Chapter 3
Hard To Kill
/Van/
Khandi started to come to. Why couldn't she see anything? Then she realized something was covering her eyes. She tried to sit up but it was difficult because her hands and feet were bound. Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her up. She tried to struggle but it only made the person angry and they punched her in the face. She felt the hot rush of blood ooze out of her nose.
Why would someone do this to her? Who could hate her this much? Then the hands were grabbing her again but this time they were tugging at her clothes. No. She couldn't let this happen. Whoever this person was, she was not going to let them remove her clothes.
She struggled again and this time made a little progress. Her shoulder rammed right into the person's stomach sending them flying backwards. She heard a grunt and a body slam into a metal wall. That's when she realized she was in some kind of vehicle. Like a van maybe or an SUV. That thought made her feel a lot better. Knowing that if she was in a vehicle she had a better chance to escape.
Just then the person lunged forward and knocked Khandi back onto the floor. She hit her head against the hard metal surface. She must have been suffering from a concussion from the previous blow because once her head made contact with the surface everything went black again.
/Crime Scene/
Catherine looked at the badge then looked at Jim, "Okay, we need to process this ally."
Grissom nodded, "I'll get Nick over here, and have Warrick call in Greg and Sara," he said walking away.
"I'll go talk to Ellie." Jim added.
Catherine frowned, "Ellie? You're daughter?"
Jim looked at her, "She was the last one to see her."
"Hey, what's going on here?" A voice came out of the dark. Jim pulled his gun. He was slightly, jumpy now.
"Who's there?" Jim asked.
"Hey, hey put that gun away," the voice, slurred, the a shadow got up and walked over to them, "No need to shoot me. I ain't gots no weapon," the shadow came into the light and it was a scruffy, grubby old man, who had a beard and messy hair. His clothes were unclean and he had an alcohol bottle wrapped up in a brown paper bag, "Are you here to see what happened to that w-w-woman?" He asked as he stumbled over to them.
Jim put his gun away, and looked at the homeless man, "What did you see?" Jim demanded.
"After the cute redhead leaved the – the good lookin' chick over by the dumpster. She was bent dow' lookin' at sometin' ain't sure whit," the homeless man spoke with a slur, "a white van came ove' an' a blondy came out and hit the chick ove' the head. Then toss' her in the van."
Jim looked at Catherine, and then at Grissom, "Did you see anything else?"
"Nope, ain't seen nothin' after that." The homeless man proclaimed, chipper.
Catherine looked at the homeless man, "We're going to need you to go with an officer to the PD."
"PD?" the homeless man asked confused.
An officer walked up with Grissom and Nick, "Officer, can you take this guy back to the department for questioning?"
"Yes ma'am." The officer said as he took the homeless man way from the crime scene.
Nick, Catherine and Jim looked at Grissom, "All right. I have Warrick calling in Greg and Sara to work on his case. Right now, our prime directive is to find Khandi. Nick I want you to see what you can find in the dumpster," Nick nodded.
"I'm on it." Nick said then walked over to the dumpster. He set his field case down, and started to put on his latex gloves on.
"Catherine I want you to have a look around, see what you can find." Grissom ordered.
"I'll go talk to Ellie." Jim said, and walked away. A thousand thoughts were going through his mind. The very unreliable witness – the only one they had at the time, said that some creep took Khandi. He knew that Ellie was the last person to see Khandi, and also knew with the little relationship he had with Ellie that nothing would come out talking to her. But he had to give it a chance to find the one woman that he loved.
As Jim walked over to Ellie, he saw the look in her eyes, one that always was there when he went to talk to her.
"Dad why are you here. I already told you. I left her in the ally." Ellie spoke in uncivilized manner at him.
Jim looked at her, "Ellie, all I want to know is what happened in the ally. Why did you take her there?"
"I was just showing her where I saw the guy drop something." Ellie spat back.
Jim fought the anger that was in him and the hurt, "Ellie… What did you see when you left?"
"Look, I didn't see anything!" Ellie said slightly raising her voice, "How many times do I have to tell you?"
/Ally/
"Some how I don't think this belongs in here," Nick said holding up an evidence bag with a .38 Special.
Catherine stood up, "Well, that explains why Khandi was down here."
"Evidence. I want that bagged again, Nicky." Grissom said as he noticed white on the dumpster. He looked around then back at the dumpster.
"Hey, Griss, what did you find." Nick asked as he jumped out of the dumpster to grab another bag.
"This dumpster was over here," Grissom pointed out, "See the markings on the wall. Its been moved," Nick and Catherine looked at him, "It was hit by a moving vehicle. See the markings on the dumpster. Paint transfer."
Catherine looked at the paint transfer, "It's white. And the drunk did say that the van was white."
"About the best witness we have," Jim said walking up to them; he was clenching his left fist.
"Ellie came up clean?" Catherine asked, turning to him.
Jim looked down then back up to her, "As much as I figured she would."
"Don't worry Jim we'll find her," Catherine said, tying to sound comforting.
Just then Grissom called to them from beside the dumpster. "Looks like we got part of a taillight here. And part of the serial number's still visible."
"Finally, some good news," Jim said with some hope.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here Jim. This will only give us the make and model of the vehicle, not who was driving it."
"But at least it's something," Jim said mournfully.
That was the moment Nick popped his head up from inside the dumpster. "Got a pipe here. Looks like some hair and blood on the end. I'll dust it for prints."
"Fat chance," Jim grunted.
"Well, hey if this guy's stupid enough to kidnap a cop, maybe he's stupid enough to leave behind prints." Catherine stated.
"Hey, guys? We may have just hit pay dirt here. I got a few partials here but I also got what appears to be a complete thumb print."
"Good, Nicky. Get those prints and the rest of the evidence back to the lab and start processing it immediately. We can't afford to waste time." Grissom demanded.
Jim knew Gil was right. The more time that passed in a kidnapping case, the less likely they were to recover the victim alive.
/Van/
Khandi came to for the second time since she was kidnapped from the crime scene. She could feel the dried blood caked around her nose and upper lip. Not to mention she had one hell of a splitting headache. Just then she heard a man's voice, that she knew was familiar, but couldn't quite put her finger on.
"Well, look who's finally waking up." the voice said.
Khandi still couldn't see anything or move her arms and legs. But as God is her witness she was gonna get out of this alive. Because she knew at that moment Jim was looking for her and wouldn't give up until she was safely back in his arms where she belonged.
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Khandi pleaded.
"Who I am doesn't concern you. It's what's going to happen to you that should."
Then she felt the same cold hands on her. She tried struggling but it was no use. The bindings were much tighter than before and the more she moved the more they cut into her skin.
"It's best if you don't struggle. It'll only make things worse for you."
Suddenly the man cut the bindings from around her ankles. She tried to kick out but it was too late, he already had them pinned down. She felt him move between her legs and struggle with the belt on her pants. She tried to fight but the bindings on her wrists were too tight and her arms were going numb.
The man finally got the belt open and then unbuttoned and unzipped her pants. He pulled them down, along with her panties, to just below her knees and then proceeded to get on top of her. She heard the zipper on his pants come down. It was the loudest sound she had ever heard in her life. Then she began screaming.
"No! No, please don't do this! Please! Someone help me!"
"Scream all you want. No one's gonna hear you."
Then he laughed the most maniacal laugh that sent shivers down Khandi's spine. That was the point in which he entered her. khandi felt like her insides were being ripped to shreds. The pain was so unbearable she thought she was going to pass out. Then she realized he wasn't wearing a condom. What if he had AIDS? Or some other STD. What if she got pregnant?
All these thoughts were plaguing Khandi's mind as this monster raped her. How would she be able to tell Jim what had happened? Then she felt this sick bastard shuddered as he came inside her. He then climbed off and pulled her panties and pants back up. Then he bound her feet again.
"Was it good for you?" he said smugly.
It was at that moment Khandi realized who it was.
/Crime Lab/
Nick brought the evidence back to the lab to be processed. He sent the hair and blood to DNA and the gun to ballistics. He wanted the job of running the fingerprints himself.
Grissom was busy with the taillight. He ran the serial number and got a hit on the make and model of the van. A 2002 Chevrolet G3500. At least there was some good news to tell Jim.
/LVPD - Brass' Office/
Jim and Catherine were sitting in his office.
"What a hell of way to celebrate an engagement." Jim slipped.
"Engagement? Who's engaged?" Catherine said, surprised.
"I asked Khandi to marry me this afternoon. We were celebrating at The Bellagio before we got called to the scene."
"I'd say congradulations, but considering the situation," Catherine paused a moment. "So, uh, how do you explain the shiner?"
"We had a little run-in with my ex-wife and she happened to be with one of the dirty cops I put away in Jersey. Well, needless to say the reunion didn't go very well."
"I hope you were able to get in a few shots of your own."
"Yeah. Right before we were escorted out and asked never to step foot in the place again."
Just then Grissom walked into Jim's office. "We got a make and model on the van. It's a 2002 Chevy G3500. And the most popular color for those vans..."
"White." Jim finished.
"Exactly." Grissom said.
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard to narrow down." Jim stated sarcastically. "How many white Chevy vans could there be in Vegas? But I'll put out an APB anyway."
That was the moment Nick made an appearance. "Hey, guys? We got a hit off AFIS on those prints." Nick said excitedly. He stood there looking from Jim to Catherine to Grissom and back to Jim.
"Well, come on Nicky, whose are they?" Grissom said impatiently.
"A guy named Michael O'Toole."
TBC…
