Dennis laughed as Eric screamed in pain. Eric tried to control his breathing and not move. The pain in his leg was excruciating. Dennis stopped laughing as he heard the bark of a dog.

He turned around and saw two puppies barking and growling at him. He pointed the gun to Waldo's head.

"Hey, don't shoot them. They're just puppies." Joseph said.

Joseph was holding Eric in his arms as Eric groaned and tried to stop the blood flow.

"I hate puppies." Dennis growled.

"Please don't shoot them." Joseph begged, "They won't do any harm."

Dennis sighed and lowered the gun, "Keep them quiet." He said and then left the basement.

"Dad." Eric gasped as he tied his belt around his leg, "One of us has to leave."

"Eric, we're both shot."

"Are you giving up?"

"Of course not, but how do you expect anyone of us to just walk out of here?" Joseph asked.

"Waldo and Rascall." Eric said, "Make them leave."

"How?"

Eric shrugged, he didn't really know that. They hadn't left before, so why would they now?

"Waldo, go home." Eric said, "Go home boy."

Waldo looked at Eric as if he was crazy. Leave? Leave Eric here, no way."

"Rascall, go home boy. Go home." Eric said, "Come one, go home."

"Fetch Horatio." Joseph said.

Eric looked at him.

"I don't think that is going to work."

"Well, it's not working for your either." Joseph said. Eric sighed.

"Dad, please try with me." He said.

Joseph nodded and for the next 15 minutes he and Eric kept on telling Waldo and Rascall to go home.

-I-

17:00

The whole team were gathered in Horatio's office. He had just talked to the FBI agent, and he knew he had to share the information from Agent Monroe, to his team.

"Alright, it seems as if Rick Stetler has been dealing with trafficking of women and guns." Horatio said, "The FBI started investigating him about a year ago, just a few weeks before he switched departments."

"And Mike Lewis?" Ryan asked.

"Mike Lewis is a criminal, placed here in the lab to nail Rick. What Mr. Lewis didn't tell the FBI was that Rick no longer worked at MDPD, instead he listened to information about our cases and told a friend of his to copy our robber. A friend we haven't found yet." Horatio sighed, "So now we not only have to find Joseph, we have to find Rocco Santana and Rick Stetler, who seems to have disappeared."

"This is BS." Frank growled, "Why do we have to take care of Santana?"

"Because the FBI needs our help, and there is a possibility that our robber is connected to Santana too." Horatio said.

"How?" Calleigh asked.

"Santana used to deal with drugs, that was almost a year ago. But his drugs, are out on the streets and it is the only thing that can put Santana in jail."

"Why?" Frank asked.

"Because Santana never does the dirty work, he sends other people to do it. And they refuse to talk, so the FBI have no way to convict Santana." Horatio said, "But the unique thing with Santana's drugs is that its red, he has added some color to the drugs, and also once you get addicted you will need more and more, faster and faster."

"I still don't understand how that involves our robber." Ryan said.

"The FBI recognized the guy on the phantom picture of the robber as one of their suspects in Santana's business. They believe that this guy is Santana's right hand, or was. Until he started getting to addicted to drugs." Horatio said.

"And nobody wants to work with someone who constantly needs drugs." Frank said.

Horatio nodded.

"Exactly. Our robber is suspected of stealing Santana's drugs and Santana need to find the drugs to wipe out the only things that can convict him, while the FBI needs the drugs to convict Santana." Horatio said.

"So, why rob a bank and shoot people?" Calleigh asked.

"He was probably high during the robberys." Frank said.

"Yes, and he is hiding somewhere. Santana's men are everywhere looking for this guy. He can't get a job, so he has to rob banks. And then he kills two people every time, most likely because he's high." Horatio said.

"So if we find the drugs, we find the robber and we help FBI nail Santana and Rick." Ryan said, "Just how do they know that Stetler is involved?"

"They have photos of him transporting women from different places and they've seen Santana pay him money." Horatio said, "Bringing down Santana isn't going to be easy."

"We'll be ready for anything." Calleigh said.

"Good, now I need to call Eric. We need his help." Horatio said.

The team left the office and gave Horatio some privacy.

Horatio called Eric, but nobody answered.

He's probably mad at me, Horatio thought. He tried to call three more times. No answer. So instead he decided to go home and find Eric.

-I-

17:10

Eric sighed. It was useless. Waldo and Rascall refused to leave.

Damn dogs, after this you're going to be trained to get help, Eric thought. Not that he expected himself to ever get into a situation like this one ever again, but just to be on the safe side. Anything could happen while he or Horatio were out with the dogs, and then they would need them to go back to the house for help.

"The team probably knows you're missing by now." Joseph said.

Eric shook his head, "Horatio sent me home to calm down."

"But you've been gone for quite some time."

"Yeah, but if I don't answer my cell then he'll just think I'm mad at him." Eric sighed, "Of course he will probably realize that something is wrong if I don't show up at the lab or if I'm not at home."

"See! He'll know pretty soon that you're gone." Joseph said.

"Yeah, but it doesn't make any difference dad. The team don't know where to look." Eric said, "The worst thing is that we had a fight."

"When he sent you home?"

"Yeah, we fought." Eric sighed, "I don't want to die knowing that the last thing he and I did was to fight."

"He knows you love him and you won't die here Eric."

Eric nodded. His father was right, though he still started to doubt that he would really make it our of here. And if he didn't then… Horatio would be heartbroken and the team would never see his smile again. He would stop smiling, stop laughing and sometimes forget to eat. He would start living only for his job, like he used to do before he and Eric confessed their feelings for each other. Eric didn't want that to happen. He couldn't put Horatio through that kind of pain.

"Dad." Eric said, "You have to help me get out."

"You're hurt."

"Didn't you hear me?!" Eric growled, "One of us has to leave, and I'm going to leave and get help. Now help me get the ropes off."

"We tried that already."

Eric sighed. Then he turned around towards the dogs.

"Waldo, come here." He said. Waldo got closer to Eric, and Eric played with the ropes to get Waldo interested.

Waldo understood and started biting the ropes. Rascall was of course curious as to what his brother was doing, and decided to join in.

"Good boys." Eric said.

He looked at his father. Joseph looked absolutely terrified.

"Dad, I promise I'll be back."

"Oh don't worry about me." Joseph smiled, "You make sure that you get out the door and as far away as you can. Run and don't look back."

Eric nodded. He didn't want to leave his father alone, but he had to. If they were to survive this, then Eric would have to leave, and hope that Dennis would stay away long enough for the police to arrive.

-I-

17:20

Horatio opened the door and walked the down the hallway. He peeked inside the kitchen. No Eric.

"Eric!" He called out, "I know you're angry at me, but we got a possible break in the case and we need your help."

Horatio sighed as he got no answer. He looked in the living room, bedroom, every room he could think of, but he couldn't find Eric. Nor the dogs.

"Waldo! Rascall!"

When no dogs showed up Horatio started to get worried. It was possible that Eric was out walking the dogs, but Horatio still had an uneasy feeling. Something was not right.

He walked out the door and towards the woods. That's where they always took the dogs.

"Eric!" He called, but no one answered.

"Waldo! Rascall!"

--

Waldo and Rascall suddenly stopped biting the ropes. They seemed to be listening for something.

"Why did they stop?" Joseph asked.

"They hear something." Eric said.

Then Waldo and Rascall ran up the stairs and left Eric and Joseph alone.

"Waldo come back!" Eric growled, "Dammit!"

"Eric, they wouldn't run away unless someone was calling for them." Joseph said.

Eric nodded and started yelling for help."Eric, Dennis will go mad." Joseph said.

"I don't care. Someone is around here and that someone could hear us." Eric said and called for help.

--

17:25

Horatio sighed. No Eric and no dogs. He turned around and started to walk back to the house. Maybe Eric was with one of his sisters. As he walked back he heard someone running towards him.

He turned around, but couldn't see anyone.

"Hello?" He said.

No one answered him, but he was sure that someone was there.

Horatio took his gun out of the holster, just to be sure that no one would attack him. He could feel deep inside of himself that Eric wasn't at his sister's place. And if someone had taken Eric in the woods, then they might try to take him too.

Horatio was surprised when he saw Waldo and Rascall run towards him.

TBC…

AN: Please Review!