"JJ," her captor said," your friends found us."
JJ woke up when she heard his voice.
"What?" his mother asked.
"I will give them credit," he said," they found you faster than I thought they would, but we really need to go before they figure out we're in the church."
"My team is here?"
JJ allowed herself to become optimistic. If the team was there, then maybe they could find them, and then they could find Reid and Garcia.
"JJ," Peter said," We need to leave in a hurry, and transporting you so far has been such a pain, so I have a proposition for you. If you stop fighting me and go where I want you to willfully, I will harm Dr. Reid and Ms. Garcia no more."
"That's not good enough," JJ said," If you don't want me to fight you, you will give my team the addresses to where you are keeping them. Then, you will let your mother go, and stop hurting people."
"I can't do that," he answered," Dr. Reid is a very valuable bargaining chip, my mother is the whole reason we're on this little journey, Ms. Garcia and I have plans tonight, and I'd like to end this without hurting anyone, but unfortunately I can't complete my quest without cracking a few eggs."
"Well, unfortunately," JJ mocked," I can't go with you without the freedom and safety of my colleagues being insured."
Peter put a hand over her mouth, and she felt a needle being plunged in her neck.
"Well, fortunately for me," he said," I have a backup plan that doesn't require you to come along with us."
JJ's body felt tired. She tried to get up, but her body was heavy.
"They're going to find you," she said.
"I hope for your sake," Peter said," they find you first."
The team had flown to the town where Mary lived and spoke with the locals.
"Was there anyone who was especially affected by Mary or pastor Hanley's death?" Rossi asked the high school principal.
"Well, after Mary couldn't take it anymore," she said," the pastor could hardly take care of himself. There was one young man who stayed with him, even when Ava left for college, he stayed behind, and made sure that he ate, and had clean clothes. He took it really hard when he died."
"We need his name and his address," Morgan said," and his place of employment."
"His name is Peter Thomas," the woman said," he lives with his mother and does maintenance work for the church."
"Thank you, ma'am," Rossi said," you've been really helpful."
She wrote down his mother's address and left the police station. Rossi and Morgan stepped outside to talk to Hotch and Prentiss.
"Prentiss and I will talk to Peter's mother," Hotch said," Rossi, Morgan you go check the church."
They drove to the church just in time to see a white van speeding away. Morgan was going to chase after it, but Rossi stopped him.
"Morgan," he said," smoke."
They could see smoke through the window. They ran out of the car and into the church. There was a small fire in the corner. They could hear fire trucks in the distance. There was a door at the back of the room. Morgan ran down, and found JJ unconscious, and tied to a chair. He untied her and carried her upstairs, and out of the church. There was already an ambulance waiting outside. He placed JJ on a gurney and one of the EMTs gave him an oxygen mask.
"I think she's going to be okay," Rossi told him," Thank God we got to her in time. I'm going to ride with her to the hospital. I want someone to be there when she wakes up."
He sat next to her and watched as she stirred uncomfortably in her sleep. She was mumbling.
"It's alright. It's alright," he said," I'm here. I've got you."
Reid took a breath and tried to throw himself at the door again. He was in a closet. His hands were tied behind him, and his mouth was taped shut. He was pretty sure the door had been locked and barricaded.
He heard the front door open.
"Peter, what happened here? What did you do?"
It was a woman. She was crying.
"Shut up," he said," and sit down."
Reid heard furniture being moved, and the lock unlocking. The door opened, and the man who had locked him in there was standing in front of him.
"You didn't think I would forget about you," he said," did you, Dr. Reid?"
He grabbed Spencer by the arm and yanked him to his feet. He pushed him back into the kitchen where a woman was sitting.
"Peter, why did you leave her there? Why did you set the church fire? What if she's dead?"
She. Who she was he talking about? JJ or Garcia?
"I left her there so that we could get a head start," Peter explained," besides, I have him and one more woman to get me where I need to go."
"Peter," she said," this isn't what your father would have wanted."
"It doesn't matter what he would have wanted," Peter said," because he's dead. He killed himself because he thought he had no family left. If you had let me tell him, he'd still be here."
He went behind Reid and grabbed a handful of his hair.
"Or maybe," he said," if my sister had stayed in town, he wouldn't have hanged himself. But people like her and Dr. Reid know that it's much easier to run when away when you have a parent with mental health problems. Maybe we should visit his mother when we're done."
Rossi was waiting at the hospital for JJ to wake up, and Morgan, Prentiss, and Hotch were trying to find Reid and Garcia as soon as possible.
"We checked out his house," Hotch said," It looks like he stopped by there and abducted his mother."
"He has to have an endgame," Morgan said," maybe if we can figure out where he's going next, we can catch him and get him to tell us where Reid and Penelope are."
"Kevin," Prentiss said," do you have any more information on Peter?"
"Yeah," he said," he had a job as a handyman doing small repairs on people's houses, and from his list of customers, he looks pretty successful."
"Okay, we're going to need a list of any houses he's worked on," Morgan said.
"That's going to be a problem," he said, "as I said before, he's had a lot of business."
" Okay," Hotch said," He would want to take them somewhere private. Somewhere where Reid and Garcia wouldn't have anyone to help them. Kevin, look up vacation homes near this town in rural areas."
"There are two cabins within an hour of here," Kevin said," one's being used right now, so I'll send you the address to the other one."
"Let's go," Hotch ordered.
"I'm going to stay and call Ava Hanley," Prentiss said," and the family staying in the other cabin. They may be in danger."