Current location:	Elizabeth Dafoe Library
Current mood:	crushed
Current music:	Rootless Tree- Damien Rice

Bloodlines Chapter 4/?
Title: Bloodlines Chapter 4/?
Author: princessardvari
Rating: M
Pairing: GSR
Spoilers: None
Warning: Will be rated higher in later chapters due to the subject matter.

Mary's A/N: I really do think we've developed a knack for the cliffhangers. And we've got some good GSR porn coming in the next chapter, so stay tuned. ;)
Maike's A/N: Oh yeah, the porn... It's coming. It's within eye sight, in fact. I guess by now you've gotten some hints as to where we're taking this. Heehee, stay tuned. The tables might turn...

Bloodlines Chapter 5

He wandered around the room, cigarette in hand, the classical music turned on just a tad too loud. The baby had slept for a while but now she was screaming again and he was going to lose it. Of all the things he had imagined would happen, he had never thought about how much babies screamed, how much they stunk. Those little details had eluded him and he was angry with himself. He should have planned on these details. A good businessman always planned on these details.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he finally screamed towards the back room, startling the baby into silence for a moment before she wailed on.

With a sigh he threw his cigarette into the fire and turned up the volume on his stereo. He was almost tempted to buy a pacifier for the baby. Almost. It would mess with her teeth though, teeth that would be perfect because her parent's teeth had been perfect. He had inspected them himself.

~~~~

Grissom was out of the door before Sara had time to blink. He rushed into the DNA lab, Sara struggling to catch up. Wendy must have been expecting their swift arrival because she held out the report to them as soon as they barreled through the door.

"Got a hit on AFIS. Your vic's name is Jenna Graham." she explained.

Grissom looked at the report, checked the details of Jenna's short life.

"She was 22." he said, his voice tinted with a hint of sadness. "Let's get this to Brass," Sara blurted, drawing herself up and steeling herself against her emotions.

Grissom made Sara eat while they waited to hear from Brass, and she was just polishing off her egg salad sandwich when Brass came into the break room.

"Got a location for you guys. We have a Claire Graham, owns the Graham Stables right outside of Las Vegas. Sister," he said, dropping the folder in front of Grissom. "Have fun down on the ranch."

"Thanks, Jim," Grissom said, rolling his eyes at the detective's back. The trip to the barn was longer then he'd expected, but quiet as well. Sara had fallen asleep against the window, and Grissom was thankful for that. When they arrived, he glanced over and set his hand on her arm.

"Sara, wake up. We're here," he said softly, careful not to jolt her awake. She woke up and yawned, stretching in her seat and glancing around.

"Let's go," she said bouncing out of the car with an energy that left Grissom shocked for a whole ten seconds before he followed her. They found Claire Graham easily; she was at the center of the long barn leading a rather large horse from it's stall.

"Can I help you?" she called to them, stopping in front of them and eying them warily. The horse seemed to be doing the same, extending its nose to sniff at Grissom's shirt before it snorted and shook its head.

"We're from the Las Vegas Crime Lab...Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom. Are you Claire Graham?" Sara asked, glancing over at the horse with a slight edge of nervousness.

"Yeah, that's me. What can I do for you folks?" Claire answered, loosening her grip on the horse's lead and relaxing slightly. Grissom was shocked to see the horse beside her relax in turn.

"We're here about your sister, Jenna. We're sorry to inform you that she was found in the desert last night..." Grissom trailed off, furrowing his brow when Claire shrugged.

"Walk and talk," she commanded, moving past them with the horse. "Jenna and I weren't close. She got into some bad stuff when she was younger, my parents kicked her out, and we never really kept in touch."

"Really. Why did your parents kick her out?" Sara asked, walking beside the horse and running her hand down its side.

"Something about her being involved with this guy...he was the leader of a group of fetishists. I can't quite remember much about it, except that it had to do with horses, ironically enough," Claire answered with a dry chuckle. They reached a pasture and Claire unclipped the lead before looking between them.

"I have two to bring in," she pulled a lead from the fence and handed it to Sara, before clipping hers to the halter of one of the horses at the gate and motioning for Sara to do the same.

"Is there any way we can contact your parents?" Grissom asked, watching Sara attach the lead to the horse and bring it out with relative ease.

"No. They both died a few years ago in a car wreck. Jenna showed up at the funeral, but that was the last time I saw her. And you know what? She had the guts to bring that guy," she said indignantly, shaking her head and beginning to walk back towards the barn.

"Do you remember his name? Any features at all? Something we can go with?" Sara asked, absently stroking the neck of the paint horse she was leading.

"He smoked. A lot. He never really seemed to shave fully, and he was pretty scrawny back then. Dark hair, thinning. He's probably bald by now," she answered, shrugging her shoulders apologetically. "Other than that, I don't remember much."

"Fetishists..." Grissom thought out loud, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know? Definitely not into the whole missionary-position-sex thing. I don't really know what she was involved in." Claire explained, wiping a gloved hand across her brow before she pushed open a stall door and led the horse inside.

"The one you've got is in the next stall." she explained.

"It had something to do with horses?" Grissom piped in again, seemingly lost while Sara got more and more comfortable with the horse she had been leading. She closed the stall door and held her hand out palm up for the horse to sniff.

"Yeah... listen, it was really weird. I don't know how she got into it but she used to call and ask for used tack. Saddles, bridles, halters, everything. We never got to see her. And if we did, the scrawny guy was always around. Smoking. In the barn. That's a no no here with all the hay and shavings. Can you imagine the damage a fire would cause?" she asked, playing around with the lead-rope in her hands for a moment before she hung it up.

"I can. You kicked him out?" Sara asked, leaning back against the stall door. Grissom admired the fact that she didn't seem fazed at all by the big animal nuzzling her jacket.

"Hell yes I did." She nodded, put her hand on the horse's broad head and rubbed the white blaze.

"Did you know that your sister was... pregnant?" Grissom's question was carefully measured and he watched the shock play over Claire's face.

"What? No. As I said, we weren't close. You'd think she'd find it important enough to at least, you know, phone me once in a while. Is the baby..." Claire broke off, she seemed vulnerable all of a sudden as she looked from Sara to Grissom.

"We haven't found it yet. I'm sorry." Grissom answered.

"Well... if you do... will you let me know?" The horse behind her snorted softly, licked her gloved hand greedily.

"Of course. Ms. Graham... we're sorry for your loss." He held out a hand to her, eyed the disgusting glove for a moment hoping that she wouldn't leave it on. She didn't, pulled it off with a small smirk and shook first Grissom's, then Sara's hand.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. And... Ms. Sidle? If you ever feel like riding? Feel free to stop by." With that, the young woman turned away from them, waving haphazardly over her shoulder before she disappeared around a corner.

Sara followed Grissom out to the car, trying to process the information Claire had given them. It still didn't really make sense to her and she tried to get the facts straight in her head.

As he slipped into the driver's seat, Grissom half turned to Sara and frowned. She knew that look. Grissom had sniffed out a lead.

"What?" she asked cautiously.

"Sara... have you ever heard of pony girls?"

TBC