Chapter 7

Greg sat, tied to the chair he was on. His hands were cuffed behind him, with rope tied around his midsection and arms. His legs were shackled to the chair legs. It was very uncomfortable and his muscles were starting to ache. Right now, though, he was being distracted from the pain because of pondering the man's words. There had been many things in the past that Alex hadn't told him, he wondered what she could be hiding from him now. Especially after they had made a pact to tell each other the truth.

Greg also didn't understand how the man knew he and Alex were married. Hell, they hadn't even been married all that long. And as far as Greg knew, no one knew, except of course the minister that married them. He didn't even know they were going to get married until just before.

They were driving down the strip, looking for a place to eat. It had been a month since Greg started on days. They were having a normal conversation when Greg kept noticing all the wedding chapels. He turned to look at Alex, who was driving.

"You want to?" he asked.

"Want to what?" she responded, turning to look at him briefly.

"Get married," he smiled.

Alex let out a laugh. "We are getting married." She held up her hand to show him the ring he'd gotten her. "Remember?"

Greg's smile grew wider. "I remember. I meant, right now."

"Right now?" Alex replied skeptically.

"Yeah, right now," Greg answered.

Alex pondered the idea for a few moments. The smile faded from Greg's face as time ticked by, knowing that her silence was a negative response.

"If we do this, we can't tell anyone. I mean no one." She gave Greg a quick look.

Greg's smile once again widened. "I swear, no one."

"And we still have our planned wedding in six months." It wasn't a question.

Greg nodded. A grin crept along Alex's lips.

"Ok, which one?" she asked.

They found one and they got married. It was a spur of the moment decision. It was one they had talked about before, but neither had really wanted to elope. Why he ended up asking her that day was still a mystery to him, but one he was happy to live with.

The man in the mask noisily walked into the room, waking Greg from his memory.

"Show time," the man said.

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The phone at Alex and Greg's apartment rang. The caller ID showed the number blocked so she knew who it had to be. She paused for a moment before picking it up.

"Hello?" her voice was shaky.

"Is Mr. Sanders there?" the voice asked.

"Y-yes," Alex replied.

"Put me on speaker then," the voice ordered.

Alex motioned with one hand for Ed to come over and with the other she put the phone on speaker. "Ok, you're on."

"Listen closely, I don't like to repeat myself. The price for safe return is the Martin tapes," the voice paused, waiting on a response.

Her heart sank. "I don't have the tapes!" Alex exclaimed. She couldn't believe she was going through this again and that Greg had been kidnapped over it. She'd told Jacob Thompson the truth when he tried to kill her. She didn't know where Sean Martin's tapes were.

The man let out a guffaw. "I wasn't speaking to you, Mrs. Sanders."

Alex turned to Ed. Her face was overcome by an expression confusion. What could Ed possibly know about the tapes? Sean Martin? Her kidnapping? Her marriage?

Ed's expression was similar to Alex's. He didn't understand why the voice had called her 'Mrs. Sanders.' As far as he knew they were just engaged. But, his question would have to wait. There was a more pressing matter at hand.

"I don't have the tapes," Ed told the man.

He laughed. "Tsk, tsk, Mr. Sanders. Now is not the time to be lying. Your son's life hangs in the balance."

Alex was still frozen, looking at Ed, but the wheels in her mind had started to turn. As she realized why Ed was really in Las Vegas, she knew what she was going to have to tell him. Currently, she didn't say a word. Ed sighed.

"When and where?" Ed replied.

"Just get the tapes and be ready to move when I tell you," the man ordered and then reiterated, "No FBI, no cops, No CSIs."

"CSIs are already involved," Alex tried to reason with the voice. "In case you didn't know, Greg was on his way in when you took him. They are suspicious that he didn't show."

"You're a smart girl," the voice said. "You'll figure something out. Besides, if you cooperate, Greg will be back with you before this day is over." The line went dead.

Alex's bottom lip quivered. Bad memories of her kidnapping flashed in her mind. The man on the phone hadn't given any indication that Greg was still ok and she hadn't had time to ask. She didn't know if the man was trustworthy, especially if he wanted the Martin tapes. She was also bothered by the amount of information this man knew. But he obviously didn't know everything.

There was a lot to be said, but Ed couldn't stop himself from asking, "Mrs. Sanders?"

Alex nodded, trying to fight the tears. "We…we've been married for a month. We didn't tell anyone because we still wanted to have a formal wedding where family and stuff came."

"W…wow. Congratulations, I guess," Ed responded.

"I'm so sorry you had to find out this way, Ed," Alex apologized.

"It-it's alright," Ed replied. "There's obviously a lot we haven't told each other." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "What are you doing about Greg's work?"

"I already took care of it." Alex told him. "I was just trying to see if the guy would give us any leeway. I told Gil I found Greg still at home, lying in bed sick. I told him that Greg didn't want to tell me he was sick because he wanted to me hang out with you."

"And he bought it?" Ed questioned.

Alex let out a sigh. "Why shouldn't he?"

Ed nodded. He knew Gil would believe his daughter. "What about the tapes?"

Alex shook her head. "You're the one who knows where they are."

Ed slowly nodded. "I guess we need to go get them."

"Yeah," Alex responded, as she walked down the hall to her bedroom. Ed could hear her rummaging around in a dresser drawer. When she reappeared she had a wallet and a different cell phone in her hands.

"What—?" Ed started, but Alex cut him off with a finger to her lips. She didn't know if the apartment was bugged and wouldn't put it past someone wanting those tapes.

She flipped open the wallet, revealing her FBI identification. Ed's eyes grew wide. He didn't know what the hell was going.

"Let's go get the tapes," She said in such a way as to let Ed know she'd explain on the way.

"Ok, let's go," he replied.