Alex zipped into the parking lot then slammed on the breaks. She jumped out and rushed past Reid and Rossi who were waiting for them to return. Reid followed after her to find out what was going on.
Rossi approached Hotch as he slowly peeled himself out of the Jeep. "You look like you're about to lose your lunch."
"I'm trying not to." Hotch straightened himself up once he planted both feet on the ground.
"I take it you didn't get good news," Rossi observed from Alex's demeanor.
Hotch walked with Rossi toward the bar. "The phones weren't working. I wasn't able to contact anyone. When I came out from the office Julian Sloane was talking with Alex."
"That couldn't have been good," Rossi let out a sigh. "How did Alex handle it?"
"If I wasn't there she probably would have killed him herself. This case is extremely personal to her." Hotch explained.
"That's understandable. She was deep undercover for six months in that environment. That's enough to make it personal for anyone." Rossi justified.
"Except now we have a different problem." Hotch stopped and quickly looked around.
"What's that?"
"In the effort to not reveal who we really are, she announced that I was her boyfriend and we were here on vacation together." Hotch hesitantly conveyed.
"Oh really?" Rossi raised an eyebrow. "I wish I got to see it."
The team gathered in the backroom behind the bar where Hotch and Alex filled the rest of them in on their recent encounter.
"Why don't we just take him into custody and keep him locked up until we can get the word out?" Morgan questioned.
"He had at least three bodyguards, that I was aware of," Alex started. "The manager at the Royale told me that he is there all the time. He spends money like crazy and always with different girls."
"If he is still in the business, a remote vacation island would be a prime location to snatch girls from," Rossi pointed out.
"And would probably be a week or so before their families even knew they were missing," JJ agreed.
"I think that is exactly what he is doing. The girls could even be hidden on this island somewhere. We are going to need to figure out his operation before we take him down." Alex stared at all of them.
"How do you propose we do that?" Garcia asked.
Hotch stood before the team with his arms crossed over his chest. "We don't have any jurisdiction here. We could get assistance if we had extradition paperwork, which we don't. With no authorization we would we working as rogue agents."
"I don't think we have a choice," Prentiss stared back at Hotch.
"This might be to our advantage. If no one is looking for him because they think he is dead, then he might have his guard down." Morgan added.
"So, what's our plan here?" Rossi asked. "We aren't used to running covert operations."
"Yeah, but we are." Reid pointed to Alex and himself. "Which works, since she already has an established connection, we have our 'in' that we would be looking for. Besides, he wants to spend time with you guys." He focused toward Hotch, "are you going to be okay with this?"
Hotch thought for a moment and nodded his head. "I can't see any other way." He took a step forward. "But we have to continue to try and make contact with the State Department."
"Agreed." Reid then looked to the rest of the team. "I have a few ideas, and everyone will need to play their parts."
Morgan held his hand up in front of his face. "I've done some deep undercover, I am game for anything."
"Just say the word," Prentiss nodded.
"Good, it looks like we are all in agreement," Reid stood before them.
Alex stood up. "I think I saw some maps of the island; we are going to need those." The group watched as she walked out rather abruptly.
Garcia looked to Reid, "is she okay?"
"I'll be right back." Reid followed after her.
Alex tromped through the tropical sand at a quickened pace.
"Alex! Hey, Alex, wait up!" Reid called out as he rushed after her. "Alex, stop. I know you can hear me."
"What?" She turned around.
"Look, I know what this is doing to you…"
"No, you don't!" She interrupted.
Reid let out a deep breath. "You're right. I'm sorry. I can… appreciate how this will be difficult for you." He stepped closer and picked up her hand. "I will understand if you tell me that this is too much for you and we can find another way, I would not blame you at all."
"I will be honest with you; I don't want to do this. I don't want to play nice and pretend that we are old acquaintances. He is malevolent and I would love nothing more than to nail is balls to the floor." She clenched her fists in front of her in frustration then opened her hands. "But… this needs to be done. He needs to pay for what he has done and not be allowed to do it to anyone else." Alex gritted her teeth.
Reid pulled her into an embrace. "Everything will be okay, I promise."
Alex gave in and wrapped her arms around him. The two of them stood holding each other.
Hotch was seated at the bar finishing his scotch as Rossi took a seat next to him. Rossi motioned to Beni that he wanted the same drink as Hotch. "I don't suppose you will be changing your career path anytime soon."
Hotch shot him a glaring look.
"Okay, okay," Rossi smirked while holding up his hands. "I was only teasing."
Hotch finished off his drink with one gulp.
"Didn't you play the Pirate King in that musical in college?" Rossi asked.
"I was Pirate Number 4," Hotch scoffed. "That's a far cry from the Pirate King."
"Well at least you've done some acting." Rossi justified.
"This isn't the kind of law enforcement I signed up for. I don't run around playing spy." Hotch groaned.
"Sometimes you have to do what needs to be done, even if you don't like it." Rossi smirked as Beni refilled Hotch's glass.
"I'm trying to not think about it that way."
"That's good," Rossi nodded. "You know what, I think you are going to do just fine."
"I'm glad you think so. I swore that The Pirates of Penzance was the last acting I was ever going to do."
"I am sure we can all be grateful for something." Rossi slowly spun his glass around with his fingers.
"What's that?"
"That you don't have to showcase your musical talents this time." Rossi grinned.
"When this vacation is over, remind me to have you fired." Hotch finished his drink and went back to the group.
Alex and Reid returned carrying a black duffle bag and large rolled-up maps of the island. Alex opened them up across the table and pointed out all the major locations on the island. "Other than these areas, the rest of the island is undeveloped and anything can be out there."
Reid picked up the duffle bag and placed it on the chair. He then pulled out 2-way radios, earwigs, and other devices.
"Don't tell me that you just have a bunch of spy gadgets just lying around just in case." Morgan asked.
"Well, we didn't," Alex announced.
"Bruno did," Reid smirked. "These are short range communicators and we need to work in code. We must assume that Sloane's team could be on the same frequency. We will be working with limited resources and will need to do the work of a full team. That means that we will be pulling double duty and going on multiple undercover operations by playing several parts."
"So, what's the plan?" Rossi asked looking to Reid.
"I'm glad you asked, because it starts with you."