Disclaimer: See chapter 1
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Rossi knocked on the window of the interrogation room getting Morgan and Hotch's attention. They exited the room while a uniformed TPD officer entered to watch the prisoner. "What is it Dave?" Hotch asked when the door had closed behind the officer.
"Reid has just informed us that we may have a problem, a big one!" Rossi told them, nodding his head toward Reid.
Hotch and Morgan listened as Reid explained his thoughts on the meaning of the note. "That's why he's so smug in there Hotch, because even when he's in custody, things are going according to plan for him and we're the ones that are going to be at fault if anything happens to those girls while we're sitting there talking to him."
"He's never going to give up where they are," Emily added. "We'll have to try and figure it out. Knowing that it's somewhere vulnerable to the storm should narrow our choices a bit."
"Okay," Hotch said, "conference room, now. Let's figure this out. The way this rain's coming down, we don't have a lot of time."
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Allie sat in the rocking chair watching Joanna sleep. She'd just fed and changed her daughter who drifted off almost immediately. The nights were the hardest time. During the day she'd had her work and other things to do and now she had Joanna but the nights in that big bed all alone were the worst. It was hard to sleep, first of all, because he wasn't there to wrap her in his arms and hold her, but mostly because when he wasn't with her it meant he was likely in harm's way.
She'd have to be careful not to communicate her fear and worry to Joanna. Children could be very perceptive, even babies and she and Spencer didn't want their daughter to be afraid every time her daddy left the house. Spencer had vowed not to let the life he led and the people he hunted touch Joanna. He refused to hold her when he had his glock on his belt and always removed it now as soon as he came in the door and locked it safely away from her.
Watching their daughter as she slept was a big help. A part of him was here with her always. She watched the rise and fall of the tiny chest like she sometimes watched his when he slept beside her. Allie rested her head on the padded back of the rocking chair. She'd just rest here and watch their baby. She could sleep in that big bed another night, when he was home.
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"How is sitting in the conference room and talking about things going to do any good?" Sergeant Tillman asked Detective Townsend. As far as he could see, the FBI hadn't done much of anything. They brought this guy in but hadn't found any evidence in his apartment that the girls had even been there or that he'd even taken them for that matter and now they wanted to quit talking to the guy and close themselves up in the conference room. "They seem to be relying on the intellectual guesswork of that kid more than any actual evidence and it's not getting us anywhere."
Morgan stopped just short of the conference room door and turned around, approaching Sergeant Tillman. The TPD officer almost seemed to shrink in Morgan's presence. "First, if you've got something to say, be man enough to say it to our faces. Second, I would rely more on "that kid's" intellectual guesswork than on your virtual certainty any day of the week. Thirdly, "Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Reid" has more education than most of you in this precinct put together and has been through much more rigorous training than you have. Some of the things he's done would boggle your mind. So why don't you keep your mouth shut until you know the facts."
Morgan turned and joined the team that was still standing outside the conference room. "Sorry Hotch," Morgan said as he walked into the room. "I couldn't help myself." As the door to the conference room closed behind them, Hotch thought he couldn't have said it better himself.
"Okay," Prentiss suggested, "these girls couldn't be too out in the open or someone would have seen them so how could they be sheltered from view yet still be vulnerable to the storm?"
"He didn't take them to his apartment," Rossi said, "so where would he take them?"
"Do we even know how he got hold of them in the first place?" JJ asked. "He went into three different neighborhoods and managed to make off with a child unnoticed."
"He works for the Topeka Public Works department," Morgan said, "so maybe he had one of their vans. People are so used to seeing those things, they almost become invisible."
"Oh my God," Reid said as he looked out the window at the water running in the streets until it came to the curbside grates that carried it away. "That's it, being an employee of the Public Works department; he wouldn't look out of place there, even on a sunny day. He would just say he was doing maintenance."
"Where, Reid?" Hotch asked. "What are you talking about?"
"The storm drains Hotch; he's got them in the storm drains that are filling with water as we speak to drown those little girls. We've got to search the storm drains."
"Reid, not that I'm doubting you," Hotch replied as the others looked on in horror, contemplating how anyone could be so cruel. "But do you know how many miles of storm drains there are in this city?"
"No, not exactly, but Garcia could get us a map." Morgan was on his cell as soon as the words left Reid's lips.
"Still," Rossi said, "it'll take a lot of time and manpower to comb the storm drains, not to mention being hampered by the storm itself."
Morgan got off the phone. "Garcia's sending us a map of the storm drain system. Reid can you do a geographical profile thing, you know, and narrow it down for us in any way?"
Reid nodded, "Sure, I can try, but like Sergeant Tillman said, it'll just be intellectual guesswork."
"And like Morgan said," Rossi responded, "we'll take your intellectual guesswork any day."
Hotch stood and walked to the door. "You figure out where we need to go Reid and JJ and I will work on getting the manpower necessary for the search."
As Morgan left to hunt down the fax machine to retrieve the map Garcia was sending, Reid speed dialed the tech, "Can you get into the Topeka Public Works department and find out if there was one area of the city Wilton was responsible for?"
"Sure sweet boy." Reid could hear her fingers tapping on the keys. "His main area was the south west quadrant particularly west from SW Topeka Blvd to SW Auburn Road and south from Gage Park to SW Burlingame Road."
"Thanks Garcia," Reid closed his cell before Garcia could reply. Morgan was tacking up a map of the storm drain system while Emily was tacking up a map of Topeka. Then they both stood back and let Reid do his thing. He put tacks on Wilton's home, The Public Works building and the southwest quadrant. He drew lines between the three areas making a triangle. "This is most likely his comfort zone and I'd concentrate most of the manpower in this section." He circled the area on the map of the storm drains. "But we shouldn't ignore the other areas either, just to be on the safe side."
Hotch and JJ arrived back in the conference room. "We've got all the off duty cops and fire fighters coming in. The head of Public Works is calling in all of his employees to help in the search," Hotch informed them as he looked at the map. "I can see you've narrowed it down."
"I hope so Hotch, I certainly hope so."
"Okay then, let's get changed and go find those girls."