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A/n here's the next chapter for all my faithful readers. You're the best people.

Hackers versus The Genius

Screams of pain and pleas for mercy filled William's small, black, and filthy prison. The smashing of fists on flesh and the cracking of bones had no filter as William watched the footage on the small video camera the voice had left for him. He wanted to turn off the picture, but a strange horrifying fascination took him over.

"Say it!" The familiar voice sent chills flooded William's stomach.

"No!" The second man's voice pleaded.

"Say it…" The beaten man's head rocked on his shoulders like a bobble-headed doll as the first man slammed his fist into his face. "Say it and I'll let you go."

"It's my fault," The bloodied and broken man said looking at someone off camera. "I helped him."

A muffled voice spoke again further away as the shadowy figure had moved off camera. "Very good Detective Hyde."

"Please…"

"Don't worry… I said I'd end your pain and I will."

The gunshot happened so fast that William's head jerked back and hit the wall behind him. Tears collected in his eyes from the unexpected pain and the cold-blooded murder he had just witnessed. Then the shadowed figure bent down and showed his face to William.

"You're responsible for his death. You both helped cover up another death. I am coming for you next, William Reid! There's just a couple more people I need to invite to the party."

William sucked in his breath coughed at the endless dust in the air. More tears trickled down his cheeks. He wiped them away with filthy fingers in the blue light of the video.

"What will your son think of you when he realizes you're responsible for two other deaths?"

The screen went black with the small room around William. He threw the video recorder hard across the room, hearing it crack against the concrete hard surface of the wall.

"Let me out of here?" He screamed up at the door in the ceiling. "I'm done playing your game. If you're going to kill me, then get it over with." He tried to stand up, but his legs hurt like fire from days of inactivity. He fell back against the wall and slammed a fist into the dirt.

The light over his head came back. "If you wanted to leave Mr. Reid... All you had to do was ask."

Reid pushed the folder he studied over to Martinez. "What do you make of that?" He asked.

"I thought you were the mathematical genius." She quipped, her lovely blue eyes twinkling at him.

He swallowed hard against the little shivers quivering in the pit of his stomach. Concentrate on your dad. You have to find him and Detective Hyde!

"Well… Um, I don't understand why you're looking into the charge made at the hotel during the poker tournaments over the last five years.

"What do you know about credit cards?"

"Well… There're two types of cards personal and small business. All the big issuers have both types on their books. They are signature loans given out based on an individual's credit since there's no backing collateral. American Express has charge cards that you have to pay off at the end of every thirty-day cycle.

"Very good… Martinez nodded at him like he was the prize student. "We've been tracking the charges made at the hotel with the cooperation of the big credit card companies. They have scanners that log and process every charge that comes through the system. Every card issuer is different. They look for different things in spending patterns. They can detect fraud or the intent of fraud by what they call 'out of pattern spending.' So let's say that you have a Visa card you use for gas and groceries or the occasional movie. You might buy videos or books too. All the information is logged by the company's computer, and added to a pattern or a profile if you will. Therefore, if you suddenly deviate from that pattern, and buy a lot of expensive stuff or merchandise you would not normally buy, they'll call you or even freeze they account until they hear from you and know you have the card in your hand. " Gabriella winked at Reid as she finished her mini lesson on credit.

"Flirt on your own time you two." Garcia said irritably from her station.

"We're not flirting…" Reid squeaked.

"Speak for yourself," Gabriella disagreed. "Personally, I don't know how you work around such gorgeous men," she continued as Reid went pink in the cheeks. "You've got fine examples of male hotness all around you and you can concentrate."

"I've become immune to all of their charms." Garcia said, but she winked at Reid.

"I saw that, something you want to share with the class."

"No!"

"Okay, so here's what I think." Martinez went back to business with a grin at Reid who buried his face in his file. "Banks have to adhere to strict federal regulations to prevent money laundering activities. Anti-terrorism measures are included in there procedures as well. For instance… If you deposit over five K or buy a certified check or money order for over that amount, the bank has to fill out a report. What terrorists or organized crime does, is buy money orders or make purchases for merchandise it can sell to lauder profits from prostitution, gambling, drugs and other illegal activities. They set up phony small businesses to hide the money too."

"So what does that have to do with what we're looking for here?"

"Do you see a pattern?"

Reid took all her paperwork and began to read it so fast, she wondered if he were showing off for her benefit. If so, it was working. She had always been attracted to the smart, bookish type with out of the ordinary looks.

Reid looked up after about five minutes with a new light in his eyes. "I would say that my dad was on to something thanks to Lily Camden."

"How did Ms Camden get all of this to your dad?"

"According to the file he sent to me, she contacted him. She was very upset, wouldn't talk on the phone. She made him meet with her in one of the seedier casinos and she told him about how Mason Parker had seduced her. She fell in love with him and would have done anything for him until she stumbled on to some computer files that outlined all of the criminal activities at the Venetian and she found something huge that Mason Parker intended to do to my dad and others involved in the Riley Jenkins murder."

"I heard about that on the news."

"Yeah… Lou Jenkins took the law into his own hands and killed his child's killer. My father helped cover it up to keep my mother and me safe. Detective Hyde was in on the whole thing too. Now my father and the detective are missing."

"Why Mason Parker? What does he have to gain by revenge on a grieving father and his friends? It's not like he knew the killer."

"I don't know. My father's files don't go into that, just this financial data. Lily Camden must have been found out and she was killed."

"Alright… What have you found?"

"Well," Reid said. "You see these numbers here and here."

Martinez followed his long finger back and forth over the columns of number. "Yes… but I don't see -"

"He's using the yearly poker tournament to launder a large portion of funds." He pointed out to her

"Yeah... I think I see it. There're deposits from the accounts used by his company to another company called Jenkins Imports International."

"Would he be that bold?" Garcia inquired.

"Why would anyone question the name? Jenkins is a common name. We're the only ones that associate anything with it because or what happened to Riley." Reid said.

"You're right. What do we do know?"

"The shell company funds lead from there to a bunch of real estate holdings that include the old gravel pit where detective Hyde's car was found."

"He wouldn't be that stupid, would he?" Martinez asked.

"If he has a strong enough motive for this, he's not going to care. He wants us to find him. He wants me to find him. He wants me to know who he is." Reid said.

"How do you know?" Martinez asked, her eyes narrowing.

"All of this is about Riley Jenkins. It stands to reason that I'm the next target on his list."

"Then it's a good thing you're in here where I and the rest of the G-men can keep an eye on you."

"I don't need a babysitter Garcia. It's my dad out there and Detective Hyde."

Garcia began to laugh in a way that made Gabriella Martinez stare at her as if she had lost her mind. "You… Not need a babysitter, don't make me laugh."

"I can take care of myself. Morgan's been teaching me to shoot and hand to hand. I'm pretty good now." The young agent said proudly as the two techs smirked at him.

"You don't know this one." Garcia said to her new hacking buddy. "He can find more trouble in a day than most of us can find in a life time."

"Really? Do tell." Gabriella demanded, her eyes lighting up like stars.

"No! Don't tell." Reid said going scarlet.

At the same time, Reid's phone rang and so did Garcia's. "Hello," they said at exactly the same time making Martinez smirk.

Her smile faded at the equal looks of horror and apprehension on their faces. She tried to listen but couldn't hear both conversations at once.

"What?" She inquired as they ended their conversations.

"They found detective Hyde."

"Lou Jenkins is dead!"

They said at the same time.

Reid's phone rang again and he answered it with the attitude of a man trying to disarm a bomb that was about to blow up in his face. "Reid."

"Spencer!"

The voice was so familiar. Where had he heard it? "Yes… Who is this please?"

"It's Angie," said the voice in a barely audible whisper. "Help me."

"Angie."

"Please Spencer… I can't move."

"Angie… Where are you?"

"The Venetian… sixteenth floor. Please come help me."

The phone suddenly went dead."

"Reid!" Garcia said. "What is it?"

"I need to go."

Martinez stood up at the same time as Garcia. Martinez moved to block his way to the door. "You can't leave here. You said yourself you're next on the list. Wait for your team to get back."

"That was a… Angie, um she's a friend. She needs my help. She's at my hotel. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Take one of the agents with you." Garcia said. "Or better yet, wait until Morgan gets back."

"I think she's hurt. I have to go."

"Why? Who is this girl that you'd just run out of the safest place in Vegas right now."

"I told you she's a friend."

She took in the pleading puppy dog look and glared at him. He always got what he wanted from them with those eyes.

"Fine… but if anything happens to you, I'll bring you back from the dead and kill you."

"Agreed." He smiled.

The burly man with greasy blond hair threw William Reid into a chair in front of a very old kitchen table with a chipped finished. The bright yellow lights over his head made his eyes water. He couldn't sit up straight because of the pain in his ribs and his back. His legs felt like lead and his head hurt so bad it was like someone driving spikes into his brain by way of his eyes.

"Stay put…" The huge man growled down at him.

"Shut up!" William said.

The big man hit him across the face making the pain in his head explode into complete agony. "Keep it up and there's more where that came from."

"Carl…" The familiar silky voice said from William's right. "Leave us alone."

William moved his head and nausea threatened to overwhelm his throat. He looked up through dizzy eyes to see Mason Parker standing over him. "It's nice to know that you're so predictable." He said to his captive. "I knew you wouldn't tell anyone about what Lily discovered about me. You'd go right to your son with the almighty FBI. You didn't trust the police twenty years ago and you don't trust them now. It makes this easier."

"What are you going to do?"

"We'll wait for your son to get here."

"Leave him out of this."

"I don't think so. You see he's going to be the one to take care of you for me."

"What do you mean?" Fear began pushing through William's blood like ice water.

"Now that would spoil all the fun." Mason said. "Let's just wait for him and find out."