Thanks again for all of the reviews, they are all wonderful. I'm having a lot of fun writing this story. I'm glad everyone is enjoying it. Well enough of my babbling…. and now for your reading pleasure I present to you Chap. 7 of Leverage. Enjoy!
The Expedition slowly made its way through the city. It maintained a safe speed. They did not want to take a chance of getting pulled over by a curious cop. Especially with their guest sitting on the floor in the back.
Nick's hands were starting to go numb as he attempted to adjust his position; it earned him a slap to the head.
"Don't move." A rough voice, not even two feet away, said.
Nick rolled his eyes and stopped moving he was just going to have to suck it up. He wiggled his hands without moving the rest of his body in attempt to get the feeling back.
His thoughts quickly returned, 'What was the purpose of his kidnapping?' They knew his name, that set alarms off in his head. 'Was this a revenge thing like the Kelly Gordon incident or was this related to one of his existing cases? Or I may just have a sign written on my forehead that says, kidnap me please.'
He laughed at his joke. His laugh caught the attention of the man sitting just a few feet away.
"What's so funny cop?" he grabbed Nick by the hair and pulled Nick towards him. He whispered in Nick's ear, "Pretty soon you ain't gonna be laughing about anything." He threw Nick back into the door.
'OK Nick … laughingnot such a good idea.' He thought as his head made contact with the door.
Even though Nick was blindfolded he closed his eyes. He knew his friends were looking for him. They always came through. They were his second family.
Nick heard the Expedition turn onto a gravel road. It stopped and parked. He heard the car doors open. His door was opened and he felt himself being lifted out. He was thrown to the ground and heard laughing.
He was roughly grabbed by the arm and pulled up into the standing position. He felt himself surrounded and had nowhere to go. He was pushed from behind and went flying into the arms of one of the men. He was promptly pushed again. This went on for a few minutes. Nick had no choice but to go along. He couldn't defend himself since he was tied up and blindfolded.
'Oh if I only my hands were free and I didn't have this damn blindfold on. He thought to himself as he fell to the ground. He was being pulled back up when he heard another voice.
"You guys better stop messing around and get him in here. If the boss finds out you've messing with his prized position, he'll have your heads."
Nick heard some mumbling as he was grabbed by the arms and led into a building. They walked for a few minutes; he heard a door squeak as it was opened and he was forced through it. The group stopped, Nick could feel his hands being untied. Once untied, Nick grabbed at his blindfold and attempted to run. His attempt was thwarted when he felt three pairs of hands grab him.
Nick knew at once that he had made a mistake in trying to run when he received a punch to the gut and to the face. He felt a pair of large hands grab his face as he was again pulled forward.
"That was a big mistake Stokes. You just remember there's a lot more where that came from."
He was then thrown into a wooden chair with two armrests. Nick's arms where held down as he was tied to the chair. When they were finished they checked the ropes, his blindfold and his gag. His head whipped to the right as he was punched once again in the face. He could feel blood running down his chin from a split lip.
"That's just a friendly reminder to behave yourself Stokes." The man began to leave the room he turned around and said. "Oh and I hope you enjoy your accommodations." He laughed.
Nick could here whispers coming from other side of the room. He struggled with his bindings. He stopped struggling and sighed, he wasn't going anywhere.
Catherine had notified both Sara and Greg of Nick's disappearance. They weren't certain of the circumstance of his disappearance. The only information they had was that Nick was grabbed from a convenience store right in front of Brass and Warrick.
They were all dressed in their issued Crime Scene Investigator black vests, and waited for Grissom to exit the building. Grissom finally walked out of the building wearing his CSI windbreaker and his CSI baseball cap. He had a look of determination laced with worry on his face. He walked up to his team, who waited for direction.
"Catherine, I want you to head over to the MVA on 101st and Energy Pass Road. See what you can find out. Sara and I are going to head over to the convenience store and meet up with Brass and Warrick."
"Greg, with Nick gone and Warrick now working on this, I want you to pick up where they left off on their current case." Greg nodded in understanding but couldn't mask the disappointment on his face.
They stood there waiting for Grissom to say more. He could see the despair in their eyes. They had been through this last year. How much more could any of them take? He took a deep breath and spoke.
"I know how you are feeling, I feel the same way. We've been through this before and we need to remain objective. It's no secret that we are family and we all share a close bond. We need to come together and bring Nick home. He's counting on us." With that said he climbed into his SUV waited for Sara to get in and drove off.
Catherine and Greg watched Grissom's SUV speed out of the parking lot with the lights and sirens flashing. Greg walked back towards the building while Catherine got into her SUV and drove off towards the MVA.
Greg walked into the break room and plopped himself down in a chair. He rubbed his eyes with both hands, and looked around. He couldn't believe that this was happening again. No one knew that he had privately gone and seen a shrink after Nick's abduction last year. He kept that information to himself. Nick had been the one to go through the ordeal and he needed all the support. Greg managed on his own just like he would now.
He got up from the table and headed towards the CSI offices. He walked over to Nick's desk and found a folder with the name of Brian Daeber written on it. He sat down in Nick's chair and familiarized himself with the case.
It was already proven that a 2005 Black GMC Van was involved in the crime. Greg helped with that aspect of the investigation. He continued to skim through the report. It was noted by Nick that they had interviewed Riley Nestor's sister, and that they were going to interview Riley Nestor that evening. 'They must have been coming back from the interview when Nick was taken.' Greg thought to himself.
The report also mentioned that the victim was originally from Dallas, Texas and had moved to Vegas about a year in a half ago. It also appeared that Brian was up to his ears in debt.
Greg finished reading the report and decided it was time to visit the morgue. He was sure that Dr. Robbins was finished or just about finished with Brian's autopsy. It was obvious that the COD was a shot to the head. He wanted to see if Doc Robbins had recovered the bullet from the skull.
As he left the CSI offices he walked down the hall heading towards the elevator. The morgue was located in the basement of the Crime Lab. As he was about to step into the elevator Al Robbins the coroner stepped out, he was carrying a clear plastic bag in his right hand.
Doctor Albert Robbins was an older gentleman with a kind face. He walked with a cane. When he saw Greg he smiled and greeted him.
"Hi Greg. What's wrong? You look like something the cat dragged in."
"Hey Doc. I was just coming to see you."
"Oh really. What can I do for you?" he said as he started walking towards the CSI offices.
"Brian Daeber. Did you complete the autopsy on him?" Greg asked.
"Yes I did." He lifted the bag that was in his right hand. "This is the bullet I extracted from his head. I was just bringing it to Nick. Is he in his office?"
"No Doc Nick's not in his office. I'm taking over his case." Greg replied.
"Oh you are?"
Doc Robbins didn't like the look in Greg's eyes.
"Greg, is there something that you aren't telling me? Is Nick OK?" he asked.
"I don't know if he's OK Doc. What if they don't find him this time?" Greg screamed.
"Greg, was Nick kidnapped again?"
Greg shook his head yes … unable to respond. That answer took the doctor by surprise. It gave him chills when he thought about how close Nick came to becoming a body on his table last year.
He looked at Greg and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Greg if anyone can find Nick, it's you guys. You need to believe that. Nick wouldn't want you to sit here thinking about it. Get back to work, and do what you can. Nick would want it that way."
"Thanks Doc.
"Anytime Greg." Greg turned away and started walking back down the hallway when Doc Robbins called out to him.
"Oh and Greg, if you ever need to talk. I'm only an elevator ride away."
Greg smiled and nodded, and went into the ballistics lab to see if he could find out what type of gun was used.
Detective Jim Brass and CSI Warrick Brown went back to the convenience store where Nick was taken. They were parked in the same exact spot. Though the only difference now was that this area was swarming with cops.
Looking straight at the convenience store doors, Warrick could still see the bottle of water that Nick had dropped when he was grabbed. It would be collected and fingerprinted that was standard operating procedure.
The area in front of the store was now roped off with black and yellow tape that had 'POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS' written on it. He shook his head and thought, 'If only I just went in with him, he would be here with us and not with them.' He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over to Brass. Brass pointed and said.
"Grissom and Sara are here."
Grissom parked the SUV and got out just as Brass and Warrick walked up. Sara jumped out and walked around the front to join the three men.
Grissom spoke first. "I want the complete rundown on what happened here. Don't leave anything out."
Brass and Warrick explained how Nick was grabbed walking out of the convenience store. At the same time someone from inside the van started shooting at them. They attempted to pursue them, but were thwarted when a Cadillac ran a red light and caused the accident on 101st and Energy Pass Road.
Sara listened intently to what the two men had said. When they finished she asked a question. "What kind of van did you say the suspects were driving?"
Warrick and Brass looked at each other. Warrick answered, "They were driving a 2005 Black GMC Van." Warrick looked at her, his eyes got big. "That's the same van that was involved in our case. You don't think they are connected do you?" He mentally kicked himself for not seeing it earlier.
"Well there's only one way to find out." Grissom replied as he handed Warrick a kit. "Let's get to work."
O.K. Here's Chapter 7. Should I go on? Please review and let me know. Thanks!