Chapter 10

Conversation over lunch was lighthearted. Everyone made a production of further establishing their cover story for the diners around them. Throughout the meal, members of the police force dropped in and would stop by the table to be introduced. Along with the louder portions of the conversation that they wanted everyone to hear, there were also quieter moments that only the members of the group were privy to. That was when Hotch and the team talked over what they'd discovered so far as well as planned on how to proceed from this point.

They were reaching the ninety-minute mark when conversation started winding down. Reid had taken note of all the people who had come and gone as he compared them to what they knew of the Unsub. There had been three women with infants the approximate size that Peter would be at five months of age. The only drawback was that each of them had an infant daughter. Furthermore, of those three women, two of them had spent an inordinate amount of time looking in their direction. While that might not seem significant, the same two women hadn't even glanced in their direction until they'd been joined by the Stankovics.

Taking out his phone as if he'd just received a call or text, Reid lifted the phone and interrupted the conversation going on around him to say, "Hal, your mom wants to know how everything is going and if you're doing a good job of showing us around." As he spoke, he took several photos, which he would send to Garcia so she could work her magic.

Hal shook his head. "And did you tell her that I've excelled at showing you around and making sure that you have everything you need?"

Reid smiled as he finished sending the photos and lowered his phone. "Actually, I told her that we haven't seen much of you but we've been finding our own way about town just fine."

Hal slapped his hand on the table. "What! Reid, that was just plain mean. You know my mom…" He was interrupted by the chirp of a phone, and he glared at Reid before taking his phone out and lifting it to his ear. "Hello, Mom." He paused before adding, "He was pulling your leg, Mom. I've been doing a great job of showing them around." Another pause, and then he sighed before adding, "Yes, ma'am. I will."

Hal replaced his phone and grumbled, "You know what they say about paybacks, Reid."

Reid smiled. "Bring it on."

There was laughter, and he turned to look at the others. Morgan was grinning ear to ear and there was a suspicious twinkle in his eyes. Suddenly, Reid had an inkling he'd made a tactical error in issuing his challenge. Morgan was exceptionally good at getting him, like the time he'd given Reid's number out to the press and it was aired so that Reid got numerous calls from civilians. Of course, Reid had gotten him back by reprogramming Morgan's MP3 player and phone so that Morgan got him screaming into them.

Morgan turned to Hal. "I have some ideas on that, Hal."

Hal slowly smiled. "Good. Between the two of us, we'll have the kid screaming uncle in no time."

Reid's eyes widened. "Kid? I'm thirty years old! That hardly makes me a kid."

Hal shook his head. "Thirty? I always thought you were younger."

Reid felt as if someone was watching him and turned to see one of the women he'd snapped a picture of staring in their direction. The second she saw him looking her way, her eyes darted away, but he recognized something in her gaze the moment before she turned. Looking back in the direction of his team, he noticed that Stephanie had a frown on her face and was peering in the woman's direction as well.

He leaned in to the table and softly asked, "Do you know who that is?"

Stephanie shook her head. "Not at the moment. She seems familiar somehow, though."

The door jangled, and all eyes swung to the entrance. A woman who'd been introduced to the group as Lula barreled inside, and she looked around frantically before making a beeline in their direction. She came to a stop beside the table and took several seconds to get her breathing back under control.

"Steph…" She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to say something else, when the door flung open once more and a big, burly man with curly red hair stormed into the restaurant.

"Where is she?"

Several men stood all at once with their weapons out and trained on the newcomer. He disregarded them, and in the next instant, his gaze locked on their table and he moved forward with his hands balled into fists, a creepy smile on his face. "There she is. Surrounded by her lapdogs."

Reid felt his heartrate increase like when they were on a case and chasing an Unsub. He wished that he had his weapon out in the open and easy to access, but that wasn't possible for the cover he was using. He knew that JJ, Hotch, and Morgan all had their weapons and would offer some protection, but he hated being this exposed.

The mountain rammed into their table and came to a stop. "I got a bone to pick with you, Plum."

Ranger and Lester were on either side of the man, and he moved his arm as if to swat them away. Ranger used the guy's momentum to grab his arm and swing him around, and within a matter of seconds, the giant's hands were cuffed behind his back.

Two uniformed police officers that had been introduced to them as Carl and Big Dog moved over to take the man into custody.

The giant tried to dodge them, but Ranger placed his hand on the back of the man's neck, and in the next instant, he was on the ground, out cold.

Carl gave a deep sigh. "Too bad you couldn't have just walked him out to the squad car before putting the Vulcan Death Grip on the guy. He weighs close to three hundred and fifty pounds. Do you have any idea what dragging that kind of dead weight is like?"

The corner of Ranger's mouth moved a fraction of an inch before he called out, "Junior. You want to help these officers with their burden?"

One of the men standing holstered his weapon and moved over to where the giant was resting. He reached down and placed one hand between the inert form's handcuffed arms, grabbed one leg, swung the giant up into a fireman's carry, and made his way to the door. When he got there, he turned and asked, "Are you two coming?"

Carl and Big Dog closed their mouths and slowly made their way in that direction. As they walked away, Reid heard Big Dog whisper, "I sure hope he's not going to be on RangeMan's team when we play football."

A nod from Carl was his only response.

Betsy Gooley frowned at her sister. "Grace, who are all of those guys with guns?"

Grace smiled. "Don't worry about them, Betsy. The guy who took the other one down is Ranger. He's the owner of RangeMan Securities, and he and Stephanie Plum are a couple."

"I don't recognize any of them."

"You wouldn't. They moved in a few years ago, after you went to UCLA on the cheerleading scholarship."

At the mention of her scholarship, Betsy frowned. She didn't like remembering those days. She looked around the room, and her eyes landed on Lisa Brown, one of her classmates. The two had been arch rivals from day one, when both of them wanted the same guy.

Betsy turned her attention back to the group in the back. "I see Mary Lou is still stuck to Lenny's side."

Grace laughed. "She has every right to be. They're married. I'm sure I wrote to you about that. They have three children."

Betsy glared. "Yes. You wrote me about that. I guess I just thought he would have come to his senses by now. After all, you know that I almost broke them up in high school."

Grace's eyebrows rose. "No. I never knew that." She frowned. "I don't see how you could have, Betsy. They've been a solid twosome since third grade."

Betsy's cheek turned pink. Her eyes narrowing dangerously as she demanded, "Are you calling me a liar?"

Grace shook her head. "No… I just don't recall any time where they weren't as into each other as I thought."

The sound of a baby crying had her looking into the carrier beside her. She let the corner of her mouth tilt slightly as she saw that Paulina was still sleeping soundly. Her head lifted quickly as Grace moved to get a better look at the baby. Betsy's voice was sharp as she demanded, "What are you doing?"

Grace looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "I was just trying to get a better look at my niece. I don't know why you never told us that you had her."

Betsy put a protective hand on the baby as she replied, "Sorry. I just didn't want to hear a lecture about having a child without being married."

The baby started moving restlessly, as if preparing to wake up.

Grace smiled. "Oh, good. She's waking up. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to hold her."

Not if I can help it, was all that Betsy could think.

Laurie Deckman grabbed a bottle from the diaper bag and popped the nipple into F…ran's mouth. A quick glance around told her that they hadn't drawn any undue attention. She was close to her goal, and she didn't want to chance blowing it now. It had taken her months to get to this point.

As the baby drank thirstily from the bottle, she let her gaze roam around the room. He was here…but the woman beside him wasn't what she was expecting. Laurie frowned. The woman looked like a girl-next-door type. That couldn't be right. Football players always went for the cheerleader type.

She decided that she'd think about that later. For now, seeing her target was all that was important. He was an average-looking guy, and the attention he gave to the woman beside him spoke of young lovers, not an old married couple.

Strange… There were a lot of things about this couple that didn't add up.

A whimper had her turning back to F—No! Fran! She had to get it right. She couldn't let anyone suspect anything.

Just then, the group she was watching started breaking up as people went on about their business. Laurie hurried to finish up. She had work to do.