Army Brat

Chap 2 "First Bad Memory"

Morgan's POV
“I have to side with Scarlett on this one,” I replied. I wasn’t going to question how Scarlett knew that information yet. “Won’t it turn out the same?”
“We have a starting point,” Katie replied. “The location where the image was first discovered was in a chat room. It’s hosted by an independent web company in Cleveland, Ohio.” We looked at her. “And this time, I’m bringing you all in with me.”
“Let’s get to work,” Hotch replied. “Scarlett and Morgan, you’ll be working together. Grab your go bags.” We all got onto the BAU’s private jet and took off. “Katie, we’re all yours.”
“The image was uploaded to one of our CAC undercovers fishing in a chat room,” Katie replied. “We try to monitor as many of them as we can, pretending to be children, pedophiles, whatever works on that site.”
“Did you run forensic linguistics on that chat log?” Hotch asked. “There might be something to Hugz’ speech patterns.”
“It doesn’t really work that way with IM,” Scarlett replied. Hotch looked at her. “Sorry, us teenagers call it IM but I guess the formal word for it is internet talk.” I looked at her. “Most of the talk is abbreviated text. LOL is laughing out loud. IMHO, in my humble opinion. FTF—”
“Face to face,” I replied.
“Right,” Scarlett nodded. “Pedophiles can be divided into two categories: situational and preferential.”
“I have one question,” I held my hand up. “Why do we need Katie when we got Scarlett? She seems to have all the information in her head.”
“Excuse me?” Scarlett asked.
“I’m just saying you know a lot about this case and you’re just now starting,” I replied. “Don’t you find that a little suspicious? I mean, how do you know all of this?”
“Look, here, Mr. Know-It-All, I am here to help the team and just start my career,” Scarlett replied. “I’ve never had a laptop. The only thing closest to technology was my cell, that I had given to me on my sixteenth birthday. And to top that all off, I am not the one you’re looking for.” I looked at her. “I may not be officially in the FBI yet but at least you have two people here that know about the case.” Scarlett moved and went to go sit next to Hotch. “At least have a brain.”
“Moving on,” Hotch replied. “Situational offenders rarely seek out children, but they’ll take advantage of a situation when presented with it, whereas preferential offenders actively target children by age group, hair color. They’ll seek out jobs which give them as much access to children as possible.”
“They often trawl around residential neighborhoods, hijacking home wireless systems and communicating with children often outside the very house the child is in,” Katie replied. “Or they’ll simply use a wireless coffee shop to find, locate, and arrange a meeting. And it’s growing. It’s growing as fast as the internet. They’re getting smarter and smarter and all the security in the world can’t stop them from coming through our doors. Hell, the monsters are already in our homes.”
“If he’s had this kid for a year, it makes him preferential,” I replied. “But why is he selling him?”
“Maybe he’s losing interest,” Katie responded. “Peter’s maybe getting too old, too tall. Preferential offenders are very specific about their preferences.”
“And if he can’t sell him, I don’t know,” Scarlett sighed. “He isn’t going to just let him go, though.”
“Hotch?” JJ popped up on the screen. “Shouldn’t we release Peter’s picture to the media?”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Scarlett nodded. “If this unsub thinks that we’re on to him, he may make a run for it and dispose of the boy.”
“Shouldn’t we assume he does know?” Rossi asked.
“As I said, we intercepted this image as part of an undercover operation,” Katie replied. “These predators have a fairly closed society. Any altercations and he’ll shut down the bidding and possibly kill Peter.”
“You and Reid check the live feed,” Hotch replied. “Not just the boy but everything around him – the room. See if we missed anything.”
“Okay,” JJ sighed.
We ended the conversation and Hotch looked at Scarlett. “Scarlett, how do you know a lot about this case?” Hotch asked.
“A year ago, my dad was stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground Army Base in Aberdeen, Maryland,” Scarlett replied. “Agent Katie Cole found me playing with kids on the playground across from the military yard. Agent Cole talked to my dad and that it’ll be great for a civilian to play as bait for this particular unsub.”
“But a year ago, Scarlett looked like a young ten-year-old girl,” Katie replied.
“It’s amazing what a little makeup and workout can do to the body,” Scarlett replied. “It's been a year.” She sighed. “We were close to catching Peter. Katie fell for the unsub’s deal and we lost Peter.”
“My mistake,” Katie nodded.
“Yeah, your mistake cost me a scar on my back and a flesh wound to my left shoulder,” Scarlett replied. “I’m not entirely happy that I got the scars. I had to drop one of my dream careers that I had.”
“And that was?” I asked.
“Modeling,” Scarlett replied. “I auditioned, they loved me. Until they saw the scar on my back and shoulder. So, thanks to you, I had to choose a different path.” I was surprised Scarlett would go for such a path. “But it’s okay. I found a new job. It’s right here with the FBI’s BAU in Quantico.”
“You’re going to be spending a long time with us,” I smiled. “Just know, hope you got plenty of sleep the past few years, because this is where sleepless nights start.” We landed and went to the web company with the search warrant. We walked inside. “FBI! We have a warrant to search these premises. Stop what you’re doing right now.” Hotch handed Scarlett a gun and her badge. “Can somebody tell me who owns this place?”
“That would be me,” a guy replied.
“I want access to your chat room databases,” Katie stated. “Scarlett, manage the front door. No one comes in or goes out.”
“Got it,” Scarlett nodded as she stood outside. Five minutes later the team walked out. I grabbed Scarlett and got her in the SUV with me. “What the hell, Morgan?”
“Put this on,” I stated, handing her a bulletproof vest she did. “We found another kid held captive.” We got to the house and got out. She withdraw her gun. We ran to the front door. “Here we go.” I kicked the door down. “FBI!”
We checked the first floor. “Clear!” Scarlett called. “Second floor! That music is pretty loud.” We followed Hotch upstairs. “FBI!”
We busted into the room that was playing loud music and had the nameKevin on the door. “FBI!” I exclaimed.
We walked in with our guns. “What are you doing?” the boy asked.
“Where is he?” Hotch asked.
“Where is who?” the boy, Kevin, asked.
“It’s clear,” I checked the room.
“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” Gideon nodded.
“Safe?” Kevin asked.
“The man who did this to you, is he still here?” Hotch asked.
“It’s my house,” Kevin replied.
“Graham Rose is the owner of this house,” Scarlett replied. “Where is he?”
“No, no, do not touch that,” Katie stopped him from touching the computers. “Where is he?”
“He’s gone,” Kevin replied.
“What do you mean gone?” Katie asked.
“Graham Rose is your father?” Gideon asked.
“You can call him that,” Kevin shrugged. “I just call him a bastard.”
“Great,” I sighed. We took off our vest and walked downstairs. “His father’s been in the jail the past eight months. In that time, Kevin’s been selling the only thing he’s got, which is himself.”
“Just like a street hustler,” Scarlett nodded. “Only now the street is the internet.”
“And his client base spans the globe,” Gideon sighed.
“I need to think,” Scarlett sighed as she walked outside.
“I’ll go talk to her,” I replied. “Just figure something out here.”