Chapter 7

The Graveyard Shift was reeling from their discovery. Nick, Sara and Grissom stood there without speaking for several minutes before Sara finally broke the silence.

"Are you totally sure it's Warrick?" she pleaded. "We must've made some mistake?"

Grissom glared at her; he didn't make mistakes, especially not like this. He replied simply, "I know it doesn't make any sense Sara, but the facts speak for themselves. Warrick is our mole."

Nick sagged into a chair and held his head in his hands. He couldn't believe their discovery. Their colleague had betrayed them all. Nick was questioning his own judgment; he was a CSI, trained to spot inconsistencies. Why hadn't he seen what Warrick was doing? If he could be this wrong about his best friend, what else had he missed? Warrick had deceived them and had helped to frame Sofia for murder. They had worked countless cases together yet still he could behave so unscrupulously. Nick had trusted Warrick, he had shared personal stuff with him that hid from everyone else. In the aftermath of the Walter Gordon case, Warrick was there to help Nick pick up the pieces. Thinking of that now Nick felt angry. How could Warrick make a fool of him like that? How long had Warrick been making fools of all of them? He slammed his fist down on the table. The sudden outburst shocked Grissom and Sara.

"Nick, are you okay?" asked a concerned Sara.

"Why did he do it?" asked Nick.

"I don't know," replied Sara. "Traynor obviously has some sort of hold over him."

"No," said Nick, "I mean how could he have made fools of us all?"

Sara had no answer, she just stood there staring at Nick with pity.

The awkward silence was broken when Jim Brass rushed into the room. He looked anxious. Grissom was the first to spot him. "What's the matter Jim?"

"Sofia's gone!" replied Brass in a panicked voice.

Nick snapped to attention, "What do you mean gone?"

"Warrick has taken her. He arrived at the cell about twenty minutes ago with forged paperwork saying I left orders to move her to a safe house."

"Son of a…" started Nick, fists balled in rage.

"Do we know where he's taken her?" interrupted Sara quickly.

"No," replied Brass. "He left in an unmarked van accompanied by two guards."

"Do we know in which direction they headed?" asked Grissom.

"CCTV from the parking lot puts them heading North but we've no sightings of them after that," replied a perplexed Brass.

"Maybe we could track them," said Sara, thinking aloud. "We could use his cell phone. All we need is his number and we can use his signal to triangulate his position."

"It's worth a try," said Brass. "I'll make some calls."

"Brass?" said Nick.

"Yeah?"

"Just hurry, okay?"

Sofia was lugged into a large warehouse and thrown roughly to the ground. Without free hands to break her fall she landed awkwardly, shredding the skin on her left arm as she skidded to a halt. She was stunned by the sudden impact and grunted in pain. Collecting herself quickly Sofia tried to get her bearings. She couldn't see thanks to the sack, which still clung to her head. Clambering to her knees, she could hear movement to her left. The ground was rough underneath her, like uneven concrete. The room felt draughty and vault-like, the smell of damp clung heavily to the air. Her senses were on high alert as she tried to understand what was happening. She could hear the shuffling of feet and the click of a gun, which made her to gulp in fear. Sofia's mind was racing; were the guards waiting for Traynor or had he left instructions for them to kill her? If Sofia knew him like she thought then he would insist on the personal touch. That meant the guards were in a holding pattern until he arrived. It didn't give Sofia much time to act; maybe if she could connect with Warrick she could convince him to save her before it was too late.

"Warrick! Are you here?" she cried.

Silence.

"Warrick, answer me. You owe me that much!"

Still nothing.

"Why Warrick? Just tell me how you could sell me out like that?"

Without warning Sofia felt a sharp pain on her left temple as she was struck by something hard and blunt. She yelped as she fell to the floor dazed, her head throbbing.

"Shut up, Bitch!" came the stern warning. It wasn't Warrick's voice.

Sofia squirmed around on the ground. The power had gone from her limbs and she couldn't pull herself up into a kneeling position. With a lot of effort she eventually managed to flip herself onto her back. She could feel something warm and sticky coating the sack, which still covered her head.

Sofia lay on the floor for some time. She couldn't shake the feeling that Warrick was in the room but she heeded the guard's warning and maintained radio silence. She spent the time wondering what could have happened to drive Warrick to this action. They were friends and colleagues and had spent countless hours solving cases together. Warrick had always taken pride in his work, in bringing the bad guys to justice. Sofia couldn't imagine what had changed for Warrick to forsake his principles so completely. Her heart sank as she thought of how he had betrayed her. She was helpless in that cell and had trusted him completely. And why wouldn't she, he always had her back - but not this time. Whatever the reason, one thing was for sure, he couldn't come back from this.

Finally Sofia heard the footsteps of someone approaching. She was pulled up roughly into a kneeling position. The thick sack was yanked off her head and she blinked hard, tilting her head sideways to shield her eyes from the sudden glare of light. While her eyes adjusted, Sofia was temporarily blinded. However she could hear just fine and she froze where she knelt when she heard a familiar voice ring out from across the room.

"Detective Curtis! Welcome. I'm so glad you could join us."

As Sofia's vision came into focus she could make out the sinewy frame of Leon Traynor stepping out from the shadows. From the tone of his voice you could be excused for thinking that he was welcoming her to a dinner party and not an execution.

"It was a bit of a challenge arranging your liberation from jail but we had able help," sneered Traynor, gesturing towards Warrick, who Sofia finally noticed was standing away to the left. Glancing away from Warrick she fixed her gaze back on Traynor. Sofia's lip began to tremble in fear but she covered it with a grimace.

Smiling dangerously, Traynor swaggered forward a couple of steps. "So, I bet you're wondering how your good friend Warrick Brown could set you up like this?" Sofia didn't reply; she just scowled. Looking at Warrick, Traynor continued, "Would you like to explain to the good Detective, or shall I?"

Before Warrick had a chance to respond Traynor carried on, "Right then, allow me."

Traynor paused for a moment for dramatic effect before speaking, "Your colleague over here found himself in financial difficulties, to the tune of eighty thousand dollars. I guess Monday night football isn't your forte, eh Mister Brown?!"

Warrick didn't reply, he just stood there with his head bowed.

"So me being such a civic-minded person, when he came to me for help I couldn't turn him away. I agreed to lend him the money and in return he agreed to… well let's just say he returned the favor. I'm sure I don't need to explain it to you Detective," said Traynor, arching his fuzzy eyebrows.

Sofia turned her glare to Warrick; he still didn't look up.

Traynor carried on, "Things got a little sticky for me with that girl, but luckily I had an able investigator on my side."

Sofia stared icily at Warrick. The room suddenly got even chillier.

"But you just couldn't let it go, could you, Detective?" Traynor's voice turned hard. "You just had to keep coming for me so I had to get you out of the way. Thanks to your big mouth pinning the Judges murder on you was easy. Warrick's expertise came in particularly handy."

More chill.

"But even behind bars you were a pain in my ass!" He was yelling now. "Which brings us to the here and now."

Sofia shifted her glacial gaze from Warrick back to Traynor. "Thanks for the history lesson," she hissed. "But let's just cut to the chase. It's clear at least one of us won't be walking out of here. Let's just get this over with."

Traynor's eyes narrowed. He took another few steps forward before he produced a Glock 19. Sofia quivered. Traynor slowly raised the weapon. Sofia took a sharp intake of breath and steadied herself for the inevitable. But then Traynor did something that surprised her. He handed the gun to Warrick.

"Consider this your final installment, Mister Brown," he snarled.

Warrick staggered backward, "No Man, I won't do it, you can't ask me to do it!" he argued.

Traynor replied coolly, "I hope you haven't forgotten our little arrangement? It wouldn't be good for your wife's health if you did."

Warrick flinched but didn't take the gun. The guard closest to him poked his own gun into Warrick's ribs. Warrick stiffened and his face turned sour. Reluctantly, he took the gun from Traynor. Smiling smugly, Traynor spoke again, "You know what to do Warrick."

Sofia's eyes grew wide as Warrick turned to face her. She started shaking her head, not wanting to believe that he could actually go through with it. He raised the gun until it was pointing directly at her.

"Warrick, don't do this," she pleaded.

He looked like he was going to be sick, but Warrick continued to point the gun at her. He released the safety and armed the chamber with a resolute click.

Sofia continued to appeal to him, "Warrick, if you do this you won't ever be able to live with yourself. Think about that. You still have a chance to make things right. Warrick!"

Warrick's gun arm started to shake and his eyes welled up. But he continued to point it straight at Sofia. Traynor grinned insanely. Two birds…..

Sofia looked into Warrick's eyes and saw a change. She shook her head in denial and cried, "NO!" Warrick mouthed a silent "I'm sorry." He squeezed the trigger of the Glock. But as he did so, he wheeled around abruptly to his right and let off two rounds. Bang! Bang! The first guard collapsed to the ground. Continuing his motion, Warrick fired another shot. The second guard returned fire desperately as he also fell to the ground. Traynor looked stunned for a moment as he watched on in dismay. Sofia's eyes were trained on Warrick as he turned back towards her, smiling weakly. She watched helplessly as he fell to his knees clutching his midriff. Blood poured through his fingers and formed a pool on the ground. His eyes were unfocused and his skin turned grey. He sagged to the floor, his body limp.

Sofia knelt there for a moment, unable to take in what had just happened. Her mind was swimming with images of gunfire and blood; Warrick's expression as he collapsed; the two motionless bodies to the left. Movement to her right snapped her back to the present. She decided to act and spotting the Glock on the ground she lunged awkwardly towards Warrick's body, hoping to grab the gun before Traynor grasped it. But she came up short, her cuffed wrists preventing her from reaching it.

Amused by the vain attempt, Traynor snorted. He casually strolled over towards the gun, stopping at Sofia's head. As she craned her neck she could see the tips of his black leather shoes. She wailed in frustration. He stooped down and scooped up the gun. Standing directly over her he rolled her over with a sharp jab from his right boot. "I want you to see me pull the trigger," he snarled as he pointed the gun directly at her head. Sofia closed her eyes as she heard him arm the weapon.

A shot rang out. She opened her eyes to see a surprised look on Traynor's face as he tumbled downward. An army of people swarmed into the vast space and she collapsed in relief when Nick Stokes filled her vision.

"Sofia, are you okay?" he asked desperately as he pulled her up into a tight embrace.

"Yeah," she replied plainly. "Warrick?"

Nick's expression turned serious and he shook his head. Sofia nodded silently. Looking down at her hands she asked, "Can you get me out of these things?"

"Sure," replied Nick.

A few minutes later she was freed and Nick escorted her out of the Warehouse. They didn't pause as they passed Warrick's body. They walked silently to Nick's SUV and he held the door open as she climbed in.

"They'll want to question me," Sofia said feebly.

"They can wait a while," answered Nick softly. He stroked her face tenderly. Sofia looked at him, surprised by this unexpected act. She didn't protest, instead she locked eyes with him. Then it was her turn to surprise as she reached across and kissed him, gently at first. He responded eagerly and quickly the intensity grew. Sofia reveled in the feelings that rushed through her; excitement, longing, warmth, uncertainty, happiness, fear.

Sara approached Nick's vehicle. Brass was looking for Sofia; they needed to debrief her. She had spotted Nick escorting Sofia outside and she guessed they headed for his SUV. As she got closer she spotted movement in the car. Slowly the view came into focus. Nick was kissing Sofia. Sara stopped in her tracks and stood there motionless for a moment. Tears stung her eyes and her lower lip trembled. Eventually she turned around and headed back toward the warehouse.

Sofia broke off the kiss and again stared searchingly into Nick's brown orbs. She had lots of questions but for now decided to hold them. Instead she relaxed into his arms, enjoying the security he offered.

"Sofia," said Nick after a while.

Sofia pulled back and looked at him.

"I came too close to losing you tonite. I'm never letting you go. Never, ever!"

She smiled, "Sounds like I don't have any choice in the matter!"

"No ma'am," drawled Nick, "you sure don't!"

As Nick pulled her to him for another kiss Sofia grinned inwardly. This was one ultimatum she could definitely live with.