Brass radioed for all units in the area to converge on the hospital entrances and exits. Within seconds there were a multitude of squad cars blocking all entrances and exits. The cars arrived too soon for any vehicles to exit the lot, save for one;
Crane's.
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Back inside, Grissom was still on the cell with Brass and demanded that a police guard be placed outside Greg's area and that no one be admitted without an ID or other verification. Within minutes an officer arrived and stood watch over Greg while Grissom went outside to meet Brass who would arrive minutes later.
Walking down the hall, Grissom and Brass headed for Greg as Grissom explained things.
"I came back from getting coffee and saw a nurse leaving Greg's area, which was odd because a nurse came just before I left for coffee. I took a close look at Greg's monitors and lines, I noticed a bubble in the main line. I removed it from his hand and tried to go after the nurse; I think it was Crane. We'll find out soon enough; he dropped the syringe on the floor. We get a print and we can get a conviction. If it was Crane then we can add another charge of attempted homicide." Grissom explained
"Yeah. But we have to catch him first. Thus far he's eluded us at every turn. Now we've got squad cars at every entrance and exit to the hospital lots. If he drove here, we'll get him. Now, if he walked, that's another story." Brass replied
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He drove around aimlessly while he thought about his next move. Now that Greg had been taken out, all he had to do was teach Grissom his lesson. He drove to his old neighbor's house and retrieved the bomb he'd made and from there he went to the lab where he'd wait for Grissom to return.
He was unaware of the fact that Greg was still alive and thusly, he let his guard down a bit. He drove to the lab and waited for Grissom's return. It would be several hours, but that was fine with Crane; he was a patient person. Finally, around sunrise, Grissom returned and transferred some of the contents of his Denali to his personal car; all with Crane watching him. Grissom went back inside to his office to work on some case files while Crane was outside rigging up the bomb to Grissom's personal vehicle.
It had been about an hour and a half and Grissom was tired beyond belief. All he wanted to do was go home and go to sleep. He took his attachИ case, locked his office door and headed out to the lot. Standing outside his car, keys in hand and looking down at the door lock, Grissom noticed an odd reflection on the ground. He set his things on the roof and dropped to his knees to look under the car. What he saw was truly frightening to him. There was this little red light was blinking on and off and as Grissom turned on the mini-lite from his key chain, he could see that the light was attached to a black box the size of a pop-tart. Upon further inspection he noticed that several sticks of dynamite had been painted black and were attached to the box.
He had just sighed when Brass pulled in the lot and saw him on the ground. Stopping his car and getting out, he joined Grissom on the ground and looked at where Grissom shone the light. With his usual wit and charm, Jim commented.
"Who'd you piss off?" he asked, chuckling
Grissom thought for a moment before answering.
"Most likely Crane. I stopped him killing Greg. Now that he believes he's finished Greg off, I guess I'm his new target." he said
"Well, let's get outta here before your car blows up and we become a permanent part of the stucco exterior of this lab." Jim said, pointing to the building
They both got up and headed back inside where Grissom called the bomb squad from his office. Once they arrived Grissom and Brass stood to the side while the bomb was dismantled and removed from the undercarriage of Grissom's car. Now, Grissom was second guessing going home and going to bed. Seeing he was tired, Brass offered him the guest room at his place. Grissom accepted Jim's offer and within the hour Grissom was at Brass's place, asleep in the guestroom.
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Greg's guard had just been changed and the previous officer left for home while his relief took up his new station outside Greg's new room. The lab and the police were taking no chances in leaving Greg alone until Crane was apprehended and incarcerated.
Shift was over and feeling very guilty, Nick came to visit Greg. As he approached Greg's room, the officer took notice and actually drew his weapon and pointed it at Nick.
"Stop where you are. Where's your identification?" he demanded
His hands in the air, Nick was surprised to have a gun in his face. With one hand still up, he reached in his back pocket and pulled out his CSI ID and handed it to the officer. Satisfied, the officer gave Nick his ID back and let him in to see Greg. Since the attempt on Greg's life he had been moved to a secure room of his own with only one point of entry; unless someone wanted to scale the outside of the hospital; four stories. But that would be pointless as the windows didn't open wide enough for anyone to get inside.
Pulling up a seat and sitting at Greg's bedside, Nick took Greg's hand in his and prayed. It had been some time since Nick had prayed; since he was in his plexi-glass coffin. He lay his head on Greg's bedside and silently prayed that Greg would pull through and that Crane would be apprehended and thrown back in jail.
He had been there for a couple of hours when Warrick and Catherine showed up to pay their respects. They joined Nick and seated themselves around Greg's bed. It didn't look as though he would wake anytime soon and they were all scared for him. He almost didn't make it the last time and this time he was injured a bit more severely. Though there was little internal damage, the broken bones and external wounds and damage were more apparent than last time.
Trying to make a little light of the situation, everybody from the lab signed his various casts, with Brass's signing being the best. It read:
I
I Do
I Do This
I Do This To
I Do This To Take
I Do This To Take Up
I Do This To Take Up Space
Whenever anyone looked at it they laughed. Nick's contribution was a bit more personal. He found a photo of the whole team and taped it to Greg's cast using clear packing tape. The photo was completely covered by the tape so there wouldn't be any scratches on it. Even Grissom signed the cast with a simple quote.
"You can always have the last word when you talk to yourself."
People laughed at that one, too.
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On the run and looking for a place to stay, Crane was running out of options; he could stay on the street or he could check into one of the numerous motels in the downtown district. However, since his face was plastered all over the news and papers there were few places he could hide. He thought about returning to the desert and commandeering another house and decided that that would be the best option for him. He hotwired a car and drove up and down I-15 until he found a house set far back from the highway that looked to be abandoned. The windows were all boarded up and the "Condemned" sign on the front door made the house more promising. Even more convenient was the empty barn beside the house that he could stash the car in. What was even better was the mine on the property. It was set back behind the house and was guarded by an iron gate. Inside the mine were several shafts that lead off in different directions and seemed to go on for miles. Upon further reflection, Crane decided he'd stay in the mine with the gate locked. That way if the police decided to canvass the area looking at possible places he might be, they'd look at the house, but not the mine. You couldn't see the entrance from the house and the opening was facing away from the road instead of being immediately visible from the house. To the outside observer all one could see was desert in every direction and you could only see the opening if you went looking for it.
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It had been several days since the second attack on Greg and the planting of the bomb under Grissom's car. Crane was filling the car with gas when he saw his face on the evening news. He could barely hear what the reporter was saying, but what he heard troubled him.
"This man, Nigel Crane, is wanted for the murder of Edmund Abernathy and the attempted murder of two of Vegas's own; Greg Sanders and Gil Grissom of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. While the attempts on the members of the crime lab failed, Greg Sanders was savagely beaten and nearly killed by Crane on two separate occasions. Anyone with any news on the whereabouts of Nigel Crane can call the TIPS line at KL5-0142. There is a reward for anyone who provides any information that results in the apprehension and arrest of Mr. Crane."
Hearing this, Crane panicked and held his head low while he gave the gas station attendant the money for the gas and then sped off, heading towards downtown. He was furious that his efforts were for naught. He had to revise his plan. Maybe he'd go in reverse order this time; he'd eliminate Grissom first and then go back for Greg.
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The shift was over and those that didn't go home went to the hospital to visit with Greg. Grissom went home with plans to visit Greg before shift. He pulled into the lot of his apartment complex and when he made it to his front door there was a box addressed to him with no return address. Immediately suspicious, he went back down to his car and grabbed the flashlight from his kit. Returning to the box, he nudged it with the end cap of the light and nothing happened. He carefully picked it up and placed his ear to the box and listened. He thought he heard a faint ticking and decided to leave the box closed. He carefully carried it down to his car, dusted it for prints and returned to the lab.
Box in hand, he made for the morgue. Luckily enough, Dr. Robbins hadn't left yet and as Grissom carried the box inside, he placed it on one of the slabs and pulled the overhead x-ray toward him. He switched it on and moved it over the box and watched on the monitor as the image was displayed. Sure enough, it was another bomb. Seeing this, Dr. Robbins ordered Grissom to take the box outside where the bomb would do the least amount of damage when and if it went off.
Standing outside, Grissom called Brass who in turn called the bomb squad to come and take a look at the box. A 100ft perimeter was set around the box and some of the lab techs as well as Grissom and Brass watched as a man in a heavily padded suit and helmet with face plate inspected the box. Carefully, he removed a lock-back knife and cut the tape that held the box closed. Slowly, he shined a light inside without opening the flaps. There was a wire attached to the underside of the flap, so when the box was opened the bomb would go off. The man got up and backed away from the box and stood at the perimeter and explained what he saw.
"There's a wire attached to the underside of the flap. I think if you open the flap the bomb will detonate. There's no way to tell what the radius of the damage will be. I could cut the wire from the flap, but that might make it go off. I suggest you move all vehicles from this area and we detonate. Close the garage door and stand outside the gate; that'll buy us another fifty feet."
The vehicles were moved and when everything was clear, the onlookers hid behind some of the moved cars while Brass and Grissom stood in the open, but behind the gate. A sharpshooter with a beanbag gun took aim and fired on the box with the intention of the sudden jarring motion causing the bomb to go off. The gun was fired and it exploded, sending shrapnel flying everywhere; even past the 150ft mark. The people behind the cars were protected but as for Grissom and Brass; they were hit. Grissom was hit in the legs by several carpenter's nails as was Brass. From the flat of their backs, Grissom and Brass could see the nails sticking out of their legs. Struggling to get up, they braced themselves against the nearest cars and made it to their feet. Looking down at their legs, they were in obvious pain. Brass tried to remove one of the nails but it was in too deep. An ambulance was called and both of them were taken to hospital where the nails were removed and they both received tetanus shots. They were released after a couple of hours and returned to the lab.
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The prints from the box were ran through AFIS and came back as belonging to Nigel Crane. The results were delivered to Grissom who was in his office. Reading the results, Grissom couldn't help but think that Crane was certainly racking up charges. This most recent attempt made it two times that Crane had tried to kill Grissom. He immediately called the hospital and enquired about Greg. He was still unconscious and stable and he was still under guard. Brass was in Gil's office and used his own cell phone to call the station and ordered that Greg's guard be doubled.
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Crane had been one of the onlookers at the lab and had seen the cautious detonation of the box and the precautions they took made him livid. He just couldn't seem to get anything right. His attempts on Greg had failed as had his attempts on Grissom. He was slowly going insane from all his failures. This made him think that his best chance was to get Grissom and Greg in the same place at the same time and kill them both. However, that meant he'd have to wait until Greg got of hospital and he was fairly certain that Greg would be staying with Grissom, as he'd seen the camera outside his door when he dropped the box off. He tried to think of a way to bypass the security system and get into Grissom's apartment.
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It had been two weeks since Greg's most recent beating and as Brass sat vigil over his friend and colleague, he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that Greg was stirring. Jim looked up and saw the sloppy smile on Greg's face. Brass patted Greg's hand a couple of times and got up for a nurse to remove the breathing tube. With a sore throat and his lips dry, he asked Jim for some water with a raspy voice. Jim went into the bathroom and returned with a plastic cup with some water and a straw from a food tray in the hall. Before giving Greg the water, Jim pulled some lip balm from his pocket and applied it to Greg's dry, cracked lips. That having been done, he gave Greg the water and Greg drank it all.
From the phone in Greg's room Brass called Grissom to tell him that Greg was awake. Grissom jumped from his seat, grabbed his jacket and headed straight for the hospital. Once there, he headed straight for Greg's room, ID in hand. Opening the door, he was glad to see the young CSI awake and asking questions. At present, Greg was asking Brass about the status of Crane.
"Well, he snuck in here, dressed as an orderly, and tried to kill you by injecting an air bubble into your main IV line, but Grissom caught it just before it hit the needle on the back of your hand. Crane also tried to blow Grissom up twice. We have no idea where he's hiding out and that has become a priority task. We need to find him before he tries to blow anyone up or make another attempt on yours or Grissom's life." Brass explained
"Why is he so dead set on wiping me out? I mean, I never even met the guy." Greg asked
"Who knows what whack jobs think?" Brass replied
"Where am I gonna go when they release me?"
Stepping into view, Grissom answered.
"With me." Grissom stated
Greg looked over to Gil and gave a lopsided smile.
"You'll stay with me until this thing ends and Crane is caught. I won't have it any other way." he said
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In the abandoned house, Crane was taking his frustrations out on the interior walls of the house with a baseball bat. He accidentally hit a support beam and the upstairs floor came crashing down on him; pinning him to the floor. While he was grounded he let his mind wander in regard to Grissom and Greg. He remembered the first time he saw Greg. It was while he was in jail and Greg and Nick came to visit a person of interest related to a crime scene. Crane had his own visitor but saw Nick and Greg clear enough. When Crane was done with his visitor he got up and walked right past the person Nick and Greg were talking to and when he eyeballed Nick, Nick flinched and Greg gave Crane the evil eye. Crane figured that if he couldn't get Nick he'd get those closest to him; and he decided to start with Greg. Grissom was an added bonus, because he'd stopped him killing Greg. Make no mistake, he would go after Nick, but Crane had others in mind before he went for Nick again. He already knew where Warrick lived and how to get into his house. He knew where Sara lived because he'd tailed her one night. He'd leave Catherine for last because she had a child and he'd have to get her while Lindsay wasn't home. Then he had an epiphany; he'd kidnap Lindsay and demand a ransom. He knew that Catherine was Sam Braun's daughter and that he'd pay through the nose to get her back.
Still on the floor, Crane amended his plan and decided to go for Lindsay next, as she would be the easiest to get to. All he had to do was get her from her school or when she was on her way home. He knew that Lindsay walked to and from school every day and thusly, she made an easy target.
Summoning up all his strength, he managed to wiggle his way free of the fallen floor and stood up. He jumped up and down a few times to make sure nothing was broken and after that he checked his watch. It was 06:00hrs and that gave him just enough time to make it to Catherine's neighbourhood and park his car a few blocks from the house. He hid behind a shrub and waited for Lindsay to walk by. He could hear her approaching, talking with some friends, and he jumped out, grabbed Lindsay and pulled her away from her friends and threw her in the back seat of his car. He locked the doors so she couldn't get out and when they were far enough away he pulled over and wrapped her hands, mouth and eyes with duct tape.
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Catherine had just come off of shift and since Lindsay had a habit of skipping school, she drove to the school to make sure Lindsay showed up. She sat and waited for half an hour before leaving for home. When she got home she went through the house calling Lindsay's name but there was no answer. She tried her cell phone but there was no answer. She called the school to see if she'd made it to homeroom, but she was a no show. Finally, she checked her answering machine and heard a message from Crane demanding $1,000,000 within 24hrs, to be delivered to a specific location. Catherine immediately called Brass and told him of the abduction and ransom demand. An Amber alert was immediately issued and the girls that Lindsay had been walking with reported the abduction as soon as they arrived at the school. Suddenly there was a call on Catherine's house phone and as she checked the caller ID she recognized the number as being Sam's. She picked up and told him what happened along with the ransom demand. Without hesitation Sam asked where the drop point was and Catherine told him that she was waiting for Crane to call back.
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In what used to be the kitchen of the old house Lindsay was tied and taped to a chair in the middle of the room. Her eyes and mouth were still taped up, but she tried to listen for any noises that might be beneficial. She couldn't hear the highway, she couldn't hear anything except Crane's footsteps sounding like he was pacing.
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The time came and Crane used Lindsay's cell phone to call Catherine's house, unaware that there was a communications post set up in her living room. The house line rang and Catherine picked up after two rings. The conversation was brief; too brief for a trace. The drop point was to be at Lake Meade, at the base of the southernmost map kiosk, behind the trashcan. Strict instructions were given that if Crane even smelled police that he would not hesitate in killing Lindsay, but Catherine and Sam had a plan. They would borrow one of Grissom's snakes so that when Crane opened the bag to check the money the snake would bite him and he'd have no choice but to seek medical attention, lest he die from the venom. They chose Grissom's Egyptian Black Asp, as they were very poisonous and the venom acted quickly.
Though the call was brief, a triangulation was made. The call came from somewhere in the desert near I-15. Since there weren't many houses on that particular stretch of road, they were able to narrow their search. To about fifteen square miles outside downtown Vegas. Immediately, cars were dispatched to search the zone while Catherine made the drop at the designated point. In her mini-van, Catherine had six plain clothed officers and Grissom; three to be dropped two miles south of the drop zone, three to be dropped north of the drop zone and Grissom would be in the woods near the kiosk. If Grissom couldn't get Crane with the bag, then the other officers would block the road and stop Crane. That particular stretch of road was the only way in or out of the area. With Crane driving with a snake bite, they'd catch him, arrest him and take him to hospital for treatment. Both of these events would be occurring at the same time, so when Crane was away from the house the search for Lindsay could go on and at Meade Crane could be caught.
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Hiding in the woods near the drop zone, one of the officers radioed that a car had just passed by and the driver fit the description of Crane. A couple of minutes later a car pulled up at the kiosk and parked. The driver got out and checked behind the trashcan. He crouched down and saw the bag moving. He pulled out a pocket knife and sliced the bag open and was surprised when a snake slithered out and into the woods heading straight for Grissom who had come prepared with a snake stick and a burlap sack. As soon as Crane realized what was going on, he grabbed the bag and jumped into his car. He floored it back in the direction he had come from and just as he hit the two mile mark, the officers ran out of the woods and trained their guns on Crane's car, but he just kept on coming; nearly running them down. They fired as he passed and one of the officers hit the right rear tire; flattening it. He continued to floor it back to the old house. When he hit the downtown district he grabbed the bag, ditched the car and hotwired a new one from a strip club parking lot.
Now that he had a new set of wheels he had a new sort of freedom. He knew that he was being followed by police, but he had a good lead on them and he lost them when they hit downtown. He sat and watched as squad cars drove up and down the strip looking for the old car. Crane had managed to make it a couple of blocks before he parked and waited for the strip to quiet down.
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Driving out I-15 the patrol cars stopped at every house alongside the road and made their presence known by knocking on doors and searching properties.
Still taped to the chair, Lindsay could hear a vehicle coming down the drive. She could also hear vehicle doors opening and closing with footsteps approaching. She could hear movement on the front porch and one man telling another man to go round' the back of the house. With one officer in front of the house and another behind, Lindsay made as much noise as she could. Outside, the officer could hear a rattling from inside and radioed his partner to join him. The first officer peered in the back window that just happened to be the kitchen window and saw her taped to the chair. He immediately radioed base and told them that Lindsay had been found and was in the process of being extricated. He did not call for back-up; figuring his partner would be enough. He kicked the back door open and entered the house.
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Driving down the dirt driveway, Crane could see the squad car parked in front of the house and pulled a gun from under the driver's seat. He parked the car and cautiously got out and made his way towards the house. With both officers inside they could not hear him coming down the drive, nor could they hear him circling the house round' the back. While the officers were occupied with freeing Lindsay from her chair they were unaware of Crane standing in the doorway; his gun aimed at them.