I am sorry it as taken so long to get this next chapter up. Thank you for your reviews!! Please feel free to offer your suggestions. I will consider them all. As I said before I do not own Criminal Minds nor any of the characters that are in the show.
Hotch closed his office door as Morgan and Reid entered. "What's going on, Hotch?" asked Morgan.
"I found this note on my desk when I got in today," replied Rossi as he handed the note to Morgan. Morgan held the note out so that Reid could read it as well.
"They will pay with their hearts just as the women they claimed to have been his victims." Morgan read out loud.
"The Milwaukee case," said Reid. Hotch let out a concerned sigh running his hand through his hair.
"What was that case about," asked Rossi.
"The unsub was Joseph Smith. He used his son to lure unsuspecting women to his home. He would force them to take on the role of mother, looking for a replacement for his wife that left him. After a few days he would kill them by removing their heart while they were still alive. Using some sort of chisel and hammer," explained Morgan.
"And right now we have to assume that they have JJ. She has yet to be in and is not answering her cell phone," said Hotch.
"Hotch, Prentiss and Garcia are also missing," said Reid.
Hotch looked up at Reid with surprise. "Have you tried their cell phones and homes?"
Morgan nodded. "No answer. We have to assume that he has them also."
"Okay. Morgan, go to Garcia's apartment. Dave you go to JJ's and I'm going to go to Prentiss's. Reid, get a technical analyst in here. See if there are any video cameras where they live. Also, check to see if you can locate their cell phones. Maybe we'll get lucky and get a clue as to where they are," said Hotch ordering his team to get into action.
"Hotch what about Strauss?" asked Reid.
"That's right man, she was in Milwaukee also," said Morgan.
Hotch immediately dialed the extension to Strauss's office and let a look of relief come across his face when she answered the phone. "Ma'am this is Agent Hotchner. Agents Emily Prentiss and Jennifer Jereau, as well as Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia are all missing . . . . . . . . . . Yes, ma'am. We believe that they were kidnapped by Joseph Smith's brothers . . . . . . . . Yes, ma'am he was the Unsub from the Milwaukee case. There is no indication as to whether or not they know that you were also there. I advise you to stay at Quantico for your protection . . . . . . . We are about to leave no to see if there are any clues at their residences. Agent Reid is staying behind. We need a Technical Analyst to help us. Agent Reid will instruct the analyst in the information we need . . . . . . . . Thank you ma'am."
Hotch hung up his cell phone and looked at Reid. "She is sending TA Kevin Lynch. Have him setup in Garcia's office, and set yourself up in the conference room. See if you can get a geographical profile." Reid nodded his understanding. "Let's get going. Come right back here when you are finished." Without uttering another word Morgan, Reid and Rossi all left Hotch's office to take care of their individual assignments.
Garcia looked up at Emily and noticed her friend wincing a little from pain. Emily had told them how she tried to defend herself against the Unsub. She had ended up with a cut over left eye and some bruises on her upper arms. "Em, you okay?"
"I'm fine, Pen. I'm just a little sore, and being tied in this position isn't helping."
"I wonder how the other guy looks," joked JJ.
The room was slowly starting to get darker as the only supplier of light - the sun - started to set. Emily looked around the room and she observed that there were no lamps or light bulbs. JJ had seen Emily looking around, "Em?"
She looked towards her friends as she heard her name being called, "The sun it setting. I don't see any light bulbs or lamps."
They sat in silence as another half hour passed. The sunlight had left the room fifteen minutes ago, leaving a small amount of moonlight to enter the room. It was just enough to allow them to see each other's faces.
The door opened startling them all. Brad Smith walked into the room, "Good Evening, Ladies." They could barely see his face as he entered the room.
"What is this all about?" asked Garcia.
Brad answered in one word. "Revenge."
"Who are you?" asked JJ.
He snickered at JJ, "Now if I told you who I am, that will ruin the suspense." Brad than focused his attention on Emily. "Besides your unit is filled with the top profilers in the Country, I don't think it will take too long for you to figure out who I am."
"You're not doing this alone. There is no way you could have taken all three of us at the exact time," Emily replied.
Brad clapped slowly as he moved closer to Emily with an evil grin. "My brothers and I each took care of acquiring the three of you."
Emily continued, "You look familiar, but I don't think we have had to deal with you directly on a case. The fact that you are considering this revenge, leads me to believe that it is personal. Maybe it has to do with another brother. I am sure whoever it was is still in prison so there would have to be at least four of you."
"I was right you are good," he said as he ran his finger from her ear to her chin. Emily jerked her head away from him causing him to chuckle. "I bid you ladies a Good Night. Get some rest, for tomorrow the fun begins. I look forward to seeing your heart." Before he left the room, Brad took some pictures with his digital camera, one each of them individually and then of the three of them in the same shot. "I think I will send a little e-mail to the BAU and let them know that for now, you are unharmed," he added with a sick laugh.
Emily looked around at her friends after Brad left the room. She saw tears forming in her friends' eyes, "They will find us. Don't worry."
"When, and in what condition will we be when they do? You already have some bruises. What's to say they won't give you some more?" asked Garcia. Emily had no answer for her and they all sat there in silence.
As the evening grew later and the moon shifted, it was increasingly getting harder to see each other's faces. Emily noticed that Penelope had drifted asleep. She looked over towards the direction of where JJ was sitting and heard her moving around in the chair "Jayje, you okay?"
"I was just hoping that since they were so small I might have been able to slip my wrists from the ropes, but it's no use," she answered.
"Jayje, you need to save your strength. Garcia is right, we don't know what we are going to be facing tomorrow."
"I know," answered JJ. "Em?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you have any idea as to who this guy might be?" asked JJ.
"I'm not entirely sure. I keep repeating in my head what he said. I know that he was referring to who he might be. I just can't connect it." Eventually they both gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep.
Back at the BAU, each of the men had arrived back from their explorations of their teammates' homes. "What did you guys find?" asked Hotch.
"There were signs of a struggle in Garcia's bedroom," stated Morgan. "Items that were on her dresser were on the floor. The bed looks like it had not been slept in so she was taken last night. I found her purse on the table at the front door along with her keys. There was no blood anywhere so we can assume that at least when she was taken she was not harmed. I found a rag soaked with chloroform by her bed."
"Dave?" asked Hotch.
"There were no signs of a serious struggle anywhere in the house. Her purse was on her table along with her gun and its holster. The Unsub must have overpowered her inside the house before she could react. I found a needle near the front door. My guess that it was filled with something to render JJ unconscious, I sent it to the lab to see if they could figure out what it is there was a little liquid still in there."
Hotch let out a sigh as they all looked to him for what he was able to find out Emily's condo. "Emily must have been confronted when she got out of the shower. There was a towel on her bathroom floor that was still damp. Her bedroom showed signs or a struggle. It looks like she really put up a big fight. I found her gun lying on the floor. They must have fought for control of it at one point." Hotch looked like he was intentionally not telling them something, and Rossi picked up on it right away.
"What are you not saying, Hotch?"
"There was some blood on her carpet. It's not enough to be worried about. I called in a forensic team and they are testing it to see if it is Prentiss' blood. She could be hurt." After a few silent seconds he turned to Reid. "What have you and Lynch been able to find out?"
Reid turned on the projection screen as he brought up some files. "Emily and Garcia both have video camera surveillance in their condo hallways. There was no surveillance at JJ's." He played Emily's video first. They saw her being carried out of the room. Her right side was only visible to the camera so they were unaware of the cut above her left eye - leaving the question of the source of the blood stain still a mystery. They could see some blood on his the left hand of the Unsub's knuckles.
Reid then played the video from Garcia's apartment complex. They saw her being carried out in the same matter as Emily.
"It is clearly two different Unsub's," noticed Rossi.
"We ran both of them Garcia's facial recognition program. They Unsub with Emily is Brad Smith. He has a record for burglary and domestic violence. He also has three brothers. We were able to ID Tim Smith as being the Unsub who took Garcia."
"Since you found no signs of a struggle and we all know JJ would have fought back. I am guessing that it was Paul Smith who took her. He has a permit to carry a weapon and most likely used it to make her comply."
Hotch gave Reid with a worried look "What about the fourth brother?"
Reid nodded, "Our original suspicions were correct."
"The Milwaukee Case?" asked Rossi.
Reid nodded, "It's Joseph Smith."
Upon hearing this Morgan stood up from the table. "We have to find them and fast."
"We will," said Hotch.
"Right now, Lynch is running a search on all the properties owned by the four men and their families, as well as checking on Joseph Smith in Jail."
Hotch's cell phone rang. "Agent Hotchner." He listened as the caller gave him the information without interrupting him. A hand went through his hair giving the others a sign that whatever he was being told was not good news. "Thank you," he said as he ended the call.
"What's up?" asked Morgan.
"That was the forensics team. The blood came from Prentiss. There wasn't enough blood to warrant a concern that she is badly injured."
The phone in the conference room rang. "That must be Lynch," said Reid.
"This is Agent Hotchner."
"Agent Hotchner, it's Kevin Lynch. I have the info that Agent Reid requested. Each of the men own homes in Milwaukee. Brad, Tim and Paul have all been to visit Joseph in jail on a monthly basis until this past month. They were visiting each week."
"Probably to get a plan together," said Morgan. "The guards are required to write a report up of each visit the inmates have. Can you access them?"
"Here we go," answered Lynch. "They were planning it right in front of the guards. It says here that they were talking about them anticipating a reunion with their girlfriends – Emily, Penelope and Jennifer."
"Do any of them own any properties around here?" asked Hotch.
"Not upon my initial search, sir, but I am searching variations of each of their names as well as any alias that they might have."
"Okay. It is getting late and there is nothing more that we can do tonight," said Hotch. "Go home we need for everyone to have a clear head in the morning." They all stood up and reluctantly made their way home knowing full well that they needed rest, but none of them being able to sleep long as they all worried about their teammates.