"Are you positive that there is no one who would have any grudges or anything of the sort against you or your family?" Gil asked sternly.
"No." Ryan replied, still shaken from the brief conversation with his son.
Gil looked over at Bethany who had been fairly quiet all night."Beth?"
"N – No . . ." She stuttered.
"So RJ has made contact." Raymond began "What we don't know is whether or not he called on his own, or if he was forced."
"Forced?" Bethany asked.
"Yes ma'am, forced." Raymond replied. "It's a taunting tactic; we've seen it before. The captor will force the hostage to make a brief phone call that's too short to trace, but enough to let loved ones know that they are still alive and still in danger."
RJ had been sitting alone in the cold basement for several hours. It was dark, and all that could be seen was his broken cell phone on the floor, and the pole which he was handcuffed to. He sat with his back against the pole; eyes shut and mind racing so rapidly that he was beginning to develop a headache. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard the door creak open. The thin-faced man from before came down the stairway and knelt down in front of the boy.
"So," he began "how's your dad?"
"He's fine." RJ replied defensively, trying to conceal his fear. "Other than being worried sick about me."
"Still doing his police work?"
"How do you know my father?" RJ shouted, jerking forward as if to threaten the man.
In response, the thin-faced man simply scoffed. "You're so much like him."
RJ bit his lower lip. He was terrified of this man, and at the same time he was very angry. RJ had always been very fond of his father, and he hated to hear this man taunt him like this.
"When he and I first met, you were just a little baby. You're fifteen now, right? You were only two years old." He paused. "I understand you have a little sister now. How's she doing?" He asked in a seductive tone of voice, as if he was interested in the girl.
RJ jerked forward again. "Don't you dare mention my sister!" He barked.
The man scoffed, feeling a strange sense of accomplishment now that he had angered the boy. What was the point in taking a hostage if you couldn't toy around with them a little? With another scoff, he stood up and left the basement, loudly closing the door behind him.
Even though his parents and the CSI team had no idea of it just yet, it was now obvious to RJ that this man had a past with his father, and a score that he wanted to settle. Now furious, RJ started to take his frustration out on the handcuffs, pulling fiercely until he felt his wrist start to bruise. It was then an idea came to mind. Slowly but surely, and with much painful tugging, RJ was able to rise up onto his feet, pulling the end of the cuff around the pole up with him.
He looked around the room, but it was too dark to see much of anything. Glancing up towards the ceiling, he was almost positive that he saw a string hanging down. Was it a light switch? Taking a step forward, RJ stretched out his right arm as far as he could, trying to reach the string. The strain on his left wrist was almost unbearable, but RJ was determined. He reached and reached until finally, he was able to grab take hold of the string. When he pulled it down, a dim light filled the room.
Naturally, he was forced to squint against it at first. After several moments, his eyes adjusted to the new light and the boy was able to look around. The room appeared to be empty, except for a hot water heater in the far corner.
Painfully bending his left arm, RJ slowly turned around to see if there was anything behind him. There, not too far away, was a lone table. There was a white clothe draped over the table, and . . . Something else underneath. It looked like an autopsy table with a clothe still draped over a dead body.
A dead body.
Upon seeing this, RJ panicked and started to scream so loudly that it hurt his own ears. He turned away from the body and continued to scream and cry. He no longer cared how badly it hurt – he fought against his handcuffs trying to get away from the gruesome scene behind him, but his attempts were in vain.
