A/N: Here is the next chapter in the story. It's a lot longer than the last chapter, and deals with a lot more information. Sorry it took me so long to upload it. But the good thing is that I'm already hard at work on chapter 3. So read and enjoy:)
Chapter 2-Briefings and Realizations
Over within the Red Cell team's inconspicuously hidden headquarters, the rest of the team was seated around the long wooden conference table. Case files on the case lay open upon the table in front of each of the four remaining team members. The monitor at the head of the table was virtually littered with the photos of their four current victims. Standing beside the monitor Sam looked up from his scribbled notes on the case, pointing to the monitor he began,
"According to the case file our Unsub has so far claimed four victims. Our first victim, Marilyn Grace of Stafford County, was abducted three weeks ago, her body was found on the side of highway I-495 a week ago. During the time that Marilyn's body was found our second victim, Helena Parrish of Prince William County was abducted. A civilian found her body four days later on the side of highway I-495, just like Marilyn Grace. Around that same time our third victim, Heather Young of Stafford County was abducted, and just like the first two victims, her body was found a few days later along the side of highway I-495. Our fourth and latest victim, Teresa Elders of Prince William County, was abducted three days ago, her body was found this morning on the side of highway I-495. Also, all four women were found wearing the same white hospital gowns. What are you guy's thoughts?"
Silence hovered over the table as Mick, Beth, and Prophet contemplated all of what Sam had just told them. Perplexed at the seemingly random choice in victims Prophet lifted his eyes away from the case file, and looked at Sam as he asked,
"What other connections are there between the four victims other than two are from Stafford County and two are from Prince William County, and that all four of them were wearing the same white hospital gown?"
Scanning through his hand written notes Sam replied,
"According to each of the ME reports, all four women were thirty-eight to thirty-nine weeks pregnant, and had indeed delivered a few days before they were killed. It also seems that all four women attended the same Women's Clinic."
Hearing these additional pieces of information Prophet questioned,
"Were their babies ever located, either alive or dead?"
Even though the question sounded horrible and unthinkable, it was still a question that needed to be asked. With a dejected look on his face Sam shook his head no,
"No, so far there hasn't been any sign of any of the women's babies, which is something that the local PDs' are concerned about."
From her seat across from Prophet Beth heaved a sigh as she said,
"The fact that none of the babies have been found most likely means that the Unsub wanted them for a specific reason. For what specific reason I'm not sure, but it seems that the Unsub's main focus was on the babies. The mothers were just the means by which the Unsub acquired the babies, and once he had the babies, he discarded the mother like she was a piece of trash. The clothing in which all four of the women were found proves this. Not only does the gown tell us this but it can also tell us the type of building environment the Unsub held them in. The gowns appear to be of an old, out of date fashion, but are still in crisp, clean conditions. If we can find out which facilities have, or used to carry this style gown, it could help us narrow down our search radius."
Nodding his head in agreement with Beth Sam quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket. As he dialed the all too familiar number of their tech Goddess Penelope Garcia Mick gazed down at his own phone in hopes of finding a message from Gina. With no such luck Mick placed his phone back inside his jacket pocket. Down at the end of the table from the speaker-activated phone in Sam's palm he heard Garcia's cheery voice reply,
"You have reached the all power tech Goddess Garcia. How may I serve?"
Smiles spread almost all around the table at Garcia's words as Sam replied,
"Hey Garcia, we need you to work some of your magic for us."
The sound of knuckles cracking could be heard through the phone as Garcia replied,
"Ok, hit me."
Smiling at his accepted challenge Sam said,
"Ok, we need you to run a check on the gowns that the victims were found in. If possible, find out any and all businesses that have ever used or stocked them, and find out exactly where they are located. That's all we have for you for now, we'll contact you if we get anything else."
Garcia quickly replied,
"Alright, let me work my magic my non-magical friends, and I'll beep you later with what I find."
Hearing nothing but silence follow Garcia's words Sam ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket. Glancing over to the silent British agent Sam could see a hint of worry gleaning in his eyes, but before he could question Mick on the glean in his eyes Sam's attention was deviated as Beth asked,
"Sam, do we know exactly where each of the victims was abducted from?"
Glancing back down at his case notes a heavy sigh escaped Sam's lips as he replied,
"According to Quantico and Stafford County PD all four victims had a doctor's appointments scheduled during the time that they were each abducted. Something else that is interesting is that all four women attended the same Women's clinic, which has multiple locations, one being in Stafford County, and another in Prince William County. The case file however doesn't say who their OBGYNs' were, but Garcia can tell us that."
At the mention of all four women having been attending a doctor's appointment at the time that they were abducted Mick's eyes widened as the glint of worry enveloped his eyes even more. Unable to look at this peculiar look on his friend's face Sam, while leaning over the table, asked,
"Mick, you have yet to say a single word, and your eyes are filled to the brim with worry. Talk to us, tell us what it is that's eating at you."
No longer able to withhold his sense of worry from his friends and teammates Mick heaved a sigh, his shoulders drooping in apparent surrender as he confessed,
"I'm just worried about Gina, as I'm sure she's already informed you Coop, she had a doctor's appointment scheduled for this morning. She told me that she would text me when the appointment was over, but I haven't heard from her yet, and her appointment should have been over and done with thirty minutes ago."
Sam, as well as Prophet, and Beth were put on edge as they detected the note of pure, intense worry ringing in Mick's words. The thought of something happening to one of their own never sat right with any of them. Hoping that Mick was simply overreacting Beth cautiously asked,
"Are you sure something hasn't happened that would have changed the time of Gina's appointment? Have you even called her to see if she answers her phone?"
Shocked by Beth's selected choice of words Mick stared incredulously at Beth as he replied,
"Gina's appointment time wasn't changed; if it had Gina would have called me and told me. And as for your second question, of course I've called her, I tried calling her right as I got here, but all I got was her voicemail. Something else that worries me is that Gina attends the same Women's clinic as our four victims…"
With his last point having been made everyone understood why Mick was so worried about Gina not calling him. Not quite ready or willing to accept the idea that her best friend, sister, and teammate may have been abducted by their Unsub Beth, making sure to keep her face and voice calm, asked,
"Mick, do you mind if I try to call Gina's cell phone to see if she answers?"
Still incredulous at the lack of worry in his teammates, most especially Beth's, responses Mick shrugged his shoulders,
"Go ahead, but the result will be the same for you as it was for me- she won't answer, and it will just go straight to voicemail."
While Beth quickly speed-dialed Gina's cell Sam kept an inconspicuous eye on his friend; just by seeing the look on Mick's face Sam could tell that the repercussions of Gina's unmade call were steadily making Mick hysterical. Sam also knew that if Gina was indeed abducted that there was absolutely nothing that Mick or the rest of them wouldn't do to get Gina back, both her and the baby. The sound of a heavy sigh from Beth's lips interrupted Sam's thoughts. Looking over to his wife Sam, just by looking at Beth's face, already knew what the response would be as she replied,
"I got no answer as well; it just kept ringing till it went to voicemail."
With Mick's worries confirmed Sam looked back over to Mick and said,
"Mick, try calling the clinic, and see if Gina's already left, or if she's still in the waiting room."
Nodding his head Mick mentally slapped himself on the head for not thinking of calling the clinic in the first place. Sending a silent thank you message to God that he had listened to Gina about adding the clinic's number to his contacts, Mick quickly scrolled through his list of contacts for said number. When he finally found it Mick didn't waste any more time as he quickly called the number. As Mick listened to the ringtone ringing in his ear a second, separate phone within the room started to ring. Realizing that it was his own phone that was ringing and who is was calling Sam retrieved the small metal device from his pocket, placing it on speaker as he answered,
"Hey Garcia, what have you got for us?"
Garcia's cheery voice rang from the phone,
"As per your request I have information on the gowns that our poor victims were found in. After searching the database I found that the gowns were made in the 1980's out of a facility up in Baltimore, Maryland. Unfortunately the facility stopped distributing the gowns around 1990. If there are still gowns being circulated they are most likely old, probably second-hand bought."
Slightly devastated by Garcia's news Sam questioned,
"Is it possible that some hospitals may still have and own these gowns?"
A few seconds of silence was heard through the phone before Garcia tentatively replied,
"It could be possible, but it would be impossible for me to check because of the number of hospitals in Virginia alone. You would basically be going on a wild goose chase."
A little less devastated than before about Garcia's response Sam simply brushed it aside as he said,
"That's ok Garcia, but since we've already got you on the phone with your computers handy, I'm going to ask you to run one more quick check for me."
The sound of a chair squeaking as it was swiveled into place could be heard through the phone. A second later Garcia's cheery, yet professional voice returned,
"Hit me with your best shot."
Smirking at Garcia's choice of words Sam said,
"We need you to look at personal records for each of our four victims. More specifically, look into any records pertaining to the Women's Clinic; we need to know who our victims' OBGYNs' were. Hopefully with that bit of information we can determine an even deeper connection between the victims."
The harmonious clicking sound sang from the phone as Garcia's fingers flew gracefully over the keyboard. The enchanting sound ended a moment later, only to be replaced with Garcia's voice as she said,
"Looking at all four of our victims' personal records it seems that our two ladies from here in Prince William County, Helena Parrish, and Teresa Elders, both had the same OBGYN, which was Dr. Amelia Miller. Now our other two ladies from Stafford County, Marilyn Grace, and Heather Young, both had Dr. Miller's associate Dr. Marianne Wilton as their OBGYN."
Hearing Garcia mention Dr. Miller's name Mick's head shot up, looking at the device in Sam's hand, his own phone still pressed against his ear as he waited to be taken off hold. But before Sam could question Mick about his reaction Mick held up his hand, signaling him to hold his thought. An elated smile perked at Mick's lips as he heard a caring female voice on the other end of the line. Upon being asked how the woman could help him Mick was quick to reply,
"Yes, hello this is Mick Rawson, my wife Gina Rawson had an appointment scheduled for this morning with Dr. Miller. Is she still there by any chance waiting to go back, or has she already been taken back, and left?"
A silent prayer of hope that Gina was still there, just sitting in the waiting room played repeatedly in Mick's head as a pressing silenced passed through the phone. The female voice rang through the phone a moment later as she replied,
"It would seem Mr. Rawson that Gina was called back earlier, but I have yet to see her leave, unless she left while I had my back turned. Does that help you with what you wanted to know, dear?"
Smiling mentally at the woman's motherly concern Mick, giving an unnecessary nod of his head, replied,
"Yes ma'me it does, thank you very much."
Without waiting to hear the woman's farewell Mick ended the call. Clutching the device tightly in his hand Mick turned his gaze to his teammates as he said,
"The lady at the front check-in desk says that Gina had already been called back but hadn't seen her leave yet. But she did say that Gina could have left while she had her back turned, but I highly doubt that. Gina would have called me, or texted me when she was leaving, just like she promised me this morning before we both left the apartment."
With the results of the phone call as persuading evidence Sam gave a nod of his head as he said,
"Ok, we'll split up. Mick, you and Beth go to the Clinic, and check for any sign of Gina. Prophet and I will go to your apartment and check to see if she's there, just as a precaution."
Nodding their heads simultaneously in agreement Beth, Mick, and Prophet rose quickly to their feet, gathering their gear at an equally fast rate. With a look of stone hard determination in his eyes Mick, with Beth right behind him, headed toward the conference room door…