Chapter twenty two – Sanders the hero take two. (Again written whilst under that influence, promise I'm not an alcoholic, just a student – its two different things – honest!)

Harriet sighed and swung in her chair. It had been nearly an hour and a half since she had rung the lab back home and they had promised to run the sample again and ring her back with the results. That had been difficult – it had involved speaking with Rick and letting him know what had happened. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought to do it straight away. She had been preoccupied with finding Jake. Perhaps she was as selfish as Greg had said. It hurt her that he'd said that but maybe he really was right. She wished she'd known where he'd gone, there was nothing she needed more than her son right now than to see Greg Sanders and his cheeky grin that made her smile. It was odd how stressful situations made one see things clearly. Greg meant a lot more to her than she had initially realised, she was attracted to him despite the fact he was a complete goofball with spiky hair that had a life of it's own.

The phone rang, frightening her so much she half fell off her chair before she managed to collect herself and pick it up.

'Hello?'

'Hi, could I speak to Miss Harriet Charles, please?'

'Speaking.'

'Hello, we've never met, I was your replacement when you left Manchester, I'm sorry to hear about your son,'

Harriet was puzzled. 'I'm sorry, who are you?'

'I'm Andrew Jenkins, the reason I'm calling is we got your DNA results back.'

Her heart skipped a beat and she sat up straight. If a complete stranger was calling her, there must be some new information.

'Did you find anything new?'

'Yes, the sample from your mothers crime scene had half of the same DNA markers that I do,' Andrew explained.

'What are you saying?' Harriet asked, her mind a blank in the surprise and tension of the past couple of hours.

'I'm saying I think my father is your suspect, I'm so sorry,' he said.

'How is that possible? We checked against every person on the database, including staff,' Harriet said, thinking there must have been some mistake.

'My father never worked for the Manchester forensics department, my mother did. Her DNA was on file but not my fathers,' Andrew continued to explain.

Harriet search for the name Jenkins in her mind, trying to find a woman's name.

'Sarah Jenkins, she works in reception,' Harriet said.

'Yes and the reason my father has only just been identified is because…' Andrew started to explain.

'Because your own DNA only went on file when you joined the department which was after I left and the sample didn't pick up anything on your mother because she's only married to your father, not a blood relative,' Harriet finished for him.

'Exactly, I heard you were smart,' Andrew said.

'I'd thank you but I think your father has my son. Is Rick still there?' Harriet asked.

'No, he went straight to the airport, he's coming over as soon as he can.' Andrew answered.

'O.k., thank you. You've been an incredible help.' Harriet said, about to put the phone down.

'Wait, don't you want to know where my father is?'

Harriet scolded herself mentally for being so dumb 'Of course I do, where is he?'

'His name is Jonathan. He's in Las Vegas, obviously, he said he was going to visit an old friend on the west side, I'm afraid I don't have an exact address for him,'

'That's fine,' Harriet said, feeling sick as she realised both the lab and the apartment were on the west side of the city.

She hung up and sat for a moment, trying to think all this through. He was the receptionist's husband, she had never met him yet he had been there at her mothers murder and her son's kidnapping. A motive, as yet, was completely beyond her cognition. But he was on the west side; he must be if he knew where she was living. She looked up as Greg came into the lab.

'Any luck?' they asked each other at the same time.

'Sorry, not a lot,' Greg said, giving his news first. 'We've narrowed the red uniform down to 42 restaurants so far so it could take a while. How about you?'

'I've got a name but no address. Turns out the guy who replaced me had half of the same DNA markers as our suspect. His father is in Las Vegas on the west side and is married to the receptionist at my old lab,' Harriet relayed the information she had just been given as succinctly as possible.

'So the guy knows you?' Greg asked.

'Apparently, I've never met him though but he must be close by, how else would he know where we live and that I have Jake with me and why is he doing this anyway?'

Greg was feeling defeated as he walked into Harriet's lab. Sure, he and Nick had managed to narrow the uniform down to 42 restaurants but that didn't mean they were any closer to finding the kidnapper. The new information Harriet gave him set his mind into over drive again. He felt a little sick at the idea that someone could have been following them, watching their every move. But the suspect was linked to Harriet, his wife was the receptionist at the lab she used to work at and now he was known to be staying in the same side of the city as Harriet lived and worked in. How could he have known where she would be unless he was following them? She hadn't even been living in the apartment she intended to. Greg stopped in his tracks, a thought occurring to him.

'Harriet, why did you lose your original apartment?' he asked.

'What does that have to do with anything?' she replied.

'Just answer me!' he snapped, desperate for an answer.

'I don't know, the landlord said some guy offered more money than me, I just got ripped off I guess,' she said.

'The address, what was the address?' Greg asked, impatiently, preparing to tear out of the door.

'Umm, 1731C rodeo boulevard, why?' Harriet asked.

'Stay here,' Greg ordered and ran out of the lab down the corridor.

He heard her run after him but he ignored it, searching desperately for Grissom. He needed him to get Brass and get a search warrant. He felt a hand grip his shoulder tightly as he stopped outside Grissom's office, looking in for him. He turned and found himself facing Harriet.

'Greg, what is it? If you're thinking something I need to know,' she said, desperately.

He sighed 'O.k., the suspect is married to the receptionist who would have your forwarding address am I right?' Greg explained.

'Yes.'

'Don't you think it's a little convenient that you lost your apartment and he happens to be in Las Vegas?' Greg asked.

'You think he stole my apartment so that he could watch me?' Harriet asked, an astonished look on her face.

'I think it's a possibility which also means there's a possibility that Jake could be there,' Greg finished.

'And you weren't going to tell me this? I want to come with you,' she said.

Greg sighed as he glimpsed Grissom appearing in front of them. He needed to end this conversation and talk to his supervisor as soon as he could. He felt a hard sharp slap across his face.

'Speak to me Greg, why weren't you going to tell me?' she demanded.

'I don't want you to come in case…in case,' he tried to say it but didn't want to.

'In case he's already dead?' Harriet said bitterly, tears were forming in her eyes. He hated that she had to be told this but he didn't want her walking into a crime scene and seeing another member of her family dead, if that were to happen.

'That's probably not going to happen, it could be a false lead, it's just a hunch,' Greg said.

'It's not your call to make,' she shouted, hysterically. 'He's my son, I want to be there, you can't keep me away from him. If he's there I want to be with him.'

She was hitting him against the chest with her fists. The anger she must have been feeling all night was clearly being taken out on him. She was good at hiding how she felt but it seemed perhaps she had reached breaking point. Greg didn't feel angry that she was beating up on him but he was growing impatient. He gripped both sides of her face firmly and looked into her eyes.

'I don't want you to come in case it is the worst-case scenario that we find. I'm not saying that is what's going to happen but I care about you so much and I don't want to put you through that. I am trying to protect you,' he said sternly through gritted teeth. 'Now go and sit in the break room, get a coffee and I will come and find you when I know something.'

Harriet stepped away, stunned that he had been so forceful with her. It wasn't violent but it felt slightly aggressive although she knew that wasn't his intention. As if under some kind of automatic pilot, she walked slowly past Grissom towards the break room, feeling like the building was spinning. It felt like it was getting closer to the time where she would find out if Jake was alive or dead. The fact that Greg thought it was a possibility made her lose some of the hope she had had at the beginning of the night. Greg was one of the most optimistic people she had met and even he was thinking the worst. This couldn't happen.

'LVPD open up!' Brass shouted, hammering on the door of the run down apartment.

Harriet got off lightly not living here, Greg thought for a brief moment then felt insensitive as he realised she would probably much rather be living in here than going through what she was right now.

There was no answer from inside so Brass kicked at the door. It flew open and he, Greg and Grissom ran quickly into the apartment, guns in hand, ready for a confrontation. After a quick run around the three other rooms that came off the living room, Brass declared the apartment was clear. Greg's heart sunk; there was nothing here.

'It was a good lead, Greg, you did a good job, you were thinking like a CSI,' Grissom said, putting his gun back in his holster.

'Yeah, but not good enough, he's not here is he?' Greg said, sighing, fighting back the tears he could feel were stinging at the corners of his eyes.

'Is this any good to you?' Brass asked, walking out of one of the bedrooms holding up a red uniform shirt.

Greg looked wide-eyed at Grissom 'This can't be a coincidence, Gris' he said, a little hope returning.

He smiled, relieved that he hadn't been completely wrong. Taking his torch from his kit, he shone it around in the corners of the room hoping for some kind of evidence that might help him find out where Jake was. Over on the far side of the room was a wide cupboard that didn't look out of place but he decided to check out the letters lying on top of it to see if there were any clues as to where the suspect had been. As he approached the cupboard, he saw that there was some kind of liquid leaking from behind the door and there was a small puddle on the floor. He crouched down to look more closely when Grissom distracted him.

'Greg, this shirt is from the diner,' he said.

'Oh my god,' Greg said. 'How long has this guy been watching us?'

He rubbed his forehead with his hand, thinking what to do next when he heard someone else speak.

'Greg?' the voice was small and young.

His head shot up to face the doors of the cupboard. They were made up of an intricate wooden pattern that made tiny diamond shaped holes. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he made out a pair of eyes looking back at him from inside the cupboard as the glare from Grissom's torch spilled over into the corner. Greg pulled open the cupboard door and came face to face with a tearstained Jake.

The little boy jumped onto Greg, wrapping his arms around his neck and bursting into tears. Greg stroked his back reassuringly.

'It's o.k, little guy, you're safe now.' He said.

'I want mummy, the man wouldn't let me see her and he wouldn't let me go to toilet,' Jake pulled away, sobbing and looking down at his pyjama bottoms, which had a wet patch on them.

Greg felt anger swelling up inside him along with the immense relief that Jake was alive and well.

'Are you hurt?' he heard Grissom ask, as Greg had been stunned into silence.

'No, sir,' Jake replied, his manners still intact despite his ordeal.

'Greg, you want to take him to Harriet?' Brass asked.

Greg looked at Jake who looked back at him, still sobbing quietly. He pulled him close to him and stroked his brown hair. Jake was alive, unhurt, a little shaken but unhurt. Greg didn't know what to do now. All the time since he had found out Jake was missing, he had been thinking of Mikey Richardson and praying that this would turn out better and it had.

'Greg, you o.k?' Brass asked.

'I'm fine,' Greg replied, standing and picking Jake up as he did so. The little boy clung on to him.

'Wait,' Grissom said. 'Jenkins could still be watching the lab, if he sees you turn up with Jake, he'll know we're on to him.'

'So what do you suggest we do?' Greg asked.

He swore Grissom almost smiled as if impressed at his own ingenuity before he relayed his plan.

A/N - quite a long chapter there. Hope you're all still awake. Again, the usual applies to the forensics things. I'm not very good at thinking up clues or the science to go with them so that is why it all seems so easy but it works (I hope).