The man known only to them as Saint Francis gestured the two men over to the tree. He ordered Nick to untie the rope holding the two corpses to the trunk. Nick's sweaty fingers stumbled over the large clunky knot. His mind was working as furiously as his hands, trying to think of a way to get themselves out of this mess. He was conscious of the gun tucked in the back of his pants, put there when he realized that where he normally wore it at his side was too painful. He had managed to keep his back from out of their captor's view and held onto its presence as a sole source of comfort. It looked like Grissom's brain and his mouth weren't gonna hack it. Maybe cold steel would.
He tried talking to the madman, his voice sounding surprisingly collected. He'd had an unfortunate amount of practice talking to psychos while they had weapons pointed at him. Who'd have thought this would be a recurring motif in his relatively short life? Third time's the charm maybe?
"What do we have to do to prove to you that we aren't here to harm the wildlife?" he asked.
"It is not to me that you must prove your intentions; it is only for God to know what is in your hearts and minds. I am but his instrument."
"Then why did you so this to these men? Wouldn't it be for God to determine their fates? Did God tell you to tie them up and kill them?"
"I did not kill them. Their own sinful hearts did that. I tied them to the tree, placed the same traps on their legs that they used to murder the innocent, and left them there. The big man ranted and railed. Used ugly obscene language and blasphemed our Father's name. His words were angry, full of threats of dark violence. The smaller man had only greed and lust in his heart. He offered money for his release -money he had made selling the bodies of God's children to satisfy the base lusts of the flesh. As if I could be bought off with a bag of silver. I am no Judas.
No, Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. The men were left alive and God and their sinful hearts determined where their salvation lay. When I returned days later it had been decided. The big man took the sinner's way out and had killed himself. I know not what happened to the smaller man, but he too was dead upon my return. You shall be weighed and measured in the same way."
Nick could picture what had happened. The pain and blood loss from the bear traps. Being left in the woods for days, no hope of discovery. The big man was a hunter. Knew what would happen eventually as the smell of blood and their immobility drew even the more timid predators closer and closer. Took his own life rather than risk being alive and tied to a tree while devoured by coyotes or the very same bears they had been trapping. The smaller man had probably died of shock and blood loss. And it looked like that was what their friend had in mind for them.
He'd gotten the rope untied and the two corpses slumped forward after their release. The man with the rifle gestured to Nick to move their bodies out of the way. Moving slowly and stiffly he grabbed the smaller corpse and pulled it away from the tree, grimacing at a flare of pain in his side. He returned for the bigger man knowing it was going to be tougher to haul his huge bulk away. He grabbed the leg without the trap and dragged it away. Sweat popped out on his brow and as expected, new fresh pain lanced through his side. He staggered a bit, then composed himself and looked to their captor for his next instructions.
Grissom meanwhile was reoccupied with his own silent efforts, still trying to get into the madman's head. It was obvious that this man felt that his hands were clean and that God had been the reason the men had died.
"Saint Francis. I must ask. How did you expect these men to be saved? You say that vengeance belongs to the Lord, yet you were the reason they died."
"I merely left them here for the Lord to judge. Their deaths were His decision."
"These men died because you placed metal traps on their legs. They died because you left them tied up in the wilderness. They died of shock and blood loss due to your actions. They didn't die at God's hand; they died at yours."
"The Lord saved Jonah from the belly of the whale. The Lord brought Moses out of the desert. The Lord would have saved those men if they had been righteous. And the Lord will save you, if you are as righteous as you claim to be."
With that he waved Grissom over to the tree with the barrel of the rifle.
"Sit. And you will tie him to the tree with the first length of rope," he said, turning the gun at Nick.
Grissom eased himself down to the base of the trunk. Nick attempted to protest, but the gunman mutely stopped his protests by twitching his finger near the trigger. Nick glanced down at Grissom with regret and apology in his eyes. His boss nodded at him. He knew his friend had no choice. Nick wound the first length of rope around the older man's chest, doing it awkwardly as he was sore and trying to keep his back out of sight. His first go round he left the rope slightly slack, but the gunman was looking for this and ordered Nick to tighten it.
The next thing their captor did sent a chill through Nick's heart. He walked over to the nearest corpse and stepped on the trap's release lever, opening the jaws, and yanked the trap free. He began walking towards Grissom with the trap in his free hand, the rifle still trained with one hand on Nick. Nick knew that the man's aim would be severely affected by the loss of the other hand, but at such close quarters, aim didn't really factor into the equation. The gunman threw the trap at Grissom's feet and returned his hand to the weapon. Nick knew what was coming next, and by the look on Grissom's usually calm composed face, the older man did too.
Nick knew there was no way he'd put that on his mentor's leg. He'd rather be shot than cause that kind of pain to another human. And not just another human. It was Grissom. How many years under the man's supervision? Every action the younger man had taken in his professional life was an effort to make his boss proud of him. The man inspired that effort, not with words, but with his actions. When Kristi had been killed and Nick was the closest thing they had to a suspect, it was Grissom who had stood by him. It was Grissom who bumped him up to CSI level three and recommended the promotion. It was Grissom who rallied the troops and inspired all of them. And it was Grissom who had saved him from Amy Hendler.
The gunman pointed at the trap and ordered Nick to place it on his boss' leg. Nick merely stood there shaking his head. "No, sir. I won't do it. I wouldn't use it on an animal, and I certainly won't use it on my friend. Shoot me, if you're gonna, and get it over with. But this ends now."