So that episode tonight alerted me to the existence of this story again... haha... sorry guys... Well, I won't say anything about the premiere in case people haven't seen it (although I can't think of a good enough excuse for not seeing it), but anyways! that was intense!!! okay, yeah, so sorry about the delay again... have fun reading...

Hahaha... okay, for those of you who actually read the other chapter 25 I had up... uh... that was me being stupid and accidentally posting the rest... so... Yeah, this is the actual chapter 25... so... good for you if you read it... uh... bad? for you if you didn't, cuz I'm gonna continue posting the rest of it as if it never happened! okay... yeah, sorry about that...

Chapter 25

His phone beeped and Grissom looked down at it before glancing up at everyone apologetically. The whole night shift, along with Archie and Hodges, had gathered in the evidence room and were looking at the miniature and going through the manila folder of information. Everyone looked up at the sound of his phone and watched him expectantly.

Grissom dug his phone out and flipped it open. It was a text message. That's odd. He rarely got text messages. He looked at the little bouncing envelope for a moment before he realized who it was from. 'Text Message from Gregory Sanders'. Heart pounding, he opened it. In my locker, it read.

Frowning, he looked up at the rest of the people in the room. "Greg just texted me," he announced. Faces lit up excitedly, and Grissom glanced down at his phone again before explaining. "In my locker, he says."

"Does anyone know Greg's combo?" Nick asked immediately.

"It might be in that word file," Archie said. "We could check that,"

Grissom shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We can cut his lock off."

Grissom and Nick made their way to the locker rooms, not speaking. "I hope you know that Ecklie is following us," said a voice from behind.

Grissom turned to see that Hodges had accompanied them out the room. Behind him was Ecklie, walking briskly towards them with an expression of loathing plastered on his face. Grissom wanted to yell at someone. He did not at all feel like dealing with Ecklie at the moment. "What do you think you're doing?" Ecklie demanded.

Nick stepped in before Grissom could reply. "Remember the guy you thought was leaking information to the press?" he asked acidly.

Ecklie gave him a blank look.

"Yeah? Well, he's missing," Nick said bluntly.

Grissom stared at the two of them. Why hadn't he heard about this? Ecklie's expression went from one of anger to one of surprised disappointment. "He what?"

"He's missing," Nick repeated.

"I—" Ecklie seemed to be struggling with something. "I… I'm sorry," he said finally. There was a long pause in which Grissom resisted the urge to comment. Ecklie coughed uncomfortably. "Uh… um… Day shift can take over the bombing case for now," he said, subdued.

Grissom, Nick and Hodges were silent.

"Do you uh… do you need anything. Is there anything my team could help you with?" Ecklie asked, his tone wary, as if he expected one of them to start yelling at him.

This time, Nick didn't reply. Grissom managed to control his sudden anger at the man. "No, that's alright. We'll call if we need help," Grissom replied in a level voice.

Ecklie nodded awkwardly. "G-good luck," he said before turning on his heel and leaving in the direction he came.

Grissom turned to Nick questioningly. "Why didn't I hear about Greg being accused of that?"

Nick gave him a long look. "I think that question is a little hypocritical under the circumstances."

Grissom blinked and hurried to catch up with Nick, who'd continued walking. "Nick?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry," he said.

Nick stopped walking to turn around and look at him. His expression softened considerably after a moment. "You didn't have a choice," he said quietly. "It's not your fault."

It took them less than a minute to have the lock cut off, and Grissom pulled on gloves before opening his team member's locker. In the back left corner was a little cardboard box. Grissom took it out and delicately set it on the bench while Nick cleaned out the rest of Greg's stuff.

When they got back to the evidence room, Grissom saw Catherine and Archie on their way out, saying that they were going to look at the surveillance tape. Warrick and Sara had left already to process Greg's car, and so Grissom and Nick set to going through the little cardboard box from Greg's locker. Hodges picked up the scope and looked at the little miniatures curiously. "Have you found the bleach yet?" he asked.

Grissom nodded. "It's in the little storage room," Grissom told him, waving his hand negligently.

Inside the little cardboard box, Grissom found the USB, the envelope of pictures, the two checks, the old cell phone, the webcam and the two microphones. In another envelope that lay on top of everything was a collection of notes that Greg had written and dated.

Grissom picked up the first one, which was dated the day after Grissom had received the miniatures.

Today, I got an envelope in the mail with no return address. It had a USB inside along with pictures of me that I can never remember taking. Immediately after I saw these, I left my apartment and somebody called me on my phone. The number was restricted; I'd gotten a couple calls like this before but I didn't think anything of it until now. After I'd left, whoever sent it called Catherine on my home phone. In the car, I got another call by a restricted number. The person's voice was altered, but they read the GPS coordinates on my car exactly right.

A couple of days ago, I lost my cell phone. I haven't stayed at my apartment in the last week; instead, I checked into a hotel. Today, I got a call from my apartment manager that I've been evicted. She said that I was evicted because I didn't pay rent and because I 'ripped up part of the carpet in the bedroom'. I was talking to Nick when I got a text message from my stalker saying that I was too close to telling someone what was happening. When Nick and I got to the apartment, I found another envelope with the two checks I'd sent my manager and my lost cell phone. I also found a webcam in my car that the stalker had taken pictures with. A couple days ago, my mother called me and told me she was coming to visit, but at the apartment complex, my stalker called back and told me he'd sent the fake tickets to her. I caught a glimpse of him as he was turning the corner after I hung up. During this phone call, he told me that he had a set of 'rules' that I had to follow and I was breaking them by letting slip to my friends about what was happening. He also told me he was operating on a time line, but he said the timeline was for someone else's benefit, not mine and he also told me that somebody else knows about everything aside from Archie.

Grissom knew exactly who the killer was referring to in his conversation with Greg. He felt Nick's eyes on him, so he turned to the man, who had been going through the other contents of the box. "He's left us notes of what happened," Grissom told him.

Nick nodded. "Ecklie said something about 'hiding things away in his locker' during that argument."

Grissom frowned. "What happened?"

Nick explained it to him, and Grissom scowled bitterly. "I can't stand Ecklie sometimes," he said after Nick had finished explaining.

Nick didn't reply.

They worked in silence until Catherine and Archie got back, announcing that the surveillance camera had been turned off for about fifteen minutes. Warrick and Sara returned shortly after them, toting evidence bags and Greg's lap top. "I figured his email might yield something," Sara said. Her voice was shaking slightly, and Grissom longed to go put an arm around her. He had to make do with giving her a comforting look, though. She smiled wearily at him as she turned on his lap top.

Grissom sighed and turned back to the contents of the box. They had a day and a half left before they would supposedly find his corpse in the little cleaning room down the hall.