once again i thank you for all the reviews. you guys are the best. as i promised things are slowly starting to happen. it wouldn't be suspense if i didn't keep you in suspense, lol. i'm trying to upload at least once a day. here's the next installment. enjoy

Sara's house was a mess. Papers were thrown around, there was shattered glass everywhere and Sara was missing. Brass and Greg showed up with Catherine and Warrick showed up ten minutes later.

Grissom had already marked and cleared all the evidence from the bedroom. He sat on her bed, staring at a photo on her nightstand. He remembered when it was taken, but when he saw the look on her face as she looked up at him, he wished he'd been looking at her when Catherine had snapped the picture. Her eyes were so full of love, he wanted to cry thinking about how he'd turned her down.

"That's such a good picture," Catherine remarked looking over his shoulder. "The best company Christmas party we ever had."

Grissom sighed and put the picture back on Sara's night stand.

"Last year," he sighed, then looked up at Catherine. "Find anything?"

"Traces of blood, signs of struggle," she sighed. "Gil, its not like they left a note. If Sara's alive, you have to snap out of it and help us before he kills her, or Ecklie gets the case."

He looked up at her and pulled himself off the bed.

"I want to know if its her blood," he remarked. "Send Greg back with it. Have him page me as soon as he gets the results. I'm going to check the closet."

Catherine nodded and walked out of the bedroom.

----

'Where the hell am I?,' Sara thought as she regained conciousness. The room was pitch black. She tried to move and found her hands were tied.

"Awake yet?," a low male voice came from seemingly nowhere.

"Where am I?," she spat out.

He laughed. The sharp sound of his voice startled her. She tried to jump back and jammed her shoulder against something sharp. She could feel her warm blood trickling down her arm.

The light came on. Sara closed her eyes.

"I see why he likes you," the man laughed. "Good old Glen."

'Glen,' she thought. That name sounded familiar. Oh yeah, the suspect from her murder case.

"Where am I?," she repeated. This time she could see him. His cold blue eyes stared down at her in bitterness as she tried in vain to nurse her wounded shoulder. She only succeeded in ripping the wound open even more than it was.

The man pulled out a syringe and filled it with the contents of a small bottle.

"Time to go to sleep, Sara," he growled and stuck the needle into her neck. She screamed out in pain, but a few seconds later, she felt like she was falling. And all she could hear was his shrill laughter.

----

Greg stared at CODIS for a few long minutes. He'd decided against comparing the sample when he realized that this option gave him the opportunity to brace himself in case the blood was Sara's. He'd had a crush on her, and Catherine too, for the longest time. She was also one of his best friends.

The computer beeped, displaying the message 'No Match'. Greg stood up and looked at the screen. He'd have to do a comparitive test to be sure, but he was relieved. All CSI's DNA was filed into CODIS. Grissom hadn't missed anything when training the new lab techs.

----

Grissom's cell phone rang just as he was leaving Sara's apartment.

"Grissom."

"Gris, I've got news for you," Greg babbled over the phone, too excited for his usual cryptic banter. He stood in the lab holding a piece of paper in his trembling hands. "The blood at the scene isn't Sara's. Gris, its not her blood."

Grissom looked over his shoulder at Catherine. He turned around to face her.

"Thanks Greg," he put his cell phone back in his pocket.

"Is it her?," Catherine asked, her eyes begging for good news.

"Results are negative," Grissom smiled although his eyes threatened to release his tears at any moment. "Its not Sara."

There was a collective sigh of relief among all of the present CSI's.

"They don't have a match on the blood we found, do they?," Nick questioned.

"No," Grissom sighed. He squeezed his hand around the shirt he'd stuffed in his pocket. His mind wandered slightly, wondering if Sara was still alive.