Hotch glanced around at the three people around him all on cell phones. With nothing to do but wait, he glanced toward the barracks again. Most of the cadets and cadre were now gathered out front of the barracks. Hotch found himself scanning the crowd for Reid, but from the distance he was at and the poor light of the early hour, it was hard to make out individuals.
Major Morgan was the first one to finish her call. "I've alerted headquarters to detain and notify me if Captain Phillips heads back there. They're sending men out to his house and Lt. Marley is notifying the guards at the gate to detain him in case he tries to leave the base."
"I doubt he'll try to leave base without accomplishing his goal," Hotch commented, thinking out loud.
"Sgt. Sullivan isn't answering his cell phone now," Rossi reported, finally giving up and flipping his cell phone closed.
"I don't like it," Hotch said. He glanced in Agent Morgan's direction. Derek held up a finger, which Hotch assumed meant that Garcia was providing him with information. "We've at least need to make visual contact with both Reid and Sgt. Sullivan. Make sure they're not in trouble."
"Okay, Baby Girl, keep digging," Morgan said into his cell phone. He ended the call and looked at Hotch. "Garcia was able to confirm that Anthony Chaplain was adopted by his step-father when he was two years old. His last name was changed from Phillips to Chaplain at that time. No other information about his biological father can be found in those records though Garcia is going to keep looking."
"I don't think the same last name is a coincidence," Rossi commented.
"Neither do I," Hotch said. "Rossi, I want you to stay out front, keep an eye on things out here, though move closer to the cadets. Hopefully Reid is already with them. If you see him or Sullivan let us know. The rest of us will head around back and check things out."
"Got it," Rossi said, walking toward the gathering cadets.
The other three headed toward the back of the barracks at a jog, Hotch leading the way.
"Derek, if we don't see anything outside, Major Morgan and I will go inside and check out the building."
"Got it," Derek Morgan replied, not liking the idea of staying outside but knowing better than to argue.
"Get help!" came a voice from a distance.
"That was Reid," Derek Morgan said, instantly recognizing the voice. They had almost reached the building.
From around the back corner a figure came into view. Hotch, Agent Morgan and Major Morgan all three had their weapons drawn. Seeing the three of them with weapons drawn, the figure instantly came to a stop.
"Somebody just grabbed my battle buddy as we came out of the building. You've got to help."
Hotch and Derek Morgan instinctively headed in the direction the cadet was pointing. "Cadet, I want you to head out front and join the other cadets. Do you know who Lt. Crothers is?" Cadet Fergenson nodded an affirmative. "Tell him what is going on, but that Major Morgan wants everyone to stay where they are at this time."
"Yes, ma'am," Cadet Fergenson replied.
As the cadet hurried around to the front of the building, Major Morgan heading in the direction that the two FBI agents had gone. Rounding the corner she saw two people running into the dark. Closer she saw her brother kneeling next to Reid who was down on one knee.
"Reid, you okay?" Agent Morgan asked.
"Yeah," Reid said waving his fellow agent off. "Go help, Hotch."
Derek only hesitated a moment, before reaching down to his right ankle. He quickly lifted his pant leg and removed Reid's gun from the ankle holster. He handed the gun to Reid and got to his feet, looking over his shoulder at his sister as he did so.
Rebecca Morgan saw the unspoken message her brother was giving her – stay with him. She gave a slight nod, as Derek Morgan got to his feet, and headed in the direction that Hotch and the suspect had gone.
"What happened?" Major Morgan asked as she closed the distance between Reid and herself. Her eyes scanned the area around her, just in case there were any other threats.
"When I came out of the building, I was grabbed from behind," Reid said, getting to his feet. "As he tried dragging me away from the building, I yelled at Fergenson to get help. The last thing I wanted was to get him involved in this."
"We heard you tell him that."
"After I told Fergenson to get help, the guy tried to put something over my mouth, a cloth of some sort. I remember smelling something sweet and knowing I had to get away from him. I managed to get out of his grasp, and then he came at me again. He paused for a moment when Hotch and Morgan came around the corner before taking off."
"That's probably what he was trying to put over your mouth," Major Morgan said, having spotted a rag near-by. Putting her gun in its holster, she grabbed a glove out of her pocket along with a bag.
Before Reid could say anything, Rossi came hurrying around the corner. "What's going on?"
"The UNSUB made his move. Agents Hotchner and Morgan are in pursuit," Major Morgan told him.
"Are you okay?" Rossi asked. Reid nodded. "Did you get a look at him? Would you be able to recognize him?"
"I caught a glimpse of him but its kind of dark back here. I don't know if . . . I'm not sure, maybe if I saw him again."
"Hopefully that cadet got a good look at him," Morgan said, getting to her feet, the rag now in the bag. "Where is he?" she asked, looking at Rossi.
"Out front with the MP on duty. We're going to need to question him but I figured that would go better without the audience."
Major Morgan nodded as something else came to mind. "Spencer, have you seen Sgt. Sullivan."
"Not since before I was attacked. He was upstairs at one point, near the stairs. When Fergenson and I left the barracks to head out to formation he wasn't there. I figured . . ."
Reid let his voice trail off as sound from the barracks drew their attention. All three turned toward the potential threat, Rossi and Major Morgan both drawing their guns as Reid raised his.
"Whoa, hold your fire," Sgt. Sullivan said, seeing three guns pointed at him as he walked slowly out of the barracks. He had one hand to the back of his head and the other held up where it could clearly be seen.
Recognizing him, the two FBI agents and army officer, lowered their gun. Major Morgan headed over to the the sergeant as he made his way down the couple of stairs. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I've definitely felt better but I've got a hard head."
"Who hit you?" Rossi asked.
"I don't know. He hit me from behind as I came downstairs. Got me pretty good too," Sgt. Sullivan replied, as Major Morgan reached out a hand to check the extent of the injury. "Oww," he said, as she touched the back of his head.
"You got a pretty good lump back there. You need to get that checked out at the hospital."
Sgt. Sullivan nodded, knowing it wouldn't do any good to argue with his friend and superior.
"We lost him," Agent Morgan said, as he and Hotch rejoined the group. The disgust and frustration was evident in his voice.
"I'll call Colonel Jackson. We need to stop people from leaving the base," Major Morgan said, reaching for her radio.
"Where do we go from here?" Rossi asked.
"Well, we're fairly certain that Phillips is our guy. We need to locate him. Reid did you get a look at the guy who attacked you?"
"Briefly. Cadet Fergenson might have got a better look."
"He's out front with the MP," Rossi said, answering Hotch's question before the unit chief had a chance to ask it.
"Let's get him back to MP headquarters and question him. Morgan, I want you to take Reid and Sgt. Sullivan over to the hospital to be checked out."
"I'm fine," Reid protested.
"Let the doctors be the judge of that," Hotch told him, fixing the younger agent with a look. Reid nodded his consent.
"Take this with you," Major Morgan said, having ended her radio conversation. She held out the bag with the cloth on it. "The suspect tried to cover Reid's mouth with it when he had him. From the smell of it, my guess is its soaked in chloroform but the lab techs at the hospital should be able to tell us for sure."
"Got it," Derek Morgan said, taking the bag from her.
"Colonel Jackson is giving the order to the guards at all the gates not to allow anyone to leave base. He's also given the order for MP's to locate and detain Captain Phillips for questioning. He's sending out officers to look for him right now."
"Good. Meanwhile, lets find out exactly what Cadet Fergenson saw," Hotch said, handing the keys to the SUV over to Derek.
Agents Morgan and Reid and Sgt. Sullivan started around the building, heading for the SUV Hotch and Derek had arrived on base in while Major Morgan lead Hotch and Rossi into the barracks, so they could cut through the building to the front where everyone else was still gathered.
"So what's the verdict, Sergeant?" Major Morgan asked forty minutes later when she entered the examining room where Sgt. Sullivan was. The sergeant was sitting on the examining table, holding an ice pack to the back of his head. Reid was standing against the wall, just inside the door, still dressed in the black shorts and yellow t-shirt that made up the cadets PT uniform. Not having anyplace to put it, his gun was still held in one hand.
"My hard head saves me again," Sgt. Sullivan replied. "Doc says its just a mild concussion and I can go back on duty tomorrow, ma'am."
"Good to hear."
"Eric isn't the only one who's lucky," Derek Morgan said, walking into the room. He glanced over at Reid as he continued. "The techs got done analyzing that rag. It was chloroform, a mixture with a concentration of about 850 ppm."
"The UNSUB was probably hoping the chloroform would cause a cardiac arrhythmia. It would fall in with the other attacks, specifically like the last attack with the peanut flour causing anaphylatic shock," Reid commented in a matter of fact voice. He seemed oblivious to the fact that he had been the target of the aforementioned attack, something that would cause most people to show at least a small degree of uneasiness about. It wasn't lost on any of the other people but only one of them commented on it.
"You seem awfully calm seeing you were the target," Sgt. Sullivan commented, trying to figure out what made the young FBI agent tick.
"I'm trying to focus on the facts of the case. That's what is important," Reid responded. He didn't see the knowing look that Derek shot in the young genius' direction.
"They find Phillips yet?" Derek asked trying to shift the conversation away from Reid.
"No, not yet. Cadet Fergenson did identify Phillips in a photo line-up as the attacker so we've definitely have him for this latest attack. Linking him to the other incidents is going to be harder unless he confesses to them."
"That's why Garcia is trying to dig up information. If we can figure out his motive on our own then he may be shaken enough to either slip up and tell us something incriminating or confess to being behind them."
"First we've got to locate him. I can't believe it was one of my men behind this the whole time. I didn't even suspect anything," Major Morgan said, shaking her head slightly. Derek noticed the action and recognized the look of guilt on his sister's face.
"Becky, this isn't your fault. None of us even suspected Phillips of being behind it."
"Morgan's right. I even discounted him as a suspect after looking into his file," Reid told her.
"There was nothing that pointed to Phillips being behind this until he started showing the suspicious behavior this morning that attracted Eric's attention. Whatever connection this Private Chaplain has to Phillips is something that he kept hidden for some reason, and the reason why could be what gives us the leverage we need."
"If we can figure out the connection," Major Morgan commented.
"Garcia will find it," both Agent Morgan and Reid said at the same time.
Agent Morgan's cell phone rang. "Speaking of Garcia," he commented after glancing at the screen. "Hey, Baby Girl, please tell me you've got some news for me," he said into the phone.
As Derek Morgan listened to what Garcia said, Major Morgan's radio crackled to life.
"Lt. Marley to Major Morgan."
"Morgan here. Go ahead Lieutenant," Major Morgan replied into her radio, walking away from her brother so that the two conversations wouldn't interfere with each other.
"Major we've located Captain Phillips. Problem is when we tried to approach him he opened fire on us. We're in a stand off right now."
"Was anyone hurt?"
"No but we're not getting anywhere with him at all. He keeps trying to give us orders. I think we need someone here that out ranks him, ma'am."
"I'll be there, Lieutenant. Where are you at?"
Lt. Marley gave her the location and then ended the conversation. She turned away from the wall she had been facing to find Reid and Sgt. Sullivan looking in her direction. Ending his phone call with Garcia, he looked at his sister, silently asking what was going on.
"My men are in a stand-off with Captain Phillips. I need to get out there."
"I'm going with you," Agent Morgan said, in a tone that clearly left no room for argument. "Garcia's found the connection between Phillips and Chaplain, I'll fill you in on our way out there," he told his sister before turning to his co-worker. "Reid, join Hotch at headquarters. Tell him what's going on. Garcia was going to call him with the information she just gave to me."
"Got it," Reid said, catching the keys that Derek Morgan tossed to him.
Major Morgan walked past Reid and out of the exam room. Agent Morgan followed her out leaving Reid and Sgt. Sullivan alone in the room again.
"Do you want me to wait until they release you?" Reid asked.
"No. Go on. I can call someone to come get me."
Reid nodded and took a couple of steps toward the door. He paused before leaving the room and looked back at Sgt. Sullivan.
"Thanks for looking out for me over the last few days."
"I don't know why you're thanking me," Sgt. Sullivan replied with a slight shake of his head which he instantly regretted. "Some bodyguard I turned out to be, the attacker makes his move and I let him knock me out."
"But you picked up on his suspicious behavior before he made his move and alerted someone. Things might have turned out differently if you hadn't. The back-up wouldn't have been there."
"Didn't think of it that way. You're welcome." Sgt. Sullivan said. As Reid turned the army sergeant thought about his reaction when he had been told about the plan. He had figured the kid wouldn't have been able to handle the training and had said so, causing Derek Morgan to stick up for the young FBI agent. "Hey Reid." Sgt. Sullivan waiting for Reid to look back at him before continuing. "About what I said at the hotel on Saturday, I was wrong."
Reid nodded, knowing exactly what the sergeant was referring too. "Just be glad this case didn't go on until we went out to the firing range. Even I was afraid to find out what might happen if I actually had to fire a M-16."
Reid turned and finally left the room, heading out to where Morgan had parked the SUV earlier. The FBI agent was relieved that the undercover assignment was over but felt more self confident having completed it. He knew this experience wasn't going to be a miraculous cure for the horrors that still haunted him. Knew he wasn't going to magically be able to put Tobias and what he had endured behind him but he knew this was going to help.
If nothing else he had proved something to himself. He had proved that he was strong enough to handle an assignment on his own. More importantly, his team had proved something to him. They were always going to be there. Had always been there. Hotch had told him he wasn't going to be alone on this assignment. Though at times it had felt that way, he knew the truth of his supervisor's words. His team was looking out for him. Would never abandon him. Had never abandoned him.
They hadn't given up on him when Hankel had held him captive. They had searched until they had found him. They hadn't given up on him while he had struggled those months following the whole ordeal. Even when he had tried to push them away, they hadn't abandoned him.
Reid reached the SUV and opened the door. Climbing behind the wheel, he turned the vehicle on and backed carefully out of the parking spot. They had found their UNSUB but this wasn't over yet. Now they had to catch him and make sure he was held accountable for his actions. The families of those lives he had taken deserved that much.
