A/N: I've got some new ideas for Like Cinderella, so hopefully I'll be able to update that one soon. But in the meantime, here's chapter four.
Chapter Four"Let me go!" Amy Thomason screamed at her captor. "I'm not the one you want! My name is Amy Thomason!"
"Shut up, Margaret!" The man slapped her hard across the face and Amy recoiled. "I don't want to hear any more of your lies. You're always lying to me!"
"I swear, I'm not Margaret." Amy cried. "Look at my license! Amy Elizabeth Thomason."
He snatched her wallet and glanced at the ID. "You're fucking lying. It's a fake ID."
"No it's not." Amy sniffled. "What do you want?"
"I want my daughter back. I want Margaret." He snarled.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Oh my God." Veronica slit open the letter. "Stanford! I got into Stanford!" She screamed.
Then she noticed the other letter on the mail table. It was certainly odd. There was no return address on it and the address was typed. "Weird."
"Hey, did I get any mail?" Victor plugged his cell phone onto the charger.
"Yeah. Credit card bill, car insurance bill, phone bill, slightly weird letter…"
"Thanks." Victor slit open the envelope and tugged out the letter inside. "Oh my God. Veronica, get Gil or Sara."
"They aren't here."
"Call them. Phone number's in my phone." He remarked absently.
Veronica dialed Sara's phone number. "Sara? Hey it's Veronica. Dad got a ransom note. Ten minutes? Okay, see you then."
"Call Dan. We need to use his lab. Third number down."
Veronica found the number and called Dan. "Dan? Hey, it's Veronica Thomason. My dad was wondering if we could use the lab. We got a ransom note. Okay, see you then." She snapped the phone shut. "I'll get Spencer."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"What've you got?" Grissom was all business.
"Envelope. Possible source of DNA." Victor handed him the envelope.
Like a true professional, Grissom snapped on a pair of gloves and examined the envelope. "It's possible whoever sent this used water or glue, but I'll check it out. What's the name of the guy who's lab I'm using?"
"Dan Fitzgerald."
"Good, good. Where's his lab?"
"49th and Benson." Victor replied tonelessly. Was this it? Were they about to find his baby girl?"
"Let's go." Grissom led Sara back out to the car.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I can't believe it. Fool licked the envelope." Sara shook her head.
"Well, I've got it narrowed down to XY." Felicity Collins, the DNA tech at Fitzgerald's lab handed her a printout. "But that's not going to help you much. I need a comparison sample."
"Got that." Grissom bustled in. "I swung by Steve's house and got a DNA sample. He's the son of the suspect, so if we match seven out of thirteen markers at least, we can take that to the police station as a probable match of the kidnapper being in Steve's immediate family."
Sara almost said 'brilliant' but refrained on the grounds that she and Grissom were still fighting.
"I'll call you once it's been run and I find something out." Felicity told them.
"Thanks." Grissom turned to Sara. "Name the three most important things in real estate and business."
"Location,
location, location?"
"Let's go figure out where Dave Macklin
is."
"I hate to suggest the obvious, but shouldn't we check the phonebook? Guy was moronic enough to lick the envelope, maybe he's using his home address too."
"I guess." Grissom shrugged, grabbing a phonebook. "M…well, he is in the phonebook. Let's just hope he was stupid enough to go to his house. Come on."
They raced to Dave Macklin's house and knocked on the door.
"Hello?" The man who answered the door was blonde, like Steve, but heavier set.
"Are you Dave Macklin?" Sara stepped forward.
"Yeah." Dave eyed her suspiciously. "What do you want?"
"We just moved to the neighborhood, and my wife and I were hoping to meet some people on the block. We were told we had to meet you." Grissom cut in smoothly, firmly ignoring Sara's look of shock.
"Who told you that?" Dave's eyes narrowed.
"Mrs. Smith, was it honey?" Sara glanced at Grissom.
"Figures." Macklin snorted. "That bitch wants me to be the fucking welcome wagon. Look, I'm not a block party kind of guy." He snapped, slamming the door in their faces.
"Well he was pleasant." Grissom grimaced.
"Yeah." Sara shrugged his arm off. "What the Hell was that married bit, by the way?"
"You wanted to tell him we suspect that he kidnapped somebody's kid? He didn't look too happy with us as it was." Grissom returned shortly.
"Whatever." Sara rolled her eyes.
"At least he's still in California."
"Yeah. If Felicity can get a match, we've got a warrant and hopefully we'll find Amy." Her cell phone buzzed. "Hang on, that's Felicity." Sara snapped open the phone. "Hey. Yeah? Alright. Five minutes if we speed." She closed the phone. "Come on. Felicity's got something."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kelli Grissom knew that when a man said he'd call by a certain day, a girl should always add a week.
So she was rather surprised when Warrick called Tuesday afternoon.
"Hey." She put a cinnamon roll on a plate and put it in the microwave. "You called. Before your deadline. Alert the media, there is actually a man on this earth who calls when he says he will." She teased.
"You're just being snippy." Warrick shot back.
"So. Breakfast?"
"Yeah. My bud Nick and I are goin' for pancakes after work tonight. I know it's short notice, but you want in?"
Kelli laughed and wiped her hands on a towel. "Is this a setup?"
"It's not a setup."
"It's a setup." Kelli chuckled.
"Is – It's not a setup."
"In spite of your day-before invitation, and the fact that this is totally a setup, I'm in."
"It's not a setup." Warrick insisted.
"It's a setup." She assured him, hanging up the phone, grin plastered on her face.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Morning." Catherine handed Lindsey a plate of eggs and French toast. "We need to talk."
"I swear to God I didn't skip yesterday." Lindsey held up her hands in surrender."
"I know. We still need to talk, though."
"I'm not in trouble?" Lindsey narrowed her eyes.
"Did you do something that I should be mad about?" Catherine raised an eyebrow.
"No." Lindsey plopped down in a chair. "So, what's up?"
Catherine licked her lips. "Sam didn't pull through, baby, so I went to his lawyer and as it turns out, Sam's other two sons weren't included in the will, which means you and I got everything. So, I've decided that when you get out of school for the summer, we're taking a trip. Anywhere you like. Just the two of us and we're going to start getting along better. I know your dad's death was tough on you, Linds, but please don't deal with it by going down the same road I did. It's not a happy life. It's not glamorous and it's not as fun as it looks."
"I know that." Lindsey rolled her eyes. "I'm fourteen, not stupid. I don't do drugs and I don't drink. I've never had sex and I'm not a bad kid."
"I know you're not a bad kid, Linds. But you have to understand, Fremont Street is not safe, and I panicked when you were going to see Sam. Sam and I didn't get along, and he's a bad influence on you, sweetie."
"He's my grandfather, isn't he?" Lindsey asked.
Catherine's jaw dropped. "How did you know he was your grandfather?"
"I overheard you talking to Warrick." She shrugged. "So I went to go ask him about it. I haven't been back since. I promise."
"There's still the issue of you skipping school. I've gotten the calls from your teachers."
"You know why I skip?" Lindsey leaned forward.
"Why?" Catherine folded her arms.
"Because I feel stupid. I'm in regular math. All the rest of my friends are in advanced. I can't pass science to save my life and my mother's a scientist. Do you have any idea how much people make fun of me for the fact that you were a stripper? It's humiliating. So I skip. It's not like grades are the be-all end-all of life. You didn't get good grades and you've got a decent life."
"Now. I used to be living paycheck to paycheck stripping. It's taken me a while to get where I got, Lindsey."
"Bill Gates dropped out of school. He's a friggin' billionaire."
"Bill Gates got into Harvard. It's not like he dropped out of community college."
"Warrick didn't go to a fancy school."
"UNLV is a perfectly respectable school." Catherine argued.
"Then I'll go there." Lindsey returned. "School's just not my thing. I'll find another way to be successful. Not stripping."
"Alright. I'll make you a deal. You don't skip more than twice a year and only, only if you are feeling like your head is about to explode from the stress and I will let you keep the car Sam left you."
"He left me a car?"
"BMW. But you only get it if you promise to stop skipping. I want the best for you, Lindsey, and as sucky as school is, you need to at least pass so you can get into UNLV and be the success you're so sure you're going to be."
Lindsey considered it. Finally the BMW won out. "Alright. Deal."
"So, where do you want to go on our vacation?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Hit me." Sara called to Felicity.
"Got a half-match. Steve's sample matched the DNA on the envelope for seven out of thirteen markers."
"Sweet. I'll call the police." Sara grabbed her cell phone.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"This is the police!" Shouted a stocky cop named Jacobs who reminded Sara distinctly of Brass. "Come out with your hands in the air!"
The front door opened and out stepped a very drunk, very pissed off Dave Macklin.
"David Macklin, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Amy Thomason." A rookie snapped on the cuffs and led Dave to the cop car.
Jacobs busted into the house, Grissom and Sara following not far behind.
"I hear shouting!" Grissom called, pointing to a locked door.
Jacobs kicked the door open to reveal Amy Thomason, strapped to a chair, tears streaming down her face.
"Amy!" Grissom rushed forward. He moved to untie the rope holding Amy back, but Sara grabbed his arm.
"What the Hell?" He growled, trying to shake Sara off.
"Evidence." She explained quietly, holding out a pair of latex gloves. "Rope. Epithelial city."
Silently, Grissom snapped on the gloves and sliced the bonds. "Amy, you're safe now." He soothed the crying girl. "We're going to take you home and spoil you rotten."
Amy threw her arms around Grissom. "Take me home." She whispered tearfully.
A/N: So, I'm going to a luau tomorrow through Sunday evening, but I'll try to get a chapter posted by Sunday or Monday and I think I can have another chapter of Like Cinderella done by Monday or Tuesday. Have a great weekend!