Lauren had been ready for almost fifteen minutes. However, a strong pain in her abdomen had forced her to lie down.
Five minutes after lying down, she'd heard the door open, close and the key turn. Figuring it was only Nick she didn't move.
Allyson had been thought of this moment every spare minute for the past month. When she'd agreed to accompany her mother to the wedding, it hadn't been to celebrate; it had been to get her long awaited revenge.
Her plan was simple, and as far as she could tell, fool proof. She'd grab Lauren, take her away and make her suffer as much as she had.
Seeing her sister approach, Lauren felt all the apologies and regrets she'd never spoken come to the surface.
"Allyson…I…" She began but was cut off by an experience she'd never had and didn't want to have again; she found herself staring at the barrel of a 9 mm hand gun.
"Ally…what are you doing?!" though she tried to keep self control, she knew her voice was shaky.
"I'm going to get my revenge. I'm going to make you suffer like I did." There was a knock on the door, and Allyson cocked the gun. Then, looking her sister in the eyes, she motioned with it for her to stand next to the closet.
Hiding her gun, Allyson strode to the door and opened it.
Standing there, was a woman she'd seen earlier and that she'd figured she'd get to later; the only other mother-to-be at the party: Sara Sidle.
"Um…" Sara said looking at the woman before her "is Lauren here?"
Allyson though of sending her away, but why not kill two birds with one stone? She'd make a new victim and make her sister see the consequences her actions had had.
"Yea…she's inside." Allyson said opening the door wider and grabbing the gun with the hand Sara couldn't see.
Once inside, Sara could tell something was wrong. Lauren was standing between the wall and the closet, silent tears streaming from her eyes.
The sound of a gun cocking made her turn and see Alyson aiming at her middle. Sara's instincts kicked in. She couldn't let anything happen to the baby.
"You're not going to shoot us." She was surprised by how calm and determined she sounded.
Allyson looked mockingly at her "Oh! And why's that?"
"Because, there are people out there that would come looking for us." Again her voice sounded nothing like what she felt.
Allyson seemed to process this for a moment before placing a hand on the key in the door, ready to lock it.
"Get up!" She ordered to her sister who'd just sat down on the floor breathing heavily between sobs. "We're getting out the window." She added as she twirled the gun in her hands.
Unfortunately, Sara had just tried to make a run for the door before it was locked. This attempt earned her a bullet in the foot. The pain surged through her body causing her to collapse backwards onto a coffee table which shattered into a million wooden fragments
Allyson swore out loud for having drawn attention to herself. She'd have to rush things now that a gun shot had been fired. She knew that if she wanted to follow through with her plans, she'd have to do it some place else, besides, she could already hear people rushing around outside. Common response to gun fire thought Sara as she was 'encouraged' out of the window at gun point, her foot throbbing and her back aching from where she'd hit the small coffee table.
Once outside, both Lauren and Sara were forced into a car and could do nothing but watch the hotel disappear in the distance.
Nick who'd already been anxious nearly collapsed when he heard a gun shot. Grissom had a similar reaction, only the years of self-control helped him mask it well.
In the confusion and panic, the CSI's managed to make their way through the fleeing mob to the room where Lauren and Sara were.
Nick was the first to try and open the door but it was locked. For the first few seconds, they could here movement inside but soon there was nothing. When their shouts and knocks proved useless, Nick and Warrick along with some of the hotel's security guards broke down the door and walked in.
There was little doubt they'd just stumbled into a crime scene. Not only were there three missing women, there was also a shattered coffee table, a small pool of blood, some bloody foot prints, an open window and a bullet lodged on the floor.
Both Grissom and Nick sprang for the window at the noise of a motor. All they could see was the back of a jeep pulling out of the parking lot.
"What happened here?" Asked Catherine as she examined the scene. Noticing Grissom and Nick's pained faces she added "It'll be alright guys…"
Trying to ignore the worry building up inside him, Grissom decided to take charge. If he was going to get Sara back, they had to process the scene soon.
"Guys!" All the CSI's sopped to look at their supervisor, "we have to start processing. So, Warrick, go to the labs and bring us our kits, Catherine, come with me to find some supplies for now. Greg go with that guard and pull up all the surveillance videos for the past two hours." He got ready to go with Catherine when Nick's voice stopped him.
"Grissom, I wanna help…" The determination in his voice was a surprise to Grissom considering his pained expression but he nodded knowing that, like him, Nick wouldn't be able to not do something.
"If you're sure, go help Warrick." He replied as he exited the room.
Fifteen minutes later Grissom and Catherine were back in the room looking for new evidence. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything indicative of a perp.
When despair had finally set in, Grissom had tried to call Sara's cell only to find it was still in her purse.