"So?" Grissom asked Sara as he caught up with her in the hallway.
"I swabbed the trunk of Alicia's car, and couldn't believe what I found there," she frowned.
"Come on. Don't leave me hangin'!"
"I found Nick's saliva and hairs there," Sara said softly and handed Grissom the folder she's been nervously playing with the whole time.
"Wanna question Alicia about it?" he asked, gesturing towards the interrogation room.
"I'll be more than happy," she smiled.
"I need you to explain something to me, Alicia," she started, laying a picture of a navy blue 2000 Ford Explorer SUV onto the table. "Is this your car?" she asked then.
"Yeah, that's my SUV. Why?" Alicia replied, a hint of doubt in her voice.
"Well, I found Nick's DNA in it," Sara said sternly.
"Uhm, yeah, that's pretty possible you did. I drove him to my brothers' ranch some time ago," Alicia acknowledged and took a sip of her water.
"In the trunk?" Sara asked, wearing an irritated expression.
Her words had a strong effect on Alicia.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she murmured, her voice breaking.
"Then remember quickly," Sara snapped, rose to her feet and left the room.
In the hallway, Warrick joined her.
"Where's Grissom?" he asked.
"In his office, probably. Why?"
"Well," he began, looking down at the package he held in his hands, "I've got a delivery for him," Although he somehow sensed there won't be any DNA on it, he was still wearing the latex gloves.
The package was marked 'RE: STOKES'. When Sara saw it, she got sick. They were all too familiar with this.
"Grissom! Layout room, now! We got a déjà vu for you," Sara shouted as she and Warrick were passing by Grissom's office. In just a few seconds, he caught up with them.
"You could've said it more politely, you know," he teased Sara, who decided to ignore it. She was too upset now to be polite.
Once in the layout room, Grissom cautiously opened the package. It only contained an audiotape. No USB key this time. They weren't exactly surprised to hear The Turtles' Outside Chance. But it was still sending shivers down their spines.
You can try to please me… But it won't be easy… Stone walls surround me… I'm surprised that you even found me…And you don't stand an outside chance…
…
I'm finally home. My house is surrounded by only sand as it's located in the middle of the desert. And I love it. No stupid neighbours banging on my door because 'my TV is too loud and so… I'm free to do anything, and yet I have to do nothing. Once in a while, I shop for some food, but that's it. I'm the master of my sea. However, I certainly have something else to care about at this moment. My guest. I hope he'll like what's awaiting him. Well, if he doesn't, he can complain. Not that anybody would hear him, though. Yeah, life's not fair. And that's the reason why he's here. To bring justice at least this one time. Unfortunately, there are not many folks out there who'd have the courage to do something for justice to be served. We're only individuals now, but if we worked together, systematically, we would achieve unimaginable. Well, it's my time to shine now.
The door opened. A man dragging a body entered. In the centre of the room he stopped, picked up the unconscious body, and placed it into a simple-looking wooden chair, which was to his right hand. He then tied the senseless man's hands behind the back of the chair with a nylon rope. He also placed a flexible floor lamp within six feet of his captive, setting the reflector at an exact height and angle, so it shone right into the face of the tied pal. He then backed away but didn't leave the room. He drew another chair and sat down. If his calculations were right, his hostage won't be able to see him in the face, because they'll be blinded by the lamp's powerful bulb, and he himself was seated right behind it. And this guy was never wrong.
In his mind, he was willing the guy across from him to come round, but he knew he had to give him some time. Ether usually takes its effects from three to four hours, depending on a body build and other circumstances. Well, he at least had time to observe his victim. It was making him feel good. The man's motionless features, head dropped to one side, shut eyes… It was not erotic for him in any way, though. The man's vulnerability simply was a pleasant thing to witness for him.
After an hour and a half, the man's eyes finally fluttered. He let out a yelp of pain in reaction to the sharp light his eyes met with. It took him a moment before they got used to it at least that much so he could keep them open. Of course, he tried to free himself of that rope, but the knots were too tight and the rope was of too high-quality material to just give up. After a few failed attempts, he gave up. Instead of trying something he knew would leave to nothing, he rather started taking in his surroundings. The humidity in the room was quite high, in his T-shirt he felt rather chilly in there, and it smelled like soil.
"Having fun, aren't you Nicky?" a male voice asked, causing him to flinch.
"Hey, who are you?" he shouted, confused. He tried looking around but all he could see was light and then dark. He was, however, determined that the voice was not coming from behind him.
"I am a justice's messenger," the voice told him.
"And what am I doing here?" he shot back.
"You're helping the justice to get served here, my friend," was the reply.
"My friend?" Nick repeated, "We know each other?"
"That's the best part. You don't even know I exist. And no one else will ever know about me until I tell them myself," the voice said, laughing.
"And why did you choose me?" he asked.
"Because you're the last piece of the puzzle that still remains unsolved!" exclaimed the voice.
For a second, Nick was confused, but as the voice added: "If you had died back then, we wouldn't be sitting here today," he realized what this was indeed about. He didn't know who his kidnapper was, but he was sure this all had something to do with Walter Gordon's suicide and the whole buried-alive thing. At that moment, panic took over him. He was trying to free himself so furiously that the rope rubbed the skin on his wrists that much that it actually started bleeding.
"Let me go!" he yelled at the top of his voice, "I haven't done anything wrong to you!"
"Oh, you bet you did, you bastard! After you popos put Kelly in jail, he went nuts. He planned everything in the tiniest details, but he, unfortunately, had to take himself away to avoid your buddies figuring out where you were buried. But that gang of science geeks still found you… And that's just not fair!" the voice roared.
"And is killing me now actually going to bring him back?" he cried, tears forcing into his eyes.
"It ain't, but my soul will finally find peace," the voice almost whispered.
"Listen, man… Who was he to you that your grudge against me brought you this far?" he asked, a little bit calmer now as he realized he was only wasting his energy, which he might need later.
"Walter was like a father to me. He always treated me so well. He took care of me when my real father threw me out like garbage," the voice said, in a sad manner.
"Look, I'm sorry for that, but I can't see why you should ruin more people's lives at this point," Nick told the man.
"You don't even know what you're talking about! You might have met with molestation within your job, but you never experienced it yourself!" yelled the voice.
"Actually, I did…" the man in the chair whispered. The room was filled with silence. This piece of information was completely new to the man in the shadows, and he was taken aback by it.
"It wasn't a family member though, but I'm still trying to come to terms with it," the tied man continued after a moment of hesitation. "Sometimes, I still wake up at night, and can't fall asleep again… I was nine back then… I'm well over thirty now, and yet I still haven't figured out a way to cope with it. I feel your pain, pal," he tried to soften his abductor. A fair stream of tears was running down his cheeks.
"I heard people saying: 'the time will heal it, the pain will go away', but that's bullshit and we both know it. Walter loved me. And I loved him. And his daughter. But they had to take them away from me. So I'm now going to take you away from them," the voice told him. Nick tried to catch a glimpse of that man as he heard some noises which told him he was moving, but he couldn't see anything but dark. Suddenly, an arm was wrapped around his neck from behind, strangling him. As his hands were tied, he couldn't do a thing about it. Of course, he was jerking, his instincts told him to. However, it was of no use to him. Soon, he felt a needle finding its way under his left upper arm's skin. For a moment, his arm only ached a little, but after a couple of minutes, he started to feel kind of sleepy. He could barely keep his eyes open. They were closing, and dark was consuming him. Breathing seemed complicated as well.
"Whatever you do…to me…I promise… you…that my guys…will find…you…and you'll…be punished…" Nick mumbled, the last few words being almost inaudible.
"Sweet dreams," the other man whispered, gently stroking the unconscious guy's face.
And you don't stand an outside chance
But you can try
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, and as always- if you have time, please review! This chapter is a bit wilder, but I think that's okay.
Stay tuned for another chapter! :-)
