NoteSorry it took me two days to update, but I made up forthis delaywith a really long and exciting chapter. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review! P.S.- the next chapter should be the last one, and it should be up within the next week.
Chapter 4
Some Local Police Station
50 Miles Outside of Las Vegas, Nevada
A couple of minutes after finding out the news about Reid, Hotch's cell phone began to ring. With his team still in the room, Hotch answers the phone; Garcia had been the one calling. She said, "When I came into work this morning, I went to my office and opened my emails. I found two, uh, disturbing…."
Garcia was interrupted by Hotch, who said, "videos of Reid being held hostage, right?"
"Yeah, you're right. I'll send them to your laptop and the station computer right away. I'll also try to trace the source, but, considering my luck with the other videos, I probably won't be able to give you much."
"Thanks Garcia," and, with that said, Hotch ended the call. Then, Gideon, Hotch, Elle, and Morgan entered their given office and gathered around the station computer. Hotch opened the videos, and the team watched, in horror and with utter disbelief, as their youngest member was shot and beat up. The videos, just like the ones for the other victims, contained the same demands, same references to justice, same time limit, same place, and the same quality of the video.
Midway through the second video, Gideon apparently noticed something and told Hotch to stop the video and back it up a few frames. Hotch obliged and rewound it. He then played the video, and Gideon said, after only a few seconds, "Pause it," so Hotch immediately paused it.
To everyone's surprise, the frozen frame revealed, besides two men in black and a struggling Reid, a thin, purple, computer animated strip that appeared at the bottom of the screen. After everyone studied the strip for several minutes, J.J. came into the office and said, "Reid's face is all over the news. The media…."
J.J. was interrupted by Gideon, who said, "The news! J.J., turn on that T.V. over there; we just might of found our unsub." J.J., surprised by Gideon's sudden epiphany, went over to the small T.V. in the office room, turned it on, and tuned in to the local news station, Channel 6. Sure enough, at the bottom of the television screen, an identical purple strip appeared, but this one displayed a summary of the latest story.
Morgan then stated, "Oh my God! A news camera man makes perfect sense!"
Elle quickly interjected. "Morgan and I'll call Channel 6 and get a list of all their camera men."
Hotch added, "Also ask if they know if any of their camera crew owns a professional camera or even has access to one of the station's."
With that said, Elle and Morgan left to make the call, and J.J. left the room in order to deal with the press, leaving Gideon and Hotch alone for a while. After several minutes in silence, a very troubled and worried looking Hotch began to speak. "I, I shouldn't of let him go. I should of at least checked with the hospital or sent one of the BAU. I should of…"
As Hotch began to lose his train of thought, Gideon spoke. "Hotch, you didn't know it was a trap; none of us did. I would have made the same mistake. Stop blaming yourself; its not going to get us any closer to saving him. We'll find him. We'll find him." Gideon then laid a gentle, friendly hand on Hotch's shoulder.
A while later, Elle and Morgan re-entered the room, and Elle said, "Channel 6 News has 15 main camera men for their studio and 10 for in the field. They faxed the list over; I have it here. I also asked if any of their employees on this list own a professional camera or have one of the station's. Get this: one of the station's main cameras broke down about three weeks ago. One of its many glitches was randomly displaying information strips. After a few failed attempts at fixing it, the station decided to let one of their trusted camera men take it home so he could work on it with his own tools. They say he hasn't returned it or even come back to work yet because his wife died three weeks ago."
"What's this guy's name?" asked Gideon.
Morgan answered. "Jared Evans. I already called Garcia and asked her to get us everything about this guy and his family. She should be getting back to us any minute."
A few minutes later, the entire team gathered around the office's computer. Garcia's face appeared on the screen, and she began to tell of all she collected on one of their unsubs. "Jared Evans is currently 57, lives in Vegas, and is a camera man for the local news, Channel 6. He has a clean record besides a few parking and speeding tickets. His father served in the army; he was positioned near Vegas at a now deserted desert base. Has three living sons, one dead one. The living sons' names are Mike, Harry, and Ryan. The dead one's name was Kent. Kent, when he was 9, was the victim of a kidnapping. The kid was taken from a local playground and was found without his clothes, badly beaten, shot three times in the left leg with rock salt, and a slit to the throat, which was the cause of death. Mr. and Mrs. Evans claimed it was 24 year old Robert Carnate. This guy wasn't tried; instead, a deal was made in which Carnate went to jail for 15 years because there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. Here's his picture at the time of arrest." A picture of a young, pale, skinny, brown-eyed male appeared on the computer screen. Every agent immediately noted the extremely close resemblance this guy had to Reid and their other victims.
"It has been 22 years since the kidnapping, and Carnate is out of jail. Also, Jared's wife just died three weeks ago, and, according to the local obituaries, Mrs. Evans said to her husband and sons on her death-bed, 'Justice is blind. Bring our son the justice he needed and truly deserved.' Does this all fit or what!"
Hotch spoke. "We have one of our guys for sure. The other three unsubs are most likely his sons. Garcia, where does this guy live?" After Garcia told the team Jared's full address, Hotch said, "Thanks a lot. Keep digging, and if you find anything else interesting about our guy, call me." Elle, Hotch, Gideon, and J.J. then left the room and went to make plans with the local law enforcement on how to bring their unsub down.
Garcia remained on the computer screen and asked Morgan, "Hotch seemed a lot more tense and worried than he usually is. What's wrong?"
Morgan answered her with, "He let Reid get out of his sight, and now he feels that this is all his fault."
"Ooh, that's tough," said Garcia.
"Yeah, but I see why he's so stressed. We're all worried sick about the kid, and the added guilt he's feeling is enough to throw anyone over the edge. Well, see ya later; we've got to get moving." With that said, Morgan turned off the computer and headed out of the room and over to where the rest of the team was gathered with Sheriff Harrell. They made their plans, prepared their equipment, weapons, and cars, and left the station for Mr. Evan's house around 3:30.
Great Basin Desert
Near Las Vegas, Nevada
Agent Spencer Reid laid on the hard cement ground, motionless, in his dark, small cell. A few hours ago, the men in black had taken him out of this cell, led him down the hallway and into the large room, and again he tried to escape, but he quickly failed. The same routine had taken place right up to the part where the handgun was usually pulled out.
This time, however, instead of a handgun, two sets of brass knuckles were revealed. The men that were standing near Reid put them on, and quickly approached Reid, surrounding him. Reid thrashed wildly and tried to move away, but the shackles held him in place. The two men came at Reid, violently hitting him in the stomach, back, head, face, and arms. To his horror, Reid felt and heard a loud and extremely painful crack in his right arm.
After a couple of minutes, the beating stopped, and Reid was dragged back to the cell, where he curled up on the floor and tried to forget about his aches and pains with some rest. However, the pain was too immense and he was not able to sleep. He then thought about how long he had left to live and if the team would find him in time. He figured that he only had about 4 hours left, since the third video had been filmed a while ago. However, he knew that his fellow agents were trying their hardest and would stop at nothing to find him; they were like the loving family he never had. This last thought had given Reid a glimmer of hope, and he eventually dozed off.
Residence of Jared Evans
Las Vegas, Nevada
After an hour and a half long ride into Vegas, due to rush-hour traffic, the team and a few police officers stepped out of their cars. Jared Evan's house looked very normal, and it was located in a nice, middle-class neighborhood. It was a large, light-blue house set on a large piece of well-landscaped property. The FBI agents closed in on the front door. Morgan yelled, "FBI, open up!" When no one answered the door, Morgan kicked it in, and a mix of agents and officers swarmed in. They quickly cleared all of the rooms, finding no one in the house or on the property. The team holstered their weapons and began to take a look around the house.
The interior of the house was as normal as the outside; there was a Tuscany theme, and it was heavily furnished. The team looked around for any clues as to the whereabouts of their youngest agent. After an hour of searching through every room, every book, every closet, and every shelf, the team came up with no luck. They filtered into the living room and then began to tell of what they learned.
Morgan said, "We've searched every inch of this house and have come up with nothing. Gideon, I agree that our unsubs are in or near the desert, but we just don't have time to search the entire desert. Gideon? Gideon, did you hear what I just said?" Gideon appeared to be deep in thought; he was looking at a framed photo of a man in military attire that was placed on the fireplace mantle.
Gideon, apparently realizing something, said, "Remember how Garcia told us about Mr. Evan's father? She said that he served in the military and was positioned in a now deserted desert bunker? We have our location." After that statement, Morgan called Garcia. She quickly found the location of the bunker and sent it to Hotch's laptop. The BAU walked out of Jared's house and notified Sheriff Harrell of their discovery. After making arrangements for an ambulance to follow them, J.J., Morgan, Elle, Gideon, Hotch, and the local law enforcement were on their way to the desert by 6 P.M.