A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Here's a quick update, just because the idea hit me, and I decided to get it written quickly before I forgot it. Review if you'd like and let me know how this chapter was :)

Chapter 7 - The Rule Of Three

Greg knew that he would have to drink only small bits of the water at a time. A human body could only last 3 days without it, so he would only be able to take a drink from the glass every 3 days, just enough to keep himself alive.

"The rule of three. Three minutes without air, three days without water and three weeks without food," Greg said to himself out loud.

Then he realized something. The man hadn't left any food. Just the water. Greg could keep himself alive for a period of time with just the water... but if he wasn't found in three weeks, he'd die of starvation.

Not long after the kidnapper had shot himself, his friend arrived to do as he was told. To take the body across town. Greg assumed that the kidnapper didn't want the smell to attract anyone to come inside. Greg had pleaded with his kidnapper's friend to let him out, but he didn't have any luck. The kidnapper's friend wrapped the body up in a rug and took it out to his van, without bothering to pay any attention to Greg's desperate pleas.

Once he was alone, Greg started to scream. He screamed at the top of his lungs, just hoping that a neighbour would hear. He screamed until his throat was dry and sore. The kidnapper had probably put in some sort of sound proofing in the walls.

I can't scream anymore. I can't make my throat sore, because then I'll want water. I have to save the water. I can only drink just enough to keep me alive. Greg thought to himself.

"Cath. Take a look at this!" Sara exclaimed, she'd found something peculiar in one of the files. "Look, these cases here... these ones have all happened within the last 5 years. But then there is this one case here... one case that sticks out. It happened over 20 years ago, it's almost the same as the other ones."

Catherine picked up the file and quickly read it. "It says here that the boy was only 6 years old, but he managed to escape. None of the other victims managed to escape, they were killed and used as bait for the next victim. Maybe this case isn't related to the others. It also makes a mention of a cage? Was that in any of the other cases?"

Sara thought for a moment and quickly ruffled through the other files. "No. In all of these ones, the victim was kidnapped and killed in a matter of a few days, then left in a dumpster."

What about Greg? It'd been more than a few days... was he already dead? No, he couldn't be... he just couldn't be dead. Sara thought to herself.

"If the same creep has Greg... why hasn't he turned up in a dumpster somewhere? In the case 20 years ago, the boy was left in some cage-like thing, with nothing but a glass of water and he managed to escape. What if the same thing is happening to Greg? What if whoever did this to the person 20 years ago is doing the same thing to Greg?"

"Maybe... I don't know. Why would the murderer do this to someone such a long time ago, stop for 20 years and then strike again?" Catherine questioned.

"I don't know. But we should still look into this. Let's see if we can find where that victim lives now. Maybe we can get some information that could help us with the case," Sara suggested.

"Damn it!" Nick exclaimed.

He knew that he had to let everyone at the lab know about the call he'd received, maybe they could trace it and find out where it came from. He picked up his cell phone and dialed the number. He hadn't fully calmed himself down after the phone call with the kidnapper, but he knew he had to let the lab know what happened.

"Grissom, it's Nick. I got a call from the kidnapper," he began in a shaky tone once Grissom answered his phone.

"What did he say? Is Greg all right?" Grissom questioned.

"I don't know if he is or not. He mentioned that I still owed him money. He also mentioned..." Nick found it hard to repeat the conversation. The kidnapper had spoke in an eerie voice that chilled Nick to the bone. It made him fear that Greg had already been killed.

Grissom could tell Nick's voice was uneasy. "Look, just come into the lab, and bring the phone that he called you with. I'll see if Archie can trace it, and when you get here, you have to give every detail of what you heard okay? I'm not putting you back on the case, but your information might be able to help."

"Yeah... yeah okay," Nick replied.

Once he got off the phone, he climbed into his vehicle and drove to the lab, making sure that his cell phone was in his pocket so the call could be traced.

"Here you go Archie. See if you can find out where that Unknown call came from," Grissom said, handing Archie Nick's cell phone.

As they were walking out of the room, Grissom began to ask Nick what the kidnapper had said, but Archie had cut in.

"Umm, Nick... did you realize you have this set to record conversations?" he asked.

Nick gave a confused look. He shook his head. "No..."

Both Grissom and Nick walked back into the room and listened as Archie played back the conversation that Nick had with the kidnapper.

"Hello."

"Hello Nick. You seem to be forgetting that you owe me money. One thousand dollars? Ringing any bells here?"

"I would have given you the money if you hadn't tried to kill me!"

Oh, so I'm not going to get lucky and capture another stupid CSI?"

Greg wasn't stupid!"

"He went over to the dumpster, alone, without bothering to tell anyone else what he was doing. That sounds pretty stupid to me, and he's not the only stupid one. Look what you went and did! If I'd tried hard enough, I could have killed you. That wouldn't have been fun though. It's better to hear you suffer. I like hearing people suffer, Nick."

"You're twisted! What did any of your victims ever do to you?"

"Wait a second. Play that again. Right when the guy is asking about the money. I thought I heard something in the background," Grissom said.

Archie nodded and did as he was told. When he played it back, he cut out the audio where the person was talking, and focused in on the sound in the background.

"Sounds like someone, trying to move around. Like they are squirming," Archie stated.

"What if that's Greg? If it is, that means he's still alive!" Nick exclaimed.