Nick rolled into his driveway a couple of hours later. Sara refused to let him leave the lab until she was certain he was walking the best he was able to. And on top of that he had to deal with Hodges to log his evidence since the regular guy had been off on a break. Which meant Hodges wanted to talk. And talk. And talk. Blowing out a breath, Nick shifted his truck into park then turned off the engine. It felt good to be home, even if he was missing out on the rest of his shift. Climbing out of his vehicle, he went to his front door, unlocked it, and proceeded inside.
Once on the other side of the door, he closed it and locked it back up again. Reaching out for the light switch, he yelped when his arm was grabbed followed by a firm hand clamping down hard over his mouth while his other arm was twisted behind him. Breathing hard in a panic, he struggled with whoever was holding him but couldn't get loose. The hand over his mouth was clamped on so tight he couldn't make a sound. He tried shouting as he was dragged away from the front door then forced to sit in one of his kitchen chairs while his hands were tied behind him. When one of his attackers moved in front of him, he noticed whoever it was was wearing a mask to avoid being recognized. Nick kicked out with his right leg - his good leg - taking that attacker by surprise and landing a blow in the man's stomach. He was about to strike again when he felt a sharp blade placed against his throat.
"Stop fighting us." The voice sounded distorted somehow but Nick was able to identify it as masculine. "Unless you'd rather we just kill you of course."
Nick shook his head a little, wishing the hand on his mouth would disappear. He swallowed hard as his ankles were tied tightly to the front legs of the chair. Wincing as the knife was withdrawn from his throat, and the hand finally removed from his mouth, Nick looked at his attackers as the other one finally came into his line of sight.
"Wh… who are you? What do you want?" The one with the knife handed the other one another coil of rope. Nick struggled as the second man wrapped the coil around his chest and the back of the chair. With a quiet groan, Nick realized he couldn't move. "How did you get into my house?"
"Shut up." The first one said, pointing the knife at him. "As for what we want - at the moment we have it. You."
Nick fell silent as the second one finished restraining him. "You guys picked the wrong house, you know that right?" He groaned when he was backhanded across the face.
"I said shut up. If you don't, we'll gag you."
"Yeah, I don't do very well at following bad guys instructions anymore." Nick glared at him. "Just tell me why you're doin this."
"I have my reasons. You know… we could glue his lips together…" The lead attacker said thoughtfully.
"Y… You wouldn't…"
"Keep talking and find out." He crouched down in front of their hostage and chuckled softly. "You're defiant. I like that. No, we won't glue your lips together. After all, I do need you to talk at some point. Just not right at this very moment. So do yourself a favour and just shut up."
"You see I kinda have this tendency to talk when I'm nervous and you're just makin it worse…" Nick moaned when he was backhanded across the face again.
"Gag him." The one in charge looked at his partner. "And make it nice, thick, and tight."
"You got it boss."
Nick grunted as a cloth was wrapped around his head and mouth then tied off tightly at the back of his head. His eyes widened as that cloth was joined by a second one, then a third. By the time the one doing it was finished, there had to be at least 5 layers of cloth over his mouth. It was so thick, Nick's nostrils barely had clearance to continue bringing in air for him to survive on.
"Is the truck in place?"
"Yeah boss."
"Good. Get the boys to start clearing out the house. I want it to look like he moved out without a moment's notice."
"Mmmmp?!" Nick couldn't believe what he was hearing but his vocal astonishment was muffled so much he could barely even hear it himself.
"And sorry about this, Stokes, but you'll have to be blindfolded for this. Can't have you identifying any of us yet." The leader moved around behind his hostage and tied a wide, thick piece of cloth around the bound man's eyes. It was so wide that it covered most of his forehead and went down to the tip of his nose.
Nick sat there helplessly, listening while his entire life was packed up into boxes. Then head heard them moving his furniture out. It must have taken hours but even though he couldn't see, Nick knew when his house was completely empty. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of his stomach when someone came back to him and put their hand on top of his head.
"Now, I bet you're wondering what we plan on doing with you. Nod your head if that's a yes."
Breathing hard, Nick nodded slowly.
"Well, once we have Dr. Grissom as well, we'll be moving you to a place you'll never escape from. And it won't be like last time. Nicholas."
Feeling the blood drain from his face, Nick finally realized who the masked man in charge was.
Mario Rocelli.