Since I haven't posted in a long time, here is a reminder of where we last left the story.

Rossi and Samantha Kim met with both the American consulate and the Colombian case officer who handled David Gomez (the spy uncovered in the Moreno compound)

Tom Kohler and Emily were discovered at Isabella's compound and a scuffle between Tom and Santiago resulted in Emily knocking out Santiago and Tom placing a radio transmitter in the tongue of his boot

Nick Murphy and Hotch were worried that something had happened when Morgan didn't show up at the rendezvous point.

"Reckless? You wanna talk about reckless right now? How about fucking Emily; do you consider that reckless?"

"What did you say to me?" Nick's eyes narrowed as he slowly edged closer to Morgan. "What the fuck did you just say…"

A large fist in his field of vision was Nick's only warning before Morgan's punch to the face knocked him to the ground.

Wednesday Mid-Afternoon

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Emily's fingers lightly grazed over the split in Nick's lower lip. He frowned as he turned from her and removed his bloody shirt, letting it fall to the floor. Stalking to his suitcase, he muttered under his breath as he rummaged through his clothing.

Stifling a sigh, she placed the audio jammer Samantha had loaned them on the table and followed. Nick had been uncharacteristically quiet during the trip back to the hotel, refusing to speak of what happened to his lip, instead insisting that she fill them in on what had transpired with Santiago.

"I'm getting something." With Tom's spare satellite phone at her ear, Emily grasped the handle above her as the Jeep dipped and swerved along the rugged country road. "Goddamn it!" She nearly lost her grip on the phone when the SUV hit a particularly bad pothole. She ignored the brief apologetic glance Tom gave her when her call was finally answered.

"Rossi."

"Rossi, it's Emily."

"Emily, are you okay? Samantha had a call…"

"We're fine, but we definitely have a situation. We need to meet back at the hotel as soon as possible."

"Morgan hasn't shown up at the rendezvous point; Nicholas is concerned."

"Wait, what? Where are they; do you have their coordinates?"

Concerned at her last sentence, Tom glanced at Emily and watched as her expression grew worried while she listened to her teammate. She leaned down to the mobile GPS and punched coordinates into the unit.

"Okay, we're only a few miles away…" Emily looked up and nodded to Tom and he abruptly turned their Jeep around to follow the new coordinates. "… I'll call you back, Rossi."

Before he could ask, Emily filled him in. "Nick called Sam and told her Morgan hadn't shown up. He was supposed to plant a device in Andres' house, and meet them back at a certain spot. When he didn't show, they packed up and went back to their vehicle, thinking he might have misunderstood and gone there. But he hadn't."

They drove in silence for the next few minutes until Tom drove around a grouping of trees into a large clearing.

"What the hell?" Emily asked as she took in the scene before her as she scrambled out of the Jeep.

Tom turned off the engine and followed her. One look at Nick's bleeding face, Hotch's pissed expression and Morgan's slightly abashed demeanor told him exactly what he needed to know and he questioned his judgment with pairing Morgan with Nick. He noted that Emily went immediately the latter, who was using his shirt sleeve to stop the blood that was dripping from his lower lip. Nick met his gaze and shrugged his shoulders slightly.

Choosing to ignore the situation for now, Tom cleared his throat. "We need to get back to the hotel. Emily managed to knock out Santiago and we planted a transmitter into his boot. I want to be out of this area before he can bring in reinforcements to look for us." He looked back at Emily. "Em, I want you to ride with Nick and Hotch. Morgan, you're with me."

"Nick?"

His head popped through his shirt and he tugged it down his torso. "Apparently, Morgan and I had a disagreement." Nick avoided her eyes as he bent to pick up his bloody shirt from the floor.

"What about?"

Nick snorted at the question. "He doesn't like the fact that we slept together and I don't think it's any of his damn business."

With a gasp, Emily's eyes rounded in shock and he regretted his offhanded remark.

"You told him?"

Nick shook his head. "Of, course not. I think he was mad because I chewed him out and he threw out that accusation to piss me off. It was probably just a wild guess." He paused for a moment as he considered his next words. "Though I have to wonder why he would be so upset at the thought of us sleeping together."

"Unbelievable! We have young girls being sold into prostitution and the two of you are fighting over a woman like a couple of…" Emily was interrupted by a ding from Nick's phone.

"Come on." With a sigh, he guided her to the door with his hand on her back. "Tom has something and he wants everyone in the suite. And for the record, I wasn't fighting with anyone."

"Santiago is on the move and he's nowhere near Moreno's or Isabella's plantation."

The two teams were gathered around the large screen that indicated Santiago's current position. Several of them snacked on room service sandwiches while Tom navigated the GPS program. In the adjoining room, Samantha paced as she spoke quietly into her phone. Emily noticed that Morgan was avoiding both her and Nick since they'd arrived, while Rossi had grabbed her in a quick side hug; relieved to see her

"Maybe he's going to his own base of operations." Hotch provided.

Tom nodded his head. "That was my thought. He knows the jig is up and will probably clean house."

"Which means the girls are in danger." Emily's voice was urgent. "Tom, we have to do something."

"That's the plan, Bambi." The team leader turned to Samantha, who had just joined them. "Was that Luis Lopez?"

Samantha nodded. "He's here and on his way up with Intel on the first holding cell that Javier took Nick and Emily. But we still don't have anything on the place Javier was taking them tomorrow." She tucked the phone in her pocket and continued; her gaze intense as she spoke directly to her boss. "The Intel he has are the coordinates of the first holding site. Luis' team is ready; they could take the place today and hold it." She looked back at Emily. "By tonight, the girls in that compound could be safe. And we would be one step closer to shutting down this trafficking ring."

"There were only a handful of men at that compound." Nick added. "If Luis has enough men, the element of surprise would be in their favor. They could take the building and secure the girls without a lot of collateral damage."

"According to Luis, they have more than enough Operatives and Commandos on stand-by." Rossi said.

Tom sighed, lost in thought, as he watched the blip that was Santiago on the screen. Nick reached out and slightly squeezed the little finger of Emily's left hand and she knew he must have seen her slight reaction at the news that Luis would be here any moment. She wasn't sure she was ready to face the handler of the man she had executed just yesterday morning. But if the girls that had been put on display for them yesterday could be saved today, she would push her guilt to the back burner for their benefit.

Turning to Samantha, Tom said, "Call Luis back. Have his men take the training camp now while Santiago is still figuring out what's going on. Nick's right, the element of surprise is going to be our best asset." Samantha nodded to her boss and left the room while dialing the Colombian case officer.

"You should go to Javier's" Tom said suddenly. He turned to Nick and Emily and ignored their confused expressions. He understood that this could potentially be a dangerous situation, but it was the only option he could see right now. "Tell him you've had an emergency call from a client and you're leaving town tomorrow, so you need to see the last holding place today."

Rossi shook his head. "Nicholas said Javier doesn't know where any of the holdings are located. So without Santiago, how will that help?"

"But he could know something. Without Santiago there, we might be able to get him to open up about what's really going on." Emily replied, picking up on Tom's strategy.

"Exactly and this could be the only chance to get Javier alone without Santiago." Tom glanced at Nick, who also looked to be in agreement.

"Come on, Nick. We probably don't have a very big window to do this." As she started towards the door, she looked over her shoulder at Morgan, who had been quiet during the entire exchange. His face was a mixture of anger, worry and curiosity as he watched her leave with Nick. Her heart broke a little at the thought that their friendship could be in jeopardy because of this.

This wasn't supposed to be happening. All their hard work over the last few years, their meticulous attention to detail, the heightened security measures they've had in place and it could all come crashing down.

Anger was what Santiago wrapped himself in as he stormed through Javier's home, with Isabella in his wake. He let it consume him and flow out of him and he took a perverted sort of satisfaction with every person who wilted away from his gaze. He was hoping the anger would disguise the fear that he was barely containing since discovering the surveillance set-up outside of Isabella's home, and judging from the reaction around him, it was apparently working. In the years he had served as her right-hand, he had never known fear like this; even during their bloody takeover of Javier Moreno's business. Isabella's plan to keep the pathetic former drug lord as the puppet leader of his own business was nothing short of brilliant. But in the end, it still didn't protect her, because the surveillance was at her place. He took small comfort that their true base of operations had not yet been compromised.

They found Javier in his office pouring rum into a glass of ice and he scrambled to his feet as they entered. He blanched from the glare he received from Santiago when he looked at Isabella in shock. He hadn't had any dealings with her since she had instated her lover to run Javier's compound. The difference in their countenance was very marked. While Santiago was a volcano ready to explode, Isabella was cool and composed.

"Have the sweeps been completed?" Isabella barked, causing Javier to jump. He re-assessed his former opinion: she was a cold undercurrent, ready to drown anyone who stood in her way.

"Yes, ma'am." Javier nodded. "Security has found no signs of surveillance around this estate."

Santiago stepped forward and grabbed the bottle of rum. He examined the label before taking a swig. "What about the training and staging camps? Have you been in contact with them?"

"Yes, I mean no." Javier paused and took a calming breath. "The personnel at the staging base report nothing unusual. I haven't been able to raise anyone at the training camp."

Santiago turned to find his lieutenant waiting patiently in the hall and he beckoned him into the office. "Alberto, take a unit to the training camp. Make sure it's secure. I'll take a unit to the staging base." His man turned to carry out his orders, when Santiago suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Take whatever weapons you need and use whatever force necessary to secure the camp."

"The staging base is secure."

Santiago turned at Javier's words. "And we will make sure it stays that way. We will take as many girls that we can to our base camp. The rest we will have to eliminate."

He felt a hand brush lightly against his as Isabella stepped close to him. "Is it as bad as we thought?"

Santiago looked at Javier, who was attempting to look as if he wasn't interested in their conversation. "Her personal guard is waiting by her car; tell him she will join him momentarily."

He watched Javier scurry out of the room before turning to Isabella. He reached out and caressed her cheek. "I don't know yet. But, you must stay out of this as much as possible. I need you to go back to our place, take Javier with you and make sure he wears a blindfold. Actually, it doesn't matter. I think his usefulness has come to an end."

"What do you mean?"

He paused for a moment and considered his words before continuing. "Though he didn't speak, the man at your house was definitely American. The only Americans we've had contact with lately are the weapon dealers Javier met with this week." He watched for a reaction, but her face remained impassive.

"So, you think there is a connection?" Isabella finally asked.

"I don't know. But it's an awfully big coincidence."

Isabella shook her head and changed the subject. "Try not to kill too much of the stock. There's a lot of money in those particular stables."

He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. "The important thing is getting out free. We can start over." Santiago knew she didn't want to hear that, she had worked hard to build her empire. But he heard her sigh as she nodded her head.

"Come back to me." She pulled his head towards her and kissed him hard. His response was just as passionate before he reluctantly pulled away from her.

"I'll be back later tonight."

A couple of miles from the Moreno compound a call had come in from Tom telling them that Santiago was back at the compound and that they were to lay low until they figured out what Santiago was going to do next. Nick had pulled the sedan onto a dirt road that was overgrown with weeds and drove until they could no longer see the main road.

They had now been sitting in the car for nearly forty minutes. And despite the fact they had cleared the car Andres had loaned them, of any bugs; the time was spent mostly in silence. Occasionally, Nick looked on the verge of saying something, but Emily kept her head turned towards the passenger window.

Nick finally broke the silence. "Em, Morgan found something in Andres' cabin that we need to discuss."

One of the phones in the console between them rang and Nick picked it up, pausing to look at Emily before he answered it. It was the phone Andres had given them. "This is Paige." He grimaced slightly before continuing. "Of course, we'll be there soon." He hung up and dropped the phone back in the console. "Andres wants to meet us immediately."

"What? Why?"

Before he could answer, Nick's other phone rang and he placed it on speaker. "Go ahead, Agent Hotchner."

"Santiago just left the compound. We're going to rendezvous with Luis' other units in hopes that Santiago leads us to the second holding facility. We will send you the coordinates once we have them."

Nick looked briefly surprised before he continued. "We just received a call from Andres requesting a meeting. We'll meet up with you after."

"Hotch, were they able to take the training camp?" Emily asked; her voice tinged with hope.

"They were. Murphy was right; the element of surprise was in our favor. Let's hope it continues."

Emily sagged in relief as Nick hung up. "We might be able to pull this off." She raised an eyebrow at Nick as he sat in the driver's seat staring at her. "Shouldn't we start heading to Andres'?"

With a slight grimace, he straightened his body in the seat and rummaged in the front pocket of his chinos. He pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Emily. She eyed it warily as he started the car and began the drive to the main road.

"What is this?" She opened it carefully and began to read and with each word she translated to English her demeanor changed from curiosity to shock. "He's planning on killing us?" She scanned the note one more time, hoping she had mistranslated it in the first read. But again Enzo's intent jumped off the page: his compliance in carrying out Andres' plan for Ryan and Deanna's disposal. Emily crumpled the paper in her hand as her shock morphed into anger.

"We know too much." Nick told her as he pulled off of the dirt road and headed in the direction of Andres' cabin. "And our usefulness is coming to an end."

Emily stewed in her indignation for a moment. She had never really considered that Andres, who had known them for years, would consider murdering them. She shook her head at her own anger. He was a criminal many times over. Why wouldn't he kill Ryan and Deanna Paige to cover his ass; he had done much worse in the time she and Nick were undercover as his weapons suppliers.

"Here." Nick dropped a radio transmitter into her hand; identical to the one Tom had planted on Santiago. "Put this somewhere Enzo won't find it."

"Where did this come from?" Emily asked.

"I was going to attempt to plant it somewhere on Javier, but it will come in handy if we get into trouble. The team will be able to find us."

"Find our bodies, probably." Emily mumbled under her breath as she pulled her arms out of her sleeves and lifted her shirt above her breasts. "What about you?"

"I'm not leaving your side." His voice was firm with conviction and Emily smiled despite herself.

She tucked the transmitter into the side panel of her bra, nestling it against the side of her left breast. As she pushed her arms back into her sleeves and straightened her shirt, she noticed the smirk on Nick's face.

"What?"

"Nothing." He chuckled. "I just assumed you would put it in your shoe."

"Oh." Emily felt her face flush with embarrassment. "Well, I don't see Enzo or Andres trying to get my bra off of me."

"They'd better not." Nick growled.

They arrived at the cabin and found Andres and Enzo waiting for them on the small front porch.

"This can't be good." Emily murmured as she quickly tore Enzo's note into tiny pieces and tucked them into the car's ashtray.

They exited the car and as they approached the two men, Andres stepped off the porch and brought his hand from behind his back, pointing a pistol at Nick.

"What is this?" Emily exclaimed.

After a nod from Andres, Enzo moved to Nick and motioned him to raise his arms. The henchman began to pat down Nick's back, chest and torso, taking the Glock tucked in the back of his pants and tucking it into the front of his own waistband.

"Why were you here this morning?"

Nick looked up at Andres' question as Enzo ran his hands down each of his legs. From Nick's ankle holster, Enzo removed a second gun.

"Answer me."

He watched as Enzo walked to the porch to deposit his guns. "I needed to tell you that we have to leave. One of our clients has an emergency order."

"Why didn't you just call me, Ryan?"

Nick ignored the question as he watched Enzo approach Emily. She held her arms in the air as he began a pat down similar to what he had been given. He removed her Sig Sauer from the holster inside her waistband. Then he patted the side of her torso and under and around her breasts, his hand coming dangerously close to the transmitter.

"Hey!" Nick took a step forward at Enzo's intrusive pat down of Emily. Andres tried to wave him back with his gun, but it wasn't until Emily gave him one of her glares that he acquiesced. He still stood protectively close as Enzo continued his search, patting each of Emily's legs.

He looked back at Andres, who hadn't moved, his gun still aimed squarely at his chest. "With all the trouble you took to get us here, I thought it was a conversation we should have in person."

Andres nodded thoughtfully and looked at Emily as Enzo stepped away from her. "Why weren't you with him?"

Emily furrowed her brows at the question. "I slept in. I wasn't feeling well."

"She's pregnant!" Nick blurted suddenly.

Her jaw dropped in shock, her expression matching Andres', but to her credit she recovered quickly. "I thought we weren't telling anyone until the second trimester."

He looked sheepish as she turned to her and just a bit smug. "Sorry, babe. I'm just excited." He turned to Andres. "With all that's been going on, she's exhausted, surely you understand."

Andres considered Emily for a long moment, and then nodded his head. "That does explain your most recent behavior. Congratulations." She frowned at his statement.

"I just hope that whatever you used to knock us out hasn't harmed our child." She spat, keeping the ruse going.

"I'm surprised you even drank what little of the mimosa you did, considering you're pregnant. But I'm sure everything will be fine." He assured her, a bit unconvincingly. "Let's go for a ride, shall we?"

Thank you for reading and for your patience. My work has settled down a bit and I have the rest of this story mapped out. There's just a couple more chapters to go.