Unshed Blood | Criminal Minds

chapter six - discovery

present time

CHAPTER SIX

[THIRD PERSON POV]

THE TEAM had found the latest location of where Arlo Hale resided. They had arrived with a SWAT team, all hidden discreetly so that it didn't scare Arlo into hiding. Hotch was organizing the tactical team at the beginning as Derek Morgan stood directly behind him, his gun already raised with a stern look etched across his face.

"We go in silently, do not make any noise or else we might scare him away." Hotch said into his mic, his own gun was held up without any hesitation. He gestured with his hand for them to follow him in and then quietly opened the door to allow them into the small home.

They checked through the area of the home, every room until they came up empty. They met back up into the middle of the room, huddling together with angered expressions. Again, they had come up empty in finding him.

"The house is clean." Derek announced to them all.

Reid was silent, his thoughts running wild as he looked around the room, Rossi noticed this. "What are you thinking, Reid?"

"I-I just, if this man is a hitman, then he wouldn't have it out in the open. He would have a special room of all of his weapons and everything he needs to complete a killing." Reid stuttered out, his cheeks flushing a light pink due to all the attention on him.

"The kids right, we need to look for a discrete room." Derek nodded, he turned back around leaving the living room and walked back up to Arlo's bedroom. He pressed his knuckles onto the walls, until he paused. "JJ, come here."

JJ walked over to him, helping him move the wardrobe out of the way where he ran his fingers over the wall, stopping his movements when he saw there was a slight break in the wall. He broke it open without hesitation, eyes widening when he saw the long corridor it led down. "Let's go." He announced to JJ, holding his gun which had the flashlight attached to it as they walked carefully down the long and narrow hideaway.

"We got a door." JJ informed the rest of the team; she had been keeping them updated all throughout the process of finding the secret room.

Derek and JJ walked through the secret passage, stopping in front of the steel door that was in front of them. Unfortunately for them, they were unable to get through because of a keypad on the side of the door. Derek rolled his eyes before getting out his phone to call Garcia again, "Hey, baby girl. We got a keypad on the side of this steel door. Any chance you can unlock it?"

"A keypad? No chance." Penelope sighed. "Sorry, my loves."

"It's alright." Derek ended the call, "It must be of significance to him or it's a random number."

"Try his birthday first." JJ suggested as Derek typed in into the keypad, however, it flashed red. "Garcia mentioned that he has two daughters, maybe it's one of their birthdays instead?"

"Which one do I go with first?" Derek questioned, they didn't know if they only had a certain amount of tries before it alerted Arlo or even worse, shut them out for good. "I'm gunna call Penelope again."

He dialed her number again, putting it on speaker. "We only just ended the call, miss me already?"

Derek chuckled, a smile brightening his mood up. "You know I do, baby girl. But I need you to look into his children for me. See if he had any favorites or anything that can help me crack this code."

"I'm on it like a rocket, hold please." Penelope announced in a cherry tone before typing away on her computer. "Now this is interesting. Seems here that Sybil works as a schoolteacher whilst Soren works in a business company. There are photos of the girls, but it seems from the outside that Soren is the protective one, clearly...Arlo has favorites."

"Which one is it?" JJ asked her.

"Soren. Her birthday is August 1st, 1985." Penelope informed them and soon enough, the light pinged green, and they entered the room as she ended the call for them.

"The rest of the team need to see this." Derek looked to JJ who nodded in agreement.

The team had been called down as they gathered down to the secret passage, all of their expressions portraying a shocked emotion as they looked around the room. The walls were lined with semi-automatic weapons and knifes, along with draws that also contained weapons. In the middle of the room was a metal table.

"I guess this is where he keeps all of his weapons." Emily snickered under her breath. "Damn. How does one man even manage to get so many weapons in one small room?"

"He's clearly been collecting them for a long time." Rossi commented. "Our job now is to find Arlo Hale and bring him in."

Reid walked around the room, looking around when a note attached to the desk caught his eye. "Hey, guys. Look at this."

He brought it over to the table, opening it in front of them all as the team peered over each other's shoulders trying their best to read it. They read the note in front of them which was specifically addressed to them. "He knows we are onto him."

To, the FBI's 'best' team.

I know you're looking for me, try and catch up with me if you can.

See you soon.

- AH.

"He's trying to scare us, but it's not going to work." Hotch told them all. "We are not going to stop until we catch him. I don't care how long it takes but threatening my team will not prevent any of us from catching Arlo Hale."

"Damn right." Rossi nodded his head firmly. "Let's get to work then, we're on a tight schedule."