Story I – Chapter 25
Morgan pushed open the glass door at the old theater's entrance and the whole team filed in to the surprise of the young woman working behind the counter. She swallowed as she studied them and then glanced at her watch. "Next movie doesn't start for another forty-five minutes or so."
Hotch took out his badge as he and JJ approached her. "We're not here to see a movie. I'm Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner of the FBI and this is SSA Jareau and the rest of my team. We'd like to ask you a few questions."
She nodded quickly and they could all tell her interest was piqued, so JJ took out pictures of their two victims. "Have you ever seen either one of these people before?"
The girl smiled as soon as she glanced at the pictures, and JJ slid them closer to her. She nodded as she pointed to the man's picture first. "Jeremy comes in here all the time," she started and her cheeks got a little rosy. "I've been trying to get his number for the last three weeks."
"And the woman?" Hotch asked as the rest of the team started looking around the huge lobby.
"I don't know her name, but she comes in all the time, too. She's really quiet. Where Jeremy jokes and laughs all the time."
"Do you all have any sort of security cameras or anything?" Morgan asked from across the room.
She winced and then shook her head. "No. We don't get a lot of business. No reason for anyone to ever do anything here. I don't know how Rusty even makes enough to pay me, to be honest."
"Rusty?" Rossi asked as he joined Hotch at the counter.
"Oh sorry. Mr. Widmyer is the owner. Everyone calls him Rusty cause of his red hair."
Rossi shared a look with Hotch; red hairs had been found at both scenes.
"Is Mr. Widmyer here?" Hotch asked her.
She shook her head. "No. Just me and Billy. Mr. Widmyer is always here in the mornings. He cleans the place up and such to get it ready for the night. I can give you his number, if you want."
"That would be great," JJ told her with a polite smile.
"May we look around?" Rossi asked her trying to be as charming as he could. If one of the employees gave them permission, whatever they found would be able to be used against the unsub if needed.
Morgan shoved Reid closer to the counter; the young woman had been stealing glances at the young profiler, so Morgan thought Reid could distract her a little. Reid's eyes were filled with confusion, but Morgan gave the young woman a smile. "Dr. Reid, here, would love to get that information from you."
The woman's smile brightened her whole face and she ran a nervous hand through her hair and then looked at Rossi. "You guys can go anywhere you want."
Hotch nodded. "Thank you," he offered and turned away from the counter as Rossi pushed Reid even closer.
"Take your time," the woman added and then leaned down on the counter.
Rossi pat Morgan on the back as Mack shook her head at him and they all left Reid to fend for himself.
Once they were far enough away, Hotch stopped and they all gathered around him closely. Morgan took out his phone when it vibrated. "You're on speaker, Mama."
"Old Towne Theater is owned by a Mr. James Widmyer and it has been in his family for over four generations. The only employees are Debra Hall and Mr. Widmyer's son, William, AKA Billy," she started to explain.
"Do you have pictures of both Widmyer men?" JJ asked.
"Of course. I have sent them. . . now."
Morgan brought up the message and then showed the whole team the pictures. Both young and old Widmyers had red hair.
"Gather everything you can on both father and son, please, Garcia," Hotch ordered.
"Faster than a Ha. . . ahh. . . Sky Rocket," she corrected quickly and then ended the call, and JJ and Mack both shared smiled.
Hotch looked at his team. "Let's split up and see if there's anything here." The place was huge so it would take them a little time to get through it.
Morgan put his arms around both of the girls and led them to the right, so Hotch and Rossi went to the left. Rossi glanced at him. "Billy didn't look big enough to be able to deal out the damage our victims suffered."
Hotch nodded. "And yet, Mr. Widmyer looked a little too old to be the one to do it."
Rossi nodded. "You thinking a father/son duo?"
Hotch half shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time we saw that."
Rossi nodded as he opened a door marked 'Utility' and then closed it after finding it empty except for a mop bucket. The next door led to the actual theater and Rossi smirked with only seeing four people in the whole place. As he and Hotch made their way up a set of stairs, he shook his head. "I can see why Debra doesn't think they actually make enough money to cover her pay."
"That's probably why the place is so run down."
Rossi huffed and followed Hotch to the theater control room. The movie was playing, but there wasn't anyone in there. The agents shared a look and then went further down the hall.
After going through that floor and the next one up, Hotch and Rossi went back down in search of the rest of the team. They found them back in the lobby with Reid. After a look from JJ, Hotch knew they hadn't found anything either. He frowned. "Exactly where is Billy?" he asked Debra who was still flirting with Reid.
"He's probably in the sub-basement. That place gives me the creeps. I won't even go down the stairs."
"Sub-basement?" Morgan quickly asked. "You mean one below the other basement?"
She nodded. "Yes. The stairs are in the back of the broiler room."
Morgan shot a look to Hotch and Hotch knew that they hadn't been down there. He took a deep breath. "Well, let's go see if maybe Billy has any information on the two patrons."
Debra snorted. "I think Billy has a crush on the woman, but I don't think he cares for Jeremy, too much."
"Why is that?" Rossi asked her as Reid tried to disappear behind the rest of the group.
She shrugged. "I'm not sure what happened, but apparently Jeremy had a run in with Rusty a little while back."
"I see," Rossi offered and then looked at Hotch.
Hotch motioned for Morgan to lead the way and the whole team followed him. Once they were away from the lobby, again, Morgan grinned at Reid. "You didn't do anything to go against your vows to Amy, did you?"
"Shut up," Reid replied as his cheeks heated.
Morgan laughed and shook his head as he led them down to the basement. When they got to the broiler room, he gestured to the big, cluttered, musty room. "I don't see any stairs."
Hotch moved further into the room. "She said they were in the back."
They all dispersed to search the room even closer. "Here," Mack called from behind a massive tank, and they all went to her. As soon as she turned the handle and pulled the old steel door open, she turned her head away and groaned as the horrible smell of mold and mildew wafted into the room.
Hotch gasped and turned into the corner as his hand flew to the side of his face.
"Hotch?" Rossi yelled and went to him.
He was hunched over a little and holding his breath, and after a few seconds he shook his head. "Just give me a second."
"What is it?" JJ asked as she put a supportive hand on his back. "Does the smell of mold bother you?"
He shook his head as he still shielded his face from them. "Not mildew, blood, and a lot of it."
They all shared looks and pulled their pistols as Rossi cringed because he knew Hotch had changed without meaning to and that was why he was shielding his face from them. "Go! I got. . ." Rossi started.
"No!" Hotch yelled quietly as he stood up and took a deep breath; he was back to normal. "I'm ok." He pulled his pistol. "Let's go," he issued and led the way.
In spite of what was happening, Rossi smiled as he quickly moved in behind Hotch and they all went down into the dark as they took out their flashlights. No one spoke as they quietly followed Hotch through a massive open room to a hallway on the other side. "Which way?" Rossi asked in a whisper as he looked at his Unit Chief.
Hotch's brow furrowed as he looked both ways and then started to the right, and he cringed as the smell of blood became even stronger. When he felt a hand on his back, though, he nodded to let Rossi know he was still alright, but he had to swallow the saliva that was flooding his mouth. Get a grip, Hotchner! Don't let it win! After a few more steps, he felt his control getting stronger. You are not hungry!
After a few more steps, he stopped so suddenly, that Rossi ran into his back. They all looked at him as he held up two fingers and pointed to a door about eight feet from them. They all nodded their understanding knowing he was telling them there were two people in there. He toggled off his flashlight and moved closer to the door and they followed.
Rossi grabbed the handle and pulled as Morgan moved closer and rushed in with Hotch, and everyone else quickly shadowed them. They were greeted by a very disturbing scene. In front of them, hanging from hooks in the ceiling, were three bodies suspended by the wrists. All three of them were naked, mutilated, and had been dead for varied amounts of time as each had a different level of decomposition. To the right were several tables and one of them held another body but it looked fresh. To the left was another body on the floor, but it was fully clothed.
Hotch held his breath as he froze mid step, but Morgan ran to the person on the floor because he couldn't tell if that person was alive or dead. JJ helped him roll the body over, and the man moaned. Mack pulled out her phone to call for an ambulance, but she huffed. "No service down here. I have to go back up."
"Reid, go with her!" Rossi ordered. They had no idea where their unsub was and he didn't want to take any chances.
As Reid and Mack ran back out of the door, Rossi put a supportive hand on Hotch's back. Hotch swallowed and then nodded. "I'm fine," he insisted and moved to the table. He could clearly hear two extra heart beats in the room, so he thought the woman must still be alive, too. When he checked for a pulse, though, it was clear she wasn't.
Before he could turn to say something, JJ yelled, "FBI! Freeze!"
Hotch spun and saw a young man standing in the doorway and JJ pointing her pistol at him. His already pale face turned even paler when he saw the agents in the room and a massive knife type weapon fell from his hand and clattered on the concrete floor. When his eyes darted to the left, Morgan rushed and stopped him before he even had a chance to run for it.
Hotch swallowed and his brows furrowed as he looked around the room. When the young man had shown up, his heart beat had added another one.
"What?" Rossi asked him as Morgan cuffed the young man and told him his rights.
"There is someone else here," Hotch insisted in a low whisper.
Rossi studied him and then turned to check out the room a little more closely. It was a big room and there was a lot of stuff in it, so another victim could easily be hidden. He moved to the left as Hotch moved to the right.
Hotch bent and looked under the table with the dead woman on it and then moved to check under the others.
"Let my son go!"
Hotch turned and his breath caught in his chest. Mr. Widmyer had an arm around Rossi's neck and a pistol pointed at his head. Rossi's eyes begged Hotch to forgive him as Morgan and JJ spun and pointed their pistols at the man.
"Let my son go and drop the guns, or he dies!" Rusty demanded as he cocked the pistol.
Hotch couldn't even think as a surge of anger plowed through him like a lightning strike and before anyone could blink, Mr. Widmyer flew against the wall behind him.