Author's notes: Wow, did my creative juice dry up. I've been trying to jump start it and it has been a painful process. What stinks is that I have this story outlined, so I know where I'm going, but finding the words to use to get us all there has been hard. Thanks for sticking with me. I'm wondering howmany of you know who might be giving our Colby problems. Any guesses? And away we go!!!

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Nick was sitting at the computer when his cell phone rang. Glancing at the name that popped up on the display he saw that it was Greg. "Hey man. What's the word?" He grabbed a pen and wrote down the information that Sanders was relaying. "Thanks.

Disconnecting, he turned to the others. "Greg just called with the name of the owner of the car that had been towed from the dead bartender's house." He handed it over to David. "We've got an address and Greg and Warrick are heading over to check it out."

David looked at the name and handed it to Don. "What do you think Don? Could it be a coincidence?"

"I don't know. Lets run it and see what we can find out. Why don't you try Colby, maybe he can tell us."

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From the moment he had heard the sound of the slide of the semi-automatic pistol Colby had been weighing his options as. As they walked into the hotel's parking garage he reviewed what he knew. The young man with a gun to his back knew how to use it, that he was sure of. He also knew that the threat to shoot others would be carried out if he didn't follow directions. He didn't want anyone else to suffer because of him, so it was in his best interest to do what he was told. The best plan he could come up with was to follow along and wait for an opportunity.

"The Accord over there. The keys are in it and you're driving."

"Doug, this isn't a good idea. My team is closing in on you. They know you killed Michelle."

"Shut up Colby. Give me your cell phone."

"Don't have one with me."

"Bullshit. Give it to me or I'll take it from you."

"Why don't you try." Colby was confident that a hand-to-hand situation would level the odds greatly.

"Right." The other man laughed harshly. "You'd like that wouldn't you; give you a chance to take me. I know the training book too Colby. Get the phone or I put a bullet in you. I promise I'll make it painful."

Colby pulled the cell phone. He had shut it off earlier to save his battery. He turned slightly to hand it to the gunman.

"Just toss it anywhere. We are going to leave it here."

"You know that I'll have to pay for that out of my own pocket if I lose it."

"I don't think you need to worry about that."

Quickly hitting the one button, Colby then tossed the phone as gently as he could towards the edge of the wall.

"Good, get in."

Colby opened the door and got into the car. Looking in the rearview mirror, he could see the other man climbing into the backseat. "I know you brother wouldn't want you to make the same mistakes he made."

With a scornful laugh the young man locked eyes with Colby. "What trusting you?"

"I know it might seem that way to you, but that's not the way it happened."

"Let's go. You'll have plenty of time to tell me how you killed my brother."

The cold metal pressing against his neck was enough incentive. Colby started the car and headed towards the exit. At least the parking garage had security cameras. There would be some record of what was happening.

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Greg and Warrick had driven to the apartment. On the way they had called and had asked Brass to arrange for a warrant to allow them to search for evidence. Once there, they waited for a detective to arrive with the document.

There was no on site maintenance, so the door was taken care of with a well placed kick. Inside the small apartment it was apparent that the suspect had left. Dresser drawers were open and empty; bathroom was stripped of toiletries and marks in the dust showed where some items had set.

"Well, we should be able to find DNA." Greg pointed to the sheets on the bed as Warrick walked into the bedroom. "It doesn't look like he was much into housekeeping."

"I guess I was hoping that he would have left a little more that ties him to the murder, like a confession all typed out and signed." Warrick pulled on a pair of gloves and began to assist.

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Nick and Catherine had watched the reaction of the two men upon hearing the name of the possible suspect. Directing her question to Don, Catherine asked, "Would someone care to fill us in on why this subject has you reacting like this?"

David spoke before Don could answer. "I'm getting nothing Don. It's going right into voicemail."

"Can you pull up whatever you can on the suspect?" Don looked at Nick who was sitting by the computer terminal.

"Sure, " Nick replied, knowing that answers would be forth coming. The DMV information pulled up concerning his license and registration. "Not a whole lot of information here. Let's see if he's in the state's system for anything else."

Catherine cleared her throat. "Hello? What is the connection here?"

"Let's just say that if this guy is who we think he is that he's got a whole lot of reasons to hate Colby."

"Nothing." Nick continued typing. "Looks like he's clean. I can check some of other databases and see what we can find.

Don was on his cell phone as well. "He probably didn't turn it back on yet. I couldn't get him earlier. Megan? Hey, it's Don. I need you to get to the office and run a name for me."

Speaking with David who had just finished leaving Colby a message Nick indicated towards his computer screen. "We've got a hit. Seems he has a military record. Looks like he was in the Army. Discharged January 2007."

"Family listed?" Don looked at the screen.

Pulling up a different page Nick and the others all quickly scanned it. The answer came at the bottom of the page.

"Shit." Don muttered.

Catherine looked up. "Alright, so he has a divorced mother and father and an older brother. What's so shocking in that?"

"His older brother was a good friend of Colby's from the army and this good friend just happened to be a spy for the Chinese." Don's phone rang while he was speaking. "Megan, what do you have? Yeah, we saw that too. Any indication that Doug Carter was helping his brother Dwayne spy?"

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The gun pressing into his neck relaxed slightly as the car moved out of the city. Doug had directed the route, leaving the strip as quickly as possible and making their way through the suburbs. "Smart move," thought Colby. "Less likely to be picked up on any of traffic cameras."

It was less than an hour when they pulled into the Toiyabe National Forest. They had encountered very light traffic on the way there and since entering into the park there had been no cars. When Colby pulled into the parking lot at one of the trailheads he was glad to see other vehicles already parked. Maybe he would get lucky and someone would see them.

"Don't try anything foolish Colby. My offer to kill a two others still stands. You'll be in front of me and I'll have a gun on you." Doug slid out of the backseat and instructed Colby to pop open the trunk. "Get out and grab a back pack."

"Still hiking? Dwayne always talked about how you loved the mountains." Colby hoped that he might still be able to strike up a dialog with the younger man; either to distract him or to give up the gun. "I grew up near the Clearwater Mountain range. It's hard to find time to do much hiking."

"I know what you're doing, get me talking or listening and distract me. Now shut up and follow this trail."

Sighing inwardly Colby shouldered the backpack and stepped towards the trail. He could sense Doug several steps back from him. If anyone encountered them, they would look no different than two guys out hiking.

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Charlie reached for his phone that was vibrating on the table. Not taking his eyes off of the computer he answered. "This is Charlie. Hey Don." He paused and listened. "No, he hasn't come back. What!"

Standing quickly and heading to the door he continued to listen. "But that's good isn't it. If Dwayne Carter's brother has connections to the murder that should clear Colby from any involvement."

Opening the door and heading to the elevator he grimaced to himself. "Yeah, I guess I didn't think about that. So have you tried his cell phone? Here? Ok, I'll wait for you in the lobby."

The elevator dinged as the door opened. Charlie stepped in and waited for the short trip to the main floor.

Charlie only had to wait ten minutes before he saw his brother and the others entering the hotel. Don waved to his brother to join them. "We've got a reading on his cell phone." They all headed to the bank of elevators and took the next available elevator up.

Making their way to the parking garage the group began making a systematic search of the cars and the area. It was David that found the phone, slightly damaged but still on.

"Shit." Don took the phone from his colleague. "There goes our chance to find him."

"Maybe not." Charlie pointed to a security camera in the corner of the garage. "Besides the casino, Las Vegas has one of the biggest traffic camera system for a city of it's size. We find the car that Colby left in and we might be able to track where he's headed.

"That sounds like a good start. Nick you take David and look at the tapes. I'll have Warrick and Greg follow up on Doug's work and see if he might have said anything that might help." Catherine immediately took charge. She looked at Don, silently questioning him to see if he agreed with her assignments.

Don nodded, "Charlie, you go with David. I'll see if Megan can get any information on Carter. I don't think I need to tell you that time might be running short."

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The two had hiked quietly for over two hours and during that time they encountered no other hikers. It seemed to Colby that Doug obviously knew this area well. A small sign they had passed twenty minutes ago announced that they had entered the Mt. Charleston Wilderness area.

Colby was up to the exercise although his choice in footwear was not what he would have chosen for a difficult hike; the short socks and tennis shoes were find for urban walking, but the rugged uphill trail was proving too much for them. He could feel hot spots forming on the back of his ankle.

"You know if you had told me we were going hiking I would have been better prepared." Colby had occasionally tried to engage Doug in conversation however the other man refused to talk. "I don't suppose you have an extra pair of socks in that pack? I think I'm getting a blister."

"Getting soft Granger?" The tone was slightly taunting.

"No, just commenting. Do you mind if we stop long enough for me to take a piss?"

"Whatever."

Colby walked to the edge of the narrow trail and unzipped. He relieved himself and took a few moments to scan the area. Contemplating the success of an escape attempt he quickly dismissed the idea. The best plan seemed to be to wait for an opportunity or make a move when Doug revealed his plan.

"Lets go Granger." Doug was stowing a water bottle back into his own pack.

"Don't suppose you've got a bottle of water in there for me?" Colby was suddenly aware of his own thirst.

"Nope."

"Didn't think so." Colby adjusted his pack and stepped back to the trail. "That's alright, I'd just have to piss again."