=Flashback=
"Thanks for the talk." He said, joining her by the door. She beamed back and began to button up her jacket.
"No problem. If you ever need to talk to someone, just call. I'll be there for you."
"You don't know how much that means to me, Emily."
A long, awkward pause of silence formed between them. The tension grew thicker as time ticked on, their eyes locked in an unbreakable gaze.
"Well, I guess I should be going now." She finally said. He nodded and stepped aside so that he could open the door to let her leave. But instead of walking out the door and into the dark street beyond, she stood up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.
"See ya, Hotch."
He stood there, stunned. He wasn't sure what gave her the courage to do that. The whiskey, maybe? He ran out of the house and onto the porch, calling her name.
"Emily!"
But she was gone.
=Present=
After visiting the Gonzales residence, the team was finally ready to give a profile on the led them to the Hartford police station, and they gave the explanation to the other detectives and police officers.
"The Unsub is someone in their mid forties to late fifties that has a very secluded personality; someone who likes to keep to themselves." Rossi began. "They also might misplace things often and be all over the place."
"For example, they might be in one room for a moment, rush off to another room, and then come back to the same room for no reason at all." Emily continued.
"They also have suffered the loss of a child recently and are killing because they want revenge on parents that have a child when they don't." Hotch added, pointing to the photos on the bulletin board behind him. He then stepped back to let Reid speak.
"This person has a connection to a school called St. Kyle's Jr. High as well, whether they work there or their child used to go there. The child they lost is most likely their only child and is a male around the age of 13."
"Look for people that ride bicycles and wear hooded sweat shirts. That's all." The group of officers disbanded when JJ ended the profile. The team left the station soon after and stopped at a nearby coffee shop to take a short break and discuss plans. They all gathered around two small tables while Rossi went and bought the coffee.
"So, we've got our profile. What do we do now?" Halls asked. She idly twisted her wedding ring while she waited for her coffee.
"You know," JJ replied. "Spence's probably right about the Unsub having ties to the school. We should look into that." Hotch nodded in approval and looked at his watch to check the time. 2:30. They had about an hour before school ended. He just wished that Rossi would hurry up.
As if he had read his thoughts, Rossi came back to the table and began to pass out the cups.
"Alright, I have a small French Vanilla for you detective, a medium one cream two sugars for Emily, a medium caramel mocha with whipped cream for JJ, Earl Grey tea for Reid, nothing for Hotch and a medium black coffee for me. Any objections?"
Everyone shook their heads and thanked him. Reid took a sip of his tea and began to tell his friends about the drink.
"Did you know that Earl Grey was named after the acting British prime minister in the 1830's who always received the tea as a gift? It's been a favorite drink of many people throughout the ages. Such people are Oscar Wilde, Queen Elizabeth the-"
"Thank you, Reid, but I think we know what tea is." Emily interrupted him. The group laughed, much to Reid's confusion. "Why don't you make yourself useful and call up Garcia?"
"Why should I call- Oh, right." He took out his cell phone and dialed a number. It didn't have to ring more than twice before it was answered.
"Hey, my favorite super-genius! How's it like in Connecticut?" A familiar voice teased.
"Fine, Garcia. I need you to look up the names of employees at St. Kyle's Jr. High who have had a family member die in the past year." Reid instructed.
"Already on it, hun! There we go. Eight have lost a family member in the past year."
"Out of those, which have lost a child?"
"One. A woman named Jennifer McCook. She's a computer technician at the school and also has mild OCD. She lost her son to a snowboarding accident last February. Huh, how sad."
"Thanks, Garcia." He nodded to the others, confirming that they had their Unsub.
"If you need anything else, just call me, the Queen of awesome!" She exclaimed before Reid hung up. He put his phone back into his pocket and looked up at his team.
"So, what now?" Halls asked, taking a sip of her coffee. Reid turned to the older woman. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear, all the while staring at him intently while awaiting his answer. As Hotch watched them from across the table, he could see that Reid was a bit intimidated by the woman.
"Well…" He began. His fingers tapped against his cup nervously. "Our technical analyst, she brought up names of workers at the school… and narrowed it down to one woman who fits the profile. Uh, her name is Jennifer McCook."
"Well, we should go to the school then. If she works there, she might be there now." Rossi suggested.
"I also have her house number-" Hotch stood up abruptly, interrupting Reid in the process. He pushed his chair in behind him and made his way to the door of the café. Everyone followed suit, puzzled looks masking their faces.
"Emily, Dave, JJ. You're with me. Reid, go with Detective Halls to the Unsub's house while we go to the school." He instructed. They rushed to their cars, Reid following Halls into her car while JJ and Rossi took one of the big black SUVs. Hotch darted to the driver's side of the other SUV and opened the door swiftly, but Emily stopped him.
"Hey, you promised me that I could drive!" She yelled teasingly. He gave her a mock smile and headed to the passenger side.
"I must have forgot. Sorry."
-()-
They reached St. Kyle's at 3:35, just as school ended and students were being let out. They made their way through the crowd of rampaging teens and burst into the school's main office. The older woman at the desk was quite startled by their sudden intrusion and dropped the phone that she had been talking into as they flashed their badges at her.
"Ma'am, we're with the FBI and we're investigating the murder of two of your student's parents." Rossi explained to the woman. "Do you know where we can find Jennifer McCook?"
The woman gasped and her hands shot up to her mouth. "Oh my. Jenny? You- It can't be! She's just so sweet, she couldn't have done it!"
"Please, ma'am. We just need to know where she is."
"She's probably at her car, out in the parking lot. I don't know why she has that old thing when she really only uses her bicycle. The lot is that way, dear."
"Thank you." Hotch said. They then made their way back out the door.
"Good luck!" She called after them.
In the parking lot, they came across a middle-aged woman dressed in a black hooded sweater and dress pants who was strapping a black bicycle onto the hood of an old, red Camero Z28. As she saw the group approach her, she immediately jumped into her car and sped out of the parking lot. The team dashed off to their cars and drove after her. Emily and Hotch drove directly behind the subject while JJ and Rossi took another route in hopes that they could corner her. The woman obviously knew where she was going and took a one-way road out of town. Emily called JJ to alert her where they were going and then tossed her phone onto the back seat as they pulled up to an abandoned warehouse. The woman practically flew out of her car and bolted into the building. Hotch and Emily, guns drawn, followed close behind. They entered a large machine room, and had to be very careful not to run into a rusty welder or a dangling power cord. Although it was still light outside, not much light was able to get through the crumbling holes in the concrete walls of the warehouse. They continued down a dark hallway and into an old office room. They looked in every nook and cranny, and behind every corner. There was no sign of the woman.
"Shit." Emily cursed. "Did she get away?"
"I think she's still in the building. Let's check the other rooms." He replied.
Unfortunately they didn't hear the light footsteps coming behind them. As they turned around to leave, they were hit with a large metal pipe and were knocked unconscious.