The team pulls up a block from the store. Hotch looks at his team.
"Morgan, Prentiss, I want you at the back doors. Rossi, JJ I want you with Reid and me. When we go in the front, you two go left, we'll go right."
The team nods. Morgan and Prentiss drive an SUV down an alley beside the store parking just out of side of the back door. Vests on, they make their way to the back door. Morgan frowns when they get there. He keys his mike.
"Hotch, there is a bar padlocked across this back door. No one is coming out this way."
"Copy. Remain there in case Donovan isn't here and returns."
"Got you."
He and Emily sigh, bummed they won't be inside the potential unsubs' lair.
"Should have brought a deck of cards," Emily jokes.
Morgan chuckles and nods as they find a place to conceal themselves in case Donovan isn't inside and returns via the back alley.
In front, Hotch tries the door and is surprised to find it open. He walks in and identifies himself.
"Mr. Donovan? This is Agent Hotchner of the FBI. We'd like to speak with you a moment."
He steps farther in and a familiar smell assaults his nose. As the others step in he sees they recognize it, too. He keys his mike.
"Morgan, Prentiss, there is a definite stench of decay in here. Keep your eyes open as it doesn't appear Donovan is here."
"Copy, Hotch," Emily answers.
The four agents pull their guns and silently start their search of the store. JJ and Rossi are moving along the old cold vault. JJ reaches out her hand and touches the glass doors, which have been painted black.
"Rossi," she whispers, "this freezer is on."
Rossi nods and they continue down towards the door stockers would have used to fill it. Rossi looks into the square window in the door and sees the room appears empty but for a cot in the middle of the floor. He opens the door and JJ steps in, clearing the blind corners of the room.
"Clear," she says. Then she looks up.
"Oh. My. God."
Rossi steps up beside her, also staring at the ceiling. "Holy shit."
Hotch and Reid had made their way into the back storage area. Hotch immediately moves to the computer as Reid goes towards the door leading into the other cold vault. He looks into the window of that door and blanches.
"Hotch…I found a control subject."
Hotch moves over beside Reid and sighs as he sees the woman lying on a cot in the freezer. Her body is completely frosted over.
"We need to get Hale down here. And we have two women we need to find and warn."
Reid looks at him. "How do you know?"
Hotch points to the computer screen. Reid walks over to it and sees the series of pictures of the two women out on dates, alone, at work. Reid shakes his head.
"We just need to warn one woman, Hotch. There's a folder titled 'Subject 12'. He's made his choice."
Hotch puts on a glove and uses the mouse to open the file. The folder is filled with pictures of a pretty blonde woman going about her life. He can tell some photos are cropped and edited pictures from the main file that includes the other woman.
"Hotch?" JJ's voice comes through their mikes.
"Yes, JJ?"
"We found where the women were killed. You need to see this."
"On my way. Reid, call Garcia. Get her hooked into this computer."
"Right." Reid plugs in an aircard and dials the analysts number, hoping she hasn't left for the day.
Hotch meets up with JJ and Rossi at the cold vault. "What do you have?"
"A nightmare," JJ answers pointing at the ceiling.
Hotch looks up. "Holy shit." The pictures of Emily and Morgan hang in tatters. "He was going to take Emily because she was with Morgan?"
"Looks like. But something made him change his mind and he obviously wasn't too happy about it," Rossi states.
Hotch keys his mike. "Prentiss, the unsub had targeted you. Keep your eyes open."
"ME? Why the hell did he focus on me?"
Reid's voice jumps in. "Because he thought you were married to a man but having an affair with Morgan. You were going to be the control subject for his next experiment. It's all here on the computer."
Emily stares at Morgan. "Who the fuck is this guy and how did he decide I was married and having an affair?"
"Based on the pictures I'm seeing he saw you two at a couple of the abduction sites and for whatever reason he turned his focus on you. He's got hundreds of documents on here. Even though the building was open we may want to get a warrant before we go much farther, Hotch," Reid relays from Garcia.
Hotch nods. "Agreed. Let's lock this place down and wait for Hale to get here. The dead woman alone is enough to get a warrant."
"Dead woman?" JJ says in shock.
"In the freezer vault. Most likely his control subject."
JJ sighs. "There are always 2 control subjects. That smell? I bet one woman isn't frozen for comparison's sakes."
Rossi groans. "That is most likely true. Sick but true."
"Okay, Rossi, JJ go around back and wait with Morgan and Emily just to be safe. Reid and I will hang up here to wait for Hale and backup."
JJ doesn't have to be told twice. She and Rossi hurriedly make their way to the alley to meet up with Morgan and Emily. As they walk, JJ sees a car pause near the driveway of the parking lot.
"Rossi, look," she points at it.
It suddenly cuts hard to the left and accelerates past the store lot. JJ takes off at a run towards it. Rossi follows as fast as he can but she soon outdistances him. She gets to the road in time to see the car get hung up behind another car at the corner traffic light. She runs towards it.
"FBI! STOP!"
The car pops up onto the sidewalk, nearly taking out two pedestrians as it runs the light. By the time JJ reaches the corner, it is too far away to make out the driver.
"Son of a bitch!" she says, kicking the street sign pole.
Rossi catches up to her. "Make? Plate?"
"Olds Cutlass. First part of the plate is Delta Lima Tango."
"An Olds makes the car pretty old. Hopefully you have enough for Hale to see if it's Donovan's."
"Hopefully."
The two make their way back to the store parking lot. Rossi breaks off to let Hotch know about the car. JJ continues on back to her wife and Morgan.
"Hey," she says as she comes around the corner.
Emily stares at her wife. "What the hell was in there, Jen?"
JJ sighs and tells the two agents about the cold vault ceiling. "That was rage, Em. He was pissed that you screwed up his experiment."
Emily grins. "Remind me to apologize when we bust his ass."
JJ chuckles. "You'll excuse me if I don't."
Emily shakes her head. "So he thinks I'm married to someone but having an affair with Morgan. Even if he saw us out looking at crime scenes where would he have come up with this background for me?"
"Well, you and Morgan joke, laugh, touch. To an outsider, someone looking to see something, he may have misread your friendship as something more," JJ points out.
Morgan nods. "And if he saw your wedding ring and my lack of one, instant affair."
Emily nods. "Okay. Then if that was reasonable for his so-called study why was it suddenly so bad he tore up the pictures the way Jen described?"
JJ shrugs. "I have no idea. But it worries me. Maybe he'll go after a different number 12 or maybe he'll still go after you."
"Well, if he comes after me we'll be ready. I know you all will have my back. I'm more concerned with him going after someone else. She won't have you all watching over her."
"She might. There are pictures on the computer. As soon as Hale gets here with a warrant Hotch is unleashing Garcia on it. Hopefully we'll have her identity in time to protect her."
Morgan sighs. "Yeah."