Chapter Three: Kimball Cho
Kimball Cho reached for his gun as soon as he saw the man standing in his home. He didn't have time to pull the trigger before a second person came up behind him, taking him by surprise and knocking him to the ground. He was conscious, but the gun had slipped from his fingers and the two men were busy tying his hands behind his back and thrusting a gag into his mouth.
This wasn't a coincidence. First Van Pelt, then Rigsby, something was amiss and unfortunately he had no way of getting the message to Lisbon before she or Jane were the next victims. Someone was after the whole team. Despite there being two men capturing him, he didn't doubt the connection this probably had to Red John. He was a man of many faces, of many connections; whether either of the two men was Red John himself, Cho didn't know, but it didn't matter either way. They would inevitably slip through their fingers like all the others had. Cho couldn't doubt that the disappearance of two agents on their team in the same period of time as the disappearance of Lorelei was anything but a game plan, one that Red John had probably forged from the moment he had teamed up with the girl.
He succumbed to the men, allowed them to put a blindfold over his face and be dragged down the stairs and into some form of vehicle. There was no point fighting back now, there was little hope of escape after all, not where Red John was concerned. His best hope was to be taken to the place that Rigsby and Van Pelt were being kept and maybe there he'd be able to break them out. This was either a game the serial killer was playing, or a serious incident which could destroy in a matter of days, the whole of the Serious Crimes Unit. Cho hoped it would be the former.
They took his blindfold off after an hour or so on the road, he'd been frisked as soon as they bundled him into the van and now he was being taken somewhere else. He hoped it would be the same location as Rigsby and Van Pelt; otherwise, his plan would suffer severe setbacks. The possibility of seeing them again was merely a bonus. They pulled up into an industrial estate that Cho didn't recognise, after more than a decade on the force he'd learnt that one industrial lot looked the same as another. He watched from the back window, seeing only the tops of a couple of buildings as they drove on through. Anything that could help distinguish the location from the many others was vital to his escape.
When they finally pulled up down an alleyway and opened the door, Cho stumbled out with the assistance of one of the men. They pushed him towards an entrance and he cautiously followed their instructions. He didn't want to tempt fate by trying to escape too early. Whatever game Red John was playing, he probably expected such attempts, casing the joint was Cho's first job. It was up to him to recuse Rigsby and Van Pelt, after all, another few hours and Lisbon could easily join them and then who would be left? The Missing Person's Unit? Major Crimes? He wasn't one for competitiveness in the workplace, but most of those drones couldn't solve a case if it bit them on the butt. The involvement of Missing Person's since Rigsby's disappearance had already been a huge mistake that he hoped Lisbon wouldn't waste any more time on. Cho expected Jane to have already discovered some sort of link between their disappearances and Red John; he hoped he would be on the phone to Lisbon to inform her that she would be next. Even if she suspected Cho was still safe and well at home, Jane would know.
At least he hoped he would.
If he didn't, well, then Cho would have nothing to hold on to. He had to believe in Jane's abilities to keep the team safe and out of danger; it was his role in the Red John case which made it all the more dangerous, after all.
The corridor opened up into a large, mostly empty room. In the middle, a tarp was pulled over two people; he would recognise those heads anywhere. Cho's heart leapt into his mouth. Please let them be alive. Please let them be alive. One of the men pushed him roughly across the room and he took several steps forwards. Rigsby moved first, slipping out from under the tarp as Van Pelt wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked weak, Rigsby looked worried. But they were alive and that was the best news he could have hoped for.
'Best enjoy the time you have left,' one of the men said, laughing as they both walked away. Cho cursed under his breath and walked over to his colleagues, his friends. He accepted Rigsby's embrace, not least because his hands were still tied behind his back. Once Rigsby had helped him out of the constraints, Cho knelt beside Van Pelt and checked that she was okay. It hadn't escaped his notice that she and Rigsby were lay close together, though Cho knew better than anybody the benefits of body heat in order to keep warm. He'd spent countless nights in the arms of fellow soldiers in his military days, for no other reason but to stay healthy in colder climates.
'You okay?' Cho asked, glancing from Van Pelt to Rigsby.
'We're okay,' Rigsby said, nodding briefly. The look of terror in his eyes didn't quite fit with his words, but Cho ignored that in the hope that it wouldn't be catching. He was stronger than most when it came to kidnapping and hostage situations, he'd been taken as a prisoner of war once and had been captured – albeit briefly – a couple more times by enemy forces. Rigsby on the other hand had mostly worked arson cases; they each had their strengths and their weaknesses within the unit. This was his opportunity to put his experiences into good use. Now was probably the perfect time for his arrival, they needed someone to drag them through the rest of the ordeal, whether he could save them or not. At least he could provide them with a little comfort.
'Don't worry; I'll get us out of here.'
Cho stalked off across the room, he couldn't sit around tending wounds like Rigsby. He was proactive; it was in his nature even before he joined the military. He glanced back at Rigsby and Van Pelt, sharing a moment that he suspected was contrary to the vows he planned to make to Sarah. Then he followed Cho across the room.
They searched every inch of wall, every loose brick and every chipped tile. Rigsby banged his fist against the only other door in the room, his frustration difficult to avoid as he cursed loudly and kicked a pile of empty boxes. Cho reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder, he couldn't think of anything else to do to comfort his friend. Ordinarily he'd be able to pick the lock on the door, except that he had nothing in order to do that with. His pockets had been emptied and he certainly didn't carry hair pins around. He paced the room, ignoring Rigsby's request for freedom.
The hope of calming his friend once more was lost as Rigsby sat down against the wall, muttering things out loud. Cho heard Ben's name mentioned a couple of times. The only people he'd ever had to worry about when taken hostage was his parents and even then he knew that his career in the military was with obvious risks. He'd discussed it with his family many times and they'd all reached some sense of understanding over his potential untimely death. Their jobs at the CBI also came with risks, albeit much smaller and less severe. He didn't doubt that Rigsby was worried he'd never see his little boy grow up, after all, Cho knew how difficult a life Rigsby had lead without his father present. It made him think about his own life and the people who would miss him should he not make it out alive, aside from his family there was only his girlfriend and they'd been together for less than three months. The relationship hadn't progressed enough to become serious, they hadn't even slept together yet.
Cho continued to pace, if only to keep himself moving. He hated feeling useless. His only role there was that of protector, he was the one who had to fix this mess, whether he could or not was another story, but he at least needed to try. Rigsby had returned to Van Pelt's side, his face pushed into the crook of her neck and he shook slowly. Better her than him, the thought of being the one having to comfort a crying Rigsby was too much. He wasn't one for public displays of emotion, he'd grown up with the perception that men don't cry. They work and they fight and they protect those around them.
He barely allowed himself to think about the things he would miss if he didn't make it out; career progression, marriage, the joys of fatherhood. He never talked about his hopes for the future, but he wanted it all. One day he expected his children to have play dates with Rigsby's. They'd sit around drinking beer and discussing sports and their children's achievements. Even if he ended up heading up another team at the CBI, he expected them to remain friends. If things worked out.
'Hey Grace,' he said, walking towards them. He didn't know why it didn't occur to him before. 'You got a hair pin?'
She nodded and slipped the piece of metal from her hair. He smiled a rare smile and rushed back across the room towards the door. He was going to get them out of there, if only to prove to himself that he could do it. The pin slid easily into the lock and after a few moments he heard the click he'd expected, the door handle turned and he pushed it gently.
'Cho!' Rigsby shouted after him, his tone laced with a warning. He pulled the door closed, slipping the pin back into his pocket before turning around. A man dressed in a black suit exited the other door; a white mask covered his face as he dropped three bottles and three chocolate bars onto the ground. He didn't say a word as he walked out again. Cho returned to his friends and dished out the supplies.
'Think you can walk?' he asked Van Pelt, but her face was still pale and her hands shook as she tried to open her chocolate bar. He nodded briefly. 'You two stay here; I'll see what I can find out.'
He opened the door again and slipped through it, closing it behind him. He searched the corridor then set off along the tiled floor. He took a right at the end and continued onwards towards another turning. He had no idea where the corridor was leading, no idea if he'd be able to find a door that lead to the outside. Voices filled the corridor along with footsteps, Cho slipped behind a column and waited for the voices to grow quieter. Then he rushed on ahead. Wherever he was, he could sense there was an exit nearby, there had to be, he had to succeed.
Failure was a word he wasn't familiar with and he wasn't about to start using it now. He reached a corridor he recognised as the one he'd been brought through on the way in. He was so close to freedom that he could almost taste the fresh air with every breath. The door opened with ease, but as he rushed out into the alley he collided with something, someone, causing him to fall backwards against the wall. The commotion and the surprised shriek from someone in the alley must have attracted attention from inside and within seconds he was being dragged back to the main room.