A/N: Hey guys, how are we? Thanks for your reviews, they are great. Remember to sign in if you want a reply to your review.
Ok, evil hat is on, time for a little action...hehehehehe.
Thanks to SSC for the read through. Any and all mistakes and very much mine though.
Enjoy :)
Chapter 11
Sara watched on as Ryan held up the two envelopes and Grissom stared at them.
"Now, I'm going to make this real simple for you," Ryan began. "This..." He waved the envelope in his right hand, "...is for the cowboys outside. Some nice simple requests for them and...if they do what the little piece of paper says...then...these lovely people will all get out of here in one piece..." He stepped close to Grissom and held out the envelope. "Take it."
Slowly, Grissom reached out and took the envelope.
"And..." Ryan smiled, "...this one..." He held up the second envelope, "...is for you." Folding the envelope he slipped it into Grissom's shirt pocket so it was out of sight. "Let me make myself very...very clear...this is for your eyes and your eyes only so make sure no one sees you with the paper, or reads it." He scratched his temple with the barrel of his gun before slipping the weapon back into his pants. "Find a nice...quiet spot...away from prying eyes. There are instructions for you to follow and I would suggest you follow them down to the very last detail." He looked to Sara and smirked. "Your wife's life depends on it."
Grissom swallowed hard. "I don't understand."
"You will," Ryan replied, retuning his attention to the supervisor. He pointed his gun towards the door, "Time for you to go."
"I'm not leaving my wife." Grissom was fast and serious with his response.
"You have your instructions, Mr CSI, now I suggest you stop wasting our time and do as you are told."
Grissom shook his head. "If she stays then so do I."
Suddenly Ryan laughed but his smile soon faded and his eyes darkened as he pulled his gun from his pants and tapped it against his leg. "My patience is wearing very thin so, I suggest you get going...Now!"
Grissom gritted his teeth. "I am not leaving her."
Ryan snapped, bolting forwards and Grissom felt every last drop of colour drain from his face as the safety clicked off the gun and the barrel was suddenly thrust straight between his eyes, mere inches away from his face. Ryan's finger tightened on the trigger...
"Don't!" Sara screamed jumping to her feet and starting towards them but Jay was quick to move and grabbed her just before she reached the two men. He held her firmly.
"Don't move, Sara," he commanded. "And I won't have to hurt you..."
She sucked in a ragged breath. "Please! Just give me one minute with my husband," Sara begged, directing her request to Ryan.
Ryan narrowed his eyes looking at the couple in turn. "Why should I? He's done nothing but piss me off."
"Because, I'm asking you." Her voice softened and he kept his eyes locked on her. "Please..."
A faint growl spilled from the gunman's lips but he conceded and he lowered his weapon. "One minute and only one minute and he either walks out of here doing as he's told or he leaves in a body bag, no more compromise. Are we clear?"
Sara quickly nodded and Ryan approached her. Grissom stood static, his legs shaking a little as he watched on. "Get him out of here," Ryan warned when he reached the female CSI.
She nodded again and Jay released her. Slowly, she walked towards her beloved and the two gunmen watched as the couple shared their moment.
She could see the fear and pain in his eyes but there wasn't a lot she could do to stop that right now. Stepping right up to him her bound hands brushed against his stomach and she laid her forehead on his chest.
"You have to go," she pleaded more than commanded.
"I'm not leaving you," he chocked, slipping his arms around her waist.
She pulled back and looked him in the eye again. "You have to and I'm telling you to." She sucked in another shaky breath. "Do as they ask and...I'll be alright."
He questioned her with his eyes. She sounded as confident as he felt with her last statement. She pushed him lightly in the chest now. "Please go..."
His chin quivered as he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I'm sorry..." he whispered. "I'll get you out of this..."
Chocking back a sob she stepped back. "I hope so..."
She looked back to Ryan and nodded.
"Go let him out," Ryan instructed his sibling.
Jay stepped away from his brother and towards the couple. "After you," he gestured with his gun towards the door. Grissom suddenly remembered about the John Doe.
"Can I please ask you something first?"
Sara became confused.
Jay frowned. "What?"
"I need to know who was shot. We know someone was. So...we can inform the family..."
Now Sara understood.
"He wants to know who was shot," Jay said to his brother.
Ryan folded his arms. "I didn't get a name," he replied insensitively.
Grissom blew out a breath. "Was he a cop?"
Ryan hesitated but answered. "Yeah."
The CSI nodded. He had his answer. He gave his wife a weak smile. "Be strong," he finished on before heading for the door. Jay opened it and the supervisor took one last look at his wife before he disappeared through it.
Sara fought hard to keep it together as she watched Jay re bolt the door. She felt Ryan come up behind her.
"Nicely done," he commended.
She had to fight very, very hard not to say something she would regret. "Just leave me alone." She turned, stepped around him and walked back to her chair.
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Everyone watched on the outside as Grissom emerged from the store. He ducked under the security tape as it was raised for him and was quickly set upon by Brass.
"I should thump you, you know that?" the captain threatened.
On a gentle sigh, Grissom just looked at him.
Brass backed down. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Grissom nodded but rubbed the back of his head. He could use some ice but for now it would have to wait.
"Sara?" the captain continued.
"Just about holding up...for now."
Brass offered a sympathetic nod but that's about as far as he got before McKeen interrupted. "So what's happening Grissom...what did you get?"
Grissom held up the envelope he was instructed to hand over. "They have demands."
Brass quickly took the envelope. "Do you know what it says?"
The CSI shook his head.
Pulling his jacked tighter around him as the rain picked back up, Brass ducked for cover. "I need more light and somewhere dry, are you coming?" he called behind him.
Grissom didn't move, neither did Greg who had stepped up beside him. McKeen took Grissom's arm. "Did you find out about the shooting?" he asked.
"They said it was a cop so..."
The Under Sheriff's nostrils flared. "I guess I should see what these bastards think they are going to get then..." He backed off and followed Brass into command unit.
Greg cut in. "Are you coming?" he urged.
"I...just need a few minutes to myself, Greg, okay?" he cleared his throat. "I'll be in shortly."
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young CSI asked concerned. Greg found it a little strange that his boss wasn't eager to hear the demands of the people who held his wife.
"I'm fine, Greg," Grissom snapped now. "Just..." he calmed, "...go inside will you? I'll be there in a minute..."
Greg watched as Grissom turned away and walked towards the line of squad cars. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He could understand that maybe his boss needed a moment to compose himself after what he could have just seen inside the store. He left him to his private time and headed for the command unit to join the others...
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Greg reached the trailer and entered. He found Brass, with Colin, McKeen and two officers around a layout table reading the note.
"If those sons of bitches think they are going to get away...they've got another thing coming," McKeen scowled.
"What did I miss?" Greg asked.
Brass handed him the note and he read it to himself...
'We want a car. Unmarked, blacked out windows and you smart asses better not bug it. Bring it to the front of the store in exactly forty five minutes. We will take two hostages with us. When we are at a safe distance, the hostages will be released. We get any sniff of being followed, the hostages will be killed. You are late bringing the car; we will kill a hostage for every five minutes you miss your deadline by. I know how precious your CSI is to you, so don't fuck with us. The clock has started.'
Greg handed the note back to Brass and scratched his head. "You gonna do what they ask?"
Brass looked around. "Where's Gil?"
"Said he needed a minute," Greg replied. "They're going to take Sara aren't they?"
"They won't be taking anyone if I've got anything to do with it," McKeen said.
Brass glared at him.
"We don't give in to terrorists, Jim," he continued.
The captain clenched his fists. "This is different and you know it."
Their conversation was interrupted when the door opened and Nick ran in, drenched. "Damn!" he moaned, flicking the water from the file he was carrying.
Everyone stared at him.
"Better late than never," Greg said in jest.
Nick held up the file. "I brought this for Grissom. How's the situation going?"
"Very...awkward," Brass spat.
"Oh...? Someone want to fill me in?"
Brass explained the situation to Nick and then handed him the demand note to read. "Heavy," he sighed, handing the paper back to the captain. "But I'm sure we're going to get Sara out of there, right?"
The room fell silent and all eyes fell upon McKeen's.
"Right!" Nick repeated.
"If I've got anything to do with it, yes," Brass said with Vigour.
Nick looked around. "Where's Grissom?"
"Said he needed a minute..." Greg looked at his watch. "That was five minutes ago."
All inside the trailer exchanged a concerned look.
"Go see if you can find him will you, Stokes?" McKeen asked the CSI. "I'll take the file..." He held his hand out but Nick hesitated in handing it over. After a moment of good contemplation, Nick finally handed the file to his superior.
McKeen snatched it from his hand, unimpressed with the hesitation. "Remember who you work for," he warned.
Nick shrugged. "Whatever, man. I know who I work for and, I'm gonna go find him." The CSI turned on his heels and exited the trailer in search of his boss.
The Under Sheriff shook his head at the younger mans cheek. "I see Grissom's still great on the discipline," he mocked. He flicked through the file then slipped it under his arm. Looking to the two officers in the room and ignoring Brass, he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to speak to SWAT."
Brass grabbed his arm as he set off to walk away. "What are you doing, Jeffery?"
"Taking control of the situation, Jim. I can do that you see," he sneered. "As soon as these fuckers come out...I'm taking them down."
The captain shook his head.
"You are going to get people killed," Greg snapped. "Probably Sara..." He lunged forward but Brass grabbed him, holding his arms.
"Easy Greg," the captain advised.
"Don't you care we have a CSI in there? Sara's in there!"
Everyone knew where this was leading. McKeen wasn't about to give into any demands.
Brass struggled to hold the young CSI back. "Calm down, Greg," he warned.
Greg kicked, his legs contacting with a chair under the table and flinging it across the trailer. "You can't do this!"
McKeen gestured to the officers. "Get him out of here to calm down," he ordered.
The officers took Greg from Brass. "You just wait till Grissom gets back," he spat, as the two cops ran him from the trailer.
Brass's shoulders slumped as Greg was ushered from the vehicle. "You're making a big mistake here, Jeffery," Brass sighed in frustration, knowing he couldn't out rank the Under Sheriff or tell him what to do.
McKeen just smirked and headed for the door. "I don't make mistakes, Jim..."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Brass looked at the store, pacing nervously while demolishing his finger nails. Every now and then he would look to his right to where McKeen was chatting with SWAT. He could hear them planning the take down once the hostage takers came out of the building.
Greg leaned against the trailer, looking very pissed off, one officer standing by him. He wasn't exactly sure what to do with himself.
Nick appeared. "I can't find Grissom anywhere," he informed Brass.
The captain frowned and looked at his watch. It had been almost half an hour since anyone had seen Grissom. He pulled out his cell and called the supervisor. He waited and waited, then bit down on his lip, flipping the phone closed when he had no luck. "No answer..."
"I don't get it," Nick said. "Where's he gone?"
With a sigh, Brass shook his head. "I have no idea but I don't like it. Something's just not right." He looked around. "Greg!" he called and inclined a finger for the CSI to come his way.
Greg looked to the cop and the officer allowed him on his way. The young man stopped in from of the captain. "Yeah?"
"What exactly did Grissom say to you?" Brass asked.
The younger man shrugged his shoulders. "Just that he needed a few minutes to himself. I...questioned him but he didn't seem to want to talk about it. Had a feeling there was something he wasn't telling me though..."
Brass scratched the back of his head but there conversation was cut short by the reappearance of McKeen.
"Calmed down have we?" he asked Greg.
Greg's face reddened, more with anger than anything. "You don't have any friends in there so you wouldn't understand," he spat.
McKeen's nostrils flared. "No, you moron," he growled. "I have a dead brother in law! Anything you want to say about that?"
The younger man's chin quivered. "Oh...um...shit...sorry..."
Shaking his head McKeen looked to Brass. "Were preparing the car and the guys are getting in position. Everyone needs to take cover by the trailer," the Under Sherriff told him.
Looking around again, Brass spotted a scurry of SWAT officers, all taking position. Two took cover on roof tops across the street and another half dozen were poised in separate elevated areas. "Shouldn't we wait for Gil?"
"Well, where is he?"
"We...don't know," the captain groaned.
McKeen shrugged his shoulders. "The deadline is almost up, we have to move now."
"To be very clear..." Brass continued, "...I don't agree with you on this and I'm pretty sure Gil won't either." He pointed a firm finger at his superior. "If they try and take Sara I swear to God, you better make sure she doesn't get hurt."
The Under Sheriff gestured an arm. "If you want to be in on the operation then you come now. Then...it's not all on me. If not..."
"I'm coming..." Brass stopped him. The captain realised McKeen was giving him an opportunity to have input on the takedown. He didn't feel good about it but at least maybe he could do something to spare innocent peoples blood being shed.
"We're coming too," Greg hit Nick's arm and the senior CSI confirmed his colleagues thought with a nod. "Damn, right," he said.
McKeen rolled his eyes. "Fine but you two better stay out of the way and keep your eyes out for Grissom or the fool very well may walk right in at the worst possible moment..."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
The car had been delivered and sat waiting outside the front door to the store. McKeen, Brass, Nick and Greg stood with others under a tarp external command centre that had been set up. Brass and McKeen both had an ear piece and a radio and were in contact with SWAT at all times.
Everyone was nervous.
McKeen checked his watched and placed the radio to lips. "One minute until the deadline hits. Station one ready?"
His radio crackled with a response, "Ready..."
The Undersheriff ran through all his stations one by one and all were ready.
Brass ran a nervous hand over his chin, still looking around for Grissom. He really couldn't understand how he'd just vanished and was about to miss what was going to happen.
"Times up..." He heard McKeen say and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He sucked in a deep, nervous breath and nodded, picking up a pair of binoculars. "Okay..."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Brass tapped his foot as he watched the front door to the store through the binoculars. The deadline had passed, ten minutes ago but no signs of anyone coming out.
"You see anything?" Nick asked.
"Nothing," Brass replied.
The CSI tapped his hand on the weapon in his belt. "I don't get it. They were so precise with the time... where are they?"
Greg cleared his throat. "Maybe they got wind they weren't gonna get very far."
"Not possible," McKeen said, lowering his binoculars. Brass did the same. "Something's not right..."
He looked to an officer to his left. "Get me the megaphone will you?"
"Yes, Sir." The officer nodded and was away and back with the megaphone within a minute.
Brass took the appliance from the officer. "Let me do it," he requested.
McKeen didn't argue.
"This is Captain Brass," the lawman began. "We have met your demand and your car is waiting..." He lowered the megaphone and waited...
Still nothing...
His eyes met McKeen's. "It's not happening..."
The Under Sherriff sighed and spoke into his radio. "Were going in."
"What?" Nick snapped.
Brass bit down on his lip.
"They are not coming out, so we're going," McKeen said simply.
There was a bustle of activity around them as a group of SWAT quickly congregated together.
"You're serious?" Nick was stunned, his eyes floating to everyone around him. "That's the best way to get someone killed!"
McKeen didn't answer and walked away towards the SWAT team
"You agree with this?" Nick questioned Brass.
"No," he replied. "But they're not talking and they're not moving."
Nick shook his head. "Well...why ask for the damn car if they had no intentions of coming out?"
"You're guess is as good as mine Nicky but the decision is made." He pointed to McKeen. "I need to get ready." He stepped away leaving the two CSI looking and feeling useless.
"This is madness," Greg moaned.
Nick looked around, hoping. "Grissom...Where the hell are you...?"
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
SWAT were swift in their approach to the store. Within seconds one group surrounded the back and another the front. Brass held at the back of the front group. The surrounding law enforcement watched on, including the CSI's and waited...
It was like a well oiled machine. The order was given and both groups stormed the store simultaneously.
Wood splintered... glass shattered and they were inside.
Brass felt his heart pumping wildly as he hovered in the doorway. The officers inside shouted warnings and direction to each other as they cleared each area bit by bit.
He looked around the store and frowned when he couldn't actually see anyone. There was no one within sight at all.
After several minutes he heard a shout..."Main store is clear, Captain!"
Not a single shot had been fired or a single person found on the shop floor. He found the SWAT leader as the search continued, half upstairs and half checked the basement.
"Anything?" the captain asked.
The officer shook his head and pointed to a closed door at the back of the store. He gestured to his subordinates around him and pointed to door. They were quickly by his side, guns high and ready.
Trying the door the SWAT leader found it was locked. It took only one swift hard boot to kick the door in. Three officers were quickly inside but all lowered their guns upon finding what they did.
The hostages, tied up and gagged on the store room floor.
"Clear," one man shouted before two of the officers moved quickly to help the hostages.
Brass stepped into the store room to see all the hostages alive and well. His eyes scanned over them all and his heart missed a beat. Sara wasn't here.
As the hostages were unbound and cried out their relief at their rescue, Brass was quick with his questioning. "Where's Sara?"
The clerk was quick with a response and shook his head. "She was with them. They tied us up and locked us in here. I don't know where she is now."
Brass looked to the SWAT leader. "She's got to be here somewhere..."
"You got to see this..." The group heard coming from behind them.
Brass turned to see the leader of the second SWAT team.
"It's in the basement..."
Quickly, Brass followed the man into the basement and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the SWAT team standing in a circle around what looked like a trap door.
"What the hell is that?" the captain asked, moving in closer. He saw a winding metal staircase below the hole in the floor.
"Think it's an entrance to an old bomb shelter. Which means tunnels...which means a way out...Think we've been had, Captain." He looked to his team and pointed to the hole. "Let's go check it out boys."
Leaning against the wall Brass was mortified. He watched the team vanish and banged his head against the plaster a few times. They had well and truly been had and by the look of it, the hostage takers had gotten away and worse of all, Sara was with them.
His eyes suddenly widened at a gut churning realization. "Gil..."
A/N: Heheheheheh. How was that? We will find out what happened in the next chapter. Wonder where Grissom is? Hmmmm... I'll ask the hat. Lol! Review please!