Chapter 12

The place was a dump as Robbie described it. Warrick, Nick and Sage waited while Brass moved forward with Lockwood and their uniforms to secure Moses and the old biddy who was actually named Martha. There was junk around to indicate that it wasn't that well-kept except for a few areas. The main house was pretty well kept to the point that it wasn't falling down.

Sage looked around and spotted the granary and moved a bit to get a better look. She stepped around and peered at it. She could make out a faded image of a bird on the side. Not too far off were the stables and she could make out a couple of horses. There were no signs of crops or anything else viable in terms of being able to live out here.

They did manage to find out that a local market was frequented by their suspect. The manager had been helpful with that and Sara offered to collect the surveillance from there. The manager even confirmed that Martha and Rachel had been in there. It gave credence to the fact that Rachel had extensive freedom of movement. No mentioning of a baby with them but she was there.

"Clear," Brass called as Moses and Martha were led out.

That was the signal for the search to begin as well as process the scene. All three CSIs wanted to make sure that the suspects got a conviction that was solid. Warrick went into the main house while Nick processed the perimeter. Sage made a beeline to the granary.

"Watch your step probie."

Sage turned to look at Nick and gave a wry look and sidestepped away from the pile of horse turds that she could have stepped in. She adjusted her sunglasses and continued on her way to the granary. She kept her eyes peeled for anything that might be relevant to their case. She made it to the granary and took a look at the image.

She had a chance to look up the bird or rather had information given to her by Nick. She described the bird and he told her that what she was describing was a skylark. She thanked him for that and said that bird watching was a good hobby right in front of Warrick who laughed. She had no idea that the joke was that Nick watched too much television nor did she notice that she produced a smile on his face. Looking at the image, she managed to get a picture of the outside of the granary and thought about how much sense Rachel's comments were starting to make.

Finding the door, Sage looked at it and checked for anything unusual. Slowly she opened it and peered in flashing in her Mag Lite. There were traces of grain… really old grain on the floor. By all accounts it looked like it hadn't been used in a long time. Well it would have been not used save for the consistent and current trail from the door to another door in the floor.

Ignoring the fact that there were mealworms and what may look like a rat in the grain, Sage walked towards the door. It was unlocked and it was easy to get it to open. Holding her camera in one hand, she pried the door open and shined her light in to reveal a set of stairs heading downwards in a spiral. It certainly brought to mind the dungeon thing. She paused when she heard a slight sound and turned her head to hear better the sound.

It came forth again but it was very faint. It did sound familiar but she had to be sure and paused to listen. It was as she thought and she frowned. Her suspicion though was overrun by the urge to rush down there. It was quick work to go down the stairs even with the silver field kit in her other hand and the light in the other.

She slowed as she came down near the bottom and the sound was louder. She flashed her light around the area at the bottom of the stairs. It looked like the underground bunkers she once was processing. It was a crime scene where it involved a male being kept chained down there and he was dressed in a suit dating back to the 1950s. He had been mummified and the suspect had this idea the guy was her husband. She was unprepared for what she found when she stepped through the door.

The room looked like it was lived in. It was modeled like the inside of the house. It was déjà vu of that bunker case. The layout of the room was full of furniture; someone had been living down there… at least someone. Sage looked around at the meticulous nature of everything; everything was clean and neat. She couldn't help but mutter, "Good housekeeping."

She continued walking through and followed the sound that had drawn her attention. She opened a slightly opened door with her light. She walked into a room with a cautious air and found a small bed, the size for a small child and a crib in the corner. There was a chest for toys as well as dressers; it was a kids' room. The crib though caught her attention but a bit of noise distracted her.

Following the scuffling sound, she squatted next to the large nightstand. She squatted very quietly and listened. She heard scratching on the inside and gave a slight smile. Resting her hand with the light on her knee, she knocked with her free hand gently. "Hello?"

The scuffling stopped and she heard some whimpering. She gave a slight smile and spoke in a gentle tone, "Hey I'm Sage Parker. I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I'm here looking for Rebekah."

"Becky left with Rachel."

The voice was muffled but Sage could hear the scared voice. She was guessing five maybe six. She replied, "I know. We found Rachel and we found Robbie." She paused when she heard the slight movement. She nodded with a slight smile. "Now we couldn't find Becky. Do you want to help me?"

There was some movement but no noise. Sage listened and then added, "I won't hurt you."

"Will you help me find my mommy?"

"Of course," Sage replied.

There was a slight pause and the door creaked open. Out of the stand came a tousled mop of light brown hair and a pair of brown eyes that reminded her of a cousin that had a similar appearance when they were kids. The expression was scared but hopeful as the little boy peered at her. Sage smiled and held out her hand and said, "It's all right."

The boy tentatively took her hand and allowed Sage to pull him out. He stood looking at her while she kneeled to be eye level. He regarded her and asked, "Are you going to find Becky?"

"Well," Sage replied with a slight smile, "How about you help me? Here, you can see with this." She gave her light to the boy and put on her gloves. "You wanna tell me your name?"

"Sam."

Sage smiled, "Okay Sam. Why don't you help me find Becky?"

Sam held the flashlight in one hand and with the other took Sage's hand. His small fingers curled in her hand and held fast as he pulled her gently towards the crib. He said, "We found Becky."

Sage looked down at Sam and nodded, "Yes we did. Good job Sam. Do you want to hold my light while I check and make sure she's okay?"

Sam nodded and held the light. He pointed it in all directions of the room to shine the light. Sage smiled as she peered into the crib. She saw the baby gurgling and cooing looking up at her. From all appearances she looked okay but she had to check for fibers and anything else. She smiled at the baby and made slight sounds while she pulled out her tweezers and an evidence envelope since she spotted some fibers. Her back was turned towards the door and she failed to notice something in the hall until she felt Sam press against her.

Nick was taking pictures of shoe prints outside the house and the yard around the horses. He recognized some of the treads but he knew he needed to get treads from Moses and Martha. Still was able to get a few good shots and he had good ones to cast molds. He had those done and was looking around for anything else.

Out in plain sight was a set of rope. It looked consistent with the ligature marks that had been photographed on Robbie and Jordan. He also found a strange contraption that looked like a harness. It reminded him a bit of the harnesses that parents put on kids when they were learning to walk.

Jordan was subdued by one man and the harness put on. It was locked with the chain and padlock. The other end was welded to the post of the corrugated shed. The same was done to Robbie. The only space they had to wander was the length of the chain.

Nick looked at his findings thinking that this was like a slave operation or something. He managed to find a biological and it tested for blood. He collected swabs of the chains and the harnesses. He was interrupted by Warrick coming out toting a statue. Looking at his friend, "You found it?"

"Yeah it was in the room that was probably Moses'. I found blood on the base of the statue and a bunch of prints. Won't have trouble with him." Warrick looked at the statue with a satisfied look. "I got other things in the house. Mostly religious stuff. I'll let Parker sort that out since she knows what it is."

Nick gave a slight smile at that. "Yeah I think I got restraints that the boys would have been held with when they were allowed outside. Swabbed it and collected it."

"Man this had to be brutal," Warrick replied. He spotted a blowtorch and pointed it out. "Brian had burns right?"

"Yeah man." Nick shook his head. He frowned a bit, "Any sign of the baby?"

"Not in the house."

"Probably in the granary. Parker will find her," Nick replied. He turned to see Brass and Lockwood hauling in Moses and Martha into the patrol car. Something occurred to him. "Hey Rick, did you find anything to indicate another person was in the place?"

Warrick was looking at a crucifix on the wall of the shed. He didn't process since Nick was doing that. He came out and looked at Nick staring at what Brass and Lockwood was doing and replied, "Well there were two bedrooms that were characteristically masculine and two that were feminine. One was decorated like a little girl's room but…"

"I'm just thinking," Nick turned to look at Warrick. "Rachel was hit across the head and looking at that… it's pretty heavy. Look at Moses and Martha. They are bent over… elderly. It would explain why Rachel's contusions weren't fatal."

Warrick looked at the statue of St. Agnes. It would be top heavy and for someone who couldn't really lift the weight and the swings would be off and Rachel would have been able to dodge the brunt of the blow. "Right so how would Robbie and Jordan be made to get into this?"

"They could be made to…" Nick paused a moment. He noticed something in the shed. He walked in and noticed something. The shed had another door and it looked like it had been opened recently. There was also another bed, a cot, and bedding and some stuff that had been knocked over hastily. He peered out the door and saw a clear path to the granary. He pulled out his gun, "Warrick, get Brass."

Nick didn't wait but headed towards the granary at a run. Even though it was urgent, he had the presence of mind not to disrupt any evidence. He didn't see Warrick or Brass trying to catch up but headed inside and down the stairs. He slowed when he heard scuffling and would have called out but he didn't want to be a fatal distraction.

There was more scuffling and Nick hurried but looked around. There was a loud clump and a baby crying. It was easy to think worst case scenario and that was what Nick thought as he bust open the door. He held his gun up only to be shouted at by Sage. He realized that she was holding her gun at a suspect that was on the ground and looked a little unconscious. He looked at her and blinked.

There wasn't much time to say anything since Warrick and Brass were barging in. Their steps could be heard on the stairs. It sounded like a herd of stampeding horses. Brass called out, "Everything all right?"

Nick looked at Sage who had lowered her gun and had it holstered and a small boy hugging her hip. He kept his gun on the suspect and called, "Down here Jim. We got one." He looked at Sage and asked, "Are you all right?"

Sage made a slight face to hide the fact that she was still on her adrenaline rush and had been scared by that sneak attack. Her attention was directed to Sam who was clutching her around the waist and holding onto the flashlight. She did manage to get out, "Yeah, we're okay."

By that time Brass and Warrick had come in. Brass moved in to handcuff the suspect and haul him to his feet. He took a look at the guy's face and raised his brow, "Whoa. You give the guy a new look Parker?"

Sage made a slight face at that as she picked up the baby who was crying. She was trying to soothe her but she did manage to look at Brass. She took a look at the suspect and said, "I guess I went a little overboard."

Warrick and Nick took a look at the suspect. A nasty looking bruise was going to form on the guy's eye. There was also a fat lip forming and he looked a little stunned. Warrick couldn't help but say, "I don't know. No one would even suspect you could do that Parker."

"There's a lot of things that people couldn't suspect me of doing," Sage replied making a slight smile. She adjusted the baby in her arms just as she cooed from being put into a better position to cuddle.

"Are we going to find my mommy now?"

Sage looked down at Sam who was still holding tight to her. He was still holding the Mag Lite and it was pointing at Brass as he took away the suspect. She used her free hand to rub Sam on his head. "It's okay Sam." She looked at Warrick and Nick who were staring at her. She returned the look with one of her own, "What are you two looking at?"

Nick managed to holster his weapon and raised his hands in the surrender motion. Warrick did the same thing but both were grinning a bit. Nick said, "Nothing Mama Goose."

Sage shot him a look as she took the lead and led Sam out since he seemed disinclined to let her go. She looked back at them and said, "Just for that you two can clean this up by your lonesome." She was chuckling on the way up.

"So DNA is really tiny?"

"Uh-huh and I use this to tell me who it belongs to," Greg said as he showed the small six year old boy the machine that he was using to work with. "It's how I was able to tell that Becky was missing."

Sam watched as Greg put another set of samples into the machine. He adjusted the goggles he had been given and watched Greg. He moved his head like a puppy would when they were curious about something. "You have funny hair."

Greg looked at Sam and smiled. He pointed at his head and said, "This, my little man is style. Ask Sage and she'll tell you."

"Tell you what?"

Sam looked up to see Sage walk in with a file folder. He grinned big and said, "That his hair is style."

Sage gave a smile at Sam. The ranch had been processed and evidence was collected. The three suspects were in holding and read their rights. It was a relief to have found the baby and a surprise to find Sam. Rebekah had been returned to Robbie and that was teary eyed in of itself.

The DA decided not to file charges against Robbie. There was also word that the swelling had gone down and that Rachel was going to be fine. It was made better by the fact that Mr. Lawson, Rachel's grandfather met Robbie and his great granddaughter and it looked like things were going to go well for the family.

Being a licensed shrink, Sage was able to talk to the grandfather and explain a few things. Mr. Lawson ended up being grateful that his granddaughter was found. He had been devastated when his son and daughter in law had been killed and Rachel had gone missing. He admitted to holding onto hope that she was still alive even though it had been five years. He ended up thanking all three CSIs and praising God for them.

As of now, Rebekah and Robbie were at Desert Palms getting checkups since Robbie needed to have his gunshot wound looked at. Mr. Lawson went with them and of course they would be able to see Rachel. Mr. Lawson had confided to her that it didn't matter that they hadn't gotten married, but he would let Robbie stay with him, Rachel and Rebekah at his house. He said that they had been raised right and would do well by Rebekah.

Sam, they had been waiting on. Since the boy refused to go anywhere without Sage, he was taken to the lab. He talked to the other CSIs but was shy and hid behind Sage. Sara had teased her horribly about her taking over Catherine's job as the understanding mom. Catherine made it worse by agreeing with her but in the end they laughed over it and Sam decided to come out and be amiable. He was okay to stay with Greg.

It was Nick that found the information that they needed. He showed her the file, "Sam Weston aged six and was reported missing three weeks ago at the grocery store."

"Usually the easiest way to snatch and grab," Sage replied as she read the report.

"Yeah but what gets me is that all the time we had Robbie, no once did he mention that there was a little boy."

"You said it yourself. Survival instinct," Sage pointed out. She looked at Nick and explained, "He was feeling us out and determining if he could trust us. I would do the same thing. In the case of Sam, I think he was protecting him like he would his brother. By not telling us about him, he was protecting him from harm. He probably felt that Jordan's death and Rachel's injuries were his fault for saying anything."

"That's pretty deep, Parker."

"The human mind is a complex thing with the ability to think and reason; the main characteristic that separates us from the animals. Couple that with emotions and you'd be surprised at the walls, the illusions that in fact seem like reality… Brave New World," Sage explained. "That and Robbie has highly developed protective instincts. He and Jordan probably had an excessive co-dependence upon each other. They would protect each other to the death and in Jordan's case literally. Sam… another person that Robbie saw should be under his protection."

"So he was protecting Sam," Nick confirmed. He thought about it for a moment and nodded, "I'll buy that and you're the shrink." He gave a slight grin at the look Sage shot him. He knew that she didn't like reference to her behavioral analysis degree. "Hey your area," he allowed, "So I contacted the mother, Mary Weston and she'll be down to pick him up."

It was when they were walking and talking about this that they came across Sam and Greg having a chat and she caught the last bit of their conversation. She listened to Sam's response and smiled, "Well I'll tell you something, I'm about style but Greggo perfected it."

"And him?" Sam pointed at Nick. He had pushed his goggles up so they were like clear sunglasses.

Sage cast a mischievous look in Nick's direction. She then looked back at Sam and said, "He is the Lone Texas Ranger." She gave a slight wink.

Sam couldn't help but giggle. He saw the look Nick gave and laughed some more. He then said, "She's right. You're like a superhero."

"Now look what you've done Parker," Nick replied in mock indignation.

"Sorry Stokes, you just didn't fit in the perfection of style," Sage replied with a slight grin that indicated that she was teasing him. She looked at Sam and said, "Well Sam, we found your mom and she's on her way here. Lone Ranger here found her."

Sam looked at Nick and literally jumped off the stool and grabbed Nick around the waist. Greg was snickering as he went back to work. Sage stood there smiling smugly at Nick but with a hint of teasing.

It wasn't too long to wait for Mary Watson to come to LVPD headquarters. Lockwood had greeted her and was explaining the situation. Sage could see that she was a nice woman and that she had been really missing her son. That much was clear when Mrs. Watson saw Sam coloring in one of the interrogation rooms with Brass and the child services rep.

As Mrs. Watson went into the room and called to her son, Sage couldn't help but smile. She leaned against the wall as she watched mother and son hug and the tears of joy happened. Mrs. Watson was thanking Brass and Lockwood for everything. She felt her throat convulse with emotion as she observed until a cup of coffee was held out to her. Looking at the owner of the hand holding out the coffee, she took the cup and said, "Thanks."

"I know how you get when you run low on your caffeine," Nick said as he held a cup he had picked up for himself. He turned to watch the scene that Sage was observing and said, "Looks like all's well that ends well."

Sage took a sip and replied, "Looks like it." At the back of her mind she was thinking about the bodies in the morgue.

"I heard that Robbie is not going to get charged. Warrick didn't want to press charges," Nick said after clearing his throat slightly.

"I know." Sage paused a bit to think a little bit. She then looked at Nick, "You know why I do this job?"

"I'm going to guess it's not because of the science."

"That is a factor," Sage admitted. She looked at the scene and motioned towards it. "That's why. I know we speak for the victim but seeing that… the whole seeing the closure… it's worth it. Even with all the bad stuff. Probably I would have quit a long time ago with what I told you but… well it sounds a bit crazy but I feel it is my calling."

Nick studied Sage a bit. "You mean like God telling you it's your job?"

Sage shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't sure if he would understand. "I believe that. Haven't you ever felt it in your gut that thing that drives you to do whatever? That's what I feel and I believe in the power of science to explain things that were once declared magic. We all pray to some higher power, even the atheists; we search for truth, the answer to the question that we are not alone."

"You're going back to what you said when we started this case," Nick replied.

"Still holds water for me." Sage would have said more but Sam had called out to her and then ran to give her and Nick a hug before going back to his mom. He turned and waved good-bye before leaving and the CSIs waved good-bye back.

"So another good job done probie," Nick said, teasing Sage.

"I'll agree to that Stokes," Sage replied as she raised her coffee in a toast. She started walking with Nick. "Now I believe I owe you a story."

"Don't worry about it."

"I gave my word and you did too," Sage reminded him. "So you wanna hear this?"

"Hit me."

"Well I was twelve and there was this one priest, a reverend I should say by the name Jacob. The joke was he was called Father Israel…"

A/N: All's well that ends well here. The baby is found, a surprise as well and seems like another one scored for the CSIs. Off to the next adventure in Buzz Kill...