Greg was just returning to the lab after grabbing a couple of hours sleep, seeing him in the reception area, Sofia called out, "Hey, Greg? Can you give me a lift home? Jake's taken my car."
"Uh...Sure..."
"Great!" she smiled back, not slowing her pace one bit as she headed for the lot.
As Greg pulled out of LVPD, Sofia came clean, "We're not going to my house."
Greg was a little stunned, "Uh...Where are we going?"
Sofia was drumming on the door, "Juanito's a sadistic bastard...He'll pick a warehouse like Van Nuys..." Greg realised that she was talking to herself, "Is there a deserted cold store anywhere?" Greg didn't answer so she turned to look at him, "Greg?"
"Oh...sorry..." he thought for a second and then hesitantly replied, "It's not a cold store, but there's a lot of hangers on an abandoned airstrip about three miles out of town. It looks a bit like the photos I was looking at in the old case file. Where are we going?"
Sofia thought for a moment, "These hangars remind you of the warehouse from our case in Van Nuys?" she asked for confirmation. Greg nodded 'yes'. Sofia considered him for a moment and then took him at his word. "That's where we're going."
Brass and Grissom were updating the Sheriff in the latter's office when Kramer rapped on the door, "Sorry, gentlemen...Jim, have you seen Sofia?"
Jim gave a questioning look to Grissom who shrugged back, "No..."
Kramer closed her eyes and blew out a sharp breath, "Great...now I've lost both of them."
"Is everything alright?" the Sheriff asked.
"Sir, when those two go AWOL, it usually means they're up to something."
"And that's a bad thing?"
Kramer leaned against the door frame, "Oh, yeah..."
Sofia was squinting against the early morning sunlight as she spoke to Greg through the window of his truck."Greg, I want you to stay in the car. Whatever happens, don't come after me, okay? If anything goes bad – get out of here and then call it in."
Greg had parked the truck behind Jake's car. He wasn't thrilled about going all 'Die Hard' but he was fairly sure that Sofia wouldn't get him killed...
Sofia was making her way forward to Jake's car when the access door to the hangar opened. Jake emerged slowly, holstering his weapon. He noticed the second car and saw Sofia almost immediately. As he cleared the doorway, Sofia saw him lurch forward and immediately remembered ten years ago when Juanito had shot him. The man himself appeared behind Jake and it was then that Sofia saw the syringe in his hand. Juanito also spotted her and began dragging Jake's limp form back inside. Moments later, a van sped out of the hangar to the sound of Sofia's desperate gunfire.
"Greg! Follow that van!" she yelled, throwing herself into the car. It didn't take long before they lost the van in the Vegas traffic. "Dammit!" Sofia slammed her hands on the dash.
"I got the license plate."
Sofia was angry with herself and shouted back, "He's probably changed vehicle by now!"
Greg kept his eyes on the road as he pulled over and parked.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"You need to calm down...If you wanna help him you need to be thinking with this," he tapped the side of his head "and you need to tell me what we do now."
Sofia once again found herself misjudging the young man, he was the only one who had really listened to her about Juanito and now he was the one offering to help.
"Greg, you read the case file from LA. This isn't a walk in the park."
"I know. I also know that this is personal – you wouldn't be doing your Bruce Willis impression otherwise."
Greg had a way of disarming Sofia and this time was no exception. After keeping her past locked away from her friends for so long, the last ten years of grief came pouring out. "He killed a rookie patrolman by nailing his head to the floor. He shot our best friend dead right in front of us; Jake got shot when we arrested Juanito. We didn't stop until he was in jail," Greg waited for her to continue, "Jake blamed himself for Sonny's death and I didn't cope very well with him being shot." Sofia was quiet for a moment, "I thought I'd lost him."
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you split up?"
Sofia was leaning back against the seat, "Jake got addicted to his painkillers and he changed. Both of us did. That's why this is personal, Greg." She leaned towards him, "That sonuvabitch took something away from us that we can't get back."
"Then I guess we'd better get to Mr Curtis before anything happens to him..."
Despite herself, Sofia couldn't help smiling at his loyalty.
By the time Sofia and Greg made it back to the Crime lab, a package had arrived. Kramer, Brass, and Grissom were in the AV lab watching the video that had been couriered.
"What's this?" Sofia asked, before being shushed by the others.
"...I don't think it's too much to ask, do you?" The man in the video pulled Jake's head back violently, "This pig and his whore tried to take my life – so I'll take theirs." Juanito pressed his gun into Jake's shoulder, "Just not yet, hmm?"
Greg was the closest to Sofia as her legs buckled, and Brass moved to her side immediately.
"Whoa!..easy, let's get you out of here..."
Sofia let them guide her out of the room, but as she left she heard the gunshot and then Jake screaming in pain. "Greg, I think I'm going to be sick..."
Kramer had taken over the CSI layout room. Sofia, Greg and Brass were the only ones she had allowed in.
"...the rest of the tape is more gloating."
"What did he say?"
"It doesn't matter, Sofia..."
"Everything matters."
Kramer hesitated so Sofia fixed her glare on Brass, "He was daring us to find Barret."
Sofia sat up, suddenly very interested, "What do you mean?"
"You know, typical psychopath stuff – he said he was gonna leave Barret to die in the worst possible way. If we figure it out we can get to him first...He's playing mind games with you – playing on your familiarity."
"But that means he's still alive. We can find him."
Brass shared a look with Kramer, "I'm sorry, Sofia. I think we're looking for a body."
"No. There is a reason Juanito sent us that tape. There's no point trying to trace where he was in the tape – he'll be long gone by now."
"Sofia...Juanito is looking at the death penalty. He wanted both of you but Jake got closer than he expected. He'll kill Jake and then disappear. He won't risk getting caught." Kramer decided to lay it all out on the table. As much as she wanted to believe they could find Jake alive, Kramer wasn't convinced they'd find him, period.
Sofia was pacing like a caged animal and Greg had stopped listening to the others. He figured Sofia knew this Juanito better than anyone else so he followed her line of thinking, "Where's the worst possible place, Sofia?" He looked round at the others for support but didn't get it, "C'mon, Sofia. If this guy is going to leave Jake somewhere to die, where would Jake hate to be?"
Sofia suddenly looked up from the floor. "The water! Jake's terrified of water! Somewhere where he'd be in the water."
He thought for a moment and then realised the obvious, "There's a lot of water in Lake Meade."
Kramer and Brass had followed Sofia, with Brass calling for an ambulance as they drove. Both cars were tearing towards the lake although the more experienced detectives were expecting to be disappointed. They didn't even know if they were going to the right area – Lake Meade had a huge shoreline – but Sofia was sure Juanito would be in a boat, so they headed to the most secluded place where you could launch a boat. The time of year meant the area was pretty much desolate so it was easy to spot the solitary boat heading out as the cars skidded to a halt. Sofia didn't even stop to kill the engine as she raced to the water line, she was knee deep in the freezing water when the first bullet whizzed past her head.
"Sofia! Get down!" Brass yelled as Kramer called for assistance and the police launch.
If she heard him, Sofia didn't pay any attention. She was banking on being a better shot than Juanito, as she steadied herself and took aim, she whispered several prayers...
Jake was as close to unconscious as you could get, but he knew he was in a boat – and a boat meant water. He felt Juanito pull him up to his feet...
Sofia cursed as Juanito used Jake as a shield. There was no way she could take a shot from this far away and be sure of hitting the right person...
Jake was aware that something was going on but he was too far gone to understand. As he finally felt the blackness coming, he could've sworn he saw Sofia coming to rescue him...My God, I'll never live that down...
Sofia saw Juanito struggling with Jake and got ready. When he pushed Jake over it was all the time she needed. He went down with the first shot. She heard the screech of tyres and looked back to see the ambulance arriving. This time Brass didn't even get to shout a warning as his young partner tossed her gun and disappeared into the water.
The water was freezing as Sofia dived in. She frantically searched for Jake, going deeper as she realised he would be sinking – the thought making her go even faster. Finally, her arm struck something solid and she grabbed the front of Jake's shirt. She started to pull him up but her lungs were burning. Letting him go, Sofia kicked for the surface – to the relief of Kramer and Brass on the shore – and sucked in as much air as she could. With one more effort she got Jake up to the surface. Seeing the police launch approaching in the distance, she decided it would be quicker to swim for land. Police officers and paramedics rushed into the water as they got within reach, pulling both of them out. Sofia was lying on her back, gasping for air, as the paramedics worked on Jake.
"You know you're as crazy as he is?!" Kramer yelled as she finally fought her way through the crowd to Sofia.
Sofia just smiled, "I'm fine, by the way."
Kramer was standing outside Jake's hospital room when Greg appeared, "Captain Kramer?"
"That was good work today - Greg, isn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am...How are they?"
Jake had received three bullet wounds in total and had been beaten to within an inch of is life, Sofia was suffering from exposure but they'd both survive. Kramer simply said, "They'll be fine."