5

Greg sat in a chair, his head in his hands, his entire body shaking. He couldn't stop imagining Riley as he had seen the other girls, lying on the ground, her body mangled. His eyes watered uncontrollably, and he sobbed loudly.

Nick looked over at him and he felt terrible. However, he didn't know what to say to him to make him feel better. Nick really didn't know either of the girls that well, but he had been in their shoes once or twice, and said a silent prayer that they would keep their cool throughout.

Down on the ground, Warrick picked up the necklace he had given Jaiden. He squeezed it in his hands in the anger of letting her out of his sight. As he paced, he racked his brain, and in that time, he spotted some tire tracks, probably from the vehicle used to take the girls. Warrick slowly followed them, his heart racing.

To keep himself sane, he pretended as if Jaiden were right next to him, helping him on the case concerning someone else. It seemed to calm his nerves, just imagining her with him. He blocked the thought of what would happen to her if he didn't focus on this part of his job. The tracks led to a small back road, and he saw some fresh skid-marks on the pavement.

"GRISSOM!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. The older man rushed to him.

"What is it Warrick?" Warrick pointed to the marks, and Grissom immediately froze. Using his flashlight, Warrick also spotted some black fabric, and knew right away that it was part of a dress. He bagged it, and they continued their search.

Back in the ballroom, Greg was still panicking. He used his fists to beat against the walls. Catherine had moved out to the patio since Grissom and Warrick had left to follow tracks. She smelled something odd. Using the air tester Warrick had persuaded Grissom to buy a few years ago, she tested the air. It was gasoline. She even found some droplets on the floor.

She yelled to Nick, "Get this back to trace, pronto!" She tossed him the swabs, and he took off in his car to head back to the lab.

Down at the road, Grissom spotted something key to the scene. "Diesel," he said. "This car had a leaky gas tank." Warrick took photographs of the tracks, and noticed something odd. When continuous treads would have been, there was only a large blank spot.

"What is this? It looks like something was put over the tire."

"I bet it's a patch. Someone or something most likely sliced his tires. Another clue to out mystery machine." Warrick stood as Grissom knelt down to get a closer look.

Warrick sighed, and folded his arms in front of his chest, pacing and cursing under his breath. "I hate this, Grissom. I've got to find her." His voice was low, and stress was completely apparent.

"Warrick, the more you worry, the worse you will do when looking for evidence. I know this is hard, but please, focus. For Jaiden's sake."

Back at the lab, Nick paced around as he waited for Mia to finish processing the gasoline. Mia tried to hurry to attempt to calm Nick's nerves. However, the results weren't helpful.

"Nick, this is your average diesel fuel. Sold just about at any station. No specific brand, nothing special about it at all. I'm sorry."

Nick bit his lip, and slammed his clenched fist. On his cell, Nick called Catherine. "It's just diesel. It's getting us nowhere."

Catherine hung up her phone, and ran her fingers through her hair. She got an idea, and flipped open her cell phone again. "Hello? Catherine Willows from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I need search helicopters, ASAP."

In the cabin, Riley and Jaiden were piled together on the floor of the cabin, trying to keep each other sane. Riley was silent, but Jaiden seemed to read her mind, and knew she was crying. She hugged her and wiped her hair out of her face. "We're going to be alright, Riley. Just keep calm. Don't worry. We're still together. We're going to get out of here, somehow."

Riley still refused to speak. They sat in silence until their captor spoke up. "Good morning, girls. Did you sleep well?"

Neither one answered him. Jaiden wanted to find him and manage to curl her fingers around his neck until she didn't have to anymore. Her face was bruised from being thrown around so much, and she felt some swelling. Her eyes burned with anger as she stared at the dark shadow of the man. She couldn't see his face well, but she decided that he had to be an ugly man to be able to do such a thing.

Riley finally said something, it was barely audible, but Jaiden understood it perfectly: "Greg." Jaiden looked at her, not sure whether to be glad that Riley was still sane enough to think about Greg, or whether she should worry that Riley was thinking that their captor was Greg.

The man stepped closer, bending down in front of Riley. She didn't even blink as he touched the side of her face, gently stroking her hair. He noticed that her face was wet from her tears. "Why is such a pretty girl like you crying?"

She stifled a sob, and again repeated her favorite word: "Greg."

He took her by the arm, his hands rough to the touch, and pulled her to her feet. She did not attempt to struggle, no voluntary movement at all. Jaiden was surprised she was even breathing.

Riley made no noise no screams. Her mind tried to think, but her thoughts were scattered. The man led her to another room, pulling on her arm. Because she didn't move, it ended up that he more or less drug her into the room, and he let her fall to the floor, dirt and dust flying around after she hit. She laid their, face up, staring at the man.

She finally got a good view of him, and locked it in her memory: he had a long face, his jaw square and prominent. His eyes were small, a soft grey in color, and shadowed by the lack of light. She noticed his hair was a soft dirty blond, his furrowed eyebrows matching. His nose was sharp, and narrow at the bridge. He seemed decently muscular, but it was hard to tell because he was wearing baggy black clothes. As she lay on the ground, he crouched over her, running his hand along her neck, across her shoulder, and eventually down her arm.

Something inside Riley finally exploded, because in an unpredictable fury, she glared at the man and cuffed him on his left temple with her fists. A loud crack resonated in the room, and he stood up quickly, staggering from the blow. She saw blood trickle from his head, and she felt somewhat satisfied. Anger crossed his face as he bent down again.

"Don't try that again, girl. I don't advise it. It may get you killed faster. And you wouldn't want that, now would you? "He glowered at her, trying to seem more powerful than he really was.

He said nothing again, but simply finished his signature torment, Riley screaming and attempting to beat him to a pulp as he raped her harshly.