Emily and Spencer found the mall that Sandy had been talking about. It was about fifteen minutes away from the hotel, and two stories tall, but since the parking lot was mostly empty because of the late hour, they were able to park fairly close to the building. The coffee shop Sandy had mentioned was in a bookstore on the first floor, but they still found her, sitting at a table in the corner, staring at a half-empty paper coffee cup.

Beside her on another chair, baby Annalynn was fast asleep in her carseat. Sandy had brought Annalynn along because she'd been unbelievably fussy and nobody, not even DeLilah, could calm her. Annalynn was asleep by the time they got to the dry cleaners, and she'd even slept through the encounter with Oscar Lee. Hopefully, she'd sleep through the rest of the night.

"Thank you so much for coming." she said when Emily and Spencer joined her, sitting in the table's empty seats. "Do either of you want anything?"

The other two knew that that was just her Southern hospitality kicking in, so they politely declined.

"Why is Annalynn with you?" Emily asked, nodding towards the sleeping infant.

"The poor thing hasn't been able to sleep, so I figured a nighttime ride would do the trick. It worked." she explained. "And yes, DeLilah knows we're here because I called her, but I haven't told her about Oscar Lee."

Satisfied by this, Emily asked the first question.

"What happened?"

"I was coming out of the dry cleaners because I'd brought some things in for DeLilah and my parents… Oscar Lee surprised me in the parking lot."

"You recognized him, then?" Spencer inquired.

"Yes, and that's the part that surprised me because I hadn't seen him since he was at least in his early twenties; I recognized him because he has a big scar above his right eye."

"How did he get it?"

"In a tussle with my kids when they were all younger."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "Is this the tussle where Oscar jumped JJ, and Archer and Rosaline jumped him in retaliation?"

"That's the one. Oscar told me to say that you all have to stop investigating the case and just let the sleeping dogs lie, or else…"

"Or else what?"

Sandy shivered. "Or else he'll make it harder for you all to put the pieces together, and he'll take someone else. I'm sure you can understand why I hightailed it to a public place with Annalynn."

"Indeed," Spencer confirmed. "And it was a smart move."

Emily nodded in agreement. "Do you think Oscar Lee will follow through on his threat?"

"That is the million dollar question, dear Emily." said Sandy.

"How so?" she asked.

"Oscar seemed like he'd been on the run because he's completely filthy and quite frankly, he reeks."

"You got that close?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He also seemed like he wasn't all there, if you catch my drift."

"We do." the other two chimed in unison.

"Oscar has been strange his entire life, but it's as if time has made him even stranger. I wouldn't say he won't do something, but it's just a matter of which one of us he chooses, and something tells me that neither of you, nor Jenny, nor even the rest of your team is exempt."

Emily took the warning (if that's what it was) in stride, but chose her next words carefully. "We will remember that."

Sandy nodded absently and reached into Annalynn's carseat, tucking her blanket over her little body after it fell. Annalynn let out a contented sigh and sank deeper into her slumber.

Clearly, Sandy's body language and tone were saying that she wanted to wrap things up, but she made made no move to go. Both Emily and Spencer had seen that expression on JJ before, and since they were talking to her mother, they proceeded with caution.

"We can escort you and Annalynn back to Foxworth Hall." Emily told her.

Sandy breathed a sigh of relief. "You read my mind. Thank you."

A few minutes later, Sandy was carrying Annalynn's car seat in one hand while walking beside Emily. Spencer was a pace or two ahead of them. Sandy noticed Emily walking with a slight gait and her hands plastered over her pregnant bulge. Though it was dark, the area of the parking lot they were in was lit mostly by the overhead streetlights and Sandy could see the small smile on Emily's lips.

"How far along are you?" Sandy asked her when they were in sight of her car.

"Fourteen weeks tomorrow." Emily answered happily.

She was going to say something else, but she stopped suddenly, seeing that Spencer had done the same and followed his line of sight. When Sandy saw what they were looking at, she held tightly onto the handle of Annalynn's car seat, but with her free hand, she made the sign of the cross over her heart.

Oscar Lee had followed her, and had been waiting for her the whole time she'd been inside. He did indeed look unhinged, but the others were on even higher alert when they saw he had a gun. The parking lot was even emptier now, so there was nobody to see what was happening, and that was really not good.

Instinctively, Spencer stood in front of Emily, Sandy, and Annalynn. His own weapon was drawn, poised to shoot, but he was going to go down the route of talking things out first.

"What do you need?" Spencer asked.

Oscar Lee motioned with his gun for the profiler to step aside. "Her."

Emily pointed to herself as she stood in front of Sandy and Annalynn. "Me?"

Oscar Lee rolled his eyes in a theatrical manner. "Not you! Her!"

Despite her expectant condition, it remained Emily's duty to keep Sandy and Annalynn safe for as long as possible because they were civilians. She would do anything to keep them safe, but of course, she could only do it to a point now because she had to protect the baby in her belly, too. She had to stall.

"I can't let you take her." Emily's hands were up to show that she meant no harm, but she still spoke in a tone of authority. "Not her, or the baby."

Again, Oscar Lee rolled his eyes in a theatrical manner. "I don't want that baby! I want Jenny Jareau's mother!"

"And if I don't let you take her?"

Oscar Lee laughed, and he sounded even more unhinged as brandished his gun at her. "The safety on this gun is off, and I will shoot you. Step aside. Now."

Regretfully, Emily did, revealing Sandy and Annalynn.

The old woman showed no signs of fear as she stared Oscar Lee down. "You've got me; what is it?"

"Hand the baby off, and then get out your car keys and toss them here."

Sandy did as told, handing Annalynn to Emily. When she tossed the keys to Oscar Lee, he caught them and issued a new order.

"Drop your purse and come here."

Sandy obeyed, and the second she was within reach, Oscar Lee grabbed her by the wrist and held her in front of him, using her as a human shield. When he planted the muzzle of his gun in her side, she broke a little, but she did her best not to falter as Oscar Lee spoke to her.

"You and I are going to take a drive, and if you cooperate, everything will be perfectly fine." he growled in her ear. "Tell me you understand."

"I understand." she told him. "I do."

"Good." Oscar Lee approved. "Anything you want to tell your friends?"

Sandy turned to the others, tears in her eyes. "Tell my family I'm so sorry and that I love them all so much. And Emily?"

The brunette was already feeling broken, but she still managed to answer to the sound of her name. "Yes?"

"If anything happens, please look after Jenny. She could lose her mind."

Praying that this was all getting picked up on a security feed, Emily nodded. "I promise you I will."

"Good girl. I love you already like you were one of mine, and I want you to know that no matter what happens, I forgive everyone, especially you."

Deciding that that was enough, Oscar Lee took her into the car and sped off with her as his prisoner. The vehicle was gone too quickly for Spencer to even shoot out the tires.

Feeling disgusted with himself, Spencer holstered his weapon. "Hotch is going to kill me."

"You?" Emily exclaimed in a half-shriek that instantly woke Annalynn and made her begin to wail. "JJ is going to kill me!"

That, and putting down Annalynn's carseat as carefully as she could was the last thing Emily remembered before passing out.

Across town, back in the hotel, JJ woke up.