Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the characters that I create.
The apartment door burst open. Sophia and Brass rushed in along with a group of officers.
"I want all of you to search this place from top to bottom! We're not leaving till we find something! And put on some gloves!"
The officers begin their search at Brass' stern instruction. Sophia remains by his side.
"She spoke like …it was eerie."
"If something happens to Sara because of that psycho…forget the badge, I'll take her out myself." Brass says.
"You'll have to get in line" Sophia says turn to face Brass. "We'll find her in time."
Sara half expected to wake up on the couch of Grissom's office. The couch was uncomfortably stiff, but when you have just finished working a triple shift it was like sleeping on a bed of roses.
She opens her eyes to what she thought had been a nightmare. She was in the desert…and lost. She slowly gets to her feet and begins to dust off some of the dried mud from her pants.
Sometimes she wished she were a little less eager to go to work. She would have forgone on the whole 'I was kidnapped by a psycho and stuck under a car' thing. Or abducted in her case.
Sometimes she wished she things were different for her…not anything concerning Grissom or work. Everything was going great for her lately. She wouldn't want anything to different between her and Grissom.
What she wished was different was her childhood. Almost every memory she had as a child involved the back of the refrigerator. She remembers how her mother always told her to hide behind it if things ever got bad. Sara was behind the refrigerator a lot. So much she began to memorize the back of it, all the tubes and things that made the fridge work.
Sara never tried, but she knew that if the fridge ever broke down she'd be able to fix it.
It was not at all like it is now. Everything was going great for her. Well except for her current situation. She was lost in the desert and possibly poisoned by some derange psychopath.
Sara suddenly felt sick again. She was definitely poisoned. It was at that moment when she was hit by a memory.
She was excited. It was after shift and she was on her way home. The whole evening/morning was all planned out. A dinner would be waiting for Grissom…whenever he decided to come home.
She placed her case in the back of her car.
"Sara" The sound of her name being called caused her to turn and face the woman.
The unknown woman tilted her side to the side as if she was studying Sara.
"Can I help you?" Everything suddenly turned black. Sara never got her answer.
She then remembers waking up some time later in the back of an old beaten up truck.
"Looks like the dolly woke up."
Sara tries to lift herself up from her sitting position but isn't able to move. No rope restraints leads her to believe that whoever took her slipped her something after they knocked her out.
"Didn't want you to run away and ruin my surprise for Mr. Grissom."
"What do you want?" Sara's voice comes out raspy.
"I want to hurt, Mr. Grissom, and you're the best way to do it."
"What did you give me?"
"I used to work in hospitals. Hospitals carry lots of medicines."
Sara watched as Natalie opened the hatch of the truck.
"Why me?"
"Because he loves you."
Sara shakes the memory away. Anger boils inside of her. Just how many foreign substances did that crazy psycho inject her with?
"How did she get out?" Greg asks from the back seat. Warrick and Nick kept their eyes out on the wet desert in case they spotted Sara. Catherine was driving.
"You'd be surprise. I wouldn't put anything past Sara." Catherine says as her phone rings.
"Yeah?…Um okay…keep processing." She hangs up.
"What did they say?" Greg asks.
"They found a lot of blood on the seats of the car. They sent a sample of it to the lab. They think it might be Sara's."
Warrick and Nick's heads turn at Catherine's statement.
"Captain Brass, I found something." The younger officer says holding up some vials in his gloved hand.
"Good, take it to the lab."
Something was making her violently ill and she had yet to figure out what it was. She figured one of the substances was a paralyzing agent that had long ago worn off.
Her thoughts came back to the overturned car. She was pretty sure she heard something crack when she pulled herself out. Maybe she should have waited.
She was also pretty sure those contortionists that her dad used to take her to see at the circus wouldn't have cracked any ribs trying to get out of a sticky situation.
Thoughts of her father always brought her mixed emotions. She loved her father. She did. It was the things he'd do that made her hate him.
Here she was years later and still wishing things had been different in her childhood. It was sad…very sad.
She took off her jacket and tied it around her waist. She noticed a few more bruises and cuts that were hidden under the jacket. She keeps on walking even though she's already tired.
Although her watch was broken, she was sure it had been nearly 5 hours since she left …well since she was taken. Her dinner with Grissom was ruined. Because of some woman. It was always because of some woman.
Sure she got a little chuckle making jokes at his expense, but she couldn't help fill a little jealous as Catherine listed Lady Heather's qualities on that case several weeks ago. That small bit of jealously went out the window when he reassured her that Lady Heather was just a friend…and the dozens of calls to her cell phone the night he stayed at Heather's helped too.
"Who was watching her?!!!" Brass yells to the young officer in front of him.
"W…We had two guards posted outside the women's bathroom and one inside. She must've overpowered the officer inside and slipped out the small window." The officer says pointing to the window in the bathroom. Brass turns to his phone to alert nearby police units.
"What do you got, Liz?" Catherine asks entering the room. The brown haired lab tech looks up from the microscope. "Henry said he sent it to you."
"I was just going to page you. I was able to identify the substance as belonging to a Jerusalem Cherry."
"A plant? Is it poisonous?"
"The berries are, which happened to be in of the three vials. It's said to cause among other things gastric problems like vomiting and nausea…generally not life-threatening "
The relief flashed across Catherine's face.
"That's a relief."
"The problem is that it wasn't the only substance I found. This vial contains oleander." Liz says holding up the marked vial. "Its extremely lethal. It causes dizziness, irregular heart rate, breathing problems, nausea and a few other symptoms. Possibly ending in immediate death."
"What about the third one?"
"The third one contained Sodaapple nightshade. In addition to the symptoms the other two cause, this one can also cause hallucinations, fever, dilated pupils, and paralysis."
"And there's no way of knowing which one she gave her." Catherine says dejectedly
"If she gave her anything at all."
"Thanks, Liz."
"Sure. And I hope you guys find Sara."
It was a few hours before sunrise when Sara reached the highway. It was still dark, but at least it had stopped raining hours ago.
A serious cold was in her future. She didn't mind as long she escaped the nightmare she was in. The sound of soft footsteps behind her alerts her to the possibility of being rescued.
"Grissom?" Sara's voice came out a little strained and weak. She turns to see Natalie Davis standing before her.
"Not quite."
"How did you find me?"
"With this." Natalie holds up a small tracking device.
"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish."
"I told you, Sara. Mr. Grissom must pay."
"You're the miniature killer." Sara says stating something she had already figured out.
"You should have died. And he would have blamed himself for it."
"You underestimate me."
"Not really, Sara. The dolly still dies." Natalie says pulling out a gun.
"We have no leads and a psycho on the loose." Greg says to the lab technician.
"I wish I had more to tell you, but I don't. The substances in the vials all belong to plants you won't find going in Vegas." Liz says.
"You told Catherine that one of those could kill Sara."
"If given enough, anyone of those could kill her. In my opinion, the least lethal one is the nightshade. Less than 3 grams of it would cause the symptoms…anymore can cause death."
Greg slams his fist on the desk startling Liz.
"Sorry." Greg apologizes. Liz grabs an ice pack from one of the drawers and hands it to Greg.
"Its okay. Anyone can tell you're frustrated," Liz pauses for a moment, "…I'll tell you what. Let me call a guy I know. He can have several helicopters out there searching in less than ten minutes…unless you guys got that covered."
The look on Greg's face said otherwise.
"The department doesn't want to expend its resources on a CSI that might already be…"
"Then I'll call him."
"Thanks, Liz."
"Sure." Greg smiles at her before heading off to tell the others.
Sure enough there was about five helicopters in the sky not more than five minutes after the call.
"That kid wasn't kidding." Brass says looking up at the sky.
The noise of the helicopters went unnoticed by Grissom who was still searching for Sara a few feet away from Brass.
The ringing of his phone brought Brass out of his trance.
"Brass…we'll be there." Brass hangs up and faces Grissom's direction. "Catherine called they spotted Sara and Natalie several yards in front of us."
Grissom ran as fast as he could, not waiting for Brass to catch up.
That's all for now. What do you think Natalie poisoned Sara with? Your choices are: A.) Jerusalem Cherry; B.) Oleander; C.) Sodaapple Nightshade; or D.) Just a sedative and/or paralyzing agent
Send your answers in a review. And let me know what you think of the chapter. I'll update as soon as I can.
Until Next Time,
Ancient 85