deep end, cm [ 1 ]

006. broken mirror

"So what happened with you and Jess at the Bruins game?" Derek asks.

"Top secret." Spencer says.

"Derek." A woman calls. "Hey. I put the transcript from the last prison interview on your desk." She tells him.

"Okay. It wasn't classified rush." Derek says. "You could have sent it inter office."

"I could have." She smiles, walking away.

The two men turn as two women smile at Derek while walking by.

"Must be tough, man." Spencer quips.

"Not really." Derek chuckles.

"What do you mean? You don't do anything and these women are throwing themselves at you." Spencer says.

"Strictly off limits, Reid." Derek says.

"There's no code of conduct that says agents can't socialize." Spencer says.

"Well, see, my code of survival says never mess with a woman who carries a gun." Derek says.

"Oh, you are smart." Jessica smiles.

"Ha, ha." Derek fake laughs.

Elle brushes past them, going to Hotch's office.

"Reid, Taylor, Morgan." They look up to where Hotch is walking out of his office with Elle. "The document's up on the screen regarding the kidnapping of Trish Davenport."

"Have you read them yet?" Spencer asks as they all make their way to the round table room.

"Yeah, I got a copy from the document examiner." Hotch states.

"What's it say?" Derek asks.

"That we've got until 8:00 tonight." Hotch says.

~ ~ ~

""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 8:00 PM. You will write down the instructions and follow them to the letter."" Spencer reads.

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

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

"Uh..." Hotch changes the image on the screen. "Handwriting is a match for Trish's. He dictated it to her, and they found saline on the paper." He zooms in on three spots on the paper.

"Her tears." Gideon notes.

"He never says "I."" Derek comments. "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 notes.

"No mention of the police. Ransom notes almost always forbid police involvement." Elle says.

"So is he expecting law enforcement to get involved?" Hotch asks.

"Well, if he's expecting us, let's not disappoint him." Gideon says.

+++

"Everyone familiar with the father?" Hotch asks as the team sit on the plane.

"Evan Davenport, U.S. attorney, executive assistant, southern district, New York. Widower, assigned U.S. marshals three times in the past ten years due to death threats." Spencer recalls.