Potomac Hospital – Monday Morning
The two men responsible for Savannah's death casually talked and smoked outside of the Emergency Room exit as if they were taking a coffee break. Killing had been casual to them. It was all in a day's work to be hired by a man over the phone who promised them a large sum of money to kill a man and a woman who they did not know and who had done nothing to deserve what they got.
In their world of crime, they had earned a reputation of being thorough but enjoying intensely watching others suffer and die slowly. They also liked the affect their cruel actions had on the victims who were made to watch each other being tortured and finally killed.
They had assumed that they had all the time in the world very few knew of the lower level of the hospital and even fewer had access. Their female partner had been able to convince a security supervisor to give her access in exchange for some special private time with her. It was pathetic how easy it was to convince the poor slob to give her what she wanted; it was a shame he did not live long enough to receive his payment.
The sound of the screeching police cars and the dozens of officers rushing toward the hospital surprised the two men interrupting their break. They hadn't finished the job, Agent Morgan was still alive but now it was imperative that they make a hasty retreat before they were discovered. The boss was bound to be furious with them and they'd no doubt have to come back and finish what they started when the dust settled.
Nurse Lydia, as she called herself watched the officers arrive. She cursed her cohorts watching them run like scared dogs leaving her behind to fend for herself. She was cool and unaffected, hiding in plain sight amid the busy chaos of the hospital. This was why she preferred to work alone; it reduced the odds of errors and failure. She hated failure and she wasn't leaving this hospital until Morgan was dead.
She watched him as he slept aided by the heavy sedatives ordered by his doctors to keep him still and asleep. The quiet of the room was deceptive it hid the reminders of the night before. So much had happened since Friday that it was hard to believe any of it was real.
The doctors had rushed him to surgery to repair the new damage to his body. The re-injured ribs on the left side of his body had punctured his lung making it difficult for him to breathe. Now a tube inserted into his chest aided him; he wouldn't like it and when he awoke he would no doubt protest to no end.
It wasn't the broken collarbone, or arm or the ribs and it wasn't the chest tube inserted to help him breathe that worried her. The doctors had assured her and the team that in time he would fully recover, what concerned her was his heart that had been shattered into a thousand pieces broken perhaps beyond repair. He'd blame himself that was a given and it would forever scar him and he'd hide himself away from the ones who loved him and will want to help him through the nightmare of Savannah's death.
What would she say when his eyes finally opened forcing him to own what had happened and accepting the harsh dark reality that who he was and what he did for a living had finally touched him on a personal level. He hadn't shared his relationship with Savannah with the others; Penelope had only recently been told about this new relationship with the beautiful doctor. As long as he'd known him, he'd fought desperately to preserve a small space in his life for privacy. Unfortunately what resided in that same space were the private hurts, and secrets of shame from a childhood riddled with loss and abuse; too much for a young child to carry and hide and too much for a man to hold onto and deny.
Savannah was kept away from what he had dedicated his life to, bringing evil to justice and standing in the gap for the innocent of the world. But on the night when his private life collided with his work he wasn't able to save one of the few people he'd allowed close and inside near his heart. What words would she conjure up to make him understand that he'd done nothing wrong to have caused the unfortunate events of the night before? As she watched the rise and fall of his chest, she had to accept the truth…there were no words…none that would make what had happened go away. She felt helpless, confused her heart ached for him because she knew him better than anyone else; she loved him from the depths of her soul and she couldn't help but think that this one tragic event would change things forever.
BAU Headquarters
Hotch was still shaken by the sight of Morgan holding the body of Savannah Barnes. Memories jerked him back to the day of Haley's murder. Her body lying still on the floor of their room blood soaked the carpet under her; so still and quiet…George Foyet hiding behind the curtain pulling the last bit of joy from the moment he had crafted out of a heart of pure evil. Beating Foyet to death, feeling his bones giving with each pounding of his fist didn't make him feel better, didn't justify his anger it just confirmed her body lying cold and dead in their home. He still blamed himself, second-guessed decisions and priorities that had eventually caused the demise of his marriage. The image of Morgan, bloody, beaten and covered with her blood was etched in his brain next to the visions of Haley; both would haunt him forever. This was not what he wanted to have in common with a man whom he respected, admired and whom he trusted with his life. How would he survive this?
Hotch had ordered the others to go home after Morgan had come out of surgery earlier. With only three hours of sleep they were back in the office to work hard to make sense of what had happened over the last several days.
Cruz joined them in the early morning meeting. Hotch, Rossi, Reid, Alex and JJ looked haggard and were relying on large mugs of coffee to give them the strength and alertness to get them through the morning.
"How's Morgan?" Cruz asked concerned.
"He got out of surgery around one this morning." Hotch answered.
"What the hell happened?"
"We're still trying to piece it together but he and a doctor from the hospital were kidnapped and held in the lower bowels of the hospital. Morgan was beaten up pretty bad and the doctor was killed."
"What? Why?"
"We don't know but when we find out believe me you'll know." Rossi chimed in angrily.
Cruz did not miss the anger, the promise of justice was real and this team was fearless and determined to uncover the truth of what had happened. He had to be careful, he had a mission too and it was imperative that he was successful in ending their lives.
His early morning progress report had not been good. He'd enlisted the aid of three operatives. Their sole purpose was to take out Morgan and is girlfriend…they failed miserably. Instead, they killed a doctor and Morgan was still alive. Seeing Penelope Garcia still breathing seated with the others made his blood boil.
His deadline was fast approaching and this morning should have been filled with notifying the next of kin for each member of the BAU team; instead he was dealing with the excuses of two men who thought toying and tormenting their target was more important than finishing the job. The woman posing as a nurse seemed the only reliable choice. He had done his job; he'd gotten the team out of town and more importantly, out of the BAU offices.
Mateo Cruz could not afford to fail; he had everything to lose. He'd sacrificed a lot to rise in the ranks of the FBI and he was proud of his accomplishments. He had dreams of retiring one day with a government pension and lots of time to get to know his wife again and spend time with his son and daughter. As each day passed he became more and more desperate knowing that if he did not finish this job, his world would crash into a million pieces.
His phone rang dragging him from his thoughts.
"Cruz."
"Why did a wake up this morning to find that Agent Morgan and Penelope Garcia are still alive?" His voice was cold as ice.
"I tried! Believe me! Those imbeciles you recommended screwed up! Just like that damn drunk you told me to use to cause the crash screwed up!" Cruz yelled.
"I told you I want them dead! All of them!"
"Please…just give me a little more time! Don't…"
"You're deadline is coming up soon, Agent Cruz. Do I need to remind you how serious I am?"
"No! No, please…I'll get it done."
"There's someone who wants to talk to you."
There was a brief silence and then a shuffling sound and then the next sound he heard stopped his heart cold.
"Daddy!"