Note: I can't say how wonderful all of you are! The reviews are what keep this story flowing, and all the comments make my day!

This chapter starts off a little different; it may be confusing at first. (Also know that I just made up the convenient store name, I have no clue if there is a real one out there with that name. And that I just guessed on Lindsey and Sara's ages… lol)

All mistakes are mine and I own nothing.

And again, I'm sorry for delays…And remember to review! :)

Chapter 4:

Carl Maddox was a rather tall, thin boy who had been working at the small 'Quick Stop' convenient store for almost three weeks. He needed the extra money, and this seemed like a good place to start; plus, he'd recently been kicked out of his girlfriend's house, and needed money to buy his own. So far, he'd had very few incidents that occurred on his shift.

That was about to change.

It was an early Saturday morning, and the sun had just begun to rise. Carl huffed out a bored sigh, and laid his head in the palms of his hands; He'd arrived for work roughly three hours ago, and had had only two customers come in so far. One of them had only come in to use the restroom. Even at this time of day, he'd usually have already had at least five or six customers come in by now! He was bored, simple as that. His boss had mentioned that sometimes business got a little slow. But he didn't think it would be this slow. But thankfully, the store was prepared. They'd had a TV installed just before Carl had joined; the guy whose spot Carl was filling had quite for a more exciting job. It was days like this that he usually enjoyed, but today was Saturday, and none of his favorite shows were on.

Sighing once more, he decided to watch the news.

Just then, a man walked in.

Carl tore his eyes from the TV at the sound of the door opening. "Good morning, sir!" He greeted a little too excitedly. The man only gave him a confused look, followed by a small wave, and headed for the drink section. Carl looked back up the TV as he heard a man's voice say "Breaking News!"

The screen went from that to a light blue, and the voice changed to a woman's. "An update on an Amber Alert," She began, "Jacob and Brian Collins are wanted for questioning about the kidnapping of seventeen-year-old Lindsey Willows and forty -year-old Sara Sidle," He listen as both men were described and watched as two pictures popped up, one having a dirty blonde haired female teenager, the other a dark brown haired woman. "If you have any idea of their whereabouts, please contact the LVPD as soon as possible."

"It's a shame what people do to each other, aint it?" He asked, turning to his third customer of the day; only to see him already out the door and jump in his car. Carl watched as the car quickly backed out of its parking space, and made a quick turn back onto the road.

Wonder what that was about… he thought dumbly.

XX

Saturday, 6:18 p.m.

Catherine's mind was racing.

Grissom had called a few hours earlier, saying that his plane would be late. How much later, he didn't know, meaning he could be there any minute.

What was she supposed to tell him? "Hey Gil, I asked your wife to watch my grounded seventeen year old because thought she owed me, and she got kidnapped." Just didn't sound right.

Her thoughts were broken by the vibration coming from her pocket. She pulled out her phone, and; after glancing at the ID, answered.

She nearly ran down the halls to her office. The broad cast had been put out roughly three hours earlier, and Jim had just called and was supposed to be meeting her about some new information on Brian and Jacob Collins' whereabouts. But as she turned the sharp corner to enter her office, she bumped into an unexpected; but welcome, visitor.

"Catherine!"

She felt as though all the air had been sucked out of her. Tears threatened to fall from her blue eyes as she starred into his. She just stared at him, mouth agape, for what felt like an eternity. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. The sadness and worry coming for his sky blue eyes killed her. After long awkward moments of just staring at each other, he reached out, and embraced her in a hug.

"Gil…" She cried into his shirt; causing him to tighten his grip, "…I'm so sorry."

XX

Sara lifted her head from Lindsey's after feeling her move slightly in her grasp. She watched as the girl slowly opened her eyes, blinked a few times, and as reality set in once again, she began to shake.

"It's alright, Lindsey," Sara whispered, running her fingers through the teens hair, "I'm here."

This isn't alright! Sara though. It felt very awkward trying to comfort Lindsey like this; and she shouldn't even have to be comforting her in the first place! They shouldn't be here at all! It just wasn't fair! What had either of them done? Nothing. That's what. Sara could feel the anger rising within her, and she let out an annoyed sigh.

"How long was I out?" Lindsey yawned, letting go of Sara and stretching her arms.

"I don't know…" Sara said, shaking her head to try and rid her mind of her angry thoughts, "two hours maybe? It's gotten a little darker sense you fell asleep."

"I had a dream that we got out of here." Lindsey said on a low voice, pulling her knees to her chin.

A tiny smile formed on Sara's lips. "Lindsey," She began, "We are going to get out of here. You mom has already put out a broad cast on us and they guys who took us. Plus-"

"How do you know she put out a broad cast?" Lindsey asked rather loudly.

"SSSHH! I overheard them talking. Anyway, Lindsey, I have a plan to get us out of here…but for it to work, you'll have to do exactly as I say." She watched as Lindsey's face changed from excited to confused. Sara took a deep breath; she knew Lindsey wasn't going to like the plan, but they had no other choice. It only took a few minutes to explain, but once she did, she knew she would have some trouble convincing the teen.

"How in the WOLRD are we supposed to do THAT?" Lindsey whispered loudly.

"Lindsey, you're just gonna have to trust me."

"What if it doesn't work? What if-"

"Lindsey, if they wanted to kill us, they would have done it by now. Plus, I heard them say something about their brother…I think they want some kind of money. So they have to keep us alive." Sara wasn't sure if that was true, but it she knew it made Lindsey feel better; it made her feel a little better too.

Lindsey slowly nodded, but then her eyes squinted as though she was deep in thought. "What?" Sara asked.

"Um…How are we supposed to, um…Clog the toilet?" Lindsey asked.

XX

Sara couldn't believe that her plan worked! She'd put a lot of thought into it, sure, but…It actually worked!

I guess these two really are idiots, she thought.

She tried so hard not to laugh as she replayed the situation in her mind.

"Excuse me," Lindsey squeaked as one of the men (which Sara now knew was Jacob) walked in and headed for the bathroom.

"What?" he spat.

"It's clogged." Lindsey said, trying her hardest not to laugh as Jacob jumped into the bathroom, only to come out huffing angrily, staring them down.

They'd stuffed just about anything they could find in the bathroom into the toilet at once; they couldn't do it themselves, being that neither had eaten in almost a day. That was only part one of Sara's brilliant plan.

Jacob stomped out of the room. Shortly after, they could hear him yelling at Brian.

"What are we gonna do now? The damn toilets clogged, and I'm NOT taken a shit in the sand!" He hissed.

"As long as we're careful, we can use that convenient store." Brian whispered.

"Well what about them?" Jacob asked, pointing at Sara and Lindsey's room.

"We'll…have to take them."

"WHAT? Are you insane?"

"I don't know about you, but I don't want this place to start smellin' worse than it already does." Brian put his hands up in defense; neither man hearing the quit celebration going on in the other room.

Brian pushed passed his brother and opened the door to Sara and Lindsey's room; but not before gabbing his gun and sticking it in the front of his pants.

"Get up!" He shouted, walking over. He grabbed Sara's arm roughly and jerked away from Lindsey; who instantly jumped up and hid behind the older woman.

"We're going on a field trip." He said, sounding rather disappointed.

Had he turned around, he'd have noticed both girls grin and look back to one another, indicating that step one in their plan was complete.

Now here they were, sitting in the back seat of the car (and not the trunk) watching as the dirt road changed to gravel, then to solid concrete. Lindsey was staring out the window, and Sara took this as a chance to get a look at both their injuries. She couldn't see anything visible on Lindsey, other than a few tiny scratches on her arms; but she knew that the teenager had to have a few bruises on her stomach, after being kicked back at Catherine's house.

She looked at the window. Not to look at the desert scenery, but to try and get a look at the gash that she knew was on her forehead. She noticed that it had scabbed over, but couldn't get a good enough look at it to tell if it had become infected. She then; after making sure no one was looking, pulled up her shirt to see the black, boot sized bruise on her stomach and ribs. She put a little pressure to see if she could feel a broken rib; only to grimace silently as she could when pain shot through her mid-section. She looked up to see if anyone had noticed, she thanked herself that no one seemed too.

It was then that she also noticed the slight bruising around her neck. At first, she didn't know how she got them, and then she remembered the event that caused her to be there in the first place. It made her wonder how long they'd been gone.

Not wanting to think about it, she looked at the five nail-shaped cuts in her right arm; the ones Lindsey had given her. Those were the only injuries in her life that Sara didn't mind getting.

Sara looked out the front window, and saw the store come into view. She tapped Lindsey's leg and pointed with her head towards it. The teen responded with a nod.

"Ok, listen up!" Brian started, not noticing the silent exchange as he looked into his rearview mirror. "We'll only be in here for ten minutes, so no playin' around." Both responded by nodding their heads.

Sara's heart was racing. What if a different guy was working now? What if someone didn't recognize them? What if Brian or Jacob caught on? She nearly laughed at the last thought; if they hadn't caught on by now, they wouldn't catch on at all.

She couldn't help it when her heart rate increased as the car pulled into the lot, and parked a few spaces away from the entrance.

"Let's get this over with." Jacob sighed as everyone opened their doors and stepped out. They entered silently; the only sound being the cashier's "Good morning!"

Brian; after instantly recognizing the cashier, pointed Lindsey and Sara towards the ladies room while her and Jacob kept their faces pointed towards the floor.

"You have five minutes." Brian warned in a whisper. Sara nodded, that was the time they needed.

They entered; after seeing that the restroom had four stalls, and turned on one of the sinks, downing out their conversation.

"I can't believe that worked!" Lindsey cheered quietly.

"Sshh, do you remember what to do next?" Sara asked. Lindsey nodded.

After relieving themselves, both headed back to the sink and attempted to clean their faces. Sara winced as the icy water made contact with the wound on her forehead.

"I wouldn't pick at that," Lindsey pointed out, drying her face with a paper towel, "It could start bleeding again."

"I need to keep it clean." Sara responded, not taking her eyes off her reflection.

She pulled up her shirt again, trying to get a better look at the bruise. Lindsey stared at her wide-eyed. "Oh my…" She whispered, pulling up her own shirt enough to see a similar; yet smaller, bruise on her stomach.

"C'mon," Sara said, seeing the change in her younger friend's eyes, "I think our time it almost up."

They exited quietly and found the two men in the drink isle. After being pulled over, they headed to the cashier so the men could pay for their items.

"Ouch!" The young man exclaimed, staring at the gash on Sara's face, "That's one nasty cut you got there!"

Sara didn't respond, knowing it would only get her in trouble. Instead she looked up at the camera that was positioned over the cash register. Her actions were followed by Lindsey.

He just looked at me! Why hasn't he said anything? Sara thought, looking back at him. He glanced back up at her for a moment, then at Lindsey. A questionable look formed on his face.

"Have I seen you before?" he asked. The color from the other men's faces drained as the cashier began to recognize both women, his eyes growing golf ball sized.

"You're the two girls from the news! I saw you-" he stopped after looking at Jacob and Brian, realizing that Brian matched the description of one of the wanted men perfectly.

He began to slowly reach for the baseball bat that was hidden behind the desk.

He swung at the men; narrowly missing Sara as she grabbed Lindsey and dove to the ground. He managed to hit Jacob in the shoulder, sending him in the opposite direction of the two women. Sara covered Lindsey's body with her own, protecting her as best as she could.

Then Brian pulled out his gun.

Four gunshots could be heard, not that anyone was around to hear them.

Sara wand Lindsey (who were both still on the floor) watched horrified as blood began to leak out from under the desk.

Both men stared as Carl Maddox's body became surrounded by a pool of crimson blood, their mouths gaping.

It seemed as though they'd been standing there for an eternity, until Jacob put all of their (unpaid for) things into a bag, and headed for the door, shouting "What the Hell are you doing? LET'S GO!"

Brian grabbed a handful of Sara's hair, and threw her off of Lindsey. He focused the gun on Lindsey's head. "Get up, and don't try anything." He growled, glancing over at Sara.

Just before exiting, he switched the sign on the door to CLOSED.

Oh no! Guess her plan wasn't as brilliant as she thought! I hope you're enjoying this so far, because it is so much fun to write! Please review!