Chapter Nineteen
The sun beat down upon Greg as he stepped out of his car. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he glanced up at the yellow caution tape around Lilly's apartment. It was then that it hit him harder than before. Lilly really was missing; this wasn't all just a bad dream, it was reality.
Slowly Greg climbed up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment complex and approached Lilly's door. He had been there only fifteen hours ago, kissing Lilly right in front of that very door. A tear slipped down his cheek and Greg closed his eyes tightly to block out his memories.
"Greg? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here." Catherine's gentle voice broke through his thoughts. Greg opened his eyes and looked at Catherine's worried face.
"I can't just sit around Cath." He said choking back tears, "Please, let me help." Catherine looked at Greg, calculating whether or not he could handle it. Finally she nodded and stepped aside so Greg could enter.
Shocked at the appearance of Lilly's usually orderly apartment, Greg looked around at the mess. Shaking his head sadly he took the gloves that Catherine offered him and snapped them on.
"Come on, "Catherine said, "I'm working back in the bedroom." Greg followed the older woman in a trance. It hadn't been long since he had been sitting in that living room, on that couch, with Lilly curled up next to him. His heart felt as if it was being torn from his chest as Greg walked down the hallway to Lilly's bedroom.
The covers had been thrown off the bed, papers had been scattered all over the floor, and the lamp on the bedside table had been knocked over and now lay shattered on the floor. Greg took in the chaos and shook his head sadly. Lilly would be heartbroken to see her apartment in such disarray.
Slowly, Greg made his way over to the dresser that sat next to door. He picked through the items that lay on top of the oak top, smiling as he looked at the pictures of Lilly and her family and friends. He opened up the jewelry box that sat there and looked at the sparse collection of earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. The bright sparkle of silver as the sun hits it caught Greg's eye and the lab tech picked up the necklace that had caught his attention. It was the butterfly necklace that he had given Lilly for her birthday! But she had told him herself that she never ever took it off!
~*~Flashback~*~
The rain continued to stream down from the sky, but inside the apartment Lilly and Greg were warm and happy. Greg was leaning up against the arm of the sofa; one leg hanging off the couch while the other stretched out across the sofa. Lilly lay against him, her head cradled by his shoulder. She purred like a contented cat as he gently let his fingers glide across the soft skin of her arm. A small smile curved the tips of Lilly's lips, which were slightly swollen from their make-out session just a few minutes earlier.
Greg let his hands slowly glide up Lilly's arm to her neck and then down to the pendant that lay in the hollow of her throat. He fingered it carefully, watching as the dim light of the television played across the silver.
"You know," he whispered in Lilly's ear, careful not to break the serenity of the moment, "every time I see you, you're wearing this necklace."
"Why wouldn't I?" Lilly whispered back, "You gave it to me and that makes it special."
"You mean you wear it all the time?" Greg could feel Lilly nod and he smiled to himself. Her fingers came up to meet his, and they sat there, both of them with their hands around the butterfly.
~*~End Flashback~*~
"I think I found something Catherine!" Greg called as he scrutinized the necklace thoroughly.
"What'd you find?" Catherine asked coming to stand beside the young man.
"Look, the clasp is broken." He held the necklace up so that the CSI could get a better look at it.
"Hmm." Catherine murmured as she took the necklace from Greg, "There MIGHT be some evidence on the chain, that is if whoever tore this off Lilly's neck wasn't wearing gloves, but that's a slim possibility. Go ahead and bag it." Greg nodded and reached into his kit for a small evidence baggie. He dropped the necklace into the plastic carefully and sealed it tightly.
~*~*~
After a more detailed search, Greg and Catherine emerged from Lilly's apartment with a handful of fibers and small bits of evidence. They had searched for hours and hours to find what little they had, but it had been worth it to finally find evidence of any kind.
~*~*~
Greg worked diligently in the lab, making sure that he looked over each piece of evidence as carefully as he could. He didn't want to turn up empty handed and have his day of searching be in vain. All he wanted was to find Lilly and have her back with him before serious damage was done to her. But it was impossible to know what was happening to her, and Greg didn't want to think about the grim possibilities.
He dropped a hair follicle into the analyzer, waiting for the DNA tag to make itself known. Greg pounced on the results as they slide out of the printer. There it was. He checked the results against the other evidence they'd found. All but that one hair had either been Lilly's or his own. That meant that they had who had abducted Lilly! It had to! Greg smiled to himself; they were that much closer to finding Lilly.
Rushing out of the room, Greg searched frantically for Grissom or Catherine, or somebody he could tell. He raced down the hallway, bumping into people in his haste, till finally he reached Grissom's office.
"Grissom," he panted breathlessly, "I...got...a tag."
"What'd you find?" Grissom asked confused as Greg leaned against the doorframe trying to catch his breath.
"A DNA tag, I found one that's not a match to Lilly." Greg said, "It belongs to a male, most likely Caucasian."
"That doesn't give us much to go on Greg," Grissom replied realistically, "Do you have any idea how many Caucasian males live in Vegas?"
"I know," Greg replied, "but there were heightened levels of drugs in the follicle."
"What kind of drugs, could you tell?" Grissom asked, anxious to know if they really had had a break through on the case, but hiding it well.
"From what I could see they were mostly pain killers, the kind you have to have a prescription for. But this guy seemed healthy, so he's got to work for a hospital or a pharmacy where he had easy access to these drugs." The lab tech replied. Grissom shook his head sadly; it just wasn't enough for him to go on. There were so MANY people that could have access to prescription painkillers.
"I'll get Nick to look in on your lead Greg, but don't get your hopes up," Grissom said grimly, "it'll probably be a dead end." Greg nodded his head, but he refused to give up hope, he refused to let go of the faith that Lilly was out there and just within their grasp.
~*~*~
"Gris!" Warrick called excitedly, "Grissom I've got something!" Nick and Catherine hurried into the room and Grissom soon followed them at a steady walk, but anyone could see he was just as anxious to hear the news as everyone else.
"What do you have Warrick?" he asked calmly.
"Check it out," Warrick said punching a few buttons on the computer keyboard in front of him. An image appeared on the larger screen that hung on the wall. Lilly sat with Greg; the two of them locked in a loving kiss.
"I was able to trace the feed in the camera from the living room," said Warrick, "I'm still not sure where it was sent to, but I was able to access the most recent footage."
"Can you go forwards to the time of Lilly's abduction?" Grissom said watching the screen closely.
"Sure thing." Warrick said. His fingers tapped away at the keyboard, and soon the image became darker, the only light from the night vision installed in the camera. A dark, hooded figure entered through the door and headed towards the back of the apartment. The team watched transfixed as the figure reappeared with a struggling Lilly in his clutches. She stepped on his foot, hard, then punched him on the jaw. His grip loosened and Lilly fled from him. He quickly caught her around the waist and tackled her to the ground and climbed on top of her. Lilly struggled and her mouth formed a silent scream, her abductor slapped her across the face, momentarily silencing her, but not for long. Lilly was once again struggling against his hold, clawing, kicking, and biting him. It seemed as if the masked man was getting fed up with her and he soon hauled back and punched her, making Lilly's body go limp as she was knocked out.
The sight sickened Grissom and the older man felt as if he wanted to cry. He couldn't take seeing Lilly, who had been like a daughter to him, go through that. He looked away from the screen and inconspicuously wiped a single tear from his eye.
"The camera was cut off not long after that." Warrick said, his own voice showing the emotions that were warring within him.
"Poor Lilly." Catherine whispered, choked with tears.
"Warrick, can you go back and enlarge that guy's face?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, one second." Warrick went back to work on the computer and soon an enlarged version of the intruder's face was on the screen.
"Enhance the eyes." Nick said, he was in the zone, his mind focused on only one thing, getting Lilly back.
"Okay," Warrick said giving Nick an odd look. After all, what can eyes tell you about someone's identity?
"Now trying running them through the database." Nick said.
"Try putting in Caucasian male as well." Grissom spoke up.
"Alright." Warrick said. A long pause ensued as the CSI team waited with baited breath for the results of the search.
"Gotcha!" Warrick said as three possible suspects popped up. Each of them were white, had the same eye shape and color, but the one thing that stood out for Grissom was the fact that only one of them worked for a hospital.
~*~*~
You didn't think that I was gonna actually let you guys find out who the abductor was, did you? Nope, I'd much rather keep you in suspense and coming back for more. After all, what would one of my stories be without one of my famous cliffhangers? LOL. Well I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and will feel compelled to review.
As I said in the first chapter, I know nothing about forensic science, so the way they find who kidnapped Lilly might seem a little weird. Also, Lilly won't be coming into the chapters all that much right now because I want to focus more on the search for her.
Again, please review. I want to reach one hundred reviews before I end this story, and that goal all deepened upon you guys who read this story. So please review, review, review. I have about five to ten more chapters to write before this story ends, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to reach one hundred reviews by then. So once again I beg you to review.
The sun beat down upon Greg as he stepped out of his car. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he glanced up at the yellow caution tape around Lilly's apartment. It was then that it hit him harder than before. Lilly really was missing; this wasn't all just a bad dream, it was reality.
Slowly Greg climbed up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment complex and approached Lilly's door. He had been there only fifteen hours ago, kissing Lilly right in front of that very door. A tear slipped down his cheek and Greg closed his eyes tightly to block out his memories.
"Greg? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here." Catherine's gentle voice broke through his thoughts. Greg opened his eyes and looked at Catherine's worried face.
"I can't just sit around Cath." He said choking back tears, "Please, let me help." Catherine looked at Greg, calculating whether or not he could handle it. Finally she nodded and stepped aside so Greg could enter.
Shocked at the appearance of Lilly's usually orderly apartment, Greg looked around at the mess. Shaking his head sadly he took the gloves that Catherine offered him and snapped them on.
"Come on, "Catherine said, "I'm working back in the bedroom." Greg followed the older woman in a trance. It hadn't been long since he had been sitting in that living room, on that couch, with Lilly curled up next to him. His heart felt as if it was being torn from his chest as Greg walked down the hallway to Lilly's bedroom.
The covers had been thrown off the bed, papers had been scattered all over the floor, and the lamp on the bedside table had been knocked over and now lay shattered on the floor. Greg took in the chaos and shook his head sadly. Lilly would be heartbroken to see her apartment in such disarray.
Slowly, Greg made his way over to the dresser that sat next to door. He picked through the items that lay on top of the oak top, smiling as he looked at the pictures of Lilly and her family and friends. He opened up the jewelry box that sat there and looked at the sparse collection of earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. The bright sparkle of silver as the sun hits it caught Greg's eye and the lab tech picked up the necklace that had caught his attention. It was the butterfly necklace that he had given Lilly for her birthday! But she had told him herself that she never ever took it off!
~*~Flashback~*~
The rain continued to stream down from the sky, but inside the apartment Lilly and Greg were warm and happy. Greg was leaning up against the arm of the sofa; one leg hanging off the couch while the other stretched out across the sofa. Lilly lay against him, her head cradled by his shoulder. She purred like a contented cat as he gently let his fingers glide across the soft skin of her arm. A small smile curved the tips of Lilly's lips, which were slightly swollen from their make-out session just a few minutes earlier.
Greg let his hands slowly glide up Lilly's arm to her neck and then down to the pendant that lay in the hollow of her throat. He fingered it carefully, watching as the dim light of the television played across the silver.
"You know," he whispered in Lilly's ear, careful not to break the serenity of the moment, "every time I see you, you're wearing this necklace."
"Why wouldn't I?" Lilly whispered back, "You gave it to me and that makes it special."
"You mean you wear it all the time?" Greg could feel Lilly nod and he smiled to himself. Her fingers came up to meet his, and they sat there, both of them with their hands around the butterfly.
~*~End Flashback~*~
"I think I found something Catherine!" Greg called as he scrutinized the necklace thoroughly.
"What'd you find?" Catherine asked coming to stand beside the young man.
"Look, the clasp is broken." He held the necklace up so that the CSI could get a better look at it.
"Hmm." Catherine murmured as she took the necklace from Greg, "There MIGHT be some evidence on the chain, that is if whoever tore this off Lilly's neck wasn't wearing gloves, but that's a slim possibility. Go ahead and bag it." Greg nodded and reached into his kit for a small evidence baggie. He dropped the necklace into the plastic carefully and sealed it tightly.
~*~*~
After a more detailed search, Greg and Catherine emerged from Lilly's apartment with a handful of fibers and small bits of evidence. They had searched for hours and hours to find what little they had, but it had been worth it to finally find evidence of any kind.
~*~*~
Greg worked diligently in the lab, making sure that he looked over each piece of evidence as carefully as he could. He didn't want to turn up empty handed and have his day of searching be in vain. All he wanted was to find Lilly and have her back with him before serious damage was done to her. But it was impossible to know what was happening to her, and Greg didn't want to think about the grim possibilities.
He dropped a hair follicle into the analyzer, waiting for the DNA tag to make itself known. Greg pounced on the results as they slide out of the printer. There it was. He checked the results against the other evidence they'd found. All but that one hair had either been Lilly's or his own. That meant that they had who had abducted Lilly! It had to! Greg smiled to himself; they were that much closer to finding Lilly.
Rushing out of the room, Greg searched frantically for Grissom or Catherine, or somebody he could tell. He raced down the hallway, bumping into people in his haste, till finally he reached Grissom's office.
"Grissom," he panted breathlessly, "I...got...a tag."
"What'd you find?" Grissom asked confused as Greg leaned against the doorframe trying to catch his breath.
"A DNA tag, I found one that's not a match to Lilly." Greg said, "It belongs to a male, most likely Caucasian."
"That doesn't give us much to go on Greg," Grissom replied realistically, "Do you have any idea how many Caucasian males live in Vegas?"
"I know," Greg replied, "but there were heightened levels of drugs in the follicle."
"What kind of drugs, could you tell?" Grissom asked, anxious to know if they really had had a break through on the case, but hiding it well.
"From what I could see they were mostly pain killers, the kind you have to have a prescription for. But this guy seemed healthy, so he's got to work for a hospital or a pharmacy where he had easy access to these drugs." The lab tech replied. Grissom shook his head sadly; it just wasn't enough for him to go on. There were so MANY people that could have access to prescription painkillers.
"I'll get Nick to look in on your lead Greg, but don't get your hopes up," Grissom said grimly, "it'll probably be a dead end." Greg nodded his head, but he refused to give up hope, he refused to let go of the faith that Lilly was out there and just within their grasp.
~*~*~
"Gris!" Warrick called excitedly, "Grissom I've got something!" Nick and Catherine hurried into the room and Grissom soon followed them at a steady walk, but anyone could see he was just as anxious to hear the news as everyone else.
"What do you have Warrick?" he asked calmly.
"Check it out," Warrick said punching a few buttons on the computer keyboard in front of him. An image appeared on the larger screen that hung on the wall. Lilly sat with Greg; the two of them locked in a loving kiss.
"I was able to trace the feed in the camera from the living room," said Warrick, "I'm still not sure where it was sent to, but I was able to access the most recent footage."
"Can you go forwards to the time of Lilly's abduction?" Grissom said watching the screen closely.
"Sure thing." Warrick said. His fingers tapped away at the keyboard, and soon the image became darker, the only light from the night vision installed in the camera. A dark, hooded figure entered through the door and headed towards the back of the apartment. The team watched transfixed as the figure reappeared with a struggling Lilly in his clutches. She stepped on his foot, hard, then punched him on the jaw. His grip loosened and Lilly fled from him. He quickly caught her around the waist and tackled her to the ground and climbed on top of her. Lilly struggled and her mouth formed a silent scream, her abductor slapped her across the face, momentarily silencing her, but not for long. Lilly was once again struggling against his hold, clawing, kicking, and biting him. It seemed as if the masked man was getting fed up with her and he soon hauled back and punched her, making Lilly's body go limp as she was knocked out.
The sight sickened Grissom and the older man felt as if he wanted to cry. He couldn't take seeing Lilly, who had been like a daughter to him, go through that. He looked away from the screen and inconspicuously wiped a single tear from his eye.
"The camera was cut off not long after that." Warrick said, his own voice showing the emotions that were warring within him.
"Poor Lilly." Catherine whispered, choked with tears.
"Warrick, can you go back and enlarge that guy's face?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, one second." Warrick went back to work on the computer and soon an enlarged version of the intruder's face was on the screen.
"Enhance the eyes." Nick said, he was in the zone, his mind focused on only one thing, getting Lilly back.
"Okay," Warrick said giving Nick an odd look. After all, what can eyes tell you about someone's identity?
"Now trying running them through the database." Nick said.
"Try putting in Caucasian male as well." Grissom spoke up.
"Alright." Warrick said. A long pause ensued as the CSI team waited with baited breath for the results of the search.
"Gotcha!" Warrick said as three possible suspects popped up. Each of them were white, had the same eye shape and color, but the one thing that stood out for Grissom was the fact that only one of them worked for a hospital.
~*~*~
You didn't think that I was gonna actually let you guys find out who the abductor was, did you? Nope, I'd much rather keep you in suspense and coming back for more. After all, what would one of my stories be without one of my famous cliffhangers? LOL. Well I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and will feel compelled to review.
As I said in the first chapter, I know nothing about forensic science, so the way they find who kidnapped Lilly might seem a little weird. Also, Lilly won't be coming into the chapters all that much right now because I want to focus more on the search for her.
Again, please review. I want to reach one hundred reviews before I end this story, and that goal all deepened upon you guys who read this story. So please review, review, review. I have about five to ten more chapters to write before this story ends, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to reach one hundred reviews by then. So once again I beg you to review.