An Unfair Act of Vengeance
Notes: Sorry it took me so long to update, and this story is coming close to ending. Don't worry, the major suffering scenes are over, and I was hoping to resolve the situation in this chapter, but I decided to focus a bit more on the team's forensics work, and their feelings while they find clues. Don't worry, I'll hopefully update soon, and the next chapter will cover how this ends, and after that there will only be one or two chapters of conclusion. As always; please review!
Summary: Nick does his best to fight back, and stay strong as he waits for what he believes is inevitable. The team gives the investigation their all as they search for any clues as to where Nick could be…
He had tried so desperately to keep from looking at Brass, or any of the countless familiar faces, once they had stepped outside. It has to be this way… I wish it could have turned out different… I'm sorry… Suddenly he felt himself being lifted completely off the ground as he heard several loud explosions. As soon as the first explosion went off he felt the two carrying him speed up, and suddenly found himself being shoved in the trunk of a small white car as people scrambled around the area in panic. Suddenly everything went black as he watched Alberts slam the trunk down over him.
Catherine slowly made her way through the courtroom, and she immediately moved to search under the table where Alberts had pulled the knife. She snapped several photos of a clear evidence bag that was still connected to the bottom of the table. With the pictures out of the way she carefully peeled the tape with her gloved hands. Once she had it in her hands she grimly set out to dust the entire bag and tape for prints. She distantly watched as Sofia snapped shots of the glass shards on the floor, as well as the ropes that still hung loosely.
"Ok Archie, lets get going on these tapes…" Sara greeted him swiftly, without wasting any time.
"Actually, I got a head start. See this car here?"
"You mean that white one?"
"Yeah… just watch…" He quickly pushed the play button, and Sara watched as two men appeared, opened the trunk and ran off before another two men threw something into the back and slammed the lid before quickly climbing in the car and taking off.
"Oh my God… was that Nick that they dropped in the trunk?"
"Well, it's the only suspicious footage I found on the tapes. I already tracked it, and it left the city limits about twenty minutes ago, heading towards Lake Mead."
"Great, I'll get the word out, and see if anyone finds anything useful."
"Yeah… and, Sara… good luck…"
"Thanks, Archie… I just hope we don't need it." Sara replied quickly before hurrying out of the lab.
Warrick quickly scaled the stairs that led to the roof, and frowned when he noticed the lock on the door had been broken. He quickly snapped a few photos, and printed the door.
"Any prints there Warrick?" Grissom asked, forcing himself to stay calm. Whenever you want to speed up I always find it better to slow down… The words he had often used seemed pathetic when he thought of Nick being abducted, but he knew that it was the right thing to do. We can't rush. If we rush we could miss the clue that'd lead us to Nick…
"Nah, there's nothing here man…" Warrick replied, keeping his voice cool and as casual as he could. "We're not going to find any evidence here to help Nick… I'd say we have a better shot outside."
"Well, lead the way… and let's be cautious ok?"
"Yeah, who knows what these guys might've left behind for us." Warrick nodded in agreement as he kept himself from imagining the various scenarios.
Greg quickly scanned the first car that was lying on its side, and he sighed. His focus remained on the bottom of the car where he could distinctly see a charred black box the didn't belong on the undercarriage. Well, at least I can save some time with not having to check the engine… or the interior…
Brass stopped in irritation when his cell phone went off. Great… this is the last thing I need right now… "Hello?" He answered brusquely to whoever was on the other end.
"Hey, Brass… It's Mia…"
"Mia? I thought you were taking some time off?"
"I was, and I was taking David to a relative's who lives out of town…"
"So, what do you need?"
"Well, I saw the news, and then we found something…"
"What? What did you find?"
"We… we found a bunch of tombstones… they have the names of the missing patients on them…"
"You've got to be kidding me…" Brass sighed, and looked up towards the courthouse. "I'll grab someone, and be right there, just be careful; someone might still be around there that's a threat…"
"Well, there are a few officers here already. They were following us… you know, keeping tabs and all…"
"Good, just be cautious, and don't touch anything, we'll be right there!"
He almost forgot the entire situation when he saw the Sheriff heading towards him. Oh, this ought to be good…
"Detective! I need to have a word with you!" He yelled out as he watched Brass turn on his heels halfway up the polished steps that led into the building.
"Are you sure it can't wait, we've got a lot to do!" Brass called down, hoping the older man would take a hint and back off.
"I'm sorry, Detective, but this is important…"
"No! It isn't important! What's important is that we find Nick before that son of a bitch kills him! So, unless you've got a solid lead for me, we're done here! I've got a job to do, and I swear on that man's life that I'm going to do it without wasting my time!" Brass yelled furiously as he quickly turned and headed up the steps towards the door.
"Catherine, you done in there?"
"Almost… there isn't much down here…"
"Good, I need you to go wait for me, while I get Grissom!"
"Brass, what's going on?" Catherine asked, unable to hide her concern.
"Mia and Hodges just stumbled onto several tombstones. They've got our missing patient's names on them."
"Ok, I'll meet you out front!" She called after Brass who was already running for the door to the stairwell.
Twenty minutes later they were quickly scrambling out of Brass's car towards the scene of nine large, dark polished tombstones.
"Anyone own this property?" Catherine yelled to the nearest officer who shook his head.
"Sorry, Catherine, not private property, and no one we've talked to a few families heading out to Lake Mead say that there weren't and tombstones here earlier today, or yesterday." The officer responded weakly. Another vehicle pulled up behind them, and Catherine sighed as she saw the heavy piece of machinery being pulled down.
"Ok, let's set it up, and see what's under these things…" Grissom called out, as a Lab Tech quickly pushed a few buttons and the familiar screen lit up. Another tech grabbed the handle as they slowly moved in front of the first gravestone.
"We've got one skeleton… and another…" He continually confirmed the presence of the other bodies, and Catherine looked sadly at Grissom who seemed to focus on what they had to do.
"Let's get them dug up, and have David get out here immediately! Catherine, why don't you go back and try to find Nick's family… this can't be easy for them."
"Sure thing Gil. I'll have my cell phone handy, so call me when the bodies are in the morgue!" She called out as she walked up to Mia and Hodges who were sitting silently in a Blue SUV.
"Ok, sorry, but I need a ride to the courthouse, and pronto."
"Sure thing, Catherine… do you think he's going to be ok?" Mia asked, unable to keep her voice calm.
"I don't know, Mia. I don't know, but all we can do is our job, and pray that the bastard hasn't killed him yet."
Nick sat in silence, as he tried to stay calm. I did what I had to do. I couldn't let them go through this… not when I've seen what he's capable of… I couldn't let them go through that… not for me. He forced himself to keep his breathing under control. It's almost over. At least you know what's coming. It doesn't matter what happens to me anymore; they're safe again… He suddenly realized that the darkness of the trunk hardly mattered to him as he forced himself to accept what was going to inevitably come. This is the only way. I'll do anything to keep them safe… I have too…
Warrick made his way around the roof quietly, when he noticed something out of place on the far end of the building. He quickly made his way over as a gentle wind tugged at his shirt. Without hesitating he lifted the evidence bag, and stared somberly at the Styrofoam cup it held. Maybe I ought to pay her another visit… After a thorough look around the window he realized there was nothing there to help him. A few minutes later he was down in the lobby of the courthouse with Vega following him.
Catherine searched for any signs of the Stokes family in the massive crowd that was growing around the courthouse. She sighed in frustration as she realized how hard this could be. They've got to be around here somewhere… they wouldn't have just taken off without finding out what happened to Nick, would they? She continued to search through the crowd.
Greg had quickly finished with the cars, and had found little evidence. He hid his disappointment as he headed towards the courthouse only to see Warrick hurrying out of the front door. He was just about to head up the stairs when he noticed Catherine looking frantically for someone in the growing crowd.
"Hey! Warrick, Catherine!" he yelled and they quickly made their way towards each other as even more squad cars pulled up.
Grissom stood by the first uncovered tomb and he found it more than disturbing to find the body had been enclosed in a Plexiglas coffin. There was also no doubt about the serious beating the body had taken even though it was hardly more than a skeleton.
"Hmm, well, sorry, Grissom, but I can't tell you a whole lot, except that basically every bone I can see has some sort of break or fracture. I think he's safe to send back to have Doc perform the full autopsy."
"Ok. Let's move on then." He said as he gave David a hand up from out of the hole. They quickly moved on to the second uncovered grave while the officers worked steadily at unburying the rest of the tombs.
"Well, I can tell you right now… this man was flayed…"
"What?" Grissom asked in surprise as he began to battle the images of Nick undergoing such brutality while he was still alive. Stay focused. You can't help him if you're not paying attention.
"I mean there isn't a single bit of skin on him… and… I'm not sure what caused it, but his arms and legs aren't fully connected… both shoulders are dislocated, and his femurs aren't quite attached to his hips… Plus, the muscles are extremely strained…"
"Do you know what might've caused that?"
"Well… this might just be a wild guess, but seeing that he was flayed… that makes me think medieval times. Maybe he was attached to a rack, but that's just speculation…"
"Well, I sure hope you're wrong, David, but let's keep going."
"Ok, well, see this dark shaped pattern here?"
"Yeah… I think so."
"Well, I think this person had some serious type of burn, or something similar to a burn. I can't be too sure. Sorry…"
"It's ok David. Is that all?"
"Well, his eyes are missing, so I can't quite tell what killed him. Could've been drugs, or just the physical trauma that you see."
"Okay then. Let's move on." Once more he helped David out of the hole, and they didn't waste any time prying open the next Plexiglas cover. Neither could take their eyes off the next body which was even more mangled than the other two had been.
"You know, David… I'm thinking you might be right about that rack idea… I don't think I've… ever seen…"
"Someone with their limbs torn off? I've only seen one other body like this, back before I moved to Vegas. Not something you forget too easily."
Nick quickly closed his eyes as the lid of the trunk opened suddenly, and just as he slowly began to open his eyes to see the bright sun overhead everything went dark. He suddenly felt himself being picked up, and he cringed as he was unceremoniously dropped on the floor. His pained ached from the strain he was still under, and he fought back the bile as someone kicked him hard in his gut. I guess this is it… It can't be too much longer now…
"Your time is coming Nick… but I'm not through with you quite yet." Nicked flinched as he heard Alberts voice cackle menacingly into his ear. He slowly felt someone grab a hold of his injured leg and they dragged him painfully across what must've been gravel. Suddenly he felt his blindfold being removed and he stared in shear terror at the contraption in the dimly lit room. Somewhere in the back of his brain he recalled the name of the insidious device. It's a rack… Nothing could've stopped the shiver that went down his spine, and he felt several tears slowly fall along his pale face. At least it's me. At least he isn't going to use that damn thing on them…
"Hey you guys, have either of you seen Nick's family?" Catherine asked quickly.
"Um, I think I might've seen them getting in a car to go to the lab… I'm not too sure though." Greg offered loudly over the noise of the crowd.
"Ok, well, I'll be heading back there, what are you guys going to do?"
"I was just going to go meet Vega and we were going to talk to Kelly Gordon, to see if we could find anything more from her."
"Ok, well, listen, I don't know if its helpful, but I've got a source that says Alberts is big on medieval tools, so you might ask her something about that… what about you Greg?"
"Actually, I was just going to look for something to do…"
"Ok, well, they found the missing patients' bodies, so why don't you head over there and see if they need some help. I'll see you guys later." She didn't wait for the others to even say goodbye before she turned and headed down to the parking lot to her car.
"Miss Gordon? Miss Gordon, I'm with the Las Vegas Police Department, and we'd like to ask you a few questions." Vega called out loudly through the rickety door. Both waited silently for a few moments, and when she didn't answer Warrick decided to try a different approach.
"Miss Gordon, please, I'm Warrick Brown, a criminalist. Nick Stokes is my partner; not to mention a good friend. Please, just let us ask you a few questions. It could be the difference between life and death for him." He yelled, and tried hard to block the images of a bloodied and battered Nick lying on a slab in the morgue.
"O-ok… fine…" She answered quietly, and Warrick held back a sigh of relief when he saw the door open.
"Ms. Willows! Excuse, Ms. Willows!" Catherine spun around at the voice, and sighed when she saw Emily Peterson hurrying towards her.
"Miss Peterson… what do you want?" Catherine asked, trying hard not to sound overly impatient.
"I… I was just wondering if you know how Nick is doing…" She answered hastily as tears formed in her eyes.
"We don't know. He could be alive and kicking or he could be…"
"Dead…" Emily finished for her and her shoulders seemed to slump a bit in defeat.
"Yeah… look, I actually have been meaning to… ask… why did you do all that… for him?"
"I… He deserves a chance to live a happy, fulfilling life. She was going to… take that from him. I know what it's like to be… a victim… I didn't want that to happen to him again… I guess I only helped throw out one bucket of water in a sinking ship…"
"Hey, every bucket counts. We're not going to let this ship sink yet. Look… would you happen to have seen where his family is… or do you have any idea of where they might've gone?"
"Actually, I just saw his parents standing by a car down the street."
"Thanks… sorry I can't stay, but I've got work to do…"
"I know. Good luck, and I hope you find him… before it's too late…"
"So do I…" Catherine whispered to herself as she quickly hurried down the street. Her eyes finally catching sight of Nick's parents as she ran over to update them.
He futilely tried to keep his arms and legs from being shut tightly in the manacles. He winced as the metal bindings closed around his injured wrist, and he fought fiercely to keep his other hand free. It wasn't until he felt a jarring pain in his ribs when his captors were finally able to force his other wrist into its place. His right leg ached as he felt it roughly lifted, and his shoe was quickly pulled free before it was quickly enclosed by the appropriate manacle. The pain from his broken femur made more tears to come to his eyes as he felt his uninjured leg being forced into its final position. Please… just let this end…
Greg had arrived just in time to see Grissom and David overlooking the last of the victims. He quickly started to breathe through his mouth as he realized the stench that had overtaken the site. Get over you idiot… Nick is out there somewhere… suffering God knows what, and you're concerned about some smell? Just move your butt, and do what needs to be done!
"Hey! What have you guys found?" Greg yelled as he ran carefully towards them.
"Hey, Greg, we're on the last body now. From what we can tell their arms and legs were all either ripped clear off, or nearly ripped off."
"Jesus… what could've done that?"
"Well, David here suggested a rack… we probably won't be able to actually confirm that though. Otherwise… none of them have their eyes… three of them were flayed alive. Two were only skeletons, and they were all buried in Plexiglas coffins."
"Well… Catherine gave us a bit of insight into the fact that this guy seems to like medieval devices. Which was… uh, partially confirmed by the uh… mask…"
"Hmm, well, I'll have to talk to Catherine later to see where she picked that one up… either way, we're probably not going to learn much about Nick's location through these bodies. But, who knows what's inside them… could be an insect, or some trace that could give up their location… we'll just have to wait and see. Otherwise… you can quickly test for prints on the coffins. I doubt you'll find anything, but maybe they have someone else helping them that could give us a new lead."
"Sure thing, then I'll head back to the lab and meet up with you later."
"Sure thing Greg. Be careful, and don't take too long…"
"Ok, Grissom, I'll be back to the lab soon." Greg gave his supervisor a forced smile, and he quickly went to work.
"Judge, Mrs. Stokes! Please, wait!" Catherine yelled as she watched Nick's father helping his wife into the passenger seat of their rental. She was running as fast as she dared towards them as she darted around various people.
"Finally… I was wondering when they'd get around to telling us anything…" He answered angrily as he closed the passenger door, and turned to face her.
"I'm really sorry, but we've all been going at a hundred miles per hour, and I've spent the last thirty minutes looking for you…"
"So… what do you know about my son's condition?" He asked cutting her off.
There was no way Catherine would call him on his rudeness. Hell, if Lindsey was in this position I would've knocked some people's teeth out… "I'm afraid we don't know too much. And, the biggest lead we have is that we've found the other missing patients.
"Look… Miss Willows…"
"Please… call me Catherine…"
"Look… Catherine… we just want our son back. He's taken too many assaults here in Vegas… We just want him to be safe…"
"Listen… I know this must be hard for both of you… trust me… Nick was more than just a friend to us, and believe me… he's getting more than our best. I can guarantee you that everyone working this case is giving it at least two hundred percent."
"I just hope that's enough. Just… do whatever it takes… please… get our son back alive…"
To be Continued…
Next Chapter: The team finds more clues that lead them closer and closer to finding Nick. Everyone begins to realize that the situation is about to resolve itself one way or another, and Nick tries his best, as does the team, to stop the predicament from becoming a catastrophe.