Hey guys. How are you? I hope that you are able to enjoy this story somewhat. Review if you have time. I love feedback. Also, I submitted a story in screenplay form for a fix GSR challenge. If you have time give it a peek. I need to have it done by the premiere night and I sort of pulled it out of nose. ~ Katy

~()~

Hodges discovered that samples of blood taken from the hotel's bathroom did indeed match Sara's profile. Instead of going to Judge Milton, Brass instead went to an older judge named Anderson. When the detective presented the evidence a warrant was signed right away without question.

"I don't like Milton," Judge Anderson stated when Brass spoke of his failure to secure a warrant. "People say he's a Meat Eater."

"Corrupt?" Brass said, raising his eyebrows. "That doesn't surprise me. I get the creeps just being around the guy."

Once the signed warrant was in hand, Brass took it to The Hotel Ricardo to present it to Carl Bindy in his office. He seemed surprised, but asked security to turn over the footage from the night of Sara's disappearance. When Brass was handed a stack of video tapes he looked at Bindy puzzled.

"You ever heard of a flash drive?" he asked. "Do you know how long it will take to go through these?'

Bindy shrugged. "We can't afford the high tech stuff," he said.

Brass raised an eyebrow. "I seriously doubt it," he said as he opened one of the cases to check for the presence of a cassette. What he saw angered him and he looked up at Bindy with fury in his eyes. "What in God's name is this?"

Bindy peered over into the cassette box. "Looks like heat damage," he said. "Is it ruined?"

Brass snapped the case closed with an angry release of air. "No," he said. "My friends have cool toys."

~()~

When the lights went out on her first day in captivity, Sara rose softly off to the bed. She tried her best to keep the springs from singing as she put both feet on the cold floor, but a soft squeak could be heard regardless. Her body was still suffering all the effects of being heavily drugged and the juncture between her legs ached furiously. Despite all of this, she knew that she had to find a way out. Being as silent as she could, she lifted the chain off the bed and walked as far as her restraint would let her. She kneeled, set the chain down quietly, and stretched out her body until she touched the wall. As she felt for the metal grate, she wondered what would happen if the door blew open and Mustache or Thick Beard found her outstretched trying to make a daring escape. When she felt the cool metal she stopped and felt along the edges until she was able to count four screws that were caked in dirt. Angry voices booming from the next room caused her to freeze with fear.

"What was I supposed to do?" Mustache asked angrily. "I couldn't let them both get away."

"That would have been better than this," another voice replied. "Bringing that woman here could bring the house down on top of us. Do you know what kinds of clients we have? She can put us all at risk."

Sara's eyes widened and she slowly started to scoot back to her bed. So it was Mustache who had found her trying to help Beth. She understood perfectly why she had been brought her. They were covering up their tracks. Now, she posed a threat. What did they do to threats around here? Certainly not keep them as pets.

"We could just get rid of her," Mustache said in a lower voice. "Dump her body far from her. There is also the incinerator."

Sara reached the bed where she laid down as quickly and as quietly as possible. She imagined that at any moment the door would fly open and Mustache would finish her off. Her heart pounded and her breath quickened and for a moment she realized that the hope of escape was better than death.

"We'll have to wait," the unknown voice said. "She's being looked for. Her husband is some big shot scientist and Milton said a detective was poking around."

"Brass," Sara thought, feeling a pang of hope. "They're looking for me."

"Well," Mustache replied. "I don't give a fuck who married her. When the time comes I'll take pleasure in strangling the bitch."

"Don't jump the gun," the unknown voice replied. "We may need her. Milton said the husband flew into assist in her search. She could be a good distraction."

"Gil," Sara thought. "He came. He's here trying to find me."

Sara heard heavy boots walk away, a door closed, and a lock tumbled. When she was satisfied that they were gone she stole silently back to the grate. She tried not to give herself false hope that Gil and Brass would find her. She knew that if she did not hold up her end then she would die. As she worked to loosen the screws, she imagined Gil finding her and her running into his arms. She would leave Las Vegas with him and never look back. This place was never going to be home anymore. Instead of focusing on her situation, she let her thoughts drift to thoughts of Gil and the life she could begin again with him if she escaped. All through the night Sara worked her fingers until they were bloodied and numb. She worked on loosening the four screws until sunlight streamed in through the cracks of the boarded up window.

~()~

"Gilbert," Sara's husky voice said into his ear. "I need you"

"Sara!" Gil said aloud as he snapped his eyes open.

He sat up quickly and looked around Sara's bedroom in a delirious state. He put his hands over his face and rubbed the matter out of his eyes. The voice whispering in his ear had been so audible and so real that he expected to turn and find his wife lying beside him. Slowly he looked over his shoulder and gazed at the place where Sara would have been.

"Make love to me, Gilbert," She would say, teasing him with the usage of his first name.

Of course he would have without hesitation and when his body was connected to hers it felt right. It had felt right since the very first time they were together. Their relationship had blossomed when Ecklie had broken up the team. He had leaned on Sara for support and friendship, but it hadn't taken long for it to turn into something more. It was a fact that he had always loved her. It was why he kept his distance from her in the beginning. He knew a relationship was inevitable.

"My Sara," he said softly. At that moment fury washed over him. "We'll find you."

~()~

Nick and Greg carefully pulled the film out each damaged video cassette and stretched it out on the lit evidence table. As careful as possible, each man cut out each frame. It was a tedious process, but they both worked as fast as they would allow themselves. When they had salvaged a majority of the film, they soaked them in a special solution and Archie wheeled in a giant scanner that was wirelessly linked to his laptop. For hours they scanned in each frame and watched as Archie did his best to lighten, darken, and tweak each one.

"Only a few types of business still use video tape," Archie said as he scanned. "seedy underground businesses and businesses that are never meant to be found."

Nick stooped to look over his shoulder. "And what type are we dealing with?" he asked.

Archie cocked his eyebrows. "Both," he said. "if you want me to be honest."

~0~

Sara had let herself doze before her new day in hell began, but she honestly could not sleep knowing what kinds of horrors the day held for her. As soon as the door opened to The Sleeping Room Sara jerked and rose to stand at then of her bed. In her mind she was fighting this horrible cruelty against her, but her body was obeying because she wanted to live long enough to attempt to carry out her plan.

"Turn," Mustache barked at the girls.

Sara watched and followed suit. The whole house was run like a military camp. There were many ways that someone could learn to run an operation in that way. Sara filed that information away in her brain for future use. Mustache eyeballed her with hate as she past and she knew that he would gladly kill her if he was allowed.

"Don't look at me," he barked at her.

Sara quickly and obediently looked down and followed the other girls into the large bathroom. The nurse from yesterday was looking each girl over and handing out pills. When she reached Sara she tried to smile, but Sara glared back. How could someone feign friendship in such a place?

"What is this?" Sara demanded as the pill was placed in her palm.

""Plan B," the nurse replied. "We don't need pregnancies."

The thought of any of these men ejaculating inside of her made her stomach turn and she felt bile rise inside of her throat. Sara quickly popped the pill, swallowed a pull of water, and opened her mouth to prove she that had taken it. She had been given birth control the previous day, but it was a big possibility that these women had many different types of contraceptives floating around inside of them. An air horn sounded and the other women, wearing the clothes they slept in, marched into the hallway without any objection. Sara gulped as each woman filed off to their assigned rooms for the day. When it was Sara's turn Mustache eyed her.

"You know," he said, bending down until he was eye level with her. "A lot of men here want a piece of you. Apparently you've pissed a bunch of people off; if not directly then by proxy."

Sara looked away from him, but he pulled her chin back with his finger. She hated the man with a passion. His breath smelled like oil, garlic, and fish. She wished she could punch him in the nose and feel the bones break under her fist.

'"I hate you," she dared.

Mustache laughed and grabbed behind. "I don't care," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her into a dirty, dank room.

He chained her legs to the bed and quickly tied the rubber band on her upper arm. He tied it a lot tighter than he should have and laughed at Sara's refusal to flinch. He injected her with the drugs and pulled the rubber band off quickly.

"Have fun," he said. "I picked this man out just for you."

When Mustache walked out Sara let her head thump back onto the bed. When the door closed again Sara expected to see Judge Milton again. Instead, she widened her eyes in surprise. It was obvious that the corruption was thick in this city and if she ever got out alive she would leave and never return. Before her stood the city's district attorney and she recounted the numerous times that she had stood in his office with Gil and Brass. Now she looked at him with hate in her eyes.

"Ms. Sidle," he said, taking his jacket off. "fancy seeing you here."