Don't
worry. I didn't kill Greg off. He's an important part of this
story…. This is a short snippet of the things to come. Sadly, its
another cliffhanger.
Chapter 4
The explosion shook the whole building. Almost every person in the building ran, their faces pale, fearing that they had been attacked.
In the eleventh floor, Gil Grissom stood, amidst all the debris, visibly shaking. He had seen the look on Greg's face, he had seen how the CSI had mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' before it had happened.
He gulped as soon as the smoke wore out. The sight of Greg's bloody body on the floor alarmed him. Hastily, he headed towards the CSI, hoping to find a pulse. With gentle ease, he turned Greg over and checked for one, relief sweeping across his face when he found that the CSI had one. Using a handkerchief he had kept in his pocket, he wiped the blood and grime off Greg's face. A sigh escaped his lips when he heard his name being called.
"I'm right here! One of my CSIs is hurt!"
In an instant, a couple of EMTs were headed his way.
"Greg, helps here." The entomologist mumbled. He took one last look at the CSI and noticed a piece of paper crumpled in between his hands. His eyes narrowed as soon as he realized who it had been from. He was getting more and more impatient with the man behind all this, and he hated the fact that he could barely do anything about it. He pried Greg's hand open and read the note, guilt hitting his heart like a thousand knives when he realized that he should have been in Greg's position.
A smile, one that he hadn't done all day, appeared on his face, when he recognized Greg's clear handwriting on the back of the note. Apparently, just after he had left, Greg had received a call from the suspect. The CSI had tried to write down everything that he and the man had talked about.
He clenched his teeth at some of the words Greg had written but his eyes were settled on a couple of words that Greg had underlined. Twice.
Sara's on top of the third elevator.
Almost immediately, he was on the stairs headed for the eleventh floor. With a push of a button he disabled the elevator and sighed not knowing what he would do if it so happened if he was too late. "Sara," He called after, but the silence was deafening. He mentally kicked himself when he realized that the CSI must have been too weak from the chloramine inhalation. He raised his voice a little higher. "Sara, if you can hear me, if you're in there, if you're alive I want you to tap something. I'm listening."
The silence that followed pained him. His eyes closed, he felt the emptiness that went with the thought of never seeing Sara. Hope fading, he reached for his pocket. 'Catherine.'
'Grissom, what's going on?'
'Greg's hurt. Bad. He's on his way to Desert Palms.'
'Jesus.'
'I found a note he wrote. Sara's on top of one of the elevators. Third.'
'How did he find that out?'
'It's a long story. I don't have time. Right now, I just want to see her. Call for help. I've disabled the elevator. I'm going to go check if she's-
'Grissom, maybe you should just wait. What if she's-
'Don't say that.'
'But what if? Can you handle it?'
'I-
'Grissom.'
'She's alive. I know it.'
On top of the elevator, Sara sat motionless, fear contorted into her features. In front of her, a box, in the shape of an alarm clock, sat. She had ignored it before, thinking that, like the wires, it was only another part of the elevator. However, right after the building had shook, it had revealed that it wasn't.
'2:00 minutes.' The digital screen blinked repeatedly, almost as if it were mocking her. She thought at first that it had gotten stuck, that luck had been on her side, but the wires that she noticed led straight up to the twelfth floor exit proved her thoughts wrong. Whoever had done this had planned it out carefully. The explosion outside had triggered its power, and the exit, if ever opened, would trigger its countdown.
Beside her, another note that she had found in one of her pockets lay, crumpled.
My dear Sara,
If my orders were not followed, sometime in the next few hours, that black box in front of you will be more noticeable.
If your keen CSI senses have probably noticed, the door on the twelfth floor will trigger the timer on the device.. If you look more closely, there is an antenna sticking out on the far left corner of the box. It connects to 6 different devices spread across the whole CSI building. If that door opens, you have two minutes to evacuate everyone in the CSI building.
Originally, I had left it at that. But, since my feelings for you go deep, I decided to give you another choice. If you look closely, the bolts that connect the wires holding your elevator up are loose. There is a reason for this. I have made it so that you, assuming that you are still in the state that I have left you in, would find it easier to disconnect them.
Count the wires, Sara. There are five of them. The wires are connected to the five, shall I say, toys that I have put all over the CSI building. Every time you disconnect one of these wires, one of the five devices will deactivate, except for the one in front of you. However, once, you disconnect everything, all of my toys will deactivate, including the one in front of you.
As you already know, these wires support the elevator, and right now, as you are dependent on the elevator, removing these wires will kill you.
If you probably would have guessed, I have planned this out carefully. That is why I have also taken the liberty of disabling all of the elevator safety measures that they had added in case the wires were to be ineffective.
Think Sara. You should know by now that I never lie. The choice is yours.
Charlie.
