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Nick squirmed in his seat as he watched Harris load a single bullet into the chamber of the gun he held. He took the cylinder and gave it one big spin before closing it. As a teenager, Nick used to watch old war movies with his father. In these old movies the evil warden of the prison camp always forced the prisoners to play Russian Roulette. He never thought that he would be subject to that.
He looked around for support, but found none. In fact, the men that surrounded him almost seemed excited. What they were excited about … Nick wasn't sure. Did they want to see how he reacted to this? Did they want to see his brains blown out? He didn't know the answer and he really didn't care. All he cared about was getting out of this situation alive.
He wasn't tied to the chair and he figured that if he was going to get shot again … then he would go down fighting. He jumped up from his chair and tried to make it to the exit. This move surprised Harris and his men, but they recovered quickly and seized Nick before even he had a chance to take two steps. He was thrown back into his chair.
"That was a stupid mistake Mr. Stokes. Now instead of only one bullet in the chamber there will be two. So your chances of dying have just increased."
"Go to hell you son of a … uhhh!"
One of the guards hit him with the butt of his gun before Nick could finish his sentence. He once again reached up to feel his head.
Harris pulled out another bullet and placed it in the chamber of the gun. He gave it another spin and closed the cylinder. He looked at Nick.
"Are you ready to take your chances Mr. Stokes." Harris said as he pointed the gun at Nick's forehead.
"Please don't do this." Nick said struggling, but it was no use as he was firmly held in place.
"I'm sorry Mr. Stokes … but your plea has fallen on deaf ears."
Nick could feel his breathing change to a quicker pace. The perspiration that had collected on his forehead rolled down onto his cheek, his heart raced.
'Oh God' he thought to himself as he looked Harris in the eyes and then at the gun pointed at him. 'This is it … I'm going to die.' He watched as Harris slowly pulled the trigger. He closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable and jerked when he heard a click.
He heard laughter coming from behind him. He opened his eyes … he wasn't dead. One single tear fell from the relief he felt, but the relief was short-lived when Harris opened the cylinder and gave it another spin.
"Let's see if your luck holds out Mr. Stokes."
The door to the room slowly opened and Carl walked in, Harris turned towards the door temporarily blocking Nick's view. Carl stopped just in front of Harris.
"Mr. Harris I have some news."
Though Nick couldn't see the man standing in front of Harris he thought he recognized the voice.
"What do you have for me Carl?"
Nick's eyes grew wide and he said out loud, "Carl Stenson."
Carl peeked around Harris, "Hello Nick."
"You … you're working with them!" Nick knew Carl from the lab. He had worked closely with him on a number of cases. Carl was Bobby Dawson's backup in the ballistics lab. They had even gone for drinks a few times after work.
Carl only smiled and returned his attention to Harris, "It seems that there was a witness to Nick's abduction."
He watched Harris's expression turned from pleased to angry within seconds.
"What do you mean another witness?" Harris yelled.
Harris was not happy. There was a witness to the CSI's abduction. This was not good news. He turned back towards the CSI. Harris needed to vent his anger. Who was better than someone who couldn't defend himself? The game of Russian Roulette would have to wait.
He turned around to see the CSI glaring at Carl. Harris balled his fist and punched Nick in the face. Nick's head snapped back.
Nick looked over to Carl, "I thought you were my friend. Help me."
"You are mistaken Nick. I was never your friend. In fact, there's nothing about you that I like."
The words hit Nick like a ton of bricks just as Harris stepped in closer. He grabbed the CSI's vest and proceeded to punch him four more times. Nick attempted to put his arms up to defend himself, but they were held back. The punches continued until Nick was bloodied and unconscious on the floor.
He looked down at the unconscious man. His anger wasn't even close to being mollified. Harris began to kick the unconscious man in the ribs until he was finally winded.
"Take him back to his room and make sure you cuff him back up to the railing." Harris ordered.
The two men that had been guarding Nick each grabbed an arm and dragged the unconscious CSI out and back to his prison.
Harris turned back around to address Carl, "OK tell me about this witness."
"Her name is Erin Matthews. She owns a store right where we grabbed Stokes. Apparently she was just closing up and was at the front door when she saw us take him."
"Do they have any leads?"
"Yes … they do. So far this witness was able to identify us as being in the convenience store. She wasn't able to identify our faces, but she recognized the clothing. So the CSIs know that the two cases are some how connected."
"Anything else?"
"The only other thing is that CSIs Willows and Brown are over at Stokes' house processing it as we speak. I'm not sure if they are going to find anything or not. If they do I will let you know."
"What about the disk?"
"I haven't been back to the lab yet. So I'm not sure what's going on with that."
"Well find out. Now let's talk about this witness and what we are going to do about her."
Greg and Grissom walked into the evidence vault and checked the log. Dustin Schultz's evidence was on Shelf A, Section 2. Both men walked over to the section and pulled down the box that housed the CD they were looking for. On the front of the box the case file #1254-789 was written in black marker. The list of everything in the box was taped to the front of it. It was handwritten list.
Evidence List for Case File #1254-789
1 pair of blue jeans
1 gray T-shirt
1 blue jacket
Wallet
Keys
Socks
Shoes
CD
The two CSIs looked at each other before Grissom reached in and pulled out the CD. It was amazing that something so thin, so fragile could cause such problems. Both men wondered what was so important on this CD that had cost one man to lose his life and endangered the life of another.
Grissom pulled out a pen and signed the CD out. Greg placed the box back on the shelf and both men walked out of the vault and made a beeline straight to the A/V lab and Archie.
Archie Johnson, the Las Vegas Crime Lab's computer guru and A/V tech, sat at his desk while he worked on some still shots of an apparent burglary. His attention was diverted when a noise came from the doorway. He turned around to see the two CSIs standing there. This was only one of the many A/V labs they had in the building. Archie had just left Sara in the other one with a witness.
He didn't even have a chance to say hello before Grissom was handing him a CD.
"Archie I need you to put everything aside right now and look at this CD. I need to know what the contents are … and I need to know yesterday."
"But Grissom I'm working …"
"Archie this CD is what's going to make the difference on whether or not Nick lives or dies. So please put what you are doing aside and work on this."
Grissom's tone said that there was no room for argument.
Archie swallowed and took the CD from Grissom. He walked over to the computer and placed the CD in the drive. A screen popped up with encryption.
Archie shook his head, "This is going to take me awhile to get through Grissom. When did you need this by?"
"First things first, I want you to make a copy of this CD. Secondly the men who want this CD will be calling me shortly. I would like to know what's on it before then. If you can't break the encryption that's fine. Just do your best."
"I'll call you when I learn anything."
"Thanks Archie. Remember this is your number one priority." Grissom said as he and Greg walked out of the A/V lab.
Greg could barely keep up with Grissom he was like a man possessed. They just rounded the corner when they bumped into Catherine and Warrick. The two CSIs just returned from processing Nick's house.
"So what did you find?" Grissom asked not worrying about pleasantries.
"We got a couple fingerprints, some hair samples and blood. That's about it." Catherine answered.
"What about the neighbors? Did anyone see anything?"
Warrick answered not holding back his frustration, "The police canvassed the area and questioned the neighbors. No one saw a thing."
"OK. Why don't you guys get that stuff over to trace, run the prints and then get back to me in an hour. I want to go over what we know so far in the case."
"OK then we'll meet you in the break room in an hour."
Grissom turned around to face Greg, "Greg I want you to see what you can pull up on the 'pit bull' tattoo. I find it odd that two men involved in this murder investigation just so happen to have the same tattoo. Be sure to check military records. These men may be involved in some gang related activities also. Be thorough."
"I'm on it." Greg turned back the way he came and headed back towards the offices were the computers were housed.
Carl Stenson had just parked his car and walked into the lab. He flashed his ID at Judy and she waved him by. Carl had only been working at the lab for about six months, but in that short time he had made quite a bit of friends. It was those friends who unsuspectingly fed him the information he needed. He walked by the A/V lab and took a peek in through the windows only to see Sara and the witness, Erin Matthews, still talking. He nearly collided with the officer that stood outside the room.
"Sorry about that officer … wasn't watching where I was going." He said smiling.
"Hey no problem.'
'Damn' he thought '… it was going to be harder than he thought to get to the witness.'
He had to admit to himself he was both a little nervous and excited at the same time. He had actually gotten the job at the lab because he was in need of some real work and he knew about ballistics. He was surprised when he was called to say that he had gotten the job.
Carl had been working at the lab for about six weeks before Harris contacted him. They were in the military together and Carl was known to go on some missions with Harris … no questions asked. The money was good and he enjoyed the killing. So when Harris asked Carl if he could be the inside plant at the lab he jumped at the chance. There was always room for more money in his bank account.
He continued to walk through the lab when he spotted Greg sitting at the computer. He knocked on the door and walked in.
"Hey Greg, what's going on?" he asked sitting down next to the youngest CSI.
"Just doing some research for Grissom."
"Sounds interesting."
"Not really, but it has something to do with Nick's case. I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to get through this. Grissom is expecting me to have something in an hour. So time is of the essence."
"Hey no problem man. Let me know if you need any help ... I'll talk to you later." He said as he got up from his seat and left the room.
Carl finally walked into the Ballistics Lab. There was nothing going on at the moment. So he sat there biding his time. He knew that the CSIs were all meeting in an hour. That was his chance to get at the witness.
After Grissom left Greg he wandered over to the other A/V lab where Sara was working on the convenience store tapes. He was surprised when he walked in to find both Sara and Erin seated in front of the screen.
"Hello ladies. I see you have met." Grissom said as he entered through the door. "So Sara, what have you found out about the convenience store robbery?"
"Well it's not what I found, but what Erin found."
"Care to explain."
"I was reviewing the tapes when Erin walked by. She recognized the clothing on the men from the convenience store."
"Where have you seen the clothing before?" Grissom asked Erin.
"It's the same men that grabbed your CSI."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm positive."
Grissom stood there. The wheels in his head were cranking, "This was a set up."
"What?" Erin asked.
"This whole thing was another set up. These men went into the store and killed those people, because they knew we would respond to the scene. And I gave them what they wanted by sending Nick back to the lab by himself."
Grissom was angry with himself. Now he understood how Warrick felt by winning that coin toss. He was now more determined than ever to find out who was responsible and bring them to justice.
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