Alex laid asleep on the sofa as the ignited log slowly burned down. The sun started to shine through the windows as the men holding her captive rustled around the cabin.
Alex was then abruptly awoken by one of the men standing over her and clapping his hands next to her face.
"Wake up!" He shouted.
She sat up on the sofa and tried to smooth down her messy hair with her hands still bound.
"She's up." He called out.
"No kidding, Jake." Hank snapped back.
"Now we can get started." Jake smarted off.
Alex was studying Hank's demeanor. He appeared frustrated by Jake. Hank moved over to Alex and took a seat in front of her. "Now, we got off on the wrong foot yesterday. I would like a fresh start. Is that okay with you?"
"Yes." Alex meekly replied.
"Good." He slapped his hand down on his leg, above his knee while steadily holding a handgun in the other. "I just have a few questions for you and then our business is done. My employer wants his money and he said that you were going to help me get it."
"I'm sorry, but I don't know who your employer is or what money you're talking about."
Hank closed his eyes, very upset. "I informed you of the rules. When I ask you a question you are going to answer it honestly. Now, where is the forty-five million dollars Harris Knight was hiding?"
Alex couldn't believe what she heard. "I honestly do not know about any money he hid." She responded in a calm tone.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." He looked downward then with one swift motion he smacked her across the face with the butt of his gun.
Alex closed her eyes and instantly noticed the familiar copper taste in her mouth. She touched her hand to her lips and rubbed the blood between her finger and thumb. She then looked coldly back up to him.
"I need to know where the forty-five million is!" Hank barked at her.
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Please don't insult me. You are a smart woman, I am sure that you know that I am a man who gets what he wants. And what I want is the location of that money."
"That bitch is not going to tell you." Jake snapped towards Hank.
Hank shot him a look that could kill which made Jake took a step back.
"Listen, I don't know anything about any money. Besides, I've been locked up for six years, trust me, I don't know anything." Alex tried to reason.
"You were a trained agent in the CIA, in the presence of a known criminal. I am sure you kept your eyes and ears open for information."
Alex didn't argue. It was true. She did spy on him as much as possible. She discovered account numbers and information about his aliases. But even with all that intel she didn't know about that much money being stashed away.
Hank stood up. "I am going to give you a few minutes to jog your memory. Then maybe you will be able to help yourself by helping me.
Alex was left alone to stare at the smoldering embers before her. She didn't have to think about where the money was. But all that was on her mind was how she got into this mess in the first place.
*** Seven Years Earlier... Somewhere in Europe***
Elis Parker was comfortably sitting in a large arm chair reading a newspaper in a luxurious hotel lobby.
Harris Knight steadily approached and sat in the empty chair next to Parker who kept his eyes on the paper he was reading.
Knight placed his briefcase down on the ground between the two chairs. "Anything good in the paper today?"
Parker handed him a pre-folded section of a newspaper all while never taking his eyes off of the print in front of him. "I have provided you a picture and information on your mark." Parker informed.
"Very pretty." Knight remarked. "What's my way in?"
"She doesn't have any family. She is also studying Italian, which works for you since I know you are fluent."
"Why her?" Knight questioned.
"Because I said so." He snapped. "Now, let's talk money."
"I brought you a taste." Knight tapped on his briefcase. "And from now on we are partners."
"Fifty-fifty." Parker agreed. "And once you have her in your clutches, the CIA will never be able to take you down." He assured him.
Knight stared at the candid photo in his hand. "Alex Marcus, prepare to meet Gino Mancini."
"But there is one thing you need to watch out for."
"What's that?"
"Do not let the others on her team meet you, especially Spencer Reid. He is the only one that could ruin this." Parker picked up the briefcase Knight came in with, tossed his newspaper on the chair and walked away.
Knight stared at the picture of Alex in his hand while rubbing his finger over her face and lips.
The team filed through the small conference room, including the police captain, where Garcia was seated at the head of the table with her open laptop in front of her. "Gather around, crime fighters, I have some news for you."
They took their seats giving her their full attention.
"I was desperately trying to find some way to track Alex's whereabouts, however I kept hitting walls. Like no matter where I turned there would be another wall, and then another wall..." She rambled.
"Garcia." Hotch wanted to get her back on track.
"Sorry. So I figured out that I needed to look at this from another angle. I turned my attention to Parker. I have been digging like crazy to find something, anything that could help us. I went through his call log and found that he has placed several calls from the Roanoke forest area over the past few months."
"Were you able to pinpoint the location where the calls were coming from?" Reid asked, eagerly.
"No, I'm sorry. Considering the terrain we are lucky to get the information that I got." Garcia reported.
Hotch and the captain approached the area map. "What can you tell me about this area?"
"There are some remote cabins here, here and here." The captain pointed out. "You might need to get a park ranger to help you with that area."
Hotch focused on the team. "We will split up and search the area. We leave in ten minutes."
They got up and filtered out of the room.
"Could you reach out to the rangers for me?" Hotch asked the captain.
"Sure thing." He exited the room leaving Rossi behind with Hotch.
"Do you think it's wise to split up?" Rossi asked.
"The area is quiet extensive, we will need to split up to do a more effective search." Hotch continued to study the map.
"Yes, under normal circumstances, but do you think it is wise at this point? Do you think Reid's head is in this?" Rossi questioned with concern.
"I'm not sure. That's why I am going to team up with him to keep an eye out."
Reid snuck away from the rest of the team and headed outside to the black SUV. He reached for his go-bag then looked around to make sure no one was watching him. He then took out a small, black zipper back and opened it. His hand clutched a sig sauer P224. He strapped it to his ankle. He pulled out other tools of his former career and armed himself.
