A little after 2 Emily and JJ walk into the precinct in Portland. Hotch looks up at them hopefully.
"Please tell me you've got good news."
"Sort of. If we get him in custody, Salem has an airtight case against him," JJ relates to him.
Hotch grunts and leans back in his chair. "If we get him into custody. How the hell do we do it? We know who he is, why he is doing it, but not how to find him. If we're not careful he'll just disappear and show up somewhere down the line in our nightmares."
Emily shrugs. "They just missed him at a cheesy motel in Salem. Ortiz had officers check all those types of places here in Portland and no one recognized him. He finally went to all the hotels. He's not staying in a hotel or motel or bed & breakfast. Ortiz was very thorough."
Hotch rubs his face with both hands. His frustration is evident in the lack of tie and the uncharacteristically mussed hair. Not since Foyet have they known so much about their suspect and yet felt so far away from making an arrest. He finally sits forward and calls Garcia on the conference room phone.
"Garcia, does Vetch or any member of his family own rental properties or other homes not in use right now?"
Garcia starts to type. "Uhhh…no, sir."
"Fuck."
"Garcia, what about the guys Vetch is close to? The ones on his phone list?" Emily asks.
Garcia types some more. "There's a guy named Walter Stabler with a cabin on Lake Oswego. Looks like he only uses it sporadically and…the electricity has been on the last 5 weeks. Before that it had been off since the middle of August."
Hotch sits forward again, eager for good news. "What's the address?"
"In your email now."
"Hotch, Stabler was the guy who burned us the video who was really pissed we were looking at Vetch," Reid informs his boss.
Hotch frowns. "Could it have been guilt?"
Reid and Morgan look at each other and shrug. Morgan looks to the unit chief. "To be honest, we were getting such cold shoulders and snide looks I didn't really pay attention. It was making me too angry."
Hotch stands. "Get Ortiz. Let's go check out that cabin. Vests on and be ready for anything."
The team stands and heads out, eager to bring the killing spree to an end.
The team and Ortiz slowly approach the house on the lake front. In an older area of the lake, it sits on more land and has quite a bit of space between the house and it's neighbor. Add in large trees and it's a very private location: perfect for a fugitive.
As they get to the house, Morgan, Emily and Rossi break off to go around to the back of the house. Hotch, Ortiz, Reid and JJ approach the front. No words are spoken as the assignments had been made on the journey to the home.
In the back, Morgan and Emily try to look into the windows but the blinds are drawn. Morgan keys his mike.
"No view inside the back," Morgan whispers.
"Copy," Hotch replies. "Same with the front. Preparing to knock."
"Copy."
Morgan looks to his teammates who both nod that they are ready. A second later they hear Hotch banging on the door.
"CAMERON PACE! THIS IS THE FBI! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"
Everyone hears sounds of rustling inside. A voice calls out.
"I'M UNARMED! I'M OPENING THE DOOR!"
Those at the front keep their guns trained on the door as it opens and a man walks out, hands extended to show he is unarmed.
"Cameron Pace?" Hotch asks.
"No. Walter Stabler. Pace…he's gone. Took off yesterday."
"So you knew he was here?" Hotch confirms.
Stabler nods. "Yeah. Me and Vetch we…we helped him get out. We just…we're sick of seeing the same fucks week after week. Pace wanted to kill so we figured out a way to work with him."
Hotch slowly shakes his head. "You stupid asshole. Any idea how to find him?"
Stabler shakes his head. "No, only Vetch did. He'd wait to see who showed up in the Crime Beat and then call Pace on a disposable phone to tell him who was the worst in the bunch. We concentrated on repeat offenders who were a danger to society."
"How the hell were Norma Stiles and Mimi Verlando dangers to society?" JJ asks angrily.
"Stiles was HIV positive and still out there hooking." He shakes his head. "I swear I don't know why he killed Verlando. Yeah, she had a few busts but nothing serious and she always used protection."
"How do you know that?" Reid asks.
Stabler blushes. "I, uh…I…"
"Never mind," Reid says with disgust.
Emily, Morgan and Rossi come from around back.
"What do we know?" Morgan asks.
"Pace was here but took off," Hotch responds. "We need to search this house for anything that could tell us where he might go next." He turns and looks pointedly at Stabler. "You own this place. Do we have your permission to search?"
"What do I get if I say yes?"
"When we take you to jail we'll keep you away from the inmates that know who you are," Hotch offers coldly.
Stabler looks like he wants to refuse but the thought of being put in with some of those he'd tormented as a guard terrifies him. He finally nods. "You can search it."
Ortiz pulls out a form for Stabler to sign giving the team permission to search the house. He then cuffs him and reads him his rights. Hotch looks at his team.
"Morgan, Emily, JJ tear this place apart. Rossi, Reid go talk to Vetch. His lawyer will have a hard time figuring out a reason for his client to remain silent. I'll help Ortiz take Stabler in and then call a press conference. Time to get the public looking to stop Pace not praise him. The information from Salem should help us do that."
As the other 4 leave with the prisoner, Morgan, Emily and JJ head inside the cabin. It is a wreck. JJ shakes her head.
"Oh, yeah…this should be easy."
Emily and Morgan laugh. Morgan looks around. "I'll take the two bedrooms. You two take this room and the kitchen."
"You suck, Morgan," Emily gripes as she heads into the kitchen.
He just chuckles and goes on down to the bedrooms. The first one is obviously Stabler's. He looks it over but nothing seems to belong to Pace.
In the next room he starts to look around and finally, under the bed, finds a major piece of evidence. He pulls a baggie out of his back pocket and puts in a tee shirt covered in blood. Based on the amount on it, it had to have been worn during one of the murders. He continues to search but this shirt, most likely missed because it was so far under the bed, is all he finds in the bedrooms. He next goes to the bathroom, hoping to find something there.
In the kitchen Emily finds several different science experiments but nothing that points to Pace or the victims. She has just fought back the urge to throw up for a third time when JJ calls to her.
"Em! Come here for a second."
"Gladly," Emily replies, happy to get away from the nasty kitchen. She walks in to see JJ kneeling beside the fireplace. "What did you find?"
"Looks like he was burning papers. Not just newspapers but," she holds up one charred paper, "jail intake papers, too."
Emily nods. "Could be the originals on Pace. They were trying to cover their tracks. We'll let CSI's come in and recover them so we don't risk destroying them."
JJ nods and steps away. She turns to see Emily studying the pictures on one wall. JJ starts to flip through magazines on the table but Emily stops her.
"Jen, look at these. Is one missing?"
JJ walks over and studies the series of photos. She sees the small hole in the wall where a nail had once been. She nods. "Looks like it. I wonder why."
Emily pulls out her phone. "I don't know. But maybe Hotch can find out." She pauses as the phone rings. "Hotch, there's a set of family photos on the wall here in the living room. There's 5 but it looks like there should be 6. Ask Stabler what's missing."
Hotch turns in his seat to look at the prisoner. "In your living room, did you have a set of 6 pictures on the wall?"
He nods. "Yeah. Why?"
"There's only 5 now."
Stabler frowns. "What? Why? What's missing?"
Hotch puts Emily on speaker. "Emily, what do you see?"
Emily describes the 5 pictures. Hotch watches Stabler and sees him stiffen when Emily finishes.
"The…the sixth picture…it's my daughter's boat, Evergreen Princess. It's at the public marina. She lives on it."
"Prentiss, did you hear?"
"Loud and clear. We're on our way."
Hotch hangs up. Stabler has paled and looks truly terrified for the first time since he opened his door.
"What have I done? Oh, fuck me what have I done?" the man just whispers over and over.
Hotch sighs and hopes the hunch he and his agents share is wrong. "When was the last time you talked to your daughter?"
"Last Sunday. We always talk Sunday nights. Oh, fuck me what have I done?"
Hotch bites back the urge to tell the man there's a good chance he's killed his own daughter.
Morgan, Emily and JJ study the boat from afar. Emily has pulled a black sweatshirt over her Kevlar vest. They have seen movement and decide Emily will approach the boat as if looking for her old friend Nola Stabler. JJ and Morgan will stay hidden near another boat and be ready to move in if Emily gets in trouble. Emily sticks the earbud in her ear.
"You read me?" she asks
JJ and Morgan both nod.
"Good. Time to see if I'm still up for an Oscar-worthy performance."
Morgan grins. "Do they give statues for 'Best Performance by an Agent Posing as an Old Friend'?"
"If they don't they'll decide to after they see me," Emily says with a grin.
JJ rolls her eyes. "Oh, get over yourself, Prentiss."
Emily grins and the three agents move into position. As soon as Morgan and JJ are in place, Emily walks up and leans on the side of the boat.
"Nola! Hey, Nola, you there? Yoo hoo! Nola!"
Emily just smiles wider as Cameron Pace steps out of the cabin. "Nola's not here."
"Oh, hey, sorry. She must be down at her dad's house. Will she be back soon?"
"She's on vacation. I'm boat sitting for her."
"Ah, cool. I mean," she shrugs "it sucks for me 'cause I'm just in town for a few days and wanted to say hey. But cool for her for getting a break. And cool for you for a neat house sitting deal. You her boyfriend or something?"
"Nope. Just a friend of her father's."
Emily turns and hitches a hip onto the side of the boat. "Really? You look too young to a friend of his. I thought maybe Nola had finally found Mr. Right, ya know?"
Pace smiles. But like many sociopath's it never quite reaches his eyes. In fact, if Emily had to place a bet she would say he's trying to decide how he would rape and kill her if he could get her on the boat. She can hear Morgan calling for police back-up now that they have confirmed Pace is onboard. She just needed to stall him a little longer.
"So, what do you do for a living?"
Pace shrugs, trying to look coy. "I kind of hate to say."
"Ah, come on. It can't be that bad."
"I'm a…street cleaner," he says, looking away as if embarrassed.
Emily sees right through him. Now she knows he's making a play for her. He's just looking for the chance to invite her onboard.
"Hey, that's cool by me. Someone has to do it. And I hear you all get paid big bucks for that. More power to you."
He grins. "Thanks. Most girls hear that and run. You're…you're different."
Emily shrugs. "Who am I to judge anyone, right? Everyone's gotta do what they enjoy. I bet you like it because of the hours. You know, up and out early then you have the whole day to do what you want."
He chuckles. "You nailed it. Like right now I was getting ready to go out on the lake. It's a great day for it." He steps closer. "Would be an even better day if I had a beautiful woman to ride the waves with me."
Emily hears her earbud come to life. "Back-up is 5 minutes out, Prentiss. Do NOT get on that boat," Morgan warns her.
He has no worries. Emily hasn't forgotten Winslow. She will not willingly put herself in a rapist's hands. She bites her lip and checks her watch.
"I…I don't know. I was just stopping by to say hey and see if she wanted to do dinner tomorrow. I've got to be at dinner with my parents in like an hour. And I'm about an hour away." She giggles and smiles self-deprecatingly. "Ooops."
He laughs and steps closer. "Oops, indeed. I think I have to insist you get on board…Agent."
Emily sucks in a breath as he suddenly pulls a gun. She raises her hands.