Chapter 3 - Waiting For The Call
Greg awoke with a massive headache. His hands were tied behind his back and he wasn't sure where he was. Slowly, his eyes scanned the small room that he was in. There was the bed he was lying on, a chair and a small cage-like opening in the far corner.
"Oh great..." Greg said out loud when he noted the stains of blood on the floor.
He wasn't completely sure what had happened to him, but he could only assume that it was the same thing that had happened to Allison. He knew that he had to do something quickly, or else he would be killed.
Nick and Sara, they will have to find me. They'll realize that I never came back from the doctor. Someone will call 911 about Allison's body. Nick and Sara will be called to check that out, then they'll realize that I was taken. Then they'll find out who did this and find me, Greg thought to himself.
His thoughts were soon interrupted when he heard the door to the small room open and a large man walked inside. It was the same man who had kidnapped Allison.
"I never expected a CSI to walk into my trap. I always thought that they were smarter than that... I guess I was wrong, wasn't I?" the man laughed.
Greg wasn't sure how to answer. He realized now that it had been stupid to go into the alley by himself.
"Are you always this rude? When you're asked a question, I expect you to answer it!" the man exclaimed.
Greg gulped. He could see the malice burning in the man's eyes and he began to fear for his life.
"No, you can't be serious..." Nick began.
Jim Brass had just informed him that someone had called 911 to report a body found in a dumpster. A body that matched Allison's description perfectly.
"Damn... we were too late," he said quietly to himself as he walked off to tell Sara the bad news.
Sara's face fell when Nick explained what Brass had just told him. It hurt to find out that your missing person's case had turned into a murder, but it always hurt more when it involved someone so young.
"All right. Call up Greg and we'll go check it out," Sara replied.
Nick pulled the cell phone out of his pocket to give Greg a call but was surprised when there was no answer.
"That's peculiar. He always has his phone with him," Nick said as he dialed the number again, just to be sure.
Still, there was no answer.
"I'm going to head over to his doctor's... maybe he's still there. You can go to the scene and I'll meet you there okay?" Nick asked.
Sara nodded.
Nick got into his vehicle and drove to Greg's doctor's office. When he arrived, the receptionist explained that he'd already gotten the stitches and that he had left.
"Thank you," Nick told the receptionist before he left.
He got back into his vehicle and decided to call Greg's cell phone another time.
"Hello," a voice said.
Nick knew that it wasn't Greg who answered the phone. It was definitely a woman's voice and it sounded a lot like Sara.
"Sara?" Nick questioned.
"Yeah... you will not believe where I found Greg's phone. It's right beside the dumpster where the vic was found. You don't think..."
Nick felt his heart skip a beat.
"That creep has Greg," Nick felt his grip on the phone get tighter as he spoke.
"We don't know that for sure," Sara pointed out.
"Think about it, Sara. Allison goes missing after seeing a body in a dumpster. Now Allison is the body in the dumpster and we don't know where Greg is. Plus, he had to have been there, how else could his cell phone have gotten there?" Nick replied, "That creep has Greg, and I'll be damned if our friend ends up dead in another dumpster!"
"So, CSI, you got a name?" the man asked.
Greg gulped and the man pulled out his gun.
"I said. You got a name?" the man repeated through clenched teeth.
"Greg. It's Greg," he replied, trying not to let the man see how afraid he truly was.
"So, you work with the Las Vegas Crime Lab or something?"
Greg took one look at the gun in the man's hand and knew he'd better tell the truth so he nodded. The man smiled.
"Excellent. This ought to be fun," he said before he stood up and walked out of the room.
A few moments later he returned with a digital camera in his hand.
"Say 'cheese' CSI," he laughed as he took a picture of Greg.
After taking the picture, he left the room once more, locking the door behind him.
Do I even want to know what he plans to do? He's probably going to call the lab or something... and demand a high ransom. Or maybe he's just going to kill me and rub it in their faces that they couldn't solve the case fast enough to find me, Greg thought.
"No, that's stupid! It wouldn't happen... and they'll find me..." Greg told himself out loud.
Nick returned to the lab to take another look and see if Greg was there, but when he didn't see him, he began to panic.
"What on earth are you looking for?" Grissom asked as he peered his head out of a room.
"Greg. He's missing. Please tell me that you've seen him around here," Nick replied.
Grissom shook his head.
"He's missing?"Grissom questioned.
Nick quickly out lined what had happened and what he thought had happened to Greg, but their conversation was interrupted when a courier came to the front desk to deliver a package. Both Grissom and Nick walked over to see what it was, and were confused to see that it was addressed to all of the CSI's.
"Do you think it could be about Greg?" Nick asked.
"There's no return address, so I'm not sure... I guess we'll have to open it and see," Grissom replied.
They took the package to the lounge and Grissom put on his gloves before he opened it, just in case there was any trace evidence that could be taken off of it if it was about Greg.
Inside of the package was a photograph of Greg and a typed letter. The letter read:
Hello CSI's.
I'm sure you've been wondering where your friend went. Well, I hope that this answers your question. It's my understanding that your friend left behind his cell phone, so I'll be using that to communicate with you, if you don't have it... well, that's not my problem.
"I know where that phone is!" Nick stated as Sara walked into the lab
The second that Nick saw her, he ran over to retrieve the cell phone that she had collected as evidence.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Sara exclaimed when Nick snatched the cell phone from her.
Grissom walked over and explained to her what was going on.
"Now all we can do is wait for the call," Nick said, the cell phone in his hand.