Chapter 04

Capitol Plaza Apartments
Unit #24
Washington DC

Day 03

"This sucks." JJ said as she let herself and Tara into Spencer's apartment.

"Because we have to run victimology on him?" Tara asked as she stepped in behind her. "Whoa. Hello time warp."

"That and because he tends to be very private." JJ turned to the desk and started looking. "Yeah, he does like living sometime around 1900 if he can help it."

"No kidding." Tara took a turn around the basic layout first. "Studio?"

"Yeah. He wanted something cheap and close to the station. He's paying for his mother's medical care, so..."

"Makes sense. Where does he sleep then?"

"On the couch. He doesn't sleep all that much. Okay, daybook. He must have left it here by mistake; it's usually in his bag."

"He doesn't use his phone?"

"He's kind of a technophobe. God, he has the worst handwriting. I swear, half the time it looks like it was written by a different person. Okay, so Penelope said that he and Sara met at Book Club, which we figured was some kind of grief support group..."

"But Garcia couldn't find any losses in Sara's recent past."

"True, but it could be something that's not an obvious connection. I mean no one would have connected Spence to Maeve...oh damn it Spence!"

"What?"

"He has it in his calendar. Seven to nine-thirty every Wednesday."

"Let me guess."

They said it together. "Book Club."

"It's almost like he has very nosy friends." Tara said with a grin.

"You think." JJ replied. She went back to looking. "Huh. Says here he meets with a Dr. Hartman ever Tuesday from six to seven."

"Isn't that Movie Club night?"

"Yeah, but that's from eight to nine-thirty."

In the meantime Tara had been poking around the couch. "We tend to keep the most personal things by where we sleep." She said. And sure enough, she found a keepsake sort of box under the couch. "Um, letters from Dr. Joseph Bell to Dr. Nettie Stephens?"

"Those must be his letters to Maeve." JJ said. "He said they started out using pen names."

"Huh." Tara flipped through the neat pile of envelopes. "She stopped using hers well before he stopped using his."

"That's weird." Just then their phones rang.

Park Crest Apartments
Unit #304
Washington DC

As predicted Sara Peabody's building had excellent security. But the guards let them in without too much trouble. Morgan looked around as he walked in. "Nice place. Lots of books."

"Something she and Spence have in common." Will started looking around the space. "One bedroom, yeah?"

"Yeah. Looks like kitchen over there."

"Found her desk."

"Found the bedroom." It looked neat as pin but it would be the next stop. "Anything over there?"

"She keeps everything organized. I found her datebook front and center."

"Anything stand out?"

"Not that I can see."

"Reid told Garcia they met at 'book club'. That's on Wednesday night."

"She has 'group' listed, seven to nine-thirty. And a phone number attached." Will dialed it.

You have reached the office of Doctor Liz Hartman. I am unable...

Just then Morgan's phone went off.

Peabody Engineering HQ
Washington DC

Hotch and Rossi walked right into a mess. Thankfully it was an FBI mess. "I was just going to call you." The agent-in-charge said.

"What happened?" Hotch asked.

"Tom Peabody is the CEO of Peabody engineering. They work on DOD projects, I don't have the clearance to know what. But someone out there does. Last night his sister Sara was kidnapped. He found a ransom demand in his in-box this morning."

"We know." Hotch replied. "She was on a date with one of my agents when it happened."

"At least we're keeping it in the family."

"Have they offered proof of life yet?" Rossi asked.

The AIC turned a laptop and showed them a picture of what should have been a very pretty blond. But her distress was obvious, her hair mussed, her dress torn, her eyes not quite focused. In front of her was that morning's New York Times.

"The kidnappers said they would contact Peabody at 10am."

That was an hour from now. "Get everyone back. We treat this as a kidnapping." Hotch said.

Rossi pulled out his phone. "You know, Reid's collateral."

"I know. But I know he's uniquely valuable in these situation." Hotch replied. "We run the kidnapping playbook and wait to see what he does."

"I should apologize." Hotch said after he and Tom Peabody were introduced. "As I understand your sister was out with my agent last night. He was unable to prevent this from happening."

Tom looked befuddled. "Your agent?"

"From what we can tell they caught him by surprise. He's one of the best. I've trusted him with my life on multiple occasions. I know he'll do whatever it takes to get your sister home."

Tom only looked more confused. "She said they met in group. You let him be an FBI agent?"

"Of course." Now it was Hotch's turn to be confused. "Why wouldn't we?"

Tom studied him a long moment, then shook his head. "Doesn't matter. This is about my work, not her."

"Any information you could provide us could be helpful."

"Look, my sister worked long and hard to get where she is today. This isn't about her and I'm not going to ruin it for her, for any of them. Just get my sister home."

Hotch and Rossi watched Tom walk to the other room. "I hate it when we're missing something." Rossi said.

An hour later they were waiting to trace and record the call. And the kidnappers were right on time. "Remember." Rossi said. "Keep your voice even and calm and agree with everything he says."

The phone rang right on time

"Remember to repeat anything important he says, to make sure you understand." Rossi said. "And try to keep him talking as long as you can."

They answered the phone. A video link opened. "This is Tom Peabody." Tom said.

A man in a ski mask was on the other side. "Hello Mr. Peabody."

"Are you the man holding my sister?"

In reply the man turned the phone he was holding. Sara Peabody was sitting in a warehouse on a stack of bundles, being held in place by one of the men from the van, whose face was also covered. She looked angry but was very much alive and not very hurt. "Are the FBI there?" The man in the ski mask asked.

"They are."

The camera swooped around. The man moved through another door and put the phone down in front of a man slumped over a table. He reached down and lifted the man's head by the hair. They had worked Spencer over thoroughly, he was already swelling a black eye, his lip was cut, he had a gash on his forehead that was dripping a bit and they could see multiple bruises. But he was breathing, he was alive. Just to be sure everyone knew they opened Spencer's badge and showed it to the camera next to his face. Then the man picked up the phone and moved away. He looked into the camera. "We want the details to Project Starlight. You have one hour to assemble all of the project documentation."

Tom looked panicked. "I don't...I can't..."

"Just to make it clear that we have no problem harming our guests if you do not cooperate..." The man in the mask drew a gun, pointed it somewhere, and fired. In the background they heard a woman scream.

"No! No, don't hurt her!" Tom begged.

"Garcia got a location." Morgan muttered, quietly enough to not be picked up by the call. "They're in the warehouse district."

"If you do not comply in one hou..." In the background they heard something growl. All of a sudden the man's attention was caught by something off camera. "What the..."

The phone went flying.

"Wait! What's going on?" Tom asked.

Rossi shoved him out of the way. The phone was looking at nothing, it was pointed at a stack of some kind of packages. In the background it sounded like a fierce fight going on.

"We need to go." Hotch said.

They piled in, Morgan driving, lights and sirens all the way.