THE COLLECTION
Chapter 1Boat Trip
"They sicken of the calm, who know the storm" - Dorothy Parker
"And since we helped track him down, we've been asked by the director to bring him in." Strauss clasped her hands in front of her on the desk and eyed Hotchner, waiting for his reply. He stood stiffly to attention and watched a bug crawling up the wall behind her. It reminded him of himself. He waited a few seconds for his annoyance to die down before he spoke. He and Strauss were not the best of mates.
"With all due respect, Ma'am, we are profilers, not errand boys to run back and forth ferrying UnSubs." He took a deep breath, and went on, "Who do you want to do the ferrying?"
She stood up, trying to be intimidating and failing. "You are the Unit Chief. As such, I think you can choose the team."
Damn it. I walked right into that one!
"I'll present it to the team, and we'll decide together who I should take with me."
"I don't expect you to go." she said, surprised.
"I would never ask a team member to do anything that I'm not prepared to do myself." He almost added that it was good leadership, but he thought it might be best not to antagonise her. They scowled at each other for a moment, and then she said he could go. He bowed his head briefly and left the room. He realised that his fists were clenched. He hated being second guessed. He went to his office, counted to ten, and called Jareau.
"I need three copies of the Jeffrey Hunt file please," he said, "In the conference room in ten minutes."
He went out onto the walkway, and called his team together. He wasn't looking forward to this.
Reid quickly made himself and Emily some coffee, and they assembled in the conference room. When everyone had settled down, JJ came in and gave Hotch the files. He nodded slightly as a thank you, and she left.
He put the files down in front of him. "You are all familiar, too familiar probably, with the Jeffrey Hunt Case." He glanced around the room to nods of agreement. "When he escaped, he fled to Acuera Island, where there is a small community, mostly native Americans. He has been arrested by the law keeping force on the island. We have been asked to go to the small island ten miles off the east coast of Florida, to pick up Jeffrey Hunt, and bring him back here for trial."
"We've been asked?" Morgan said, frowning. "When did that come into our job description?"
"Orders from above, I'm afraid." Hotch said. "There is a small police force on the island, but they are not equipped to handle this. We need to go and collect him asap." He looked around at the team. "I would like Reid to come with me, and I would like a volunteer."
"Count me in," Dave said, "That is unless anyone else fancies a trip?"
Morgan and Emily managed to look away without actually moving. Hotch gave them a few seconds t make up their minds. When there were no objections, he gave a file to Reid and Rossi.
"Ok, wheels up thirty minutes. We fly down to Florida, and get a boat out to the island." he said. "The trip out should be quite nice, as long as the sea isn't too rough."
As they left the conference room, Hotch felt a hand on his arm.
"Be careful, Aaron." Emily said, worry in her eyes. "Hunt is an evil SOB."
-0-0-0-
Three hours later Hotch, Reid and Rossi were standing by a police owned motor launch, waiting for the local officer who was going to take them out to the island. Hotch had called the island police had told them of their imminent arrival. To say they sounded relieved was an understatement if ever there was one. Serial killers were unheard of there, and having Hunt on their island scared them. Hotch could understand. Just looking at Hunt made his hair prickle on the back of his neck.
Reid and Dave were deep in conversation, probably about one of Dave's books. Aaron was pleased that Dave was taking time now to talk to Reid about them. He remembered when Dave first joined the team he was a little overwhelmed by the almost hero worship he received from Reid, and didn't quite know how to handle it. Now he saw the genuine interest that Reid had was just part of his never ending quest for knowledge. When their driver arrived, Aaron left Reid and Dave chatting, and he went to introduce himself.
"I am SSA Aaron Hotchner, Those are my team members, the older one is SSA David Rossi, and with him is SSA Doctor Spencer Reid."
The cop put out his hand to shake. "Detective Brian Watson. How soon do you want to leave?" He was a little taller than Aaron, blue eyes, and fair freckly skin. His grey hair was tinged with red, and he didn't look comfortable in the Miami heat. He wore a long sleeved white shirt and light blue jeans and a baseball cap. He looked hot, and Hotch wondered how hot he himself looked in his impeccable dark suit and tie.
Hotch checked the time. "How long does it take to get there?"
"About an hour and a half, allowing for weather and tides. If we leave in the next half hour we should easily be back here before night fall."
That sounded good to Hotch. He wanted to get back as soon as possible. He was due a day off tomorrow, and there was a circus in town. He had got tickets to take Jacky. He smiled to himself as he imagined Jacky's sweet little face light up with excitement when he saw where Daddy was going to take him. He hadn't told him, in case he couldn't make it for whatever reason. He didn't want to hand Haley ammunition on a plate. She had enough already without him giving her more.
They walked together across the yard to the boat, and Reid and Rossi joined them, and Aaron introduced them to Brian.
"David Rossi the writer?"
Dave, as always when this happened, looked embarrassed. He nodded and turned away quickly before Brian had the chance to say anything else. He often wished he had used a pen name to publish, but at the time, he had no intention of coming back to the BAU, and so he didn't think it would matter. He was most discomfited when total strangers recognised him from his picture on the dust jackets, and quoted chunks of the book back at him. He smiled to himself as he remembered his reaction to Reid when he first started back. He could actually quote the whole book and he had found this very intimidating.
He was used to it now, and actually enjoyed his obvious extreme interest.
The four men stepped down onto the deck of the boat. Brian took them below where there was a small barred cell where Hunt would be spending the trip back. Aaron inspected it, and he could foresee no problems. He thought the most dangerous part would be the drive from the police station to the boat. When he was satisfied with the security arrangements, he went up on deck and sat with Dave and Spencer. Dave was in jeans and shirt sleeves, and Reid had his tie pulled down to the second button, and his sleeves were rolled up. It was very hot, and Aaron considered removing his jacket, and decided not to. Haley had told him that his suit was a psychological shield, something that he hid behind, making social contact less of an ordeal. He often wondered if she was right.
So he sat on the deck drinking the lemonade that Dave had got for him, sweltering in his suit.
Damn you Haley! Why do you have to be right all the time?
Reid lay back with his eyes closed behind his huge sunglasses, and Dave sat with his elbows on his knees staring out at the flat blue sea. Aaron sat beside him, holding his glass.
"It makes me uneasy, Aaron. All this peace and quiet."
"I know what you mean. The calm before the storm do you think?" Hotch said. "I can't actually enjoy anything any more. All through the calm, I'm waiting for the storm all the time."
"The job gets to you, doesn't it?" Dave said. "I didn't think you'd still be here. When I applied to come back, I was surprised and pleased that we'd be working together again."
Aaron thought back to when they first met, half a lifetime ago. Dave had been a good teacher to him. When it had been suggested to him that Rossi should be back on the team, Aaron was delighted. He had a lot of love and respect for the man, and even more so that he was happy to work with Aaron, one of his students, as his boss. Aaron was glad to be able to defer to his greater experience. It was nice to have him on the team.
The sound of Reid snoring made them turn around. "We ought to wake him up, I think, before he gets burnt." Aaron said.
Dave reached out his arm and shook him awake. "Don't get burnt, Reid."
"Oh…uh….thank you, Rossi." He sat up and shuffled forward and sat beside the others. "Are we nearly there yet?"
Aaron gave him a sidelong glance; Dave said, "About ten minutes, I think." He called to Brian at the controls. "How much further, Captain?"
"If you look straight ahead of us, you can see the island on the horizon."
The three agents moved to the front of the boat and squinted across the bright sea to the faint outline of the island, a dark smudge where the sky met the sea.
"We'll be there in ten." Brian informed them. "Will you want to stay for a while? We can spend three hours and still be back before it gets dark."
"We'll collect Hunt. And leave right away." Hotch said. "The sooner this is over the better."
The calm before the storm? Please, let's hope not.