Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season Two

P911: Final Part

Penelope came back with the location of the camp that Peter's shirt belonged to. It's the only lead you have right now, and you have to at least try and make this work. Mount Pleasant surely won't remember a boy Peter's age especially with a shirt as worn down as his. You're in a car with Gideon, Katie, and Hotch while Spencer, Elle, and Derek are in another car.

"Is she sure about this?" Katie casts her doubts.

"If Penelope says that tadpole shirt came from a unit in Mount Pleasant, then I gotta believe her. There are less than half a dozen where they could be, but I believe her when she says it's that one."

"She better be. Mount Pleasant is sixty miles away and there's only two hours left on the auction clock," Hotch sighs.

"Maybe. If the unsub knows we're on to him, he may move that clock up."

"Think this guy's gonna panic?"

"I don't know. Depends on his comfort level. Maybe getting close to auction time, he can wait it out. I know one thing: I can't lose Peter again," Katie sighs.

"Well, let's just hope JJ bought us some time."

Hotch requested that JJ make a fake news report on Peter. If the unsub found out that Howard was arrested before you messaged him in the chat room, then you know he will be watching any and all news updates on the kid he's holding. JJ used her connections to get reporters to make a fake news report about the FBI moving to a different town thinking they caught their suspect there. If the unsub sees this, then he might turn the video feed back online long enough for you to catch him. As soon as JJ did that, Penelope got back to you that the video feed turned back on. As soon as you got the news, you shared it with your group.

"The site went dark for a few minutes and then came back online," you announce.

"So, he believes the story JJ fed to the media," Gideon nods.

"But we've only got an hour left. Tadpoles are affiliated with a church. It's a good idea to stop there as well."

"When we get to Mount Pleasant, Elle and Morgan should go to the church. We'll take the school. Peter may be registered there," Gideon suggests.

"That sounds good."

"I gave up on him. A year ago, I gave up on looking for him. There were so many other kids," Katie sighs sadly.

"Katie, I'm sure you did what you could."

"You ever ask yourself how you make a decision like that? How do we come to the conclusion that it's time to move on to the next kid? How do you give yourself that kind of permission? What's happened to that boy in the year I stopped looking for him?"

"That's something you can't answer, and I promise that I'll try and give you as many answers as I can, but it's important to look to the future. If—when you save him now, you would have prevented a lifetime of this shit happening to him. That's all the matters, and that's all you can control. Believe me," you try to make her feel better.

Elle, Spencer, and Derek reach the church before you get to the school. Though, when you do arrive, you waste no time talking to the very normal school principal. As soon as you show the picture of Peter to her, she grows concerned.

"This boy's in a terrible state."

"But do you recognize him? Please look carefully," Gideon urges.

She takes out her glasses to get a closer look, and shakes her head.

"You said his appearance may have been altered?"