Truth and Lies

Chapter 36

** Hotch's POV **

"Aaron, I did not sanction for Derek Morgan to come back." Strauss said.

"I know, Ma'am. I apologize for his conduct over the past few weeks. I rang him to keep him updated, and he insisted on accompanying the team, under the condition that he could keep him emotions separate. It was a mistake."

"The BAU is still under probation, after the murder-suicide. There are people above me who have plans to shut down the unit. Put profilers in the field offices across the country."

"Ma'am, that would be a mistake. You know that as well as I do. We're good at our job, we get results, we save lives."

"Aaron, this isn't coming from me. I have always supported you and your decisions, but you need to get a handle on this investigation before something else happens."

"Understood, Ma'am."

"Right. Now go and find Agent Prentiss." 

** END OF INTERVIEW **

I walked through the bullpen and saw Reid at his desk, poring over the files.

"Where's Morgan?" I asked.

Reid shrugged, "I thought he was with you."

I had a bad feeling about this. I headed towards the interview rooms, and heard shouting. Opening the door, I saw Morgan face to face with Angus, the chair was overturned and Angus was leaning against the wall. Morgan's face was bright red.

"Morgan, stop it. I want you to leave the BAU, now. I cannot have you jeopardizing this investigation. I've given you enough warnings." I said, and he took a step back.

"Hotch, I..."

"Save it." I snapped at him. "Leave, now."

I watched as he walked to the elevator. I was angry at the board of directors, but even angrier that Morgan disobeyed my directive. I get that it's hard seeing them like this, but that didn't give him the right to aggressively interrogate the suspects.

"Angus, I apologize for that. He was an FBI agent before all of this." I explained, resetting the room.

"Not to worry, agent. Just a bit of a misunderstanding." He said.

"I was wondering if we could talk about JJ?" I asked carefully.

"Who? Oh, Jennifer. She said she didn't want to be called JJ." 

"Right, Jennifer. The doctor says you took care of her."

"Yes, I take care of my girls. The special ones." 

"What about Emily? Was she not special?"

"Oh she was special, that one. So special. My friend took an immediate liking to her."

"Did she like him?"

"Pretty sure she did. They talked a lot before he took her. In Russian." He whispered, leaning forward.

"Did you talk Russian to all of the girls?"

"Only a few." He shook his head. "The special ones. That other chick, Elle, she has a beautiful Russian accent. She may be Cuban, but my she's a linguistic genius."

I tried to ignore what he said about Elle, because he was trying to get to. I wanted to keep him talking about Emily instead.

"How expensive was Emily?" I asked, hating the words.

"Oh, very. FBI always do well, you see. My friend paid extra for this one, as well. He was going to get Jennifer and Elle and the baby. An entire set. A new family."

"How much?"

He gave me a figure and I made a mental note whilst trying not to puke.

"And he's taking good care of her?" 

Angus nodded.

"I think he's taking her out soon. To the theatre. They love the theatre."

"Thank you." I said getting up.

"Oh, are we done so soon?" He asked.

I didn't respond and I left as quickly as I could, heading straight for Garcia's lair.

"Garcia, I need you to work some magic for me. The man who has Emily is extremely rich, Russian-born, withdrew a lot of money, and probably makes regular withdrawals. He'll have a van or a large vehicle, and is probably older than Angus, possibly 40s or 50s."

"Right, I'm searching through records as we speak. My computers are feeding me packets of information."

"He won't have a criminal record, but he'll have a big presence in and around DC."

"Here's an interesting guy. Johan Hester Petrovic, moved to Washington DC from Saint Petersburg. He has quite a large public profile, he's got a healthy bank account with several transactions a month."

"Address?"

"10213 Larkspur Lane."

"Got it, thanks Garcia. Notify local PD." I rushed out to get Reid.

"Reid, we got an address for a man called Johan Petrovic. He fits our profile."

"Let's go." Reid ran after me as I raced to the elevator.

"Let's catch this guy." I said determinedly.

** TIME SKIP **

We pulled up outside the address, which was a large manor-like house on the outskirts of the main city. SWAT were waiting for us and I went to discuss tactics.

"There could be other women in there." I warned.

"Right, soft entry, comms to a minimum."

We agreed on a strategy and took our positions around the property. The SWAT leader gave his signal and Reid and I burst through the front, clearing the kitchen and the study that were on the ground floor.

"CLEAR."

They weren't here.

"Hotchner, take a look at this." Someone called out.

I followed him outside and to a small shed-like house round the back. Inside, there were a couple of rooms that were deserted, but there was definitely signs of someone living there. On the floor in one of the rooms was a damp towel and a bundle of clothes. Empty take-out containers were piled neatly in the corner. 

"Where are they?" Reid asked as we met outside.

"Angus said that they liked the theatre. Maybe they went to a show?" I suggested.

"Really? Would he risk that?"

"Possibly. Taunting us, taking the women out in public."

"I'll call Garcia. We need a list of possible theatres that are close by."

Reid returned a couple of minutes later.

"There are two within a five mile radius, and Johan has checked in many times to one that's about ten minutes from here."

"Let's go."

My muscles tensed as I drove, praying that Emily would be alright, and that she would recognize us, and that she wasn't hurt.

"Hotch, we'll catch him."