Before the smoke had cleared, both teams charged into the building. When they got inside, they saw that the barn had originally been equipped with multiple stalls for horses. However, every other partition had been removed, creating cells large enough to hold adult women. Barbed wire had been installed at the tops of the partitions, turning the area into a prison. The teams also noticed that a small tack room to the right of the barn door had been converted into an office.
Hotch took one look at the dirty, emaciated condition of the captive in the first cell and immediately turned on his walkie talkie. "Move the ambulances in as close as possible and send in the medics," he instructed. "We have women here who need immediate medical attention."
As Morgan and Reid rushed down the main aisle of the barn, they recognized the faces of the women they had been searching for during the past five months. Reid examined each face carefully and then quickly rushed on to the next cell. When he reached the last cell, he turned around and went back, again checking each cell as he passed by.
"Morgan!" he called out frantically. "I can't find her!"
"Let me try the house." Morgan pulled out his cell phone and pushed a button.
Reid charged blindly out the barn door and promptly crashed into Hotch who, along with the SWAT team leader, was helping direct the ambulances as they moved closer to the barn.
"Hotch, I can't find Christine!" Reid was frantic. "She's not here!"
"Calm down, Reid," Hotch grabbed hold of the young agent's arm. "I'm sure she's here somewhere. Has the SWAT team cleared the entire building?"
"Yes," Reid insisted. "And Morgan and I checked, too. She's not here!"
"What about the house?" Hotch asked.
"Morgan called over there," Reid was becoming hysterical. "It's been thoroughly checked, too. She isn't here anywhere!"
"He's right, man," Morgan had joined them. "We can't find her. There is an empty cell for her, but she's not in it!"
Hotch walked over to a sheriff's deputy who had been standing by the pedestrian door to the tack room. "Has anyone left the property?" he asked.
"Only one woman, in an ambulance," the man reported. "The SWAT team members who were clearing the office space found her hiding in a closet. She had a chain attached to her ankle, with the other end anchored to the floor in front of a computer. It looked like she had been doing accounting work. She was pregnant and appeared to be in pain so, once they removed the chain, they immediately took her out and sent her to the hospital in the first ambulance."
"Pregnant?" Reid stared at the deputy. "That couldn't be Christine!"
"Did she give you a name?" Morgan asked.
"No, she didn't say anything. She was shaking and appeared to be in shock," the deputy replied.
"What did she look like?" Hotch questioned.
"About 5' 6" to 5' 8" tall, with long, what I think was light brown hair," was the reply. "It was hard to tell because it was so dirty and matted. Also, and I probably shouldn't say this, but she had awfully long legs."
Reid pulled out the picture of Christine that he carried with him. "Is this her?" he demanded.
The deputy examined the picture closely. "Yes, she was really dirty and everything, but that is her," he responded.
"Pregnant?" Reid repeated.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Hotch suggested. "Let's just get the SUV and get you to the hospital."