The Keeping of Words | Spencer Reid

1 |An Unusual Suspect

"It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone. Never let anyone tell you that what you are doing is insignificant." –Desmond Tutu

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," the red-haired man before them said, leading the team up a flight of stairs.

"Oh, believe me, we've had shorter," Rossi replied. "And more urgent as well."

"Either way, we're glad to have you here." He pushed open glass double-doors into a conference room not all that unlike their own in Quantico.

A small group sat around a table full of file folders, and as they entered, the woman in the center of them stood in greeting. She was tall, black, and serious-looking.

"You must be the team from the BAU," she said. "Thank you for coming. My name is Dr. Josephine Baker. I'm a legal advisor at the New York Office of the United Nations. Allow me to introduce you to my own team." She gestured around the circle to each person in turn, moving from her left to her right. "You've already met Jonathan Turner." The red-haired man took his seat at the table. "He and Marcus Marius are both lawyers." Marius was bald, with thick glasses. "Judge Kana Mogami is here from the International Criminal Court." A middle-aged Japanese woman looked up from the notes she was taking. "Elise VanBuren works for Amnesty International." The pale lady with long blonde hair nodded. "And Bianca Brown does advocacy and outreach work here at the UN's human rights office." A young white woman with short, dark hair gave a quick wave.

"I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. These are SSAs Morgan, Rossi, Prentiss, and Jareau, and our own Dr. Reid. What exactly would you like us to do?"

"Wilson Okello has been on the list of every human rights group for the last decade. He's a Sudanese warlord, charged with murder, genocide, and recruiting child soldiers, among other things. We've spent almost two years tracking his movements, but he's continued to evade capture. Last month, we received a tip from intelligence agencies that he's made plans to flee to the US by a ship that will reach port in New York City. I'm told that your team is the best in the world when it comes to finding suspects, and our window of opportunity to catch Okello is closing fast. We need your help."

"Usually, we're looking for unknown subjects based on the nature of their crimes," Morgan interjected. "You already know who you're looking for."

"Which is why this mission should be far easier than most. We can tell you everything about Okello. Who he trusts, what his hobbies are. What his crimes are like, what his victims are like; we can even tell you about his childhood and his favorite foods," Dr. Baker assured him. "Please. If he's not found, countless more people are going to die. And countless more children will be forced to kill for him."

After a long pause, Hotch finally asked, "Where would you like us to start?"

Dr. Baker gave a small smile. "I presume you'd prefer to divide and conquer. Marius and Judge Mogami can inform you about the criminal case against him. Turner and I can help show you the ports of the city and possible hideouts. Miss VanBuren has a list of allies and associates, and Miss Brown will remain here to assist with any research. If you'll assign your team, we can get to work."

Hotch nodded. "Prentiss and I will check out the criminal case."

"I'll go with Turner and Dr. Baker to map out the ports," Rossi volunteered.

"Great," Hotch said. "JJ, go with VanBuren and start working on a press release we can put out to the city. All the possible names and faces. And Morgan, call up Garcia. You and Reid stay here and let us know what you find out."

★---☆---★

"So why have we never heard of this guy?" Morgan asked.