Vengeance and Retribution

"Vengeance, deep-brooding o'ver the slain, had locked the source of softer woe,
And burning pride and high disdain forbade the rising tear to flow." ~Sir Walter Scott

Morgan was looking over a folder as he headed back to his desk. Seeing Reid packing up his messenger bag, Morgan frowned slightly. Had he lost track of time that badly while reviewing the case J.J. had asked him to do a phone consult on? A glance at his watch told him no, it was still two hours before the end of the work day. Assuming no new case reared its head at the last minute, of course.

"I never envisioned you as the type to cut class, Reid."

Lifting his head up, Reid met his eyes with a puzzled look.

"Cutting class?"

Then the puzzlement faded and he smiled as he adjusted the strap on his bag after settling it on his shoulder.

"Oh, you're talking about my leaving now? I'm not going home, Derek. A deputy from one of our old cases said he had some new information that we might want to add to our records. Since he was traveling into the area for a funeral, his sheriff asked him to deliver the file. He called because doesn't have his own transportation here and I was asked to meet him to pick it up. I should be back before we shut down if traffic cooperates. In fact, I shouldn't even be gone an hour."

"Good. Maybe we can grab a bite together after work."

"Thai?"

"Sounds good to me."

As Reid left, Morgan returned to the case file he was reviewing as he reached for the phone to call the LEO that had requested assistance. He didn't think anything else of Reid's trip until Hotch finally emerged from the meeting he'd been in most of the day. Morgan glanced to his watch and saw that this time, it really was nearly time to leave. Reid should have been back already, but traffic was never predictable.

Hotch walked over to Reid's desk, not actually looking up until he reached it. He seemed surprised to find that Reid wasn't there and Morgan felt his first twinge of concern. His eyes quickly took in the clean desk and the absence of the messenger bag, then he looked over to Morgan.

"Did Reid leave already?"

"No, but he hasn't gotten back from his meeting yet. He was expecting to be back about forty-five minutes ago, but you know traffic around here."

"Meeting? What meeting?"

"He told me he was meeting one of the LEOs from a past case to pick up some new information to add to our files. You didn't know about it?"

"No, I didn't. And it isn't like Reid to take something like that on without clearing it. Did Reid say if someone had asked him to meet with the LEO?"

"That would be me. Is there a problem?"

Strauss had entered the bullpen in time to catch the last part of the conversation.

"Other than my not being informed of one of my agents being sent out, the only other matter of concern is that Doctor Reid hasn't returned yet."

The only real indication of Hotch's disapproval came through on his use of Reid's title. Strauss knew him well enough to know that, but dismissed it as it being due to her sending out one of 'his' agents without clearing it with him first. She decided that it would be a good time to remind him that 'his' agents were also 'her' agents.

"Your team isn't currently on an active case and you were in a meeting when it came up. As Doctor Reid was both requested and available, I told him to go ahead - we need to maintain good relations with our area's local police."

"Do you remember the details of where they were going to meet?"

"No, after I asked Doctor Reid to handle it, I transferred the call over to him so that he could take down the details. He's probably just been held up in traffic."

Apparently of the opinion that no more needed to be said on the matter, Strauss headed back to her office, not noticing that she was leaving Hotch and Morgan behind sporting near matching frowns.

"She said they requested Reid?"

"That's what I heard, Hotch. But that doesn't bother me as much as her saying it was someone local that requested Reid. When Reid was getting ready to go, he said the deputy he was meeting had come to our area for a funeral, so he been given the file to turn over to us. He didn't come himself because he didn't have a way to get here. That doesn't sound like a local to me."

"You're right. It doesn't to me either."

Not saying another word, Hotch pulled his phone out and called Reid's number, frown deepening as it went straight to voice mail.

"Garcia!"

Head popping up from the screen she'd been studying, Garcia looked over to Hotch, growing immediately serious at the expression on his face.

"What's wrong, boss?"

"Hopefully nothing. Run a GPS check on Reid's phone."

"I will have that for you in three shakes of a lamb's tail . . . Hotch?"

The tone her voice took had both Hotch and Morgan moving toward her.

"What is it, Garcia?"

"According to this, Reid is at your home, sir."

"What?"

That exclamation came from Morgan - Hotch was already dialing his home phone.

"Jessica? Is anyone there with you and Jack?"

"Just one of Jack's friends. They're playing in his room. Oh, a package was dropped off for you around an hour ago."

"How big of a package? Who delivered it?"

"About the size of a standard shoe box, but it's heavy. It was someone from law enforcement. He wasn't local though. The uniform was wrong."

"Don't touch it or allow anyone else to touch it. I'll be there with a team as soon as possible. While we're on our way, jot down anything you can remember about the man and anything you might have seen about what kind of vehicle he arrived in."

"I will. It's - you don't think it's anything dangerous, do you?"

"No, but until we get a look at it, be careful around it."

Ending the call, Hotch call out.

"Rossi, J.J.! We're heading out to a possible scene - five minutes."

Rossi stuck his head out of his door.

"Possible scene? Where?"

"My home."

J.J. noticed that neither Morgan or Garcia were questioning the location. Rossi, on the other hand, noted Reid's absence. Both took a look at Hotch and decided to hold off their questions until they were in the SUV. Once they were pulled out and on the road, Hotch began speaking.

"Reid was sent out by Strauss to pick up a file on a past case from a LEO that had requested him by name. He still hasn't returned. He didn't pick up when I called his phone and when Garcia traced it, it shows as being at my home. Jessica says a package was dropped off for me by someone dressed in uniform, but not one that the local police wear. I've already asked her to write down anything she can remember about him and told her not to touch the package again."

Rossi scowled as he listened.

"So, current thoughts are that either the meeting was likely a setup to get Reid off to himself or someone saw him off to himself and took advantage of the situation?"

Morgan shifted in his seat impatiently.

"I'm more inclined to think it was a set-up. Why else would someone ask specifically for Reid?"

Rossi shrugged off that question.

"Could be any number of reasons. Reid often is in the stations and departments more than the rest of us while he's working up geographic profiles or researching on the computer. He may also have been regarded as more approachable."

A faint smile formed on J.J.'s face.

"You mean less scary than the rest of you guys."

A smirk accompanied Rossi's answer.

"Isn't that what I just said? And there are also a number of reasons they wouldn't have requested a woman, the simplest one being that they didn't want it to sound like a bad pickup line."

It still bothered Morgan enough to press on.

"But why request someone specific at all?"

"Could've been to make sure it didn't forgotten because everyone else thought someone else was going to do it. Hey look - I'm not saying it doesn't sound fishy to me as well. It does. But we need to keep an open mind or we might overlook something and go the wrong direction. One thing we don't want to do if something has happened is to have to waste time by backtracking."

Any further discussion was tabled as they arrived at Hotch's home. Jessica was as far away from the mystery package as she could manage without leaving. Jack had expressed curiosity but stayed away when told to. That hadn't stopped him from staring at it though. He sulked a bit when his father instructed him to go to his room, but Hotch was firm. There were a number of things that might be in that box that he didn't want his son seeing.

Rossi was examining the box itself. It was wrapped in brown paper and had a string tied around it. The more he looked at it, the more he frowned. J.J. stepped close enough to get a look at it herself to see if she could figure out what Rossi was seeing. Only one thing really struck her.

"That's an unusual knot, isn't it?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure I've seen it before, but not outside of a kitchen. Let's keep this knot intact. It isn't one most people would know and even fewer would use on a package. At least not if it's the type I'm thinking of."

Morgan put on a pair of gloves, then came over with his knife and carefully cut through the string on either side before dropping the knot into a protective bag. He gently sliced through the brown paper next, careful not to disturb any of the pieces of tape on the wrapping paper in case the tape might have any prints still intact on it. Jessica had been right. The box inside had once held a pair of men's shoes and there were no signs that it was anything but a box. No odd odors, greasy marks or stains that often accompanied a bomb.

At Hotch's nod, Morgan eased off the lid and looked inside.

"Damn it!"

Rossi leaned over to look and felt like letting out a string of curses himself. Packed inside was Reid's gun and holster, his FBI identification, his wallet, his wristwatch, his phone, his keys - even loose change. It looked like he'd been stripped of everything but the clothes on his back. Then Rossi noticed something at the bottom of the box, barely noticeable beneath all of Reid's things.

"Is that - hair?"