"Guys I found something!" Hotch yells as he reenters the bullpen. Everyone looks up from what they're doing and begins to follow him to the round table room. "I've found every journal from the time I left to now. She's written with meticulous detail. We need to read through them and see if there's anything that suggests she knew Doyle or someone related to him." Reid immediately grabs one because his reading speed and retention is much better than anyone else's in the room. "Garcia. What did you find out?"
"Um, well, Bossman. I've found out who Lauren Reynolds is. She was Doyle's wife. She died 27 years ago." Garcia looks scared of the information she found.
"Connection to Prentiss?" Hotch doesn't see the point or the implications yet.
"Hotch. The letter was addressed to Lauren Reynolds. As far as anyone knows, that woman is dead. And it was found in Emily's apartment with her address on the envelope. No return address. Declan's guardian was Louise, but I can't figure out where they came from yet. I feel like there's a connection somehow though. What are the odds Em has two separate sketchy pasts?"
"Are you suggesting Emily was Doyle's wife, faked her own death, and now Declan is hunting her down for some reason?"
"Am I crazy for saying I agree?" J.J. jumps in. "I mean, Hotch, it adds up. 27 years ago is two years before she joined the team. She had time to recreate her life here."
"Okay, say that's true. Her real name is absolutely Emily Prentiss. I know her parents. I worked for them in my twenties. So why take on the name of Lauren Reynolds?"
"You're saying she was undercover?"
"I'd say deep undercover. Doyle was an international threat. They wouldn't let just anyone do that job. She had to be committed. I want to tie Declan and Louise to that house in Tuscany. Garcia, when do traces of Louise and Declan appear? When do they show up with a paper trail?" Hotch was beginning to piece everything together in his head, and it wasn't easing his concern.
"Um.. 27 years ago, sir." Garcia was confused about the connection her old boss seemed to see, but she helped out without asking questions.
"When did Louise die?"
"25 years ago. When Emily joined the Bureau." At this point everyone other than Reid, who was still reading at a robotic speed, was looking up at Hotch with uncertainty. They didn't like where this was going.
"Okay, so, go with me here guys. Louise and Declan lived in that house with Emily. It makes sense. We know Emily would empathize with the innocent people in the house, which would cause her to try to keep them safe. They appeared in the U.S. when she did, which convinces me that this was the case. I think Doyle was enraged that Declan and Louise escaped, and since they held a paper trail, he was able to hunt them down. I think he has the resources and intelligence to do it. He killed Louise, which explains the "freak accident," and he took Declan. That's why Declan never entered the system. Doyle had to have some type of connection to Declan—"
"Yes! It says here when Lia was 7 that Emily couldn't imagine how "that man" could raise children as soldiers. She was glad to get "the boy" out when she had the chance. If he got his hands back on Declan, he may have raised him as a soldier to find Emily and…" At the cringe of the members of the team in the room, Spencer backed off. He knew he couldn't speak Doyle's intentions out loud.
"Could a man like Doyle put his biggest wish in the hands of another man? Could he risk his failure?"
"He made sure Declan wouldn't fail. He trained him from the day he killed Louise. We know Declan was less than ten when they got here. He was only two years older when Doyle got him. Without Emily or Louise's protection, Doyle was able to do whatever he wanted to with the boy. He probably felt like Emily abandoned him. Doyle probably antagonized him against Emily. This boy has spent 27 years under the thumb of Ian Doyle. When Doyle dies, he breaks. He grieves for his father by carrying out his lifelong purpose. He's got her. The question is where." Lia had never been more grateful for Aaron Hotchner. He figured it out. He knew Emily well enough to retroactively predict her actions. Because of him and Spencer, her mother may come home. Hotch had never been more angry at a man he had never met.
"Maybe Louise's old house? Mom wouldn't recognize it, no one knows about it, but it's also significant to Declan. Like a safe house. The life he should have had." Lia was grasping at straws at this point, but the rest of the team seemed to like her idea.
"It couldn't hurt to look. Address?" Hotch is tired of searching. He wants to find Emily. He wants to find her immediately. It would be amazing to hold her in his arms. He needs to apologize for all the pain he's sure she faced. He wants to spend every day with her and Lia. They all piled into the SUVs. Lia came with a promise to stay in the car. The house was only thirty minutes away.