A/N: Thanks for everyone who reviewed :) Let me know what you think of this chapter and review if you'd like :) Oh and yes, this is set after Grave Danger, lol :)

Chapter 4 - A Close Call

Nick agreed to wait by the cell phone until they finally got a call. It seemed like an eternity before he finally heard it ring. Nervously, he picked it up and pressed the "talk" button.

"Hello..." he answered.

"Ah, I see you have the phone. That's good for you, I guess," the man on the other line said.

"Where's Greg?" Nick questioned.

The man laughed.

"Oh, he's here, but you won't get to talk to him... just yet anyway. On the other side of the photograph I sent, there is an address. There is a large tree there, and I want you to drop off exactly one thousand dollars. Just place it in an envelope or something and make sure that it is in that tree. You have exactly 2 hours to get that done, and if you don't drop the money. your friend dies. Also, if I even see a cop in that area when I go to pick up the money... then he dies, understood?"

"Yeah," Nick replied, "after I give you the money, then can I talk to Greg?" Nick asked.

"Of course. Now go and get my money," the man replied before hanging up the phone.

Why on earth does he want one thousand dollars when he could have asked for a lot more? Nick wondered to himself.

Nick wasn't sure if he should let anyone else know about the call. He was the only one in the room when it happened, so he figured that he could easily hide it. He assumed that if he let anyone else know about it, they would insist that a police officer go along as well, but then the man would kill Greg.

I'll just go drop the money by myself. I'll just dip into my savings account, I'm sure there's enough money in there. As long as I've got my gun with me, I'll be fine," Nick thought to himself.

"Well, so much for going on vacation this year..." Nick said out loud as Sara walked into the room.

"Hear anything from the creep who took Greg?" she questioned.

Nick shook his head. "I've got to head home for a second, okay?"

Nick quickly turned and left the room before Sara had the chance to question him any further. He climbed into his vehicle and drove to the bank to withdrawal the money that he needed. Once he left the bank, he realized that he'd left the photograph with the address back at the lab and he knew he had to retrieve it without anyone seeing him. Trying not to be noticed, Nick slipped back into the lab to retrieve the photograph and was just about to leave when he felt someone grab his arm.

"What do you think you're doing with that?" Sara questioned, not letting go of the grip that she had on Nick's arm.

"Nothing, just let go of me," Nick lied.

He knew that Sara wouldn't want him to go alone to drop off the money.

"I'm not stupid, Nick! What the hell is going on here?" she demanded to know.

"Fine, just come with me," Nick gave in.

The two of them got into Nick's vehicle and he explained to her what was going on. When they arrived at the address on the photograph, Nick got the envelope with the money ready to drop off.

"Nick, this is stupid! What if it is some sort of trap?" Sara cautioned.

It was dark, so it was hard to see if there was someone lurking in the shadows waiting to strike.

"I'll have my gun, and you can keep a look out. Sara, if I don't bring this money, then they are going to kill Greg. It's my fault he's in this mess, I couldn't let him come with us, I had to tell him to go to the doctor and get his finger looked at. This is the least that I can do," Nick explained.

Sara sighed and opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Both Nick and Sara ducked down as bullets began to shatter the windshield.

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Sara shrieked.

The two of them were sure that they were going to be killed until they heard the reassuring sound of sirens.

"Are you two okay?" a familiar voice asked as he peered his head into the vehicle. It was Brass.

"Did you catch the guy?" Sara asked, slowly getting up.

Brass shook his head. "I wish, but the creep must have already been in his vehicle when he was shooting, because as soon as we came, he drove off. Now do you two mind explaining what is going on here?"

"How'd you know to come?" Nick questioned.

"Grissom had told us to check this place out once he saw the address on the back of the photograph... we were running a little late so we finally just got here... lucky for the two of you."

Greg heard the man stumble back into the house.

Oh no, he's back... Greg thought, fearing that any second the man was going to come in and kill him.

He kept his eyes on the door knob, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw it turning.

"I never got the damn money! And I almost got caught! I ought to shoot you now and get it over with! What do you think, punk?" the man walked into the room, fuming with anger and a gun in his hand.

Greg didn't want to say anything that would make the man angrier, but when he didn't talk, it only enraged the man even more. He raised the gun in his hand, and Greg was sure that he was going to be shot, but instead the man used it to hit him in the side of the head.

"Next time you'll answer me when I ask you a question!" the man boomed before storming out of the room, locking the door behind him.

Greg ran his hand over where the man had hit him. There was blood, and the wound was bigger then Greg thought it was.

At least he didn't shoot me.

The more he felt the blood come from his head, the more his body began to feel dizzy.

"No, I can't pass out... I have to stay alert... I have to stay awake..." he found himself repeating over and over, mindlessly.