Hi everyone, sorry it took so long to get out a chapter. I had brain freeze, but I think I worked through it. My responses to your reviews are in my profile.

Thanks!

And now Chapter 21…

"Well now that introductions have been made, the next question is…" Singer looked to Brent with a stern face "…Why the hell are they here? You were just supposed to get out, not bring anyone with you!"

Though Brent was a skilled businessman and killer he still squirmed when his uncle was angered. His uncle was not one to be trifle with, but he had expected this reaction and he was prepared.

Mike smirked he knew how his uncle would react and looked forward to watching Brent explain his actions to him. He hoped his brother would make it entertaining.

Nick and Grissom just looked at each other, this was an unexpected twist. They had been under the impression that this was all planned from the beginning. It was obvious now that it wasn't. As Brent stated earlier this was personal, how was he going to explain that to Maxwell Singer?

Grissom contemplated speaking when he saw how angry Maxwell Singer was with Brent, this could work to their advantage. He finally took the plunge and said, "Mr. Singer it would be in your favor if you let us go."

"Is that so Mr. Grissom?"

"Yes it is. Our friends will be looking for us."

Singer walked up to Grissom annoyance flashed in his eyes, "Well I can assure you Mr. Grissom that they won't be finding either one of you for a very long time."

A flicker of fear came over Nick's eyes; he looked over to Grissom for reassurance. At least this time he wasn't alone. He still felt like a failure for allowing Grissom to be taken.

Grissom looked back at Nick, he had seen the look in Nick's face when Singer had said that. He wished that Nick didn't have to be here. If only he could reassure Nick that everything would be O.K, but at this point it was to early to say that.

Singer walked away from Grissom and back over to Brent and Michael.

"Even though my nephew wasn't thinking, I still love and support him. So I will do what I have to and if that means getting rid of you two then so be it."

Nick could feel chills run down his spine from that statement. He thought that Brent was bad. He was a kitten compared to his uncle. He only hoped that their friends were able to keep the helicopter in sight and be able to get to them on time.

"Uncle Max…"

Singer put up his hand to silence Brent. He looked over to Ryan who was holding Grissom and Nick each by an arm.

"Ryan why don't you take Mr. Grissom and Mr. Stokes here to our special guest room."

Ryan smirked and with eagerness replied, "It would be my pleasure sir."

Neither Grissom or Nick liked the sound of that nor did either of them want to go anywhere with Ryan. They both resisted until they heard a click of a gun behind them. Nick could feel a gun on his shoulder.

Ryan let go of Nick's arm grabbed a handful of hair and said menacing, "You know you hurt my feelings when you do that."

He let go of Nick's hair and pushed both men forward with force, "Now get moving!"

Both CSIs walked in the direction of the house. Grissom thought how the house reminded him of an English Castle; he only hoped that this house didn't have dungeons like it's predecessors in England.

Ryan and two other men followed them closely. As they marched towards the house the utter beauty of it hypnotized them the two captives. They had been in plenty of houses throughout each of their careers, but neither man ever seen a house quite like this one.

Under normal circumstance their curiosity would get the best of them, but in this instance they didn't want to know where they were headed. They were pushed into the front door of the house.

The entrance way had a giant chandelier hanging down and the floor was made of black marble. Placed directly in the middle of the entrance way was a beautiful cherry wood table with a large floral arrangement on it. There was a beautiful oak stairway curving up to the second floor.

The two hostages stopped in their tracks when they walked in. They took in everything that their trained senses were showing them. Ryan nudged them with a gun and pointed to the hallway just to left of the stairway. Grissom and Nick continued down the hallway as they were told.

Grissom had just made his way past a door, when he heard a cry of pain from Nick. He turned quickly to see Ryan holding Nick by the hair again.

"This way." He commanded and pointed to door.

Ryan continued to hold onto Nick as Grissom made his way back to the door.

"Let him go." Grissom demanded.

Nick looked at Grissom with pleading eyes. He didn't want Grissom to say anything. He was fine. Grissom ignored Nick and looked directly at Ryan.

Ryan laughed at Grissom, "I'll let go when I'm good and ready." He cocked his gun and placed it at Nick's temple. So far Nick had been able to keep his anxiety down because Grissom was with him, but he could feel himself starting to lose it. He barely heard the words that were said between Grissom and Ryan. All he knew was that he just wanted to be out of here.

"Get your ass through that door or Nicky here gets it."

Grissom could see that Nick was about to lose it so he tried to settle Ryan down, "You know if you kill either one of us, your boss isn't going to be too happy. Considering he brought us here to do that himself." Grissom responded.

Ryan removed the gun from Nick's temple, "Well that may be, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt you."

Ryan pushed Nick through the door, and the other two men grabbed Grissom and escorted him through the door. It was another hallway with beautiful paintings on the wall, plush carpeting on the floor and various tables and art placed carefully on them.

The group made their way up to yet another door. Ryan pulled Nick to a stop and waited for Grissom and his guards to catch up. Ryan opened the door to reveal a set of stairs going down to the basement. Nick looked down the stairs into darkness. He took a quick step back.

"No…I'm not going down there."

Grissom walked up besides Nick and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Nick turned his head and Grissom looked him straight in the eyes.

"Nick whatever happens we'll go through it together. I will be down there with you." Nick shook his head in understanding.

Ryan could see that Nick was distracted by Grissom and chose that moment to just push him down the stairs. Since Nick's hands were still cuffed behind his back there was no way for him to catch himself.

Ryan stood at the top of the stairs enjoying every grunt of pain and crashing. He looked over at Grissom and grabbed him by his shirt, "That happened because of you. Now if you don't want to end up like him. I would suggest you start down the stairs."

Grissom was normally not a hateful person, but at that moment he hated no one more than Ryan. He carefully steered the stairs until he made it to the bottom. Nick was lying there in a heap at the front of the steps. Grissom cautiously stepped over Nick as if he were maneuvering at a crime scene. The three other men weren't so careful. Grissom could see the pain etched in Nick's eyes. He wasn't sure of what Nick's injuries were from the fall, but he had an idea that they weren't good.

Ryan looked down at Nick who was still lying there and yelled, "Get up!"

He gave him a kick to the ribs for emphasis as well.

Nick was in no condition to get up on his own. He had hit his head and was sure that he had a concussion. He could feel pain radiating from his right wrist; he was almost certain that it was broken.

He spoke through the pain, "If you take off my cuffs I will be more than happy to get up, but as it stands I'm having a little trouble keeping my head clear from that nice ride down the stairs. "

Grissom stood there waiting for Ryan's response, Ryan bent down and grabbed Nick by the arms and pulled him up. Nick grunted in pain especially when Ryan grabbed his right elbow.

"O.K. you are up now…get moving…over there." Ryan pointed to a solid oak door and pulled Nick towards it.

Nick glanced over at Grissom and with a brief glance indicated that he was O.K. Grissom didn't buy it for a minute. He knew Nick was hurting he could tell by the way he held his body. Did Nick actually think he could bluff about being injured? He was a trained CSI for crying out loud; he looked for those kinds of things for a living.

The solid oak door creaked when Ryan pulled it open. The door led to a smaller room with two cells in it. The two CSIs were forced into the room, both Grissom and Nick stared at their new home and neither of them liked the accommodations. The cells looked exactly as if they were in a prison. Each cell had two bunks a sink and a toilet. Oh joy! They always put the criminals away into places like this, now they were going to feel first hand what it was like.

Ryan came up behind Nick grabbed his wrists and un-cuffed him. Nick let out a howl of pain; Ryan wasn't to gentle while doing that. He then walked over to Grissom and repeated the process.

He gave both men a shove into one cell and locked the door behind him.

Ryan looked at both men. "I'm sure you'll be having visitors soon, until then enjoy yourselves." With that said the three men walked out leaving Grissom and Nick by themselves.

Well there you have it Chapter 21. I hope you liked it.