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The Basement
She hears the footsteps upstairs and knows that he's about to come back down. She whimpers when the door upstairs creaks open.
Her husband is unconscious from all the beating he has took. Zack is unusually quiet, shivering in his corner.
The man ambles over to her, stopping a few feet ahead of her with a huge, an excited grin plastered on his face.
"You don't have to do this." Rachel pleads for the umpteenth time.
"Yes. I do. You deserve it. Tell me you deserve it." The voice forces its way into her ears.
A slight shake of the head from Rachel and the guy smacks her across the face. She barely reacts, setting the man off again, this time he hits her in the gut with the bat.
Rachel coughs up blood, the blood coating her lips and dribbling down her chin. She looks up with stone in her eyes and her lips a tight line.
"You don't want to admit that you deserve it…then it must be your son's turn." The man drags Zack's chair across the room in front of Rachel.
"Mommy." Zack yelps, tears streaming down his face.
"No." She sputters, yanking on her bonds again. "Leave him alone!"
"Then tell me you deserve it."
"I deserve it." Rachel cries.
….
BAU Conference Room
"Reid. I thought I told everyone to go home and get sleep. That includes you." Hotchner finds Reid still working on the board.
"I'm okay, Hotch."
"You need to sleep, Reid." Hotchner presses.
"No. What I need to do is figure out what Marianne was hiding. It might be the clue to catching this guy before he kills again."
"Reid." He repeats his name, the authority plain in his voice.
"Hotch. This case is different. How would I feel if the answer is in this letter, and I went home like you said, and then one of us showed up dead. It would be my fault Hotch." Reid lets the idea sink in, "I'm staying."
Hotch sighs, defeated, "At least promise me you'll get some sleep when you finish."
Reid presses his lips together, slightly smiling and continues working. He hears Hotchner leave the room.
Reid watches the board, plugging letters in where they are due. He starts with the letter, as that could be an important clue. At first Reid is confused by the words written in her code and he thinks he messed up somehow, but the further down he translates, the more it makes sense. Reid is awake the whole night, decoding the pink journal. By the time dawn arrives and the sun shows its face from behind the buildings, Reid has found her secret, buried in the depths of her diary.
….
LaMontagne's House
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Will smacks the top of his alarm, groaning as it continues to beep.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Pounding on it with his fist doesn't help.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Honey. What's going on?" JJ yawns, sliding the button to off for him.
"I got to go." He yawns in response.
"Where?" JJ lays back down on her side, facing Will.
Will closes his eyes, relishing in the dark for a few more minutes, "Shift change at the Evinns's house."
"Do you have to go?" JJ whispers, pulling him closer to her, fingering his bare chest.
"I wish I didn't."
"I'll come with you." JJ says, pulling the covers off both of them.
Shaking his head, Will replies, "You have to stay with Henry."
"Fine. I guess you can go." JJ pouts, looking up at the ceiling.
"Thanks for the permission. I was so worried you wouldn't allow me to leave." Will leans in close and kisses her lips softly. He pulls away and looks down into her eyes, "I love you."
JJ smiles up at him, "I love you too. You'll be okay, right?"
"Of course. I'll see you at the bureau at the end of my shift."
"Ok." JJ wraps her arms around Will and reaches up to kiss him again.
Will dresses quickly in some plain clothes, gun in its holster around his waist, covered by his button down shirt. Meanwhile, JJ rolls over in bed, trying to find sleep again.
After starting the car, Will drives to the Evinn's house. He switches the headlights off when he turns down the street. He parks further down than the other cars, not wanting to draw attention to all the cars parked in front of one house.
He sneaks down the sidewalk, watching the street with careful eyes. Will opens the door and comes face to face with a gun.
"Will!" An officer shouts.
"Sh." Will gestures for them to continue into the house.
"Will. You scared me." He lowers his voice, closing the door tightly behind Will.
William waits until they are standing in the kitchen to speak, "How's everything going?"
"There's been no sight of this guy. A few cars have driven down the street, but the registered owners of the cars live here."
"Great." Will claps his officer on the back, "Go home and get some rest. You look like you need it."
"Oh and make sure you're back at the station by 8. The BAU are going to give their profile." Will adds.
"Sure thing." The officer responds, before walking out the front door.
Will wanders around the house, seeking out every officer to make sure they're okay and haven't spotted anything.
He's standing by the front window looking out at the street when he hears something. He whispers to the closest officer, "Did you hear that?"
The officer shakes his head while Will draws his gun. They follow the hallway into the kitchen and that's when they see, through the back window, the dark figure sprinting away.
"Stop!" Will shouts, racing after the man.
The man jumps over the fence just as Will is halfway across the yard. He yells again, "Stop!"
The man doesn't even glance back, he just keeps running. Will hops over the fence into the neighbor's yard in time to see a black car speed down the road.
"Dammit." He curses under his breath before rejoining his partner.
His partner had stopped and crouched down next to the bodies of the Evinns family when Will had attempted to chase the suspect.
Will runs his fingers through his hair angrily. He says to no one in particular, "I can't believe this just happened."
After a moment of silence Will tells his officer, "You can send everyone home. There's nothing left to do here."
Quickly, his officer takes off to inform the rest of the officers.
Calling the first person that comes to mind, he says, "JJ."
"What's wrong, Will?" JJ asks in a worrisome voice.
"We just let the unsub get away. He dumped the bodies in the backyard and took off in a black car."
JJ sighs deeply, "I'll call the team and let them know."
"Don't do that yet. Let them have some sleep, you can tell them in the morning."
"Okay. Are you okay, Will?" JJ wonders.
"Yeah. Fine." He replies before pressing the end call button and snapping his phone shut.
….
LaMontagne's House
"Hey Hotch, it's JJ. Meet me at the Evinns's house in twenty minutes."
"Okay. I will see you then."
JJ creeps down the hallway and turns the knob of Henry's door quietly. He's lying down, curled up in a ball, fast asleep.
JJ stoops down so she's at his eye level. Placing her hand on his shoulder she gives him a gentle shake, "Henry. It's time to get up."
His eyelids pry themselves apart and his big, brown eyes blink up at JJ. He tilts his head up and opens his mouth, yawning.
"It's time to go, Henry."
"Go where." His small voice pipes up.
"To Kara's. She's going to watch you while Daddy and I are at work." JJ smiles down at him.
"Okay." Henry's gaze drops to the floor.
"Hey. I'll see you tonight, okay."
He doesn't respond. JJ tilts his chin up, "I promise. We won't be gone for long. Then we'll be home with you." JJ tickles his tummy causing him to burst out in a fit of giggles.
"Okay." He says, hitting her hands away.
"Let's go." JJ pulls him out of bed, crushing him in a hug.
She sets him down and he gets dressed while JJ whips up some eggs and toast for Henry. They eat quickly and JJ drops him off at Kara's house.
"Will or I will stop by after work to pick him up." JJ informs her.
"Yeah, no problem."
JJ drives to the Evinns's house, surprised that Hotchner is already present, "You're early, Hotch."
"You sound surprised."
JJ rolls her eyes before leading Hotch under the yellow caution tape and into the backyard, where Will stands waiting.
"What happened here?" Hotch addresses William.
" It was shift change. I thought I heard something, so I went to investigate. I saw him jumping over the fence. He took off in a black car. I couldn't read the license plate. I had him and I let him get away."
"Will…it's not your fault." JJ places her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs it off and storms away.
JJ watches him leave, biting her lip, "May I-"
Hotch nods his head imperceptibly. She gives him a thankful smile before hurrying after Will. JJ finds Will sitting in the living room, head in his hands.
"It's not your fault." She repeats.
"Yes. It is. I had him, JJ."
"They were dead hours before he dumped them, Will. They didn't die because of you."
"Yeah, but their killer is still on the loose because of me." Will glares at the ground, teeth clenched.
JJ cautiously sits next to him and whispers something in his ear. Will meets her gaze with a confused look and gives a slight nod. She pats his hand and rejoins Hotch and the rest of the team.
"What do we have?" JJ asks as she steps onto the back porch.
"Same as the others. Overkill on the dad. Nothing done to the child except the bullet wound." Hotchner notifies her.
"Letters?" JJ looks around the bodies, but sees none.
"They're inside in evidence bags. We're checking for prints, but we doubt that there will be any."
"Ligature marks on the wrists. It looks like they were restrained and the dad put up one hell of a fight." Morgan tilts his hand around before setting Sean's hand back on the grass.
"This guy was a Marine, right?" Rossi clarifies.
"Yeah. Why? What are you thinking, Rossi?" Hotch takes a step closer to him.
"This guy was trained and a fighter, by the looks of it. Why wouldn't he fight back?" Rossi asks aloud, watching the rest of his team.
"His kid." Reid tears his eyes from the corpse of the child. "If his kid was threatened, he'd do whatever the unsub wanted."
"Okay. Let's say that he did that with both the second and third victims, how'd he get Marianne and Roy to comply." Prentiss brings up a good point.
The team stays silent, everyone trying to come up with a valid reason. The ringing of JJ's phone breaks the silence and she scurries away to answer it.
"Threaten Roy. Hold a gun to her head and tell him that if he doesn't listen, boom, she's dead." Morgan shrugs his shoulders.
Will rejoins them outside and Hotch asks, "Does the family know yet?"
He shakes his head, "I didn't know how to break the news to them."
"Prentiss. Rossi. You're with me. The rest of you-"
"Hotch, we have a problem. The press is out front, they're talking about how the Evinns were murdered last night."
"Well we better hurry then, before their parents find out from the press." Hotchner walks briskly toward the black SUV parked in the front of the house.
"What are we supposed to do?"
"Get Garcia to help you narrow down the list using the profile. We'll deliver it when we're done at the Evinns house." Hotch yanks open the door.
"Hotch. I almost forgot to tell you about what I found out last night from her diary." Spencer jabbers.
"Can it wait, Reid?"
"Yeah."
"Why don't you take someone with you and go talk to her mom about whatever you found." Hotch switches the car into drive.
"Okay, I'll do that." Spencer nods before hopping back onto the sidewalk.