Chapter 46

When the team got close to the address Garcia had provided them with, they slowed down and looked at the massive walled estate with wide eyes. "I would say that the Schewels have quite a bit of money," Rossi offered.

Mack reached up between Hotch and Rossi and pointed further down the road to a car coming out of the gated driveway. "Isn't that the shifter-cop from the scene?"

Hotch nodded and let up on the gas to allow the vehicle to pull out onto the street in front of him.

"Odd that he would immediately come here after being there," Rossi mused.

"Not so odd if his niece is the one doing it," Mack told them.

"I don't think so," Hotch offered as he followed the man.

Rossi and Mack both looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Huh?" Mack put in and then shot a look to Rossi.

"Well, think about it. If it truly is her and he knows it, why wouldn't he cover it up? He's a cop. He could have made sure no one knew anything about this," Hotch explained.

"Maybe he can't control her or maybe they don't care who knows about it," Mack offered.

"Maybe he's been trying to stop her using a more gentle approach," Rossi put in.

"Maybe," Hotch offered.

Rossi's phone vibrated and he answered Morgan's call from the vehicle behind them and put it on speaker. "Aren't we going to check out this Heather kid?" Morgan wanted to know as they moved even further away from the driveway.

"No," Hotch told him.

"May I ask why?" JJ put in.

"Because I couldn't tell from the road how many shapeshifters were on the other side of that wall. I can't let you all go in there with not knowing. It would be too risky," Hotch explained. "We're following the Sargent. He's by himself so he won't be that big of a threat. I want to see what he has to say about all of this first."

"Alright," Morgan agreed and then ended the call.

When the officer's car pulled up in front of a big building, Hotch and then stayed back a couple of blocks.

"He looks a little nervous," Rossi mused as they watched the man get out of his vehicle and proceed to go into the building.

Hotch nodded as his hand went to the door handle. "Let's go, but we go slowly. We don't know who is in that building either."

The whole team got together and slowly approached the building. "Can you tell anything?" Rossi asked as he looked at Hotch who was obviously listening to things they couldn't hear.

Hotch sighed. "No. I can't hear anything other than him, but it depends on how far away they are."

Morgan nodded. "Maybe he's the unsub and this is where he does is thing. Maybe he took the hearts for his niece," JJ offered.

"We won't know until we get in there," Morgan told them.

Hotch nodded and went to the door. Seeing a hallway on the other side of it he turned to his team. "Two groups: Morgan, JJ, and Reid go to the left. We'll head right." They all nodded their understanding and then Hotch fixed them with his stare. "If you see him, call for me. Do not approach him."

"Chill, Man. We got this," Morgan told him trying to alleviate some of the concern he could see in Hotch's eyes.

Rossi pat Hotch on the back and then Hotch took off with Mack and Rossi following as the rest of the team went the opposite way.

After checking several rooms, JJ opened another door as Morgan rushed through and he was greeted by a scream and paper towels flying into the air. Apparently Morgan brandishing his gun scared the shit out of the janitor, and Morgan quickly held up his hand and pointed his gun towards the ceiling. "I am so sorry," he offered as Reid and JJ came into the room.

"I'm supposed to be here!" the janitor exclaimed as he hid behind his cleaning cart obviously still scared to death.

"It's alright," JJ tried to assure him as she moved a little closer to the older Polynesian man. "We're actually looking for Officer Schewel. Do you know him?"

The man stood up and looked over the agents. "Yeah. His family owns the building. He has an office on the second floor towards the back. Is he in trouble?"

"No, we just need to talk to him. We're here helping his department on a case," Reid told him.

"Oh," the man uttered and then started picking up his paper towels. "Then can I go back to what I was doing, or do you need me to show you the way?"

"Nah, we can find," Morgan told him as he started back towards the door.

"Take the south stairs, follow the hallway, his is the fourth office on the right," he explained as he stuffed the towels into the trash bin on his cart. "And next time, try not to give an old man a heart attack. Already had one of those; I'm not sure I could handle another."

Reid gave him a smile. "Sorry. We'll be more careful next time," he assured him and then the agents went in search of their man.

After getting down the hallway and opening the door to the stairs, Morgan turned to JJ who was being a little too quiet. "What's up, Little Mama?"

She frowned and looked back the way they had come. "You don't think. . . I mean. . . could he have been?"

Morgan's brows rose as he tried to figure out what she was trying to say. "Spit it out, Woman."

She shook her head and looked at the guys. "Schewel is a shapeshifter; could that have been him?"

Reid's eyes flew open. "She's right! Hotch did say he could only detect Schewel when we got here."

Morgan ran his hand over his head. "Oh man. How the hell are we supposed to know, though?"

JJ took out her phone. "We get Hotch," she stated plainly as she started back towards the room where the janitor was while texting Hotch.

"Yeah, we can just talk with him until Hotch comes and checks him out. If it's not him, then we continue the search," Reid offered.

"Yeah, alright," Morgan agreed as he opened the door. After a quick look, he turned confused eyes on his teammates. "Where the hell did he go? I know I didn't see him come out of here!"

JJ and Reid also looked around the empty room. "It was him!" JJ exclaimed as she moved into the room.

"But how'd he get out of here?" Morgan demanded to know.

Reid looked around with caution. "He may still be here," he offered in a hushed tone and his partners looked at him. "He can change shape at will, but he doesn't have to be in human form," he explained as his eyes searched the floor and corners.

"You mean he could have turned into a mouse or something and scurried out of here right under our noses?" Morgan asked with wide eyes.

"Or a bird," JJ offered as she looked out the little open window that no adult human would have fit through.

"Shit!" Morgan exclaimed as he slammed a fist down onto a desk. "Hotch is going to be pissed."

JJ sighed. "Well, let's search the rest just in case," she told them as she headed back into the hall.

Morgan shook his head. "Yeah, come on, Pretty Boy. Maybe it wasn't him or maybe he's still in the building," he suggested as he herded Reid out of the room.

"Maybe," came a male voice as something flew past the guys and slammed into JJ. Before the men could react, JJ tumbled and fell into a heap, and by the time she righted herself two JJ's stood up and straightened their clothes as Morgan and Reid drew their weapons.

Morgan looked at Reid. "Which one?" he asked and the desperation in his voice couldn't be missed.

"Come on, Spence, you're the Godfather to my children!" one JJ demanded as she drew her weapon and pointed it at the mirror image of herself.

"Don't trust him!" the other JJ demanded a she, too, drew her weapon. "I swear it's me!"

"Ahh. . ." Reid started as he looked back and forth between the two women and then looked at Morgan. "I don't know. . ."

Morgan took a deep breath. "Hotch!" he screamed hoping his Unit Chief's newly enhanced hearing would pick up his call. "You two both freeze!" he demanded of the women in front of him.

"Derek, please! You've both known me forever!" the JJ on the right exclaimed.

They all turn when the door leading to another stairwell slammed opened and Hotch and Rossi rushed out with weapons held ready. It only took a second for the new arrivals to understand what had happened, and Rossi's jaw dropped and the Hotch stare emerged in full bloom.

"I'm sorry, but he got the drop on us," Morgan explained. Hotch approached the group as his eyes focused on his female team member and her doppelganger. "It's alright, Morgan," he started as he put his gun away and stepped even closer to the women.

"Tell them, Hotch. Tell them that it's me," the JJ on the left pleaded.

"Shut up!" the other JJ yelled. "Don't listen to her, Aaron."

Morgan's gun waivered back and forth between the two women and every time he thought he'd figured out which one was the real one, he changed his mind. Hearing the one on the right call Hotch 'Aaron' made him remember the only other time she'd been desperate enough to call him that was when the man she loved was in danger in that bank. He sighed and looked at Hotch.

Hotch smiled, though, as he got even closer to the women.

"Don't let him touch you, too!" the JJ on the left insisted. "It's not worth it. Arrest us both! That way you know you have the right one."

"Now that sounds like our JJ," Rossi offered as he aimed his gun at the one on the right.

"We don't need to do that. See what Officer Schewel didn't take into consideration is the fact that he's dealing with a group of profilers." Hotch's eyes moved back and forth between the females. "We read people for a living. Not only does a person's body language tell us if they are telling the truth or not, there are certain mannerisms and nervous little things people do, and with as long as we've known Agent Jareau it's quite easy to figure out who is who." His eyes locked on the JJ on the left. "Everyone has a tell," he continued and then reached out and pulled the JJ on the right to him. "So I know this is the real JJ."

Suddenly Officer Schewel was standing before them as JJ sighed in relief and her eyes thanked Hotch. He nodded and pushed her to the side.

"That was pretty impressive," he started as a smile grew on his face as he looked at all the people standing before him. "But it seems to me, the rest of them weren't as sure as you!" he yelled and then lunged for Hotch.

And within a split second two Hotchs were scrambling around in the hall. The struggle finally stopped as one slammed the other into the wall. "Officer Schewel, you are under arrest," the Hotch with the upper hand started as he reached for his cuffs.

The whole team shared looks and the Hotch up against the wall turned and shoved the other away from him. "I don't think so!"

Morgan looked about ready to either cry or scream as his gun moved back and forth between the two men. "Man, Rossi, what do we do?"

"It's alright, Derek," Hotch on the left insisted.

"Yeah. You all know I can take him without any help," the Hotch on the right told them with a little grin and that made most of the team point their weapons at the one on the left.

The one on the left stood up tall, squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and blew it out of his nose, but before he could say anything, the one on the right did the same thing. The Hotch on the left shook his head. "See, you may look like me, you may sound like me, and you may even have my thoughts," he started as he took a step closer to the other man. "But you are not me!" he insisted and changed into his vampire form.

The other Hotch screeched and he dropped to his knees as he changed back into his original form and covered his head with his hands. "Please don't kill me! I have a family!" he pleaded.

Hotch sighed and forced himself to change back. He shook his head and grabbed Schewel by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. "I'm not going to kill you."

The scared shifter looked at all of the team and then looked back at the man who still had ahold of him. "And here I thought you all were hunters. I never thought I'd have to be worried about a nest of vampires!"

Reid went to open his mouth but Rossi nudged his arm making him stay quiet. If the man thought they were all vampires then they could use that against him.

Hotch let him go as he sighed again and the man immediately changed into a raven and started down the hall, but Hotch's hand was too quick and he grabbed one of its legs and held him. "I don't think so," he insisted as he pulled him back.

Schewel dropped to the floor back into his human form and then stood up and straightened his shirt. "I guess since you aren't going to kill me then you just want to drink my blood so you can shapeshift, huh?"

Hotch frowned as he looked at him. "Is that possible?"

The man's brows furrowed as he studied Hotch. "I. . ." He wilted. "I honestly don't know, but that's what the stories say."

"Stories?"

"Yeah, the stories that shifters tell their children. You know, like 'Make sure no one ever sees you shift because there could be a vampire watching and he'll suck your blood to steal your abilities.'"

Hotch huffed. "Great. Vampires are even the subject of horror stories for non-humans. Of course they are," he uttered.

"Why else would a bunch of vamps be following me around?" Schewel asked as he looked at the rest of the team and moved a little farther away from Hotch.

Hotch shook his head as he berated himself mentally. Focus on the damn case, Hotchner! He took a deep breath. "We're real FBI, and we're here to help the Hawaiian State Police solve this case, and we know a shapeshifter is doing the killing."

The man's eyes shot open. "And you think it's me?!" he asked as his hands went to his chest. "I have never harmed another living soul!" he insisted and we he saw Hotch studying him he wilted a little. "Except that one time that I accidently broke a guy's hand on a call, but he was drunk and tried to use a broken beer bottle to gut me! It was self-defense!"

"That may be true, but what about your niece, Heather? We know about the ritual," Rossi cut in.

The man became even more defensive. "It's not her, either! My whole family has lived on these islands for generations and we are peaceful! None of us would ever do something like this to jeopardize our secret!" He stood up and squared his shoulders as he faced Hotch. "This is not us!"