Author's note: I can forsee many reviews telling me to update. Vegas and the island start to intertwine. The plot thickens even more...
Special Thanks to El Gringo Loco for helping to make this story believable.
Spoilers: I will generally tell what spoilers the chapters contain. In this Chapter: not a lot
Summary: When Ecklie chooses Grissom's team to head to a conference in London, the Las Vegas CSI nightshift couldn't be more excited. Then their plane crashes in the sea. Now Grissom, Catherine, Nick, Warrick, Sara, and Greg are stranded on a deserted island and their only way home is to survive.
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.
Surviving the Storm
Chapter 18: Panic on the Home Front
"Hey, Tito, what brings you to Vegas?" a slender Hispanic man with a pointed face asked, allowing his friend entrance into his apartment. Tito hesitated.
"Just dropping by on an old friend, Sly," he said. Sylvester "The Fox" Vasquez surveyed him with an odd look.
"What's going on, Tito?" he asked. Tito hesitated again.
"Nothing," he said, but there was something about the way he was looking at Fox that unnerved the other. It was almost as if there was pity flashing in his beady eyes.
"How did the run with the Boss go?" Fox asked, trying to pry. Tito whimpered as he looked into his friend's face. He had known Sly since they were in Kindergarten together.
"It wasn't enough, Sly. The Ring wants more," he relented. Fox's eye's widened.
"What more do they want? I paid them. They got my business!" he cried, shocked and outraged.
"I know, Sly! But they know you went to the Cubans for cheaper stuff. They called you a traitor! They want you dead! They're going to ice you in a week!" Tito blabbed. For a moment, Fox could not speak. Then he rose and started pacing.
"This can't be happening!" he panicked, "Maybe…maybe if I could pay them back?" he asked his friend.
"They might accept it," Tito agreed, "But where are you going to get that kind of money?" he asked. Money. That was the key question. Fox thought for a moment.
"C'mon, brother. We're going to the Tangiers," he announced, grabbing his coat. Tito followed, understandably anxious.
The Blackjack dealer wordlessly changed all of Fox's and Tito's cash into chips. Tito, being the friend that he was, lent his money to the Fox, who bet half of it. The dealer dealt two cards to Fox and waited for his response. Fox tapped the table, indicating he wanted another card. Then he took another and another until he was satisfied with a 20. The dealer flipped his cards to reveal an eleven. He hit and got a jack, giving him a twenty-one. He wordlessly took away Fox's money.
"Should we try something else?" Tito asked cautiously. Fox shook his head.
"I'm a Blackjack man, Tito," he replied, and bet his remaining cash. This time he hit so many times, he busted.
"I'm sorry, Sly," Tito said as they left the table. Fox was overwhelmed and looked scared. He nervously raked his hands through his dark hair and looked wildly around.
"Do I have to, Grandpa?" a whiny, strawberry blond girl asked her grandfather as they passed the two Hispanic men. Fox perked up when he saw Sam Braun, the casino mogul, walk by.
"Yes, Lindsey. Your Grandmother and I want you to come to dinner with us and our friends," Sam was saying, "Now, go back up to the suite and get ready. Excuse me, Honey," he said, walking swiftly passed her and toward his pit boss. Lindsey stood, glowering at him.
"Fox?" Tito asked, worriedly, for his friend had a hungry expression in his eye, liking he was eyeing his prey.
"Tito, that is how I'm going to survive," Fox said hungrily, "Bring the car around, Tito, and have the back door open for me," he ordered. Tito obeyed and went to fetch the car. Fox followed Lindsey to reception where he saw her sit in the lounge chairs. He grabbed a pen and paper, scribbled a note, and then he took full advantage of the empty lobby. He approached the girl.
"Excuse me, could you show me how to get to the Palms?" he asked. She quirked an eyebrow.
"Go outside and go east on the Boulevard," she answered swiftly. He feigned a look of confusion.
"Could you possibly come point me in the right direction?" he asked, gesturing to the doors. She started for a moment and shrugged. She followed him out on the street.
"You drive-" Lindsey was cut off when she was pushed into a dark car and was knocked unconscious as it sped away.
"Where is she?" Lily asked an hour later when her granddaughter still had not shown up for dinner. There was a mixture of annoyance and worry in her voice.
"I swear, if she ran off again…" Sam trailed off, rising from his seat, but was interrupted as his secretary came running. Amber was a ghostly white and there was shock written on every inch of her young face.
"Mr. Braun! Mr. Braun! You need to see this!" she screamed, gasping, holding out a scribbled on piece of hotel paper.
"What-" he started, looking over the note. He paled and set it in front of Lily, before he left the table with a set look on his face. Lily watched him go with confusion, but as soon as she read the scribble on the paper, her confusion morphed into fear and anxiety for her granddaughter.
Sam, however, was a man on a mission. He quickly assembled his security personal and told them what had happened. Then he had no choice but to call Jim Brass. While Sam never saw eye-to-eye with the surly detective, or Catherine's friend Gil, for that matter, even Sam had to admit that he was one of the best detectives in Vegas. After he did this, Sam went to his vault and withdrew ten million dollars. By the time he returned to the lobby, Lily was already talking and crying to Brass. Sam approached them, and without even so much as a 'hello', Sam said:
"I want you to bring her back alive."
"So do I," Brass agreed, and then he gestured to the middle-aged woman beside him, "Sam, this is Linda Craig, one of the criminalists working the case."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Braun. I'm going to ask you some questions about your granddaughter," she explained calmly, almost soothingly. Brass tried his best not to judge, but he had already know from experience that Linda Craig possessed none of the no-nonsense attitude Catherine was known for and that Craig emphasized with the victims.
"I know what this is about. They want money. They went after my granddaughter to get to me," Sam emphasized, "Have you seen the ransom note yet?"
"That's in the hands of my colleague-"
"I can save you some time. It said:
Braun- If you ever want to see your granddaughter again, you'll send $10 million to Flamingo and Covalt.
There's security tapes upstairs. Go look at them because anything I tell you won't help bring Lindsey back," Sam told her forcefully before walking towards the door with a suitcase in his hand. Craig looked dumbfounded.
"You review the tapes and I'll follow the money," Brass hinted, following Sam out the door, praying to God they Lindsey was alright.
When Lindsey finally regained consciousness, she didn't know where she was. Looking around, she deduced it was a cheap apartment. She tried to move her arms, but found she was duct taped to a chair. She screamed, but the sound was muffled by the gag in her mouth. The sound was enough, however, to gain the attention of her kidnappers. The one with the pointed face that she had seen earlier knelt down and smiled at her.
"Lindsey, right? Don't worry, Sweetheart. You'll be just fine when Grandpa sends us the money," he explained, laughing. His accomplice did not seem quite so sure about this as his partner was.
"Fox, we could go to prison for this," he said to the pointed-faced man. Fox shook his head.
"Still safe from Boss," he muttered feverishly, over and over, scaring Lindsey more than she already was.
"What about Braun, Fox? What do you think Braun will do to us when he finds out we're the ones who kidnapped the kid?" the other man asked, still worried.
"He's still better than Boss!" Fox almost shouted. There was a loud crack at his words and the chain-lock on the door shattered as it was forced open. For a moment, Lindsey thought it was the police, but she was wrong. Instead, there was a tall, fat man with a moustache and a black pointed beard framed in the doorway.
"You're right, Fox. Braun is nothing compared to me," he said, eerily calm.
"B-Boss-" Fox stuttered. Boss swiftly crossed the room and had fox by the throat. Lindsey barely noticed as five other men filed in and shut the door.
"So this is how you thought you could repay me? By ransoming off Sam Braun's grandkid?" Boss bellowed, tightening his hold on Fox's neck, before letting him slink to the floor.
"B-B-Boss, please-"
"Get up, you worthless piece of shit!" a blond man next to Boss ordered, drawing a gun to Fox's head. Lindsey drew a breath, but the weapon wasn't fired.
"No one will miss the two of you morons," Boss said scowling, "But this kid is a different matter."
"Please, Boss, just let her go!" Tito begged. He got kicked by the Asian man standing over him.
"I can't do that now because she's seen us, you idiots!" Boss growled. Lindsey's insides froze as she worked out what this meant. She wouldn't get out of this alive.
"Should we take her to the island, Boss?" a man with a think German accent asked. Boss seemed to smile approvingly.
"Excellent idea, Karl. We're going there anyway. What's one more body?" Boss asked rhetorically. Lindsey shook as Boss gave his orders.
"Take them to the car, boys. Then we're going to the airstrip," he said. A black man roughly untapped Lindsey and led her to a long black car, a gun sticking in her back the entire way.
And they drove. They drove two days straight, only stopping to switch drivers and along the side of the road every so often. Lindsey didn't know where they were going, but she was dreading it. At least she was allowed to sit in the back seat instead of the trunk, providing she had good behaviour. This meant that if she signalled for help, she'd be dead in two seconds flat.
She couldn't stop the thoughts whirling inside her head. She didn't want to die. She wanted to go home. She wanted her grandparents and her aunt and even Jim. She wanted to go back to the casino and forget this like a bad dream. She couldn't. Every time she thought this, a lump would form in her throat and she would be close to tears. And then the next thought that would flitter into her mind and the tears would fall. At least she would be with her mom again.
A few hours after they entered Florida, the car swerved off the main road and down a gravel path through a secluded patch of trees. She shuddered again. After an hour or so, they came to a stop. She was seized roughly by the arm and hauled outside onto an airstrip. Sitting on the gravel was a large seaplane. Lindsey had always wanted to ride in one. Now she didn't want to. She was bound with duct tape again and she, Tito, and Fox were drug onto the plane. And then they were off to God only knew where.
"Sam!" Brass called, hours after he had waited for the kidnappers to claim the money. Nobody showed. The elderly man turned quickly, searching the detective's face.
"Do you have anything?" Sam asked, anxiously. Brass hesitated.
"We know who abducted Lindsey, Sam," he said, "Sylvester Vasquez and an accomplice."
"So? What are you waiting for? Go find Lindsey!" Sam almost shouted in frustration. Brass would have none of it.
"We tried, Sam," he said firmly, "We went to Vasquez's apartment. It was tossed and there was no one there. Lindsey must have been there at some point because we found duct tape used to bind her on the floor. We have no other leads," he explained. Sam's shaking hand went to his mouth, and then he looked angrily at Brass.
"So you're just giving up?" he asked coldly. To his amazement, Brass shook his head.
"No, Sam. Every guy in the force has a case that they'll work their whole lives trying to solve. This is mine," he stated, and Sam believed him.
TBC