The voice that he had been both dreading and anxious to hear spoke on the other end of the line. "Good, you are there."
"Where else would I be? You have everything that is important to me," Jim replied.
"Glad you understand how things are. Have you talked to Ellie?"
"First I want to hear from my family."
"I told you, I am in control here."
"Yeah…and I told you, I cooperate as long as I know they are okay." It was a dangerous game they were playing and Jim had the most to lose, but he needed to do two things; keep the guy on the line long enough to get a fix on the phone and confirm that Maria and Jeb were still alive.
Suddenly he heard Maria's frightened voice. "Jim?"
"Yeah….you okay?"
"Um…fine. And so is Jeb. They….they haven't hurt us Jim. We stay in a locked room most of the time, just the two of us. But…."
He heard a clicking as the phone was obviously taken away from her. "So….satisfied?"
"It's a start," Jim said flatly. "As for Ellie…I can't find her. I've called and called and so has her mother. She isn't at any of her usual places. I know because I asked a friend to check on her. I….I need more time to find her."
Silence hung on the line and then he heard a disgruntled sigh. Anger dripped from the voice. "I told you…."
"I know. And I am trying to find her. But like I said yesterday, we haven't talked in awhile. She and I don't exactly see eye to eye these days."
"Oh…and why would that be?" There was something accusing in the tone. A feeling came over Jim that he knew that voice. If only he could place it.
"I'm not exactly thrilled with her career choices," Jim said bluntly as he puzzled over the voice.
"I'll give you one more day," he said. "Oh…and Jim, how's your cousin…Vince?" Then the line went dead.
Jim carefully hung up the phone, controlling the panic that had been chasing butterflies through his stomach during the conversation. Then looking at Sofia, he nodded. "They are okay."
She had been sitting ramrod straight, every muscle in her body tense with fear. With his words, her bones turned to jelly and her posture collapsed. "So now what?"
"We get another day."
The technician that had moved into the spare bedroom, gear and all, emerged. "Just called Vega. We got a fix. Can't believe the guy was that stupid…to stay on the line for so long, I mean."
"I'm just glad he did," said Jim. His cell phone started ringing and he crossed the room to pick it up. "Brass."
"Jim, it's Gil. We found Thermopolis and Annie is having him tailed. I have to tell you though, I don't think he is behind this."
"Why not?"
"He's already working on his next deal. Annie's guys observed him talking to some Mid-Eastern looking guys. From the audio that we were able to get, they are negotiating. His only phone calls have been about the new deal."
"I just got off the phone with the kidnapper…"
"It wasn't Thermopolis."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah…hey, I gotta go. Rick just talked to Annie and they have a lead on Salvino."
"Okay, thanks Gil."
Jim cocked his head slightly, his eyes furrowing. "This isn't making any sense," he said out loud.
"What?" asked Sofia.
"The caller knew about Vince. Gil just said he doesn't think Thermopolis is our guy; for sure, he didn't make the last phone call. And if Ellie is a part of Salvino's crew, why would they have Jeb and Maria? And why did Vince end up dead? He's part of Frankie's bunch too." He paused. "And what the hell is Ellie doing in the middle of all of this?" Frustration was setting in and his voice betrayed it.
Meanwhile, Sam Vega and the swat team went to the address provided by the trace on the last call from the kidnapper. They surrounded an old house just a couple of blocks off the strip. It appeared empty. They approached carefully, not wanting to tip off any occupants. And when everyone was in place and ready, they moved in.
Vega entered through the front door. Proceeding carefully, he moved through the house as members of the swat team finished their search and gave the 'all clear.' They found no one. But on the kitchen counter, he found a picture with a note. The picture was of a woman holding a small child. The child, he recognized, was Jeb Brass. The note read: You have 24 hours and then they die.
A search of the house revealed the room that Maria and Jeb had been held captive in. There was a mattress in the corner with a blanket. A couple of children's story books and some old puzzles were near the mattress. And then, in the corner, Vega spotted something that chilled him. There w as a towel with blood on it.
Just then, Nick stokes arrived to process the house. He had Greg with him and the two men solemnly went to work. Sam pointed them toward the towel and then walked outside to call his Captain.
As the call ended, Jim closed his phone and looked across the room where Sofia watched him in anticipation. Without him saying anything, she knew the news was bad. He panicked as he saw her melt into the chair behind her, her motion graceful and heart breaking at the same time. He was beside her instantly, wanting to comfort and console her yet knowing their neither was really possible. Consequently he simply held her; driving back his own fear in hopes that he could somehow help soothe hers.
Things were beginning to break in L.A. Gil and Warrick were with Annie Kramer when an agent from the local FBI office came to talk to her about her inquiries into Nicky Thermopolis' activities. "Look, we are on the verge of busting this guy. It has taken years of undercover work to get to this point. I don't know why you are suddenly sticking your nose into it, but you're about to blow it for us."
Annie wasn't giving an inch. "Look Agent Green, we think he is somehow involved with the kidnapping of the family of a Las Vegas police captain. Dr. Grissom and CSI Brown are here to assist us in our investigation. They have knowledge of the evidence at their end."
"A cop's family has been kidnapped? Why haven't we heard anything?"
"Because we wanted to try to keep it as in house as possible," said Gil. "We don't know who is involved and how far this goes."
"But geez, a police captain….that's pretty far up the ranks. Who did he piss off?" asked the agent.
"Actually, his daughter is the target, we think," explained Annie. "They are using him to get to her….or at least trying to."
"Okay….well, this changes things. I'll fill you in on what we know. Nicky has been wheeling and dealing the last couple of weeks and lined up two big deals. One is…"
"We don't need everything, Agent Green," Gil interrupted. "We just need to know about his activities concerning Ellie Brass…and possibly Frankie Salvino."
Green frowned and then began. "Okay…Frankie approached Nicky for a small deal. He apparently had a buyer back East that wanted some untraceable hand guns and a couple of Uzi 9s. Nicky checked him out and they began to negotiate. We also checked out Frankie and some of the people running with him. There was a young girl…20 something, that brought an older guy to Frankie's table. We believe he was the buyer. They seemed to know each other from the past; kept talking about New Jersey. Anyway, Frankie made the buy and turned the weapons over to the girl. She took off with them before the payoff, leaving Frankie with empty pockets and the buyer without his goods. She played both ends against the middle, because she had the buyer's cash as well as the guns. Our agents tried to follow her but she lost them out near Barstow."
"Barstow…that's on the way to Vegas," Warrick commented.
"Yeah…we think that's where she headed but we haven't found her yet," replied Green. "Meantime…one of Frankie's boys, Vince Mason took off after her. We don't think Frankie sent him. The guy went on his own."
"What about the buyer?" asked Gil.
"We've lost him. He tried to go after Frankie but couldn't get close. One of the agents trying to follow the girl thought he spotted our guy near Barstow, but he didn't get a positive ID."
"So, you think the girl could be Ellie Brass?" asked Warrick.
"You got a picture of her?"
Annie pulled out a mug shot from one of Ellie's busts. "Yeah," she said as she handed it over.
Agent Green looked at the picture. "Hair is different but that's her. What's she in the system for?"
"Drugs and prostitution," replied Annie.
"Wow…well, she's certainly playing in the big leagues now."
"Yeah. But now the question is who has Jeb and Maria? Is it Frankie's people or this mysterious buyer?" The wheels were obviously spinning inside Gil Grissom's head.
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Reviews please. This is getting so twisted I'm even having trouble keeping it straight and I concocted the darn thing, lol. I would love to hear your thoughts.