Thank you to all of my faithful readers! I wouldn't even be writing if it weren't for you. And let's please remember that the characters of CSI do not belong to me. Oh, and if there's anything anyone would really like to see happen in this story, let me know, and I'll see what I can do! :)
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"Nick, we should put the tent up now," Sara said after they had finished eating breakfast and cleaned up the dishes.
Nick let out a long sigh. "Sar, can we talk for a minute?"
"What about?" She asked innocently, pulling the tent out of the back of the Denali.
"I think you know," he whispered.
Sara looked around, and then focused on Nick's face. "I think we should set up the tent, Nick."
"Sara!"
The volume and anger in his voice surprised her. The tent fell from her grasp and landed with a loud 'thud' on the ground. Sara covered her mouth with her hands and stared at Nick. She closed her eyes then and sat down on the back bumper of the SUV.
"Sara," his voice was much softer as he came to stand in front of her. "I'm sorry."
"I hate this."
"I know you do," Nick whispered before rubbing his eyes in frustration.
"I don't want to fight with you."
"And I don't want to fight with you, but I'm scared, Sara. Some guy is following you, and he's not too afraid of getting close to you. If anything were to happen to you, I'd kill myself, okay?" Nick kneeled down on the ground in front of Sara, and placed his hands on her knees. "I love you, Sara. If you got hurt, or-"
"Nick, please?" Sara begged. "Please don't."
Nick wiped a tear that had begun falling down his cheek. "Then can we please go home. We'll come back another time."
Sara closed her eyes, and placed her hands on top of Nick's. "What if he follows us?"
Nick looked up at her, and whispered, "We'll think of something. Back in Vegas we'll have people we know who can help. Here we don't know anyone. We can't trust anyone. If he does follow us back to Vegas then we can catch him."
"So what you're saying is; you want us to go back to Vegas just so he will follow us?" Sara asked.
"No, Sara," Nick started, joining her on the back bumper. "What I'm saying is; I want to leave this place as soon as we can. And if he does follow us, then we will catch him. And yes, I'd feel a lot safer if that happened. If we don't catch him, though, the ball is still in his court."
"You sound like you've already thought about this a lot."
Nick looked down at their joined hands. "After Nigel, it's hard not to think about stuff like this."
"That was a little different, though, Nick."
"Not really," he whispered.
Sara decided not to argue with him about it. That wouldn't get them anywhere, and the last thing they needed was a fight. It would only give the stalker the upper hand.
"When do you want to leave?" Sara asked.
Nick let out the breath he'd been holding. "Two hours ago."
Sara giggled, and wrapped her arms around Nick's neck. "I love you so much."
Nick cupped her face in his hands and pressed a kiss against her lips. "I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you."
"You won't," Sara promised, kissing him back.
Before either of them could start getting ready to leave, a park ranger pulled into their campsite.
"I wonder what this is about," Nick said to Sara as they both stood up.
Nick recognized Anthony from the day before when they first arrived at Estes Park. He stood nearly half a foot taller than Nick, he had piercing blue eyes, and short light brown hair. Today, though he wasn't wearing the glasses, and this time he didn't remind Nick of Grissom at all. In fact, he almost reminded him of Hank.
Nick left Sara at the SUV and walked over to meet Anthony. "Is there something wrong?" He asked.
Sara decided that she was going to start packing up the car. She headed up to the passenger side of the Denali, and reached into her pocket for the keys to unlock the door. When she didn't find them in there, she realized they must be in one of her bags. Instead of looking through them, she figured she could just get Nick's from him.
"Hey Nick?" She called out, coming around the front of the Denali. "I need your-" she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who Nick was talking to. It was the man she had seen twice the day before. It was the same man who had pinned her up against the wall in the bath house not two hours earlier. And now here he was out in the open, talking to Nick.
"Sara?" Nick's concerned voice broke her out of the trance.
"You," she gasped.
"Me? Me, what?" Nick asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
But before Sara could answer, she felt the world spin around her. Everything started to get hazy as she crumpled to the ground.
"Sara!" Nick yelled, dropping to his knees, next to her lifeless body. "Sara! Sara, wake up! Help! Anthony, call 9-1-1!"
Nick was answered with silence. He spun around to find Anthony speeding off in his truck. "Dammit!" Nick exclaimed.
He turned back to Sara just in time to see her eyes flutter open. "Sara?" he whispered. "Sara, can you hear me?"
Sara nodded, and tried to sit up. Nick helped her into a sitting position so she was leaning against the front of the Denali. He began checking her body for any injuries sustained from the fall. When he found none, he looked at her confused and asked, "What made you faint, Sara?"
Sara closed her eyes as she felt tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. "It was him," she whispered.
"Who? Anthony?"
"He was the one in the bathroom. He was the one who-who-who was there," she whispered.
"Oh my God," Nick breathed. "I'll kill him!"
"Nick," Sara croaked. "Can we go home now, please?"
"Sara, we should report him, or do something."
"Remember what we talked about earlier?" Sara asked in a small voice.
"Yes, but-"
"Please?" She begged one more time.
Nick sighed. "Okay. Let me just go pack up the car."
Nick stood up, and turned around to come face to face with the barrel of a rifle. Before he could move, he felt the butt of the gun slam into his stomach. Nick fell to the ground in front of a screaming Sara. She watched helplessly as the butt of the gun was slammed into the back of Nick's head.
"Nick" she whimpered.
"Now it's time for some fun."
Sara looked up into a piercing pair of blue eyes. "Anthony?" She asked.
"Get up now, or I'll kill him."
Sara stood up slowly, using the Denali for support. "Please don't hurt him anymore," she begged.
Anthony laughed before spitting in her face. "That all depends on you, Sara. Now turn around. And if you make any sudden movements, he gets it."
Sara turned around and looked down at Nick's lifeless body. She felt Anthony pull her wrists together and wrap them with duct tape. When he was finished, Anthony bent down and did the same thing to Nick. "Get up!" He yelled, pulling on Nick's arms.
Nick was barely conscious, but did as he was told.
Anthony pulled the keys out of Nick's jeans pocket, and pushed him around back. He shoved Nick into the back of the Denali before shutting and locking the door.
Then he came back to Sara, and put a strip of tape across her mouth. "I never did like women who talked a lot. It turned me off right away. Now go!" He pushed the barrel of his rifle into Sara's lower back, leading her over to the passenger side of the SUV. She got in slowly.
"Here, let me help you with your seat belt." Sara sat back helplessly as Anthony reached over her lap to fasten the seatbelt. He trailed his hand along the inside of her thigh, making her squirm.
Anthony pulled his hand away and smiled. "More time for that later, but for now, I think you need a nap." Sara watched as he pulled out a cloth from his back pocket, and poured what she guessed was chloroform on it. "Good night, dear." Anthony pressed the cloth to Sara's nose, and within seconds she saw the world turn into darkness.
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