Special Agent Angel (Criminal Minds fanfiction) [Season 1]

Broken Mirror [4]

"He said owed," Gideon noted.

"$500,000," Reid said. "His demand sounded scripted like he was reading it to us,"

"But the rest of the conversation wasn't," Morgan claimed. "He was his most relaxed just talking to Cheryl,"

"What does that mean?" Gideon asked.

"Maybe he already knew her," Samarra said.

"How much time we got?" Morgan questioned.

"6 minutes," Reid replied.

"How quickly can you get the money?" Gideon asked Evan.

Evan looked between the agents present in the room.

***

Samarra took the glass of wine away from Cheryl.

"Look, I know I shouldn't drink, but under the circumstances," Cheryl argued, "you think you could let this one slide?"

"He's gonna call back." Sam explained "We need you at your best,"

Cheryl shrugged "Have you had many cases like this?"

Samarra thought back to how she first came to the BAU "I've seen my share of abductions." Sam admitted.

"I don't know how you do it, this job. How do you stomach it?"

"The men I hunt down are cowards. For the most part, they target the weakest members of society, women, and children. There's nothing I'd rather do more than put the bastards away,"

"I just wish you could get 'em before they snatch someone," Cheryl cried.

"You have no idea." Samarra sighed "You've trusted your feelings this far. Hold on to that,"

They heard the phone ring from the other room and Sam left to join the team in listening to the unsub.

"Everything will be done by Cheryl." The unsub explained "Cheryl will gather the money packets. Only she will touch the money. Cheryl will make the drop. If she is wired, if you use a look-a-like, Patricia dies. Cheryl will get in her car.No one is to be in the car with her, no one is to follow her, no air surveillance, no car surveillance of any kind will be tolerated. I will give directions over a cell phone as Cheryl drives. She must make the drop at exactly 3:00 AM. She will follow each instruction to the letter,"

Hotch hung up the phone "We can't let her go alone,"

"He said if he sees anyone..." Evan said.

"I know. One car, unmarked. Tinted windows,"

Evan sighed "If he sees one of you, and Trish dies...if my daughter dies..."

***

"Cheryl's car has GPS." Samarra explained over the phone to Morgan "We'll be able to track her,"

"Sam, the first thing he's gonna do is to have her switch cars," Morgan claimed. "Where are we headed?"

"Let's see." Sam tapped on the keyboard to get a zoom in on the GPS locator "An address which appears to be..." she groaned in defeat "A rental car lot,"

***

Hotchner backed the SUV into a parking spot and watched as Cheryl's yellow Volkswagon bug pulled into the parking lot of the rental car agency.

"You know my guess?" Morgan voiced, filling the silence inside the vehicle "One of these cars has a set of keys already in the ignition with a disposable cell phone sitting right in it,"

"So she switches cars and phones," Hotchner said.

"Mm-hmm," Morgan sighed as he looked down at his watch "5 minutes. He's probably gonna have her drive around for over an hour just to make sure no one's following her,"

"And then the ransom drop,"

Morgan let out another disgruntled sigh.

"What is it? What's the matter?"

"Something's not right about this. What if he was watching us or listening to us?" Morgan wondered.

Hotchner shook his head "The Local Office did a bug sweep,"

"Come on, you heard that ransom call,"

"Yeah,"

"It was way too simple,"

"All right, you're the unsub. What would you have done differently?"

"I would have said don't involve the police or the media. $500,000. No consecutive serial numbers on the bills. No marked bills. No new bills. No tracking devices in the money bag. No explosive dyes in the money bag. No tracking devices in the car,"

"Why didn't he say any of this?"

Morgan stopped in realization "Hotch, this was never about the money,"

"It's not a ransom drop,"

"It's a second kidnapping,"

They quickly got out of the SUV and ran towards Cheryl.

"Cheryl!" Hotchner called out.

"Get down! Stay down!" Morgan exclaimed as he ran with his gun raised "Don't move!"

A black vehicle took off from the parking lot, both agents firing at it to slow the driver down.

***

Samarra looked up from her laptop when Morgan came into the house looking frustrated.

Morgan immediately stopped Evan "Cheryl's all right,"

Sam let out a small sigh of relief at the news but knew that the job wasn't over yet, especially when the phone rang once everyone returned. She put on her headphones to listen to the conversation.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" The Unsub asked once Morgan hit the answer button. "A little running around, getting our pulses racing. Are you there, Cheryl?"

Morgan held up his hand to stop Cheryl from answering.

"Are you there?! Tell me you didn't feel a slight tingle, a thrill run up your spine. Huh? But those clever and cunning FBI agents deduced my little plan just in time...they figured it out. If they hadn't, I would have had you both. The whole set. The matching pair,"

Samarra wrote down 'He's a collector' and showed it to Reid who nodded in agreement.

"Why are you doing this?" Cheryl asked.

Morgan held up his hand again telling Cheryl not to speak.

"Because you asked me to, Cheryl." The unsub said "You asked me with your glances. The way you talk. Those little gestures,"

Morgan hit the mute button.

"What are you doing?" Cheryl demanded.

"Do not answer this man," Morgan said.

"You asked for this!" The unsub continued "You asked for it, Cheryl!"

"Cheryl, no!" Morgan exclaimed as Cheryl hit the button.

"What do you want?" Cheryl demanded.

"What do I want?! You!" The Unsub replied. "It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but I promise you, we will be together."