No, I haven't forgotten about this story….it's just been a busy month.
Aaron Hotchner is an analytical, cautious agent, but as he watches the teenage boy sprint away into the darkness of the lot, he's keen to the fact that all that's about to go out the window.
Hinders is a broken hearted man- he's killed, but will he go after a child in his rage, Hotch ponders. Using one of the car's back door for support, Hotch grunts painfully as he pulls himself onto his feet. He grabs one of the windshield wipers to battle the weakness and pain shooting up his legs. The area around the burn on his leg is surprisingly the least painful out of everything- he can't worry or panic about it at the moment. The agent sucks in a sharp breath and takes a step as shaky as an infant's first steps, managing to stay on his feet.
His fourth step away from the car ends in him collapsing to his feet.
Now back on his knees and panting for a breath, Hotch mumbles, "Can't…plan…Jack…."As if on cue, water droplets from the long awaited storm begin to fall from the sky. The cool feel of the rain sparks a chuckle from Hotchner and takes in the only water he's felt on his skin in about four days. The rain, even after a flash of thunder illuminates the sky above him, brings the slightest bit of hope in his heart that he'll see his son's smile, hear the laughter from his teammates or the warm feel of being under a blanket.
"There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you'd crawled out somewhere in the lot and died."
And he's found me, Hotch winces at Hinders' voice meters away from where he's kneeling. He doesn't look up as his captor marches down the walkway towards him. When Hinders' boots come into view inches from the agent's face, Hotch hears from above,
"I know someone helped you out of the trunk, Hotchner. Tell me where he or she is so I can shoot them and allow us to get down to business."
Hotch finally looks up to Hinders. "It's a child and you won't go searching for him because you don't have the patience," Hotch argues, "Let this man go-"
"I've killed five people already. Why in the hell would I let him go?"
"Because I'll do whatever you want." It's the most dangerous thing a captive can say to his captor. "
Reno, Nevada
"Dave…..Dave, wake up."
Stifling a curse, Rossi opens his eyes to find himself staring up at Spencer Reid from his seat on the uncomfortable brown leather couch in one of the conference rooms. He leans over to collect the scattered case file pictures he had started to look at before he had drifted off to sleep and grunts, "Yes. Spencer?"
Reid clasps his hands together and begins spiraling down one of his rambles, " I should have thought of it earlier- sorry, I mean noticed it- it's just been that I've been so tired and you know that the brain's ability of processing-"
"REID!"
"Oh, sorry." Reid mumbles, "What I'm trying to say is that I didn't factor in the storm that's traveling from the west. It's bad enough to put a travel alert and bad enough to possibly stop Hinders from moving temporarily."
Rossi pushes the pile of photos over to the side, completely unaware of it sliding back into a messy pile on the floor. He stands up and says, "We haven't had any luck in days, Reid. The last we know of their location was Ely on the other side of the state. How does this help us?"
"We put every city to be on alert to shut down the roads against the California border the moment the storm ends, " Reid states, "I did a geographical profile and found that he should have been approaching the California border by now. It's something, Dave. It's something."
Rossi can feel his heart skip a beat, but it isn't out of excitement. Over the past three days, he's had too much time to imagine whatever Hinders could have fed Hotchner about what happened in Port Gamble, especially now with the possibility of being stuck in a location for more than a few hours.
"Rossi, look we can-"
The elder agent puts up a hand and prepares himself for the disappointment he's been expecting from his teammates about telling them about the climax of what happened in Port Gamble. Well, at least it's just Reid for right now, he thinks before saying, "Spencer, I need to tell you how this all ended."
1994- Port Gamble, Washington
"Rossi, we've got a problem."
Rossi scowls at the sight of Hinders jogging up to him on the same beach he had met the man four days earlier. There's a new body on the beach matching the same MO of the body that dragged Rossi to the town in the first place. With Mic being released under pressure from Hinders' lawyer the afternoon before, Rossi more than a 100% sure that the woman had been killed during the same period with Mic on the streets.
"You damn right we have a problem," Rossi sneers when Hinders comes to a complete stop in front of him, completely out of breath. "You call in a lawyer to get Mic released and what- ten hours after he was released, a body shows up on the beach!"
"Sara Lucy's missing," Hinders gasps. The man wears the same fear and desperation in every parent's eyes during a missing persons' case.
"She's probably avoiding you. How's this my problem?"
"Mic is missing too," Hinders replies anxiously, "Yes, Sara Lucy has been avoiding my calls ever since she left the station yesterday. I tried to meet her at the local coffee place right before she was supposed to go to class, but she never showed. Her place is a mess and Mic cleaned out his bank account."
"So he's running away with your kid." Rossi kneels down next to the body and hopes to hell that Hinders will walk away. "It looks like Mic is panicking because he knows I'm closing in on him. If he ran, I'll just add being on the lam to the charges. And for the girl, she's probably fine."
Hinders throws his hands into the air and then kneels across from Rossi. "Mic didn't kill this woman or the others. If he's lost control because of how much you've destroyed his life and hurts my daughter, I will personally bring you hell."
Present Day
Reid releases a slow, hesitant breath before muttering, "You killed Mic, didn't you?"
"Yes," Rossi swallows hard and states, "We eventually found Mic at Savior Creek Park outside of Port Gamble, trying to convince Sara Lucy to leave town with him. And then after that….it ends how you expect it to. We cornered Mic and he escalated to pushing Sara Lucy over one of the cliffs. He reacted faster than I could shoot him down. The girl is dead, I shot Mic and the case was closed- why the hell would Hinders wait 21 years for revenge?"