Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just like to write about the characters.

Chapter 27

The sound of arguing voices woke Nick from his dreamless sleep. His mind pushed through the jumble of disarrayed thoughts in his head, trying to assess exactly where he was and why he felt like shit. He winced in pain as he tried to move. He felt like a ton of bricks were sitting on his chest. He felt a cool hand touch his forehead and he woozily whispered, "Sara?"

There was a hesitation before a woman's voice said, "It's Catherine, Nick. You're going to be fine. The operation was a success. They didn't find any internal bleeding." One eye opened slowly and he hurriedly closed it due to the bright glare of the overhead lights. He groaned as he tried to move again. "Nicky, try and lie still. You're going to be uncomfortable for the next few days."

He struggled to open his eyes again, this time managing to keep them open. He slowly focused on the smiling face of Catherine. "Welcome back, handsome." she grinned. "How long was I out?" he asked. "You were in surgery for about an hour and half. You've been asleep for almost 2 more."

He closed his eyes again as the torrent of memories filled his mind: He and Sara making love, whispered I love you's, waking up in each others arms, explosions, the grin of a mad man, Sara's eyes pleading with him, Sara telling him that she loved him, Sara screaming out his name in agony as the bullets slammed into his chest.

"Sara?" he asked as he slowly opened his eyes meeting Catherine's sorrowful ones. She shook her head remorsefully, "I'm sorry Nicky. We haven't found her yet." He turned his head away as his eyes filled with tears. He had broken his promise to protect her. She was in grave danger because of his inability to keep her safe. If any thing happen to her , he would never forgive himself.

As if reading his mind, Catherine said sternly, "This is not your fault Nick. He has played us all. He's had this planned for a long time. I don't think any of us could have prevented it."

Nick turned to question what she meant and noticed a very weary Grissom standing a few feet behind her. His eyes locked onto the older man begging for some promising answers.

Grissom took a couple steps forward, faltering for a moment not sure what to say. "I'm sorry," he stammered looking away from Nick's pain filled brown eyes. He wanted to say more but the words lodged themselves tightly in his throat. "Gil," Catherine started, "It's not your fault either. We need to stay focused for Sara' sake. I know we're all scared shitless but we can't stand here blaming ourselves about what we could have done differently."

"She's right," came Warrick's voice from across the room. "Let's fill Nick in on what we know so far and go from there." Nick's eyes shifted over to his friend lying in a nearby bed. He gave him a weak smile. "Glad your okay man," Warrick said. "You too," Nick whispered hoarsely.

Grissom began to fill Nick in on everything they had found out about the suspect thus far. Nick's heart shuttered at the knowledge that this mad man had been stalking Sara for over a year. He closed his eyes and began to pray that Sara was all right and that she knew they wouldn't stop looking until they found her.

400 miles away in a remote cabin north of Reno

Something soft brushed against Sara's cheek and she sighed at the comforting sensation. She smiled tenderly with her eyes still closed and lovingly whispered Nick's name.

She gasped in pain when a pair of hands clamped down on her forearms and violently yanked her upwards. Her terrified eyes flew open to meet the angry glare of her captor. "He's gone bitch and the sooner you accept it, the easier your life will be."

She fisted her uninjured hand and swung it upwards, smiling when it connected soundly with his chin. She thrust her legs up shoving him away with her feet. Her sudden attack threw him off balance and Sara scrambled off the bed scurrying as quickly as possible to the door.

She felt the knob slip through her fingers as she was yanked brutally by her hair. Her breath left her when she was slammed harshly up against the wall. "You listen and listen good Sara. There is no one around for miles. It's just you and me. They're not going to find us. Do you understand? I've thoroughly covered my tracks." he grinned wickedly.

Sara pursed her lips in defiance. "I'm going to laugh like hell when they come through that door and take you down, you sick bastard." she growled heatedly. He grin seemed to grow bigger. "By the time they figure out where we are you'll be a lifeless corpse rotting in the ground."

Rage filled Sara and she kicked him forcefully in the shin. He growled out in pain, grabbing a hold of her injured wrist twisting it. Sara screamed out in agony and fell down to her knees. He leaned down and whispered, "Don't do that again Bitch." She turned her face toward his and spit at him. His eyes widened in surprise at her boldness. He slowly wiped his face off with the back of his hand. He stepped away from her, his eyes filling slowly with blistering rage.

"Is this how you want to play it Sara? I can handle that. You want me to make it hurt, I can comply." He reached down and grabbed her by the hair dragging her toward him. Sara frantically tried to get to her feet but she couldn't move fast enough. She could feel her hair being ripped from her scalp. She smothered her scream of pain. She would not give him the satisfaction.

He suddenly released her hair and she fell to the floor at his feet. "This is where you belong Sara, on your hands and knees at my feet, so get use to it!" he spat venomously. He raised his feet and kicked her harshly in her stomach. Sara gasped in pain and rolled herself into a tight ball trying to protect herself from further assault.

When nothing happened she hesitantly opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Why?" she questioned slowly. His eyes clouded over for a moment and he looked away from her. He seemed to be deciding whether to answer her or not. He sighed heavily before reaching down, grabbing hold of her arm and yanking her upwards. Sara recoiled at his touch and tensed waiting for the power of his fury to reign down on her.

Instead he pushed her gently toward the bed and directed her to sit down. He stared hard at her for a moment before saying, "Do you remember San Francisco?" Sara nodded slowly. "Describe our relationship as you remember it." he said softly. Sara knew she had to answer carefully. One wrong word could send him over the edge. Her mind raced quickly trying to remember if there had been more to their relationship other then working together at crime scenes.

She cleared her throat and said, "You were a detective with the SFPD and we would work on cases occasionally. We were on friendly terms and would joke around together but we were not close friends. When the gang would hang out after shift you'd be there. Sometimes we talked."

He nodded his head slowly, pleased that she had remembered. She shrugged her shoulders not sure what else he wanted her to say. He got this distant look in his eyes and a smile crossed his face. "You were so beautiful and full of life back then. You looked at everything with such excitement. You loved solving the puzzle. I would watch you at the crime scenes as you analyzed everything around you. You were breath-taking to watch Sara. But then you began to make wrong choices and you began to change. You were losing your passion. You tried to run from your bad decisions and you came here looking for redemption. But you didn't find what you were looking for. Instead you sunk further into your own personal hell. I watched you as you patiently waited for him to acknowledge you and accept you as his equal. But it never happened."

He met her eyes and held her confused gaze. "Gil Grissom, the man you thought was going to be your salvation." he said with a smirk. Sara's eyes widened in surprise, god what else did he know. "He sucked the life right out of you Sara. He was a fool not to have realized what you were offering him. You would have given him anything. He had all the power, as it should be between a man and a woman. I know you're capable of being submissive Sara; you've been compliant and obedient with him for the past 4 years. That's all I want from you Sara, surrender yourself to me completely and this nightmare will be over."

He reached out his hand to touch her cheek and she fought her impulse to flinch and scream at him. Instead she drew in a shaky breath and said, "I still don't understand why." He withdrew his hand from her cheek and her eyes closed briefly in relief.

"I loved you completely and I thought you were beginning to feel something for me. We were talking more often and I was going to ask you to breakfast when you true colors finally came through." he said quietly, his voice beginning to fill with menace again.

Sara raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Jason," he hissed softly as his eyes darkened with uncontrolled anger. Sara felt like she had been struck. She reeled away from him with wide eyes. God she had been so stupid. Of course it had been Jason, Jason the man who had turned her life upside down. Jason, the real reason she had left San Francisco and ran to Las Vegas. Jason the man who had broke her heart and left her feeling like a fool.

Sara turned away from him and fought to control the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. "Don't you dare cry for that conceited, arrogant bastard." he hissed bitterly. "You made a huge mistake Sara and now it's time to pay for it." He reached for her suddenly and closed his hands around her throat. She didn't fight him but welcomed the darkness that came taking her far away from the awful memories of Jason Briggs.

Crime Lab, Las Vegas

Greg Sanders stared at the report Bobby had just handed him about the bullets retrieved from the 3 young women who had been murdered. "Jesus do you know what this means? This guy keeps getting more psycho by the minute." Greg sputtered in disbelieve. Bobby nodded his head in agreement and headed toward the door. "I hope you guys nail his ass soon." he said over his shoulder. Greg only grunted in response his fingers already typing on the computer. With in seconds, he had the information he had been searching for.

He ran his hand tiredly over his face and stared at the screen. He picked up his phone and called the number he found. "Hi this is Greg Sanders and I work for the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I'd like to ask you a few questions if I could." Ten minutes later he had all the information he needed. He hung up the phone slowly, shaking his head in shock. He picked up the phone again and dialed Grissom's cell.

"Boss its Greg. You're not going to believe this but Bobby got a hit on the bullets retrieved from the 3 murdered girls. Ballistics showed that the same gun and bullets were used to kill a SFPD detective Jason Briggs 4 years ago. I found out Jason Briggs was Ted Craven's partner," Greg hesitated for a moment, forcing him self to reveal what else he had learned, "Jason Briggs had also been engaged to Sara." Greg waited for a moment but silence filled the phone. Greg groaned inward. This case had just gone from bad to worse in a heartbeat. Sara had been keeping a secret, a secret that could end up costing her, her life.

TBC

Sorry to leave you all hanging. Let me know what you think about this turn of events. Thanks!!!