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Warning: see my profile and the first chapter.
A/n the brace is history boys and girls. I'll do my happy dance later. Thanks to you all for your support and your kind good wishes. Enjoy!
Reid sat in the back seat of the Explorer they had borrowed for this raid. Hotch drove with Rossi in the passenger seat next to him. Morgan was next to Reid and very quiet. Reid could hear the quiet way Rossi and Hotch spoke about Deputy Hanks, and what they might find at his residence. The vehicle in front of their Explorer held Constable Blevins and Deputy Arlington. The Constable had insisted on being the one to bring in Deputy Hanks, if they found what they were looking for.
The state police were backing them up from a distance despite their irritation at a fellow officer being accused of the crime. They wouldn't help unless Hotch called them in. They were traveling without sirens so as not to scare off the deputy.
Reid looked out the window at the golden light that was coming up over the trees to the east. This early in the morning, it was always possible for things to turn out well. There was the possibility that they'd find Terry. Statistics kept running around in his head, though, and he was at a loss to make them go away. The child had been missing for fifteen hours. His time was getting short.
He concentrated hard on the pine trees. Maybe the green-black color and the golden sunlight that slid between the boughs and the trunks could chase out the thoughts of what would happen if they failed. It couldn't be like that little child they'd lost in Arizona.
What would Emily do if they didn't find Terry in time?
It doesn't matter… Concentrate on your job!
It did matter because she wasn't there. He stayed behind from raids and knew the stress of waiting for teammates to return from an arrest. How must it be affecting her?
He rubbed the knuckles of his right hand over his jaw. An FBI agent shouldn't be afraid, but he was fearful every time he had to pull his gun and back up his team.
Still, it was an adrenaline rush. He liked helping others. If he could make sure that just one more person was taken off the streets, or out of a small town like this, he would be happy.
The trees rushed by. Sunlight shifted between them and alternately plunged him into the blinding light of the sun and into the shade of the new day. The abrupt changes in the quality of light were disorienting. It was good that Hotch was at the wheel, as the flashes of light would have distracted Reid.
The bumps in the road jostled him so that his file folder fell on floor. Some of the pictures from the other two crime scenes scattered over the floor of the SUV as though a giant had been shuffling playing cards and had dropped them.
He picked them up and returned them to his folder. The faces of the two little boys were forever stamped on his memory as though someone had branded it into his brain with a fiery hot iron.
The Explorer bounced over two more potholes in the black top and more sunlight blinded him as they moved with haste, but not total recklessness. The five miles between the station house and the Hanks residence was a like the distance between ignorance and true wisdom.
The truck turned left and they sped down a long side road that was empty of homes. Reid noticed there was a sign up from Starlight Realty proclaiming that the land was for sale for the newest in luxury homes. The lane was one mile long before it ended in front of a chain link fence. The home behind the fence was neat and compact. There was only one floor and the bricks that made the walls were red-grey with flecks of pure white in a strange mosaic pattern.
The drive was unpaved and pitted with more potholes than the black top road. The vehicles pulled up to the concrete porch and steps. Constable Blevins was out of the car Deputy Arlington was driving before it came to a stop. He was up the steps at the same time Hotch and Rossi got out of the SUV. Mud squelched under Reid's feet from the storm that had put two inches of rain down two days ago. The smell of earth and green grass made it seem more spring-like than early summer.
Hotch and Rossi climbed the steps to the front porch with Blevins. Arlington followed Reid and Morgan who were jogging around the side of the house to the back door. Arlington looked back at Reid and Morgan as she climbed the stairs to the back porch door. The expression on her face was unreadable. She was very short with strawberry blond curly hair pulled back in a ponytail under her light brown hat. Her eyes were light blue and huge making her look like a baby bird. She flicked open the strap over her gun as she climbed the steps.
Constable Blevins pounded on the door as the sun finally pulled up out of the mountains instead of playing hide and seek.
"Charlie… Open up boy!"
There was no answer to their knock.
"Charlie… Open the door. Don't make this harder on yourself."
He turned back to Hotch who was at his side with his service piece pointed at the ground. Hotch gave him a look and the Constable moved aside.
"Deputy Hanks… It's Special Agent Hotchner. We just want to talk to you."
The state police had pulled up behind them. They'd agreed to stay in their vehicles until they were needed. An ambulance was down the road in case they found the boy and he needed attention.
Hotch and Rossi looked at each other when no one came to the door. Hanks could be destroying evidence. He could be innocent and afraid. They had to do this right. Constable Blevins tried the door and opened it just as Hotch said, "Blevins, wait!" A deafening blast threw the big man off his feet. Hotch and Rossi were knocked away from the door by the man's body.
Hotch stayed down with the wind knocked out of him. Rossi rolled over, shook his head and reached for his radio. He shouted into the microphone, "Morgan, Reid, don't touch the door. They're booby trapped!"
He staggered to his feet and put his back to the open doorway. A .44 Magnum handgun stood mounted at chest height to a wooden chair just inside the door. His ears were ringing from the blast and that made it impossible to hear if anyone was in the house. The room was that tepid gray in the morning when the blinds are pulled over the windows, blocking most of the light. He peered around the door, trying to see everything at once. There didn't appear to be anyone there.
A sound from behind him made him whirl around with his heart pounding. The sound was returning to his ears and he wondered if Hotch's ears were okay. He never talked about the injury to them in the blast of a year ago. He never complained, but Rossi was sure they still bothered him once in awhile.
"You okay," He asked the SAC as he got to his feet and shook his head like a dog getting a bath.
"Yeah… Blevins is dead."
Rossi looked down at the Constable who taken the entire blast to his mid section. "Jesus Christ!" He nearly shouted.
"The others Dave?"
"I warned them!"
Hotch and Rossi stepped over the body as the state police rushed up to the house. He let the officers precede them into the house and swarm over it like ants. They found the back door free of traps. Hotch let Reid, Arlington and Morgan into the house.
"What happened?" Arlington demanded.
"Blevins is dead." Rossi told her.
Her face went as red as her hair and tears rolled down her cheeks. "I want to see -"
Hotch grabbed her arm. "No… You don't want to see him."
"Let go of me. You don't know anything… He was like my dad. My parents were killed in a car accident when I was fifteen. He practically raised me."
"That's the best reason of all not to walk out there. He'd want you to remember him as he was."
"We need you to stand up and help us." Hotch said, but his eyes were kind. "Can you do that?"
"I'll do what I have to do."
"Agent Hotchner…" A voice said from down the hall to their right. "You better get in here."
They hurried single file down the hallway that had white painted walls and ugly rust colored shag carpet that matched the living room. The room at the end of the hallway was a bathroom. The state police had turned on a light in a frosted shade. It lit up the white walled, white tiled room and showed the corpse lying in dark red water.
Deputy Hanks was nearly submerged with one hand hanging over the edge of the tub. A pool of blood had dripped from the long cut on his arm. Arlington screamed and ran out of the room. Morgan started after her, but Hotch pulled him back.
"Let her go."
"What the hell is going on Hotch?" He asked, glaring down at the dead man as though his suicide was a personal affront to him.
A state trooper entered the room, pushing two others out of his way. "Agent Hotchner… We searched the house. There's no sign of the boy here."
"He's not the killer." Rossi said looking at Reid who was nodding his head.
"But I thought -" The trooper began."
"The man we're looking for is arrogant. He wants to die by suicide by cop. He's not going to take himself out before the end game."
"He killed the Constable," The man pointed out.
"Yes but that was meant for us." Hotch included his team in a hand gesture. "He thought we come out here on our own."
"I don't understand."
"We know that this man has a partner. Hanks lured David away from Terry so the killer could grab the boy."
"What about the boys that have disappeared in different states?" Morgan asked.
"I don't know yet."
"I don't see how it's possible." Arlington had come back into the room, elbowing through the bigger cops.
"We appreciate how you want to get this guy, but we need you to clear the room." Hotch said.
The state troopers hesitated and looked at each other. They filed out of the small room one by one except for one burly officer with a wedge of graying dark black hair. His dark eyes sent daggers in the direction of Hotch.
"Blevins was one of us." He shot the forefinger of his right hand at Hotch. "We want in on this."
"I said to clear the room." Hotch said with fury burning down in his eyes. "When the press gets a hold of this it's going to look bad for everyone. We need to work the scene and find Hanks' accomplice before we all end up on the news. You can help, but this is a federal case."
The man stormed out of the bathroom after giving Hotch another dark look.
"You're making friends right and left Aaron." Rossi kidded.
"We need to close this fast."
"I know…"
"I'm going to call Garcia and find out if -" Morgan started to say into the silence that filled the room after the large cop had left. He was interrupted by Reid's phone ringing.
"Hey Garcia… You must be reading my mind."
"No playing Reid… We've got a serious problem on our hands."
"What is it?" Reid squeaked and tried to avoid Hotch's eyes as ice went up his spine.
"You're friend Stanton has some very interesting information in his past."
"What is it?" There was a click in his throat and suddenly he wanted Emily right there in front of him where he could see her.
"Stanton worked as a cop in all three of the towns where our victims went missing. He and Hanks played football in college at Weber State in Utah. They went to the police Academy in Salt Lake City Utah before Hanks came back to work in his hometown. They met up for fishing trips on the date of the other murders. Then Stanton decided to move to Carterville. Stanton has a home three miles from you and a second property there that's way up route eleven and off the beaten path. It's an old hunting shack from the days of the fur trade."
"How far away?" He could hardly get the words out.
"Ten miles… And Reid, I tried to call Emily, but she's not answering her cell."