J.J kept her eyes closed as Luke carried her on the empty Montana roads. She knew that any moment their captors could emerge from behind. His strides on the uneven terrain were making her fairly nauseous as well. So with her eyes closed she pictured Henry, so innocent and untouched. Before him, she hadn't put much faith into tales of mothers going beyond human abilities to save or be with their children. Now she was a firm believer.
Before she knew it, Luke came to a sudden halt. Once again she was immersed in the darkness of the Montana night, but she could faintly see buildings a few feet away. There was an old fashioned general store, an archaic movie theater, a decaying post office and the restaurant. If her feet weren't in so much pain she would have run towards it. There had to be a phone in there, she thought, it was their only way to be rescued in time.
"Luke, can you look for the shoes and socks? I'm going to find us something to eat," J.J asked motioning to the restaurant only ten feet away.
The truth was she was still hesitant about trusting Luke. She didn't know what would or wouldn't set him off. He was obviously emotionally attached to her now and she didn't want him thinking she was trying to leave him.
"But the doctor said I need to protect you…" he started with a pained expression.
"I know, Luke, but I need to go in there. Please," she practically begged. Her mind was far too muddled to come up with a viable excuse.
"I'm coming with you," he declared, standing his ground.
"Okay, let's go then," she agreed, slightly frustrated. If he tried to prevent her from using the phone she would be stuck with another foe.
J.J pushed opened the creaky, wooden door with a metal screen open slowly, but forgot about the bell affixed to the top. She cringed at the melodic ring and stopped for a moment to make sure the coast was clear.
The shop was dark and also as putrid as she remembered. A patch of moonlight filtering in through the door was the only illumination. She knew turning on the lights would only expose their location. They would have to make do in the dark.
From what she could see, there was nothing on the counter except for the ancient cash register and a stand with "What the Do in Montana" pamphlets. No, it wouldn't be out in the open, she thought. Reaching out, she found the break in the counter that flipped up to get to the other side. A hand suddenly grabbed her wrist. J.J gasped, but realized it was Luke.
"Mamma said no one can go back there," Luke said in a borderline robotic monotone.
"It's okay, she won't find out," J.J said calmly, using her Mom voice.
"But- but they always do! And then they'll take you away," he argued in a state of panic.
Tears began to roll down his ruddy face. J.J did not have time for this, but she also needed her only defender to keep it together.
"Luke, I don't know how much long I have. I have to call for help," she lied.
"But I'm going to help," he said quietly.
"Yes, you've already helped me so much," J.J said, putting a hand on his enormous forearm.
Luke merely nodded, but he seemed to relax. J.J took that as her cue to keep going.
The awful smell seemed to grow worse as she went toward the kitchen, hidden behind a pair of rusted, metal swinging doors. She cautiously pushed them open and plunged into total darkness. Although she couldn't see, J.J heard the sound of rats scurrying around and the stench of what she now recognized as death. She didn't have a choice now; she needed to turn on the light. The agent felt along the wall beside her for a light switch, but to no avail. However, she felt it on the other side.
The fluorescent shock of the light made her wince as the lights filled the room. Her heart stopped as her eyes located the cause of the smell. Three majorly decomposed bodies were strewn out on the dirty tile floor.
They were right behind the wall when they first pulled in, she thought. How did they not recognize the smell? The heat was distracting, sure, but now it seemed so clear. It was like they walked right into it.
She looked behind her and saw Luke with his head down in mourning. At least they were able to save one soul on this excursion. Although he was an accessory, Luke didn't belong in prison. He needed help. She hoped a judge would see that.
Luke broke the silence.
"It's over there," he announced suddenly, pointing towards a meat crank.
Beside it, however, was an old phone. J.J felt the adrenaline return to her system and practically ran toward the tan, rotary design landline. Hands shaking, she dialed.
Garcia
Nothing about this was okay. Her hands were shaking and her stomach was in knots. Garcia was used to having information at the palm of her hand, but right now all she could do was wait for some sign of life from her teammate's cell phones.
Morgan comforted her the best he could earlier, but she could still hear that tone of realism and doubt he often exposed in these situations. She couldn't blame him. The entire team seemed to trigger Murphy's Law more often than not – especially her friends who were missing.
Will called her last night after not being able to get in contact with J.J. She'd been a little more optimistic at that point. They had only been missing for a few hours. She promised to keep him updated and it broke her heart that they still didn't have anything to go on. Yes, they discovered there were an alarming number of disappearances in the area, but that didn't lead to a location. Now it was a waiting game.
She jumped as her system notified her of an incoming call. Since it was a landline, the location popped up on the screen: Montana. But why would Morgan or Hotch being using a landline… or?
"This is Garcia," she said nervously, accepting the call.
"Oh my god, Garcia, it's J.J," J.J said, giving an audible sigh of relief.
"Jayge, what happened to you guys? Are you okay? Is everyone else okay?" Garcia said, speeding through her words in exasperation.
There was a brief moment of silence. Garcia broke it.
"Jayge? What? What happened?" she said teary-eyed.
"A… a-lot. We were out of gas and we got stuck in this town. Ismay, it's called Ismay. And we went to this house to use there phone, but they drugged us… and things got really bad Pen. Reid helped me escape and… I don't know if they're okay," J.J said, gradually breaking down into tears.
Penelope didn't know what to say. Had she heard J.J right? They'd basically been held captive in the middle of nowhere and here she was sitting in her little cubicle, she thought. Now she was going to do something, something to help.
"J.J just stay where you are. I can send your direct location to Hotch and the team and they'll get to you in no time," Garcia stated, regaining the strength of her voice.
"Okay, I can do tha…" she said before silencing.
"Jayge?"
"Luke…" Garcia heard J.J's voice say faintly.
"J.J, what's going on?" Garcia asked in desperation.
The line went dead.