DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters. Sorry for that extremely long wait, but the rest of the story will all be posted tonight! It is incredibly long, I will post it in 3 parts, not to worry though because everything will be on by tonight. Thanks to all that have stuck through on this long story! Enjoy! (1/3)
The precinct was a zoo, agents and officers running in hundreds of directions as the clock struck closer to Reid's deadline. Voices drowned out others and the whole station represented a beehive.
"Alright everyone," Hotch had set up a hearing in the middle of the police station, the pictures of Samuel Wayhaven and Mark Pellegrio blown up and on every screen available, "We have 4 hours to finish this case or an agent, out in the field right now, dies. So far, the unsubs are the only ones who have the ability to contact us through video cam with little information as to where they are."
Derek followed, "So far we know that the kills are connected through astrological and lunar patterns and the two unsubs, Samuel Wayhaven and Mark Pellegrio, are extremely close. If one goes down, they both do. Samuel Wayhaven is the brains of the pair, probably the one who set this whole thing up, while Mark Pellegrio is the brawn, the one who does all the dirty work."
"Samuel, Bonnie as he calls himself, knows he's cornered and probably no way out of this, which is why we are worried he's going to be using Agent Reid as a bargaining chip," Emily informed the bustling room.
"He may plant Reid somewhere and send us on a wild goose chase while he's too busy skipping town," Hotch suggested, "That's why we need to find and stop these unsubs before that happens."
"You mentioned in the file they're at an old, abandoned apartment," one of the officers piped up, "Hate to break it to ya, but that's all of Boston."
There were a few shouts of agreement.
"Yes, we know it's a very broad and general description," Hotch addressed the group, "Which is why we need to think and any resources we have to try and locate where he is."
"What do you mean?" Ellory asked.
"So far the unsubs are using some form or pattern of astrology to kill their victims. Everything is connected and has a meaning, which is why we assume their location right now must have some sort of meaning as well," JJ explained.
"So our job now is to review the files, the victims, tattoos, anything you can to try and find the pattern and relay it back to us. Hopefully we can use it to find where they're hiding out," Derek announced.
The band of officers in the station began disbanding until Hotch called once more, "Wait."
Slowly, the room hushed to a silence, waiting to see what the next announcement was and delay in their search.
Hotchner paused and looked around the packed room before saying, "It seems we have a mole in the ranks."
Chaos.
Men looked outraged, nervous, angry, bewildered, shocked, scared. It took a little force and lots of shouting from Derek to quiet the busy room once more, Hotch stood patiently on the platform all the while.
One brave, bodacious officer accused Hotch, "How do you know one of our loyal, trustworthy men broke rank? Huh? Spying on us?"
"Actually," Rossi responded, calmly, to the harsh remark, "We know because how else would the unsubs know the rotations and shifts of the officers? That the FBI had come in on the case? That Agent Reid was the one who was the main player in piecing his puzzle of a case together?"
The officer who had expressed his outcry remained silent, along with every other officer in the room.
The detective at the scene of the kill where Hotch and Prentiss visited, the one who looked suspicious, slowly rose from his seat.
"Derek" Hotch addressed his fellow agent, "Arrest Detective Greg Ellory and read him his rights."
The quiet on the crowd quickly turned into a massive upheaval of officers in shock and angry. Derek easily pushed his way through the crowd to the horrified head detective and forcefully snapped on some handcuffs. Morgan led Ellory, head ducked down and expression blank, towards the interrogation rooms.
A few officers tried to follow, hoping for a little revenge but Rossi, Prentiss, and JJ held the distressed crowd at bay. Within 10 minutes, the patrols were set to scour the Boston area for the two, deadly unsubs and the missing agent.
The detective who had awkwardly sat up in the middle of Hotch's accusation walked up to Prentiss and Rossi, who were talking together, voices low.
"Uh, Agent Prentiss," the detective began, the two FBI agents turning to face him, "My name is Detective Jonathtan Keegan, and I'm sorry to interrupt but this is important."
"Yes, Detective Keegan," Prentiss kindly responded, "What can I do for you?"
"Well, I didn't know who to ask, but" Keegan pulled out a little black notebook he kept in his pocket, "Ever since the first victim, I've been keeping a log of every witnesses' statements, sightings, anything to help us go on. Well, I looked back a few hours ago to some of the earlier testimonies to see if I could piece together anything I had missed and saw that by each victim was a set of distinct tire tracks that the car the unsubs used dropped the bodies off in. So, I did some research. Got the tracks analyzed this morning and sent out a high priority APB of anyone who knew anything at all about them. The design, make, model, year. Just got a hit from a local car dealer that said he's only seen these kind of tires up in the easter part of the city. It's a custom made wheel, not sold in the regular market. So, I did a little research and found only two places out of East Boston who specialize in custom tires."
He finished his rant, taking in a deep breath as he did, awaiting the replies of the two agents. Prentiss was speechless, mouth open, while Rossi had a hand to his forehead, looking for Hotch. Emily grabbed the little black book, looking at the writing and the new found hope at saving Reid.
"Keegan…this-this is….amazing," she looked back up at him, eyes lit up with a new fervor to find her dying friend.
"Hotch!" Rossi finally got the voice back to call his team member, ready to finish this case and have ALL of them return back to Quantico, alive.
…
"Ellory," Hotch was seated in the plastic chair across from the head detective in the interrogation room, "tell me about the markings on the victims'."
Ellory laughed, "What, Agent Hotchner, too desperate to save your little weakling of an agent to even know what common sense is anymore? Huh? What about loyalty? That skip your mind too? One thing you've got to know about the people of Boston, we don't sell each other out."
"Not like how you sold out the entire city and the people you were sworn to protect to a couple of serial killers," Hotch looked at Ellory directly in the eye, voice level as if he was stating a fact.
Ellory leaned back, face somewhat pinched, like he had never thought of it that way before.
"So you and Leiland have been in this together the entire time, correct?" Hotch asked another question, beginning his interrogation with his behavioral analysis skills.
Ellory wasn't going to give in easily, Hotch needed to find a way around his tough, Bostonian exterior and weave his way into the detective's guilt. He still cared about the city, but was for some reason more loyal to the unsubs. He must have related to the killers in some way, which could be a hate for society, the new generation, etc. But it seemed to go deeper, almost a hate for the roots of the city, of the country even: the government. And Hotchner plus his team were a living representation of the executive system. At some time or another, Ellory had found the unsub, most likely Samuel Wayhaven since he was a smooth talker, and convinced Ellory to team up with him. With the DA in right hand and Boston PD's head detective in his left, Bonnie and Clyde were unstoppable.
Which is why Hotch was going to done the FBI stereotype every TV show, movie, and book liked to incorpoate. The arrogant, know it all, government lackey everyone hated. These thoughts all came together in a matter of a second, Ellory didn't notice a thing.
There was no response to Hotch's latest question.
"You know," Hotch began his new persona, "I am from the FBI, and we've got some pretty high power in some pretty high places. You don't want to mess with the land of the free's government, do you detective?"
Ellory was getting visibly agitated, meaning Hotch was on the right path. Yet, he still didn't say anything to the agent.
I need to dig in harder, Hotch thought, continuing, "You know, Greg, you're completely useless in this situation. One quick word from me and you're locked up for life. It won't be pretty either, I'll say something like you were charged with first degree murder, of a cop would be even better, and no one will have ever heard of Gregory Ellory again. You're nothing compared to me and the contacts I have. You're powerless."
He emphasized that last word, making it clear to show who was the boss. This finally made Ellory snap, jumping up from his chair to look down at Hotch, a common power play.
"Yeah! Well since you and your buddies have been sitting on your asses back at HQ more than 30 people have died in my city! Not saying they didn't mean it, he's got a way of doing things. But, I protected the good people of this city from the evil of the bureaucratic shit shows you and your friends come from!" Ellory snapped at Hotch.
"You mean the new head detective's city," Hotch, dropping his persona, calmly corrected the fuming Ellory, who didn't quit understand his remark.
"Excuse me?" he snarled back.
Hotchner explained, "You do realize your actions to help the 'good people of this city' has, like you said, killed more than thirty of them. As of your arrest, all titles and accolades as head detective of Boston law enforcement has been stripped away. You will be transferred to a county prison by the end of this investigation, and will be tried for your crimes against the city, those killed, and conspiracy with two of the most deadly killers this city has ever seen."
Hotch stood up, collected his papers, and looked at Ellory, who had sunk back into this chiar, with a look of pure despair on his face.
"My advice, detective," he whispered before heading out, "Get a lawyer and plead the fifth."
Hotch began to head for the door when he hear a soft and tired, "wait" from behind him.
He turned around and saw Ellory looking at him indifferently, knowing there was no going back for what he had done.
The detective asked, "Want to know how I did it?"
He was gloating. His last satisfaction with the limited time he had left, for the government to come crawling to him for the answers. And God knows they needed the extra info.
Yet, this man was also in charge of dozens of deaths and Hotch wasn't about to let him get the joy he wanted.
Again, he turned around and head for the door. Knowing, even with Reid's imminent downfall dead ahead, this was the right decision to make.
….
Prentiss had just thanked the lab analyst for his quick work when she ran into Rossi, Hotch, and JJ.
"Hey guys!" she called the members of her team, holding the files in her hand.
As they approached, Emily asked Rossi, "I assume you filled them in on Keegan's find?"
Hotch spoke up, fresh out of his interrogation with Ellory she pieced together, "Yes, he did. And?"
"You're going to want to see this," handing her team leader the papers, "The lab took in the track markings that Keegan had described and pinpointed the specific wheel dealer's in the furthest part of Eastern Boston. I already sent Keegan and a few other guys to one of the shops and I was just about to head out to the second location."
"Good," Hotch confirmed, "Rossi, JJ, go with her. Call me as soon as your done. How much time do we have left?"
"About 5 hours," JJ said in a low voice.
"Alright everyone, we do this for Reid and the countless other victims these two have murdered," Hotch announced, a brief pep talk for the downcast team, before walking off to the prison cells, searching for someone.
"Let's do this," Rossi said, before motioning for the two women to follow. They were in their specially issued government car and on their way to the wheel shop in seconds, driven to find their lost friend.
…
There was three kinds of sick. The annoying cold that everyone hated, the stomach flu that made you curse the world out over and over, and how Reid was feeling which made him want to kick the universe's teeth out.
He was curled up on the hard, cold floor, back against the metal bed frame, feeling absolutely awful.
Last time his captors asked him to help them get out of this city. Who did they think they were? Reid knew he only had a few hours left to live, let alone come up with a Plan B for two murderous unsubs. But, as the minutes droned on, he really was becoming afraid. Up till now, he held onto the hope that his friends were going to come save him. But he was running out of time and the poison was definitely effective. His mind was reeling and half of his vision was already gone. There was a small pile of vomit near his right shoe, but that had ceased hours ago when his nausea turned into dry heaves. There was nothing left in his stomach to threaten resurfacing. Yet, what had turned from a tingling in his fingers upgraded into an all out numbness in all his limbs and quickly spreading. His chest now was becoming a huge pain problem, spasms running through his abdominal cavity as his heart spasmed to keep beating, keep fighting off the toxin. This internal struggle wasn't comfortable or easy, he was bathed in sweat from the exertion of it all and visibly panting, face ashen.
The door latch loosened and he saw shoes from his point of view on the floor. The two sets, on a pair of black, leather combat boots and the other some nice, cozy indoor boots. He could tell who was who. Combat boots came forward and picked him up, Reid unable to fight back anyways, and rested his tired body onto the creaking metal bed post.
Bonnie looked at him with false pity and said, "Good news, genius boy, but looks like you won't be alive long enough to coordinate any kind of escape for us."
He looked to Clyde and in a fake, innocent tone remarked, "Huh, we should've waited a little more with the poison. Beginner's mistake."
Bonnie laughed another crazy, wicked cackle before continuing,"The stars are going to be mighty fine tonight, Agent Reid. Looks like you won't be there to see it."
He saw the flash of a camera and then a foot come straight for his skull…and he was out.
….
