I want to thank you, Leona, for your review. I understand your concerns, and I will try my best to clear up the confusion. Here's the thing. This story is not what it might appear to be, as we continue you will see that. Griffin is already an experienced CSI (This is my first fan fiction). To be honest I never considered the fact that she should probably only shadow the team. That wouldn't fit in with my story in anyway. So, let me put it this way. Griffin is an employee of the lab, what Catherine was referring to when she wanted to know if Griffin would get the job is Griffin wanted Grissom to choose her to be part of the team. She didn't want to just walk in and be the new girl that was just assigned to the team. My main point in this story is to introduce Griffin's character. Griffin has a very complicated past, and it would make this story very drawn out if I go into it now, so I will reveal more in the next story. This is an AU story and it will be a little confusing in the beginning. As I said, I'm always grateful for the reviews, and I wanted to let you know that I love the CSI characters and I would never want to misrepresent them in my stories. I'm sorry if I have done that, I will try and make it better.
Thanks,
IronAngel 240.
Derrick Lander disconnected the webcam and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He sniffed and turned to look at the CSI over his shoulder.
Congratulations, Lander, he thought, you've really gone and done it now.
Derrick began to pace the house nervously. He looked back at his prisoner who was starting to regain consciousness. Derrick's eyes grazed over her bruised face. The words of the other cop repeated in his head in the same deadly calm tone, "If you harm a single hair on her head, I swear to you, I won't rest until I put a bullet in your head."
Well, he'd done a hell of a lot more than harm a single hair. The cop had woken up when he'd tried to remove her from the car and he'd had to use...brute force to subdue her. A shiver ran down Derrick's spine as he thought of the other CSI. Her dark eyes had been daggers, her stare murderous, her words menacing. Derrick had no doubt she'd be perfectly capable in carrying out her threat. Lander growled and stomped over to one of the sofas and plonked down on one of them. The gun felt heavy in his hand and sweat slid down his right temple. How could he have been so stupid?! Lander could blame killing Michael and Kimmy on the drugs, but kidnapping the cop? He'd done that stone, cold sober. He wished he had some cocaine now. The effects of the drugs would be the perfect balm for his frayed nerves.
Everything would be okay once he had his money. Derrick would quietly slip over the border into Mexico and live on the beach. He wished that there was a scenario in which Vanessa joined him, and the two of them started a life together. That had always been Derrick's dream: to settle down with Vanessa...maybe have some kids. But he knew she would never forgive him for what he'd done. She would never forgive him for what he'd done to Kimmy. And Derrick didn't expect her to, which made it all the worse.
"Mr. Lander?" said the cop.
Lander sniffed again and said in an irritated voice, "What?"
"It's not too late to let me go," she said. Her voice was kind of breathless and hoarse.
Derrick snorted and said, "It's way too late for that, Lady."
The cop shook her head and said, "It's never too late to do the right thing."
Lander shook his head and smirked at her. "That's such a 'cop' thing to say."
"I'm not a cop," she said in a clipped tone, "I'm a crime scene investigator. I'm a scientist."
"Whatever," Derrick snorted, "a cop by any other name is still a cop."
The cop gave a weary sigh.
Derrick just shook his head and looked down at the gun, which he was slowly and surely starting to hate with a passion.
"Would Vanessa want you to do this?" she asked.
Lander froze; he then ground his teeth to keep his irritation in check. He didn't want to lose it and hit her again. "I did all this for Vanessa!"
"But she wouldn't want you to do something so...dangerous," the cop reasoned.
"Love makes you do weird things sometime," said Lander in a quiet voice.
"Vanessa and me? We're a match made in heaven...completely perfect for each other," said Lander. "We should have been together...Kimmy should have been my daughter."
"Then why did you hurt her, Derrick?" she asked.
Lander was silent for a few moments then he said, "You know what I think? I think that...'love' is an illusion. People shouldn't kid themselves. Love is one big lie. It's a trick that 'God' made up just to ensure you get your heart ripped out."
The cop stayed silent, and Lander walked over to the window and peered out of it.
"You better hope your friends get their ducks in a row in time," he said looking back at her.
The cop looked up at him and he said, "I'd hate to use your own gun to blow your pretty brains out."
CSICSICSICSI
"Archie?" asked Grissom.
Archie looked up and said, "Sorry, Grissom. He was jamming his signal."
Grissom slammed the flat of his hand against the table.
"The bastard hit her," said Griffin, rage boiling beneath her cool exterior.
Grissom hung his head in despair.
"It's going to be okay, Grissom," said Catherine walking over to him and laying a hand on his back soothingly, "We'll pay the ransom and get Sara back."
"That's the problem, Catherine. We don't have the ransom money," said Grissom, his head still bowed.
"What do you mean?" asked Nick.
Grissom lifted his head, turned and looked at his team. "The city won't pay out the money, because it's against Department policy to negotiate with terrorists."
Everyone fell silent.
"So what are we going to do?" asked Warrick.
"What can we do, Warrick?" asked Grissom. "If Lander sees a police car within a hundred yards of the drop off zone, our goose is cooked. Without the money, we're screwed."
"Then we'll have the money."
Everyone turned and looked at Griffin.
"Have you not been listening?" Grissom asked.
"Oh, I've been listening, and here's my plan. We do exactly what Lander wants. A human life is too precious to gamble with. Grissom, continue with the instructions, be in place for when the time comes to make the drop," said Griffin.
"And what about the money?" asked Grissom.
"Don't worry about it, leave it to me," said Griffin. She turned to Nick and said, "You're coming with me, I'm going to need your help."
CSICSICSICSI
Griffin and Nick walked briskly in the parking lot towards Griffin's Jeep. Griffin tossed the keys to Nick, who caught it with one hand.
"Where are we going?" asked Nick opening the door of the driver's side.
Griffin hopped into the passenger's seat saying, "The bank, and drive as fast as you can. I have some phone calls to make."
Nick ploughed through the traffic like a maniac and all the while Griffin was on the phone. A small part of Nick's mind, the part that wasn't focused on rescuing Sara, noted that this was a beautiful car and that there was no way he'd ever be able to afford it on his salary. They made it to the bank in record time. The moment the car stopped, Griffin had her door open and she jumped out.
"Stay here and keep the car running," she ordered and ran into the bank. From the car Nick watched as she was greeted by a mature man in an expensive suit. They shook hands and the man gestured for Griffin to enter into his glassed wall office. This took them out of Nick's sight, so he sat in the running car with the windows rolled down. It felt like hours before Griffin exited the bank with a brown, leather duffel bag in her hand. She ran towards the car and ripped the door open. She then threw the duffel bag onto the back seat and strapped on her seat belt. Griffin looked at him and said, "Drive!"
Nick put the car into gear and sped out of the bank's parking lot.
"Where to now?" he asked.
"We're going to meet up with Grissom about eight miles from the drop-off zone. So seven miles off highway 147," said Griffin as she slipped her black Ray Banns on.
Nick looked into his rear view mirror and caught a glimpse of the duffel bag. "Is that the money?" he asked.
"Yes," said Griffin.
"What you do? Rob the bank?" Nick asked.
Griffin shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it, Nick."
Nick looked at her from the corner of his eye, but he remained silent.
CSICSICSICSI
Grissom paced the width of the small dirt road where they had set up there command post. The bitterly cold wind stung his cheeks. He turned the collar of his coat up to ward it off. They were about eight miles away from the drop-off zone, and Grissom didn't want to take any chances. There were no LED lights and no sirens, it was completely low key. Griffin had been right when she said that a human life was too precious to gamble with, and he agreed with that completely, but he knew that there was no way he would gamble with Sara's life. She was too precious. Grissom glanced at his watch; he had fifteen minutes before he had to meet Lander.
There was no sign of Nick and Griffin, and no sign of the five hundred thousand dollars. Just then Grissom heard the sound of a car engine and he looked up to see a black Jeep making its way towards the command post. The Jeep stopped where the other cars had been parked and Nick jumped out from the driver's side and Griffin from the passenger's side. Griffin opened the door to the back seat and pulled out a brown, leather duffel bag. She hoisted it over her shoulder and walked over with Nick at her side.
Griffin dumped the bag at Grissom's feet. He eyed her before he knelt by the bag and zipped it open. Inside were fifty, ten thousand dollar bricks. Grissom looked up at Griffin and she said, "No tracker, no dye, no games."
Grissom zipped the bag closed, picked it up, straightened and asked, "Where did you get this?"
Griffin looked at him from behind her Ray Banns and said, "It was donated to the lab anonymously."
Grissom eyed her suspiciously, but she didn't seem to feel the need to share with him the details. Griffin quirked an eyebrow at him and said, "Don't you have somewhere to be?"
Grissom narrowed his eyes, swung the bag over his shoulder and called out, "Brass!"
Brass looked up from a map that was spread out on the hood of his car. She walked over to them and Grissom said, "It's time. I've got the money."
"I still don't like the idea of you going in there alone, Grissom," Brass said.
"Lander said I must come alone, so alone I shall come," said Grissom.
"Like hell!" said Griffin, "I'm going with you."
"No, you're not, Griffin," said Grissom.
"Grissom –"
"No, Griffin!" said Grissom firmly, "I'm going alone."
With that Grissom turned and walked over to his Denali and climbed in. He started the engine and drove off.
Griffin glared at the Denali as it disappeared down the road, before she spun on her heel and stormed off to her Jeep.
"Griffin?" said Nick in a wary voice as she turned. When she began to walk towards her car Nick started after her.
"Griffin, what are you doing?" he asked. She ignored him and yanked the driver's side door open. She pulled the keys from the ignition and hit a button on the remote, popping the trunk. She tossed the keys onto the driver's seat and walked around to the trunk. Nick followed her. Griffin yanked the carpet of the trunk out of the way; and then pressed down on the exposed floor. A piece of the trunk's floor popped open revealing a compartment. Griffin pushed the lid up and pulled out a long case that lay flat inside. She closed the lid and replaced the carpet before she placed the case on the floor of the trunk.
"What is that?" asked Nick guardedly.
Griffin flicked the latches of the case up and opened the lid. Inside, lying on a bed of velvet that lined the inside of the case...was a sniper rifle.
"What is that?" repeated Nick, his eyes bulging.
"This," said Griffin picking up the gun "is the M-21 sniper rifle . . . 308 calibre, 5 round detachable box magazine.Rotating bolt, gas operated, air cooled, semi-automatic magazine fed rifle, 11.25 lbs,44.1" long.Match Grade 22 inches 1:10 RH twist, specially tuned 4 1/2 pound match two-stage military trigger. Redfield/Leatherwood 3-9x Automatic Ranging Telescope,900 yards maximum effective range."
Nick whistled appreciatively. Griffin looked at him and smiled saying, "Pretty sweet, huh?"
Nick nodded, still mesmerized by the gun.
"And you just have this lying around in your trunk?"
Griffin turned and saw that Brass had joined them. Griffin ignored him and began loading her rifle.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Brass.
"What does it look like? I'm going to cover Grissom," said Griffin as she loaded the last bullet.
"Lander told Grissom to come alone," reminded Brass.
"And he will be alone. The beautiful thing about this baby is that the guy won't know what hit him or even from where. He won't even know he was hit because he'd be dead," said Griffin.
Brass just looked at Griffin. Griffin rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses and gave an exasperated sigh. "Would you have Grissom go in with no back up?"
Brass narrowed his eyes and said, "There's a hill, about 800 yards away from the drop-off zone, with an eagle's eye view. Will that do?"
Griffin nodded and said, "That will do."