Everyone seemed to hold his breath as Nick listened to whoever was on the other end of the cell phone call. He frowned as he listened then asked, "what the hell?" Still no one dared interrupt and Nick's posture stiffened. Slowly he said "and when do I pick him up?"

Cath turned wide green eyes to Gil, whose blue eyes narrowed in intensity. She mouthed the words 'ransom drop?' to which Gil merely frowned further.

Gil's mind already raced through why Nick would be the one who'd been called for the ransom and dreaded that it was one more sick mind-game this bastard played: he probably knew Nick had been kidnapped and buried alive for over twelve hours.

Nick's soft, "I'll be there. And, no, it won't be any trouble," drew a wavering breath from Sara. He hung up the phone, frowning, and slid it into his pocket rather than handing it over or checking the caller identification. Slowly, Nick looked around the lab, his expression changing to one of hesitation then regret. "Oh, it was a personal call, not Greg."

A collective sigh of disappointment exploded into the room and Nick felt a fresh wave of irrational guilt. In self-defense he filled them in on more than he normally might have. "The court awarded me temporary protective custody of my nephew, Jon, while he awaits arraignment and trial in Texas. They're doing it to get him out of Dad's jurisdiction and because my brother doesn't want him in the system."

"What happened to your nephew Jon?" asked Sara softly.

Shaking his head, looking a bit shocked by the news now that it started sinking in, he replied "allegedly he broke into a local animal shelter, vandalized it, set it on fire, and killed some of the animals, including two very valuable horses being housed there for a ranch abuse case." Nick ran his hand through his close-cropped brown hair. "I have a hard time believing Jon would do something like that. He loves animals more than people, especially horses." Darting his eyes to Cath's face, he added, "Jon's Lindsey's age. If he did it, I'm willing to bet he wasn't alone. He's fallen in with a rough crowd recently. Bill thinks being housed out of familiar territory and with law enforcement will control him for awhile." Nick shrugged. "I think it's their way of keeping an eye on me, too. They worry since . . . well . . . a couple months ago."

Cath nodded and put a hand on Nick's arm, gently reassuring him. She took a steadying breath and turned back to the frozen close-up of Greg's trunk. "We now know," she said, trying to get back to the job at hand, drawing all attention back to the real emergency, "that Greg went missing around dawn. Based on the evidence we received, and this shot, it's probable Greg was in his own trunk."

"Damn," Officer Davis moaned low. "You mean I let a kidnapper go with his vic in the trunk?" The man stumbled and Brass put a hand up to prevent him knocking into any of the sensitive equipment in the lab.

"Come on, Herman." Jim Brass gripped the taller man's arm in a firm hand and guided him past the investigators into the hall. He sat the patrolman down and accepted a paper cup of water from Bobbie Dawson, who had nothing to do on Greg's case since ballistics weren't involved.

Sara looked from the retreating officers back to the screen. "So, the kidnapper took Greg around dawn and drove him out of town up Lakeshore Road towards the Marina. Then he dropped off a package on a local woman's doorstep. Since then he's been calling various investigators to toy with us. There's been no mention of how to get Greg or why he's doing it."

Warrick added "he's enjoying messing with us, keeping us hoping we'll eventually get news of Greg, but at the same time threatening us, making us think one of us is the next target."

"He doesn't plan to give Greg back," Archie added and the group turned to the audio-visual tech. The Asian-American shrugged, hands shaking, and added, "he's had almost eighteen hours which means he's either caring for Greg's needs or dumped him already. He's given no clue where Greg is, so he doesn't want him found." Archie drew in a breath to steady himself, keeping his voice purposefully neutral. Greg was his best friend. "Basically, he either killed Greg already or plans to."

Groaning, Cath clenched her fists. No one had wanted to hear such a summary of the case, no matter how true it was. "We don't know Greg's dead yet," she offered defensively, clinging to hope.

The outside door opening again drew all attention and this time Cath couldn't hold back a sob of relief. Sam Vega escorte her mother and daughter into the lab's main hallway. Pulling off her gloves, Cath hurried out to reassure them.

Gil looked back at the car on the video. "We need to check the marinas and campgrounds." His voice sounded steady, infusing his staff with hope. Gil wasn't giving up on Greg, so they wouldn't. Even when Warrick had been at his last hope for Nick, Greg had continued to work the evidence and made a breakthrough. No one wanted to be the one who let Greg down now.

"I'll start checking. Bobby D, you and O'Reilly come with me," Warrick called, tagging their ballistics tech and one of the police officers on standby. The trio headed towards the door discussing their search parameters and making plans to ask for volunteers when the sound of a ringing cell phone froze them in their tracks.

A second sounding of the theme from Star Trek filled the sudden silence and Archie pulled out his phone, a frown on his youthful features. He raised his eyes saying, "that's the tone I've got for Greg." He flicked the on button and said, as casually as possible, "Hey, Greg, it's one o'clock. Wha'cha need you vampire?"

Sara lifted an eyebrow at Archie's pretense of ignorance for Greg's kidnapping, but she didn't say anything as the look on Archie's face changed.

Finally, he hung up and offered the phone to Gil. "He laughed at me and said 'you've been working this case. You answered the phone.' Then he laughed some more and hung up. His voice modulator sucks; I don't think he's very high tech."

"You answered the phone . . ." Gil repeated, thoughts racing through the series of calls they'd received. "And you did. When he called the lab's main line looking for me. Did you tell him who you are when you answered it, Archie?"

Archie nodded. "Yeah. I didn't know he was playing phone tag yet, so I used standard phone protocol: name, lab, and how can I help."

"And he called me after I'd answered Cath's phone," Gil puzzled out loud.

Catching onto the train of thought, Nick added, "And Cath called Greg's cell when we were looking for him. The perp answered and listened to her. She told him it was Cath before she hung up."

"Playing phone tag," Hodges said, as if he fully understood the significance of the fact.

The trace technician's involvement went unnoticed as Sara shot down the theory. "But I never spoke to him on the phone until he called mine. If he's calling people he spoke to, why would he call me?"

Gil turned his unfathomable stare on the young brunette woman, looking through her into his own thoughts. "Calling people he spoke to," he echoed softly. "But you never called him."

"Right," Sara confirmed. "Unless he was at the burglary tonight or he's a member of the lab or police force." She straightened and mentally began to go through all the people she'd spoken to that night.

The lab phone broke the stillness yet again, causing everyone to jump. Jacqui reached it first and picked it up. "Jacqui Franco, Las Vegas Crime Lab, how can I help you?" she answered automatically then visibly paled at whatever was said. Gil moved to her side, waiting as she listened to the caller though she did not put on the speaker option. Finally, she said, "thank you. Someone's on their way. Keep security with him."

Jacqui hung up and looked at Gil, excitement and hope vibrating through her voice as she said "Las Vegas Central just got a John Doe in. Some family camping at Lake Mead found him. Still alive."

Nick yelped "I'll check it out." He headed for the door, not waiting for permission, but Gil didn't stop him. Instead the older man signaled Sam Vega to join the investigator now that he was free from protective duty on Cath's family. Nick accepted the temporary body guard and both men headed out, followed by Warrick, Bobby D, and O'Reilly still intent on searching the recreational areas of Lake Mead. Even if Greg had been found, which was very unlikely, they still had a silver Passat to locate.

Sara shook her head in frustration going back to their current postulations. "But why'd he break pattern and call me?"

"Maybe he didn't break the pattern," Brass said, his voice low enough to exclude Cath's family as she led them to Gil's office. "Who did you talk to tonight?"

"Only cops and investigators, Brass," Sara replied, expression darkening with the thought that one of Las Vegas' finest had kidnapped Greg. "But that would explain how he has so much knowledge of our lives."