lullabies through the window

Five: Case Closed?

Mark Adams sat at the metal table in the interrogation room, and the team stared at him through the two way mirror.

"He looks nicer in person..." Garcia said in a hushed voice.

"Who's gonna talk to him?" Morgan asked, crossing his arms.

"We don't know if he kidnapped the women or if he's being targeted by them. I think it's best to just have someone talk to him before we decide to mess with his head." Hotch resolved.

"Okay... so who's gonna talk to him?" Emily asked, a small smile at the corners of her lips.

"I can." Morgan volunteered. He just wanted this to be over already. 

As Morgan walked steadily into the interrogation room with the case file and the pictures of the  unsubs, Mark looked up from his clutched hands on the table.

"Why am I here?" He asked softly, searching Morgan's eyes. Morgan couldn't help but feel pity; the man was genuinely confused. 

Morgan started,"We have reason to believe you may be involved in the recent murders happening-"

"No, no, I promise I'm not. But I know who it is, they hate me, they promised they'd kill me as soon as they could get their hands on me."

"Would it happen to be these women?" Morgan slid the pictures of Amber Richards, Sarah Marks and Margo fields across the table. His eyes widened when he saw them.

"Th- that's them!" He stuttered. "Are- are you going to help me survive? Are you going to stop them?"

"That's our plan..." Morgan said slowly. As Adams stared at the pictures on the table, Morgan  turned to the mirror. With a subtle look, he communicated to the others that Adams wasn't lying. Morgan turned back to Adams.

"Have they made any contact with you?" Morgan asked. 

Mark snapped his head up, looking back up. "I haven't seen them... but I can't imagine it wouldn't be anyone else... they send me videos..."

"What?" Morgan asked. This was only getting weirder.

"Yeah." He breathed shakily. "Videos... and photos, and audio recordings... I never finished them, they were... men getting tortured. They all looked like me... I couldn't help but feel like... it was me. If they get to me it will be. And what's stopping them?"

"Well, us, hopefully soon." Morgan sighed. "Did you throw out the photos and videos, or-"

"I threw out all the pictures, I didn't know what to do, they- they still- but I have the videos. I saved them in case I had to come to the police. At first I thought it was a joke or something, you know? I didn't realize it was real. I thought it was someone trying to 'make me feel bad for what I've done', again.  And then I recognized the man in one of the last videos, he looked like the man on the news... I just, I was going to get help as soon as I noticed, but..."

"Okay. Thank you for your cooperation." Morgan stood up to leave.

"You- you'll catch the right? I don't ... want to end up like them..."

Morgan and Mark Adams met eyes. 

"We'll do everything we can." He said quietly. "None of them will get to you... I won't let it happen."

He said it reassuringly to Adams, but in his head, it was a promise, to his partner, his best friend, his little brother. Spencer Reid.

When Morgan opened the door, Emily was the only team member in the room.

"Hey, the unsubs have just been arrested." She said after Morgan closed the door. "Looks like they got desperate. The case is closing." 

Morgan was taken aback. "What? Really?"

They began walking back to the bullpen, where the rest of the team was.

"Well, the police apparently arrested them while they were hanging around across the street of Mark's apartment. We won't be having to do any reports or anything. Strauss took us off the case while you were interrogating, so-"

Morgan was shocked. "What? Why?"

"Because we 'weren't getting far enough fast enough'. It got reassigned to a different team. They're going to interrogate the unsubs right now."

"We weren't getting far enough in the two days we were working on it. Yeah, all we did was identify the next victim and find out who committed the murders. We've done absolutely nothing." Morgan gesticulated violently.

"Hey, I know. I wanted to catch these people, too. But it sounds like they already did. At least this whole ordeal is over. I'm so tired, what time is it?" Emily sighed. 

Morgan checked his watch as they walked. "8:48." 

"Man, what happened to the old 9-5? Strauss should appreciate us more." Emily stifled a yawn.

And so the team, went their separate ways. They all went to their homes. 

They looked forward to a 

quiet

peaceful

night.

All was well.

Then the clock struck 11:43.