A/N: A big thank you to CSIGeekFan for beta'ing this piece and for the encouragement.
Journey Through the Past
Chapter 3
Warrick Brown closely examined the tire tracks. On the ground surrounding the tracks, among the weeds, he found a rock about the size of a grapefruit and almost as smooth. Carefully he picked up the heavy stone and stared at the bloody fingerprints. Brown swabbed a part of the stone and confirmed the presence of human blood. Now whose blood could this be? Girl, this better not be your blood…. He quickly bagged the stone for processing and then stood up, surveying the rest of the scene. Sara, where could you be?
Sensing his presence, Warrick turned around to find Nick approaching him. "What did you and Sofia find out about Griss's Denali? For that matter, anything probative with Sara's?"
"Swabbed the blood on the driver's side and lifted fingerprints from Grissom's…most likely Grissom's or Sara's, but you never know. Maybe we'll get lucky, and it'll be one of the perps. There's blood on the outside of the driver's door and just inside the left side of the seat and along the inside of the door. Whoever was here took her though. I'd bet my bottom dollar. We dusted Sara's Denali for prints and any other trace, but no blood evidence. Both are being towed back to the lab garage for further processing. What about you?"
Warrick gathered the evidence he had collected and stood up. "There was definitely a struggle out here. Looks like there were four perps by the different sets of shoeprints. Four large sets, mens'12 or 13's, I think. A fifth set, much smaller. A woman's most likely and since Sara is missing… Whoever was here left in a hurry. Let's check with Greg to see what he has come up with."
Inside the warehouse, Greg had yellow markers spread throughout the crime scene where blood spatter had occurred and where he found shell casings. He was taking pictures and carefully sweeping the area for trace evidence.
"Greg, what have you covered?" inquired Warrick, scanning the area.
Greg looked up from his bent position. "I was spiraling out. I haven't really covered much outside the initial scene. I've picked up some fibers and hair. There are shell casings. These by the wall look like they are from Grissom, and the shell casings over by the body look like they might match the bullet fragments in the wall. Ballistics will confirm that. I noticed additional casings near those crates near the far wall and that door when I first looked over the scene. I also noticed some bullet fragments near the door closest to where the Denali was parked. I haven't dusted any of those crates or the doors."
"Ok, let's finish up here. The sooner we can get everything to trace and to the lab, the sooner we'll get a handle on where Sara could be and what happened here," Warrick replied. He and Nick spread out, searching and collecting evidence.
The smell of antiseptic and the stiffness of the sheets over him told him he was in the hospital. The slight itch on the back of his right hand indicated an IV. Grissom took a deep breath. Pain radiated from both his sides and he groaned softly…Deep breaths-not a good idea…meaning broken or cracked ribs…He felt the tightness of the wraps around his torso keeping his ribs in place, protecting them from further injury.
"Gil.."
Grissom turned his head to the direction of the voice. A sharp pain shot through his head. Ok, don't move the head too quickly…definitely something going on there. His eyelids felt heavy as he squinted his eyes to see a concerned Jim Brass standing over him. Licking his lips, Grissom whispered a rough, "Hey.."
"So I hope you feel better than you look, cuz' you look like hell…" Jim said softly.
"Thanks….everything's real hazy ..so what's …." Grissom mumbled. He closed his eyes and carefully tried to shift position. Movement was a painful proposition. Ok, no movement at all. That's the ticket…
"Well, the doc says that you do have a mild concussion and cracked ribs. You might be a little sore for a while. You're on some pretty good meds, too. You're in recovery right from surgery. I was able to get pass the nurses and sneak in."
"You don't say….anything else?"
"Yeah, a fractured left wrist and a gunshot wound through your left shoulder. Your face is one massive bruise."
Grissom cracked open one eye, barely, and sighed. "So what happened to me? Did I do much damage to the semi?"
"You don't remember? Tell me what you do remember and I'll fill in the rest, ok?"
"Just flashes and bits and pieces. Wasn't alone. A warehouse? But, don't remember why I was there…Sara was with me, but..umm….she shouldn't have been there…she..." Grissom shut his eyes and tried to grasp the wispy memories that were just beyond his reach.
"Look, Gil. You've sustained a slight concussion and they've given you some heavy duty meds, so everything is bound to be a bit hazy. I just stopped by to see how you were doing. We'll talk in a little while after your head clears a little, ok?" Brass said quietly, as he laid a hand of his friend's uninjured shoulder. " Just take it easy and everything will come back to you. Don't try fighting the meds."
Don't fight the meds? Where had he heard that before? Somewhere in the not so distant past...Grissom nodded. At least he thought he did, as Jim's voice suddenly seemed to come from a great distance and he drifted into unconsciousness.
Sara struggled against her bonds. Griss had been investigating the seemingly abandoned warehouse, when he realized too late that she had followed him there and that a trap had been laid. He tried to minimize the damage. It had almost worked too. She had almost gotten away to get help, but she just couldn't leave him by himself. Sara tried once again to loosen the ropes that tied her wrists and legs together. Blood oozed from her lip, and she winced as the truck hit another bump. Where were they taking her? Her situation caused her to have more questions than answers. The frightened captive had to figure a way to escape, but visions of Grissom kept popping through her head.
Grissom had been fighting desperately to occupy the men so that she could escape, but he was outnumbered and completely overwhelmed. Sara had made it to his Denali when she heard shots fired. She had managed to call Brass on her cell to tell him the situation and was ordered to flee the scene.
"Sara, get the hell out of there! I'm on my way. The only way you can help Gil now is to get your ass out of there. Sara, I said now!."
"Brass, Griss is outnumbered. Oh god, Jim, shots have been fired…I can't leave him.."
Before Sara knew it, as she was climbing out of the driver's seat to help Griss, she was grabbed from behind. Sara fought desperately, latching on to the seatbelt harness and then the steering wheel. The slim brunette was bruised and bleeding when she was roughly tossed on the ground. Strong hands wrenched her arms behind her and pushed her face into the gravel of the dirt parking lot.
Sara struggled mightily against her attacker. She kicked and bucked in an effort to get away, but the man who had her was bigger and stronger. He dragged her around the building to the SUV that she had spotted earlier near the end of the building. The struggling CSI bit him when he tried to clamp a meaty hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. Sara tasted his blood as she broke the skin and heard with satisfaction a yelp of pain. But that feeling of satisfaction was short-lived as she paid the price for that action. She was struck across the head with something hard and let out a grunt of pain, having been stunned into submission.
In her semiconscious haze, Sara felt herself being lifted into the back of the SUV and tossed in. Struggling to regain her bearings, she felt her arms and legs being bound and duct tape being placed over her mouth. She shook her head to clear it, but only succeeded in causing a wave of pain to sweep through her head. Ok, I'm not doing that again. God, Brass get to Grissom! She heard the back of the SUV slam shut and felt the truck peel out of the gravel lot away from an injured Grissom.
A/N: Thanks for those who posted reviews and keep posting them. I will get back to you. So what do you all think? Should I keep going?