To Whom It May Concern

by duffshel

Sequel to Poisonous Fear. There’s evil once again in the city of sin. Whatever happens in Vegas…might just kill ya. Now Complete!

22. Chapter 22

Summary: There's evil once again in the city of sin. Whatever happens in Vegas…might just kill ya.

Timeline: Sequel to Poisonous Fear (recommended that one is read first), Early/Mid Season Six

Spoilers: Grave Danger, Bodies in Motion, Shooting Stars, Gum Drops, Daddy's Little Girl, several references to other episodes

Disclaimer: This is all written in fun. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and the producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

Title: To Whom It May Concern

By: duffshel

Author's Note: So, everyone seems to be getting completely impatient with me. Hmm, seems to me that everyone is expecting something, something big. I supposed I could do something about that, huh. Yeah, I just might. But, you'll have to read just to make sure. Oh, and review as always. Bye!

Chapter 22:

About sacrifice and the offering of sacrifices, sacrificial animals think quite differently from those who look on: but they have never been allowed to have their say.

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Sixty two days earlier…

It was almost like Christmas morning. Everything was set up under the tree, shiny wrapping paper reflecting the lights off in hundreds of little rainbows. The turkey was in the oven, aroma filling the kitchen and beyond. Things were perfect.

Jacob Tenner rocked back onto his heels, eyes all agleam as he spoke into the phone. The man on the other line was following his instructions to the tee. It was all going to happen soon. Not much more waiting. A few more street lights, a couple of turns. Nick was almost there. It was almost too good to be true.

He turned aged eyes upon the angry man struggling in the chair at his right, gag digging into the sides of his mouth. Tenner couldn't help, but to smile as the next direction moved past his lips. Noise in his ear proved that it was followed. His teeth were shown more and more.

Yeah, he could smell the cranberries now.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Never before had Sam Vega seen so many people running around in one hospital before. Sure, he had seen plenty of doctors and nurses doing their jobs at fast intervals, but this was a sight to see. Lots of blue uniforms that shouldn't have anything to do with that atmosphere were there. And he knew he would never forget the sight of Sophia and Catherine standing side by side in charge of it all.

He walked over with stronger steps than were warranted for the moment, "How are things going here?"

"Figured out how he got out," Sophia turned hard eyes at him, hair brushing over her shoulder.

"They didn't drug him?"

Catherine shook her head, "No. He was just on'a IV for dehydration. Doctor didn't see the need to administer any sedatives. If I would have known that, I'd have had her dope him up beyond repair."

"Uh huh," Sam chuckled, "So, what'd you find?"

"Idiot walked right out the back door. Walked right past the ditz at the counter and out into the ambulance bay. No one stopped him or asked him a thing. Smile was all it took to get beyond the receptionist of the millennium," Sophia shook her head, weight shifted from foot to foot.

"Video?"

"Yeah. I looked it over with Sophia and collected the tapes he was on. Having it sent to the lab for Archie."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "You really think that's necessary? If he walked out on his own?"

The blonde CSI seemed to deflate even more under his watchful stare. Sam could see that Catherine was beginning to feel the stress of all this more and more. He was worried she was going to break before she could get in a break. She squared her shoulders as she looked at him.

"Right now, I'm not taking any chances. Sara and Greg were here, but I sent them back. They don't need to be here dealing with this right now."

"Oh and you do?" Sophia asked the question before Sam could even get his mouth open.

Catherine glared at the other woman, "I can handle it. I've handled it before. I can do it again."

"Sure," Sophia looked away, "But don't expect me to help you to the car when you pass out from exhaustion and stress."

"No need, already at the hospital."

All three grew quiet looking back at the activity around them. Officers were questioning people that had been in the area, just to make sure no one else had been in any contact with Nick or seen anything out of the ordinary. Catherine wanted to be sure Nick had done this all under his own power, no outside forces acting on his decisions. She didn't like to think of someone else going into Nick's room and forcing him into something doing something.

Her phone went off, causing her to jump a couple centimeters in the air. She ignored the questioning looks from the two detectives with her and flipped it open, "Willows."

Sam tried to watch her face for any clues without looking obvious about it. From the small grin Sophia shot him, he knew he was doing a really bad job at it. But he didn't care. He simply watched the woman's face and listened to her voice. Something was up.

"Alright. Be right there," Catherine sighed as she closed the phone, "That was Gil. He's back at the lab with Jim. They want the three of us there as soon as we can make it. Jim said he preferred we fly back seeing it's the quickest mode of transportation."

Sam snorted, "He would too. What's he want us to do with this?"

"Nothing much more to do," Sophia placed her hands on her hips, "I'll leave some instructions with the officers to finish up and report to me as soon as they're done. We don't need to baby-sit anymore since we have all we really need. Just protocol now."

"Alright. Catherine, you come with me in my car. Sophia, follow as soon as you're done," Sam turned to walk away.

"I drove myself here. I can drive back to the lab."

"Yeah, but humor me. Okay?"

They went their ways, Catherine following after Sam with her eyes on the ground. Sam felt the responsibility he had just taken with full force. He was in charge of this CSI now. And she wasn't going to leave his sights at all costs. They would all have to do this now. None wanted to fail anymore. And Sam already figured that was the orders he was going to get as soon as he stood in front of the larger, meaner detective.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

"Why did we have to come back here? We could have helped there."

"And do what? Get in Catherine's way? No Greg. Even I know that we had no purpose to stay at that hospital. Besides, we need to get the evidence to the places it needs to go. We still have this as a case, remember?" Sara walked forward, not bothering to look at the man walking at her side.

"But we know pretty much what happened at that garage. Kelly killed the woman with her car, then killed herself. What do we need to rush with it for? Doesn't help us find Warrick. Or Nick for that matter."

Greg used his longer legs to keep up with the pace set by his partner for the time being. He hadn't said much on the way from the hospital, his thoughts forming so he would be ready for when the words would come. And now that he was walking the familiar tile, he wanted to ask some questions.

Sara blew air from her lips causing her hair to move from the source across her forehead, "We don't know that. We don't know anything right now Greg other than Nick was there with her when she killed herself. And I want to know why he was there to begin with. Something went wrong. I don't think she was supposed to do that."

"No?"

"No. I mean," Sara stopped suddenly and looked Greg straight on, "Why go through all the trouble? If all she wanted was to get a hold of Nick, why kill the other woman? And why would she kill herself once she had what she wanted? Kelly did something and now Nick is gone."

They started walking again towards the conference room where they both felt Grissom would be waiting for them. Greg was nervous to go into that room. He didn't know if he would be able to tell his boss anything the older man wanted to hear. Only hope was that Grissom wouldn't ask anything of him.

"So you think Kelly was in on all of this?"

"It's a strong possibility. Warrick goes missing and Nick suddenly goes off with the daughter of the man who kidnapped him? She said or did something to get him to do it. Kelly knew something and must have told Nick. That's got to be why he snuck out of his hospital room. I mean, he was surprised she even came to the lab that day."

"But Nick would have told someone. He would have asked for help."

"Did he ask for help when going off with Kelly in the first place? No, he just went and now we're in this new mess," Sara raged on as they neared the room.

The younger CSI didn't have anything to say to that one. It was true. Nick had gone off when he should have gotten help or at least told someone he was going to meet with Kelly. Everyone had known she was out since she had made that little visit to the lab. It wouldn't have been something no one couldn't have dealt with.

Greg stopped dead at the doorway. He couldn't bring himself to enter the room with the looks he got from the two men waiting in there. For as long as he worked there, Greg had prided himself on not being afraid of his boss. But now, he was seriously reconsidering it.

"You two go to the hospital," Grissom asked with a blank face, telling them he already knew the answer with the void of a question.

Sara cleared her throat, already further into the room, "Yeah. Catherine sent back the video from the ambulance bay. Not much other than Nick walking out, alone and under his own power. No one really was saying anything and the receptionist only remembered a hot guy with a great smile walking out. Nothing more."

"What? He smile at her or something," Brass asked gruffly.

That was enough to get Greg to walk fully into the room, "Yeah."

The detective turned, shaking his head. Greg couldn't hear the full mutters that Brass was making, but he did catch a few words. Mostly having to do with idiots, Texans, and southern charm.

"I've been down with Robbins," Grissom broke into the conversation, "He has positively proved that Kelly killed herself with a single gunshot to the underside of her chin."

"There was a doubt in that?" Greg questioned.

Grissom refused to look at the younger man as he plowed forward, "And Silvia Mullins was killed from the impact of her car. I hope the evidence you two collected will be enough to prove that Kelly was the one driving the car at the point of collision. I don't want anything messed up with that."

Sharing a quick glance with Greg, Sara shook her head, "We have a few things. Dropped them off with DNA, trace, and the print lab. We should have the results soon. And the evidence bags are in the vault waiting to be processed by us."

It seemed to be enough to placate Grissom for the moment. The lead CSI began to pace the length of the room, hands at his sides. Brass watched him as he finally took a seat in one of the black chairs in the room. Feeling out of place, Greg quickly took up residence in another one.

"Catherine, Sophia, and Sam will all be here soon," Brass suddenly addressed Sara and Greg, "And I don't want any of you going anywhere alone right now. You leave the lab, you have one of us with you."

"One of you?" Greg swiveled around in his chair so he was facing Brass face on.

"Yeah, someone with a badge. No more running around and getting into trouble. You four are to be under our surveillance at all times. I have Vartann ready too if we need him, but I would like to keep someone to work out there. I heard swing just got another girl. They're making up for what graveyard is passing over."

Sara literally collapsed into a chair, "Another one? Same way?"

"Uh huh. She was shot in the lower back and neck. Left in an alley way behind a McDonald's. No one saw or heard a thing from what I've been told. But in that part of town, not too surprised."

"So, there are a lot more people doing this. You think it has to do with a gang?"

Grissom stopped his pacing at Sara's question and looked at her, "No. This isn't a gang. It's in the forms of a cult. They are working together, but don't have the signs of being a gang."

The word "cult" perked Greg's ears. In his career with the Vegas lab, he had now encountered two cults. One had been with that church with that crazy old man. The second, the recent one that had taken them down into that bunker. "How many cults are there in the area? We have a new one?"

There was an exchange of looks. Grissom and Brass seemed to forget the other two in the room for a moment as they had a silent conversation from minimal facial expressions. It was like trying to figure out the point of Modern Art as Greg watched them with a frown on his own youthful face. He just couldn't get what was going on and what was trying to be displayed.

"It's not a new one, parse," Grissom said slowly as he turned to look at his two CSI's.

Sara snapped at him, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"We're looking at it as a newer version of an older one," Brass interjected, "But we don't know yet how new."

There was only one that Greg could think of that fit that description, the latest one being mostly dead as it was, "So, you're telling me that church is back. The…" He trailed off as the name of the church eluded him.

"The Church of Gods," Sara breathed out, her eyes distant.

Brass nodded once, "It would seem so. After talking to Vartann about what happened on that street, the guy that walked off with Warrick was part of what happened before. So, seems to me that he would be pretty confident in going back to Tenner if he showed back up."

"Of course, we don't really know if they ever left," Grissom thought out loud, "They may have stayed in Vegas the entire time since then, planning for something like this. Sophia went with and talked to Johnson, but he didn't give anything that she knew of about them sticking around."

"Yeah, but why kill all those girls? Wouldn't they want revenge against the lab and the cops since they were after people from here to begin with," Greg questioned, leaning farther back in his chair.

"That's something we need to figure out. Somehow, if Tenner is back and part of this, there will be some sort of connector. We just need to think it out. And use it against him."

Pursing up his lips, Grissom walked over to the open door and looked out of it. No sign of his missing CSI or the two detectives yet. He wanted more minds, more thoughts before they began to dissect it any further.

"Anyway to track Tenner down? See if he has any property, bank accounts under his name are here in town?" Sara moved to the edge of her seat, her hands resting on the table in front of her.

"You think I haven't done that yet?" Brass asked incredulously, "I had them looking for it as soon as I could. So far, no one has been able to find a thing. Gil here asked Archie to help out on it. That kid can do anything with a computer and he might be able to weasel something out."

Grissom turned to look back at the table, "Alright. What I need now is for the two of you to process whatever you got from the parking garage. Did you get anything from the car?"

"We bagged Silvia Mullins cell phone and her briefcase. Nothing else really there. Seems that, well if Kelly did do it, she knew to wipe the surfaces clean, or wore gloves. No fingerprints that I found on the steering wheel," Greg swallowed heavily once he was done.

Nodding, Grissom pressed onward, "Good. See if you can find anything that would connect her to Kelly Gordon. Call and get a warrant for Mullins' office if you need to. I want to know why Kelly went after her. And to have Nick go there to see it as well. Something is missing."

"And what are we going to do?" Brass asked with an unsure look.

"We wait here and try to put the pieces together."

"Yeah, like that's been working so far. We don't have enough quite yet, Gil. Let's help the kids here and we can all present it when everyone is here and everything is done."

Greg looked between the other three people, his own thoughts in a rush through his head. He couldn't see how this all connected. Of course, he didn't have all the details he was sure Grissom and Brass had. It sounded like the best plan for this. And besides, it would give the younger CSI to catch up.

"Alright. Let's get this worked on. I want to be ready when Catherine gets here. We don't have a lot of time to mess around on this. I want answers and I want them sooner than later."

They broke up and went to different areas of the lab. It didn't seem to Greg that they were really working together, but he wasn't about to say anything more. All he wanted to do was look through that briefcase and see what he could come up with. There had to be something.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

His skin was covered in sweat, cold sweat. Nick had the windows rolled up, the air turned completely off in the truck. Yet, he felt cold. It seemed to start from the middle of his stomach and reached out through the rest of his body.

The muscles in his right arm were tight, sore from holding the phone to his ear so tightly for so long. But there was no way he was going to risk losing anything to switch hands. There was no way to predict what Tenner might do if he were to not say something if asked when the phone was down in front of him for that split second.

Nick could almost feel the excitement through the phone from the other man's voice. And he knew that couldn't mean anything good. All Nick hoped was that there would some sort of exchange. Warrick for himself. It was a long shot, but Nick was always for the underdog in a fair fight.

Where ever he was being led to was taking him well out past the strip. He was following a county road that he had honestly never been on. All he really knew for sure was the he was heading north out of Vegas. The desert was swallowing him and the truck now.

"Up the road, in about a mile, there will be another intersection, unmarked road. Take a left. Be careful, it gets a little bumpy."

Swallowing back a response, Nick stayed silent. He hadn't said a word to Tenner since he had left the parking lot. That was one thing he had to his advantage, not that it really meant anything. But it was part of his pride that Nick could keep quiet through the torment of having to be on the phone with that lunatic.

The speed of the truck decreased and Nick craned his neck forward to make out the intersection that Tenner was speaking of. It wasn't scheduled for the sun to come up for at least another two hours. Nick didn't want to risk missing the turn out in this area due to the darkness.

It was right about where Tenner said it would be. The so called road was only about one car width wide, completely gravel and sand. On each side there were lines of barbed wire marking off ends of properties, the only things really marking it as a road. There were no lights in front of him anymore that Nick could tell.

"Now, follow this. Watch, there's a few turns on this. Miss them and you'll go off into the desert. Don't want to get lost."

Nick gripped the wheel even tighter, muscles screaming to move from their locked positions, but he still listened to the voice, "You'll be on this for eight miles. Just keep driving."

And that was all he could really do. Nick really didn't know where he was anymore. He wouldn't have been too surprised to learn he wasn't even in Nevada anymore. Extremely unlikely, but Nick wasn't about to say no to it with his wonderful luck in life.

Worry swelled up into his throat, closing off a little of his airway. This had been happening on and off since he had taken the truck. And, sad as it was, not all that worry was for Warrick. That thought of course brought along a whole pile of guilt for such thoughts. Nick thought he was going to be sick from it all. And the bumps in the road weren't helping any either.

The turns were quite sharp in two spots, otherwise simple to maneuver. There was no more fencing lining the road. Now all there was in the wilderness was a slight depression and lack of vegetation. Nick couldn't see much from the light of the headlights and he didn't even think of stopping to look at the road. But he was sure that it was better used than he was thinking it was.

Dust kicked up behind the truck, leaving a dark cloud in his wake. Nick looked through the mirror and couldn't see much out the back window. The lights from the back of the truck lit the dust up, giving the air behind him an eerie red color. It almost looked like the spray of blood after a bullet impacted a skull.

"You should be almost to the end of the road. In about a mile, you will see a large building, like a warehouse on the left side of the road. Pull around it so you are on the back end. There will be a white door."

Nick shook his head and pinched his lips between his teeth. He didn't want to do this. There was still time to turn around and go get help. Tenner really couldn't know where he was, could he? Nick couldn't see how someone could put up cameras out here to watch people come and go.

But he knew if he turned around and fled back to Vegas, he would give the go for Warrick's execution. The man had been exceptionally cruel to the taller CSI when they had been held captive in that church basement. And Nick didn't want his friend to suffer more than he had to for his sake. It wouldn't be right.

Pressing down a little harder on the gas petal now, the truck shook and jerked over the rough terrain. There was something out there now. Nick could see a harsh outline of something large on the dark horizon. And it wasn't in the form of a mountain or a hill.

Flicking the brights off on the truck, the world suddenly seemed darker to him. Nick didn't really know why he bothered to do that, but something told him it would help him from being seen as easily. Pushing his tongue forward between his top teeth and upper lip, Nick chastised himself for something so stupid. It didn't matter anyways whether or not they saw him coming. They knew he was coming.

The building was large. Getting closer to it Nick could see that it stretched for at least the length of two football fields. It was gray and brown in the headlights. Nick didn't bother looking towards the ground as he drove slowly around the corner of the building. His eyes were locked on the structure, trying to figure it out.

No marking were on any of the walls. Several of the square glass panes in the numerous windows were shattered or broken out completely. There were a great deal of doors along the sides. And Nick could also see at least two garage doors, larger like at auto garages. But none were colored white that he could tell.

"You're almost there Nick. Just find the white door."

His speed was gone. The truck almost seemed to crawl along now. Gravel crunched under the weight of the vehicle, alerting to his location. Tenner didn't say anything about it if he could tell through the phone. Nick swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing harshly in his throat. His jaw clenched, teeth tight together inside his mouth.

It was a fresh white door. Nick turned the truck towards it so the headlights shined directly upon it. Against the building it looked too clean, too fresh. They had prepared this for him. It was a bright spot in his dark future.

Nick put the truck into park and leaned back in the seat for a moment. The hand holding the phone went slack, but not enough that the phone went far from his ear. He closed his eyes and wiped at the grime in them with his newly freed hand.

"Turn the truck off. And enter the door Nick. No point in stalling. Just open it and come on in."

The phone finally went dead. Nick didn't bother to even close it or hit any buttons. He simply let it drop from his hand. It slapped and thunked as it fell, but he didn't care where it landed. Nick stretched out the muscles in that arm before using it to reach for the keys, which felt heavy and cold against his flesh. He slipped them into his jean pocket, pushing his hips up from the seat a little.

As he opened the door and moved from the seat, Nick finally turned off the headlights. The white door was still visible with the light provided from the stars and moon above. It wasn't as pristine as before, but it was there. The rest of the building seemed to disappear behind it.

Nick walked slowly, with wide steps. He let his eyes scan around, but there was no movement outside. And he couldn't see any lights on through the windows on this side of the building.

His heart was in his throat, stomach in his shoes. Nick's hand shook as it reached out and grasped the handle. It was greased and turned with ease. The door swung away from him, opening up to the unknown. Nick looked over his shoulder once, at the stallion of a truck before walking forward.

The sound of his boot soles on the ground was loud to his own ears. Nick swallowed continually as he took a few more steps into the room. It was dark, only a few candles lit in the area. There was no other noise.

Until the door closed behind him with a slam. Nick whirled around, almost falling over. No one was there that he could see. Panic caused his breathing to speed up, heart to beat faster.

A hand fell on his shoulder. Lips were close to his ear, "Welcome home, Nicky."

The breath smelled sweet. Then, nothing.

TBC…