halloweentown!!! (

halloweenish) wrote in

politico,
@ 2009-12-10 01:31:00

bau

Three days into the new case, and everyone had participated in their respective interviews, and Beckett had spoke to the press on the very first day. The 26th was fast approaching, just one day away, and it was nerve wracking for everyone on the team to think that someone else might be snatched soon. Sitting around the table, they were all prepared to come together with information they'd found out while investigating the case. At the moment they were waiting for Liam, who was on the phone with his wife in his office.

On the man's desk was a manilla envelope addressed to him, left unopened.

Micah tapped his pen idly against the desk as Jude shuffled some papers. He'd done extensive research on all of the victims and he was fairly certain that they were kidnapped, not that he hadn't been before. But the cops had seemed to think that Parker Reigh had just left on his own accord, but the boy had practically vanished off the grid.

He didn't often talk about cases with Reagan, but he did take the time to call him, especially while he was out of town. Even though he was able to go home at night during this case, the interview he'd had with Callaway had disturbed him on a very deep level. He needed to hear Reagan's voice, reassure himself that he wasn't going to disappear into the night like Parker Reigh had.

As he held the phone crooked against his shoulder, he slid the sharp edge of the letter opener under the orange envelope and tugged out the letter inside. He fell very silent on the phone and then muttered his apologies to Reagan. "I'm sorry, baby. I have to go, something came up. It's an emergency." His voice was rushed, urgent and his gut told him that his team could be in trouble. Despite the fact that this case had been making him think of Reagan, he still didn't connect the fact that this letter could have meant something other than his team of talented agents.

"We've got a problem," he said as he came into the conference room and set the letter down on the table.

When Liam came into the room and said those words, Mick looked up at him with a heavy frown. Those words coming from Liam were never good, and she had learned a long time ago to take the man seriously. Everyone had. Liam was a pretty serious person, and eve more so when it came to his job.

"What's up?" she asked as she shifted forward in her seat and reached out to slide the paper towards her. When she read the words, she furrowed her brow in worry. "Oh..."

Emma leaned forward as well, and the look on her face was nothing short of worry. She looked up and over at Liam for a moment before he gaze shifted to Beckett.

"I bet the return address on this is bogus," she said quietly as her gaze swept to Micah.

Micah hadn't said anything, but his gaze had shifted from Wyatt, to Jude, and then returned to Liam. It was obvious what he was thinking, though he just wasn't saying it.

Wyatt read the letter too and he looked up at Liam with a concerned expression. "The unsub's language is very personal. The words he uses indicate that he's had some sort of contact with you in the past, or at least he feels as if he has. You've struck something in him, Agent Montgomery. This letter was definitely not addressed to the BAU as a whole, but to you specifically." That's what he was thinking, worrying about Liam rather than drawing the conclusion that he himself could be considered in danger. It was hard to put himself in that place, to think of himself as a talented person.

Beckett, however, came to the same conclusion as Micah immediately. "Surrounded by talented people. It's clear that that's his interest, some significant ability wrapped up in an attractive younger man. Liam," Beckett said in the most serious and bold tone he'd ever used before. "We need to pull Wyatt and Jude off the case. This is a direct threat against them." It was almost an order as much as it was a plea, but in this situation, he wasn't concerned about Liam being upset about demands. Liam nodded. "They fit the victim profile. You're right."

Jude blinked and for a moment, he just looked a bit lost. He was never in the field, he was always the one behind the scenes, doing what he could to help out. He hadn't ever been in any reap danger before, and it was clear that he wasn't sure what to think.

"Me and Wyatt?" he said as he glanced over at Wyatt.

"I honestly think that taking them off of the case now wouldn't matter," Mick said honestly. "If he all ready has one of them in his sights then... Taking them off the case won't matter. I think we need to take some serious precautions, Montgomery. We need to make sure they're safe."

"I agree," Micah said with a nod. "The 26th is tomorrow."

Wyatt perked up. While he would never exactly fit himself into the category of being 'attractive,' he could at least see the uniqueness of his talents paired with his age. "That's the perfect opportunity then," he piped up. "If he comes after one of us, then we can be ready for him. It only makes sense that if we can't find enough information to go to him, we wait for him to come to us."

This was clearly not copacetic with Beckett. And Liam didn't look too happy with it either. "To be quite frank, Wyatt--neither you or Jude are trained for that kind of operation," Beckett spoke a bit harshly, clearly shaken by the notion.

For the first time in awhile, Wyatt showed his anger at that. "Jude isn't, but I am. If you really think the unsub is after one of us, then I suggest you use the leverage against him." Something had gotten into Wyatt and he wanted to prove himself.

Jude had gone completely silent. Wyatt was right, while he was trained for this sort of thing, Jude absolutely was not. He looked a little uncomforable as he sat there, eyes drifting back and forth as everyone spoke.

"It's Montgomery's call," Mick reminded Wyatt, and with that she turned her attention back to Liam. "Maybe he's right. Maybe we can use this, but we'd have to be very careful. Stick one of us with him in his apartment, same with Jude. Maybe Beckett can stay with Jude, and Micah can stay with Wyatt. I can surveillance outside of Wyatt's, and you and Emma can surveillance Jude's."

Liam sighed, torn between simply locking the two of them up and actually using this turn of events. "He's seasoned enough to expect this," he pointed out. But Wyatt butted in.

"Sir, this type of unsub is frequently arrogant. It's possible that he is unable to even fathom that this might be his downfall. He's too inside of himself. I think this would be a missed opportunity." He'd calmed down a little, knowing that they were just trying to protect him, but he wanted to help. He glanced over at Jude though, feeling bad that he'd spoken for the man.

Regarding Mick for a moment, Liam finally nodded. "All right. It's clear that he's going after one of you, so a top priority is to keep an eye on you both. We'll go with your plan then, it's sound. Micah with Wyatt, Beckett with Jude. The rest of us will keep an eye on the surrounding areas. He'll be sure to be watching as well, so keep an eye out, but look as if you're not." The more unsuspecting they seemed, the more likely the criminal would strike.

"Should we talk about what we found out on our interviews?" Emma asked quietly, her blue eyes moving from Wyatt's face to Liam's. "I still think it's important that we do..."

"We found out some interesting things from Casey Porter," Micah added, trying to focus on doing his job and not on worrying about Wyatt, but it was hard. His stomach was in knots. "There's no doubt in my mind that he was a target, and the unsub found a replacement with Elijah Hunter."

Liam had been utterly sidetracked with dealing with the letter. Offering an appreciative look to Emma, he listened to what Micah had to say about Casey. Wyatt added his input as well. "Since this was only his second attempt, it makes sense that he would be inexperienced and not take into account Casey's boyfriend interupting them. But he's learned since and he has a year inbetween to follow the next victim. But something happened one year. Why would he skip a year? He has a lot of control."

"Maybe we missed that case?" Emma suggested as she turned her attention to Jude, who seemed pretty adamant that they hadn't by the way that he was shaking his head.

"I've done a nationwide search, and nothing matches the circumstances - they're very specific," he said as he chewed on his lower lip. "I can say that Parker Reigh really did go missing, though, and that the police were mistaken. His bank accounts have gone untouched, cell phone turned off, no known address or job for him since then. His second book wasn't even published."

"All right, well, this unsub is very particular... Maybe he didn't find anyone that seemed special enough to him? He seems arrogant enough to be picky, he wants what he wants. Maybe there was someone, but he couldn't take them, so he just decided not to take anyone?" Micah suggested.

"He found a replacement for Casey in a month, unless he was more impulsive back then. Maybe it only takes a month. Parker Reigh seemed almost opportunistic with the circumstances surrounding the arguement with his boyfriend," Liam mused out loud.

Beckett was frustrated, feeling helpless. It was clear that he wasn't in a good place at the moment and he shifted back and forth in his seat. "What's important about the 26th? Holidays?"

"Maybe he wants a family, and the holidays stress that," Emma said as she looked down at the stack of cases in front of them. It was sad to think that these people had lives, and now they were very possibly being held prisoner somewhere. "Or maybe he sees them as objects, gifts to himself."

"Maybe it's both," Mick muttered with a shake of her head. "Elijah Hunter was hard to find anything on. His mother is dead, he never knew his father, and he was very estranged from his stepfather. He didn't have many friends."

"He was also blind," Jude added, "I found a newspaper article on every single person that was taken," he continued as he shuffled through his paperwork to find the print outs. "Including Casey Porter. The article about him was a local one, it talked about how young he was and his talents. Elijah Hunter's was basically about what a prodigy at the violin he was, having been born blind, and learned the instrument himself. Parker Reigh's article was about how his first novel was gaining a lot of exposure, and his age was impressive. Shay Lindsey was gaining recognition in the social circuit, photographing a lot of important people - there wasn't exactly an article on him but a lot of his photographs were being publicly featured. And Murphy Knite, he'd just landed a record deal and his local newspaper did an interview with him." He slid the articles towards the center of the table as he spoke about each one.

"Maybe he was one of those people. Talented, young, promising. The profile of a kidnapper like this puts him between the ages of 30-50. Jude, is there any way to search through Virginia newspapers for something bad happening to a talented young someone?" It was grasping, but it was another possibility to be ruled out.
"He'd need someplace to keep them all. Maybe we should be looking at large houses in the area? Single man occupancy." That didn't narrow it down all that much. Wyatt knew they had a better chance of capturing the guy with the trap. But he wish ed he could be sure the man was coming after him and not Jude.

"I'll see what I can do," Jude said with a nod of his head, jotting a few things down in his notebook before he moved to get up. He couldn't help but feel anxious, but he was doing his best not to show it as he slipped out of the room.

"We know that he uses some sort of sedative on his victims so that he could gather their things together," Micah said after Jude had left the room. "And he'd popped the breaker box at Casey Porter's house so that he couldn't turn on any lights. That's something we should look out for tonight," he added as he glanced over at Beckett, since he'd be staying with Jude.

Beckett watched Jude go and then turned back to Micah with a nod of understanding. "I'll make sure he doesn't know I'm around and keep an eye out for that. If he has a sedative, I suppose he could use it on me too so I'll be careful."

"I think the best we can do for now is continue preparing for tonight. Beckett, you go help Jude with the computer search?" Liam knew the boy didn't need help, but he might need some support right now. Beckett nodded and left.

As soon as Jude reached his office, he felt the panic really start to set in. But instead of allowing himself to really feel it, he sat down at his computer and set to work, wanting to find anything that could possibly help the team out. His mind kept drifting to Wyatt, who he knew was speaking to him about Micah earlier, and how Wyatt would be with Micah all night long. A part of him wanted to go find Wyatt and kiss him just so he'd be ready for anything, in case something happened between he and Micah. Really, that was much more pleasant to think about than the fact that he was possibly in very real danger.

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