"What?" Hotch breathed in his phone. He could not find his voice and could not process what Will just told him. He felt his heart pounding in his ears. Will was still talking but all he could hear was "he has her" over and over again in his head.

He needed to stop it and focus. They will save her; there was no other acceptable outcome. Resolved, he returned his attention to Will.

" …. And as per the receptionist, a policeman dropped her at the hotel earlier. I have already requested that the footage of the hotel's cameras is sent to Garcia. I am on my way to the station."

"No, stay at the hotel, we.." but Will interrupted him.

"Look whatever is going on with Jayje and you, she is still the mother of my son and I am certainly not sitting back here doing nothing" he replied vehemently.

Hotch hushed his voice so that no one could hear him, "I can't risk talking about the case at the station if there is the least possible chance that one or more police officers are linked to our suspect. We are all coming back to the hotel and we'll organize."

He, of all, knew how Will was feeling at this moment. Whatever their problems, he knew Will still loved JJ. So Hotch put all his confidence in his voice and added, "We will find her" before hanging the phone.

Nothing in their profile hinted that the unsub might have been a law officer. If JJ had known, she would have never left without a member of the BAU accompanying her. She trusted them and their judgment and they failed her.

Hotch watched the remaining members of his team and knew he had to hold it together. If there was one time when he needed to be the strength of his team, it was now.

He approached his team and it took them only a look at his face and they all knew. He heard a soft 'no' from Emily but other than that there were no other visible reactions. Any outsider would have missed it, but Hotch saw in the eyes of each of them the myriad of emotions; love, fear, guilt.

"Listen, we need to act as normal as possible and leave for the hotel. I'll explain"

JJ woke up with a horrible headache. She kept her eyes closed and tried to get her bearings. As far as she could guessed she was alone, fully dressed in cold basement. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. She was indeed alone in a some house basement. She sat up, her left hand going automatically to her neck where she still felt the sting of the needle that had drugged her. In what mess are you in JJ. she was asked herself. Well first things first, she had to look for a way out. She got up tentatively and swayed. Fortunately she had the reflex to hold herself against the wall else she would hit the floor real hard. Still using the wall as support, she walked a bit and inspected her surroundings. She froze when she heard his voice...

"Hello my Sweetheart"