deep end, cm [ 1 ]

065. mayhem

"David." Spencer calls as he rushes over to Rossi. "I heard on the radio. I tried the others, but--"

"The cell phone system is crashing." Rossi informs.

"A car bomb. Did they say where?" Spencer asks.

"No." Rossi says. "Can you recall every site where the shootings occurred?"

"Uh, Hell's Kitchen, Murray Hill, lower East Side, Chinatown." Spencer lists.

"All right, if our profile is correct and all 8 murders were tests to gauge response times, we're looking at 8 suicide bombers who are about to hit every one of those locations." Rossi says. "Call homeland security. Tell them to pour troops into all of those sites."

"Actually, if we're correct, there'll be 16 suicide bombers." Spencer says.

"16?" Rossi asks.

"Yeah, we predicted that they'll hit the second wave of emergency responders also." Spencer says.

"Breaking news now." They turn to the TV. "We are just getting an update. The bomb is now reported to have been inside an SUV. A black SUV parked just blocks from 26 Federal Plaza."

Spencer's throat dries, his breathing staggering for a moment. He can feel his heart start to rapidly beat as his anxiety skyrockets.

Rossi picks up the phone and calls Penelope.

"Where are you?" He asks. "Can you see anything?" He asks. "We got on the news it was an SUV that exploded. A black SUV within blocks of the Federal Plaza. Now, do you have eyes there? I'm here with Reid, but I don't know where anyone else is. And, Garcia... find them." He hangs up.

~ ~ ~

Emily's phone rings and she answers it.

"Is everyone okay?" Emily asks. She gives the phone to Jessica, the brunette putting it on speaker.

"Pen?" Jessica asks.

"I've spoken to Rossi and Reid and Morgan's on the line." Penelope informs. Jessica lets out a breath of relief at hearing her boyfriend's name, a weight lifting off her shoulders.

"Emily, Jess, where are you?" Derek asks.

"We're following Detective Brustin to one of the NYPD's critical incident command posts." Emily says.

"One of them?" Penelope asks.

"Yeah, after 9/11 they decentralized. They had way too many eggs in one basket on that day." Derek says.

"Has anyone talked to JJ?" Penelope asks.

"She was headed back to the hotel." Jessica says.

"In an SUV?" Penelope asks.

"I think so." Emily says, her voice cracking a bit.

"Stay with me a minute. I'll dial her mobile." Penelope says.

"What was that? What happened?" Derek asks after JJ's voicemail cuts off.

"It went dead mid-message." Penelope says.

"Try her again. She's probably back at--" Emily stops when she hears the phone beep. "What happened?"

"It-it cut out. The call dropped." Jessica says. She tries to call Penelope, but it doesn't work. "Fuck."

+++

"These are stills from all the murder sites." Rossi says.

"Garcia had us on conference and the system crashed." Emily says, her and Jessica rushing over, her voice making Rossi and Spencer turn to her.