The next morning Hotch again woke up alone with the sun coming in through the window. Vaguely he remembered feeling the cot move as the mystery woman arose to leave him in the middle of the night. As he sat up, he realized that the manacle and chain were still missing from his ankle. Quickly, he slipped on his clothes and headed to the door. When he turned the knob and pushed, he realized that the door was securely locked. Careful examination further revealed that without tools there was no way he could 'pop' the lock and escape from the room. Temporarily defeated, he returned to sit on the cot and wait.
"Good Morning!" The door swung opened and Hotch saw 415 standing there holding a tray. The second man was again standing conspicuously behind him. "You're going to be eating in here this morning,"415 told him. "Save us the trouble of carrying this all the way down to your room." He handed the tray to Hotch.
"Thank you," Hotch automatically responded as he took the tray. "What's on the menu this morning?"
"Biscuits with fresh strawberry jam for a starter," the second man almost licked his lips. "Farm #2 just sent some over. Plus, 357's apprentice is just about fully trained and he's doing really well with the morning biscuits."
"Three fifty seven?" Hotch took a guess based on the number. "He must be a real old timer."
"He has been with us for a while," 415 agreed. "Now that I think about it, he's probably been with us longer than just about everyone else on the farm."
"Eat up," the second man interrupted. "We'll be back to move you in a little while."
Hotch could hear the two men talking between themselves as they locked the door.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Hotch again spent the day alone in his cell chained to the cot. He passed the time first by completing his exercise regime and then he moved on to visualizations of Jack and his soccer team. Lunch was delivered in the early afternoon by the young girl, again accompanied by the wizen man.
"It seems that there might be some bad weather headed this way," was the man's explanation when Hotch asked. "So, everyone is busy getting out the shutters and tying down everything in the yards."
"I hope you like your food," the girl spoke up. "I helped make it."
"You're the biscuit maker's apprentice?" Hotch asked with a smile.
"No," the girl giggled. "I'm doing my rotation through the various jobs to determine what I am best at and what I enjoy doing. Right now I am working in the kitchen."
"In that case, I am sure it is delicious," Hotch assured her.
"Hurry up now, 602," the man interrupted their conversation. "We have work to do."
And, once again, Hotch was left to his own devices.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"There's a storm headed this way?" Hotch asked when the two men came to get him that evening.
"Looks like the worst of it will be missing us," was the reply from 415. "We'll just be getting some wind and rain. But, you never know – "
"It never hurts to take precautions," the second man added sagely.
"You – What is your name?" Hotch asked as they walked down the hall towards the shower room. "I know he is 415," Hotch nodded towards his jailor. "But, who are you?"
"You can call me 483," the man grinned at him as they reached the shower room door.
"Remember, 15 minutes," 415 told Hotch as they let him go through the door. "And then we come to get you."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"So, did you go for a walk today?" Hotch asked his mystery woman as they sat on the cot while he ate the dinner she had brought him.
"No, not today," the woman replied. "They are talking about a tropical storm coming this way so I helped 343 nail down some loose boards on the chicken coops, and then we made sure all the birds were safely inside with food and water."
"Do you get big storms often?" Hotch was trying to remember where hurricanes were most prevalent and during which part of the year they were most likely to form. Dejectedly, he thought of Reid and how the young agent would undoubtedly be able to rattle off all that information without even trying.
"It has been a while," she told him. "During the last one everyone was gathered together in the dining hall and it sounded as if the roof were about to go flying off. I was scared!"
"I don't doubt it," Hotch sympathized with her. "Some of those storms can get pretty intense."
"So, three forty three is in charge of the chickens?" He ventured a guess.
"Kind of," was the reply. "He helps out with them and also in the nursery. And he also handles various repairs around the main buildings. He used to work in the fields but he is kind of old now so he just works at jobs he can handle."
As they sat on the cot talking they could hear that a strong wind was beginning to blow through the area, followed shortly by rain pounding on the roof.
"That sounds like a pretty heavy rain to me," Hotch observed. "I was told we would only be getting the outlying part of the storm."
"I think it sounds pretty," the woman told him. "We don't often get a heavy rain like this, and I like listening to it."
She looked over at him. "This is our last night," she reminded him. "I think I am going to miss seeing you."
"And I will miss our talks," Hotch assured her truthfully. "Now, why don't you tell me what you liked the most about the last two nights and I'll see what I can do. And, remember, I like you touching me just as much as you like me touching you."
"I'll remember that," she assured him with a smile.
"The woman was definitely getting bolder," Hotch thought as she reached out to carefully cup his groin.