Chapter 08

BAU Headquarters
FBI Building
Quantico, VA

June 2012

If there was one thing Morgan had wanted since this case started it was Reid's brain in the game. With his arcane knowledge and ability to link data together faster than any computer they might just be able to make headway. And now the genius was proving his worth once again.

Before Morgan got a third of the way through Spencer had him stop so he could open a line and brief JJ at the same time. With Hotch in the field and Rossi on vacation that brought the entire team in DC up to date. And then he hit the ground running when they got to the office. "Garcia, Morgan said the GM gave you full computer access?" Spencer asked as he all but ran into the lair.

"Yeah. I've got access to pretty much every department. Granted the one the Unsub is in doesn't seem to have anything particularly useful, of course."

"That's all right. What are the ages of the children we know about so far?"

"Umm...all eight."

"And when are their birthdays?"

"Um...all the last part of December. That's weird."

"Yeah, trust me. Okay, get into the Chaplain's files; look for records for the Spring Initiation, 2003."

"Okay..."

"Look for women who played the Quoryaa." He spelled it for her.

"What does that mean?" She typed and let it run. "What language is that anyway?"

"Aramaic. It translates to 'lady'." That came back with a list of twenty names. "Now cross-reference that with General Membership, look for anyone on that list who was not a member as of the Fall Census in 2003."

She cross-checked and came back with seven names:

Beatriz Molina
Talia Jabarin
Colette Duford
Shannon Gilchrest
Kerry O'Rourke
Lena Becker
Carys Jarman

"That's our victim pool." Spencer said.

"How do you know?" JJ asked.

"Without getting into irrelevant detail, I suspect that they all got pregnant around the end of March, 2003. They were also all grad students who would have graduated that term and possibly be delayed in realizing they were pregnant due to the stress."

"And their boyfriends were moving away, or they were, or both. So they were alone, vulnerable, scared..."

"The head of that department, Bernard Maupin, is the only one who has the power and ability to arrange things like this. I think he set them all up."

Morgan noted that Reid's cheekbones were showing, a sign that he was deeply angry about all of this. "They dropped off radar for months, likely for their entire pregnancy. Would he have the resources to isolate them like that?"

Spencer nodded. "The Templars own a number of remote areas of the western US for use as campsites as well as their own fleet of transport planes. He could have isolated them at any one of those area for as long as he wanted."

"So, alone, pregnant, sick, vulnerable," JJ shook her head. "He could have brainwashed them. With their hormones going nuts they would have done anything to protect their children."

"Then he sent them to a different country. They don't know anyone, don't know the language, have a newborn to care for..." Morgan followed.

"...and he or his people are always in contact, reinforcing the threat." JJ nodded. "Likely by threatening their children. But why wait so long?"

"He waited for them to finish memorizing the caches." Spencer said. "It takes decades at a few hours a week but if you could devote yourself to it full time then eight years is about right."

"At which point he picks them up and tortures them and the people they care about until they recite the whole thing back. He gets a copy without anything going missing." Morgan finished. "And with him in control of the paperwork no one realizes it until it's too late. How much is all that worth?"

"To the right people?" Spencer replied, "Could be billions."

"Okay, I cannot find any contact information for any of these women." Garcia said.

"Can we call each individual office and see if they're there?" JJ asked

"Likely not without alerting Maupin," Spencer replied.

"We can't have Emily bring him in, all we have is speculation." Morgan said. "There's nothing to tie him to the murders and Kerry O'Rourke is too scared to talk."

"I think I know someone who can help us." Spencer said. "But we have to wait until morning for it." His eyes were twitching as connections fired across his brain. As they watched the color ran out of his face and his cheekbones grew sharp enough to shave with.

"Why?" Morgan asked.

"Trust me."


The next morning they showed up at the BAU before 6 am. "Did you even sleep?" JJ asked.

Spencer had changed but he still looked like an unmade bed. The bags under his eyes, the grey pallor of his skin and that he looked like he'd had his hair done by a honey badger all testified to a sleepless night. He just took a long drink of his coffee and headed for the conference room where Garcia was setting up.

And they waited

And waited

At precisely 6 am Spencer's phone rang. He answered at the first ring. "Shannon, don't hang up!" He said. "You and Mia are in trouble. Bernard has gone rogue, he's acting without sanction. He's after the cache."

There was a long pause where everyone held their breath. But at last a voice as soft and husky as a dove spoke. "What?"

Oh god, he was right. "It's been him sweetheart. Everything that happened since you left LA has been entirely him. You haven't even been on the Chapterhouse rolls. Now I assume you're almost done..."

"Two containers. Spencer..."

"As soon as you finish he's going to take you and Mia and force you to give it up. He's going to use her against you. He's already done it to three others."

There was a pause as she took it all in. "Oh my god."

"Where are you? Is Mia there?"

"She's in school. I'm walking back to the house for lunch..."

Spencer looked like he was going to tear out his hair. "What city?!"

"Rome. We're in Rome. Italy."

The team let out a giant breath. Spencer collapsed into his chair. Morgan stepped out to get things moving. "Okay sweetheart, here's what I want you to do."