Trapped
by Nicol Leoraine
Chapter 12
"What do you mean - it´s someone from your past?" Nick asked rather startled by the admission. He couldn´t grasp why someone from Brass´ past would target the other CSIs, nor did he understood how Brass could say it and look so calm.
But in reality, Jim Brass was anything but calm and Grissom knew that.
"Jim, do you know who may be behind this?" he asked in a quiet tone.
"That´s just it, Grissom. I had too much enemies back in Jersey to know which one this is," Brass replied frustrated and Nick wondered just what Brass had done. He knew almost nothing about the detective´s past, not more than he had two daughters, one of whom at one time was a suspect in a murder case.
"What did you do to piss them off so much?"
Grissom shot him a warning glare, but Nick just shrugged it off. He didn´t have the energy nor the mind to be polite.
"I put some people behind bars. Obviously, cops don´t really like to be in jail," Brass replied hoarsely. Nick nodded in silent acknowledgment.
"Any one giving you more trouble than the others?" Grissom asked and Brass barely supressed the sceptical grin. It was like looking through a haystack. But even there he remembered the not so subtle warning he got from Josh in the parking lot and suddenly it was the only person he could think of.
"Josh Brennan. He was a cop too, but I arrested his brother - Steve. He promised revenge, but then I left the city and never heard from him. But Steve got ten years... he was supposed to get out some twelve years ago, if he wasn´t causing trouble. He surely wouldn´t wait so long just to get even with me."
"You never know, Jim. He could´ve come to Vegas for a game and saw you. What do you know about him?"
Brass shrugged, trying to push off the annoyance he felt above their current situation and the fact that he was questioned by Grissom.
"We worked together for a year or so. He was a detective, actually he was a higher rank than me. I thought he was a good cop until I got contacted by the guys from IA and saw photos of him taking money from a dealer. I didn´t believe them, but then... we had this really hard case. Double murder and Steve Brennan was the head of the investigation. Some evidence get lost. Brennan had accused another cop, a young rookie. He was pulled off the case." Brass sighed, thinking about how that rookie reminded him of Kevin. Both were so damn eager to be a good cop. Now he felt a tinge of regret, knowing all he was doing tonight was snapping at the kid.
"The boy wasn´t about to sacrifice his own career. He was too eager to be a good cop. He got a hunch and followed it - alone. We found his body two days later at the place of the original crime scene. He had-" Brass swallowed, his eyes flicking through the hall when he remembered the body two floors above them. "-several stab wounds. It was a violent attack. Just like the guard up here-" he didn´t finish because the lights went on. Blinking hard, all three man instinctively crouched, expecting an attack.
"What the hell?" Nick exclaimed and he cocked his head to the side. "You heard that?"
Brass silently nodded. He too heard the click of the nearby door and automatically turned his gun on it. But the handle didn´t move and the detective´s brow furrowed.
Grissom was the first to realize there was no one in the hall and that this time the lights came on for a different reason, not just to taunt them. He walked up to the door and pulled on the gloves he found earlier. Ignoring how ridiculous he looked with them, he reached out to the handle. The door opened with ease. But there was nothing inside the room.
At least the lights were on - not flickering like before and driving them mad. As they tried several other doors, they realised that the clicking sound they heard was the one of the locking mechanism. But before they could even think about the implications, a sound of shooting tore through the air, followed by a desperate scream.
xxxx
"Ouch!" the sniper protested as Catherine smacked him on the head.
"Don´t play with us boy!" Catherine warned him and Warrick hid the smirk with a cough. Right now, Cath´s tone was that of an angry mother, but he was sure there weren´t any positive feelings toward their attacker.
"Maybe you think you can get away with shooting at people just because you look like a kid. Well, let me tell you, you won´t."
Suddenly the fear in the sniper´s face turned into a hateful glare, wiping off the youngish look.
"Go to hell!" he spat, but didn´t react in time and he caught another smack.
"Watch your tongue!" Catherine warned him. This time his only reply was a snort.
"Why were you shooting at us?" Warrick asked and to drive home his point, put the gun to the sniper´s neck. Silence.
"Well?"
"I want a lawyer," he gritted through his teeth and this time it was Warrick who snorted.
"Sure. You can get one at the station. But right now, I don´t see any around."
"I am not talking without a lawyer. I have my rights."
"Cath, why don´t you go a little further - check the perimeter, perhaps?"
"Why?" she asked, confused.
"Oh, I just need to have a little talk with this boy. Don´t need any witness for that."
Catherine raised her eyebrows. She was about to protest but then she caught the frightened look on the boy's face, and she simply nodded.
"Whatever you want. But Warrick - be careful. It won´t do us any good if he ended up like the last one."
"L-last one?" the question came out as a croak and Cath almost spoiled the effect by laughing, but she quickly recovered.
"Like I said Rick - aim good. He´s too young for a wheelchair," and with that, she walked away.
Warrick watched as the boy swallowed, his face covered in cold sweat. The brave look was long gone, instead there was a pair of ridiculously wide eyes watching him.
"Talk. Or I swear I´ll shoot you in the leg. Hey, you can even choose which one you prefer," he added with a fake smile.
"N-no, you ca-can´t shoot me," the boy stuttered.
"Try me. Now spill. Who are you?"
"C-collin," seeing the frown on the CSIs face, he quickly added: "Brennan. Collin Brennan."
"Okay, Collin. Now why were you shooting at us?"
"H-he said so. I really don´t wanted to kill you, I swear."
"Somehow I find it hard to believe you, Collin. One of your bullets ended up in my backpack. Who is he?"
"M-my uncle.D-don´t hurt him please. He just..." Collin nervously bit into his lip and squirmed on the ground.
"What did he want?" Warrick pressed, having a creepy feeling that time was of the essence to his friends.
"Revenge for my father!" the boy blurted out. Before Warrick could asked him more, something crackled and the CSI startled.
"I-it´s just the radio," Collin said, afraid that the man would shoot him for nothing.
"How? Our cells don't work," Warrick asked confused, while searching in the boy's pockets for the radio.
"This is the only frequency that works, the others are jammed."
"Collin!" Warrick was already holding the radio when a male voice yelled on the other end.
"T-that´s him," Colling said fearfully.
"Talk to him. But remember - one wrong word..."
"Yeah. Can you take off my handcuffs, please?"
Warrick simply shook his head and held the radio near Collin´s face. He pushed the button to transmit and nodded.
"Yeah?" Colling asked, sounding almost normal.
"About time!" the voice on the other side yelled. "Did you get them?"
Collin blinked and turned at Warrick, who mouthed the reply.
"Y-yes, they´re dead."
"Good. Are you still there?"
"Near the cars. Why?"
"I need you to stay here. I think there will be some more coming up. Get rid of them, got it?"
"But, I thought you wanted me gone," Collin noted, frowning at the change of plans. His uncle promised him he wouldn't have to kill anyone, that he was just a backup. Now he was asking him to kill more people?
"Plans change and I need you here! Now shut up and find a good position." With that, he ended the contact, leaving Collin to face the CSIs.
"Okay, now you´ll tell me exactly what is going on in that building. Every detail."
xxxx
Nick simply wasn´t able to keep up with the pace the others set. His heart was beating too fast and he couldn´t get his breathing under control. Not to mention that all that running jostled his bad hand and it felt like it was on fire. He also felt like he could drink a gallon of water and still be thirsty.
But here he was, his run quickly changing into a trot until he stopped altogether. But it wasn´t the need to take a break that stopped him, but the sight laying before him.
Both Brass and Grissom were standing rigidly at the crossing of the corridors. He was about to ask why they didn´t continue, when he saw Kevin, the young rookie. Nick paused, his mouth open in surprise. Kevin was crouching on the ground, waving his gun around and shaking in fear. His eyes were jerkily scanning the place, unable to focus on anything. He looked as if he was surrounded by his worst nightmare, but Nick saw that the corridors were empty. There was absolutely nothing to cause such fear.
"What´s wrong with him?" Nick whispered, voice tight with concern.
"I think he´s drugged," Grissom replied in the same hushed tone. Nick frowned, but then he caught a glance at Kevin´s eyes and saw the dilated pupils. He nodded.
"How many bullets left?" Nick nervously watched the gun that was waving alarmingly in the drugged man´s hand. He remembered the shots fired out, but in his haste didn´t count them.
"Seven," Brass said a little too loud and cringed as Kevin suddenly turned at him. Sweat was trickling down his neck and his lips were twitching ever so slightly as he gave out a growl and fired. Brass dove to the ground, not having time to do much else. Thankfully, Kevin´s aim was pretty off and the bullets ended in the wall, but it was still to close to anyone´s liking.
"Four left," Nick mumbled as he too crouched down. Grissom was the only one left standing, mostly because he simply didn´t have anywhere to hide. So he just stood there, a gun in one hand, the other slowly making it´s way to the air, palm open in an unthreatening gesture.
"Kevin, it´s okay," he spoke, hoping that the young man wasn´t too deep in his hallucination.
"Get away from me!" Kevin screamed and to make his point, he fired another two shots.
"Down!" Nick shouted and without thinking grabbed at Grissom´s jacket, pulling his boss to the ground. Grissom fell to the floor with a grunt, momentarily stunned.
Brass cursed and tightened his grip around his own gun, breathing hard. He was cursing his own stupidity at letting the kid out of his sight. And now he had dragged Nick and Grissom right into the middle of a shooting range. He eyed his gun but shook his head, knowing that he would use it only as a last resort. He knew there were only two more bullets left. If Kevin fired two more times, they could easily disable him. But what if he finally managed to hit someone?
"Nick, Grissom - get the hell away from there!" he hissed, finally making up his mind. He would take care of Kevin, but he needed to know the two CSIs were out of harm's way. They still had to find Sara and Jenkins.
"Nick, go," Grissom said as he was getting off the floor, deliberately pulling himself closer to the wall, so he was now practically out of Kevin´s sight.
"No way!" Nick retorted, suddenly angry. Despite what Grissom thought, he was capable of handling the situation. For a moment he forgot the fact that he was injured and that maybe that was the real reason why both men ordered him away. Instead he felt angry that they could think he would just leave.
He faced the scowl that Grissom shot him and was sure he would pay for it later in the lab, but he didn´t relent and a second felt triumph when Grissom said: "Keep your head down."
TO BE CONTINUED
Four more chapters to go till the end. Reviews are still welcome:-)