Three days later, and I have Chapter 2 up, just like a promised :)
For you angst fans out there, I don't think this chapter will disappoint. It was also one of my favorite chapters to write. I also want to say Thank You to what I think will be the millionth time to one of my best friends Nicole. She has shown a lot of support in my story, and she also helped me perfect this chapter. So Nicole, Thank You again :)! And not leaving out my other friends who have listened to me babble for hours about my story, thanks for showing your support too. :)
Now getting out of the sappiness, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. There is some swearing, so you have been fair warned (if your against swearing and stuff, which I am NOT). And once again, reviews are much appreciated :)
Chapter 2: Catherine, We've Got A Problem
When Nick and Greg arrived at their crime scene, Nick parked his car on the side of the building just before entering the alley way where the crime took place. The two CSI's then got out of the car, grabbed their kits, and walked over to Officer Michaels who was standing in the alleyway.
Leaving the car, Nick saw Officer Michaels waiting for them, and based off their past, he gave a hidden heavy sigh after seeing him. Nick never held a grudge against him because of what happened, but it was somewhat his fault when it came to his kidnapping, so because of this, he had usually kept his distance with him.
When Greg saw Officer Michaels as well, he noticed Nick's uneasiness. Nick had told Greg about some of the details regarding his kidnapping over the past years, including his feelings toward Michaels. From what Nick had confided in him, Greg decided that it would probably be best if he took the intro here.
"Officer Michaels" Greg called as he and Nick approached the Officer.
"Hey Greg, Nick" he greeted back.
"So Brass tells us that you've cleared the scene?" asked Greg, still taking control in the conversation.
"Yeah, it's all ready for you two so you guys can just head on up and start looking around. We were told that the struggle took place on the second floor and after we cleared it, it's pretty safe to assume that it's a legitimate statement. We found some blood up there, and the rest, well, you CSI's can judge for yourselves" stated Officer Michaels.
"Have you talked to the person who called it in yet?" asked Greg.
"Not yet, he just called it in. I asked him if he could wait so we could talk to him, but he said that he had to take care of something first. But he said that after, he would give us his statement" informed Michaels.
"Well when you get hold of him, be sure to give us a call and we'll question him" Nick ordered. He had finally spoken up for the first time around Michaels, but in doing so, and asking an order of the officer, he had kept his head down low, avoiding eye contact with the man.
"Will do Stokes" the Officer announced in a cheerful and assuring tone. Michaels had always known that Nick felt uneasy around him ever since his kidnapping five years ago, and since then, he had been trying to make full amends with the man who said that he had forgiven him. Although in the back of his mind, he had a feeling that Nick still held a hidden grudge against him.
"So I guess we should probably head up now then; start looking around?" Greg asked turning to Nick who then immediately responded with a simple "Sure." Greg looked back at Michaels, and when he gave his subtle nod of understanding, he and Nick started to head off toward the entrance to the building.
"I'll be out here in case you two need anything" Michaels then informed the two CSI's before they entering the building, and Greg just simply raised his hand and waved at him, stating that he understood.
Turning his attention back to the building, he started to put his trained skills to work. The building that Greg was looking at seemed to be a typical warehouse or studio. Dark grey bricks covered the walls and looking up, he could see two large windows somewhat stacked up on top of each other; he assumed that it could have been a window for every story.
The two CSI's then entered the building. Walking in, they had entered the main room of the first floor; this was also the only room as well.
Seeming that it had already been cleared, the lights were on making the first floor fully visible. From the perspective of a crime scene investigator, the room they were glancing over, it seemed, boring. It was empty for the most part, aside from a couple crates and cardboard boxes that were tipped over, but other than that; there wasn't anything else that stuck out.
This room was still apart of the crime scene though, but finding nothing of major interest at the moment, Nick and Greg decided to proceed on making their way through the building, and walked over to the stairs. The second floor was said to be the room where it all began; the primary crime scene that would lead them into their new investigation. They made their way up the stairs to the second floor, and once they reached it, the room before them was a completely different story.
The second floor was a large, open, and a very poor looking room. It seemed like a studio loft, but it was drastically under kept. Walls looked as if they have never been painted before, the wood beams running across the ceiling seemed like they were starting to rot, and the hardwood floors creaked with every step. The furniture was also aged and beat-up looking, damaged and soiled beyond the attempt to renew it. There was also a table that was tipped over, and from the looks of it, one of the legs had been broken off. The stairs on the other side of the room also looked beat, and from what the two men could see, the forth step was missing. As a final touch, there was also a putrid odor of mold of sour milk that was invading their noses. The room was a shit hole, for lack of a better term in both Nick and Greg's disgusted mind. Regardless though of its overall poorly judged appearance, both Nick and Greg knew that this was nothing compared to other crime scenes that they have had to work with, and that being said, the two CSI's were looking at their crime scene.
There were two main parts of the room that would most likely prove to be littered with evidence. One area was right next to the stairs that they had just walked up, where the broken table laid along with its busted leg and some scattered papers. Nick decided that he would start over there. The other area was on the opposite side of where Nick was looking, and it was over near the stairs that led to the third floor. Over where Greg was looking, there was blood; a pool and spatter.
Nick had started off by taking pictures of the small area that he assumed the struggle had taken place. The broken table had been knocked over and its busted leg was right next to it. There were also scattered papers covering the floor and he assumed that the papers could have been on the table, and when it was knocked over, the papers scattered along with it. As Nick continued to photograph the area, he noticed that the papers blank, but there were numerous shoe print partials; there seemed to be only two pairs of impressions.
After photographing everything, Nick moved into his stage of collection. While taking continuous snapshots of the broken table leg, Nick noticed what looked to be hairs wedged in between the jagged splinters. He pulled out his tweezers and collected the hairs, placed them in the evidence bag, then labeled his evidence. After that, he gathered up some of the scattered papers marked with the partial shoe prints; he figured that once he took them back to the lab, he would be able to piece together the partials and get an ID on the type of shoe.
While Nick was processing the area of what he thought was where the struggle happened, Greg was processing the blood, taking multiple pictures from all angles, fully documenting the shape of the blood pool and the spatter surrounding it. Once he had finished, he grabbed a swab from his kit and ran the q-tip through the red liquid. Reaching back in his kit, he grabbed the phenolphthalein and dropped the clear liquid onto the red swab, and as soon as the phenolphthalein made contact with the cotton, it turned pink; they had blood.
Knowing that the oozy red substance on the floor was indeed blood, Greg then started to search around the area of the blood and its spatter. "Murder is messy" was something that Nick told him when he was back in the lab, and it was something that had stuck with him, and had proven to be true once he finally got the CSI field experience. With the case that they were working, there wasn't a guarantee of a murder, yet, but Greg figured that for as much blood as there was, there would have to be other traces of it.
Greg started to look beyond the limits of the blood and started scoping the walls and floor with his eyes. It didn't take long though before Greg grew puzzled; there was no more blood to be found. He could not find any other traces of it other than the primary source. His eyes glanced back and forth, gliding along the floor from the point where the blood pool was and where Nick was processing, but he still couldn't find a single drop.
With the lack of blood around the crime scene, Greg walked back over to the blood pool and started to analyze the pool and spatter around it more carefully. Staring at it though, he finally started to notice something; the blood pool was too clean.
"So you say murder's messy?" Greg laughed with a sarcastic seriousness.
When Greg said this, Nick was confused by what he meant, so questioned Greg. "Meaning…?"
"Back when I was in the lab, I remember you told me that murder was messy" Greg half explained.
"Well yeah murder is messy, and if you haven't figured that out yet, then what have you been doing this whole time Level 3?" Nick joked with him, pointing out what he assumed was an obvious inference.
Greg shared in the laugh, but then returned to the case and his puzzlement toward the clean blood pool. "Well murder or not, this is way to clean"
"What do you mean?" Nick asked, now growing curious.
"You found blood over there right?" Greg asked, answering Nick's question with a question of his own.
When Greg asked this, a dumbfounded look appeared across Nick's face. Realizing that he hadn't yet found blood, he quickly looked back at the area of the struggle, his eyes rapidly searching for the substance. "No, actually I didn't" Nick responded with surprise, still looking thoroughly through the evidence.
"There isn't any blood over there? You sure?" Greg asked again, just wanting Nick to clarify that there was absolutely no blood to be found. It was hard for Greg to believe that there weren't any other traces of blood in the room. The fact that the blood pool was too neat, Greg had started to reconsider that this had in fact been a real crime scene; beginning to wonder if it had been staged.
Nick was still looking around the area that he was processing. Picking up the table leg again, thinking that there must be blood on the possible weapon; he figured that if there was hair, then why wouldn't there be blood? But still, after he took out a swab and phenolphthalein, the swab remained white. "Greg, I must be crazy, because I am not seeing any blood over here?" Nick finally scratched his head, now realizing what Greg said about the crime scene being too clean. "You know, Brass said that the struggle happened on the second floor, so I think it took place over here, but there's no sign of blood, so… I don't know" Nick said in clueless defeat, finally ending his trials to explain the confusion he was now looking at.
"See what's throwing me is why the blood is only over here. Let's say there was a struggle here, and then the victim, they bled out over here. There would have to be traces of blood from this point to the stairs, because the witness had stated that the fight spilled outside, where our victim was then taken" Greg tried to explain the confusion as best he could, but just saying it all out loud, he felt more lost than before. So much for that easy case Greg grimly thought.
"It's also not like the kidnapper would have had time to come back and clean up the crime scene either. The call was issued immediately and a cop was sent over right away" Nick then further confirmed the confusion.
"Another thing, come over here and look at the blood pool" Greg instructed Nick. Nick walked over to where he was standing and looked at the blood pool. While doing so, Greg asked him, "Is it just me, or does the blood pool look too clean?"
Nick just stared at the blood, at the shape of its pool and the surrounding spatter, and he could comfortably admit to the same inference. "Yeah, it looks staged. It's spread out too evenly."
"I kinda think it looks like someone took a water balloon filled with blood and dropped it here straight down, but I think there would be more spatter, you know, like in that clown movie IT" Greg said with a slight laugh at his childish yet disturbing references.
Nick shared in the small laugh, but with the thought on his mind, he started to consider if it was the kidnappers amateur act, and he then considered if it was real blood. "Did you check to see if it was real blood" Nick asked, returning to the seriousness in his tone.
"Yeah it's real blood" Greg replied holding up the plastic capsule with the bloody swab in it.
Nick nodded his head. He then turned his attention back to the blood pool in front of him. "It looks like there's about three pints of blood here Greg; how can someone bleed out this quickly and this cleanly?" he asked, though he wasn't entirely expecting Greg to know the answer.
"A long shot guess here, but someone could have been taking their blood for a while and saving it for this, but I don't know what purpose doing that would serve."
"Maybe it could be a message to someone?" Nick suggested, going along with Greg's thought. There wasn't a whole lot that they were able to go off of with this investigation. At this point, a farfetched guess was good enough; they just needed something to help explain this crime scene that was starting to look more staged with each questionable guess of the evidence.
"Well right now, all we have is a crime scene with a lack of evidence, which means that we could unfortunately be working a case that could end up going nowhere" Greg said with his voice getting heavier and ending his weary sounding assumption with a heavy sigh.
Nick could hear the sadness growing in Greg's voice with every word he said, and he knew exactly why he was upset. "Your three days off seeming farther away?"
"Unfortunately yes" Greg said as he started rubbing his eyes. "I just wanna be done with this. If this is all a hoax or joke or some shit I'm gonna be really pissed" he continued, now sounding frustrated.
"Well, maybe we can find something else around here and then we can get back to the lab and process what we've got. I'm sure that if we can't find more evidence or get any leads off the evidence we already have, the case could end up just going cold and we'll get off the case. Then you'll have your three days off." Nick was just trying to bring a spirit back into Greg's saddening mood.
Greg knew that Nick was just trying to lighten up his mood, and appreciated it. "Well don't tell me that, now I'm not even gonna try to look for evidence" Greg said jokingly along with a laugh.
Nick once again shared a laugh with Greg. "You wanna take the down stairs, maybe you can find something near those boxes."
"Yeah sure, we can meet up in 30 minutes or so and go over what we found, well that's if we find anything" Greg said now returning to his work professionalism, though still holding on to the dismay of this situation.
"Yeah sure, that sounds good" Nick said as he started to walk back over to his kit to pack up the evidence he found.
Greg did the same. He collected the single swab that he collected and put it into his field kit and then removed his gloves and bagged them as evidence as well. Greg then shut his kit and started to head over toward the stairs and started to walk down to the first floor again.
Greg was walking down the stairs, though this time; there was something different as he approached the room of the first floor. He could only describe the difference in a way of an intuitional vibe; something just felt off. Glancing around the bland room, he could see that nothing looked different, but he didn't even care to bring it into consideration, he only knew that something seemed wrong.
Finally placing a foot on a step that was just a few above the solid floor, Greg took one solid glance at the room. Eyes gazing along the walls and moving up toward the ceilings and back down to the floor, all in searching for something, anything that would explain the weird vibe. But it was upon finding nothing that made Greg question whether or not if he should wait and process this room with Nick.
Still standing on the third step, he cautiously processed everything that he was considering, whether or not this vibe could be real, or just all in his head. But he finally decided to just try to put it behind him and just focus on the crime scene so he could finally be done with this whole charade. Greg made his way down the last three steps and walked toward the center of the room.
Greg set down his kit and started to look around the room again, searching for something that would seem to be potential evidence. There really only seemed to be one possibility though and that was over where the tipped over cardboard boxes laid. As Greg looked over at the boxes, but with his conscience still reminding him of that strange vibe, he hated to admit it, but his paranoia was starting to kick in again.
Maybe I should have Michaels clear the downstairs again, just to be safe Greg thought to himself as he swiftly made his way over toward the entrance leading into the alleyway. Michaels had said that he would be outside incase if either he or Nick had needed anything, but as Greg opened the door and looked down the alley, he couldn't find their Officer that was supposed to be guarding their crime scene. Greg began grow slightly worried; first the weird vibe and now a missing Officer, he just hoped that nothing had happened to him. He decided that it would be best to give Michaels a call, just to confirm that everything was okay.
As Greg stood in the alley, the rings on the other end of his phone finally stopped after its third ring and he heard a familiar voice answer the phone.
"Hey Greg, what do you need?" answered and asked Officer Michaels upon picking up his phone.
Once Greg heard Michaels voice, he instantly felt more relaxed. He then started to consider if that was what caused the weird vibe; his Officer was missing. The superstition now gone, he felt he could finally focus again. "Oh, I was just wondering where you were? I was looking for you and you weren't outside" Greg responded to his Officer's question.
"Sorry I didn't let you guys know that I had left for a minute. Some guy was lost and I am giving him some directions. I'll be back there in a few minutes though" Michaels responded back to Greg.
After hearing his reason for leaving, Greg started to feel slightly irritated, though he didn't make it known. Greg knew that the Officer's were never supposed to leave the crime scenes; they were there to protect the working CSI's. He also didn't like the fact that it was Michaels that had left the crime scene again, for the first time he left, Nick got kidnapped. Now leaving again and having to watch over Nick again, it just got under Greg's skin. Though not wanting to raise a confrontation, he just ended the conversation with the irresponsible Officer on the other line. "Thanks Michaels; I'll see you in a few minutes."
Hanging up the phone, Greg then comfortably made his way back into the building and continued to process the first floor. With this whole vibe thing distinguished as something that was just in his head, he was able to return to being a focused CSI.
Walking back over toward the knocked over cardboard boxes, Greg figured that if there really was a struggle, then it could have spilled downstairs and it could have taken place over here, which made this area seem like the best place to start processing. Taking hold of his camera again, he began taking pictures of the cardboard boxes from their every angle. About 20-so snapshots later, he had finally finished photographing their layout. With the primary layout now documented, he was now able to shift and move around the boxes and further investigate his potential evidence.
After moving around a few boxes, Greg had picked up one, and as he was about ready to set it down, there was something on the floor that immediately caught his eye. Glimpsing at it, it seemed to be a small piece of paper with writing on it. Greg sat down the empty cardboard box and kneeled down and took a picture of the paper. Seeming that he had removed his gloves, he wasn't able to pick up the note to read it, but was still able to see the writing on the small slip of paper. As the letters became visible, he read the short pairing of words out loud to himself. "The struggle HAPPENS here."
Greg became perplexed as he read the message, not understanding at all what the small note entailed, but at the same time, became slightly worried again. Trying to puzzle together his confusion, he started to talk to himself, something that he usually did to try and help piece together his scrambled thoughts. "Wait, so if this note was for the victim, if there was one, then when would he have read it? Because if the struggle started up stairs, then there would be blood over here, but if the struggle started here, then why would it lead up stairs? Say he found the note before being attacked, why is it here near all of these knocked over boxes; why wouldn't he have just held onto the note?"
With the CSI in him trying to find an answer in his baffled brain, his mind then switched over to the intuition that was nagging at him just minutes ago; that feeling that something seemed wrong returning. Re-reading the note in his mind, the word the stood out, and he supposed that it was meant to based on the fact that all the letters in this word had been capitalized, was the word HAPPENS… meaning present tense.
Greg stood back up and walked back over to his kit to put on fresh gloves and grab an evidence bag so that he could bag-and-tag the found note without contaminating it. As he knelt down on his right knee again to grab the two things he needed, he first decided to look at his picture of that note again. He removed his camera from his neck, and as he started to look at the pictures. The first picture that popped up was the image of the note, and once again, he couldn't stop staring at the giant letters spelling HAPPENS.
His worrying was rapidly growing as he read the phrase over and over again. He was thinking, processing what the note could truly mean in his mind. "So if the struggle HAPPENES here, and not upstairs, then did a struggle even happen, so is this a fake crime scene? So if there wasn't a struggle down here or upstairs, does that mean a struggle hasn't happened, yet? So does that mean that a struggle is GOING to happen? So are Nick and I in danger?"
With his mind starting to piece together what seemed to be a logical assumption, an undeniable fear for both he and Nick's safety came in to consideration. As Greg glanced at the stairs, he knew that he had to tell Nick about the note he found or else they could both be vulnerable to the crime that would occur.
Greg held onto his camera, stood up, and immediately headed for the stairs. But before he could even take the first step, a hand in a black leather glove was thrown around his head and gripped his mouth firmly shut, and then viciously jerked back.
Panic was sent through Greg in a flash; "What the fuck is going on" was all he could process in his mind. He dropped his camera and tried to pull the man's giant hand away from his mouth. He started to squirm and yell into the man's hand, in attempt to get Nick's attention, two stories above him. But as soon as he heard the clear click of a cocking gun near his ear, the struggles stopped, and Greg's body froze as he felt a cold metal barrel being pushed to his head.
"Shut the FUCK up or I'll blow your damn brains out and I'll give your bud upstairs one hell of a REAL crime scene" forced the mystery man who was wearing a black ski mask to hide his identity.
With a threat in check, it finally announced to Greg how serious this now was. With his bones now starting to quiver under his hot skin, it fully stated to his attacker his current level of fear. He started to try and plead to his assailant beneath his hand, regardless of his muffled lips, "Please let me go, please."
His muffled pleas reverberating off his hand that still held his hostages mouth shut, the assailant was able to comfortable assume the plea his captive made. "No can do stud, you and me, we're gonna go on a little trip. Now I'm gonna lead you outside okay, and you're not gonna do anything unless you want your partner upstairs to see your brains covering these damn walls, so I suggest you listen to me alright."
A man with a gun in his hands already threatening his life, Greg's immediate reaction was to nod his head, stating that he fully understood his attacker's words. After doing so, he immediately could feel his attacker starting to lead him somewhere, and due to his hand still firmly held over his mouth, he was being forced to walk backwards. Greg could then feel the breeze of the cold night air brushing his quivering skin as the door leading outside was opened. The fear of not knowing what was going to happen to him was petrifying, and before he was completely pulled outside, his eyes locked with the stairs. He was just staring at them, praying that Nick would come down those stairs at this very moment and save him. But his hopes were now starting to wither away as he was finally pulled outside; the view of the stairs disappearing.
Greg was now being lead over to a van that was parked just off to the side of the building entrance, and as he got his first look at the getaway vehicle, he saw a black van. The sight of it only insured the realness of this situation. For just the appearance of the van reminded him of the kidnapper vans in the movies, and the thought of himself actually getting kidnapped seemed unreal.
As they were quickly approaching the van, with the thought of being kidnapped, it finally put a fight into Greg. He figured that if he was being kidnapped, then he might die anyways, so why not risk your life right now? Also, Nick was still close enough to where he could possibly get his attention. Greg started to kick his legs up and pull against his captor's hand that still covered his mouth, and when these methods were proving not to work, he began to yell again for help, trying to get Nick, his missing Officer, or anyone else's attention; they were muffled cries unfortunately.
Ignoring his pathetic struggle or futile attempts to get someone's attention, the attacker continued to force Greg toward the van. He finally got him to the back though, and doing so, he banged on the back doors, and stood there waiting for them to open while still holding onto a struggling Greg.
The doors to the van then opened, and when Greg saw a second man, only with duct tape in his hands, he fully started to put up a fight. Desperate to escape, and then improvising on the spot, he saw the back ledge of the van and kicked his foot up and pushed back on it. The force behind his legs was unexpected to the man that was holding onto Greg, and the two of them fell backwards.
When they landed on the cold wet concrete, the kidnapper had finally let go of Greg, giving him his chance to escape. Greg saw his opportunity had presented itself. Lying on his back as well, he swiftly rolled himself onto his stomach, but as he lifted up his leg to make his run for it, a large hand quickly grasped his ankle, and pulled him back down to the concrete.
The kidnapper who was in the van saw how his partner grabbed their escaping hostages ankle and he took his opportunity to put an end to his pointless attempts at freedom. He jumped out of the van and ran over to Greg and straddled his back. He then grabbed his hands and pulled them behind his back, took the duct tape, and quickly started to bind his wrists.
'This cannot be happening! This cannot be happening! This cannot be happening!' was all that was racing through his mind at this moment. As soon as Greg felt the stickiness of the tape binding his wrists, he started to thrash around his arms, trying to protest the man's attempts at binding his hands. Despite these attempts, they were found useless as he found that his wrists were now tightly trapped. With the defense of his hands now useless, Greg resorted to his vocal cords, and started to scream for help.
"NICK! NICK! HELP ME NI-!" Greg yelled at the top of his lungs, but was abruptly cut off by a hand returning over his mouth again, once again silencing him.
Wanting to keep his captive silent, the kidnapper took the duct tape that he held in his free hand and then with his teeth, started to rip off a new strip. After doing that, he took the single piece of duct tape and placed it firmly over Greg's mouth.
Hands and voice now restricted, Greg, who was still quickly thinking on a whim, shot his feet out at the man once he got off his back, and he violently kicked him in the shine. Greg felt somewhat victorious seeing that he caused this man pain, but it was short lived as a violent ache engulfed his stomach. The kidnapped had kicked him straight in his gut, returning the pain that he had given to him.
Greg then let out a pained groan through the thick tape covering his lips. It was this that finally made him helplessly submit, though it was against his will. The pain was just too intense to even try to put up a fight at the moment.
Nick was still upstairs on the third floor while Greg's kidnapping was taking place, but what finally brought Nick into the reality of Greg's extremely unfortunate ordeal, was when he heard his name being called. When Nick heard Greg calling for him, a worry within him immediately spiked. Nick noticed that Greg's voice sounded strained, he could tell he was yelling, and they were screams that pleaded to be heard. Nick had also noticed that his yelling, it didn't sound like it came from down stairs, but as if it came from outside. He finally started to run down the stairs heading for the first floor, to see what was going on with Greg. "Greg? GREG!" Nick then started calling, his voice now pleading for his friend to hear him.
The two kidnappers were now picking Greg up from off the ground, and were starting to drag him over toward the back of the van, though when they were doing so, they had heard Nick calling for their captive. Hearing him, they both started to panic, but Greg saw a hopeful opportunity. Realizing that Nick had heard him and still had a chance to save him, Greg forgot about the ache in his stomach and his fight returned. He started kicking up his legs and once again, when he approached the back of the van, he propped both of his feet up and held a firm stance that prevented him from being forced into the van.
"Get in the damn van you little prick!" one of the kidnappers yelled at Greg, showing his agitation with him fighting against them again, but Greg still didn't budge. His mind was firmly set on fighting to stay out of that van, and giving Nick the chance to save him.
Nick had just run down the first set of stairs, but when he did, as he saw out the large window that lit the entire second floor, he finally understood why Greg was yelling for him; he saw Greg, tied up, and being forced into the back of a van. Stopping dead in his tracks, he pulled out his gun.
Greg was still trying to buy himself time as his kidnappers tried to force him into the van, but the focus was immediately broken by all of them due to the disturbance taking place two floor levels above them. Two gun shots rang threw the thick winter air, and shards of glass began to fall to the earth.
They all turned their heads and looked up above them to see what caused the raining glass, and as they looked up, they could see Nick standing at the window with a gun held firmly in his hands
Seeing Nick there with his gun in hand, it finally gave Greg the hope that his friend would save him. But that hope had quickly died, for when Greg put his attention on Nick, it was taken off trying to prevent himself from going into the van. His two kidnappers saw his fixed attention upon the second CSI, and took advantage of it; they both shoved Greg into the van.
Greg was now growing more fearful then before. With Nick no longer in his sight, his final hope started to die. Even though Nick couldn't see him, he still made one final attempt at a plea for his friend to hear, hoping that he would hear the desperation and would make one more desperate attempt to save him. "NICK! PLEASE HELP ME! NICK!" he tried to scream under the heavy tape, but it only translated into an incoherent mess. The doors were then slammed in his face, securing him in the unknown van with two violent strangers; hopelessness filled the atmosphere.
The second that Nick saw the two dark figures shove Greg into the back of their van, he immediately started to fire his gun without a second thought. He was at first aiming for the two figures, but he figured that they wouldn't be able to get away if they had a flat tire, so without hesitation, his aim went towards the men's tires.
As the bullets began to fly through the air, with some hitting their van, the two kidnappers immediately headed for the front of the van. They both got into the car, and with their adrenalin pumping, floored it out of the back alley way.
Nick was still shooting at the van as the car speed out of the alley, but he stopped once the van turned the corner, and it was gone. Nick just stood there for a minute, lost in his mental process of what the hell had just happened, and as it finally fully processed, he was able to comprehend what he had failed; he had failed Greg. Greg had been kidnapped, and he was the only person that could have saved him. Lost in panic and confusion, the only thing he could think to do was to call Catherine. He frantically punched in the number to call her, and as he heard the phone ringing, he impatiently waited to hear her voice. "Come on come on, pick up Cath."
The repetitive ringing finally turned into a familiar voice. "Willows" Catherine answered.
"Catherine, it's Nick; listen, we've got a problem."
I also want to thank crimescenelover and JodsRaine for leaving my first 2 reviews.
Chapter 3 will also be up in another three days.