"Okay, what do we have?" The team was once again gathered in the round table room and Rossi was standing in front of the evidence board awkwardly holding a marker.
"I'll start," he volunteered. "I spoke with Matt Cruz and with some of his contacts over at the State Department. From what they have been able to determine this isn't any organized group that they are aware of. And, as there hasn't been any ransom demand, that seems to rule out terrorists."
"In addition, they were totally unaware of the other disappearances Garcia uncovered. And, again, there is no organized group that they can identify that would have carried those out. They are still checking, but it appears that the State Department angle is a dead end."
He began making notes on the board but only succeeded in smearing them.
"Here, let me," Lewis stood up, walked over, and took the marker from him.
"I checked with my contacts in the various prisons," Lewis took up the story as she wrote. "And, it appears that no one there knows anything either. Many of the prisoners who Hotch helped put away over the years are understandably delighted that he is missing, but none of them seems to be involved. So, I would say that we have another dead end." She made another series of notes on the board.
"Well, not to despair," JJ began. "It appears that Morgan and I did find something."
"We visited the marina where the stolen van was abandoned and interviewed both the administrator in the Harbor Master's office and one of the boat owners," Morgan explained.
"We came up with a list of boats which may have been used to take Hotch off to wherever they took him," JJ continued. "And, Garcia then came up with some interesting footage from the security cameras."
"Which I am now showing for your viewing pleasure," Garcia added as a grainy film with a dark background began playing on the flat screen.
"As you can see, this group of men got out of the van, walked across the parking lot, and let themselves in through the security gates," she pointed out. "They then proceeded down the docks until they arrived at the transient slip they had rented for the night. It wasn't long after that that they sailed off into the open seas."
"It is our assumption that the man in the middle of the group, the one who appears to require support from the others, is Hotch," JJ pointed out. "The white shirt, for one thing, makes him stand out."
"All the others are wearing dark hoodies with the hoods pulled up over their heads," Rossi had moved to stand close to the screen where he could closely examine the pictures. "So, we can't get a good look at their faces."
"I assume you have a name for their boat?" Reid asked.
"I have that and also the home port for said vessel," Garcia replied. "But, from what I can determine, while the name may be real the registration number is not. Said number belongs to a Hobie Cat Wild Cat sailboat registered in the State of Florida and, from what I can see in these pictures, that boat definitely is not a sailboat."
"What is the name of the boat?" Lewis was squinting at the screen.
"Going by what they signed in as, 'The Tag-Along'," Garcia told her. "And, from what I can tell, that is also what appears to be painted on the back of the boat."
"That makes sense," Reid declared. "Looking at that boat, it is obvious that it isn't designed for the long voyage that would be necessary to get to the Caribbean. However, if it was towed behind a larger, more powerful vessel, it could easily be used for going ashore and docking at a local marina when they are close to land."
"So, I'll begin checking boat registrations throughout the Atlantic Seaboard Region for a boat named The Tag-Along," Garcia declared.
"You may not find this particular boat," Reid warned. "It is entirely possible that it is registered in one of the Caribbean Island nations or even in Central America."
"I'll check anyway," Garcia declared. "I may get lucky. Besides, I need to do something to make me feel like I am actively searching for our missing Boss Man."
"Maybe you can get Monty from Jack Garret's group to help," Rossi suggested. "He may have access to some of the databases in other countries."
"Good idea!" Garcia said as she picked up her laptop to leave. "I'll call him from my lair."
"And we also need you to check for a car," Morgan spoke up.
"A car?" Garcia questioned as she skidded to a stop. "What kind of car?"
"I'm not really sure," Morgan admitted. "But, we originally assumed that a car was left in the park close to where we located Hotch's car. And, if the kidnappers did have one there, it hasn't showed up on our radar. Maybe the police found it abandoned somewhere."
"It would have been a nondescript, family friendly vehicle," Rossi said thoughtfully. "Something that says 'My owners went for a hike and left me here temporarily' as it sat in the parking area."
"They would have abandoned it later in a busy parking lot," Lewis added. "Some place where no one would have noticed it for several days."
"There might not be anything in it," JJ pointed out. "This group is good. But, again, maybe they made a mistake."
"One abandoned car search coming up," Garcia promised as she left the room. "I'll let you know when I find something."