Chapter 6
Gideon assembled the team in the conference room after Elle had applied more makeup to cover her puffy eyes. He grabbed one of the folders.
"What is the one thing that every teenage girl carries?"
"A purse?" offered Reid.
"What's in the purse?"
"Makeup, billfold, cell phone…" J.J. began.
"The cell phone!" Hotch exclaimed.
Gideon pointed at him in triumph.
"Every girl's purse was missing from their personal effects," said Morgan.
"So the unsub stole the purse," added Elle.
"Can I see your cell phone, Elle?" Gideon asked. Elle pulled it out and handed it to him. "The majority of cellular providers place GPS transceivers in the phone, in case the user gets lost or is kidnapped."
"They triangulate the signal to give the most likely site that the person could be," Reid interjected.
Gideon nodded. "Exactly. Assuming their phones are still on, we can track the signal to wherever the phone is."
"So…what's the significance of the purse?" J.J. asked.
"It's his trophy," Hotch replied. "A purse is the most personal item to a woman, especially a teenager. It's his symbol of his absolute control. A woman would never give up her purse unless it was absolutely necessary."
"Morgan, call their phone providers and get them on this. We need an answer now. Before someone else gets hurt." Gideon grabbed his jacked from the back of the chair.
"Or worse." Elle said, looking at Gideon.
That night, Hotch, Elle, Gideon, Morgan, and a team of agents gathered outside 121 Brookhaven in Addison, the residence of Jacob Laslin. They slowly crept forward, relying on the cover of darkness and a few trees outside the house.
Hotch was the first to reach the door, Elle and Gideon close behind. Morgan sneaked around to the back door with the rest of the team. "On my signal," Hotch whispered. "Now!"
He kicked in the door. "FBI!" he shouted, with Elle and Gideon yelling "Federal agents!"
Elle made her way to the living room as shouts of "Clear!" rang through the air. Gideon followed, his weapon still drawn. "Oh, my God," Elle said slowly as her eyes fell on something on the coffee table. "Hotch!" she yelled.
Hotch entered the living room, his weapon holstered. "What is it?"
Elle felt her mouth go dry as she pointed to the table. On it were pictures. Pictures of Jamie Hudson, Jennifer MacPherson, and Michelle Howard. And a picture of another girl. Young, pretty, about sixteen years old. And they didn't recognize her.
One of Garcia's many phones rang. Recognizing the number, she pressed a button on one of her many computers. "Penelope's House of Love, how may I direct your call?"
"Garcia?" Morgan's voice sounded distant.
"Who else, hottie?"
"Cut it out. We need some help."
Garcia's face sobered. "What's up?"
"I'm sending you a picture. Run it through your database, we need it now."
"Got it."
"And Garcia? Hurry."
Garcia pulled up the picture and quickly typed. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. She dialed the number again. "Yeah?" Morgan's voice sounded through her earpiece.
"The girl's name is Ashley Colver, provisional drivers license, state of Texas. She lives at 819 Beltline in Addison."
"Got it. Thanks, Penelope."
Morgan hung up. "819 Beltline in Addison."
Hotch consulted the map. "Not too far from here."
Elle looked over his shoulder. "Let's go!"
The BAU team pulled up to a dump two blocks from the Colver residence. "Fan out," Hotch whispered. In no time, the FBI had the dump surrounded.
Elle, Gideon and Hotch crept toward a dumpster in the middle. They heard noises coming from behind it. Gideon and Hotch split up. "Shut up!" they heard a man's voice say.
"Freeze!" Gideon pointed his gun at the man. "Federal agents."
The man stood slowly, holding a young girl by her hair. The girl was crying. He had a knife in his right hand.
"Drop the weapon."
He slowly moved the knife to the girl's throat. "No."
Gideon slowly holstered his weapon. "Okay, okay. I'm holstering my weapon." He motioned to Elle. She slowly lowered her weapon, but didn't put it away. "Let her go, and we can talk."
"No. No talking." He pushed the point of the knife into her neck.
"Look, all I want is the girl." Gideon reached out his hand. "Just let her go."
Laslin looked like he had trouble deciding.
"I understand, Jacob." Gideon moved a little closer. "Your mother abused you. Girls wouldn't talk to you. They wouldn't do what you wanted. In my opinion, you only did what you had to." Gideon kept moving forward. "You did what was good. They deserved it, right?" He stopped a few feet from the shaking man. "Look, just let her go. It's all gonna be okay."
Laslin relaxed his grip on her.
"That's right. Just let her go."
Laslin moved quickly. He shoved the girl into Gideon, who caught her. "Gideon!" screamed Elle.
Gideon looked up and saw Laslin coming at him, knife raised. Then a shot rang out. Laslin stumbled and fell on the ground, not moving.
Gideon stared at Hotch, whose gun was still smoking. He glanced back at Elle. Her hand was covering her mouth. Ashley Colver sobbed quietly against him. He gently pushed her away toward Elle. "Call the paramedics. Take care of her."
