Disclaimer: Anything familiar belongs to JE and the creators of Criminal Minds.

Warning: Adult language, adult situations

Chapter 53: Monday, August 29th, 1000-1400

Palm Beach Safe House 1

Prentiss' POV

We arrived at the safe house late yesterday afternoon. The team had enough time to scope out the two houses, drive around the neighborhood and meet our Rangeman support here in Palm Beach. We were all in awe when we saw both safehouses. The safe house that we will be using for backup is a one-story sprawling ranch. There is a spacious living room, with a half wall leading into the dining room. The dining room has another half wall leading into the kitchen, providing for an open feel, making the rooms seem much bigger than they are in reality. The kitchen is a modest-sized room, with a small breakfast nook in an area that was probably once part of the back porch. To the left are three nice-sized bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms have a small bathroom attached, with a shower stall, pedestal vanity, and toilet. The third bedroom, which is probably meant to be the master bedroom, has a slightly larger bathroom, with a shower/tub, his and her vanity, and toilet. There is also another half-bath off the kitchen. The attached garage will provide a secure location to set up our monitors and other surveillance equipment.

We enter the basement and find a small two-bedroom dorm-style apartment. The room has a small common area with a couch and a small card table, mini-fridge, hot plate, and coffee maker. Manny explains that when the house is used as a safe-house, the Rangeman not currently guarding the client will stay in the basement apartment. Typically, four people guard a person, working overlapping 12-hour shifts. Manny and Ranger's other men will be staying in apartments in his satellite office, while my team will be staying in this house, except for JJ and Matt. The guys give Garcia, Lewis and I the three bedrooms upstairs while Rossi and Reid take the two rooms downstairs. Alvez takes the couch downstairs. With our sleeping arrangements set for the night, we ordered in Italian, setting our plan in motion.

Once we finished our dinner, we walked along the beach to the second safe house, the one being used by JJ and Matt as the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. That house is set up much the same way as our house, except one room is set up as a nursery. We note the location of the Rangeman cameras, and Garcia immediately e-mailed Hector, asking him to give her the ability to adjust the cameras as we need them to be. Hector grants her the access she needs.

"JJ and Matt, you will be here waiting for Tina Conti to arrive with your son. Alvez, Woody, Manny, and I will enter the house, lying in wait for them to arrive. In the meantime, Spencer, Lewis, and Garcia will remain in the second house. Rossi, you'll be out front, washing your car. When our unsubs arrive, you will coordinate with the law enforcement officials to take Tina, aka Terry and her accomplice away." I inform my team.

"Agent Prentiss, if I might speak," Woody interrupted. I nodded at him to continue. "I don't think it's wise to have anyone else in the house with JJ and Matt. If that person were to sneeze, cough, or make another noise, someone could get hurt, possibly the baby. I think that you and maybe Alvez or Reid can pose as neighbors and good friends to the Wilsons who are here to meet their new son. You can ring the doorbell. Terry might get twitchy, but she would stay in character, possibly trying to rush everything along to get out of the house as soon as possible. When you arrive, that could be a prime time for JJ to decide to change the baby's diaper or something, allowing her to bring the child out of harm's way. If the paperwork isn't signed yet, you, Agent Prentiss, can volunteer to take care of the baby yourself for JJ."

"Emily, Woody has a point. I think we need to ensure that whatever tactical approach we take, we minimize the opportunities for our unsubs to get spooked. Mobsters are known to shoot first and ask questions later. Don't put it past Terry Gilman to be of that mentality." Rossi adds.

"I think your plan is a better plan, Woody. Maybe after about ten minutes, JJ can mention that you are expecting your stepbrother and his wife, who will be the baby's Godparents. Alvez, you can be my "husband." I respond.

"That's a better course of action. Maybe Dr. Reid should stay in the other house watching the monitors with the CPS worker." Manny states.

"Why?" Tara asks.

"Well, no offense, but the way you wear your piece, Dr. Reid, another with skill can easily take it off you. Terry would have that skill. She wouldn't hesitate to relieve you of your weapon." Manny observes.

"I've told you that numerous times, Spence, you need to wear it better," JJ announces.

"But you're not even wearing a weapon," Reid mumbles under his breath.

"Both Woody and I always have two guns and a knife on our person at all times, on duty or off. We sleep with weapons within arm's reach. We never go out without our weapons." Manny replies.

"Where are they?" Reid challenges truly wanted to see where they have them hidden, yet accessible.

Manny stands, pulling a pistol from behind his back and a Glock from the shoulder harness under his jacket. Woody has a Sig Sauer on his hip and a mini Glock at his ankle. Manny's knife is sheathed in his boot, while Woody pulls one from his pocket.

"Damn, how can you even get them out in time?"

"Spencer, when you've spent time in the military, you learn how to keep your weapons hidden and at the ready. Your weapon is your last line of defense between life and death. We need to get you more training." Alvez responds as he pulled his clutch piece from his ankle.

"Army?" Woody asks.

"Rangers," Alvez responds.

"Ever serve with Ranger?" Manny asks.

"Once, he got my ass out of a FUBAR situation in Columbia."

"That would be Ranger. I'd hate to be out there now knowing that Ranger is no longer available to come to my rescue. He was the best at extractions."

"He's out?" Rossi asks.

"He's done with overseas missions, but I think he is still signed on in a training capacity," Manny responds.

We spent the rest of the night tying up the remaining loose ends while working out what Matt and JJ were going to do today. This morning, at seven-thirty, Matt is leaving for work. He will head to the Rangeman satellite office where he will continue to research Terry and her possible accomplices. He will bring his research home with him tonight. JJ left the house at ten to go food shopping, baby shopping, and to the bank.

Garcia has been pouring over the various flight manifests, looking for our unsubs. She's checked all flights from Philly, Trenton, Newark, JFK, and LaGuardia airports. Finally, she finds who she thinks are our unsubs flying out of Newark at six-fifty tomorrow morning and landing in Miami at nine-fifty-two, United flight 1109. The tickets were purchased for a couple to fly with their infant-only yesterday, which is in line with our conversation with Terry. Now we know when they will be arriving.

I called Ranger, letting him know the flight, asking for him to have eyes at Miami International to make sure that it is indeed Terry and that the baby is with her. He agreed to have someone waiting. He told Garcia to find their rental reservation because he can probably get a tracking device on their car so we can monitor their movements in Florida.

Garcia starts to sift through the rental cars and contacts Hector for assistance. In the meantime, I okay the wire transfer of $3,750,000 to the off-shore account. We set up some cameras on the corners and have not noticed anyone casing the house or watching us, which means that our unsubs are getting sloppy and probably too cocky for their only good. If they were smart, they would be sending someone ahead to make sure that Eric and Samantha Wilson are who they say they are. Their over-confidence is to our benefit, so we are not complaining.

Once it gets dark, we call it a night. We leave JJ and Matt alone in their safe house while we walk back to the second house via the beach. I feel confident that everything will go as planned tomorrow, and by tomorrow night, we will have two of our major players under arrest. Hopefully, that will lead to the ones directly involved in the break-in and murders.