The woman in her late-twenties drove down the empty road, trying to look at the map and keep her children quiet at the same time.

"Mom, are we almost there?" her youngest, a three-year-old whined.

"I don't know. I'm trying to figure it out." the mother snapped, her temper rising. They were going to Vegas for a vacation, had been in the car all day, and now they were lost.

The maroon van rolled past the deserted warehouse, and the newly wrecked car without the occupants even noticing them.

--------------------

Catherine looked over her shoulder. Christopher was slowly gaining on her, trying to run and reload his gun at the same time. Catherine gasped, short of breath, as she faced forward once again and added another burst of speed.

Then Catherine heard it; there was a car coming. She turned around again to see a van rolling down the road. It passed Christopher; the driver didn't seem to be paying a lot of attention. Catherine jumped out in front of the car, trying to stop them.

The woman saw Catherine at the last minute, and slammed on the brakes. She rolled down the window.

Catherine ran to the side of the car, "Please help me, could you take me to Vegas?" she begged.

"What's wrong?" the young mother asked.

Catherine looked back down the road. The woman followed her gaze and almost screamed when she saw the man running toward them, brandishing a gun. She leaned over, swinging the door open.

Catherine clambered in, and they speed off, leaving Christopher behind. The two women watched in the rear view mirrors as he faded into the distance. "Do you have a cell phone?" Catherine asked.

The driver tossed a small phone to her, and Catherine dialed 911. "Hello, 911. What is your emergency?"

Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. "This is CSI Willows. I was abducted yesterday by the 'Opera Killer.' I got away, and am on my way back to Vegas now. Send police to the..." Catherine looked at the map. "Tyson Warehouse out on Highway 47. He is armed, so be careful."

The 911 operator said something to her, and Catherine replied. "I can meet the police at Desert Palm. -All right, bye."

Catherine hung up and passed the phone back to the driver.

"Are you OK?" the woman asked, eying the bruises on Catherine's wrists.

"Fine... I'm Catherine, by the way."

"I'm Shelly. And that's Sammy and Ruthie." she introduced everyone to Catherine.

Cat waved to the kids, smiling. "Thanks for picking me up."

"Sure..."

Catherine gestured to the phone. "D'you mind if I call my daughter?"

"No, go ahead."

Catherine punched in the familiar number. "Mommy!" Lindsey squealed.

--------------------

Grissom answered his phone with the usual monotonous voice.

"Grissom, Cath 's OK!" Brass' static-filled voice nearly shouted. "911 got a call from her, we're gonna meet her at DP, so I'll see you guys there."

Grissom felt like screaming with joy. He forced himself to remain calm, and began calling the rest of the team.

TBC... Hopefully in less time than this; sorry it took so long!