Feeling groggy and disoriented, Emily opened her eyes and quickly realized that her right hand was cuffed to a pipe of sorts. She also realized that she was laying in some sort of bed wearing nothing but a strapless black dress and she was covered by a light blanket.

"Well, it's about time you woke up," an accented voice said. "You've been so out of it."

Frowning, Emily looked around for the source of the voice, "If you promise not to scream, I will come out and we can talk," the voice said. "If you scream, I will hurt you."

"I won't scream," Emily replied in a soft voice. "Just please tell me where I am."

There was silence and then a figure dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a completely bare head and intense eyes waked into view, "Well, Miss Wolfe, how do you feel?"

Before Emily could reply, she felt a searing pain in her left shoulder and gazed down, only to find that it was bandaged and in a sling, "What happened to me?" she asked.

"Bernie missed you," Ramon replied in an amused tone. "He wanted to see you again."

Screwing up her face in disgust, "He took my kids and he wants a reunion?" she snapped.

"Well, since Bernie isn't here right now, how about you and I get to know each other?" Ramon cooed in a seductive voice as he sat down on the bed. "You have pretty blue eyes."

Repulsed, Emily pulled back as far as she could, "I wouldn't kiss you if you were the last man in the known galaxy," she spat angrily. "I want to know why I'm being held against my will."

"Bernie already got his pleasure with you anyway," Ramon sneered. "If you want to survive his wrath, I suggest you cooperate...Think of your little children...whether or not they're still alive."

Infuriated, Emily spat in Ramon's face just as the door opened, "Well, Bernie, you came just in time," Ramon said, getting up from the bed and moving away. "She's very feisty..."

"Well, I wouldn't expect anything less from a girlfriend of Horatio Caine," Bernard replied as he moved into the light and sat on the bed. "Ramon, I think Clavo needs you elsewhere..."

Taking the hint, Ramon left the room and Bernard placed a hand on Emily's cheek, "It's a shame about the children, they'll make good fish food," he crowed in an amused tone. "Once you're broken down to nothing, I think I'll pay a visit to Ryan and mess him up...it's been too long."

"Ryan knows you did this," Emily hissed through clenched teeth as Bernard caressed her face.

Bernard gave a hollow laugh, "Ryan's a physically weak, mentally addled fool," he replied, running his fingers along Emily's chin. "He'll do just about anything to see justice carried out..."

Before Emily could react, Bernard pressed his lips against hers, "Well, little Ryan's past is going to come back to haunt him," he said, pulling away. "Just like I'm haunting you right now, Emily."

Trembling, Emily felt so repulsed that she threw up all over Bernard, "Oh, that's disgusting," Bernard snapped, pulling away. "Don't worry, I'll smarten you up."

Quickly stealing another kiss, Bernard got off the bed and left the room cackling loudly.

Filled with terror about what would happen, Emily began to cry softly and in total silence.

The computer hummed for a few moments and then the word "Match" appeared on the screen.

Intrigued at whose fingerprints had been on Emily's jumpsuit, Tim waited a moment and frowned as Stetler's face and information appeared on the screen. He was silent and felt deeply disturbed about this: why was Stetler's DNA on Emily's jumpsuit? There was another beep and another picture and the name of Ramon Cruz appeared on the screen with a small record.

Tim was so focused on the screen that he didn't hear the door open and close, "Speed, did you find anything on her clothes?" Horatio asked as he came to a stop next to Speed.

"For some reason, Stetler's DNA is on the chest of her uniform," Speed replied, gesturing to the computer screen. "I wonder if Stetler and Emily had contact before the incident."

Horatio raised an eyebrow, "Interesting," he commented, suddenly noticing the other name on the screen. "The other one listed here is Ramon Cruz...I happen to know Ramon and his brother."

"Why would Stetler and Ramon Cruz go after Emily?" Speed asked, frowning.

Horatio thought for a moment and then moved over to another computer, "Maybe there's a connection to Emily and Stetler that we haven't thought of," he stated as he quickly typed information into the system. "Emily mentioned that she had an ex-husband..."

There was silence for a moment and then Horatio suddenly swore as a picture appeared on the screen with a detailed record underneath it, "Hmmm, interesting," he commented. "It appears that Stetler has had past association with a man named Bernard Marquez...According to this, Bernard Marquez was arrested for domestic abuse nearly a year ago..."

"Do you think Stetler might be able to tell us anything about this connection?" Tim asked, giving Horation a look.

Horatio shook his head, "From what I've heard, Stetler's still in Intensive Care and he's picky about who he wants to visit him," he replied. "We'd have to get solid evidence that he was involved in this before we could get some sort of warrant that would force him to talk."

There was silence for a moment as Tim pondered how they could solve this, "However, I've also been analyzing content on Mr. Wolfe's cell phone," Horatio stated. "It seems that he's been receiving threatening text messages for some time now from an unknown source."

"Ryan's still at the hospital, right?" Tim asked, concern in his voice.

Horatio nodded, "His niece is recovering there and Mr. Wolfe has no other place to go at this present time," he replied. "It might be prudent to go there and have a chat with him about this."

"Should we inform Delko or Calliegh about this and send them instead ?" Tim asked, unsure if they should leave the lab with all of this evidence out in the open.

"No, I believe that Mr. Wolfe will be more forthcoming with information if you and I approach him," Horatio stated in a firm voice. "Eric or Calleigh would only cause him further anxiety...Frank is already keeping an eye on things at the hospital, but he says that Mr. Wolfe is somewhat withdrawn and might benefit from somewhat of a less watchdog-like approach."

Tim nodded, as he remembered how shaken Ryan was when Calleigh talked to him three days ago about the APB. He figured that Ryan would respond better to a calm, unprovoking approach. He also remembered visiting the hospital yesterday and saw from a distance how shaken Ryan was about the incident and how withdrawn he seemed to be around all the medical staff.

"Give me a few minutes to secure the computers and the evidence," Tim replied, a sigh in his voice. "It wouldn't be good if this information got into the wrong hands."

Horatio nodded and moved to help, "You're right, Speed," he stated. "That could be deadly."

Meanwhile, in a less reputable area of Miami, a dark haired young woman gazed around self-consciously as she approached a man that was waiting in the shadow of an alley.

"Marisol, hello," an accented voice stated. "Are you feeling badly today?"

The woman sighed and gave a weak cough, "I don't know," she replied in a hoarse voice, placing a hand on her chest. "I know I should have made what Emily brought me last a little longer, as I know Ryan had to help pay for it, but I'm suffering all the time."

"Not to worry, girlie," the voice said, as he held out a large baggie. "Did you bring money?"

Marisol nodded and, reaching into her pocket, she brought out a wad of bills, "Big Dog, you are so understanding about this," she said, handing him the money. "Thank you."

"I may be a dealer, but I do care about those who need help," Big Dog said, extending the baggie to Marisol. "Here is enough to get you through the next ten days..."

Before Marisol could take the bag, however, there were footsteps and shots rang out.

With a scream, Big Dog collapsed to the ground. Marisol backed away, horrified.

The gun was cocked once more and fearing that she could be shot, Marisol turned and fled.

With a heart full of concern, Alexx walked down the hallway to where Frank lingered outside of a hospital room. She had a bag full of clean clothes and toiletries in her hand and although the clothes were her husband's and a little big, Ryan would probably appreciate them.

"Frank, I got a call from Timmy yesterday that said Ryan's not doing so well even though Julliet was looked after and is recovering nicely," Alexx commented, holding up the bag. "I brought some things from my husband to help him out."

Tripp sighed, "From what I hear, Julliet's going to be fine," he replied. "From what the nurses tell me, Ryan's stressed about her, his missing nephew, his missing sister, and having no safe place to go once his niece is well enough to leave the hospital...They wanted to keep him in a hospital bed on a monitor once they stabilized him, but he's refused any further medical treatment for himself."

"Haven't you gone in there?" Alexx asked. "Why are you getting all this information from nurses?"

Frank shook his head, "I tried going in there yesterday and talking with him," he stated. "The whole time I was in there, he wouldn't talk to me...he only focused on watching his niece."

Her heart aching for the young CSI, Alexx pushed open the door and entered the room. She saw that Julliet was asleep in bed with a tiny gown and blanket covering her body while her left arm was in a pink cast and little IV lines were in her right arm. Ryan had fallen asleep on the couch and he looked terrible with his baggy eyes, pale face, his hair messy, and rumpled clothes.

Gently placing the bag at Ryan's feet, Alexx gently tapped his foot, "Ryan, baby, wake up,"

Keeping his eyes closed, Ryan shifted, "Bernie, go away," he mumbled with a soft groan. "Quit sending me messages...I'll do what I think is best to help my sister."

Alexx frowned and shook his foot again, "Please, don't touch her," Ryan whimpered, his tone growing desperate. "I'll do anything you want...just don't hurt her or her kids..."

"Ryan," Alexx said in an urgent tone, slapping his foot hard. "Baby, you're dreaming."

Gasping, Ryan opened his eyes, "Alexx?" he asked in a groggy tone.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Ryan sat up and saw the bag, "What's that?" he asked.

"I brought you some things so you could have a break," Alexx said, seeing sudden alarm in Ryan's eyes about leaving his niece's side. "Don't worry, I'll stay with Julliet for a while."

A look of relief crossed Ryan's face, "Thank you," he whispered as he took the bag and shakily stood up. "I won't be gone long...just gonna go to my safe place for a bit...thank you."

"You take as much time as you need," Alexx said firmly. "Get something to eat too...We'll be fine and if we're not, Tripp is right outside...It's time to start caring about yourself."

Nodding, Ryan moved out of the room in silence, grateful that somebody seemed to care.

Little did Horatio and Tim know, however, that Stetler had information that would prove devastating to the progress, and possibly the outcome, of the case currently facing them.

Confused as to why Stetler had called and asked to meet with him, Eric entered the hospital room and saw that Stetler was not only awake, but was sitting upright with an anxious look on his face.

Despite being shot and almost dying on the operating table, Stetler seemed to be doing well and had only a single IV in his arm and chest tubes for his healing lungs. His laptop had somehow been brought and was sitting open on a portable table near the window

"Delko, it's about time you got here," Stetler said, placing a hand on his bandaged chest. "Can you get the portable table with my laptop? I have something that should prove very interesting to you."

Eric nodded and quickly brought the portable table over to where Stetler could reach it, "Did you bring Mr. Wolfe's cell-phone with you?" Stetler asked, accessing the mouse.

"Yeah, I did," Eric replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Ryan's cell that he had gotten from evidence right after Horatio had returned it. "What did you want to show me?"

Stetler raised an eyebrow as he typed on the keyboard, "I've done some digging and it appears that Emily Wolfe is associated with a man that has been financially connected with a well known drug dealer in these parts," he explained. "The dealer was arrested last week and in exchange for escaping jail time, he gave us some pictures of people he's interacted with recently."

"I didn't think drug dealers took pictures of their clients," Eric replied in a skeptical tone.

Stetler scoffed, "We've had this dealer on our scope for some time and he agreed to keep a silent security camera hidden in his clothing in exchange for freedom," he snapped. "He gave us the tapes on a weekly basis and they've revealed some very interesting information."

Eric was silent and Stetler carefully turned the portable table and pressed the play button with his computer mouse, "This was filmed right after Mr. Wolfe was hired," he explained.

The black screen faded into an abandoned lot in the middle of a dangerous area of Miami. A drug dealer who was known as Big Dog was lingering against a brick wall, hands in his pockets.

For a moment, the dealer was alone. Then, Ryan came into view with a nervous look on his face.

"Look, about that loan you gave me, I need some more time," Ryan said, his voice desperate. "I don't get paid for another few weeks...just got hired by the Crime Lab...I'm broke right now."

The dealer glared at Ryan, "Look, man, I'll only play nice cause you're a cop," he replied in a snappish tone. "Come to the game tonight and we'll settle this through the cards."

Ryan looked hesitant, "Dude, my sister works tonight," he replied. "I have to babysit and I am not endangering infant children just to get out of debt to you."

"Fine, come to the game next week," the dealer replied, giving Ryan an icy glare. "You miss it and I'll make sure that you'll never want to get in debt with me again, capeech?"

Swallowing hard, Ryan nodded, "Just leave her out of this and you'll get all that's owed to you," he promised, urgency in his voice. "Don't talk to her again...I'll handle things for her from now on."

The dealer laughed, "Why are you even here?" he taunted. "She's an adult..."

Ryan gritted his teeth, "Emily didn't know what she was doing and she doesn't know that I'm here," he snapped. "Her work, her kids, are important...You will now answer to me.."

"This is why I hate wasting my time with women, they're stupid," the dealer snapped with a sigh. "All right, Wolfe, I'll see you at the game next week...You had better play well, for their sake."

Nodding, Ryan turned and walked away silently. The dealer laughed.

Stetler closed the video screen, "After seeing this video, I think that Emily's an innocent victim who was trying to cover for Mr. Wolfe's unusual behavior," he stated. "I just don't understand why he would do something like this...perhaps he needs some help...You need to talk to him, Delko."

"I think he's staying in his niece's hospital room still," Eric replied. "I'll talk to him and see what I can find out about this...Maybe I can gain his trust..."

Letting out a yawn, Stetler nodded, "Delko, don't tell Horatio about this," he said as he laid back down to rest. "If Mr. Wolfe wanted people to know he has a problem, he would have said something to Horatio a long time ago...Obviously, he doesn't want people to know or help him..."

"Maybe his sister was helping him," Eric commented. "She is a counselor..."

Too tired to argue, Stetler closed his eyes, "Just get to the bottom of it, Delko," he replied sleepily.

Eric suddenly felt uneasy about what else might be on the laptop and, as Stetler was in a deep sleep, he quietly closed it and tucked it under his arm. He would have it back before Stetler woke.

He slipped the cell-phone back into his jacket pocket. Maybe there would also be evidence on there that could help explain all this. As this case progressed, Eric was continually feeling uneasy about the amount of Stetler seemed to have despite claiming ignorance in this case.

Despite Stetler claiming to be an innocent bystander, Eric suspected that he was far from that, as why would Stetler be down in the cell at the precise moment that gunmen attacked it?

The next thing to do would be to go visit Ryan and talk to him about the video before Horatio had a chance to find out about it. Maybe there was a simple explanation for this whole situation.

Taking great care not to wake Stetler, Eric quietly crept out of the hospital room.

While a nurse checked Julliet over to see how she was progressing, Alexx looked up just in time to see the door open, "Horatio, Tim, what are you doing here?" she asked, moving away from the bed.

"We came to speak with Mr. Wolfe, but Frank said that he had left the room nearly half an hour ago," Horatio replied. "Do you have any idea where he went?"

Alexx shrugged, "I brought him some stuff so he could clean himself up a little," she stated. "He was having some sort of nightmare about a guy named Bernie...told him to stop sending him messages...whatever that means..."

Horatio raised an eyebrow, "When I analyzed Mr. Wolfe's cell-phone, I found that he had been receiving threatening text messages," he replied. "He received one on the day he brought his niece to the Crime Lab..."

"Didn't the computer say that Stetler was connected to a man named Bernard Marquez?" Tim asked, remembering what they had found on the computer. "Maybe that's 'Bernie'."

Nodding, Horatio sighed, "Perhaps Bernard Marquez is Emily's ex-husband," he contemplated, gazing at Alexx. "Alexx, do you have any idea where Mr. Wolfe disappeared to?"

"No, he only said something about going to his safe place," Alexx stated, smiling as Julliet fell asleep. "He said that he'd be back quickly, but I told him to take his time..."

The nurse suddenly looked up, "Oh, Officer Wolfe is probably in his sister's office," she stated in a gentle tone as she checked that the IV's were in place. "Since Emily was hired here, he's come by occasionally and spent a lot of time just sitting in her office...it's where he feels safe and when he does that, Emily will close the door and give him time to himself...she'll wait in the hall..."

"And you know all this how, exactly?" Tim asked, uncertain as to how the nurse could know this.

"This isn't a big hospital and nurses talk," the nurse replied, straightening up. "Julliet's doing fine, by the way...I have to go look in on other patients, but please let Mr. Wolfe know when he returns."

As the nurse left, Speed looked at Horatio, "If you wanna stay here, H, I can go up to Emily's office and see if Ryan is in there," he stated. "I kinda already know where her office is."

Unaware that Eric had arrived and was just behind him, Horatio raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really, Speed?" he asked, giving his CSI a questioning look. "How exactly do you know this?"

"Uh, Speed and I were in there looking around the night Emily was arrested," Eric replied in a hesitant tone as he moved into the room. "Speed was trying to sneak to the cafeteria..."

Unable to help himself, Horatio allowed a small chuckle to escape his lips, "I won't give you both a lecture about this, at least not yet," he replied as he turned to face Eric and saw the laptop under his arm. "Eric, what is that under your arm?"

"Stetler phoned me and asked to meet with me in his room," Eric replied, holding the laptop out to Horatio. "I took his laptop when he fell back asleep...H, he asked me to bring the cell-phone too."

Horatio quickly put gloves on and took the laptop, "Next time, Eric, get a warrant," he stated in a stern tone, tucking the laptop under his arm. "I'll take this back to the lab while you and Speed go upstairs to Emily's office and talk with Mr. Wolfe...After that, Eric, go talk to Stetler again."

Pursing his lips, Horatio gazed back at Julliet for a moment, "If there's any word on Emily or her son's location, let me know," he stated. "One child is here and safe, but mother and son are not."

Letting out a sigh, Horatio turned and silently moved out of the hospital room.

"Eric, while we're walking up there, I think I'm gonna phone my mom," Tim said. "She might know something about Emily...I don't know what, but I just have this feeling that she can help."

Eric gave Tim a strange look, but nodded and the two left the room. As the door opened and closed, Alexx gently moved the blanket further up so that it would cover all of Julliet's tiny body.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Alexx cooed to the sleeping Julliet. "We'll find both your mama and your brother."

Relieved that the door was closed, Ryan lay down on the couch and gazed up at the ceiling.

The clothes that Alexx had brought him to wear were a little big, but they were better than the rumpled sleep pants and t-shirt he had been wearing for the past three days. After changing clothes, he had brushed his teeth and combed his hair. The bag was now on Emily's desk.

Julliet would be fine, Ryan knew that, but the question was what to do now?

No doubt Stetler would make sure that his secrets would end up being exposed, which could effectively end his career as a CSI and cop. He could also have Julliet taken away from him.

After the last time he had gone to Big Dog, Emily had insisted that he go to Gambler's Anonymous meetings to work on his problem. He had done that and had not gone back to Big Dog since.

No doubt Big Dog had been involved in Jessi's murder, as well as the disappearance of Emily and her children. As he lay there, Ryan figured that Big Dog and Bernie had planned this together. Bernie had probably asked Clavo and Ramon for help because of their immunity to being arrested.

Ryan's eyes fell shut and he began to think about Stetler's last threat to him: the threat that had sent him into a panic attack while he was holding Julliet. Thankfully, Horatio had been there.

Ever since he and Emily were separated as children because what had happened with their father, Ryan had always been under Stetler's eye and it had gotten worse upon moving to Miami.

There was little doubt in Ryan's mind that Stetler had gotten power-hungry over the years and had formed a friendship with Bernard because he had married Emily. It was all about control to them.

Stetler was probably also involved in Emily's disappearance, but the only thing that could prove it was the security tape from lockup and that was currently missing along with a lot of the evidence.

If Emily or James were never released from their captivity, Ryan could at least keep Julliet safe.

At the hospital, she was safe: besides the broken arm, the doctor had diagnosed her with light pneumonia, dehydration, malnutrition, and she had been sexually assaulted by her captor. When the doctor had told him, Ryan had to fight the urge to vomit, as he was horror struck by that.

Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door. Too exhausted to wake, Ryan rolled on his side.

The door opened and footsteps entered the room. A hand came down on Ryan's shoulder.

Fear filling his heart, Ryan opened his eyes, rolled and saw Marisol standing over him.

"Is Emily here?" Marisol asked as Ryan sat up. "I need to talk to her."

Realizing that Marisol had no idea what had happened, Ryan shook his head, "Marisol, a few weeks ago, Emily was arrested and while she was in the lockup at Miami-Dade PD, she was taken," he explained. "Jessi was murdered at Emily's apartment and her kids were taken..."

Marisol clapped a hand over her mouth and sat down next to Ryan, "A few days ago, I found Julliet injured and in a basket on my doorstep," he explained. "Not long after that, I got a text message and I found a bomb under my sink…I escaped with Julliet just in time."

"I should have sent Emily away when she showed up with some drugs for me," Marisol whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "I was just so sick….she stayed and looked after me until she had to go to work at that club…I didn't think she would end up arrested for helping me…she protected me."

As Marisol cried, Ryan put an arm around her. Neither noticed that Tim and Eric were eavesdropping in the hallway and had heard Marisol's entire speech. Letting out a quiet sigh, Tim knocked on the door.

"Officer Speedle," Ryan said, fear in his voice. "Officer Delko….this isn't what it looks like."

Eric gazed at Marisol, his eyes wide with shock, "Marisol, is what I heard true?" he asked.

"I was so sick that afternoon, I called Emily for help," Marisol explained through her tears. "She went to Big Dog and bought some for me…When Emily came to my house, I could barely get to the door. I let her in and after she helped me roll it, I smoked…She cleaned my house and helped me to bed so I could sleep."

Eric sighed and gazed at Tim, "Marisol's got cancer and the drugs help her feel better," he explained, gazing back at Marisol. "You could have asked me to help…why did you go to Emily and Ryan?"

"I was stressed about the cancer and was seeking counseling from Emily," Marisol explained. "She was helping me to feel better about it….I can't believe she got arrested because of me."

Tim sighed, "Well, that explains where Emily went after she talked to me," he said, crossing his arms.

"It also explains the time gap between her working at the hospital and working at Vision that evening," Eric stated, gazing at Tim. "Calliegh and I were at a club and we saw Emily bartending there."

Again, Tim sighed, "Eric, go find Horatio," he said, gazing at Marisol and Ryan. "Ryan, one more thing...I phoned my mom and when I mentioned your name, she said she was coming…she seems to know something about you...Eric, hurry, we really haven't got all day."

Eric nodded and left. Ryan gulped and releasing Marisol, he buried his face in his hands and cried. Everything was falling apart so fast.

Deep within her place of captivity, Emily lay flat, handcuffed to a metal table with the only source of warmth being the dress that barely covered her body. She could see a camera hanging above her. No doubt that Bernard was taping this for amusement, Emily reasoned

Every part of her body was either numb from cold or hurting from being assaulted mercilessly.

A blindfold suddenly covered her eyes and a gag was forced into her dry mouth.

There was silence and Emily whimpered as ice water ran down her chest and arms. It was unbearably cold.

"Don't struggle, this won't take long," a dark voice hissed. "This will teach you to behave."

As tears rolled down her face, Emily felt the harsh cuts of a whip strike her already frail and tired body repeatedly.

There was little doubt that she would either die or be broken by what was happening to her now.