A/N: Hopefully this chapter isn't too choppy... let me know if it is. I wanted to get different perspectives on the same event, so I tried to transition well. Let me know if I accomplished it! I've got one more chapter to write for this story... to add a little more SoNic and Grillows to this story. Enjoy!
I had no idea how long I had been rubbing my arms up and down that stall support. The sun had disappeared behind the clouds long ago, and the smell of rain permeated my tiny prison. The bands loosened a little bit, but I couldn't really tell with the stickiness that coated my wrists. I couldn't really get a good angle on the bands, and the metal pole cut into my wrist. It was sharp, all right.
Suddenly I heard a noise outside… sounded a lot like police sirens. The sirens grew louder and louder. It sounded like they were a couple of blocks away.
I grinned to myself. My cavalry was coming.
Nick and I pulled up behind the marked police cars at the address Captain Curtis had given us. It was a run-down, abandoned-looking house. The shutters were practically falling off the siding of the house. "Okay…" I stopped when the passenger door slammed. I hadn't even unbuckled my seat belt yet. Shaking my head, I climbed out of my SUV and joined Nick and Brass on the front door step.
"LVPD!" Brass shouted and rapped on the door with his knuckles. "We have a warrant!"
The only answer we got was a rumble of thunder in the distance.
Brass nodded at one of the uniforms next to him. The cop lifted the small battering ram, reared it back, and brought it forward with all his might. The door separated from the lock with a distinct crack. Nick started forward, following Brass, but I laid my hand on his arm. It's not our job as CSI's to get in the way of the cops doing their job.
Shouts of "LVPD" and "Clear!" mixed with drops of rain hitting the windshields of the car. Nick and I waited for what seemed like hours on the front doorstep of that house. Finally, Brass appeared in front of us, materializing out of the darkness of the house. "It's clear," he said. "No sign of Sofia." He stepped aside to let Nick and me into the house.
I followed Brass into the living room, and Nick made his way to the back of the house. My flashlight beam hit the coffee table in front of the window. A cigarette still smoldered in the ash tray. "He couldn't have gone far," I observed quietly.
"We'll put out an APB on him," Brass said, pulling out his flashlight. "He must've heard us coming."
"Hey, Catherine," I heard Nick call from the back.
Brass and I followed the hallway to the back bedroom. Nick stood in front of a window, peering through the sheets of rain. He motioned toward the window. I stepped up next to him and followed his gaze across a field of dead grass. Behind the field, I could make out the outline of what looked like a school. "Didn't Sofia's mother say that Jackson did his crime at a school a couple of blocks from the house?" he asked.
"He couldn't have driven away," I said. "Our cars would have seen him. We blocked off the streets."
"And he was here a couple of minutes before we got here," Brass interjected.
Nick bent down next to the window and picked up a piece of cloth with his tweezers. "Looks like he jumped out the window."
"And ran across the field?" I said, glancing at Brass.
Brass pulled out his handheld radio. "All units to the school behind subject's house." He turned his gaze to me. "Let's get moving. Sofia's running out of time."
"Hey, Jim." Nick righted himself, and his gaze flickered back and forth between me and Brass. "This has never been about Sofia. It's always been about her mother."
I inhaled sharply, sensing what Nick was getting at.
"He's gonna want to talk to her," he continued. "Shouldn't we call her down here?"
Brass paused and his brow furrowed, like he was considering the proposition. Finally he exhaled and looked Nick straight in the eye. "Call her from the car. But we gotta get moving. He knows we're coming, and he's gonna finish what he started."
The sirens grew louder and louder. They were coming closer too the school. Jim must've figured out where I was. I grinned to myself.
I felt my bonds loosen even more as I rubbed my wrists vigorously against the metal pole. I knew he was coming back. If I could just get free…
Just then, my captor burst through the door, and I froze as our eyes connected. I felt a wave of bile rise up in my throat as I stared into his cold, hard eyes. This was the first good look I got of my abductor. Brown, stringy hair fell in his face, covering his brow. His mouth twisted into what looked like a permanent scowl. His face was scarred, the pale line running across his chin, like he had been sliced with a knife. He was wet, like he'd been running through the rain that still poured outside.
I glanced down at his hand. He was gripping a knife tightly… about six inches long, serrated blade. I had seen hundreds of knives just like it in my years as a CSI and a cop. Knives like that could make a hell of a dent in a person's flesh.
He leered at me for a minute, then moved toward me. "Your friends are smarter than I thought," he told me as he knelt down next to me. I felt his breath blow hot on my neck, and I shivered. His hands ran down my arms, and I winced as he touched the cuts on my wrist.
Finally he sat up and looked me straight in the eye. "You're lucky I have no time," he said, his voice low and sinister. "I'm gonna kill you anyway. Might as well let everyone see."
He sliced through the plastic bands around my ankles and wrists and pulled me up by my hair. I cried out in pain as my torn wrists brushed against the sharp metal again. He pressed the tip of the knife into my neck. "Now we wait," he whispered.
Thunder rumbled above us as we dashed into the school. Once inside, Brass drew his sidearm and lifted his handheld radio. "Red Team," he said quietly. "Are you in position?"
"Red Team, go," the radio squawked back. "Be advised that the subject is in a bathroom at the end of the west hall. One hostage."
"That would be Sofia," Nick whispered as he drew his weapon.
"Copy that, Red Leader. Kill word is 'Jim.'" Brass said as he jerked his head for us to follow.
"Copy that. Standing by."
I drew my own sidearm and took a deep breath. "Let's go," I said quietly.
No one spoke as we made our way down the halls. The silence was palpable. I sneaked a glance at Nick and saw that he had clenched his jaw. His finger twitched on the trigger. I couldn't blame him. I wanted to bring this guy down as much as he did.
Finally we reached the end of the west hall. Brass shifted his gun to his right hand and rapped on the door with his left. "LVPD!" he shouted. When no one answered, he gently pushed the door open and leaned his head slightly so he could see into the room.
"Come in, Detective!" an overly-jolly voice sounded from inside the bathroom. "By all means, open the door all the way!"
Nick glanced at me, and back at Brass. Brass shrugged and pushed open the door more, still cradling his gun in his right hand.
That was when we finally came face to face with Sofia and Raymond Jackson.
Finally I stood face to face with Catherine, Jim, and Nick. Boy, were they a sight for sore eyes! Catherine's eyes widened in shock when she saw me, and I briefly saw them flicker to my still-bleeding wrists. Nick's jaw clenched even tighter, like it always does when he's pissed off. I tried to communicate with Catherine with my eyes. Please, I told her. Get me outta here.
She nodded almost imperceptibly and lowered her gun. "Jackson," she said quietly. "Can we talk about this?"
Jackson?
He chortled, and I felt the knife point press farther into my skin. "I don't want you," he practically spat.
"We know," Brass spoke up, lowering his gun too. "We know what this is all about."
"Then you know that I wanna talk to her."
Her?
"She's on her way, Jackson." Catherine made eye contact with me for a brief second before her gaze flickered back to my abductor. "She'll be here in a couple of minutes."
"In the meantime, why don't you let her go?" Nick said, barely keeping his voice under control.
He laughed again. "Not a chance."
Catherine jumped when a door slammed at the end of the hall. "Fia!" I heard my mother yell. Jackson's sharp intake of air resounded in my ear.
My mother suddenly materialized in the doorway, her hair dripping wet from the downpour. "Oh, Sofia," she murmured, a single tear making its way down her cheek, mingling with the rainwater.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a wide grin cross Jackson's face. "Well, Captain Curtis. So good of you to finally join us."
"Let her go, Jackson," my mother replied. I could tell she was desperately trying not to look at me. "This is between you and me."
He shook his head and laughed. "Yeah, maybe it is. You took my life away from me. Now I'll take yours away."
I could see Sofia's eyes widen as realization hit her. "Jackson," she whispered. "Raymond Jackson? The rapist from ten years ago?"
"Eight," he corrected her. "You know, my case made your mother's career. Isn't that funny? Her career, taken from my life."
"She didn't take your life," Nick softly spoke up. "You forfeited it."
"Nick," I whispered as anger flashed across Jackson's eyes.
"You know," he said quietly. "I think we've had enough talking. Time to say goodbye."
Sofia moved quickly. She jabbed her elbow into Jackson's gut and twisted out of his grip. The air escaped him with a soft oof, and the knife skittered across the floor. He lunged for her and I pulled out my gun, just as Brass yelled, "Jim!" The window above us exploded in a hail of glass, and I instinctively ducked to avoid getting sliced.
When the glass settled, I glanced over at Jackson. He lay prostrate on the floor, flat on his back, his once-cold eyes now glazed over. A small hole, nearly hidden by his stringy hair, graced his forehead right between his icy eyes, and a pool of blood slowly spread across the floor around his body. Sofia huddled in her mother's arms, visibly trembling. Who could blame her, with what she had just endured? The elder Curtis stroked her daughter's hair softly, tears streaming down both their cheeks. Nick leaned against the wall, an exhausted look crossing his face as he stared at Sofia.
I breathed a sigh of relief. It was over.