The following Saturday morning, the team gathered at Rossi's mansion.
"Dave," said Hotch carefully. "thanks so much for letting us work from here. If Strauss were to get wind of our investigation..."
Rossi smiled warmly. "Aaron...you and the team are always welcome at my place...as long as you guys bring the food, I have the booze...and enough bedrooms so that we don't have to use the tents...ever again!"
"I hear that!" exclaimed Morgan.
"And as far as food goes," bubbled Garcia cheerfully, "Em, JJ and I brought a very lovely brunch."
"And if you don't mind Morgan and I manning that gorgeous built-in grill out back, there'll be steaks and sweet corn for dinner." added Aaron with a smile.
"I brought coffee and sugar." whispered Spencer with an embarrassed grin, as JJ walked over and mussed his hair with affection.
After brunch, the agents gathered in Rossi's study, and with renewed determination, went to work.
oOo
Hotch paced as he began. "We need to remember that the first time we were able to trace Foyet was after I had already been stabbed. Let's not do that again. Obviously, the plan is to be several steps ahead, and track his movements before he even knows we are on to him."
"He's a smart guy, and careful...that won't be easy." added Rossi.
"Luckily," said Hotch with determination, "we have knowledge on our side."
Flipping through detailed notes, Reid continued. "Originally, we were able to locate Foyet after JJ figured out that many of the medications he needed on a daily basis, could be substituted with over-the-counter alternatives, or purchased from street dealers. Garcia, with Kevin's help, was able to focus on the drugs he needed that couldn't be substituted. Given those parameters, we narrowed down the list of patients with those particular prescription combinations."
"Spencer deduced that one of the people on our list, named Peter Rhea, was actually Foyet." said Hotch with pride.
"Peter Rhea?" asked Prentiss.
Reid smiled. "Its an anagram of 'The Reaper'...self-absorbed narcissists never change."
Hotch continued. "At that time, he was living in an apartment in Annapolis. Unfortunately, we didn't figure that out until three months after his attack on me, and only after we received information that helped us narrow the search."
"There was an informant? That's highly unusual. Other than his relationship with Colson, the author, he was a classic loner. He's incapable of forming meaningful connections, even with a submissive partner." stated Rossi.
Hotch chuckled. "This was definitely not an informant. Foyet used Karl Arnold to pass along a message to me."
JJ raised her eyebrows in surprise. "The Fox? He wasn't released, was he?"
Reid answered. "No, don't worry JJ...he's never getting out. Foyet became his prison pen-pal, through a mutual desire to mentally torture Hotch. We traced the postmarks on the letters he sent to Arnold. That, along with the name we had, finally gave us an address."
"We went in too heavy, and he had time to escape. That's when he went after Haley and Jack. I have no idea whether he stalked me from that location, or settled in afterwords, while he hunted for Haley and Jack."
"Do you think he's already there?" asked JJ warily.
"Well," said Garcia, as she typed swiftly on her keyboard. "let's see."