The entire room freezes. JJ steps to him and rips the small, padded envelope out of his hands. The address label is computer generated. Hotch looks at the mail clerk.
"It's been scanned for explosives?"
Ned nods, "Yes, sir. And for known poisons. We even irradiated it just to be safe."
JJ stares at it. The return address is their home address but she knows it is not really from Emily as it had only been sent the day before. She looks at Hotch. "Maybe I should open it in private…just in case."
He shakes his head. "You're not opening that alone, JJ. If you want, I'll open it for you."
She stares at the envelope. She knows it could contain a finger or ear or other small body part; a warning to them to stop their search. She had to know. She slowly pulls the easy open tab. Taking a deep breath she squeezes it open. A choked sob escapes her throat. She reaches in and pulls out Emily's wedding ring.
"Oh, no…no, no, no…"
Morgan wraps his arms around her.
"Morgan, she wouldn't give it up. She wouldn't. Oh, God…"
"She wouldn't give it up but Doyle would take it," Sean tells her. "He's telling you she's his now."
JJ just shakes her head. Hotch smiles.
"This may be a good thing, JJ. He'd have done something else if he was planning to kill her. This leads me to think he's keeping her alive. And we all know as long as she's alive, she will be thinking of a way to get back to us or a way to get us information."
JJ slowly nods. "You're…you're right. She's alive…and damn it she will come back to me," she states with determination.
She unhooks her necklace, the one Amy had given her many years ago, and slips the ring onto it. It will stay there until she can slip it back on Emily's finger.
"Come on, you bastard, I know you're in here somewhere. Where the hell is your little thread…HA! There you are. Okay, now to tug you a little and HA! Got you and now let's finish making this blanket and…VOILA! GOT YOU!"
Garcia hits the speed dial for the conference room. "Please tell me something good, Baby Girl," Morgan begs.
"I'm in."
It takes him a second. "Wait…Interpol? You're in?"
"Yep! Downloading all the information they don't want us to see as we speak. If I end up in some dark European prison for this you better come visit me."
"Baby Girl, I'll become a security guard to keep you company every day," he promises.
It had taken her nearly 6 hours to find all the pathways she had hacked last time and then to hack into the ghost drive…which had led to 2 more ghost drives…and then some more. Finally she had all the information on the task force including an addendum on one Declan Doyle.
She is not surprised to hear footsteps running towards her lair. Morgan, Hotch, JJ, Tsia, and Sean hurry in. She puts the info up on the large screen.
"The first drive contained all the information Director Ryder was able to piece together for us. The first ghost drive was the real names of the operatives. Again, already have that, thank you Sean McAlister. But there were two ghost drives attached to that one which contain the information that could be what we're looking for. One shows that Clyde Easter knew Ian Doyle was out of North Korea 6 months ago."
"Son of a fucking bitch," JJ mutters. She spins on Sean. "Did he warn any of you?"
Sean shakes his head. "He never told me. And if he'd told Tsia she'd have told Emily." Tsia nods in agreement.
"What was the other ghost drive, Garcia?" Hotch asks.
"It's a drive on a Declan Doyle. I figure it's his brother or something."
"Oh my God," JJ mutters.
Tsia frowns. "Doyle didn't have a brother."
"Declan was…ishis son," JJ says. Tsia and Sean look shocked. "Emily hid his existence from the task force and then faked his death so he couldn't be used against Doyle. My guess is that ghost drive shows what she did to convince him and the task force of the boy's death."
"But Declan is alive?" Hotch confirms.
"As far as I know," JJ says. "Emily told me all about it when she realized how much Henry looked like Declan. She wanted to keep Henry and me safe." She laughs humorlessly. "Heaven forbid she worry about keeping her own damn self safe."
Tsia takes JJ's hand. "That's not fair, JJ. Telling you about that packet, telling you about Declan, that was all to protect her. We're using that now to find her. And we will find her."
Hotch slowly turns and looks at JJ. "I know it's almost midnight but I need you to come with me for a minute."
JJ sighs and follows Hotch down towards his office. She is confused when he gestures to the elevator and they ride down to the first floor. As they exit, she sees two Marine's in full battle gear waiting at the security desk.
"They're here to take you to Henry and Francesca. They'll bring you back in the morning or sooner if we get a lead."
JJ bursts into tears. She throws her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Hotch. I'm sorry for being such an ass."
He returns the hug. "When Haley and Jack were in WitSec you were there for me, even giving me time with Henry under other pretenses because you knew I needed that contact. I'm sorry I forgot that for a time."
JJ leans back. "We all sort of lose our minds when it comes to our loved ones, don't we?"
Hotch smiles. "We do. I'll keep going through the ghost drives Garcia found to see what we can use to find her."
"Hotch…get some sleep. She'll need us at our best."
He smiles and nods. "You, too."
He kisses her forehead in a fatherly manner and watches as she is escorted out of the building.
JJ's leg shakes nervously as the Marine driving takes a twisting and turning route to the safe house. JJ is pretty sure she couldn't find it if she tried and that was exactly the point. They escort her to the door and knock, giving a password to the woman on the other side. As she starts to enter, she stops and looks at her escorts.
"Thank you. I know he's safe because of you. It means more to me than I can say."
One Marine smiles and nods. "Just doing our job, ma'am."
She heads inside, thanking the two Marine's on duty in the house. The female sergeant who answered the door points her towards Henry's room. She eases open the door and sees him asleep in a crib, the black teddy bear he got for Christmas clutched in his hand. She lifts him up and he groans but doesn't wake. She takes him with her to the room she had been told to use.
Crawling onto the bed with him she watches him sleep. She strokes his hair and kisses his head.
"I love you, Henry. Your Mama is missing you so much right now. I know it. She is missing you and doing what she can to get back to us. I promise you. Yes, Champ, she is."
Cuddling Henry close, JJ fingers the ring hanging on her necklace. "I love you, Emily Elizabeth Prentiss. Don't you dare make me a widow. My life is nothing without you."