Disclaimer: All rights reserved for CBS.

A/n: So, so sorry that this is so late. Life and work really put me through a ringer and I'm just so glad to finally get this, the final chapter, up. Thanks for everyone's patience and for all the wonderful reviews. And a special thanks to Aussieforgood and Chelles for all their patience and advice. :D:D

Chapter 21

Slowly swimming up from sleep, Gil Grissom groaned. He'd had the most wonderful dream and he wasn't ready to lose it. He tossed his arm over his eyes, trying to shield himself from further consciousness. It didn't work and he turned on his side, determined to drift back into sleep and get back to his dream. Again, it didn't work. With a sigh he sat up. He swung his legs over the bed, muttering. "Why can't a man just sleep and dream, why must he awaken to cruel reality?"

"So you're calling me cruel now are you? That's not what you said earlier. I believe words like sexy, gorgeous, and magnificent were mentioned."

The silky voice came from behind Grissom, and for a second he was afraid to turn around, afraid his mind was playing tricks on him.

Inhaling a fortifying breath, he turned around and looked into the deep brown eyes of Sara Sidle.

She smiled. "Good morning."

Grissom laughed. It started deep in his belly and expounded forth until he was rolling around on the bed.

Sara sat in shocked silence. This wasn't exactly the reaction she'd expected on waking up beside Grissom. A little more loving had been top of the list, followed by a nice dinner. Finally, she interrupted. "Mind telling me what's so funny?"

Grissom's laughter trailed off and he looked at her with a smile. "I thought you were a dream."

Sara chuckled and crawled over to where he lay at the end of the bed. She straddled him and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Let me show you how real I am."

An hour later, Sara sat at the kitchen table while Grissom hurried around the kitchen making breakfast. It was everything she had missed. "So, why don't you fill me in on everything that's been happening, did you solve that case you were working?"

Grissom stilled in the process of flipping an omelet. He glanced over his shoulder at her, only now feeling a tickle of fear. He slowly shook his head. "No, we're having no luck with that."

It was a truth that Grissom hated admitting. It had been two months since Bell's death and all avenues of evidence had led nowhere. Grissom didn't want the ugliness of the case intruding on his time with Sara, so he shrugged, turned with a smile, and flipped the omelet onto a plate. "Let's not talk about that right now. Can't you let me bask in the afterglow of lovemaking and just enjoy being in your company?" he asked with a teasing grin.

Sara studied him for a moment. She'd seen that blip of fear in his eyes and she wanted to explore what was behind it, but maybe now wasn't the time. "Well, why don't you come over here and bask while I eat?" she said with a laugh.

Grissom grinned and sat the plate down in front of her. "Your wish is my command."

Judy Tremont pulled into an empty space in the crime lab garage and shifted into park. She took a look in her rearview and side mirrors before switching the car off. She pulled down the visor and took a fortifying look at the picture of her dream car, the car she hoped to get very soon. It was a hybrid car in her favorite color, burnt sienna. She sighed as she looked at it and reached up a finger to trace the lines of the car. "One of these days, you're going to be mine." She smiled at her reflection in the mirror beside the picture, and brushed a wisp of her newly shorn, straightened and colored hair out of her eyes. She'd been hesitant about the color when the stylist had suggested it, having been blonde since high school, but she had to admit that the caramel colored locks showed her eyes and skin off to their best advantage, and the reaction around the lab had been very positive. "Life awaits," she whispered her new mantra.

With one more check in her mirrors, she opened the car door and slid out. She'd been nervous of garages ever since Sara had been taken from one, and in fact had only recently been talked into parking in the office garage again. Holding her purse close to her she started down the concrete aisle. Hearing a noise behind her, she looked back and her heart sped up as she saw a man leaning against a car about ten spots down, talking on his phone.

He looked her way and she quickly looked away and hurried faster towards the elevators. She looked back and stopped. The man was gone. She looked around the garage, but couldn't see him anywhere. She sighed with relief, and that's when she felt a hand clamp over her mouth and her world went dark.

Nick flipped through the papers in front of him, checking that every page had been signed and that nothing was missing. Satisfied that the file was complete he dropped it into his outbox and stood with a stretch. He was glad to have this case closed. A young boy had been killed by his stepfather and Nick was grateful that it had been open and shut, with the man admitting to the murder and turning himself in.

A glance at the clock made him start with surprise to see that it was nearly one in the morning. He grabbed another file waiting on his desk and hurried down the hall for the weekly meeting about another case, this one not so easily solved.

Things had gone completely cold on the 'Back Nine Killer' and everyone was feeling the heat over it. Nick had stopped opening emails from the Undersheriff and had taken to avoiding Ecklie even more astringently than usual.

The entire lab was feeling the pressure and in return the tempers were short. It came as no surprise when the lab techs squabbled in the hallways or when sniping between two investigators turned into a full out argument or someone just lost it for all to see… like now.

Nick stopped short on seeing Warrick kick the wall and then punch it for good measure.

"Hey! Hey, man, what wrong?" Nick asked as he hurried up to him.

"It's this case," Warrick growled.

"Yeah, man, I know what you mean. It's been four months, well, four months for us, two years over all, and we have nothing. Believe me; I'm feeling the pressure too…"

Warrick shook his head. "No, not that one, though that one isn't exactly shining a ray of sunshine into my life. I'm talking about this other case I'm working."

Nick was confused for a moment, but then it dropped. "Oh, yeah, that stripper that was killed. I guess it's bringing back some bad memories, huh?"

Warrick rubbed his brow with his hand. "Yeah, even the way she was killed is similar; her throat was slit." He shook his head and sighed. "Don't worry about it, man. I'll get through it."

Nick nodded. "So, you ready for the weekly roundup?"

Warrick squinted at him for a moment, confused, but then shook his head. "Ah, I totally forgot. Well, at least it should go quickly, what with nothing happening."

Nick shrugged. "Hey, maybe one of us will grow a brain cell and make a connection that will break the case, that's why we have these meetings, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and maybe at that same time we can use that brain cell to solve global warming, and keep the moneyed folk happy at the same time," Warrick scoffed.

Nick laughed. "One problem at a time, man," he said heading toward the layout room. "I'd be happy to just find this killer."

"So would we, boys," Catherine said as they walked into the layout room.

Greg got up from his chair in the corner. "'Bout time you guys got here. Let's get this over with; I have a case to wrap up."

Grissom looked at him over his glasses. "We all do, Greg, and that includes this one."

Greg nodded, chastened. "So, do we, um, have anything, uh, new…"

"Not as far as I can tell," Nick said slapping his file down on the table.

"Catherine, is there anything new with the Bell case?" Grissom liked to think of the Bell murder separate from the other murders. Though he believed it was done by the same person, it was different enough to warrant its own case designation.

Catherine shook her head. "No one has come forward with any information and the only possible lead we had went nowhere." Bell's secretary had told them that Bell did smoke and his preferred brand was Virginia Slims, and on searching his desk, Catherine had found a half used pack. They had found out that he allowed himself one cigarette per day, which is why Doc hadn't immediately noticed it. "The only thing that makes no sense is that he only smoked at work, at the same time every day. He'd eat lunch and then smoke a cigarette. So, if that is the case, then why did we find the cigarette in his home?"

"And none of the garbage that surrounded him belonged to him. His trash cans were still full, and they were the neatest trash cans I'd ever seen," Warrick added.

Grissom turned to Greg. "Any news on the car?"

Greg shook his head. "As far as I can find out, Mark Collins, Daisy's son, was never married, at least not legally, and whoever the woman was that claimed to be his wife has disappeared. I did find out that she had worked at a hospital in L.A., but she left there two years ago, after only working there for about a year, and no one has heard from her since."

Grissom took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So, nothing new then?" he said with a sigh.

"Man, Grissom, I feel like there's something, right there, staring us in the face, and we just can't see it." Nick slapped the light table with his palms.

"All we can do is keep looking…"

Grissom was interrupted by a shout down the hall.

"I need to see someone about a kidnapping!" the voice rolled down the hall like thunder.

Confused looks all around, they hurried from the room and toward the shouting. Hodges stood with a man at reception and was trying to get him to calm down.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you have to make police reports at the police station, this is the crime lab." He stood with his hands on his hips, his lab coat splayed open.

The man shook his head. "I know that, you idiot, but as I just saw it happen and it happened in YOUR garage, I figured I should come here first!"

Grissom stepped forward. "I'll handle this, David," he said with a pat on Hodges' shoulder.

Hodges looked at Grissom and nodded. "Okay, Gil, I'll just get back to work."

Grissom nodded absently and turned to the man. "Now, what is this about a kidnapping?"

The man took a deep breath. "I was in the garage, I had dropped off a friend who works downstairs, anyway, I got a call and was standing at my car when I saw this woman get out of her car and head for the elevators. Well, I didn't think much of it at first, in fact I was frustrated because my call got cut off and I accidentally dropped the phone and I bent to pick it up. Anyway, when I stood back up I saw the woman being dragged back into her car, or the car she had gotten out of anyway, well, I didn't know what to do, because I wasn't sure what was going on at first. I mean it's not something you see everyday, is it? So, I watched and she was shoved in the back seat, she looked limp, and the person who shoved her got into the front seat and drove out." He ran a hand through his hair. "Who would've thought such a little woman could do all that?"

Grissom shook his head, confused. "What did she do, I thought you said she was unconscious?"

"No, not the kidnapped woman, the woman who kidnapped her!"

Sara flicked through channels on the TV, surfing aimlessly. She had tried to sleep, but she couldn't, she'd slept too much during the day. She glanced at the clock, disappointed to see that it was only one thirty in the morning. It seemed like much more time had passed since Grissom had left.

Clicking off the TV she threw the remote on the bed and headed for the kitchen. Maybe a little snack would help her settle down.

She opened the refrigerator and stared inside, shaking her head, once again taken aback at Grissom's lack of food, and what he did have wasn't exactly nutritional. She noticed things she hadn't this morning in her haze of great sex and having his arms wrapped around her again.

She opened the freezer and shook her head. It was stocked with ice cream and frozen dinners. "Well, we're going to have to fix that," she murmured to herself. "But, for now, might as well start getting rid of that ice cream." She smiled as she took out a pint of Ben and Jerry's 'Half Baked' ice cream. "Oh yeah, heart attack in a small carton." She opened it and took out a spoon. "Luckily, I'm really healthy and can afford the occasional influx of cream and sugar." She smiled around her first bite of chewy brownie and chocolate ice cream.

Humming to herself, she headed back to the bedroom, but was stopped by a noise at the door. Her heart skipped; maybe Grissom had come home for a little 'lunch'.

She hurried toward the door, waiting for him to open the door and find her there.

Nothing happened.

She stepped forward and looked through the peep hole. All she saw was the back of a woman as she disappeared down the stairs. Confused, she was about to open the door when she noticed the envelope that had been slipped under it. Bending down she picked it up.

Written on the outside of the envelope was Grissom's name, and nothing else. Frowning, she headed for the phone.

Judy opened her eyes with a start, but her vision was obscured. There was something covering her eyes. Her heart pounded, and she thought frantically. Where was she? She didn't know how she'd gotten here, she couldn't remember…

'The last thing I remember,' she thought, 'I was parking my car. And- and what happened then?'

She was verging on panic, her mind spinning. 'Hold on, take a deep breath and find out as much about your surroundings as you can.' She breathed in deeply, scenting the air. There was an odd scent, but she couldn't place it. 'So, move on to something else.'

She couldn't feel her hands, and she started to panic again. She wiggled around, and finally figured out that her hands were tied behind her. They must have gone to sleep. She tried to wiggle her fingers, but without feeling she couldn't tell what was under them.

Her skirt had ridden up and her legs were bare to the knee and she could feel metal against her legs. It was cold, very cold, though she wasn't sure if that was due to being scared, or the actual temperature.

She couldn't hear anything but the sound of her heart beating, and her own harsh breathing. She made herself calm down and listen. She couldn't hear anything.

Her feet were bound, but she could move them a little. She lifted her legs up as high as they would go, clearing her mind of thoughts of someone watching her. She didn't feel anyone else in the room, but she wasn't in the position to be sure of that.

She didn't feel enclosed, and her legs didn't encounter any obstacles, so she took a deep breath and rocked her legs down and tried to get herself into a seated position.

It took a few tries, but finally she was sitting. Still, no noise came from around her. Surely if someone were there she'd hear breathing.

She tried to move her hands again, and this time she felt them start to tingle. She kept wiggling her fingers, and slowly and painfully, her hands regained feeling.

Now, to figure out how to get the blindfold off, she needed to be able to see if she had any hope of escape. She began to rub her head against her shoulder, hoping to push the blindfold up, or down. After several minutes she finally had one eye un-obscured. She blinked, looking around the room as best she could.

She frowned. The room was dark, so she wasn't much better off, but she could make out a few things. There was light coming from under a door on the wall across from where she sat.

She needed to free her hands, and she wasn't sure of how she could do that. She felt now that she was bound by tape, so maybe she could find something to cut the tape.

She didn't know if she would be able to escape, but there was one thing she did know; she had to try. If Sara could do it, so could she.

"Look, I only caught a glimpse of her, but she looked blond, and short," Charles Dudley protested watching Captain Brass as he paced in front of him.

"Well, why didn't you shout out or do something else to stop her?" Brass stopped and stared at the man at the table.

Charles shrugged. "Like I told him," he pointed to Grissom, 'I was confused. One minute I was talking to my girlfriend, and then I dropped the phone, and then I saw this… thing. My brain just didn't process it until after the car had driven off."

Brass looked up as the door opened.

Greg looked in and nodded for Brass and Grissom to meet him outside the door.

Outside, Brass crossed his arms. "What do you have?"

Greg swallowed. "We got an ID on the car."

Grissom sighed. "And?"

"It belongs to Judy."

Brass squinted. "Judy? Receptionist Judy?"

Greg nodded.

"Anything else?" Grissom asked.

"The garage attendant said that she wasn't driving the car when it exited. My guess is that Judy is not the kidnapper, but the one being kidnapped."

Grissom nodded. "I agree. I want you to account for every car in the garage, if one doesn't belong; I want to know about it."

Greg nodded and took off.

Brass looked at Grissom. "What do you think this is all about?"

"I don't know, but I don't like that the kidnapper felt comfortable enough to take someone from our own garage." Grissom looked away, a distant look in his eyes.

"It's a little too close to what happened to Sara, isn't it?"

"Too damn close." Grissom headed for his office.

His phone was ringing as he entered the office. He answered it with a grunt. "Grissom."

Sara's voice came across the line, and Grissom immediately felt his shoulders relax. The feeling didn't last; Sara's first words took care of that.

"Why is some woman slipping notes under your door?" she teased.

Grissom shook his head. "What do you mean?"

Sara laughed. "Exactly what I said, some woman slipped an envelope under your door."

Grissom's heart sped up. "Did she see you?" he asked tensely.

Sara paused, confused. "Uh, no, I just caught a glimpse of her through the peep hole as she started down the stairs."

"So you're sure she didn't know you were there?"

"Gil, I told you, no. The only reason I saw her is that I had come into the kitchen to find something to eat and heard a noise at the door. The lights were out and the door was locked. Now, can you tell me why it's important that this woman didn't see me?"

Grissom closed his eyes, relief spreading through him. "You know that case I've been working? Well, I've gotten several letters from the killer, and you were mentioned in them, or to be more precise, the fact that you weren't around was mentioned. It was the only positive thing about you being in California. I knew you were safe." Grissom paused, unsure if he should tell her about Judy. Finally, he decided there was only one thing he could do. "Listen, Judy was kidnapped."

"Oh my God! Are you sure?" Sara sat down on the couch.

"There's an eyewitness. He saw it happen. She, uh, she was taken from the garage." Grissom waited for her to acclimate to that news.

"From the lab garage?" Sara frowned. "But, how is that possible? The security there is top rate."

"I don't know. It doesn't help that it seems that she was taken by a woman."

Sara took a deep breath. "Do you think it has something to do with your case?"

Grissom sat down and gave it some thought. "I don't know. The person we're looking for rapes the victims… seems to indicate a man."

Sara cleared her throat. "I assume you have semen to back this up?"

"No, in fact we've determined that the victims were raped with a foreign object."

"So that means it could be a woman. Look, I don't want to think that this sicko has Judy, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but, and I know this from first hand experience, women can be just as sadistic as men. Anyway, do you want me to bring you this letter, or do you want to come get it? If your serial killer took Judy, then maybe this will tell you something. If it's unrelated, maybe it will tell you that also."

Grissom knew one thing. "No, I don't want you coming here, not with this killer on the loose. In fact, it's better if no one knows you're back just yet."

Sara frowned. "But, I was looking forward to seeing the gang."

"Believe me, honey, I'd love that, but, just for now, I think this is best." He couldn't stand the thought of something else happening to her.

"Well, I don't like it, but I can see your point. So, you'll come here to get the note?"

Grissom shook his head and said, "No, I can't afford to leave here right now. Why don't you open it and tell me what it says."

"Okay, hold on." Sara opened the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. "It says, 'From under your nose I stole a rose, she sleeps now in peaceful splendor, but she'll soon awake for her penance, the price she pays for sins untold, then to sleep eternal I'll send her once more, her now cleansed heart in hand, laid bare beneath the sun, her last defenses stripped, fetid guts exposed for all to see, and, you dear man of law, shall race against time, forever trying to stop the purge, but destined forever to fail.'

"Wow, does that make sense to you?" Sara asked, taken aback at the imagery in the cobbled together poem.

Grissom was silent for several moments, unable to speak. Finally he cleared his throat and replied. "I know the prose is bad, but the message is loud and clear, the killer has Judy, and we don't have long to get her. I'll have to come home and get that letter after all, it will be needed for prints."

Sara frowned, "But my prints are all over it, there's no way to keep my being back a secret."

"I'll handle the printing myself and try to keep your name out of it. I don't really expect to find anything, I haven't on the other notes, but I can't not try."

"Okay, well, I'll have it ready when you get here." Sara laid the letter down on the table and looked around for a sandwich bag as a temporary bindle.

"I don't know when I'll get there, so if you get tired go ahead and get some sleep, just leave the letter on the kitchen table," Grissom said, standing.

Sara nodded, and then said aloud. "I don't know if I'll get any sleep, knowing that Judy is out there in some killers clutches, but with nothing else to do, I might give it a try."

"I know it'll be hard for you not to be involved, but it really is for the best.

Sara sighed, "I guess you're right. Well, if I'm awake, I'll see you when you get here."

"Just a couple more and you'll be free," Judy whispered as she sawed her tapped hands against the underside corner of a metal counter. At least that's what she thought it was. There wasn't much light in the room, and though her eyes had adjusted a bit, she still couldn't make out everything. Her knee ached from where she'd banged it into the floor when she'd scooted off the table she'd been lying on. Her feet hadn't been able to keep her steady as they were taped together also. She'd finally been able to make her way to the place she was now and had felt her way up the leg of the table. She knew it was metal and she had hoped that she would be able to cut through the tape on her hands. That had been long minutes ago, and now she felt as though she'd been kneeling there for hours, her shoulder ached from wrenching her arms up and backward in order to reach the rough under edge of the table.

Without warning the last bit of tape snapped and she fell forward, banging her head on the floor. She lay there breathing harshly for a few moments before flipping over and using her tender hands to push herself up to start work on the tape at her ankles.

It took less time to accomplish this task and before she knew it she was free, or free of her bonds anyway, she soon found out she was still trapped as the door was locked.

Groaning, she turned and faced the room. She felt along the wall and found a switch and flipped it. Bright lights came on in an instant, causing her to cover her eyes quickly.

Slowly she peaked through her fingers, letting her eyes adjust to the light. Her eyes ached from the brightness, but she was at least able to see around her now.

The sight of her prison did not calm her. The room was clean to the point of being immaculate. The floor was checkered and lacquered to a high gloss, along with all the stainless steel furniture, which gave the room a cold, menacing feel. In the center of the room she saw the table she'd been lying on. Her stomach clinched as she saw the tunnels running along the edge of the cold steel table.

She remembered with icy clarity what Doc had said about the victims of the 'Back Nine Killer' being bled after they were dead.

Panic began to set in and she closed her eyes and made herself drag in deep, even breaths.

Once she was somewhat calm, she opened her eyes again and looked at the room closer. There was a door on the opposite side of the room and she hurried to it, surprised when the handle turned easily.

Her excitement didn't last, however, as she soon discovered that the door led, not to freedom, but to a closet.

The closet wasn't empty. On the shelves that lined the walls were bags and bags of some sort of liquid. She picked up one and read the label on it. "Methohexital," she read aloud, and her heart sped up again because this too she'd heard of. The victims had been subdued with it. Her eyes traveled around the shelves and she counted at least thirty bags.

Judy looked back out toward the clean and shiny torture chamber. She may not be able to get out, but she could make it as hard for her killer as she could. She began grabbing the bags of solution and ran over to the metal sick. She ripped open each one and watched the deadly liquid run down the drain.

Grissom fingered the letter in its plastic bindle as he watched the rest of the team file into the room.

Catherine came in first, followed by Nick and then Warrick.

"Where's Greg?" Grissom asked when it became apparent that no one was coming in after Warrick.

Catherine swept her hair behind her shoulder. "I asked him to go back out to the retirement home to see if he could find out more about Daisy Collins, you know, where she lived before the retirement home, maybe we can find an old neighbor who could tell us more about her 'daughter- in-law'.

Grissom looked at her over his glasses. "That actually may be a good idea." He held up the bindle with the letter in it. "I received another note, delivered to my home, and I'm afraid it indicates that Judy was taken by our killer."

Their reactions varied, but it all came down to one thing; shock.

"I can't believe that. Can I see it?" Catherine reached for the letter.

Grissom handed it over and continued. "Someone… a neighbor, saw a woman slip it under my door and called to let me know. She didn't get a very good look at the woman, but she said she was short and had blond hair. That fits the description we got from our garage witness, Charles Dudley. So, I think we're looking for a woman, most likely the woman who claimed to be Mrs. Collins' daughter-in-law."

Catherine looked up from reading the note, her eyes wide. "Again?" she said, shaking her head. She suddenly stilled, her hand going to her mouth. "Oh my God, I think I know who we're looking for." She began to flip through the file in front of her.

Warrick stared at her. "Well, don't just leave us in suspense, who is it?'

Catherine looked up. "Gina Harnois."

Once Judy was finished emptying the bags of drugs, she looked around for something else to do. She opened cabinets, finding them empty, except for the last one. This one caused her panic to return.

Inside the last one were two boxes. She opened the first, and smallest of the two, and found needles and tubing. She pushed it away and pulled out the second box. She lifted the lid and gulped. Inside lay a large dildo, complete with straps. She backed away and stared at it, remembering that the women had been sexually assaulted, and now, from what she was seeing, she had the feeling that she might not be dealing with a man.

This brought an odd sense of relief to her. She had been imagining fighting off a man who would have been too hard for her to fight off, but thanks to her self-defense classes, she felt she had a better chance against a woman. She just had to clear her mind of what had happened to those other women, and keep reminding herself that she was luckier. She wasn't restrained anymore, and she may be able to take her captor by surprise.

A noise from the other room told her that she didn't have much time to wait.

Greg ran into the lab and hurried to the layout room. He saw that everyone was still gathered there.

"…hell is that?" Warrick was saying.

Greg charged in, talking over them. "You're not going to believe what I found out!"

Everyone turned to look at him and he cleared his throat. "Sorry, but this is important."

"Well, go on Greg, tell us what you found out," invited Grissom.

"Okay, so, I went back out to Golden Hills and talked to Mabel again. She told me that Daisy went to live there after her husband died, and that she had talked about how she was glad to be there because she hated living above the dead people. Mabel asked what she was talking about, and it turns out that Daisy's husband was a mortician… and he owned his own mortuary, which they lived above. Well, she never sold the place, it just sat there, empty."

"And what does that have to do with the case?" asked Nick.

Greg rolled his eyes. "Hello? We know that the victims had been drained of blood, and no trace of it had been left at the scenes… Well? What better place to do that than at a mortuary?"

Catherine nodded. "And who would be able to do that better than someone who had trained to be a doctor?"

Grissom turned to her. "Are you saying that this Gina…?

"Gina Harnois; yes," Catherine nodded.

Warrick shook his head. "Again, who is Gina Harnois?"

Catherine and Greg answered together, with two different answers.

"Bell's secretary!" exclaimed Catherine.

"The daughter-in-law!" Greg shouted.

"Exactly!" Grissom proclaimed.

"Huh?" asked the group together.

"Don't you see? Gina Harnois and the daughter-in-law are one and the same. It makes sense; a car seen at the last scene that could only have belonged to the daughter in law…"

"And the fact that Gina lied about Bell being the one who smoked Virginia Slims, plus the fact that when I went by there earlier to talk to her some more I found out that she had quit a few days ago and no one had heard from her since. That's how I found out about the cigarettes. I asked a co-worker if they had seen Bell smoking and he told me that Bell didn't smoke, but that Gina did and he would miss having her as a smoke buddy," Catherine explained.

"Okay, but why is she doing all this?" asked Nick.

Grissom shook his head. "That's not our problem; all we need to do is find out how. We'll leave the why to Brass. Now, do we know where this mortuary is?"

Greg held up a piece of paper. "I have it right here."

"Okay, let's go." Grissom led the way out.

Judy hurled herself across the room and slammed her hand against the light switch, causing the room to go dark. Then, as silently as possible, she sank down beside the door, her back pressed to the wall.

She could hear a soft, womanly, humming coming through the door, and she held her breath, waiting for the door to open.

The soft snick of the lock caused her to tense even more. The door inched open and the humming got louder. The woman walked through the door and after a small click the room was bathed in light again.

The woman stood still for a moment, silent now in her confusion.

Judy clenched her fist and pushed herself up, slamming the woman back through the door as she rushed past.

Her heart began to sing as she saw the open door at the end of the room, but she was suddenly stopped short by a jerk on her hair.

Before she knew what had happened, she was being dragged back into the other room.

Judy twisted and jerked, trying to free herself, but she couldn't manage to it.

The woman cuffed Judy on her left temple, causing her to see stars, but she fought to keep her wits and clawed at the woman's hands and arms.

"I will not let you do this to me!" she shouted, and the woman turned and gave her a kick in the ribs.

Judy grunted but kept clawing at the woman's hand, not caring if she lost all the hair that she was gripping.

Judy worked to get her feet underneath her so that she could get more leverage. It seemed they had been struggling for hours, but it had only been a few seconds.

Just about to try tackling the woman, Judy lost her footing once more as the woman jerked her forward and pushed her headlong into the wall.

Wincing, Judy clutched her head, feeling a warm trickle of blood run down her forehead. She looked up and saw, through blurry vision, the woman aim a kick at her midsection. She had a second to prepare for it and then her breath had left her and she gasped, trying to inflate her seemingly paralyzed lungs.

"You bitch!" snarled the woman. She turned and walked toward the closet. "You're all the same, thinking you're better than everyone else." She opened the closet door and stood stock still.

Ignoring the pain, Judy pulled herself up and ran at her, pushing her into the closet and slamming the door shut. It would only buy her a little time, but she could use all she could get.

She ran toward the door, swinging it shut behind her. Now she got her first proper look at the room she was in and she lost her breath once again, this time due to horror. Glass cases were set up on pedestals in the middle of the room, highlighted by blue lights. Inside each one was the face of a previous victim, staring sightlessly out into the room.

A noise behind her brought her out of her frozen state and spurred her further into the room. She ran through the next door and was surprised to find herself in a room with couches and chairs placed around it in conversational groups, except that they were covered in dust covers and it didn't look as though anyone had conversed there in quite a while.

That didn't matter though, because across the room was a door, an escape to freedom. With a sigh of relief she ran to the door and twisted the knob with a sob. The relief didn't last; the door was locked.

Judy yanked at the door, twisting and pulling frantically. It wouldn't budge. She sank down to the floor, her body throbbing, her breathing raspy, her face covered in blood, her mind working as quickly as possible. If she couldn't get out, she was going to have to stall as long as she could. A noise behind her told her that her moment of respite was over.

"There's no way out. I'll give you this though, you're mighty feisty," the voice purred from behind Judy with no hint of the anger from before.

Judy slowly turned around and got her first good look at her captor.

She wasn't as tall as one would expect, not much over five feet. Her blonde hair fell around her shoulders, ruffled from their scuffle. A smattering of freckles ran across her cheeks, and her eyes were a bright cobalt blue. In short, not someone you'd suspect of committing the crimes which she was so obviously guilty of.

"You know, it shouldn't be you, here, now. You are not the one I wanted. But, we don't always get what we want, and when she disappeared I had to find a new target. I thought long and hard about whom could take her place. There were several candidates. The Willows woman had to be discounted. The blond hair would never work." She fingered her own golden locks. "That Wendy chic would have worked but he didn't seem to care much about her, though if I'd had to use her I'm sure it would have gotten a response. No, I decided to use you when I saw him talking to you after my first letter was delivered. I was in the waiting room, no one ever suspects the small and weak looking. I saw him come to you and assure you that he wasn't angry with you.. I could see how much you looked up to him, and I knew that he'd care about your demise. Of course his lover would have been the best, but she just disappeared, and I waited, thinking she'd come back, but in the end it had to be you. Who would have guessed that you'd put up such a fight." As she talked, the woman paced back and forth, keeping her eyes on her cowering captive.

"Wh-who are you taking about? I- I mean who is this man you think will care that you've taken me?" stammered Judy.

"Why, Gil Grissom, of course." The woman stopped and faced Judy. "He has to pay. If it weren't for him Vince could be happy, and maybe he'd be able to see that he's not alone, that there is someone who cares about him, then he wouldn't have to see these sluts, these women that remind him of her, remind him of all he lost because of her insatiable lust. Like Gil Grissom is any better. He fell for a woman just like her. They even look like twins. How would dear Doctor Grissom react if his saintly Sara did to him what that slut Debbie Marlin did to Vince? What else could he do, you have to be who you are, do what makes sense. How can he be blamed for following his instincts?"

"I'm – I'm sorry, but what does that have to do with this?" Judy could be accused of being a lot of things, but she was always logical. "What do these women that you've killed have to do with any of that?"

"They're nothing but sluts!" Gina shouted. "And he falls for it every time, falls for her every time."

"I'm sorry, but who is, her?" Judy couldn't help asking.

"That bitch, Debbie! He searches her out in every woman he meets, and they know how to get him. Hair and eyes the same shade; I've seen pictures of her, he keeps them locked up, but I've seen them, seen the shrine to her that he keeps locked away. And they come, these women, and he talks to them and imagines that they are her and he wants them- her…" Gina trailed off.

Judy gulped, knowing that she wasn't dealing with a sane woman. "And you want him, Dr. Lurie, for yourself?"

"I've given every thing up for him." Gina frowned. "I was going to be a doctor, I was going to medical school, working my way through as a receptionist at the hospital he came to after he was run out of his rightful place. He walked in and everything changed. He'd flirt with me, but he never took me seriously. I tried to forget him. I saw other men, but they always ruined everything, and I had to get rid of them."

Judy watched as the woman thought back, her mind in the past. She knew her only avenue of escape was to keep her talking, keep her mind off whatever plans she had for her, Judy. She looked around, trying to find something with which to gain the upper hand. She saw nothing.

"Then one day Vince announced that he was coming back here, back to the place where he had nearly lost it all. I knew I couldn't let him leave me, I needed him. He was surprised when he found out that I'd moved here, but I could tell he was pleased." A grin spread over Gina's face, but disappeared with the next thought. "But then he came by the office with that woman, that slut, and I could see that when he looked at her he wasn't seeing her, but Debbie. He'd never looked at me that way. I knew she had to go, but I couldn't just get rid of her, she had to pay, pay for taking him away from me. I brought her here, to that old bats old house and was so glad I'd made note of it when she died. That idiot I was engaged to never saw its worth. I can't call Mark a mistake, he made all this possible. "I-I made her pay," she frowned. "I took what she would give away so easily, pretended that I was him, tried to see what he saw in her."

"And what did you find out?" asked Judy, inching toward a window.

Gina's eyes snapped to her. "Nothing!" she barked. "They were empty! Useless!" There was a look of desolation in her eyes as she said this. "They couldn't give him what he needed, only I can do that, but… but he doesn't see that." She finished softly.

Judy hesitated, but forged on, determined to keep her talking. "There is one thing that really had us down at the lab confused," Judy licked her lips. "Where did the semen come from?"

Gina sneered. "What semen?"

"Uh, the investigators found traces of semen in the soil at the parking lot at the golf course –where the third body was found- where the car was parked. We- they couldn't figure out where it came from."

Gina looked confused for a minute, but then her face cleared. "I fucked a few men in my car, I guess the condoms fell to the floor after we were done and mixed in with some potting soil that had spilled there. It must have fallen out when I took the bitch out of the car."

"But, what about Mr. Bell?" Judy asked hesitantly, not wanting to set the woman off. "Why did you kill him?"

A grin spread over the woman's face and she giggled. "Oh, I was feeling horny one day and he was obliging, only then he became such a pest. Like he could ever be good enough for me," she made a face of disgust. "Like I'd ever want another man for anything other than the occasional screw. Finally, I'd had enough. I decided to give him one more trip to paradise, well, for me anyway." She ran her hand down her belly and between her legs, clamping them around it. "He lay there and willingly let me smother him. I came and he went, and he never saw it coming." She laughed.

Judy watched as she began to pace again, trying to quietly creep toward the window once more.

"No, he could have never taken Vince's place." She stopped and swallowed. "I could have made Vince see me- convinced him that I was the one for him… but that bitch came back, only she used a different name. He became obsessed with her, oh he never said anything, no, he didn't do that, but I could see it that day, the day she came into the hospital." She kicked at a covered couch, causing dust to rise up.

Judy moved a few more inches and now she was in front of the window, she just hoped that it wasn't boarded up.

"The helicopter brought her in, all dehydrated and near death, and Vince watched from a distance, watched the man who had ruined his life pace as he waited to hear about the woman he loved. Vince has a journal on his computer," she seemingly switched topics suddenly, " It's password protected but it's not hard to figure it out if you know him, and I know him very well. He wrote about seeing her, of about how she made him feel and how much she looked like Debbie. It didn't take long for him to find another one, this one a cop to remind him of Sara. I couldn't let him throw himself away on a pale imitation of a copy, and she was just like the others, so pathetic, begging for her life. She was so worthless she died before I could even show her how worthless she was." She gave a cold laugh. "Well, she still got punished, just like all the others."

Judy saw her face clear as Gina turned and looked at her. Thinking fast, Judy asked, "But why me? I've never even met Doctor Lurie."

"I told you why!" she rushed over and stood in front of Judy. "The one thing that Vince always wrote about in is journal was how Gil Grissom ruined his life." She turned to pace around again. "And since the copy isn't around, I had to go to plan 'B'. I'll get rid of his little menagerie of people down at the lab, starting- with – YOU!"

She advanced on Judy but a splintering sound made them turn around. A group of armed men had burst in the door and were now filing into the room, followed by Brass, who was followed by Grissom and the whole nightshift team.

On seeing them, Gina screamed and ran back towards the room with her souvenirs.

Brass ran after her along with the other armed officers.

From the other room came a sudden bang which was followed by a series of pops.

Judy hid her head in her hands.

Brass called out for someone to call an ambulance.

Grissom knelt down beside Judy and put his hands over hers. "It's over now, Judy. You did a great job. I'm so proud of you."

Judy looked up at him and felt something inside burst, and the tears flowed. Grissom held her as she cried and the paramedics raced past them into the other room. They stayed there as the paramedics exited and let the coroners in.

When the tears had dried, Judy looked up and into the eyes of the team she worked with but barely saw. She smiled and said, "If this is what it's like for you guys all the time, I think I'll be happy to stick with being a receptionist, thanks."

"What? You didn't like being kidnapped?" Nick asked. "You didn't even get buried under anything." He grinned down at her.

Anyone over-hearing them would have thought them crazy, taking about kidnapping in such a light hearted tone, and with the kidnapper being wheeled away on a stretcher, her life ended, but they knew what was needed in this moment, what Judy needed to help her get though. She needed to know that life went on, and though you never knew what would happen, your friends would always be there for you, to make you laugh and make you forget.

Grissom let himself into the condo, and sighed with relief.

Sara looked up from the couch and smiled. "Thanks for calling to let me know Judy's okay," she whispered.

Grissom nodded. He walked over and sat with her. "It was tough on her, but I think she'll be fine, after a few days rest." He rested his head against the back of the couch. "Judy told us most of Gina's reasoning. It still makes no sense."

"Sometimes there is no sense, just what happens." Sighing, she sat up straighter. "I got a call. From a friend in San Francisco, do you remember me telling you about Michele?'

Grissom nodded.

"Well, it seems she's been arrested for that murder that happened at her club and she wanted to know if I could come back and help…" She watched as Grissom adjusted to this. "It wouldn't be for that long, but, I don't know, I feel like I should do this… you know, ease my way back into working."

Grissom took her hand and kissed it. "I understand you have to do what you have to do. I'm not going anywhere, not without you anyway, and you wouldn't be you if you didn't want to help a friend."

Sara smiled. "I love you so much."

"And I love you." He leaned forward and kissed her but pulled back quickly and sneezed. "Damn…" he sneezed again.

Sara felt his forehead. "You feel hot."

Grissom leered playfully, "Yeah, hot for you, baby."

Sara rolled her eyes. "And now I know you're sick; you only get that corny when you're running a fever.

"When are you leaving?" Grissom asked, ignoring the sudden itch in his throat.

"I told Michele that I'd head out tonight, but if you need me to stay here and nurse you, I'm sure I can put it off for a couple of days."

"No, no you should go, I'll be okay," he got out before he was racked by coughs.

"And you should go to bed. I'll bring you some tea, and climb in beside you for a nap. Are you hungry?"

Grissom shook his head. "No, but bed sounds like a good idea." He stood and headed toward the bedroom.

Sara watched him go before turning to the kitchen. "Well, Hank, you're going to have to take care of dad while I'm gone."

Hank lifted his head from where it was pillowed on his paws and lifted an eyebrow as if to say, 'Yeah, and who's going to take care of me?'

"I know I just got back, but I can't leave Michele on her own. I'll come back soon, I promise." Sara turned to the sink and filled the kettle. "You just make sure daddy takes care of himself, he won't forget to feed you, I promise."

Hank settled his head back down, his tongue lolling out of him mouth.

"I knew you'd understand." Sara grabbed a piece of paper and began to write down a recipe for mock chicken noodle soup. She secured it to the refrigerator with a magnet and turned to making the tea.

Carrying it into the bedroom, she found Grissom lying across the bed, nude, and asleep. She smiled and set down his tea.

Pulling the covers out from under him, she covered him and lay down beside him. Brushing his hair out of his eyes, she kissed his cheek. "Sleep and dream of me?" she whispered and closed her eyes and joined in slumber.

The End