The group of CSIs waited anxiously while Tennison attempted to locate the GPS signal from Nick's watch.
"I wonder how Tennison is coming with that GPS signal." Warrick said.
"Well hopefully he's not out of range or anything like that. Though the watch we did get from him was one of the better ones." Greg added.
"I'm sure Tennison is doing the best he can." Ecklie replied.
Jim Brass looked at Ecklie after he said that, "If Tennison was doing his best then he would have never lost Nick and Grissom in the first place."
"Leave it to Brass to tell it like it is." Catherine said with a smile.
The rear doors of the black FBI van opened and Tennison stepped out. He walked over to the group of CSIs huddled together talking.
"Here comes Tennison," Sara announced.
The group all took a step back waiting for Tennison to walk over. They tried to anticipate what he was going to say, but his face was unreadable. It seemed like it took forever for Tennison to walk over, but he finally arrived and smiled at the group.
"Smiling that's a good thing," Greg said.
"Yes it is. We were lucky. We found the signal about thirty miles north of here. The task force is going to be meeting in a few minutes. Just to let you know the FBI has claimed full jurisdiction on this. Would you guys like to come along as observers only?"
"Just try and keep us away." Catherine said.
"Well the task force is meeting under that tent over there."
The task force of approximately 20 people were sitting and standing under a very large tent waiting for the task force commander to arrive to start the meeting. At the front of the tent there was a table set up with a covered display.
Warrick, Catherine, Jim, Sara and Greg all stood towards the back of the tent. Since none of them were to be involved in this operation they were only there as observers. Agent Tennison was sitting in front of them and next to him was Agent Davis. The four CSIs took a quick look around the room they knew that these men and women were here to bring down Maxwell Singer and the Mitchell's as well as rescue Nick and Grissom if they were both still alive.
The task commander finally entered the tent and made his way up to the front. He turned around to address the group as he did the room became silent.
"Good afternoon, for those of you who don't know me I'm Agent Mike Jackson. O.K. now that the pleasantries are over, let's get started."
Agent Jackson lifted the cover off of the display on the table. There stood a large white poster board with the blueprints and diagrams of Maxwell Singer's estate.
"This is Maxwell Singer's estate." Jackson said as he pointed to the poster. "As most of you know we have had Mr. Singer under surveillance for some time now. Up to this point we've had only circumstantial evidence and have not been able to touch him. That has now changed. It has come to our attention that the escapee Brent Mitchell is held up at Maxwell Singer's estate. We were able to track the escapee through a GPS tracking device that one of the hostages had on him."
The four CSIs in the back of the room looked at each other. They knew which hostage he was talking about.
"We still believe that the hostages Mr. Grissom and Mr. Stokes are still on the estate since the GPS device hasn't moved in the last few hours. This will be both a capture and recovery. O.K. here's how this is going to work. We will all meet at this location." He pointed to a spot on the board about a half a mile away from the estate. "Our teams will be going in after dark. The power will be cut after our teams have entered the estate. We have three teams each consisting of five people. Team 1 you will enter the estate here." Jackson pointed to a section of fence on the north side of the estate. "Your primary job is to take out the guards. Team 2 after Team 1 has cleared a path for you; you will enter at the same location. Your job is to recover the hostages, hopefully alive, and bring them back to where you entered the estate; there will be other agents and medical personnel waiting to take the rescued hostages from you."
Catherine and Jim both appeared worried at that last statement 'hopefully alive'. It was getting aggravating. Catherine was a scientist and a Criminalist, but also a friend. It was hard for her to keep going back and forth with her feelings. She knew what her mind was telling her to wait for the evidence before feeling anything, but the friend was telling her that she should be worried for her friends. Agent Jackson's voice brought her out of her reverie.
"Alright Team 3 you will enter here." Jackson pointed to a section of fence on the south side of the estate. "Your job is to locate and capture Brent and Michael Mitchell, Maxwell Singer and Ryan Croft. Teams 1 and 2 if and when you are successful in your assignments and the hostages are safe; you will assist Team 3 if they need it. Does anyone have any questions?"
The agents and other law enforcement officers looked around waiting for someone to ask a question. When no one volunteered one the commander spoke up again.
"O.K. everyone has their assignments. Be careful out there…now let's get going."
Grissom had finally talked Nick into getting a little bit of rest. He could hear the soft breathing of the man sleeping in the bunk just in front of him. Nick was like a son to him. He had really meant it when he told Nick that he was glad that he was here with him. Though Grissom didn't know what to expect from Brent, but Nick and him would go through it together. It had been mutually decided by both men not to cooperate and play into Brent's games no matter what. They were counting on their friends to get them out of there. They only hoped that they both survived what Brent was planning for them.
Nick had only been asleep for a few minutes when Grissom heard the creak of the wood door leading into the room they were in. He turned and watched the door open hoping and praying it wasn't Brent. Nick was not ready for him and neither was he when it came down to it. Unfortunately Grissom's prayers were not answered. Brent walked into the room with an evil sneer on his face; four men followed him in.
The five men walked up to the cell. Grissom just stared at them with hate in his eyes. He did not like the look on Brent's face.
"Let the games begin." Grissom thought to himself.
Brent looked passed Grissom to see Nick sleeping on the lower bunk. "I see Nick has already gotten use to the accommodations. What about you Mr. Grissom?"
Grissom looking around the cell and said, "Well if we could clean it up a little, maybe put up some curtains and pictures. It could be real homey. I haven't tried the bed yet, though it does look a little bumpy."
"You can joke all you want Mr. Grissom, but you will feel like I did."
Grissom walked up to the bars, "You killed two men that we know of, you kidnapped and attempted to kill Nick and God knows what other things you have done. You deserved everything you got Mitchell and then some. You are lucky your Uncle Max saved your ass, because you would probably be looking at death row. Now is that all you wanted to say or did you want to blow more smoke up my ass."
As Brent listened to Grissom he got angrier and angrier. 'How dare he talk to me this way!' He demanded respect from people and this man was no different. He would be learning the hard way; this was the part of his job that he liked.
"Mr. Grissom you are going to regret those words." Brent said as he motioned one of his men to unlock the cell doors. "Didn't Nick tell you about my temper?"
Grissom watched as the guard unlocked the door to his cell, "You don't scare me Brent. I've been dealing with scum like you for years. You are all the same. You hide behind money and expect everyone to grovel at your feet, I'm sorry but I don't grovel."
Brent waved the four men into the cell. Two of them grabbed Grissom while the other two grabbed Nick from the bed.
When Nick was grabbed and pulled off of his bunk he let out a cry of surprise. His head was still throbbing and he still had the sling on his left arm. Once he cleared the cobwebs he could see who was standing in front of him. Brent Mitchell.
Nick wasn't looking forward to this moment. If he had a choice he'd rather go to the dentist for a root canal any day of the week.
"Well Nick it seems that your friend here doesn't know about my temper." Brent said as he walked up to Nick. "Didn't you share that with him?"
Nick remained silent. He wasn't going to give into this sadistic man. Just as he told Grissom in the courtroom no matter how he answered he would still get hit. He just waited for it.
"Answer me Nick." He grabbed Nick's left wrist and started to squeeze. Nick struggled with his captors but to no avail. His eyes crunched up in pain he could no longer hold in it and let out a scream.
Brent reveled when he heard Nick scream. Grissom struggled to get away from the two men that held him. It was his fault that Nick was hurt and now in pain.
"Stop it…leave him alone!" Grissom screamed.
Brent smiled, that only made him squeeze tighter. Nick could no longer support his weight and he just fell limp from the pain. Brent finally let go of Nick's wrist. Nick was hardly able to recover when Brent grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him over to Grissom. He pushed Nick's face towards Grissom.
"How much does this man mean to you Grissom…hmm?" Brent jerked Nick's head back for emphasis. Grissom just stared at Brent stone-faced.
Nick finally spoke up. "Go to hell Brent…you sick son of a…ahh!" Brent let go of Nick's hair and grabbed his bad wrist again.
"You were saying Nick." Brent snickered. "Well Grissom what does Nick mean to you?"
"That's none of you business Brent." Grissom answered.
"Is that right…well Grissom I'm making it my business and unless you want to see poor Nicky die right now." He let go of Nick's wrist again and pulled out a Swiss Army knife out of his back pocket, opened it and placed it on Nick's neck. "…I would answer the damn question, you have two minutes."
Grissom could see the blood dripping from Nick's neck and looked into Nick's eyes. Nick could tell that Grissom was going to answer.
"No Griss..." Nick's mouth was covered by Brent's hand. 'Don't play into his games Grissom! Nick tried to say with his eyes.
"Times almost up."
Nick struggled with Brent and the other men; he could feel the knife cutting into his skin. He could see the look of guilt on Grissom's face. He tried to talk through Brent's hand, but Brent only held on tighter.
"Times up Grissom…say goodbye to Nicky." Brent said as he brought the knife across Nick's throat.