the detective and see if you can remember anything strange happening before today.”

“Yes, your right. I’ll try.”

“Sara, can you please start with the bedroom and I’ll be down here in his office.”

Sara nodded and went upstairs. The bedroom was at the end of the hallway. It looked like a normal bedroom with abed in the middle, closet to the side and the bathroom to the left. She started with the closet, it looked neat and tidy, with everything labeled and organized in shelves. This was interesting, Neil’s clothes were labeled with little tags that indicated a date and function. Next to the full-body mirror, there was a list of chores: Neil buy me a necklace from Tiffany’s, Personally pick up daddy’s gift from B---, Workout for an hour—you need to lose ten pounds before the summer family portrait day, Come home early next week, we have dinner plans. Well it seemed like Harriet wore the pants in this marriage. Maybe Neil felt suffocated and disappeared to get some air.

The rest of the bedroom was clean with nothing probative. Sara opened the bathroom and started with the medicine cabinet. Nothing here either, just some sleeping pills, creams, and other routine items. Sara looked at the toilet and couldn’t help but think about Greg’s blunder at last year’s crime scene. Poor Greg, he had been so devastated when he had failed his last proficiency test. He was just lucky that Grissom had given him another chance. But then Grissom was good at taking chances with people, just never with her. Trying to banish this thought, Sara pulled the toilet tank cover and peered inside. Well, what do we have here! Inside the water tank was a waterproof folder taped to one side. Sara carefully lifted the folder and looked inside. It was a diary, Mr. Neil Milone’s diary to be precise. What was it doing here? Sara opened the dairy and read, “I hate that bitch. She thinks I’m her bought husband, keeping my time schedule, arranging my life. Now she has started to label my clothes, only letting me wear what she likes. I can’t leave without authorizing it with her.” The rest of the entries seemed to follow in the same tone. At the end there was a flyer advertizing the “Naughty Kitty Ranch.” Sara held the paper in her hands and muttered a few choice words under her breath. She closed her eyes and saw Neil Milone on bright pink bed sheets. He was drunkenly groping a scantily clad woman while ranting about “that bitch.” Sara blinked and opened her eyes again ending the vision. She put the flyer and dairy into plastic evidence bags. Now that she knew where he was, how could she tell Grissom? Sara gathered her things and went downstairs towards the office.

Grissom didn’t have much luck. There were no personal papers or hidden away folders, only organized business notes. The room was wrong; it had a feminine feel. Grissom wasn’t one to assume, but really, what kind of man spends time in a room set like a southern belle’s calling room. Just as he was going to call it quits and see what Sara was up to, he could hear her footsteps approach the door. He had always been able to sense her presence, the air felt light and optimistic. This was so even in the middle of a gruesome scene, only when Sara was around. He liked having her around, just that in the past it became hard to have her and keep his emotions in check. Maybe now things would get better. When Sara had told him about her family, he wanted to comfort her and keep her safe, so he held her hands. Since Nick’s rescue, since he started to realize it could have been her, it was as if the universe had handed him another change, a change to make things right, to make Sara his. But first, he had to bridge the gap between him. He had spent the vacation time thinking on a strategy, a plan on how to approach Sara, but seeing her in that outfit just drew his mind to a blank. How did he gain her trust again, he wanted to be her friend before anything happened between them. Maybe breakfast together after shift would ease things along.

Sara stepped into the room, “Did you find anything interesting?”

“No.” Grissom huffed, “But I see you had better luck,” he smirked.

“Why yes, I think Mr. Milone is at the Naughty Kitty Ranch.”

“You found an appointment book, or better yet a receipt.”

“Ah… no, I found a flyer.” She lifted the bag to show him.

“Sara that could mean anything, he could have just been interested.”

“Griss, I found them inside the water tank of the toilet, hidden inside a waterproof folder.”

“Hmm…husbands never become good; they merely become proficient,” he stated as he examined the flyer.

Sara smirked, eyes twinkling, “Henry Louis Menchen, I presume.”

“One step ahead of me, as usual. Ok, I’ll get Brass to check it out.” How could he refuse her, when she had that look of conviction in her eyes? And really, it did look like Neil had made his escape, rather than a kidnapping.

“Thanks. Oh, I also found Neil’s diary. I don’t think this was a happy marriage for him, more like a life sentence.”

Grissom took the diary from Sara’s hands and skimmed through, “Yes you’re right, it would seem like another Mr. Milone has flown the coop, but just to be thorough, let’s check the rest of the rooms.”

So saying, they went through the rest of the house while waiting for Brass to call back. As Sara searched, she felt Grissom’s gaze on her back ever so often. When she turned to question him, he looked away trying to look busy with evidence. Grissom couldn’t help it, whenever Sara bent down his eyes where just drawn to her. He quickly averted his graze when Sara turned to look at him. He was going to be her friend... a friend, he kept on repeating in his head. Fortunately, Brass called back thirty minutes later.

“Grissom, you were right. Mr. Milone is here, safe. I’ll have his wife know of his whereabouts. The poor man, he’s in for a rough week with the misses.”

“Right, okay. We’re going to head back to the lab now.” Grissom closed his cell phone and looked at Sara, “Well you were right again, Sara. Milone was trying to enjoy an evening out and so he faked his kidnapping.”

They both smiled as Grissom lead Sara back to the SUV.

However, Sofia walked toward them, “I just heard from Brass that the husband was found.”

Grissom nodded, “He’s fine. We’re going back to the lab, so you can wrap things here.”

“Sure… umm Griss, do you want to go for a cup of coffee after shift and just catch up with each other and things.”

Sara couldn’t believe her ears. Sofia had just asked Grissom out right in front of her. Oh, she wasn’t going to wait for his answer and so walked towards the door, but as she stepped out, she couldn’t help herself. It was wrong of her to do this, but really, Sofia could have asked when she wasn’t around. Sara was over Grissom, but she didn’t need to hear of his dating exploits. Sara pointed her finger at Sofia’s nose and it swelled up like a big red balloon. The sound of Sofia’s shrieks brightened her smile and she walked to the car with an extra bounce in her steps.

This time Sara could not stand the silence that had overtook the car since Grissom had pulled out of the driveway.

“Grissom, you don’t mind if I turn on the radio, right.” However, she didn’t wait for an answer and tuned in to her favorite station.

Grissom didn’t mind, he needed to think. He hadn’t been tempted by Sofia’s invitation, even for a moment. It was weird that her nose had reacted like that just as she had asked him out. Maybe she was allergic to something in the house; he hoped the swelling would go down because it was an unpleasant sight. Anyway, he had something more important to figure out. He needed to work up his courage and ask Sara out for a friendly breakfast. The new diner near the lab seemed like a good place; it was vegetarian.

A new song started to play on the station. “Oh this is new song from my favorite band, Yellowcard.” Sara exclaimed.

Grissom smiled, he hadn’t realized until now how much he had missed Sara’s enthusiasm, her big smile that she usually reserved for him. He hoped to see that smile again. Maybe during breakfast.

Sara’s eyes misted over as she remembered Grissom saying goodbye as he left her in San Francisco. She thought it was goodbye forever, but he had called and kept in touch. She had saved all of the emails and letters they had exchanged over the years. “I wish”, she whispered.

Tears formed in her eyes as she thought back to that day behind the mirror when Grissom said all the things she thought she had wanted to hear from him, “It’s sad, isn’t it, doc? Guys like us. Couple of middle-aged men who’ve allowed their work to consume their lives. The only time we ever touch other people is when we’re wearing our latex gloves. We wake up one day and realize that for fifty years we haven’t really lived at all. But then, all of a sudden ... we get a second chance. Somebody young and beautiful shows up. Somebody... we could care about. She offers us a new life with her ...but we have a big decision to make, right? Because we have to risk everything we've worked for in order to have her. I…”

She had thought he would take a change and say I wish I could, but instead she got, “I couldn't do it.” She wasn’t the good thing in his life, just an unwanted complication.

Grissom noticed a change in Sara’s mood. She wasn’t smiling anymore; she was looking out the window while her lips were singing softly with the lyrics. If he could just tell her, he did wish he had something inside him that would keep her with him forever. He knew he wasn’t worthy of her, he had treated her horribly over the years. He had kept so many things from her, things she needed to know.

Grissom knew he should have told her about his hearing problems, his sense of loss when he had heard about Hank, his real intentions when he had told her to get a life outside the lab, his comment on being interested in beauty since he had met her, and many more moments over the years that had been ambiguous and confusing for her. He had hurt her and himself by not opening up and talking things out. “I wish,” he mouthed along with the song.

“Grissom,” Sara asked when they had parked outside the lab, “have you ever been in love?”

Sara looked at him for a moment with a look of horror; she couldn’t believe she had actually asked him. What was wrong with her? “I’m… I’m so sorry Grissom, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s a personal question, it’s not my business… sorry,” she stuttered again. Sara grabbed her things and bolted out of the car leaving Grissom with the last echoing line,

Oh honey, what have I done to us? I should have told you everything. Grissom knew he had to do something now or he would lose Sara forever. Forever was a long time, a very long time alone.