Give You Hell (Criminal Minds)

1.05 - Gut Feeling

"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good" ~ John Steinbeck

It has now been a week since Matteo's accident. He was let out of hospital yesterday and was now back home. Unfortunately, because of the internal bleeding, he can't go back to work for another few weeks, which he was fine with. However, I was not. Being locked up in the house all of the time has caused him to start acting out. It was scary. I was scared.

"You feeling okay?" I ask, walking into our bedroom where he was resting.

"Baby, I'm fine. Don't worry about me" He smiles, pecking my lips quickly.

"But I do worry about you" I admit, "And I'm never letting you drive my car again"

I had gone out and gotten a new car while Matteo was in the hospital. The accident had left my car a wreck so I thought it would be easier to just get a new one rather than try and get that one fixed.

I was about the say something to him when my phone starts ringing, "It's Hotch" I tell him as he lets out a small sigh, "Yeah?" I ask, answering the call.

"I know it's your day off but I need you to come in for a case. Patricia Davenport has been kidnapped" 

"Okay. I'll be in as soon as I can" I tell him before ending the call and looking at Matteo, "I'm sorry, baby. There's been a kidnapping"

Matteo sighs, "You can't even get one day off? You know, I think I should march down there and give Aaron Hotchner a piece of my mind" He growls, taking a swig from  the water bottle on the table. Unfortunately, something tells me it's not full of water. Maybe its the smell of alcohol on his breath that gives it away.

"Please, just leave it. This is my job, Matteo"

"Yeah, it's always about your job, isn't it?" He shouts, throwing the water bottle at me. Thankfully, it missed my head, but in the process of dodging the bottle, I didn't see the book flying towards my head. "Baby... Wait, no, I'm sorry" He slurs, but I'm already rushing out the door.

***

I made it to work just in time for everybody to crowd into the conference room. I managed to sneak in but, like always, JJ saw me show up a little later than everybody else and sends me a worried look, "Ziggy... your head"

"Yeah, I, uh... I walked into a door. Tried to push when I should've pulled. How long do we have?" I ask, directing my questions towards Hotch.

"Until 8 o'clock tonight" He sighs before Reid starts to read the ransom note, 

"You will follow instructions carefully. You will do this to ensure the safety of your daughter. You will wait for the call. You will answer the call at 8pm. You will write down the instructions and follow them to the letter"

"That gives us less than nine hours to get to Connecticut, work up victimology on Trish Davenport, and prepare her father for the random drop" Hotch tells us.

"How do we know the letter's real?" Dad asks.

"Handwriting is a match for Trish's. He dictated it to her. And they found saline on the paper"

"Her tears" I realise, my heart breaking slightly for the girl. She must be terrified. 

"He never says I" Morgan points out, "He doesn't say I will call. He says you will answer the call. He's distancing himself from the kidnapping. If he said I he'd be taking responsibility for it"

"There's also another missing element" Hotch adds.

"No mention of the police" Elle answers, "Ransom notes almost always forbid police involvement"