JJ and Emily are nearly to the police station when JJ's phone rings. Hitting the speaker function on her car, she answers.
"Agent Jareau."
"It's Hotch. I need you two to head to Prince William Hospital. The two children that were taken were dropped off at different fire stations around 4 a.m. They are being treated in the ER and I want Prentiss and Morgan to interview them."
Since it's on speaker, Emily answers him. "Will do, Hotch. Are they okay?"
"Reports say scared, hungry and dehydrated but otherwise okay."
"We'll be there in about 10 minutes," Emily lets him know.
"Good. JJ, after dropping Prentiss off get to the station. You're going to be busy this morning."
"I can imagine. See you soon." JJ disconnects and glances at Emily. "That's weird. No physical trauma? Not killed? What's going on?"
Emily slowly shakes her head. "I don't know. Hopefully the kids will give us something to work with."
JJ pulls up to the ER doors. Emily looks over at her. "Good luck with the reporters, babe. I love you."
JJ smiles at her. "Love you, too. Good luck with the kids."
Since they are in public they just squeeze each other's hands goodbye. Emily gathers her briefcase and cane and heads into the hospital as JJ leaves for the police station. Inside Emily flashes her credentials and asks to speak to whoever is in charge of the children. She is led down a long hallway, past various treatment cubicles to a small office. As she waits, Morgan is escorted in.
"Do you know anything?" she asks him.
He shakes his head. "Just what Hotch told me. Prentiss, this makes no sense. Why take them for no reason? Not even a ransom demand."
"I don't know. JJ and I were confused, too. Hopefully the kids can tell us something to help us figure out where to go next with the investigation."
Morgan nods in agreement. They are left waiting 5 minutes before a doctor finally enters the room.
"Hello, I'm Dr Max Gregory, chief of emergency medicine." He extends his hands to Morgan and Emily in turn. Both profilers immediately study the man: about 6' tall, mid-to-late 40's, dark hair graying at the temples, brown-eyes that looked like they haven't slept in days. "I understand you want to interview the two children?"
"Yes," Morgan answers. "They may have information that can lead us to the unsubs before they strike again."
"Um, 'unsubs'?" Gregory questions.
"Unknown subjects," Emily clarifies.
"Ah. Well, I've asked the kids questions about where they were and who had them and they didn't seem to have any answers. I'm not sure they can help you."
"We're trained in asking questions in a way to help spur memories. A lot of times kids, and even adults, know more than they realize. Smells and sounds can be as helpful as things they've seen in helping us with the investigation," Emily explains.
The doctor stares at them for a moment. "You have to understand, these kids are scared. I'm having a hard time letting you just go in there and cause them more pain."
"Dr Gregory, I promise you we are not trying to hurt them," Morgan says gently. "And doing something to help gives them a sense of power back, something that the kidnappers have stolen from them. Trust me when I say we know when to push and when to stop. We will not do anything to hurt these children any more than they've already been hurt."
Gregory studies the two agents a moment longer. Finally he nods his head. "Okay. But I reserve the right as their physician to stop the interrogation if I think it's hurting them."
"This is just an interview, not an interrogation, Dr Gregory," Emily reminds him.
"To a victim of trauma, is there really any difference?" he says pointedly.
Morgan and Emily exchange a look, both worried the doctor could interfere with their job.
"Doctor, if you could take us to the children now," Morgan insists.
Gregory shakes his head in resignation and leads the agents down the hall. He gestures to two private rooms. "I'll be watching, agents."
Emily fights the urge to roll her eyes and walks into the first room. She sees a 7 year old boy clinging to his mother. The boy's father paces angrily. He spins as the two agents enter the room.
"Mr. Alexander, I'm SSA Derek Morgan, this is SSA Emily Prentiss of the FBI. We'd like to speak to your son for a few minutes."
"No! He's already told the police everything he knows. As soon as his IV is done we're taking him home."
Morgan glances at Emily and she nods. "Sir, I know you're scared and you're angry. But to ensure this doesn't happen to anyone again, we really need to know more than the local police would have asked."
He goes to deny them again but his wife intervenes. "Michael! Let them help. Please."
He stares at his wife a minute, then waves his hands in resignation. Morgan steps towards him. "Perhaps you, your wife and I can step into the hall for a moment so Agent Prentiss can—"
"NO WAY!" Michael screams. "I'm not leaving him in here alone!"
"Sir, sometimes it's easier for kids to open up without their parents around. They can get scared they've done something wrong and miss giving us important details," Emily steps closer to him. "I'm a mother myself and I know what you must be feeling. I can't say I wouldn't feel the same. But I know we all want these men caught. Please, let me speak with Benjamin for just a few minutes."
Michael stares at Emily, trying to see if she is lying. Emily pulls out her phone and shows him her background: a giggling Henry. The man's shoulders ease a little. Finally he nods and walks out into the hallway. His wife gives her son a hug and kiss before following him out. Morgan nods to Emily as she moves towards the bed. Morgan heads out to speak with the parents.
"Hi, Benjamin, my name is Emily."
"I'm Benji," he says sadly.
"Benji? I like that. Benji, do you understand why I'm here?"
"Yeah. You want to know about the bad men."
"Yes. But I also want to know some other things. Like, do you remember where you were kept while you were with them?"
"It was dark."
"Okay. What did it smell like?"
He scrunches up his face, trying to remember. "Kinda stinky. Like when the dog bowl gets yucky."
"Eww, that doesn't smell good at all," Emily says with a smile. He shakes his head and gives her a small smile in return. "Do you remember hearing anything?"
"Not the first night. But the second night I heard them bring someone into the room. He was crying. They told him to shut up and be a big boy."
"I see. Were you blindfolded?"
"No. I was in a different box so I couldn't see him."
"Can you tell me about the box you were in? What if felt like?"
"It was metal. I could feel rust on it. The first night I cried a little," he admits shyly. "The one man kept banging on the box telling me to shut up. It hurt my ears so I stopped."
"That wasn't very nice of him. I'm glad you were able to stay quiet. You were very brave."
"I was really scared, Emily," he says softly.
She reaches out and takes his hand. "I'm sure you were. There is nothing wrong with being scared." He looks up at her and she sees the shame in his eyes. "I've been scared plenty of times. But you are safe now. And we're going to do everything we can to keep you safe."
"Promise?"
"I promise," she says with a smile. "I just have one more question, okay?" He nods. "Did you hear any names? Did the men call themselves anything?"
He thinks for a minute again then tilts his head to the side. "I think one man called another Simon. And that man got mad that his name was said. He hit the other man. I heard the smack."
Emily smiles. "That's great, Benji. I'm very proud of you. I'm going to send you parents back in now, okay?"
He nods. As Emily reaches the door, Benji calls out to her. "Emily?"
"Yes, Benji."
"When you find the bad men, are you going to shoot them?"
Emily sees the hope in his eyes. She takes a deep breath, trying to find the right answer. She finally just states, "We're going to make sure they can't hurt you again. I promise that."
"Okay."
Emily barely makes it into the hall before the Alexander's race back in to their son. Morgan walks over.
"Get anything good?"
"A few things. Morgan, they were kept in a metal box."
Morgan rolls his eyes. "Oh, God."
"Yeah. Let's see if the Lieberweitz boy has any more information."
The two go through a similar conversation with the Lieberweitz parents before Emily can speak to Stanley. He is only 5 so she is not sure he will be as helpful as Benji. Midway through the interview she is surprised by something the boy says.
"Mark was mean to do this to me."
Emily looks at him, her heartbeat increasing. "Mark? Who's Mark?"
"He mows our lawn. I seen his shoes and they were the ones with the red slashes on them."
"Are you sure they were Mark's? Or were they just like Mark's?"
"They were Mark's. The dog teeth marks was on them."
"What dog?"
"He has a puppy and it chews stuff. He was real mad about his shoes 'cause they was new and cost a lot."
"I'll bet he was. If I showed you a picture of the shoes, would you be able to tell me if they are like Mark's?"
Stanly nods. "Yeah. 'Cause they was real cool."
Emily smiles at him. "That's great, Stanley. You've been a really big help. I'm going to send your parents in now, okay?"
Stanley nods and Emily leaves. In the hallway, she looks at the Lieberweitz'.
"One question for you before you go back to Stanley. It's routine for us to clear any workers with access to your home and property. Do you all use a lawn service?"
Mr Lieberweitz nods. "Yes. Byan's Lawn Service. We've used them for 4 years now."
"Great. Your son did a great job. We'll be in touch." The parents hurry back to their son. Before Morgan can ask Emily anything she has her phone out.
"Garcia, I need a search of expensive shoes, sounds like sneakers, black with red slashes on them."
"Kinda vague but I'll see what I can find, Princess," Garcia replies.
"Thanks, Pen. Also, I need you to run the employees of Byan's Lawn Service. One of the boys may have recognized one of the kidnappers as the guy that does his lawn."
Morgan raises an eyebrow at Emily. "Shoes and a lawn service?"
"Yeah," she nods. "The shoes had teeth marks on them from the guy's puppy which is why Stanley recognized them."
"Could it really be this easy?"
"I hope so," Emily states.
By the time the two agents reach the police station, Garcia has completed both runs for Emily. One employee of the Lawn Service is a Mark Kruse. He has a sealed juvenile record, which the Goddess of Knowledge unsealed of course. It was for petty theft. Arrested along with him were a couple of his buddies. Runs on them had shown they had graduated into adult crimes. One was in prison but the other, Byron Smith, was out on patrol and his old buddy Kruse had helped him to get a job at Byan's Lawn Service.
"Damn I really want to go with you to interview this s.o.b.," Emily gripes.
Rossi pats her on the shoulder. "If we need to take the rubber hoses to him we'll call you first."
Emily smiles at him. "Aw, you really do know the way to a girl's heart." She watches enviously as Rossi and Morgan head out to interview Kruse.
JJ pats her shoulder as she walks by. "Don't worry, Em, if all goes well in two weeks you'll be out breaking unsubs again."
Those in the room chuckle at the hopeful look on Emily's face. They are midway through the initial runs on Kruse and his buddies when Hotch's phone rings.
"Hotchner," he answers. They see him stiffen and his face pale. "What hospital?" He hangs up his phone. "Kruse admitted to being part of the kidnapping team. When Morgan and Rossi went to see Smith he panicked and pulled a gun. Rossi's been shot."