Password Protected

"Sara!"

She stopped short in the hallway, blinking in confusion as she peered into Grissom's office. "Greg?"

"Come here, we need help." Greg, Nick, and Catherine were clustered around Grissom's computer, peering at the screen.

"What are you guys doing?"

"The Wilson Keffer trial's in an hour," Nick supplied. "And the tape of his confession has gone missing from evidence."

Sara swore, slumping into a chair across from Grissom's desk. "So we're screwed."

"Not necessarily," Catherine said, tapping the laptop screen with a manicured fingernail. "Grissom saw this coming. Both of Keffer's cousins got off when their taped confessions conveniently disappeared. So he made a copy of the recording, and put it in a file on his computer."

"That's great, we'll get Archie to burn a copy-"

Greg shook his head. "No dice. None of us knows Grissom's password, and he's on a case out in the desert."

"You try his cell?"

"Message says he's out of range."

Sara sighed. "What about the IT department? They've got to have a record of his password somewhere."

"They do," said Warrick, coming up behind her. "I just talked to Tim, and he said they've got everyone's password on file, but they can't give us Grissom's."

"Why the hell not?" Catherine scowled.

"Because he's a supervisor. The only way to get it would be to have him call IT with permission, or to get permission from his boss. And Ecklie's still on vacation."

"It's an emergency, though," Greg said. "I'm sure even Ecklie wouldn't have a problem if we called him-"

"He's in Ecuador."

They all fell quiet, pondering the situation.

"Well, we've tried all the obvious ones," Nick said finally. "Entomology, criminology, cockroaches."

"Every type of butterfly and moth we could think of," Greg added.

Suddenly, Warrick snapped his fingers. "I've got it. Shove over."

"S-h-o-v-e-o-v-e-r," Nick typed. "Nope, that's not it."

"Move, Nicky," Warrick said, taking Grissom's chair once Nick had vacated it. "Griss and I had a case recently, where he cracked some kid's password by typing in the name of the guy's girlfriend. Said something about men not being as complicated as women like to think we are. So maybe Grissom has his girlfriend's name as his own password."

Sara paled. "His... girlfriend?"

"Yeah, we all kind of think Grissom's dating someone," Nick told her apologetically.

"Oh."

"So all we have to do is type in women's names until we find the right one," Warrick said thoughtfully, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "Anne, no. Jennifer, no. Jessica, no."

"Heather?" Greg suggested. When the rest of them glared at him, he added timidly, "Well, we don't know how long ago he set his password."

"True," Warrick admitted. "Okay. Heather, no. Terri, no."

"Guys, this isn't right," Sara said weakly. "This is an invasion of Grissom's privacy."

"What are you afraid of, Sara?" Nick ribbed her. "That it'll be your name?"

"Ooh, try Sara," Greg laughed.

"Guys-"

Warrick typed it in dutifully. "Sara, no."

Sara let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Try her full name," Catherine said, watching Sara's face closely.

"Okay. S-a-r-a-s-i-d-l-e, no."

It was at that point that Sara started to worry about what the password would be. It might reveal his inability to let go of some other woman - someone he loved too much to forget. She chewed on a fingernail, trying to ignore the twist of dread in her stomach.

"What about Lady Heather?" Greg said.

"Nope," Warrick said, typing away.

"Catherine?"

"Nope."

"Lindsey?"

"Hey!" Catherine objected.

"Yours isn't the only Lindsey in the world," Greg shot back.

"In either case, it's not Lindsey," Warrick said.

"Didn't he date some woman in Trace for a little while?" Nick murmured. "That one who ended up transferring to Michigan?"

All of a sudden, Warrick's cell phone rang, making them jump. He pulled it out and glanced at the Caller ID. "Hello? Grissom... man, am I glad to hear from you!"

"Ask him if he got all our messages," Catherine whispered loudly. Warrick nodded and held up a finger.

"Okay, Griss. Yeah... oh. Yeah, I got it. Great. I understand. Thanks."

"Well?" Greg asked, as Warrick hung up.

"We're in luck. He happened to stop at a gas station on the way back and used a pay phone to check his messages. Nick, Greg, find Archie, tell him we need a copy of this ASAP. Catherine, get the D.A. on the phone and let him know we'll be ready to go right at eight."

Greg and Nick scurried out the door, while Catherine lingered, one eyebrow raised. "So what was his password, anyway?"

"His mother's name."

"Should've known," she sighed, pulling out her cell and heading out the door.

Warrick pressed a series of keys, then rubbed his hands together in victory. "We're in."

"Great," Sara said, getting to her feet. "Well... guess I'll be getting home, then."

"Okay," he nodded, his eyes on the screen as he found the sound file.

"See you tomorrow."

"See you, Sara Lorraine."

She took exactly three steps before freezing. "How do you know my middle name?"

His eyes twinkled as he reached for a blank disk. "Hey, just be glad Greg didn't."

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