Chapter 26

'Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides' Margaret Thatcher

When they pulled up outside of the bar where most of the missing girls were last seen Morgan quickly applied the hand brake before he turned in his seat to look into the back of the van where everyone else was sitting.

Everyone looked to Hotch who was staring at Livie. "You sure about this" he asked "it's not too late to pull out"

"I'll be fine" Livie said with a small smile "quit worrying all of you" "It's really hard not too" Morgan said and Livie smiled.

Hotch looked at the screens on the wall of the surveillance van before he pressed a few buttons and slowly images of the bar and its inhabitants appeared on the screens. "We'll have eyes on you at all times" Hotch said and Livie nodded. "Remember the code word" Rossi said and Livie nodded fighting to hide a smile "Heat" she said "thanks for that one guys" they all gave her a small grin.

The door to the van opened and they all looked over before their faces darkened as Prescott scrambled into the van. "Good the security cameras are all set up" he said quickly studying the images before he looked at Livie "are you ready" he asked and Livie gave a shrug "as I'll ever be" she said Prescott nodded "because it is time to go in" he said "they could already be in there scouting for their next target."

Livie nodded and she glanced at Prescott before she turned and caught hold of Reid kissing him firmly on the lips. It was enjoyable for the others to see the startled look on Prescott's face at the sight of Livie kissing her co-worker. Obviously he hadn't caught on that there was a relationship between the two of them.

Livie pulled away and looked at Reid before she smiled at him as she stroked his cheek and mouthed 'I'll be ok' before she slowly opened the door to van and slipped out closing the door behind her.

They all turned back to the monitors to watch as Livie made her way towards the bar. As she did so Prescott looked over at Reid before turning to Hotch. "Um how long have they been…" he trailed off.

"Four months" Hotch said simply "they are very happy together."

"So you had better hope that she comes back in one piece" Morgan added quietly "for your own sake"

Prescott eyed Morgan before he looked at Reid and then slowly he returned his gaze to the screens as they watched Livie enter the bar.

As she did so all eyes turned to see her, interested to see this new face in their bar. Livie kept her head held high as she slowly walked through the room towards the bar where she quickly ordered a drink and slid onto a barstool.

She glanced round the room and saw a lot of men staring at her and she let out a small sight "this is going to be a long evening" she muttered.

The first guy who came up to her was quickly dismissed as just an over interested guy and Livie gently sent him away. The next two guys followed in quick succession and everyone was beginning to get tired of listening to the mundane conversations that Livie was having.

After sending the third one away Livie sighed "how much longer do I have to do this" she asked "seriously wouldn't they have come to me by now"

"Wouldn't who have come to you" came a voice from behind and Livie looked up as a handsome young man appeared beside her and leaned against the bar. He had thick jet black hair, silver eyes that seemed friendly and curious and high proud cheekbones that made him seem confident.

Yet there was something off about him and Livie was instantly suspicious of him. But she pushed that aside and smiled warmly at him "I don't know" she said "the perfect man maybe."

The man smiled "well I don't think he is here right now but maybe I can keep you company till he gets here."

Livie laughed "good line" she said and he winked as he lowered himself onto the stool beside her.

"I haven't seen you around here before" he said and Livie smiled "I just transferred here last month from Boston" she said "ahh that would explain it" he said "why the transfer if I may ask."

"I fancied a change of scene" Livie said with a shrug and he nodded.

"So what is your name sweetheart" the man asked and Livie smiled "Lizzie" she said without missing a beat "Lizzie Baker"

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you Lizzie Baker" the man said taking her hand to kiss it gently "My name is Joe Mandville"

"Run it" Prescott said in the van but Morgan was already calling Garcia "hey baby girl I need everything you can get on a Joe Mandville" he said as Prescott bent over the microphone that would allow him to keep talking to Livie "stick with this one Miss Beckett" he said.

Hotch gave him a look before he caught hold of the microphone "Agent Beckett" he said pointedly "see what else you can find out about him."

Livie smiled "so are you a student at the university too" she asked and he nodded "Politics third year" he said and Livie pulled a face "well that sounds hard" she said "oh it is. I love to come here in the evenings to unwind you know… let lose… have fun"

"Yeah I bet" Livie said stirring her drink delicately "let me get you another drink" Joe said and he mimed to the bartender who nodded. "That's very kind" Livie said "I shouldn't stay too long though… I have a paper due in by the end of the week"

"And what is it that you study" Joe asked placing some money on the bar as the bartender placed another glass in front of Livie.

"Third year creative writing student" Livie said. "Ahh we have a little writer on our hands" Joe said "and what kind of things do you like writing my dear? Poems? Plays?"

"Stories" Livie said "I like to write stories…"

"Ahh" he said "and why stories?"

Livie shrugged "I don't know… to… find my voice I guess… because it never comes out right when I talk, but when I write it makes perfect sense. Because it is how I make sense of the world. Because I don't want to stay quiet forever."

Joe raised his eyebrows "wow" he commented "I was just expecting the usual answer of 'because I enjoy it' but man that was deep." Livie smiled and ducked her head tucking some of her hair carefully behind her ear.

"So how are you finding Lincoln my dear" Joe asked "It must be very different to Boston." Livie shrugged as she looked down at the bar "it is different yeah but I am enjoying the experience, it's good to get a new perspective on things… but I am definitely looking forward to going home."

"Garcia do you have anything on Mandaville" Hotch asked from the van. "I'm digging into his life but there isn't much to see. He was born in Lincoln and has lived here his entire life, lives about a half mile from your current location. I have his bank account details and it seems squeaky clean. His phone logs suggest that he has a wide circle of friends. He seems to be living his life on line which is fairly common in this day and age. He has subscribed to a lot of porno websites which does say king of perverts especially as most of the websites seem to encourage rape."

"That suggests that he could indeed be part of our gang" Morgan said and Hotch nodded before he looked at Prescott "are your men inside" he asked and Prescott nodded "Agents Galt and Hollins are by the pool tables" he said and Hotch nodded slowly "Livie" he said into the wire microphone "stick with him but be careful."

Prescott grabbed the microphone "see if you can tie him to any of the other girls" he ordered. Hotch gritted his teeth and gave Prescott a withering look which thankfully Prescott didn't see.

Livie hesitated briefly inside the bar before she looked around. "Looking for someone love" Joe asked reaching out to touch her knee gently and his hand slid up her leg towards her hip.

In the van Reid visibly tensed up but JJ quickly placed a soothing hand on his shoulder "easy Reid" she said softly "she's ok." Reid looked over at her desperately and she gave him a smile "she knows the code word if she wants out" she whispered and slowly he nodded.

Back in the bar Livie didn't react to his hand on her leg but she had to force a smile onto her face. "Just a friend" she said "She lives in my dorms and nobody has seen her in a few days, she likes to hang out here and I was hoping that maybe she would be here… we are all worried about her."

"Sounds like you are a good friend" Joe said and Livie smiled. "What is your friend's name?" Joe asked and Livie sighed obviously trying to decide on which of the missing girls to use. It was Rossi who quickly told her who to say and Livie looked back at Joe.

"Her name was Emma Leydon" she said "she was an English Major and was nice to me after I moved here."

"Emma" Joe mused and he looked away. A small smile slipped onto his face before he hid it "I don't recall seeing your friend here recently honey."

"Oh ok" Livie said "ahh well… I'm sure she'll come back soon"

"Indeed" Joe said as his hand slid further up her leg sliding round towards her ass.

"I don't like him" Emily said "but I don't know if he is our guy do you? He could just be someone who is just overly interested in her."

"It is hard to say" Hotch said softly staring at the image of Livie and the guy talking "he does seem off"

"Hey guys" Morgan said slowly "look over here at this guy." Everyone looked round before they crowded round the computer screen to see a man sitting watching Livie and Mandaville intently.

"He looks way too into her" Rossi said and Morgan looked over "it's not that… I have seen him before. He has been watching us. When we first arrived I saw him standing watching us. Like he was trying to see what the police knew. And now he's here… he is following Livie… he saw her go into the station which means he knows she is a cop."

Everyone looked at each other uncertainly before looking back as Joe Mandaville's phone rang and he glanced down before he stood "I'll be back soon love… I just need to take this."

"Ok" Livie said and watched as he made his way out the front door. "Guys" she murmured "I don't like this guy… I think he might be one of the unsubs."

"Livie there is a guy sitting in the corner of the bar… your five o'clock, he has been watching you very intently."

"Yeah I see him" Livie said quietly. As they watched the man slowly stood up and began to make his way towards her reaching into his pocket.

"Go" Hotch said leaping to his feet "Livie get out… go out the back door now" he shouted as they all leapt out of the van sprinting towards the bar

Livie quickly leapt off of the bar stool grabbing her bag and she walked quickly out of the back door. She quickly pulled on her jacket shivering against the cold air. She waited for someone to come and get her.

She shifted from foot to foot before reaching up to her ear wig "hey guys" she said wondering why they were being so quiet over the line "guys… what's happening…?"

She still heard nothing so frowning she began to walk round to the front of the bar to get in the van and wait there.

As she did so she suddenly felt light headed and all of a sudden she staggered. "Whoa" she muttered reaching out to grab the wall. "Yeah knew the heels were a mistake" she grumbled reaching down to yank off the heels that she couldn't walk in.

The dizziness hit her again and her legs gave out on her. That was when she realised what had happened. "Shit" she whispered reaching up to her ear bud. "Spence" she whispered "Spence I…" she trailed off unable to speak.

She let out a gasp and staggered forward struggling towards the end of the ally trying to get to the van. That was when she heard Reid's voice through the ear bud calling "Livie? … Livie… where are you? Livie… We got him but it was a false alarm he's not the guy… Morgan and Rossi are looking for the guy you were with… where are you?"

Livie opened her mouth to respond but no words came out as she staggered before she fell to the ground. She groaned and gasped fighting to stay conscious. She tried to heave herself up muttering "shit shit shit" as she did so. She rolled onto her back as she heard heavy footfalls coming towards her.

'Morgan' she thought 'he's gonna find me.'

A dark figure overshadowed her and she frowned as whoever it was bent over her. "Yes" the figure murmured "I think we will have some fun with you beautiful."

"Livie" she heard Hotch shout "answer us."

Gasping Livie rolled onto her side as she tried desperately to haul herself away "no" she gasped as she tried to raise her voice. She felt arms grabbing her and then she was being lifted up.

Fear gave her the adrenaline that she needed to fight. She thrashed with all her strength before she found her voice.

"No" she screamed "no let me go… help!" she struggled as she heard both Hotch and Reid shouting and the sounds of them running from the bar "Spence" she screamed before a hand fell over her mouth muffling her screams as she was carried backwards.

She heard a van pulling up and then the sounds of the door being yanked open and then she was being thrown inside and the door was being slammed shut.

The drug mixed with an overwhelming feeling of despair washed over her and then she felt arms grabbing her yanking her arms behind her back and she felt zip ties bite into her wrists. She continued to struggle as they placed a piece of duct tape over her mouth. "Knock her out" came an angry voice and then a rag was placed over her mouth and nose. She recognised the sweet smell of chloroform before everything went black.

XO

The moment they entered the bar with their guns raised chaos ensued. People were running left right and centre trying to get out of their way. The man who they were aiming for bolted towards the back door but Morgan instantly leapt on him, grabbing the back of his shirt and slamming him bodily into the wall.

"Move and I'll put a hole in your head asshole" he growled as he pulled out his cuffs and slapped them bodily on. "Hey what's the problem" the man asked as he squirmed "I haven't done anything wrong."

"Oh so stalking isn't wrong" Rossi asked angrily. "Morgan, Rossi step back" Hotch said worried his two agents would get over involved. "Stalking" the guy exclaimed "whoa I wasn't stalking anyone."

"Then why were you spotted outside the police station the other day" Prescott demanded.

"Check my pocket… my jacket pocket"

Slowly Hotch reached in and pulled out some ID. He looked at it before he dropped his hand "Barry Michaels" he read "you're a reporter."

Michaels nodded "I am working the serial rape story… I was watching the police when you brought that girl in. I knew what you were planning to do so I decided to follow. I was hoping that if you caught the guy today then I would be able to have the whole story"

"Well you just jeopardised the whole mission" Prescott said angrily "why the hell were you going up to her."

"I know it was stupid" Michaels said "but I wanted to see if she would give me anything on him you know… for my article"

Hotch groaned and looked around; everyone in the bar was staring at them. "Go check for Mandaville… Morgan … Rossi" he ordered and his two agents quickly headed out.

"Livie" Reid said into his ear wig "… Livie… where are you?" There wasn't an answer and he frowned looking at Hotch who kept his face expressionless. He quickly tried again "Livie… We got him but it was a false alarm he's not the guy… Morgan and Rossi are looking for the guy you were with… where are you?"

Still there was no answer and Reid stared at Hotch frantically. That was when Galt and Hollins appeared. "What are you doing here" Hotch said "you were meant to go with Agent Beckett to keep her safe."

"We thought you would need help with the takedown" Galt defended.

"You left her exposed" Hotch yelled before he spun round, lifting his hand to his ear "Livie" he shouted "answer us."

That was when they suddenly heard screaming and the sounds of fighting and everyone froze "No" Livie was screaming "no let me go… help!" then she was screaming desperately "Spence!"

Instantly Reid was sprinting out of the door feeling terror race through him as he tore out stumbling in his haste to get out. "Livie" he screamed sprinting towards the back of the bar "Livie!"

He heard the sound of a van starting and as he skidded into the alley behind the bar and saw a van speeding away. "No" he yelled as he heard Hotch yelling into his wire. He heard a car start up and then Hotch was pulling up the car beside him "get in" he shouted "Morgan and Rossi are already in pursuit."

Reid scrambled in and then Hotch was gunning the engine speeding away. "Rossi where are you" he asked "heading down 17th street towards the highway" Rossi responded

"Don't lose them" Hotch said switching the sirens on as he skidded onto the main road and began to weave in and out of the traffic.

"Get a licence plate" he ordered. "There isn't one" Morgan said as he called for reinforcements to follow the van, "heading west on O Street, we have an abducted agent I need reinforcements" he shouted.

Reid clung to the side of the car as Hotch skidded onto the highway swerving round cars. Up ahead they saw Morgan and Rossi's car with the lights flashing and Hotch put his foot down. "I knew this was a bad idea" Reid growled "you should never have let her do this Hotch"

"Now is not the time Reid" Hotch said firmly as he came in behind Morgan and Rossi.

"The van just left the highway, heading south and 9th street" Rossi updated and Hotch quickly followed them as they followed the van which took sharp turns in its attempt to escape them. "These guys are good" Hotch muttered as he followed. The van sped up before it shot through a red light and there was a squeal of brakes as cars braked sharply to avoid crashing.

Hotch swore as he slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a car. To the other side Morgan had slammed on his brakes but was already yelling out the window for people to move but as they watched the van turned a corner and vanished from sight.

"No" Reid whispered in horror as he watched Livie get ripped away from him. Hotch was still shouting into the radio before the cars moved enough for the him to slip through and he took off in the direction that the van had headed.

Reid scanned the darkness as they drove before he spotted a van down an alley. "There" he said and Hotch quickly stopped and they both scrambled out, yanking out their guns as they prowled over. They heard a car pull up behind them and Rossi and Morgan quickly joined them.

They all moved forward with their guns raised as they surrounded the van. Hotch yanked open the door and the others copied yanking open all doors. Reid felt his stomach clench as he realised that the van was empty. "Dammit" Morgan shouted slamming the door closed in anger. "Emily get CSU down here" Hotch said into his wire as Rossi reached into the back of the van and picked up an earbud. "It's Livie's" he said "do you think it fell out."

"No" Hotch said as he came round "those are specially designed not to fall out."

"Which means they must have discovered it" Morgan said "Hotch if they found that then they could be onto her."

"I know" Hotch said quietly looking around obviously trying to decide what to do next. He looked at Reid who was staring at him. He looked almost helpless; desperate to do something but he had no idea what to do.

"Tyre tracks" Morgan said suddenly crouching down with his flashlight "they switched cars, they must have had one in case of an emergency."

"Yeah they certainly aren't amateurs" Rossi said coldly.

They heard sirens and another car appeared and JJ, Emily and Prescott all scrambled out and ran over. "What happened? Where is she?" JJ asked frantically. She then saw the broken look on Reid's face and she placed her hands over her mouth. "Oh god no" she whispered.

"What happened?" Prescott demanded coming forward "I thought you were right on their tail? How did you lose them?"

"Oh you are blaming us" Morgan burst out "after your men left her exposed when they were meant to go with her to protect her."

"Hey don't turn this on me and my men" Prescott shouted "we went in after the journalist you pointed out."

"Enough" Hotch shouted angrily "that is enough"

"Well I am not just going to sit by whilst your agents lay into me" Prescott said "it isn't our fault."

"Yes it is" Reid suddenly exploded leaping forward "this is all your fault. You sent her into the crosshairs, you put her in danger… she wouldn't be in danger right now if it wasn't for you… you made her go undercover if it weren't for you she would be safe at home right now."

"You had better calm down boy before you say something that will get you into trouble" Prescott warned "so we can focus on finding your little friend… if they didn't kill her as soon as they found that ear bud."

Reid shocked everyone then by leaping forward and punching Prescott hard across the jaw sending his head flying back and he staggered. "You little…" he began moving back towards Reid who leapt back at him too before Morgan grabbed him yanking him backwards. "This is your fault you son of a bitch" Reid yelled struggling to get past Morgan who held him back "she's missing because of you."

"Reid calm down" Morgan shouted "you have to calm down… you aren't helping Livie right now… you hear me"

"Morgan… JJ… take him back to the station" Hotch said "we had the agents take that reporter back to the station. See what you can get from him…"

Morgan nodded and carefully pushed Reid towards the car with JJ right behind him.

The drive back was mostly silent. Neither JJ nor Morgan knew what to say and Reid was sat silently in the back staring straight ahead looking like he was in shock.

When they arrived at the precinct Reid headed over to the murder board and began to re-read all the information on the board as though praying that he would find something that would tell him exactly where Livie was.

Morgan looked at JJ and jerked his head toward the interview room and they quickly headed over to where Barry Michaels was waiting.

As soon as they entered he leapt up. "Look when can I do" he demanded "I have to pick my daughter up from her mother's tomorrow morning"

"Shut up and sit down" Morgan said bluntly "you are not going anywhere until we have finished with you."

"What's that supposed to mean" Michaels defended as he sank into the chair "what's going on… what happened to the agent and the date."

"That agent was abducted by the same people who have been taking the other girls and killing them" Morgan said angrily "it happened when you interfered with the case and she was left exposed."

Michaels stared at them. "What" he eventually stammered "oh god."

"Yes" JJ said gently, sitting down opposite him to play good cop "and we need you to tell us everything you know about this case… you might be able to help save her and any of the other girls that are still alive."

"But I don't know much" Michaels said "if I knew stuff do you really think I would be following the police around."

"To get an exclusive maybe" JJ suggested "and you might know something that you don't even think is important... can you tell me everything you know…"

"Yeah I guess" Michaels said leaning forward and JJ looked over her shoulder at Morgan "I got this" she whispered.

Morgan slowly nodded before he turned and headed out of the room. Outside he could see that most of the precinct was alive with activity, the news of Livie's abduction had obviously spread and now they were all working harder than ever.

He looked over to Reid and saw that he was sitting with his head in his hands. Slowly he moved over to him. "Hey Reid" he said and after a few moments Reid looked up. "I can't focus" he whispered "I can't profile… I can't do anything… all I can think about is the fact that she is in danger and there is nothing I can do to help her."

"Yes you can" Morgan said "you need to be strong for Livie you understand."

"But I can't stop worrying that I'll never see her again" Reid whispered.

"Hey" Morgan said "don't think like that… you will see her again… I promise you we are not going to give up until she is safe… do you hear me? She is one of us and we are going to protect our family as we always do."

Reid looked up at him and Morgan saw that there were tears in his eyes and Morgan knew that he was struggling to believe in what he said. But he rubbed his hand over his eyes and blinked before he nodded and stood up "do we have anything" he asked.

"Not yet" Morgan said "we are questioning witnesses, gathering surveillance videos, scouring the van for evidence. JJ is talking to Michaels right now. We will find something."

Reid just groaned and ran his hand through his hair praying that they would find something to help them find Livie.

It was nearly an hour later when JJ came out of the interrogation room and Morgan rose to his feet. "Did he know anything" he asked and JJ sighed "I don't think so" she said "but I don't think we should just let him go right now"

Morgan nodded "I am not planning to let anyone go until Livie is back" he said. JJ looked over his shoulder at Reid. "How's he doing" she asked and Morgan sighed running his hand over the top of his head "as you'd expect" he said.

"Scuse me Agents" came a voice and they looked over to see a uniform standing beside them. "Someone dropped this off at the front desk… it's addressed to one of your own" he held out an envelope.

Frowning Morgan took it and looked at it. All it was addressed to was 'Spence.'

Frowning Morgan looked over at Reid before he slowly ripped the envelope open and a disk fell out. The frown deepened and after glancing at JJ, Morgan moved over to a laptop and sat down. Slowly he slid the disk into the slot and as a video came up he carefully pressed play.

As the screen lit up JJ let out a horrified gasp and across the room Reid's head snapped up and he flew across the room at the sound of the pained cries coming from the computer. "Spence no you don't need to see that" JJ implored catching hold of him but he shoved past her.

The moment he saw the screen he froze and stared in horror before staggering backwards. Swearing under his breath Morgan pulled out his phone and called his boss.

"Hotch it's me" he said "you need to get back here right now… yeah they sent us a video… it's of Livie…"

'Never was anything great achieved without danger' Niccolo Machiavelli