In the dining room of the small house JJ plugs in the last cord and looks at her best friend. "All set, Pen."
Garcia nods and attaches her computer to the dummy computer. She starts to type, loading the program into the dormant computer. After a few minutes she smiles.
"I think it's…FUCK!"
An icon comes up informing her the dummy computer wiped itself clean. Garcia presses her fingers into her temple, trying to figure out what she has done wrong. Reid and JJ exchange a look, wishing they could help but knowing what the analyst is doing is far beyond their skills.
Garcia suddenly sits up. "AH! YES!"
She starts to type, refining the code. A few minutes later she re-launches it. This time, the dummy computer starts to hum and a second screen set up beside it starts to scroll information. Garcia slides down to stare at that screen.
"YES!" She turns to JJ and Reid. "Got it."
JJ pats her on the shoulders. "Pen, you are freakin' awesome!"
Soon the unsub's 2 computers are hooked up to new drives. Garcia launches her program into both computers. Reid and JJ watch in awe as the computers divulge all their secrets into Bureau computers. JJ glances at Reid.
"The good news is we're about to see into his dark, demented world. The bad news is…we're about to see into his dark, demented world."
Reid nods. "Yeah. Lucky us."
Reid and JJ start to go through the documents on the drives they are working on. Garcia starts to filter out the videos hoping to find clear images of the unsub and the children to run against various databases. It doesn't take long for all 3 to start feeling the onset of migraines as they dive into this disgusting world.
Upstairs in what looks to be an office Emily stares at the stacks of DVD's and pictures. She runs a hand through her hair and turns on the small TV in the room. She sees a DVD is already in the player and grabs a stack of photos. Maybe if she does two things at once she can get through it before she goes insane with fury. She turns on a digital recorder to log her thoughts as she has them.
She starts to flip through the photos. "All prepubescent boys. So far look to be approximately between 7 and 10. No adults appear in the photos in folder titled "Around the House."
She sets that folder aside and stares at the TV a moment. With a sigh of resignation she hits play on the DVD player. The volume is turned up nearly to full.
"NO! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"
Emily slaps the power button, stopping the screams from the young boy being violated. Her face is buried in her hands when Morgan runs in.
"Emily?"
Emily takes a deep breath and looks up. "DVD. It was…" she shakes her head.
"Damn, Em. Look, maybe Rossi and Cartwright can canvas the neighborhood once he gets back from the New York office. I can help you with this."
Emily shakes her head. "Pete is good but you and Rossi know what to ask people, what to watch for when they answer. I'll be okay. Should have known better than to just turn on what this motherfucker had been watching last."
He rubs her shoulders. "Okay. But if you need help I'll be here."
She smiles and pats one of his hands. "Thanks, Derek. Do me a favor? Close the door when you go? The others don't need to hear this shit."
He nods. "Okay. See you later, Em."
Emily ejects the DVD and reinserts it so it will start at the beginning. She turns on the TV and turns the volume down until it is nearly mute. Sadly, she would have to hear some of it in case the unsub spoke. His accent and dialect would help them solidify a profile on him.
She hits play, turning her emotions to stone to get the job done. A small, dark-haired, terrified boy stands naked in the center of the screen. An adult male, also naked, enters the shot. Emily freezes the image. Though his head is not visible, she studies his body for tattoos, scars or birthmarks. He is clean. She does note the counter-stamp with a full view of his penis. It could be used later to help i.d. him.
She hits play and watches as the man starts to caress the young boy. She shivers, wishing she could stop what she knows is about to happen. She wants to fast forward, wants to skip ahead but knows that could mean missing something that could later help with prosecuting the bastard in the video.
Two hours, three DVD's and hundreds of photos later, Emily walks out of the office and down the stairs. She passes Reid in the hallway.
"Emily? You okay?"
She just raises a hand to stop his questions and continues out the back door. The front door had too many TV cameras on it. The backyard had been secured by police and offers the only privacy outside of the house of horrors. She sits down on the back steps and stares out across the yard, trying to will the images to leave her head for just a few minutes.
She senses her wife before she hears her. JJ just sits down and takes Emily's hand. What words could be said? What other comfort could be offered? JJ had seen clips of what was on the DVD's and in the photos. She had read the descriptions used to sell them. But her wife had actually seen them. For 10 minutes they sit silently.
"There…there are hundreds, Jen. Some are probably duplicates but…but the others are…shit…"
"I know, Em. Do you need help?"
"NO!" Emily shouts. She sighs shamefully when she sees the look on JJ's face. "I…I'm sorry. But I don't want you to see that shit if you don't have to, Jen. I don't want anyone seeing it. Why should all of us be haunted by those images?"
JJ just nods. She leans her head over onto Emily's shoulder, hoping just being there will be enough to help center her wife before she gets back to work.
Morgan and Rossi shut the fifth and final bedroom in the house. Each one had a theme: doctor's office, gym, playground, bedroom, and torture chamber. The last was the largest, taking up nearly the entire basement.
The two men lean against the wall. After a moment, Rossi looks at Morgan.
"Emily is having to watch what happened in these rooms."
Morgan nods. "Yeah. And she'll filter out just what we need to complete the profile. It's not right that she shoulders that alone, Rossi."
"I know." But for now there is nothing they can do to help her. He glances at his watch. "Cartwright should be here any minute. Let's get with him, get his initial impressions of this place, and then go talk to the neighbors, especially the guy that called in the tip."
Morgan nods. "Okay."
"And, Derek, when she needs to lose it, just be there for her," Rossi says compassionately.
"You know I will be," Morgan promises.
They go upstairs to find Hotch talking to Peter Cartwright. Morgan extends his hand.
"Good to see you again, though I wish for better reasons."
Cartwright nods. "Me, too. After what you all did for Vicky I was…I swear, I wish I could have called in a different team but you all really are the best."
Rossi nods. "We understand."
"Pete," Emily says from behind the team.
They all turn and see the Prentiss women approaching them. Pete steps to her and gives her a hug.
"Hey, Em. Sorry this is what finally gets you up to New York."
She forces a smile to her face. "Me, too. How're Vicky and the kids?"
"All good."
"Great."
Pete gives JJ a hug. "Good to see you, JJ."
"You, too, Pete."
Emily pats her wife on the shoulder. "Well, I still have piles of hell to get through. See you later, Pete. Tell your family I said hi."
He nods. "I will."
They all watch as Emily walks up the stairs. Hotch just looks at JJ, his eyebrow up. JJ gives him a reassuring nod.
"Well, I need to get back with Reid and Garcia," she says and takes her leave.
Rossi looks at Pete. "So, how about you take Morgan and me to the guy that called in the tip? After that, we can canvas the neighborhood as best we can with people at work. Luckily this part of Long Island is still a place where neighbors take note of what's going on around them."
Hotch looks at the three men. "I'm making a statement at noon to say the investigation is in its early stages and asking for the public to step forward with anything they think could be helpful."
"Good," Morgan says. "The more leads the better."
"Exactly. I'll be manning the hotlines at the New York office. It will be better to have the tips and media centralized there. But if you all need me here I'll get here with lights and sirens, understood?"
Rossi nods. "Sounds good."
Just then the front door opens and two techs enter. "Agent Cartwright?"
Pete steps towards them. "Yes?"
"I'm Billy Gonsalves. We're here with the GPR."
"Good. Bring it to the backyard. If there are bodies I doubt he'd have been stupid enough to bury them out front. Not as long as it looks like he's been at work here."
The two men nod and go get their equipment. Hotch goes ahead and leaves to start drawing the media back towards New York City and hopefully take some of the circus away from this street.
Up in the office, Emily freezes an image. She frowns and backs it up a little. She swallows and shakes her head.
"Son of a bitch…it's a different guy."
She hadn't been surprised to see another little boy, this time a young blonde. But the unsub is definitely different. She makes note of the counter stamp and notes that this man's penis is shorter but wider. He also has blonde pubic hair showing while the other man had been clean-shaven. She closes her eyes and shakes her head.
"Why the hell did you sign up for this again, Prentiss? Fucking second dumbest mistake you ever made," she scolds herself.
That said, she hits play again and starts to watch and listen, hoping for anything that can be used to find the second man that had used this house to abuse children.
Reid sits up straight. "It's a coded sales list!"
Garcia and JJ look at him. "What?"
"It's his sales list. He kept it as insurance against blackmail but he coded it. I'll be in the living room. I need to spread out so I can break the code."
JJ and Garcia nod. JJ looks at her best friend. "Let's hope to hell he finds what we need to end this sooner rather than later."
"I second that. Jayje, come look at this file. It's confusing."
"Why's that?"
"Well, its title is the street address of this place. But it looks to be a list of names, all in code. But why?"
JJ frowns. "Could be lists of people who actually came here to buy or…shit…abuse the children in person."
Garcia blanches. "Oh, God. Uh, I'll set it aside for Reid."
JJ shakes her head. "No, give it here. If it was people that actually came here we need to know them. Morgan and Rossi will need pictures to show around. Reid needs to decipher this first."
Garcia prints out the 15 page list. When it's done, JJ takes it to Reid and he agrees it should be deciphered first. He stares at it a moment, then starts to walk around the house. His mind runs through various probabilities but it could be the cipher is here in the house. He glances up the stairs.
"And if it is, it's in the office," he mumbles.
He goes upstairs and taps on the door. Emily pauses the video she's watching.
"Yeah?"
Reid walks in. "We found some coded documents. The key would probably be in here."
Emily nods and looks around. "Most likely. This is where he did the business end of his shit."
"I'll look around."
"Okay. I'll keep watching. I need to get through this shit so I can obliterate my mind tonight."
Reid just pats her shoulder and starts to carefully look over the books and knickknacks in the room. He winces as he hears a young boy being coached on things to ask his abuser.
"Prison will be too good for this fuck," he mutters.
"I second that," Emily concurs.
After a few minutes, Reid reaches for the only book in the room that looks to be a classic.
"I have a hard time believing he reads Shakespeare," he mumbles.
He opens the book and smiles. Like an old prison movie prop, the pages in the middle have been carved out and a small black notebook sits in the hollow.
"The proverbial black book," he says proudly.
"Reid, we have a bigger problem than we thought," Emily says softly.
Reid looks at her. "What's that?"
"There are multiple unsubs here. And each time a new one shows up the child appears surprised or scared. They are then bent to the will of the new unsub." Emily wipes a tear that had escaped the hard mask she is trying to keep on her face. "I think this place…is a playground for multiple sick fucks. And I think one man controls it. He has the kids here and somehow gets word out to his network."
"And then his network comes to…shit…and the DVD's are just part of the package."
"Yes. But he also sells them to others. I've found the originals where you can still hear the children scre…" her voice chokes off. She clears her throat. "You can hear the children screaming. Then there are others where the screams are edited out and words are added in or just music. He makes it sound like…like the kids are enjoying it."
Reid stares at the frozen image on the screen of a terrified little red-headed boy. "I'll tell JJ and Garcia to look for his sales lists and his regulars."
Emily turns to Reid. "He's overly careful about keeping the faces off the video. I have a hard time believing he doesn't have collateral on these men; something to keep them in line."
"He has their faces somewhere," Reid understands.
"Yeah. Maybe hidden on one of those drives; maybe here somewhere. But I am sure we can find who the hell he has here buying time with these poor little boys."
Reid nods. "Do you need a break or help or anything?"
Emily shakes her head. "No, I'm good right now. Thanks."
Reid stands a moment. "You're not going to turn that back on until I leave, are you?"
Emily shakes her head. "I know what's coming next. Why should you have to know it, too?"
Reid pats her on the shoulder and leaves, closing the door behind him as a little boy starts to scream "No."
"Oh, Em," he murmurs before making his way downstairs.