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Hotch makes the Connection

"What have you got for us, Garcia?"

"I did some digging on the type of knife used on the victims. I got a definite match to the wounds from a reconstruction our lab did. The ME uses similar equipment, but I was able to dig out that they're used in prison infirmaries, too. They're manufactured by a firm out of Chicago and shipped all over the country. I'm trying match recent purchases, but it's taking some time."

"Hurry Garcia, Reid's in trouble."

"Well yeah, he's got a psycho fan that wants to impress him."

"It's more than that," Morgan informed her.

"What? What happened now?"

"Morgan," Hotch snapped.

"Not now, just call me when you've got something."

He disconnected from her and relayed what she'd told him about the knives used on the victims. "I'll get a couple of guys on that," Messerly said. "I know your computer tech is the best, but we need more eyes on this."

"Does that mean you've changed your mind about Reid?"

Messerly raised one eyebrow, but he continued to just sit back in his chair and watch Morgan as if he was a very interesting new species of animal.

Hotch was paging through missing person's reports. "I think I've got something," he said.

He pulled out six missing persons that all resembled the same physical type as their victims. "All of these women worked with children in some capacity in their work. April and Sandra were teachers. Donna Emmet worked in a day care. Allison Peterson was a stay at home mother, Jody Kennedy worked at CPS, Victoria Lightner specialized in child psychology and Dixie Parker was a kids clothing designer.

"So they all worked with kids," Rossi said. "What does that mean?"

"I don't think it means anything," JJ said. "I think it's just something else to throw us off the track. Everything he's done is to confuse the issue.

"JJ's right," Hotch said. "He's only after Reid. Everything else is window dressing. We know he made a mistake leaving that fiber behind, but I don't think the knives were a mistake."

"Reid said that it would take him exactly thirteen minutes to reach the doctor's office with the traffic. Why throw that into the conversation if he just wanted to tell me he wasn't coming in for the day?"

"It's some kind of code," JJ said. "He wasn't alone."

"That's my thoughts. Someone was there and they're holding something over his head. I could hear it in his voice."

"For a group of profilers, you're all great at not seeing the obvious," Rossi interjected.

"What are you talking about?"

"Reid's got a girlfriend."

Everyone went so silent; it was as though they all had turned into statues, except for Messerly.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Why else would he just blow off the day and talk to Hotch in code? You do that if someone is threatening you or someone you care about."

"How do you know he's seeing someone?"

Rossi glanced over at Morgan. "I know because I pay attention to his behavior."

"What happened to the moratorium on inter-team profiling?" JJ wanted to know.

"I think it's a little late for that."

"Still I don't think its right to -"

"People," Messerly shouted over them. "Can we get back to the point? I don't care if your Dr. Reid is sleeping with the devil himself. Let's get back to this so called code."

"He's right; "Hotch said impatiently. "We'll worry about Reid's love life later. He said thirteen minutes. Why that time frame?"

"You said he also told you that he wanted to breath the fresh air, and that you antagonized the situation by holding off the press." Wo said to Hotch. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Hotch's phone rang. "Hotchner," he said crisply.

"My liege," Garcia said. "I have more news for you."

"I'm putting you on speaker phone."

"Well kiddies," she said and Messerly smirked at Wo. He liked this woman.

"I found something." She said with a cat that swallowed the canary tone. "There was a theft of medical supplies last year from Bridgeport Correctional Institution. They never found out who took the supplies. Included in the theft, were the type of scalpels and knives used on our victims, along with some drugs and linens. Get this, some of the drugs taken, included Dilaudid and Narcan."

"Thank you, Garcia," Hotch said.

"I'll keep digging."

"There's no need," Hotch disagreed. "Just find me all current information on Warden Abner Merriman."

Every eye in the room was on him as he disconnected the phone over Garcia's curious questions. "What was that all about?" Messerly wanted to know. "Who's Abner Merriman?"

"He was the warden at Bridgeport Correctional, when Reid and I went there to do a custodial on Chester Hardwick."

"Wait," Wo said, "Wasn't he executed a few years back for the murders of several young women."

"Yes," Morgan said. "He lured Hotch and Reid there, and then tried to kill them so he could prolong his life."

Now Messerly was regarding Hotch with keen interest. "He tried to kill you."

"He threatened to kill both of us. Reid saved the situation by talking to him until the guards came. It was the longest thirteen minutes of my life. I'll never forget it."

"Wait, you said thirteen minutes," Messerly said. "I thought this Chester Hardwick got that gas chamber."

"He did, but Abner Merriman was a little too interested in the crimes and he admitted to studying serial killers as a hobby. He was very impressed with Reid and the articles he wrote on offenders. It all makes sense now."

Rossi nodded slowly. "He's become what he studied. He decided to up the stakes by bringing in Reid because he admires him. I'm sure he must have heard about how Reid talked Hardwick down, which can't have been easy."

"I still don't understand the reference to antagonizing the situation," Messerly said. "It seems to me he did the exact opposite."

"He's talking about me. As I said, Hardwick brought us there under the guise of wanting to talk about his crimes. Instead, he just wanted to make sure we were there at a time when the guards were too far away to help. You see, I was the one that thought we were safe. I agreed to take his chains off for the talk. When I realized he was just playing, I buzzed for the guards, it was then he said they were out in the yard for evening exercise and it would take thirteen minutes to get back. He said he'd killed in less than five."

"I'm not proud of what I did, but I egged him on. I said I wasn't a five-foot tall, one hundred pound girl. I took off my coat and I would have taken him on, had Reid not stepped in. He saved us both. I was angry at the whole world because of Haley and the divorce and I let it cloud my judgment."

They were all very silent again. Messerly spoke up first. "What did he mean about there's no chance to stop him."

"It was the last thing Reid said to Hardwick. He told him he didn't have a chance because of his unhealthy relationship with his mother and the mental illness in his family. Hardwick asked him as the guards were chaining him, if he really meant it, and Reid said, "I don't know, maybe."

"So he was just stringing him along," Messerly said. "I like this guy."

"Make up your mind." Morgan said irritably.

"Hey, I'm just trying to find a killer. No one is happier than me to know that Dr Reid doesn't have anything to do with this guy. I mean that."

"Let's get to work on finding him. If he has done something to Reid or his girlfriend, time isn't on our side."

CMCMCMCM

It took them an hour, but they finally arrived at a huge, two story home on the James River. All the homes in the area were large estates with private drives for security. The house Merriman made him drive to was the largest he'd ever seen and surrounded by trees and huge, perfectly kept, green lawn.

The air was redolent with the scent of the pines around the house when Merriman forced him out of the card. They walked toward the front porch. A bird flew overhead as his shoes scrunched in the dirt and over the grass in the front yard. He noticed an SUV parked and backed up to the house, but no one else was around.

Merriman motioned Reid forward with the gun. "Let's go in and see your beloved Carolyn."

Reid looked around as he preceded Merriman up the grey marble stairs and into the house. There didn't seem to be any way out of this, at least not for now.

"This place has been in my family for generations, but my ex-wife hated it. She left me two years ago for someone at work. She said we'd just grown apart. I should have killed the bitch when I had the chance. Luckily, I have my own money from my father's side of the family. He always called himself a land developer, but he was a land swindler that died in prison just after my wife left. He was smart enough to hide his profits off shore, in an account he shared with me just before he died. It was such a relief to quit that job as a warden."

Reid entered the house in front of Merriman and it wasn't what he expected. It looked like that kind of place you'd see on an old southern plantation, with heavy wood furniture in the living area, hard wood floors and a huge fireplace. The red velvet upholstered, S back sofa looked like it had never been used and there was a portrait of a man with a full head of white hair and sour expression sitting in front of the same stone fireplace.

"There's dear old dad now." Merriman said. "Keep going, Dr. Reid."

There were stairs to his right, but Merriman herded him into a kitchen where everything was modern and didn't go with the last century feel of the living area. It was as though that were a museum and this was where Merriman really lived.

He opened a door situated to the left of the back door and gestured again with his gun. "Now, your lady is waiting for you."

Reid looked down and saw that they were about to enter a basement and his heart jumped into his throat. Merriman flicked on a light and Reid winced at the blood red light seeping out of the stairway like a miasma.

"Get moving." Merriman poked him in the ribs with the gun. "Your precious Carolyn doesn't have much time for dawdling."