The Conspiracy
Chapter 5
Day Three

John Philpot Curran said: "Assassinate me you may; intimidate me you cannot."

Dave slept for the rest of the day and into the next night. Chita watched over him, and prayed over him. If this man was with the FBI, maybe he would be able to get the children back.

Early in the morning of the third day, David began to stir in his sleep. Chita had changed the dressing on his wound while he slept, and now there was no blood showing. She watched him as his soft brown eyes fluttered open. He blinked and looked at her.

'How long?.....'

'This is day three.' Chita answered with a gentle smile. 'Would you like some water?'

Dave nodded, and she reached for a glass that was by the bed. She lifted Dave's head and held the glass to his lips. He drank gratefully.

'I really need a phone, Chita, or if that's not possible, would your son be able to make a call for me.' he said. 'Two of my friends are in serious danger, and I must call for help.'

'We do not have a phone, but there is one in the village. Ana will go for you.'

She went to the door and called Ana who was asleep on the couch, his Mum having his bed.

'Ana, Mr Rossi needs you to make a phone call for him.'

Ana pulled on his jeans and went to Dave's side.

'Should I write it down, or will you remember?' Dave asked, not wanting to take for granted that the young man could read.

'Please, write it down. I don't want to make any mistakes.'

Dave wrote down Morgan's cell number, and a message that he should come to him urgently. He said that he had been injured and Hotch was missing. He asked Chita to write down their address, and he passed the paper to Ana.

'Please, where are my things?' he asked Chita, who passed him his wallet and ID. He took some money from his wallet and gave it to Ana.

'Please, Ana, make the call as soon as you can. I am worried about my friends, and Morgan will come and help me to find them.'

'I followed the trail from the cliff.' Ana said. 'There was a sand storm, and the tracks were covered, but I know the direction they took with your friend.'

Dave managed a smile. 'That's great, Ana.' he said.

'I'll go and make the call now.' he said, smiling back.

Ana left the bedroom, and seconds later Dave heard the sound of the old truck starting outside. He needed Morgan and Prentiss out here as soon as possible. Chita sat on a chair at the foot of the bed.

'Tell me about the children.' Dave said.

'It started three years ago.' Chita began. 'The men of the town offered to take the children of poor families and have them adopted by wealthy American couples. They paid money to the families as compensation. We all knew that it was wrong, but it was a way to a better life for our little ones. After a few families sold their children, one mother wanted her child back, and the Sheriff said it was too late. We couldn't go to the police because we were doing wrong. It was awful.'

Dave saw that there were tears in Chita's eyes.

'It was your child, wasn't it? You wanted her back?'

Chita nodded, unable to speak now the tears had started.

'How long ago did you lose your child?' Dave asked.

There was a long pause before she spoke as she gathered herself again. 'It's been two years since we lost Connie.' she sobbed. 'After that, no one was willing to let their children go, but still children went missing.' Chita stood up and started to pace slowly. 'We have no proof that it is the sheriff and his men taking them, but it seems a coincidence otherwise.'

'I don't believe in coincidences.' Dave said, 'When Morgan gets here, we will see what's going on.'

Dave was still in a lot of pain as he made the effort to get out of the bed. Chita gently pushed him back down again.

'Please, don't try to get up, Sir. You need more time.'

Dave knew she was right, and he lay back down, exhausted. He fell asleep almost straight away thinking of Ana, and whether he would make it into town. He knew he was putting these people in danger by being here, and if they shot him to kill, how would they feel about killing this little family. He needed to make sure that they didn't tell people that he was here.........

-0-0-0-

'Just shoot them where they are, and leave their bodies in the mine shaft. No one will ever find them, and if they do there will be nothing left to identify. There are thousands of rats down there.' The sheriff was pacing. He knew that the work was on hold while they dealt with the Fed issue, but it was the money from the kids that kept the town, and they couldn't hold off for long.

'I'm not killing them. Let Ben do it. He killed the other one, and the kid that started all this.'

'Ben is not going to do anything. Killing the Fed there was stupid and unnecessary. There could have been witnesses. He is a trigger happy moron. Ben is out of the picture.'

Arn sighed. He didn't want to kill, he didn't join the Pack to assassinate unarmed men. But to keep the scam going, something needed to be done.

'Can't we just leave them there? They'll soon die down there if we don't feed them.'

'So you are happy about starving them to death, but not shooting them?'

'I'm not happy about any of this, Phil. I just want the problem dealt with and finished.'

'So shoot them.'

'Ok ok, I'll do it.' Arn picked up his shot gun. 'I may as well get this over with.'

-0-0-0-

Morgan was surprised when his cell rang. He had been trying to contact Hotch ever since they boarded the jet, but his phone was either out of service which was unlikely, or turned off, which was more unlikely.

This was an unknown number. He allowed the call.

'Morgan.'

'I am calling for Mr David Rossi. He needs your help.'

Morgan listened to the man who introduced himself as Ana Rigez, and as soon as the conversation was over, he told Prentiss what had happened.

'I am going to get the jet to go to the nearest airport to the address.' he said. 'We need to get to Rossi sooner rather than later.

Minutes later the jet had changed course, and Morgan called ahead to book a car. Emily called Garcia and JJ.

'We are heading out there now.' she said. 'What ever is going down, it needs the team on it.'

'I'll do some preliminary checks on the area.' Garcia said. 'You never know what I can find.'

'I'll contact the Mexican police about the missing children. I'll get ages and descriptions.'

'Check out the town sheriff too, JJ and see how long he's been in charge down there.'

'Good idea, Emily.' JJ said. 'I'm on it.'

-0-0-0-

Arn threw his shotgun into the back of the car. He really didn't want to do this, shoot unarmed chained up men, but if he didn't they would starve to death, and the money would stop coming in. His knuckles were white on the wheel as he drove through the desert towards the old abandoned mine. He tried to psych himself up for the deed, but he felt sick with the thought of killing the two men.

'I've got no choice!' he said aloud as the car bounced over the terrain.

He could let them go and throw himself on their mercy. He wondered how Sally his wife would manage the store if he went to prison. He couldn't do that to her.

'I've got no choice!' he shouted. He always told himself that there was no such thing as easy money, and this was the proof. He would shoot them, the alternative was horrible – starving to death in that black hole. Killing them would be an act of mercy.

He drew his car up alongside the unmarked mine head, and reached over for his gun.

'I'm sorry, guys, but I have got no choice!' he loaded his gun and took a flashlight from the glove box. He crossed to the shaft, and lowered himself onto the top rung, his flash light in his hand and his gun over his shoulder.

He negotiated the ladder carefully, mindful that it had been there for a good many years. He jumped the last few feet, and swung his gun around so that it was pointing into the blackness.

-0-0-0-

Ana drove back towards the farm. The man Morgan had said that they would be there as soon as he could. He couldn't help feeling excited at the thought of helping the FBI. He had always imagined himself as working for law enforcement, but he couldn't leave his Mum alone on the farm.

He had a tiny bit of resentment, not towards his mum, because he loved her, but against the circumstances of his life that tied him to a little farm that was never going to pay for itself.

He thought of the man that was sleeping in his Mum's bed. He had seen the way his Mum looked at him, and he hoped that she wasn't going to lose her heart to him. He didn't think that he would leave the United States to live in a little shack, and he knew his Mum would never leave the farm.....

-0-0-0-

The sound of something falling got Aaron's attention. He had been sitting shivering with Reid asleep in his arms for he didn't know how long. Time was meaningless down there. He had no way to measure the passage of time.

He opened his eyes and looked across through the blackness to where he thought the sound came from. It was deceptive in the echoey environment.

The light from the flashlight was as clean as a knife cutting the air.

'Reid, wake up.' He shook Spencer gently and his arms around him tightened.

'What is it, Aaron?'

'Look, there is a light.' Hotch said excitedly, 'and I heard something fall.'

Spencer opened his eyes and tried to focus. Although he had eaten, he was still weak, and his body was aching. Hotch could still feel the results of the beating he had endured. He released Reid, and stood shakily onto his feet.

'I am going to see what it was.' he said, and carefully limped to the extent of the chain. He could see silhouetted behind the light a man with a shotgun. The light swung around and shone in Hotch's eyes. He screwed up his eyes and he stepped backwards out of the beam of the flash light.

This was wrong. Why would anyone be down here with a gun unless it was to kill them?

.He saw the man move, and he heard the shot a split second before he felt it enter his hip. Hotch fell onto his back with a cry.

'I came to kill you.' he heard the man say. And then he passed out.

Reid crawled to Aaron, and felt fresh blood on his hip and on the ground.

He was relieved when he felt a pulse, but he needed help.

'Why have you done this? Reid shouted.

Arn pointed the gun in the direction of the voice. 'You know I have to kill you, don't you?'

'You won't get away with it, you know. You can't kill federal agents and think that no one will come looking for us.'

Arn didn't say anything else. He fired the gun and heard the sound of a body hitting the floor.