Chapter Eleven

Morgan's heart went out to the team leader and the weight of the burden he was carrying.
Derek's dark eyes moved around the room, taking in the tired agents. It had been nearly twenty hours since any of them had slept. And now with a lead to follow it could literally be days before they slept again.
He wondered how often this happened to them. With their reputation as the best in the bureau, Morgan knew that they were probably handed the worst cases that assaulted the nation's capital.
His mind drifted to Elle, Gideon, and Blake. It was surprising that Hudson's team had not also lost agents to burnout. Derek wondered how much longer they could all go on.

"Jack, I can get our technical analyst to find information on Brian and Drew's victims and search for any mutual acquaintances. That'll free us up for interviews."
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay. I normally would call Tara in, but if your analyst can help go ahead and get her started."
He glanced at Bobby. "Call Tara and get her to try to find out more about Ryan Jenkins."
Bobby nodded and moved toward the hall his cell phone already pressed against his ear.
Jack drew in a deep breath. "Tory, go across the hall and see if Joseph's guys can help us out this afternoon. We're running out of time."

Bobby leaned tiredly against the wall as he waited for Tara to answer the phone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Morgan step into the hallway, his phone glued to his ear.

"Hey, sweetheart."
Bobby smiled as Tara's sweet voice filled his ear. "Hey, love." He tried to keep his voice upbeat, but it was obvious he had failed when Tara immediately turned serious.
"What's wrong?"
Bobby sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We need your help."
"With what? Can I do it from here or do I need to come in?"
Bobby hesitated. Tara could easily access the needed information from her home office, but the thought of having her in the bullpen was wonderful.
"You can do it from home. We need any and all information you can find on Ryan Jenkins. Look particularly for warning signs that he has or may sexually abuse a child."
Tara closed her eyes.
Cases involving kids always hit hard. She glanced into the living room where Robert and Stanley were playing with a bucket of large legos. From the guest room she could hear the sounds of Jade playing her violin.

Tara made a quick decision. "I'll come in."
"Tara. No. You don't need to." Bobby's longing to have his wife nearby was suddenly overwhelmed by an urgent need to protect her from the darkness of the case.
"Bobby." Tara's gentle voice was like a caress and his eyes drifted closed. "We've talked about this. You promised you wouldn't shut me out."
Bobby's eyes opened and he started to protest, but Tara continued.
"Honey, I love the fact that you want to protect me and shield me. And there are times when I gladly allow you to do so. But I also need you to allow me to be there for you and the team when you need me. It's okay. We're stronger together. Besides, Donna has been complaining that she hasn't gotten to babysit recently, so she will be thrilled to watch the boys for a few hours. And you know the boys love going to their Nona's house."
A small smile tugged at Bobby's lips. "What about Jade?"
"She has students this afternoon, so I was getting ready to take her home. If Myles doesn't make it home tonight I'll pick her up later. Now, I'm going to put you on speaker and let you chat with our duo while I get ready."

"Hey, guys. Talk to Daddy for a little bit."
"Okay, Mommy. Hi, Daddy." The sweet, little voices mingled together and brought a wider smile to Bobby's face even as tears burned his green eyes.
"Hey, champs. How are my guys?"
"We're good, Daddy."
"What have you been doing today?"
"We painted you a picture."
"You did? Thank you. I can't wait to see it. What else have you been doing?"
"Building with legos!"
"I read a new book."
"Really? That's great, Stanley. I'm proud of you. You'll have to read it to me when I get home, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy."
Bobby never ceased to be amazed that his three-year old was reading at a first-grade level. "What did you build with your legos, Robert?"
"A airplane!"
"An airplane? Wow! Does it fly really high?"
"Uh-huh." Robert's voice was emphatic. "And fast."
"Good job, buddy. I'm proud of you."
"Have you caught the bad guy yet, Daddy?"
"Are you coming home?"
Bobby sighed. "Not yet, guys. I'm sorry. There's no place I would rather be. I miss you."
"Miss you too, Daddy."
"Don't worry, Daddy. You'll get the bad guy."
"You always beat the bad guy, Daddy. 'Cause you're a hero."
"I'm not a hero, guys."
"You're my hero, Daddy."
"And mine!" "And mommy's!"
"And Aunt Jade's!"
"No, Uncle Myles is Aunt Jade's hero."
"Daddy is too!"

Bobby chuckled. "Hey, guys, listen. I'm really sorry I have to go work right now. I want to come home and play with you. But I think you might be going to Nona's house this afternoon."
"Nona!"
"Yay!"
"I need you to do something for me. Do you think you can?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"I need you to be extra good for Nona and for Mommy later. Can you do that?"
"Yes sir."
"We'll be really, really, really good."
"I love you."
"Love you more, Daddy."
"No, I love you more."
Giggles filled Bobby's ear. "No, Daddy."
"We love you more."
"Impossible."
More giggles.
"I got to go, guys. Push the bye-bye button and go get ready for Nona's."
"Bye, Daddy."

Down the hall from Bobby, Derek Morgan leaned his shoulder against the wall as he waited for Penelope Garcia to answer the phone.
"Hey, handsome."
"Hey, Garcia. I need you to do some digging for us."
"What kind of digging?" Garcia's cheerful voice turned suspicious. "Digging for awesome fun places in D.C. for you guys to visit or digging up dirt for a case."
"Case."
A groan filled Morgan's ear. "Morgan! You and baby boy are not supposed to be working a case!"
"I know, sweetness."
Garcia sighed. "What is it with you people and vacations? You and Elle go on vacation and she gets accused of murder. Hotch goes to New York and people start bleeding out and dying everywhere. I swear, you're all trouble magnets. What do you need?"
"I need you to track down Brian Todd and Drew Anderson's former victims. Get everything you can on them. See if there is any sign that one of them might be seeking revenge. And look for anyone who might know all of the victims."
"Alrightie. Talk to you later."

Red-haired Tory Mitchell hurried back into the bullpen followed by Special Agent Joseph Davis and three other men.

"What do you need, Jack? The rest of my guys are tied up right now, but we can give you the afternoon."
Jack handed the men file folders with the case info. "We need to re-interview the family, friends, and co-workers of these men in light of new information we received."
Joseph quickly glanced over the file. He raised his head and his dark eyes fell on the forgotten Chinese take-out piled on Jack's desk.
He glanced around at the exhausted agents of Jack's team. "We'll get started on this. You guys take a break and eat."
Jack started to shake his head and Joseph moved closer, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Jack, when was the last time any of you ate?"
Jack's mind drifted back to the lunch the ladies had brought them. "Lunch yesterday."
Joseph shook his head. "That was twenty-four hours ago. You can't do this. I want your team to take at least an hour to eat and talk about something non-case related. Or I'm going to have a talk with D about how your team is handling this." Jack sighed and nodded. He knew that Joseph was right. "Okay. Thanks for your help."
"Anytime." A wide grin spread across the tall agent's face. "Besides, Lucy would have my head if I let anything happen to her team."