So, we are going to make it to triple digits! SCORE! Thank you so, so, so, so much to all of you who are reviewing. You guys make this story awesome through your input. I have a special comment to address though, from meadow567. I actually did a bit of research on Elizabeth Smart (the girl who was kidnapped in Utah) and her case and used it as similar to Anna's kidnapping. Other than that, this is the last chapter told from Elsie's POV. Next chapter will bring us to Vegas. (I'm so excited, and I'm the one writing it! Haha). You all know what to do: read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-One: Gone

We're on a plane now. No one even recognized us, because no one cared, or no one tried, or no one heard. The last part is the one that scares me the most. No one heard about my kidnapping. What if no one knows? What if no one notices until long after I've gone? I still don't know why I am being held here, but I look around the plane, begging with my eyes for someone to look at me and say 'That is Anna Price, from New York'. But they look, and they don't know me. I didn't even get a chance to tell you that I was sorry. I nearly start crying, but the last time I cried in the truck, the woman—whose name seems to be Mahala—hit me. I think of you, picturing your dark hair, your soft blue eyes. I never got a chance to tell you…

"What do you mean they're gone?" I asked incredulously. They couldn't have escaped with Anna again. Lindsay bit her lip, obviously trying to hold back her emotions.

"She's gone, they're all gone. The police found the car abandoned on the side of the road, outside of the city, and processed the car. They found some epithelials and a few hair samples that are being processed as we speak in the Sonata, but other than a traditional Muslim dress in the back seat, which is also being processed, that's the only evidence that we have of Anna ever being there."

Mac ran a hand through his hair again, an anxious habit. He looked around at the collection of us standing there: Danny, Lindsay, me, and Kristina, and he just exhaled, regaining his diplomatic posture.

"We need to get the photographs from where the car was found. If there are any signs of them escaping, we need to find out whether they did so on foot or with another car."

Danny nodded at Mac and left the room to contact the police who called the car in to see if he could gather any photos from the scene. Lindsay raked a hand through her curls and motioned towards the door. "I'm going to go and see what else I can dig up about this Cameron guy," she said with a curt nod in Mac's direction. Mac nodded back and sat down in his desk chair.

I looked at Kristina and we both sat down in the chairs, facing Mac's desk. Mac looked up and smiled sadly. I could tell that even though he rarely conveyed emotions, this case was getting to him—it was getting to everyone.

"Mac, I know that you CSIs are the best of the best. And Anna was – is – a great CSI too. She might have left something in the car to let you know she's still alive," I suggested. Mac furrowed his eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully.

"You know, she might have…" he said, trailing off. Picking up the phone, he dialed a number. "Yes, this is Detective Mac Taylor…yes, Anna Price…okay….thank you….yes, we should be receiving them right now? Okay, thank you. Listen, did you find anything else in the car? Alright, I understand. Thank you very much."

Mac hang up the phone just as Danny came back into the office. "Photos were just faxed to us. Seems that there were minimal tire treads around the Sonata, possibly they transferred her to another car. Hawkes is trying to match the treads now. Also," he said, pulling out another sheet, "DNA came back on the epithelials as a match to Anna. The hair also came back to Anna."

"So, you're telling us that she's still alive?" Kristina asked hopefully. Danny licked his lips and glanced at Mac out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, from what we can tell, it seems to be that she's still alive, but we can't be too sure."

"But why would you get in another car if you had a dead body with you?" Mac asked, mainly to himself.

I shook my head. You wouldn't. No one would want to carry a dead body across the country with them. You'd just dump it and then get in another car.

"No sign of a struggle, again," Danny continued, reading off the paper, "and more fibers were found with chloroform on them." He closed the file and looked hopelessly at Mac. "We're goin' around in circles here Mac."

Mac stared out the window, still thinking, as his cell phone interrupted his thoughts. "Taylor," he answered. His eyes grew wide. That must be the kidnapper, I thought to myself, looking at Danny and Kristina, whose gazes were narrowed. Mac had been smart enough to put a trace flag on his phone after the kidnapper had called his office. Danny had already pulled out his cell phone to get the trace working. Mac was on the phone longer than he had been before. "Damn it," he cursed, looking at the cell phone.

"Wasn't long enough to get a trace," Danny replied, shaking his head. Mac held up his phone.

"And the kidnapper knew it too. I spoke to a woman this time, undoubtedly Clark's wife, who told me that Anna was alive, but that we wouldn't be able to find her. She said that they didn't want ransom and that this was 'her custom'…"

"What does that mean?" I asked sharply. It seemed to me like the police were incompetent. How could you not find three people who were heading across the country?

"I don't know, but at the end she said 'This phone call could get too long, Detective, and we don't want you to trace us.' And then she hung up."

Danny shook his head again. "This is insane."

Mac wrote something down on a piece of paper on his desk. "She told me that the car they escaped in was a Ford F150, a red one."

Just then, Hawkes burst into the room with the tread results. "We've got the second car. It's a…"

"…Ford F150," I finished dryly. Hawkes eyed me suspiciously.

"How did you know that?"

Mac motioned to his desk. "The kidnapper's wife called me. She told us what car they were in."

Hawkes was puzzled. "Why would she do that?"

Danny's eyes widened. "…because they're not in a car anymore."

Mac nodded. "That's it; they don't care whether or not we find their second car, because they're not in a car anymore."

"Well, where are they?" Kristina asked. Her eyes widened, and she answered her own question. "They could be in a taxi or on a train, a plane, or a boat right now. They could be doing anything, and we would never know it."

Mac walked out of his office, not saying anything to us, and came back with Stella, Lindsay, and Flack in tow. Everyone stared expectantly at their boss. Mac ran through the story of the phone call once more with everyone present.

"Okay, so like Kristina said," I began, "they could be anywhere."

"But if their final destination is Nevada, a plane would be the most obvious choice," Lindsay replied.

"Here's the time frame then," Mac said, pulling out a sheet of graph paper. "Anna was taken at approximately 9 am. Kristina and Elsie ran here, taking maybe 15 minutes at most. We processed the crime scene, and interviewed the kidnapper's mother. All together, that took a good 45 minutes to an hour, right?"

We all nodded. Mac continued: "And the car was found outside of the city at about the time we finished questioning Mrs. Clark. So, the kidnappers had plenty of time to get out of the city. We know that they took another car, possibly to New Jersey or Pennsylvania. And right now, it is a little after 12. Danny, get on-line and check all departing flights from any Pennsylvania or New Jersey airport headed to Nevada."

Danny ran out of the room and towards the nearest computer, while Mac continued. "If we figure that they had enough time to board an airplane, we might be able to catch them when they land in Nevada."

I nodded and smiled for the first time that day. There was still hope.

"I've got all the flights right here," Danny said, pulling a sheet of paper behind him. Mac studied the paper before noting something.

"Check this out," he said, passing the sheet to Stella and Lindsay. Their eyes widened, and Flack peered over to look.

"There's a flight that left for Nevada at 11:15 this morning," Stella said with a smile. "We can still catch them."

Mac picked up his phone, digging through his desk drawer. "This still isn't over though," he said, dashing our growing optimism. "These kidnappers are skilled, and they won't give up easily."

"What are you doing?" Flack asked with curiosity. Mac pulled out two business cards.

"I'm contacting someone who both Anna and I trust," he replied, dialing.

Calleigh ran through the crime lab, trying to spot any red hair. When she did, she jogged towards him. "Horatio!" she called. The man turned around to look at her. "Horatio, it's Mac Taylor. He's on the phone from New York. There's been a kidnapping."

Horatio studied Calleigh's face and she continued. "It's Anna."

"Yes, Lieutenant, we are doing everything we can, and we think we may have isolated the flight that they are on, but we need your help. I need any assistance that you can give me, a name, a phone number, anything to help…you do? Yes, alright…thank you Horatio."

We all waited in anticipation, but Mac didn't address us and picked up the phone again. We sat in silence, not knowing what to think.

"Yes, this is Detective Mac Taylor, and I was looking to speak with a Gil Grissom…"

Hoorah! Greg's POV is next (meaning either tomorrow morning/afternoon since I work from 5-10:30 tonight and 5:30-10:30 tomorrow, or Friday, when I have the day off work!). Keep those comments rolling!