It surprised no one to find out there was no one by the name John Gabriel in the volunteer files. Rossi had called with a description of the man from JJ. Somehow the man had avoided all the security cameras so that was all they had to go on. The pick up truck that had nearly hit Morgan and Emily had been stolen. The man was still an unknown subject.
For three hours Emily and Reid pour over the book. They pull out various passages and have Garcia run it through some of her programs. Anything that looks like it could refer to a specific person they get to Runningwater so the locals can try to match it to one of the victims or the missing woman.
Emily stands leaning on the table. Papers are scattered around it. So much information but nothing that helps them find the missing woman or the man who attacked JJ. Emily grabs the cup of coffee by her hand. She spins and throws it against the wall with a roar.
Everyone jumps and stares at the profiler. She takes a steadying breath. "I need some air."
"Not alone you don't," Hotch replies. "Morgan go—"
"I don't need a babysitter! I'm a fucking FBI agent, Hotch!"
He stares into her eyes. "So is JJ."
The implication is that the unsub has already taken down one agent he could easily take down another. Brown eyes bore into brown eyes as Hotch and Emily stare each other down. Emily turns away first.
"Fine."
She storms out of the room. Morgan glances at Hotch. Hotch just nods. With a sigh Morgan follows Emily out of the building. Once they get outside, Emily turns and points at Morgan.
"You can babysit me from there just fine, Morgan."
"Emily, come on. Don't be like this," he says consolingly.
"Just give me some space, Derek. Please."
Emily walks to a picnic area and drops down onto one of the benches. Morgan considers following her but understands that sometimes you just need to be alone with your own thoughts. He positions himself against the side of the building where he can see anyone who approaches the front doors or Emily.
At the table, Emily pulls out her phone. She pulls up the presentation Garcia had done for them. Tears well in her eyes as she sees the pictures of Henry and JJ flash across the screen. As it ends, she takes a deep breath to try to steady herself. She stares at her background picture: a smiling JJ holding Henry. She talks to them, working things out in her head as she goes.
"What are we missing? Why did he attack you to somehow save me? If he had asked I'd have told him you didsave me. Both of you. Saved me from a life of darkness, loneliness, self-destruction. God, JJ, what would I have done if…" her voice trails off as she can't even complete the thought. The sound of a car pulling into the lot behind her makes Emily turn. She sees Rossi…and JJ get out of it. She stands and hurries over to them.
"Jennifer! What are you doing here?"
JJ raises a hand up. "Please. Not so loud."
Emily pulls her into a hug and whispers. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. But you should be resting at the hospital."
"Their hospital is just a little clinic. And there was no way I was going back to the B&B alone. Rossi figured being here would be fine as long as I didn't do anything really taxing. And as long as my head feels like a tractor trailer hit it I'll be fine with that. "
"Oh. Okay." Emily looks beyond JJ to Rossi. "Thanks, Dave."
Rossi smiles. "No problem."
The group turns and heads back inside. Garcia is the first to see JJ.
"Jayje!" Everyone turns to look. JJ manages a smile.
"I'm okay. Mild concussion, couple of steri-strips, and a headache that's worse than any hangover I've ever had."
"Should you be resting somewhere?" Hotch asks with a glance at Rossi. The situation is explained to him and he nods. "Okay."
Rossi walks over to a board now filled with religious quotes and iconography. "Anyone want to tell me why John the Baptist and the Angel Gabriel are on our suspect board? I'm pretty sure they are innocent."
Reid walks over and explains what they have so far discovered. "The name he gave JJ was an alias. Based on the writings in the book, we think he has dubbed himself 'John Gabriel' because he really believes he's helping save these women's souls."
Rossi shakes his head. "Of all the unsubs we deal with, I hate the ones that pervert religion the worst."
"What we can't figure out is what these women have been saved from," Hotch points out. "We need to re-interview family and friends. And we need to do it quickly. Marielle Rogers only has a couple days. Rossi, Reid, take—"
"Wait a second…" Emily is staring at the board, seeing a pattern she hadn't noticed before. Everyone waits as she studies it a moment. Then her eyes widen. "Oh my God…we're dealing with 2 unsubs."
Everyone turns and looks at the board. "What do you mean?" Reid asks.
"Okay, first his name: John the Baptist was a servant of God's word, Gabriel was His messenger to humans. And then when he attacked JJ he said he was helping a church clear trails and that his church was out 'in God's hands'. And then look at these writings. They go from coherent thoughts to religion-based ramblings. But it always comes back to this," she says pointing to a passage that had come up over and over.
"And the Master will deliver her into the baptismal pool," Reid reads.
"He writes 'The Master'. Not 'I will'. He's not working alone and he's not the one calling the shots," Emily finishes emphatically.
The room is silent as everyone views the evidence with this new line of thinking. Morgan is the first to break their contemplations.
"Okay, so there are two. We still can't find the common thread tying our victims together."
Emily nods, "Yes, we can. He called Jennifer 'Jezebel'. We all know that story. What if we stop looking at common threads and start looking at something these 4 women were doing that could be considered sacrilegious? Okay, he feels he is saving me from a Jezebel. But how could he know anythingabout me to decide that I'm the one being swayed by her charms?"
"It's all in his perceptions of good and evil," Hotch says, investing himself in Emily's theory. "At some point his path has crossed with these women and he has decided they've been wronged and must be saved."
"And then he sends this John Gabriel out to do his bidding. He is probably the one who grabs the women and we know he was the one that attacked JJ at his 'Master's' bidding," Morgan finishes.
"We need to rethink this profile completely. And we still need to re-interview family and friends. Reid, Rossi, take the first two victims. Morgan, Prentiss the second two." He looks at JJ. "Are you sitting this out?"
JJ forces herself to stand up. "No fucking way."
"Jennifer…" Emily starts.
"I'm fine, Em. And I'll be with Hotch interviewing Rogers' family, right?" Hotch nods. "I'll be fine."
Emily stares at her a moment, then nods. "Fine. But please be careful."
JJ grins. "You, too. Not sure I want to see you in a bikini on this trip, you know?"
The group shares a needed chuckle then split up to do the new round of interviews. Garcia, with new information to plug into her programs, gets to work digging deeper into the lives of the 5 known victims.
