Ch. 25

JJ was struggling to figure out what was really going on. She knew that there was something she was missing however she wasn't sure what it was. Sighing she glanced over at Brass and could see that he was still trying to get himself out of the binds that held him. She arched an eyebrow and nearly laughed when he groaned in pain. She could see the blood starting to trickle down from his wrists and winced. It was only a matter of time before someone realized what was going on and saved them but she was beginning to wonder if they had even gotten her message or her evidence in the first place.

"Tell me something, JJ, what was with the whole Nick obsession thing?" Brass asked taking a break from the ties.

"Nick and I grew up around each other in a way. I thought he might know who I was and I couldn't take the chance. I was planning to find a way to get him alone, with no one listening in, and tell him who I really was once I figured out he was clean." JJ said simply with a sigh.

"However instead Nick never fell for your plot and you never got your chance." Brass said with a sigh of his own.

"Basically, the truth is I have never been really good at seducing guys or getting people to care about me so the fact is that I never really had a shot at getting his attention." JJ said honestly.

"Why not true and be a normal person?" Brass asked confused.

"Because once Krisalyn came into the picture there wasn't a shot. Now the two of them are getting married and they are going to be a family with their daughter, the way it should be. The truth of the matter is that I know Nick is always just going to be a family friend, it wasn't about actually having a relationship with him." JJ said rolling her eyes.

"You didn't want to date him just have someone you could confide in about everything that was really going on." Brass guessed correctly.

"Exactly. My career takes me a lot of places and I know that soon I am going to die undercover so there is no shot at me having any type of relationship with someone, it just wouldn't be fair." JJ admitted softly.

"But you could always use some friends to hang out with." Brass said with a laugh.

"Yeah I could. I don't have many friends, in fact I don't really have any. FHI agents are encouraged to get together on occasion to get to know each others strengths and weaknesses but they aren't my friends." JJ said sadly.

"How long has it been since you have actually had real friends?" Brass asked shocked.

"My whole life really." JJ said pitifully.

"Well when we get out of here that is going to change." Brass said forcefully.

Nick was getting frustrated as he continued to try and find out who had his daughter and where they had stashed her. Krisalyn was frantic and having a hard time concentrating on her work which was understandable. The hospital had also sent word that someone had gotten to Warrick again and that he was in really bad shape. They aren't sure how he survived this one but that he had seen his attacker this time and could identify them.

"Damn." Nick muttered angrily as he slammed his palm on the table near the computer he was working on. No matter what he managed to type in nothing was popping up about Ella.

"You find her yet?" Krisalyn asked clutching a kleenex in her hand as she leaned against a doorframe with Catherine standing next to her.

"Nope." Nick admitted guiltily. He felt like this was his fault for letting her out of his sight.

"Nick I know you and Krisalyn want to find Ella but right now we have a huge problem. Brass and JJ are still in the hands of a serial killer. We find them we can probably get Ella back because she will be safer." Catherine said with a sigh.

"That's true." Nick said catching on to her logic.

"So what you're saying is that in order to get my daughter back I need to catch the man who kidnapped her and has been murdering people all over the country?" Krisalyn asked sniffing.

"Pretty much." Catherine nodded with a sympathetic look on her face. As a mother she couldn't imagine what Krisalyn must be going through. Losing her daughter and then getting her back only to lose her again and this time to a government that didn't believe you could protect her.

"Then let's get this guy." Krisalyn said evenly.

"Let's get him."

He had already decided where he was going to drop the body and stage the crime scene. The problem was about finding the right place and making it look really good. He grinned when he finally got there and slowly climbed out of his car. He had already made sure that he put the wrong tires on his car in case of tire treads and he knew he wasn't leaving behind any DNA. He was the master at this whole thing and the sooner that the cops knew that the better off they would be. His partner hadn't called in like they were supposed to so he supposed they had been captured or hadn't been able to get a moment to themselves. Whatever the reason behind their sudden silence he didn't care. After he disposed of the female victim he would take care of the two annoying cops that were waiting for him back at the warehouse. It was only a matter of time before every witness would be taken care of and the United States citizens would know he was the best serial killer ever. He didn't honestly have a reason to kill these people, which is what made him the most dangerous person around. He just wanted to kill them.

"If you only knew the truth." He whispered with a laugh as he got to work staging the scene before going and getting the lifeless body parts out of his car.

FHI agents were getting more and more annoyed with each other. They had wanted to try and track their missing agent based on her last phone in however the tape and the transcript had mysteriously disappeared. The news that the FBI now had Ella Stokes wasn't helping them out any either.

"This is getting more and more complicated. Is it just me or does it seem like everyone is starting to act more and more suspicious?" Agent Masterson asked.

"Something just doesn't feel right about this whole situation. I mean what if JJ was on to something without realizing what it was? What if she had evidence that pointed to the killer right in front of her face but she hadn't yet figured it out?" Agent Roberts spoke up.

"If she had evidence that didn't make sense to her wouldn't she have turned it over to our techs?" Agent Masterson interrupted.

"Not if she didn't think it was evidence." FHI Agent in charge Ronald Granger spoke up. "If she had something she didn't think was relevant to the case she would have sent it to herself to be placed on her desk for a later look over. Dana, check her desk over top to bottom, I want you going through every piece of mail that is there."

JJ could feel and itch that needed to be scratched and was getting annoyed. She glanced down at her left arm and frowned as she realized it was starting to swell badly. She bit her bottom lip nervously as she looked around and didn't see anything that could have bit her. She looked closer at the spot on her arm and nearly groaned when she realized what it was. All FHI agents had been equipped with a tracking device placed somewhere inside their skin. They had been warned that when it activated it often looked and felt like a spider bite. As happy as she was that they were trying to find her, she also knew that because of the different types of electronic equipment inside the warehouse it was going to be incredibly difficult.

"Hey so how do you think he will try and off us?" Brass asked suddenly.

JJ's gaze flew to the Captain's face with shock written all over her own. She hadn't thought he would give in to the thought that they were most likely going to be killed but apparently he had given up hope. As much as she would love to be able to tell him about the tracking device she couldn't do it in case someone was listening or the place was bugged.

"We aren't dying if I can help it." JJ said simply instead and hoped she had gotten her message across. She noticed that Brass had turned his head away and was now staring at the blood stains on the cement floor. "You know there was nothing we could do to help her."

"I know but I still feel guilty. What if she had kids or a husband waiting for her at home?" Brass asked biting his lower lip.

"I know." JJ said bowing her head in shame.

"If only someone had backed you up. Maybe you wouldn't have been caught and maybe our killer would be behind bars and that woman may still be alive and well." Brass said starting to feel his temper spin out of control.

JJ frowned and that's when she noticed the gas being pumped into the room. She was no expert but she was pretty sure that whatever that gas was it wasn't something she and Brass wanted to be breathing. She glanced over and could see it swirling around the room. One quick whiff and she recognized that gas and nearly groaned. She took small breaths and stopped talking all together. It was going to cause them to lose their minds. The killers plan was to get them to kill each other out of madness. Now the question was would FHI track them down before that happened?

Nick was getting more and more annoyed with every roadblock he hit. It didn't seem to matter to anyone that he was trying to solve a huge case. The evidence had been taken away from them and moved to an FBI forensics lab. They weren't allowed anywhere near the blood evidence or the crime scene photo's anymore. It was almost like the FBI suspected them just as much as the CSI's suspected FBI involvement. Nick was about to call it quits and try to find a way into the FBI lab when he saw a man lurking outside the hallway. Nick frowned and headed towards him to see what he was doing.

"Excuse me can I help you?" Nick asked arching an eyebrow.

"Depends did you want to find your CSI JJ?" The man asked evenly.

"She isn't really one of our CSI's but yeah we want to find her and our police captain." Nick said folding his arms in front of him.

"Then come with me." The man said stiffly.

"Why should I do that?" Nick asked getting suspicious and glad his gun was in it's holster on his hip at the moment.

"Because I work with Joey-Jane Rosetti in a special government group and that's all I can tell you. If you want to help is find her now is the time to move, we have finally tracked her location." The man said walking away and not waiting for a reply. That left Nick with no choice but to follow him and hope he wasn't making a big mistake.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Nick asked when they finally climbed into a black SUV and headed towards the outskirts.

"How do I know I can trust you?" The man repeated with a quick glance at Nick. "Look all you need to know is that JJ is in big trouble and we don't think that her and your captain are going to last much longer. It looks real bad CSI Stokes, and when I say real bad I mean real real real bad."