Title: Deadly Desire, chapter 4

Disclaimer: The character of Annabelle Larson is my creation, the rest are the property of the writers of CBS and CSI: Miami

Weeks went past with nary a peep from Erica Sikes. Ryan was able to get a restraining order against her, preventing her from being less than fifty feet from him, his home, and his place of employment. The other CSI's knew this, so when they needed to speak to the press, they would organize them far enough from the building to accomodate their needs and Ryan's safety. Occasionally Ryan would see her outside the building and it would cause him to shudder, but so far she was keeping her distance.

That was until the day Calleigh disappeared. Calleigh and Ryan had spent a romantic evening together at her place, and spent the night in each other's arms. It was the first peaceful sleep he had known since the incident, and he felt safe and secure with Calleigh near him. He awoke the next morning in Calleigh's bed alone. Immediately an uneasy feeling came over him. The last time he had awoken alone in a bed other than his own he was in big trouble. He called out to her, no answer. He went downstairs, hoping she was in the kitchen enjoying a cup of coffee. She wasn't there. He noticed the front door was opened and the newspaper was lying on the front doorstep. Then he saw a note taped to the front door, it read: "If you wish to see Calleigh Duquesne alive again, you will return all copies of the DVD to me. Wait for further instructions. Do not contact the police or your colleagues or Miss Duquesne will pay."

Ryan knew better than to go without at least calling Horatio. "H, it's Wolfe. Calleigh's been kidnapped. I'm at her place now. There's a ransom note on her front door. They must have snatched her when she went out for the paper," Ryan said frantically.

"Alright, Wolfe. Stay put, stay calm, don't touch anything. We'll be right there," Horatio said firmly.

Ryan hung up the phone, then went back upstairs to get dressed. He was sitting on the front steps when Horatio and Delko arrived. Delko removed the ransom note from the door and showed it to Horatio.

"They want the DVD, H. I'll dust this letter for prints," Delko said.

"Ryan, did you touch that letter?" Horatio asked.

"No, I didn't touch anything, just like you said. I just went back upstairs, got dressed, and came and sat out here. Figured that would be best until you got here,' Ryan said.

"Good work, Wolfe. Now, we've got to come up with a plan to get Calleigh back, but it may involved putting you at some risk. Are you up for that Ryan?" Horatio asked.

"Anything to get Calleigh back safe and sound, H," Ryan said.

"Alright. Here's the plan. They're not going to get their DVD, we're not going to give Miss Sikes the opportunity to humiliate yo further, you understand me?"

"But if we don't give her the disk, she'll kill Calleigh," Ryan interjected.

"We'll give her a blank disk. You demand to see Calleigh. When you're sure Calleigh's safe you hand over the disk and you get out of there," Horatio explained.

"What if she demands to see the disk first, to check it out to make sure it's the real thing?" Ryan asked, unsure that this plan would work.

"We'll have you on a wire. If she views the disk and sees it's a fake, you give us the cue and we'll go in. Plain and simple," Horatio said.

"Let's hope it works," Ryan said, wanting to trust his boss.

Ryan received instructions on his cell phone to bring the DVD to Erica Sikes' home. Horatio and Delko were positioned along with several police officers nearby and out of sight. Ryan rang the doorbell. The door opened and Ryan was grabbed and pulled inside at gunpoint by Toby Hansen.

"Welcome sweetheart, it's such a pleasure to see you again," Erica smiled.

"Wish I could say the same," Ryan said flatly.

"Did you bring me a present?" Erica asked greedily.

"You don't get it until I see Calleigh," Ryan demanded. Erica gave Toby a look, who then placed his gun at Ryan's temple.

"Take the disk, Annabelle," Erica said to her secretary. Annabelle took the disk from Ryan and handed it to Erica. "That was easy. Let's see what we have here." Erica placed the DVD into her DVD player, and discovered that the disk was blank. "What do you play me for Wolfe? Substituting a blank disk for the DVD I asked for? Well, we may just have to make another one, won't we?"

Before Ryan could give the cue for Horatio and his crew to swoop down, Erica ripped open Ryan's shirt, exposing the wire. "Well, well, well," Erica smirked. "What do we have here? An uninvited guest I see. Sorry Lieutenant Caine, this is a private show." Erica ripped the wire off of Ryan and destroyed it. "Take him downstairs," she told Toby.

"Where are you taking me?" Ryan demanded.

Erica gave Toby a nod, and he pistol-whipped Ryan. "You wanted to see your precious Calleigh, didn't you?" She turned to Annabelle. "Stay up here and keep watch."

As Ryan was forcibly taken downstairs, his cellphone fell to the floor. Once Erica, Toby, and Ryan had disappeared from sight, Annabelle picked up Ryan's phone and looked up Horatio's number.

Erica led the way as Toby dragged a semi-conscious Ryan down through Erica's basement to a hidden wine cellar. Calleigh was tied to a chair. Toby held Ryan's arms behind his back as Erica removed what was left of his shirt and his belt. She used his belt to tie Ryan's hands in front of him, and Toby hoisted Ryan up so that he hung by his tied hands from a hook suspended from the ceiling, his toes barely touching the floor. Erica threw a glass of cold water in Ryan's face to wake him up. Through blearly eyes he saw Calleigh, and was thankful she was safe, at least for the moment. He also saw there was a video camera set up.

"Erica, whatever you're thinking of doing, don't waste your time. Horatio and the others will be here any second," Ryan stammered.

"Don't worry, I have a lookout posted. The minute I hear they're on their way, you and Blondie over there will be dead.. So, what is it that Horatio is so fond of saying, no worries?' Erica sneered.

She stepped towards Ryan, who tried desperately to move away from her, but couldn't get his footing, suspended in the air as he was. Erica giggled at his lame attempt to move away.

"There's nowhere for you to go, precious. No escape this time," she smiled, kissing his stomach as she unfastened his pants.

"Erica, please, don't do this. Wasn't once enough? " Ryan cried desperately.

"Oh, no. Once is never enough, love. Besides, now we have twice the fun. This time Calleigh gets to watch. And once you and I are done having fun, we can let Calleigh and Toby have a go at it," she sneered looking at Calleigh. "How does that sound?"

"Over my dead body! Don't you dare touch her!" Ryan shouted.

"That could be arranged, although, it would be such a waste," Erica said as she removed the rest of Ryan's clothing. "Are you sure you wouldn't want a piece of this, Calleigh? It's sooo sweet," Erica sneered menacingly.

"Forcing myself on a man and videotaping it isn't quite my style," Calleigh said flatly.

"I'm not much in the mood to share anyways," Erica said. She grabbed a roll of duct tape, ripped off a piece and plastered it over Calleigh's mouth. "That will keep you quiet while I work." She turned to Ryan, ripping off another piece. "As for you, love, when will you learn that I don't take no for an answer?"

Ryan protested but his pleas were muffled by the duct tape that sealed his lips. Erica motioned to Toby to turn on the video camera. She repeated her assault on Ryan while Calleigh was forced to watch, Toby's gun pointed at her head. Without the benefit of drugs to knock him out he felt every sleazy move Erica made. Tears of shame poured from his eyes as his body betrayed him. Calleigh didn't want to watch, yet she didn't want to emotionally check out on Ryan, to make him feel more abandoned than he already was in that moment. So she looked directly into his eyes, her tears of sorrow matching his as she was forced to witness this horrible scene.

Erica's humiliation of Ryan was nearly complete when a loud crash was heard, followed by an influx of men in uniform. Ryan and Calleigh heard Horatio's voice crying "Miami Dade police! Cease and desist!" Erica stopped what she was doing, grabbed a knife from the table and held it to Ryan's throat. "Drop your weapon, Miss Sikes, and call off your henchman. You're outnumbered," Horatio threatened.

"Call off your goons, or you'll lose two CSIs, and it won't be pretty," Erica retorted.

"Erica, you don't want to do this," Horatio cautioned, inching closer to her, gun poised. Delko had his gun trained on Toby, who still had Calleigh at gunpoint. "You're finished Erica, let them go.," Horatio said, grabbing Erica's arm and wresting the knife away from her. Delko and another officer subdued Toby and freed Calleigh. Two officers led Erica away while Horatio freed Ryan. Ryan sank to the ground, trying to cover himself. Calleigh wanted to comfort him. She looked at Horatio, and he nodded. Calleigh knelt down and briefly embraced Ryan, holding his head to her shoulder as he cried.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked

Calleigh couldn't believe he was asking her if she was okay. "I'm fine, Ryan. I'm fine."

"Ma'am, I'm going to ask you to accompany this officer, and Delko will process you outside while I process Ryan," Horatio said. Calleigh nodded and stood up to leave. Ryan grabbed onto her hand, not wanting her to go.

"Ryan, we want to do this right this time, Calleigh can't stay," Horatio said. His words stung her, but she knew they were meant more to assure Ryan than to scold her. Calleigh squeezed Ryan's hand and then went outside. Horatio collected the samples he needed from Ryan and let him get dressed. The DVD and the camera were taken as well. "We've got her this time, Ryan. I'm sorry it had to come to this, but we got her." Ryan said nothing. He just walked past Horatio and out to find Calleigh.

Ryan took Calleigh back to her place. He took a shower, attempting to wash away what had happened, and then lay on the couch with his head in Calleigh's lap. He dozed as she stroked his hair, his face, that little spot on his chest that she loved to see peeking from his shirt. She still couldn't believe what all her angel had been through, this sweet gentle man who worked so hard to do good and protect others. She blamed herself for failing to protect him. She began to cry, and her sobs roused Ryan from his sleep. He reached up and touched her cheek.

"This isn't your fault," he whispered.

"Yes it is," she sobbed. "If I hadn't screwed up the first investigation against her she wouldn't have had the chance to do this to you again."

"You were looking out for me," Ryan said.

"And I ended up hurting you even worse than before," Calleigh cried.

"Listen to me," Ryan said, sitting up and taking her hands in his. "You didn't do this to me. You didn't tie me up, hold a gun to my head or a knife to my throat. You didn't force yourself on me. You didn't seek to humilate me. Erica did, and she's going to pay."

"When I think of how much this has cost you..." she said, stroking his hair.

"It cost me a lot, I won't deny that. But that's not your fault. Had she succeeded in killing you, or doing to you what she did to me, that would have hurt me so much more. You're here and you're safe, that's all that matters to me now," Ryan said tearfully.

Calleigh kissed him tenderly, and Ryan pulled her into his arms to lay down beside him, to hold him tightly as he slept in her embrace.