Chapter Five
"It's all my fault," Rossi lamented, "I should have never held this cookout."
"Dave, no one could've predicted this," Hotch scolded, "the unsubs are just..well-prepared." Hotch looked to the whole team.
"This is no one's fault," Hotch stated firmly, "right now, our sole purpose should be finding Penelope and bringing her back alive."
"But they were watching me!" Rossi exclaimed.
"They were probbably watching all of us," JJ added.
"But they got in my house!"
"They probbably waited til you were distracted," Morgan said, "they probbably knew about the cookout. Now, as awful as that possibility may be, we need to consider the fact that the unsub might be another agent."
"But he called her Penny," Reid said, "no one calls her that."
"Except for Kevin," Morgan mused, "but he doesn't have the time to stalk Penelope and he seems genuinely intrested in finding the unsubs."
"So we're looking for someone just as close to Penelope," Hotch stated, "maybe even closer."
"Please!" Garcia screamed, "can anyone hear me?!"
The dark-haired man chuckled.
"No can do, Penny. I've soundproofed this room."
"Where are we?" she asked, "and why have you tied me up?"
"Oh, just an old warehouse I touched up," the unsub replied, "Lucas here thought it'd be a nice room to...do what we do Besides, you know the feeling of being tied up." The man chuckled.
No! Penelope mentally screamed. It couldn't be!
"L-Lucas?" Garcia stutterd.
"Oh, I forgot," the man sneered, "you haven't seen him in twenty years. Neither have I, Penny. The man said her old nickname like it was poison.
Suddenly, Garcia heard footsteps. It must be Lucas she thought.
"Well, well, well," Lucas taunted, "what have we here, Penny?"
"Stop calling me that!" she screamed, trying to get out of her restraints.
"What? You don't like your old name," Lucas taunted, "Gabriel used to call you that all the time. So did Mom and Dad. But you know how that story ended." Her younger brother spit in her face.
"Why Gabriel?" Garcia cried, "why are you doing this to me?"
Gabriel didn't answer her question. Instead, he pulled out a dead cat.
' "Missing something, Penelope?" he asked. He held Scruffles in he face.
"No!" Garcia wailed, "not Scruffles!"
Gabriel laughed, evily.
"Now you know how it feels to lose something you love, don't you sissy?"
"And now SSA Aaron Hotchner is gonna know how that feels too," Lucas supplied, "you could've done so much better than him."
"You've got to get over that!" Garcia exclaimed, trying to reason with them, "it's been twenty years."
"Twenty years since you missed curfew and Mom and Dad tried to find you, but they never did!" Gabriel all but screamed.
"And now your precious team is gonna lose you," Gabriel snarled, "ready Lucas?"
"Ready!" Lucas exclaimed, excited.
Lucas turned on the swicth. Garcia convulsed and she screamed.
"AHHH!" she yelled.
The pair of brothers laughed.
"I can't wait until your precious unit chief comes and finds you have matching scars," Gabriel snarled, holding a knife.
"Noooo!" Garcia yelled, shrinking back.
"Yeees," Lucas mocked, almost like he was teasing an older sister.
"Lucas, get the video camera," Gabriel commanded, "I can't wait til the team sees this."
"No, don't show them," Garcia tried to growl, "if you go after them, I will destroy you."
"With what?" Lucas asked, "your computers?"
"Lucas, get the gasolinne and candle, too," Gabriel ordered, "I can't wait til Hotchner sees this."
He cupped Garcia's face.
"No one will want you anymore," he taunted, "that is, if you're still around and I don't imagine you will be. Hotchner will never want to be with you after witnessing such...disfigurement."
"Pulling a Foyet and fire," Lucas smiled, "if only Mom and Dad were here to see this."
"Penny?" Kevin asked, "no one else calls her that except for me."
"I know," Hotch said, "I need you to go through Garcia's relationships again! We missed something!"
"I will and—oh no no," Kevin stuttered.
"What is it?" Morgan pressed.
"Today is the anniversary of her parent's deaths."
"Today?" Morgan asked.
"You didn't know?" Hotch questioned.
"I know her parents were killed in a drunk driving accident. They were out looking for her because she missed curfew," Morgan answered.
"So we're looking for someone who blames her for their deaths," JJ supplied.
"The only ones who might fit that descriptions are her brothers," Kevin answered, "let's see. Michael Garcia is taking a sabbatical in Alaska." He turned up his nose.
"Antonio Garcia has pancreatic cancer. Only three months. Not much hope there. Lucas and Gabriel Garcia are live in Richmond Virgnia and...they are firefighters with the Richmond Fire Department. I'm going through school files and it looks like they blamed Penleope for their parents death. They ranted to the counselor almost every day. Penelope felt like they blamed her. Shame. They used to be really close."
The team closed their eyes and sighed. How could they do this to their own sister? Their own flesh and blood?
"Kevin, do you have an address?" Hotch asked.
"Yeah. It's-"
Agent Anderson came bursting through the door.
"Agent Hotchner?" Anderson inquired, "there's been a video addressed to you."