The team were all assembled around Garcia's desk; a video recording had been left outside of Seaver's house that morning labelled 'Round 1'.
Garcia put the disk into her computer and the room fell silent as Reid's battered face appeared on the screen he had been told what to say and was being dictated to from behind the camera by an unknown person.
"If you ever want to see me alive again you will drop twenty…" Reid broke into a lengthy coughing fit before continuing "…twenty five thousand dollars off at my home in the back yard at 6pm tonight, you will then leave and await further instructions", Reid was breathing hard, he was exhausted.
"Any deviation from these instructions will result in my death…" tears fell from his eyes and he looked to a figure not seen in the camera before saying "…you will have let me down again." With that the screen went dark. The time was 10.30am.
Without another word the team sprang into action, Garcia and Prentiss started going over the footage to see if there was any clue to Reid's location hidden within the video, Rossi called his bank, he had offered to give over the full amount in order to get their youngest agent back. Hotch ordered for a team of undercover Agent's to be stationed in the area surrounding Reid's house, he wasn't going to let that bastard get away again.
12.30pm
Prentiss ran into Hotches office nearly knocking two agents right over in a flurry of paperwork which would take hours to reorganise, but it didn't matter, Reid had left them a clue and there wasn't any time to waste.
It had been hours since the video had been taken and Reid hoped the team had understood. He paced his room trying to ignore the pain in his chest and shoulder. He hadn't heard the sound of the door opening over his chains rattling along the floor.
A hand gripped his shoulder and he turned quickly to see Andrew standing there holding a slice of bread and a glass of milk.
"I brought you this." He whispered "but you'll have to eat it fast so Dex doesn't find out" he looked nervously behind him, expecting his brother to burst in at any moment.
"Thank you." Reid said welcoming the chance to talk to someone. "Andrew?" He asked.
"Yeah" Andrew looked into Reid's eyes, his own mirroring the childlike innocence he saw in Reid's.
"Last time you were here you mentioned someone had arranged all this" Reid hinted, sipping at the milk. Andrew shuffled nervously looked down at the floor.
"Do you know who they are?" Reid asked hopefully.
"No" Andrew stood up and took the glass towards the door, "its not a 'they' it's a 'she'".
Hotch and Prentiss rushed into Garcia's office where Morgan was waiting. "Hotch you have to see this, play it back baby girl" he placed a hand on Garcia's shoulder as she worked her magic.
The shot of Reid asking for the money played with his coughing fit in the middle. "You see there?" Morgan pointed at the screen.
"The coughing?" Hotch asked, his brow crumpling in confusion.
"Look he's forcing it, the coughing is fake, it's a message!" Morgan yelled.
"Its Morse code!" He jumped holding up a piece of paper," look he started with a long cough and two quick ones, that's the letter 'D' and then one quick one, that's 'E'.
"He's given us the Un-Subs names!" Morgan shouted emphatically, "Dex and Andrew"
"Garcia I need you to look for anybody matching the Un-Subs first names who own property within a 60 mile radius of this building, they will have suffered abuse as a child, most likely from a brunette male who fits the descriptions of the victims" Hotch reeled, not even stopping to take a breath.
Garcia's fingers moved as fast as they possibly could, the furious tapping of her keys filled the room for a few minutes and then went silent, "Got it, Andrew and Dexter Cudrow, they have previous convictions of theft, burglary, armed robbery and assault".
"An address Garcia?"
"They live two blocks east of here, he's been right there the whole time".
Rossi entered with a bag filled with the money which had been demanded for Reid's return, he had heard the last few words spoken. "Guy's I'm going to take the money to Reid's house anyway, they might get distracted and give you time to get Reid out of there and if it's the wrong place, we've still complied with their demands."
Hotch nodded and left, he didn't need convincing, Reid was like a son to him and he wasn't going to risk the kid's life on anything. "Everyone with me, we're getting Reid back".
The large wooden door flew open and Dex stormed in completely outraged, "You gave them our location!" he screamed in fury. He lunged at Reid throwing him across the room, his leg snapped as his chains stopped him and he screamed in pain.
"You got us arrested, she said this wouldn't happen!" He emphasised his words with kicks to Reid's chest. Andrew ran in screaming for his brother to stop.
"Please Dex we have to go! They're coming, she's coming we have to get out of here just leave the agent please!"
Dex pulled out his knife and drew it back "just one last request" he brought it down hard and forcefully into Reid's side, Andrew let out a horrified screech, "you are nothing but a thorn in my side!" Dex yelled turning and slicing through Andrew's throat, his blood pooled on the floor and he collapsed in the doorway.
"All they'll find are the charred remains of someone they used to know" he grinned walking out of the door. It was only a few minutes before Reid smelled smoke.