4
"Well?" Grissom asked Mia, who was sitting at the conference table, a triumphant smile on her face.
"I was looking over the photos of the bodies when I noticed that there seemed to be a small blood spatter on one of their necks. I didn't think much of it, but when I looked at the bodies themselves, I realized that it was the only evidence of blood on them. So I swabbed it and tested it for a match to the victims. No go," she explained as she handed them a print off of her findings. "The DNA matches a Blake Bronson. Years ago, his own mother and cousin raped him. Apparently, he was put into foster care, but refused to go with any of the families he had been placed with. He was suffering from severe psychological issues until he started taking medications. His current whereabouts are unknown." Warrick gave a bitter snort. Mia glanced at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Anyway, his rape occurred on Mother's Day, which was yesterday, if anyone noticed. That explains the rushed stitching, he was probably really angry." Grissom looked at the photos that were splayed in front of him.
"Why switch their heads?" he asked her. Mia shrugged.
"That's the one thing I don't know about it. You'll have to ask him."
"It seems our Phantom has been unmasked." Warrick and Greg exchanged worried glances. Both prayed that Jaiden and Riley were already home and waiting for them.
"Did you see Jaiden and Riley leave?" Sara asked one of the servers. He looked back at her blankly.
"Who, Miss Sidle?" he asked in reply. Sara sighed.
"A tall, black haired woman and a shorter, brunette. Did you see them leave? They were both wearing black dresses," she repeated more clearly. The man furrowed his brow in thought.
"Did the black haired one have green eyes?" he asked. Sara nodded vigorously. "Last I saw them, they were on the patio. I don't think I saw them leave."
Sara walked over to the patio doors and opened them. She slipped outside, the warm air rushing at her. "Jaiden? Riley? Are you still out here?" she called into the night. When she heard no reply, she grew curious. She scaled the patio and stopped dead when she came upon their abandoned shoes and purses.
She fumbled with her phone as she called Grissom. "Hello?" he asked. Sara took a deep breath.
"They're gone, both of them," she breathed into the phone.
When Jaiden came to, she was disoriented and nauseated. She attempted to focus on the setting, but all she could see was black. Jaiden brought her hands up to her face and felt a rough piece of cloth disabling her vision. Her hands were tightly bound, but her legs were free.
"Riley, are you here?" she whispered loudly, she felt the words barely make it off her tongue, as though she were drunk. She felt a wave of relief rush over her when she heard Riley's voice.
"Jaiden, where are you?" Jaiden extended her hands blindly. Jaiden noticed her words were slurring together as well.
"Where are we?" Riley asked. Jaiden shook her head, although she knew Riley couldn't see her.
"I have no idea."
"Never you mind where you are," a voice chortled inhumanly. Both women's heads snapped towards the direction of sound.
"What the hell do you want with us?" she spat angrily. She heard another sickening chuckle before an actual answer came.
"It doesn't matter. It's not like you can do anything about it; you're both doomed to die," the voice replied. Jaiden could feel a little familiarity when the stranger spoke. She just couldn't place the voice with a face. She tried hard to focus, but struggled.
"Who are you?" she asked a little more quietly. She pushed herself up into a wobbly standing position. A rush of dizziness swept over her.
"And why are we here?" she added. Her bare feet felt the rough wooden planks beneath her feet. Her elbow brushed a window every now and then. She backed against the window and listened intently, hoping to gain some sense of where she was. She heard the distinct hoot of an owl and quickly decided they were in a forested area.
"Shut up and sit down," the voice commanded quietly. She could hear the impatience slip into his voice.
"You must be a coward," she murmured loudly.
"I said sit down and SHUT UP!" the voice yelled as he struck her hard across the face. The blow forced her entire body backwards, her head slamming against the window and breaking it. Her blindfold slipped off her head and she was able to see the faint outline of a tall, lean man. However, even with the blindfold off, it was still impossible to see anything for the room that they were in was pitch black and the only light came from behind a firmly closed door.
"Jaiden, Jaiden are you okay?" Riley asked desperately. Jaiden slid herself into a sitting position and leaned against the wall behind her.
"I'm okay," she whispered as the stranger left the room, retreating behind the closed door. "Come here," she commanded gently. Riley slid closer. Jaiden took a firm hold of the blindfold constricting her friend's eyesight and slipped it off her head.
Riley blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She turned towards Jaiden, who was gingerly feeling the back of her head. She looked at her hands and sighed.
"No blood, just a major headache." Riley gave a wry smile.
"That's good," she murmured. "Warrick would kill you if you had to cut your hair." She heard Jaiden inhale sharply, as though she were fighting back tears.
"Greg wouldn't pass up the opportunity to tease me senseless," she replied shakily. Riley blinked back tears at the thought of Greg.
"We'll just have to hope that they figure out where we are really soon," she sighed, resting her head on Jaiden's shoulder.
Jaiden looked down at her, a single tear streaming down her face. "Yeah, I guess we will."
Grissom rushed into the conference room where the CSIs all gathered. Catherine caught sight of his expression and felt a lump grow in her throat. Not moments earlier, he had called Sara to see if Jaiden and Riley were still there. It had been unanimously voted that they would be brought to the lab so they could be safe in any sense of the word.
"They're not there, are they?" she breathed. Warrick and Greg stared at Grissom, each hoping he had the opposite to say. When he shook his head, their hearts shattered.
"I want everybody to get their kits to process that scene. We are going to find them," he said sharply. Everyone scrambled from the room, hoping that the girls were still alive.
When they had arrived at the crime scene, everyone scattered. Catherine, Greg, and Nick processed the inside while Grissom and Warrick processed the patio. Sara, who had left her kit at home, had rushed off to retrieve it.
"I've got some fibers over here," Grissom said, alerting Warrick. He carefully picked up the three thick fibers off the railing and put them in an evidence bag. He handed it to Warrick. "It looks like rope fibers to me." Warrick handed them back and looked over the railing at the ground below. There was a distinct impression on the ground. He rushed down the stone stairs to the spot on the ground.
He crouched down and looked it over. Two bodies definitely occupied this space. He noticed a few thin fibers near one edge of the impression. He picked them up and put them in a bag. His eye then spotted something glinting at him from the opposite end of the impression. He walked over to it slowly and caught his breath.
It was Jaiden's peridot necklace.