'Weird, Alaska'

Chapter Fifteen

Jacob walked into his office with Reid right behind him. "I believe we are supposed to wait for Agent Morgan to call back and set us up on a conference call with Agents Hotchner and Rossi."

"What about Duane's family member?" Reid asked.

"Agent Morgan said they asked Wade to go get him and bring him here."

"Him? So, it's a male?"

Jacob sighed. "Apparently so."

"Well...at least you know it's not Edith."

Jacob chuckled as he sat down in his chair and waved Reid to a chair opposite him. "Thank God for that." Both men turned as the office door opened and Colin walked in followed by Deputy Talbot. "Colin?" Jacob asked.

"Yes, it's me. And would you please explain why Wade just dragged me away from the project I was working on and made me come over here?" Colin folded his arms in front of his chest and glared at Jacob.

"What sort of project were you working on?" Reid asked.

Colin looked at him. "I write software programs for a living. I've been working on some ideas for a new video game I'm trying to develop." He looked at Wade. "That is until Wade interrupted me." Wade shrugged ad looked at Jacob expectantly.

"Colin, why didn't you ever tell me you are related to Duane Sanchez?"

"Who?"

Jacob opened his mouth to answer just as the phone rang. "Sheriff Reischl." He listened for a moment and then put the phone on speaker. "Can you hear me Agent Hotchner?" he asked.

"Yes Sheriff, I can hear you. Is everyone there?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Kramer, can you hear me?"

"Uh...yes," Colin answered tentatively.

"Agent Morgan informed us our tech has discovered you were related to Lieutenant Duane Sanchez?"

"Uh...who?"

"This is Agent Rossi. Our tech discovered you were related to someone who may have a connection to this case. His name is Sanchez."

"Look, I don't know who... Wait! Did you say Sanchez?"

Jacob sighed. "Yes, Colin. Sanchez. Lieutenant Duane Sanchez."

"Uh...Sanchez is my mother's maiden name," Colin said sheepishly.

Jacob shook his head. "But you don't know who Duane is?"

"He, uh... Well, I think he might be her cousin, which would make him my second cousin, I guess."

"Colin, Duane was an old army buddy of mine. Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"How the hell was I supposed to know some cousin I'm not even sure I've ever met is a friend of yours?"

"Mr. Kramer, this is Agent Morgan. Would your mother have known about her cousin's connection to Sheriff Reischl?"

"Maybe. I could ask her. She's never met Jacob, though. And Jacob has lived here longer than I have."

"Would you mind calling and asking her, please?" Hotch requested.

"Jacob, can I...?"

Without a word Jacob handed Colin his phone and pointed toward the nearby room the team had been using. As soon as Colin walked away, Jacob rested his forehead on one hand and said, "God save me." He looked over at Wade, who was attempting to suppress a smirk. "What are you laughing at, Wade?"

Talbot shrugged. "Nothing Jacob."

Morgan cleared his throat. "We don't know if this means anything, Sheriff. Especially when you consider that neither of you were aware you had a connection."

"It could just be a coincidence," Prentiss added.

"Don't you find that a little hard to believe, Agent Prentiss?"

"Well..."

"How are things going with the Belkas family?" Reid asked.

"JJ is with her parents right now," Rossi answered. "One of her friends told us she thought Christina had applied for a job with a trucking company, but she wasn't sure which one. All her parents are sure of is that she had applied to some jobs out of state."

"Do we know what job sites she might have used? Could we possibly request records of jobs she might have applied to, who the possible employers were, and so on?" Jacob asked.

"We're working on that right now," Hotch replied.

"At what point did she disappear?" Reid asked.

"She went for a job interview a week ago and was never heard from again," Rossi answered. "It took a couple of days for her to be missed, because her parents were out of town the day of the interview."

"Ahem..." Reid, Jacob and Talbot turned to look at Colin, who was standing in the doorway.

"Yes, Colin?" Jack said expectantly.

Colin walked over and handed Jacob's cell phone back to him. "Uh, my mother said the reason she suggested I look into a house in Weird in the first place was because she knew Duane's friend lived here, and she though he, meaning you I guess, might be a good influence on me."

Jacob shook his head. "Colin, why don't you go in the library and pick out a book?"

"Did you get the new David Baldacci in?"

Jacob looked up at him and said in exasperation, "Colin, go look! Under 'B' for Baldacci! B-a-l-d-a-c-c-i!"

Colin looked at him strangely. "Calm down, Jacob! Take a Valium, or a chill pill or something." He walked off.

Jacob shook his head and looked at Wade, then at Reid. "Sorry everyone. I think I might have overreacted a little there."

"Perfectly fine," Rossi said.

"Colin can be a little frustrating sometimes," Wade said.

"Right. But if he didn't know, he didn't know. That's certainly not his fault," Jacob responded.

"Sheriff," Prentissaid. "If you don't mind my asking, why would Colin's mother think you would be a good influence on him?"

Jacob sighed. "Well, it's really no secret Colin was a kind of a wild kid as a teenager."

"If you never met his mother, how would she know what kind of influence you would be?" Reid asked.

"She must have gotten it from Duane. Maybe he mentioned me in letters, or phone calls; I don't know. He always said I was pretty straight laced and sensible." Jacob shrugged. "I guess I am."

"Excuse me," Garcia piped in. "Hotch?"

"Yes, Garcia?"

"I've been looking at Christina Belkas' bank accounts and credit card records. It turns out she used her VISA card to purchase an airline ticket on Alaska Airlines to Fairbanks. I'm on hold with the airline attempting to find out if it was actually used."

"She obviously got here," Morgan said. "Did her parents know about the ticket?"

"I called JJ and she asked them. They say they did not know, but she had told them she was planning a trip with friends. That was one reason she did not go with them when they went out of town."

"What day was the ticket for?" Reid asked.

"It was for the day after she was last seen," Garcia answered. "Therefore, if it was used, it may have been used by someone else."

"That's odd," Reid said.

"If she was planning on coming up to Alaska anyway, what would be the point in grabbing her the day before she was supposed to leave?" Talbot asked.

"Good question, Deputy Talbot," Rossi said.

"Rossi and I have a couple more people to talk to. Let's wrap this up right here," Hotch said. "Sheriff, can you speak to Colin and try to find out who else may know there is a connection between you and his cousin?"

"I can try."

A few minutes later Colin came out of the library carrying two books. "I didn't see the new David Baldacci, but I did find a Vince Flynn book I missed. I've been trying to read his in order. I picked up a Lee Child one also."

"Colin, can you please do me a favor and ask your mother who else may have known about your cousin and I being friends?"

"I can ask. But, I doubt it was a big secret. Although obviously she forgot to tell me."

"Perhaps she felt f you didn't know you would be more likely to accept any advice he wanted to provide," Reid said.

Colin shrugged. "Maybe." He looked at Jacob. "Can I go now?"

"Go ahead. Leave." Colin made a face at Jacob as he headed for the door. "And don't forget to talk to your mother again," Jacob called after him.

"It seems obvious that, even though Miss Belkas' parents knew she was applying to jobs out of town, they were not actually aware she was planning on coming to Alaska," Reid said.

"What does that tell us?" Wade asked.

"Perhaps they just didn't want her coming this far?" Jacob suggested. "Some people still see Alaska as the last frontier. Maybe she felt they wouldn't think it was safe for her to come up here. She apparently told them she was planning a trip with friends, but not that she was flying to Alaska."

Wade stood up. "Jacob, it's okay with you, I'm going to head home for dinner."

"Sure, go ahead Wade."

Wade picked up his hat and left the office. Reid commented, "Dinner? Did we forget about lunch?" He looked at his watch.

Jacob laughed. "I guess we skipped it." He stood up. "So Agent Reid, what do you think? Should we go bug Carla again, or should we cook for ourselves?"

"I'm not much of a cook."

"I actually am a good cook. But I don't feel like it right now. Let's head for the diner, shall we?"

WWWW

A couple hours after he and Jacob finished eating dinner, Reid sat on the table in Jacob's office looking at the map of Alaska he had mounted on the wall. He didn't exactly feel like he was missing something; however, he did feel as though he should have figured out more than he had. Unless the team was completely off base with their belief in some sort of connection to Sheriff Reischl, there had to be something they hadn't connected the dots on yet. He simply could not figure out what it was. He looked down at his cell phone as it buzzed. "Hey, JJ. What's up?"

"I just finished talking to Christina's boyfriend. She wasn't going to Alaska for a job at all. She was applying to the Archaeological Field School at Adelphi University."

"Why would she not tell her parents about that?"

"I'm not sure. When I informed them of her plans, her father seemed to think she may have been afraid they would try to talk her into a more stable occupation."

"I'm not sure now what direction this sends us in. Adelphi University... That's not in Alaska."

"No, it isn't. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you know that," JJ said with a chuckle. "But their Field School was in Talkeetna in 2011; and in 2013 they are holding it in the same location, as well another one in Crete."

"So, she was trying to secure a spot in 2013?"

"Yes."

"Something else to think about. What do Hotch and Rossi think?"

"Probably the same thing you are thinking. Who knew about her plans, and if she was going to Alaska anyway, why grab her so that you have to get her there yourself?"

"You know how I feel about coincidences, JJ!"

"Yes."

"It couldn't be that she was kidnapped and brought to Alaska, and the crime has no connection to her plans?"

"It could be, but..."

Reid shook his head. "I need to think about this some more. I'll talk to you tomorrow, JJ." After hanging up with JJ, Reid sat for a few minutes trying to figure out in his head what all this new information meant. Could Christina Belkas' plans to study in Alaska have no bearing on her being killed in Alaska? Was her job search related to her academic plans? Had her airline ticket been used? And, what did any of it have to do with Jacob Reischl? Did Colin living in the same town as an old friend of his cousin's mean anything? Was any of it related at all? Hopefully when Alfred Vallejo was located they would be able to find more answers.

Reid's cell phone buzzed again, just as Sheriff Reischl and Deputy Talbot walked in the door after completing their nightly patrol. "Are you still working Agent Reid?" Wade asked.

"Are you sure?" Reid was asking.

"Of course I'm sure, kid! Garcia and I both read three different newspaper accounts of it online, Morgan responded.

"Have you told Hotch and Rossi yet?"

"I planned on calling them after I talked to you."

"Thanks, Morgan." Reid hung up the phone and looked at Jacob.

"Well?" Jacob said expectantly.

"That was Morgan. Garcia found out it couldn't be Alfred Vallejo killing our victims."

"Why?" Jacob asked. "Is he still in Australia or something?"

Reid nodded. "Yes. He's also dead."

"What?"

"Alfred Vallejo died in 2009 from injuries sustained in an accident. He could not possibly be our unsub."

WWWW