Chapter 27

Corcoran Gallery of Art
East St. Entrance
Washington DC

July 2012

"I need to get in there." Spencer said.

Unfortunately Morgan wasn't letting him. "You need to wait until the bomb squad gives the all-clear." He replied as Will and JJ joined them. "Who has Mia? What the hell is going on?"

"Hotch is taking Mia and Jack back to the office. Maupin's got Shannon. I have to get in there to find out where he's hiding."

"How do..." But then the bomb squad guys were telling them that the explosives packed into the store rooms under the gallery were safe, the fuses were out, they could go in.

Morgan followed as Spencer's long stride ate up ground. He let himself into the priory and then down the hall to the cache. Morgan was not surprised when Benson, the head of the place, joined them. "What are you doing?" He called out. Spencer went straight up to the door and started unlocking it. Benson pushed past him and forced himself in front of Spencer. "You can't let strangers into the library!" In reply Spencer literally grabbed the older man by the shoulders and pushed him away from the door, slamming him into the wall. "You can't!"

Spencer opened the door and the rest of them followed in. Beyond was an archival library, row after row of boxes punctuated by large carrels and other storage areas. Morgan couldn't help it, when Spencer slowed he pulled one off the shelf and peeked. Inside were papyrus scrolls, thousands of years old... "At the moment there are only two Knights of the Blue in the DC area actually assigned to this cache." Spencer was saying, "Myself and Dr. Bernat. Usually there are more but..."

"...but Maupin is in charge of assignments." Morgan finished.

Spencer led them to a stack of large, flat drawers. "The Templars built DC." He said. "This city was designed as a treasure cache from the beginning. But they've moved and upgraded security several times..." He looked over the drawers and pulled one open.

It was filled with building plans.

"He's in one of the old caches." JJ said, "A place like this."

"And where is in these schematics." Will added. "That's why he killed Bernat and wanted to blow this place up."

Spencer nodded. "Those snipers were aiming for me." Morgan thought he had never heard the kid so pissed. "He had his men take hostages at the school, a soft target, to get me down there then they tracked Mia right to me."

"With you and Bernat dead and this place gone there wouldn't be any way anyone could find him." Morgan nodded. "How did you know?"

"Mia warned me." He looked down at the drawers and started collecting the schematics of the city.

"You can't take those out of here!" Benson thundered.

"Oh, shut up John." Another voice said. Morgan and the others looked up to find that a crowd had gathered; at least a dozen men and women, all in some kind of uniform or wearing a badge. Like that, down here, could only mean one thing. "You're going to need people who can read the signs." The one who had spoken said to Spencer. He was a big man, US Marine, assigned to security at the...

Spencer nodded in return. "You're right Jamie. We'll take all the help we can get."

"Let's go." They gathered up the papers and headed out.

Somewhere under Washington DC

The problem was that it took hours. They had to get people in from the city engineering department, who were utterly fascinated by the schematics. This explained so much, they said. All the mysterious construction they kept finding under the city, like layers in an archeological dig. They didn't question when they said they had been kept in a private collection, merely groused a little and swore to make copies before they went back.

And then they had to go out and clear every single old room, one after the other. They took separate teams, of course, FBI and DC Metro along with an engineer and a couple of these other folks, who's presence didn't make any sense until you squirmed around that corner or down this tunnel and all of a sudden there was a sign in a language no one had ever seen before but them.

But it was good they had them along. After all, the signs usually pointed out booby traps, the ancient version of a security system, left behind by builders too lazy to take it all down. "Do you have any idea how paranoid you people are?" Will asked as they went through one that required multiple bodies to hold up weights while someone else worked the translated combination into the lock.

"They were burning people like us at the stake right through the 1600's." The knight with them said. "It kind of sticks with you, that kind of thing."

"Might be getting on time to wipe it off."

"I can't disagree." Just then the door opened. "Let's get through to the next one."

It took hours and it was really just luck that the team Spencer and Morgan were with happened to find the right location. They got through the last sealed door only to hear that oh so familiar low voice coming from a room up ahead. "And thereafter saith he: Hear, O Master, the ordinance of the first letter and know how many incomings and lines it hath..."

They fanned out around the room as quietly as they could, surrounding the area where the sound was coming from. But there was no angle to get a good shot and only one chance for one man to approach. Shannon was sitting on a chair in the cleared space, her hands behind her, bruised and battered, her clothing torn. And Maupin was crouching there, a laptop on an old box, smiling as he recorded her every word. As soon as he spotted movement he ducked behind Shannon and held a gun to her temple. "Ahaha Dr. Reid." He said. "Let's not be too hasty. Put the gun down."

Spencer lowered his gun to the top of a crate and kept his hands up and empty. "Bernard Maupin, you're under arrest for kidnapping, human trafficking..."

"Oh come now. We all know I won't do a day in jail."

"You might be right." Spencer's eyes met Shannon's. "It seems you have us in a position not even Houdini could get out of. Why have you done this?"

"I got tired of being treated like crap by the Order. Now I'm getting out, with my own fortune and my own rules."

Thank you for that opening. "How did they treat you like crap?"

Maupin laughed at that. He was the aggrieved victim Unsub. It was just the question to raise his anger and lower his awareness. "Did you think every Knight of the Blue gets to play the Debkhaa? Hmmm? Not me. I got passed over time and time again by the Chaplains. Never once getting to taste the sweet fruit of wisdom." He caressed Shan's temple with the barrel of the gun and held her still as she tried to flinch away. "All these little whores thinking they are too good for the likes of me, hm? I showed them what they are." He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Shannon's throat, making her shudder. "But you're one of the lucky ones, you think they're sooo special. You wouldn't risk your Lady by trying to jump me. So let's just all back out of here."

"What makes you think I can't take you?"

"I trained you, remember. I know better."

"You really think that?"

"I've seen you fight. Besides, no Knight of the Blue could ever kill a man."

Just then Shannon got her wrists free. She turned her head and bit Maupin hard, making him drop the gun, then pushed her way free, giving Spencer a clear chance.

Which he took.

A second later he had his hands on Maupin, and then his fists. It was a good fight, satisfying as he felt Maupin's nose crunch and then his cheekbone. Maupin got in a few blows of his own, but the pain just added to the rage Spencer felt. This wasn't just theft, this went deeper. This went into true heresy, true hatred. And how dare he? How dare he?!

When it was over, when his knuckles were bloodied and sore but Maupin was lying on the ground, only his breath showing that he was alive, Spencer stood up and reached for Shan. "You're still under arrest." He said. Then he took Shan by the hand and pulled her away, stopping to pick up his gun. Morgan could do the paperwork this time.

He got three steps before he heard the sound behind him.

He turned to see the muzzle of Maupin's gun coming up.

The sound of a gunshot rang out around the chamber.