AN: Thank you again for all of your reviews and continued interest in this story.
The team arrived at Morris Investments, Hotchner leading the way into the multi-story corporate building.
"Can I help you, sir?" A receptionist asked as she eyed the group of serious-looking people approaching her desk in the middle of the lobby.
"I'm Aaron Hotchner, this is my team. We're with the FBI and we're looking for a Patricia Simmons." He explained calmly.
"Uh, her office is located on the fourth floor, is something wrong?" the receptionist asked nervously.
"No, we just need to speak to her right away." Hotchner said without getting into details as he didn't want to panic the whole building or alert the unsub if he were close by.
"Um ok, take the elevator to your right. Her secretary should be straight ahead once you reach the fourth floor, I'll let her know you're coming."
"Thank you." Hotchner nodded his appreciation as the team quickly made their way to the elevator.
After a quiet moment, the elevator reached the fourth floor and the agents stepped towards a pretty, but equally nervous looking secretary.
"You must be the FBI agents I presume." She said as she looked at them.
"Yes, I'm Aaron Hotchner, these are agents Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss. We're here to see Patricia Simmons." Hotchner said as he made quick introductions.
"And what is this regarding? I don't have any knowledge that Ms. Simmons was expecting anyone today." The secretary stated as she tried to remain guarded until she knew what they're business was.
Hotchner glanced around the room for the moment, making sure there wasn't anyone else within earshot. When he was satisfied, he responded.
"We have reason to believe that Ms. Simmons may be in danger."
"Danger? What kind of danger?" the secretary paled a little.
"We have reason to believe that someone may be trying to kill her; potentially someone who worked here who was recently laid off." Emily spoke up quietly.
"Wait, what?" the woman's mind sputtered.
"Can we talk to Ms. Simmons, please?" Rossi asked, putting pressure on the young woman in front of them.
"Uh, no unfortunately you can't. She called out sick this morning." The woman said, her face becoming increasingly more pale as the gravity of the situation began to weigh on her.
"Does she normally call out?" Morgan asked, becoming more worried.
"Not usually, no. But everybody gets sick at one time or another and she didn't sound great when I talked to her on the phone."
"You talked to her?" Rossi asked.
"Yes, of course."
"How did she sound? Did she sound sick? Or did she sound stressed, as if something else were wrong or maybe she was being coerced?" Hotchner questioned.
"Uh, I'm not sure, I really didn't notice."
"Have you tried talking to her since?" Emily asked.
"No, I had no reason to. I just assumed she would be back tomorrow." Hotchner looked at the rest of his team.
"We need to get to her house, in case she is there. If she is, JJ and Reid will need back up if he's there with her." He said.
"If who is there with her?" the secretary asked worriedly.
"We're still not sure of that, but as we said before we think it was someone who used to work here who was recently laid off. Was there anyone in particular who might come to mind?" Rossi asked.
The woman thought for a moment.
"Not really. I mean, nobody wants to get laid off, but nobody really stood out when she told them they were being let go."
"Was there anyone who consistently clashed with Ms. Simmons or seemed to have a short fuse?" Hotchner asked.
He was becoming anxious. If Patricia Simmons wasn't here and was indeed at home, JJ and Reid could be walking right into something which was exactly what he had been hoping to avoid. He hoped that Reid would call him like he promised, but he still had some doubt in the back of his mind that he would; at least not right away.
"There was one guy, his name was Roger Dowells, who seemed to get on Ms. Simmons' nerves, but that was only because he was a bit of a ladies' man and rather unfocused. Uh, the other guy that comes to mind is Daniel McBain. He had a bit of a temper and he threw a bit of a fit when he found out he was being let go." The secretary said after a moment.
Hotchner nodded.
"Ok thank you, we will look into it. There will be an increased police presence around the building for the time being, and we will also notify the building's security team to be on their toes. We would appreciate it if you kept this to yourself for the time being. We don't want to cause a panic or alert our potential suspect that we are on to him. Can you do that?" Hotchner asked as he stared at the woman intently.
She nodded nervously.
"Thank you. And thank you for your help as well." Hotchner finished as the team stepped back onto the elevator.
"Morgan, call Garcia and have her look into Daniel McBain and Roger Dowells just to be certain. I'm pretty sure McBain's our man." Hotchner said as Morgan nodded.
"Who are you calling?" Emily asked as she watched Hotchner dial his phone.
"Reid. I need to give him a heads up that McBain may be there and that he and JJ need to use caution if they approach the house. I'm going to have you and Morgan take a police team to McBain's house once Garcia has an address. Rossi and I will go to Patricia Simmons' house." Hotchner said as they stepped off the elevator, his phone continuing to ring without a response from Reid.
/
Spencer and JJ pulled up to the address Garcia had given them for Patricia Simmons shortly after the team had arrived at Morris Investments. They shared a look before glancing out the window at the modern-looking house that sat in what appeared to be an average, peaceful neighborhood.
"Here we go." JJ said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the passenger side of the car.
They walked up the stone walkway leading to the front door, carefully looking around in search of any potential threats while getting a gage of their surroundings. When they reached the door they both froze. The door was slightly open and they could hear movement in the house. Spencer and JJ exchanged looks, immediately pulling out their guns.
"I think the unsub might be in there." Spencer said to JJ as she nodded in agreement.
He wanted to tell her to go back to the car and wait, he wanted to keep her safe, but Spencer knew JJ could take care of herself, and that she would be insulted if he told her to go to the car. Instead he took a breath as he gathered his thoughts.
"We should call Hotch." He said as he turned to her.
JJ frowned a little.
"We might not have that kind of time, you know the odds Spence. We don't want to give away our position to the unsub either." She tried to reason with him.
Spencer knew JJ's logic was rather thin, that more than likely she wanted to do this to prove to herself that she could handle the situation. He knew they were short on time as she had suggested, but he also knew they could be setting themselves up for trouble by not calling for back up.
"Spence, we can do this." JJ stared into his eyes intently, trying her damndest to convince him.
Spencer thought of the odds, the options, of how much this meant to JJ even if it could be dangerous and that it could piss off Hotch. There were two of them, they were both trained, and they did have the element of surprise. He wanted to do this for JJ, even though it went against logic and his better judgment, and so, he agreed with some hesitation.
"Ok JJ, we'll do it, but one of us needs to cover the back, in case he tries to escape or double back on us." He said.
JJ stared at him for a moment.
"You realize what happened the last time we split up, don't you?" she said, thinking of Hankel.
"I do, but if he sneaks out the back we might not catch him, or even worse he might try to attack us from behind. We have to from a tactical standpoint even if history tells us that may be an unwise decision."
JJ sighed before relenting.
"Ok, I'll take the back this time though. Hopefully the back door is unlocked, if it isn't I'll try to find a window to squeeze through."
"Ok. Please, be careful JJ." He pleaded as he looked at her.
JJ's lips curled up into a thin smile.
"You too. I'll see you in there." She said before crouching down as she made her way around the house cautiously.
Spencer watched her for a moment, giving her a chance to get into position before he carefully pushed the door open, and slowly entered the house.
As soon as he entered, Spencer knew the unsub was in the house and his fears were increased. He was in the woman's living room; her furniture was overturned but the TV was on and a plate of food sat on a nearby table. Patricia Simmons had either been interrupted or she had left pretty quickly if she still wasn't in the house.
Spencer slowly walked through the room, his senses on high alert as he began to clear the house from his end. He heard some movement coming from the other end of the house, but he wasn't sure if it was JJ or someone else.
Slowly he walked in that direction, briefly looking down the hallway to his left and seeing no one. He took a few more steps forward, noticing that the kitchen was open on both ends, meaning there were two exits from the room and he had only one of them covered.
Spencer suddenly found himself silently praying that JJ had made it into the house because he knew if she was still outside, then he was currently in a great disadvantage. He had an urge to whisper for her, but he knew he couldn't without giving up his position.
Spencer took another hesitant step forward, causing a floor board to creak. He cringed at the searing noise it made through the relative silence of the house.
Spencer took a deep breath, his heart rate picking up. It was then that he heard a sudden movement from the hallway, coming in his direction. He whipped around quickly, but it was too late.