Hey guys! Another chapter to sweeten your Sunday! Have fun!
The CSIs were all stressed out and didn't know how to find Greg. Every lead they followed ended up a dead end. Colfer didn't talk and Novak was still in a coma. Archie was working on the laptop they found in the room Greg was kept in, but it took him quite some time. Russell was standing at the coffee machine in the break room, his cup in one hand, the coffee pot in the other, not moving.
"Where's Nick?" Spencer asked while walking in.
Russell startled. He was lost deep in his thoughts. "Oh, hey." He poured some coffee into his cup. "Nick's working with Grissom on some bugs we found."
"Bugs, huh? Will they help us find Greg?"
"Maybe. How's your shoulder healing?"
Spencer nodded. "Can I help somehow? I feel so useless and it's all my fault."
"Don't blame yourself. We're doing everything we can to find him. You just get better, alright?"
Archie joined them. "I'm done with the laptop. There were a lot of disturbing pictures on it..." He had a distraught look on his face. He sighed. "But nothing useful for us. Maybe Robin found some DNA that will help us, but I'm afraid I can't help."
Russell nodded thoughtful as Robin walked in. "Three DNA donors on the laptop. Two unknown male DNA, one is of Paul Sorkin. Charged for battery and sexual assault in 2003. After his release from jail he stayed under the radar. Sara's checking for any connections to Novak. Here's his current address."
"Thank you, we'll check him out. What about the blood drops we found?"
Robin sighed deeply. "It's Greg's. I'm sorry. That's all I can tell you about it."
Greg and the texan were at this bar for almost two hours. Greg had no idea what this was about and he couldn't take another drink, he was already drunk.
"Another round?" the texan asked.
Greg shook his head.
"Come on, don't be a buzzkill. Don't you have fun?"
Greg didn't answer this ridiculous question. He leaned back.
"You're drunk," the texan stated. "You're not a hard drinker, aren't you?"
"Don't tell me you don't have any friends you can go drinking with. What am I doing here?" Due to the alcohol, Greg was getting a little more comfortable talking with his capturer.
The texan smirked. "Well, Neil's plan obviously didn't work out. He wanted to come by the house, have his fun with you and that's it. From the moment he would arrive I would be supposed to be out."
Greg released a very small laugh. "How can you be so indifferent about my fate?"
"That was Neil's plan, not mine."
"So... what was your plan?"
"I would've killed that bastard, hadn't your stupid friends arrested him."
Greg looked quite surprised. He sensed that the texan had some kind of resentment towards Novak – how couldn't he, knowing what kind of person he is. But this came as a surprise. "...What?"
"I saved a bullet for him. Right between the eyes." He smiled.
"What are you talking about? You wanted to kill him? ...Why?"
"...What kind of question is this? The alcohol's really getting to ya, huh? He's a sick bastard. He doesn't even deserve his jail cell."
Greg pressed his hands against his eyes to prevent himself from crying. He propped his arms on the table. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he almost yelled.
"Would you keep it down? I can't afford everyone staring at us!" The texan rolled his eyes. "I didn't know if I could go through with my plan..."
"You showed me this horrific video... You... Do you have any idea how scared I was?"
"I had no choice. I needed to keep up the act for the cameras."
"...What cameras?" Greg was starting to doubt the texan. Was he really telling the truth? Or was he just trying to soothe Greg, make him think he's safe with him?
"Novak installed some cameras in the room. He wanted to record... well, you know. I risked my ass by being nice to you, giving you something to drink and to eat, you know? I couldn't tell you you were going to be fine."
"...And now? Why am I here?"
The texan gave Greg another drink in his hand. "Drink up. I can't tell you now. You're going to be fine, but we're not done yet."
Things were progressing quite quickly right now. Russell, Sara and Brass were checking out Sorkin's last known address. Nobody was home so they forced themselves in.
The apartment was very messy and showed signs of a fight. "Grissom and Nick said the bugs we found live somewhere in Australia. I guess this terrarium might explain what they're doing in Vegas." Sara pointed at the terrarium. It was open and there were no insects inside. "Let's just hope there's not a huge spider running around..." She proceeded to take a look inside the terrarium. A few dead bugs were lying in there. She collected them.
"Hey Russell, take a look at this..." Brass said from inside the bedroom. Russell quickly walked inside, Sara followed a few moments later. "Doesn't this place look familiar?" he asked as he pointed at a computer screen. On the screen, it showed the basement where Greg was kept in.
"...Quick, call Archie. He needs to take a look at this computer ASAP."
"No, I can't... No more..." Greg refused to drink another alcoholic beverage. He was drunk and not feeling well at all.
"It won't take long anymore, anyway..." the texan said as he noticed someone walking inside the bar. "Does the name Drew ring a bell?"
Greg raised his eyebrows. It did. Drew was the young man Novak was telling him about. Novak claimed he loved him, but raped and murdered him. The stranger walked towards him and the texan and sat down opposite them. "That him?"
The texan nodded.
"...Who's this? What's going on?" Greg asked scared. Why would the texan bring up Drew now?
The texan turned to Greg and whispered to him. "Remember what we just talked about. Be calm, don't do anything stupid or you're not the only dead body in here. Got that?"
The stranger looked around. "You couldn't find a more crowded place than this?"
"It's gonna work, trust me."
"Well, he's cute..." The stranger looked Greg up and down with a look on his face that let Greg know he was up to no good. "I get why Novak obsessed with him."
"Come on. Let's get this over with." The texan helped Greg up. He couldn't stand on his own feet anymore, he was too drunk.
"...Where are we going?" Greg asked. He was shaking.
"Just shut up, I don't want to have to hurt you again."
The stranger helped the texan carry Greg outside. Greg tried to fight them off and even yelled something, but all the people at the bar didn't take him serious. He was drunk and they figured that was the reason he was yelling.
The computer at Paul Sorkin's place was helping them a lot more than the laptop they found earlier. "Okay, we have video footage of Greg right here... See that?" Archie showed the CSIs the moments when the texan and Greg left the room. It also showed him beating the CSI. They all cringed while watching this, but tried to stay focused. "And right there you can see his gun..."
"What does this all mean, though? Is this Paul Sorkin on the tape?" Russell asked confused. "Why would he tape himself?"
"Well, the video solution is really bad but it could be him. Maybe an accomplice was here, watching?" Sara tried to make some sense out of it.
Nick and Grissom walked in. "Found anything yet?" They both watched the video, too.
Archie kept working on the computer when Nick noticed something. "The answering machine... did you guys listen to the messages yet?"
"We didn't even realize there was an answering machine..." Russell picked it up from the floor. Clothes were lying on it, covering the machine up. "Good eye," he said to Nick before pressing play. There were a few messages on it the CSIs had no interest in, but one was from the texan, asking to meet up at the bar he was with Greg at the moment. In this message, he said he wanted to meet up to take care of Greg. This, of course, alarmed the team.