Criminal Minds -- EPCOT -- FRT
Title: EPCOT
Author: Fabrisse
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Reid/Prentiss
Characters: Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid, BAU Team
Genre: Case fic with benefits
Rating: FRT
Prompt: 16 -- a souk @ story_lottery
Summary: A case at an amusement park involves kidnapping and dinner for two.
Spoilers: Through season 5
Warning(s): None.
Word Count: 7,050
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
CURRENT:
Emily Prentiss put on her sunglasses and tried to look more like a tourist. It wasn't easy. All her life she'd been told never to be an obvious American, not to be too brash or too casual. Basically, she thought, she'd been taught to be the anti-Rossi.
She looked around the square and saw Reid out of the corner of her eye. He seemed absolutely fascinated by a leaping fountain, but she was certain he was also scanning the crowd for behaviors that would indicate the unsub.
Prentiss wasn't entirely certain how she got Epcot center for her assignment today. Reid, she knew, had volunteered; after they'd done an overview of the parks, he'd volunteered for Epcot every day. JJ and Rossi were at the Magic Kingdom doing something similar, and Hotch had taken the MGM studios. The locals were at the adventure park with Anderson coordinating, but none of the previous disappearances had taken place there.
Her phone rang and she pressed her earpiece to answer it.
"Based on the last two incidents, I think I see a couple who could be our unsubs, bright yellow shirts."
Prentiss nonchalantly looked for the people Reid mentioned. There they were, a man in his early thirties with a woman who was younger talking to a teenaged girl who fit the victimology. It was a possibility. From her body language the girl was not related to either of the two adults, but she was interested in what they were saying.
***
TEN DAYS AGO
Prentiss gave up watching Reid go through his consultation stack sometime during her second week with the BAU. He'd open a file, run his fingers down the pages, look at the external evidence included in the file, and type out a profile. It usually took under an hour, including running spell check. She was really glad Morgan was more like her, or she might have gotten discouraged, back when she started with the team.
The current file in Reid's hand had been there for nearly two hours. He'd disappeared into Garcia's lair about half an hour earlier and that was after he'd gone into JJ's office and come out with two other files.
Finally, Reid went back to JJ's office and twenty minutes later, they were in the roundtable room.
JJ started. "The sheriff's department in Orange County, Florida sent us a request for a profile last week based on a pattern of missing persons. They wanted to see if they were looking at an unrelated series or, potentially, a pattern of kidnappings. It ended up on Reid's desk where he remembered he'd seen a similar request last year from Kissimmee, Florida. When he mentioned that to me, I remembered one we received a couple of months ago from Orlando." She nodded to Reid.
He said, "I asked Garcia to check with Universal Studios, Sea World, and Walt Disney World to see if they had any more information than the bare bones the respective sheriff's departments had. They did."
"I take it there's no doubt in your mind people are being kidnapped?" Rossi asked.
"None. The good news is, the other search I had Garcia run, for a pattern of bodies found, came up with nothing. Unlike the ones from our Virginia case a few weeks ago, I think we have a chance of these women being alive."
"Talk us through it," Hotch said.
"Since 2003, one to three teenaged girls have gone missing in the greater Orlando area each year. Obviously, more than that end up as missing persons whether they're runaways or crime victims, but these young women have all been on class or extracurricular trips from other parts of the country, usually sophomores, and they've all gone missing from one of the theme parks during the second or third week in April. The disappearances don't come on weekends when the parks are most crowded. No one reports seeing struggles. No other crime statistics go up in the parks beyond what's expected from Spring Break."
Reid took a breath to continue his explanation, but was stopped by a question from Morgan. "Is there any reason to think these girls aren't runaways? They come on a class trip and walk away from a problem at home. If they've saved money toward the trip, this may be a prime time for them to try a new life."
"Of the missing persons that the local police sent to us, I'd say three out of the fifteen might have disappeared by choice. There are interviews with friends from home that indicate they had something to run away from. I also think they're not part of the pattern because they were different grades in high school and in one case the missing girl was black which doesn't match up. All the others have been pale skinned, light eyed, and had red or blonde hair. Their ages were fifteen, with the exceptions of one sixteen year old who'd been held back and a fourteen year old from 2006 who'd been skipped a grade. What worries me is that we might find either this pattern goes back farther or that there may be others who were taken who never had missing persons reports filed."
Emily asked, "How would that happen?"
"One of the girls from 2007, Karen Miller, wasn't reported missing until three weeks after her class returned to Ohio. Her friends covered for her with the chaperones, so they thought she was on the bus back to Cincinnati with them, and her parents filed the missing persons report at home. It wasn't until one of the girl's friends said something to the police, that anyone realized Karen had gone missing in Florida. Teenagers want to be part of the pack so much that they'll cover for each other."
Emily nodded. "So the first thing we'd need to do is see if there might be other girls who slipped through the jurisdictional cracks."
"Exactly. Each of the three big theme parks is in a different county. The unsub or subs don't hit all three every year. I'm slightly surprised that all three jurisdictions had requests into us because they noticed a pattern."
Morgan said, "Has anyone officially invited us in?"
JJ shook her head. "They just requested consultations. I wanted Reid to present it and let the team decide whether this is something to pursue. It's kidnapping, so technically we can claim jurisdiction because the girls were all from out of state. Interstate movement means we don't need an invitation. There's the added complication of Disney having its own police force because it's part of both Orange and Osceola counties."
"Not to mention none of those parks wants to be touched by a scandal," Rossi said.
Hotch looked at the pictures Reid had laid out from the files. "I think it's clear there's a pattern. These young women could be sisters."
Reid added, "We're a week from the window for this year's girls to be taken. I'd like to prevent it if we can. Based on the information we have here, I think nothing will happen at SeaWorld. They hit it the last two years. Universal was also hit last year, but not the year before that. I think one of the Disney parks is the most likely target."
JJ said, "Great. Two county sheriffs and the Mouse's private security."
Reid shrugged. "If we can also get information from Orlando and Kissimmee, it's possible that we can come up with a more precise pattern."
Hotch said, "JJ make the calls. Garcia, I want you to pull every missing person report filed in any of those four areas for the last decade. Limit it to girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen. I want to make sure the twelve Reid's sure about are the only ones."
"Yes, sir." Garcia grinned at him briefly and left to get started.
"Reid, once Garcia has them, I want to sit down with you and Morgan to review the files. JJ, please talk to the relevant LEOs and set up a video conference for tomorrow afternoon. Morgan, pull someone from the bullpen that you trust. I'm going to put you in charge of the unlikely parks with whomever you pick as a backup. You can call in the rest of the team at any time, if Reid's prediction is wrong, but you'll mostly be working alone with the locals. This is going to have too many chances to go wrong. Since we have nearly a week before the usual time frame opens, I hope to have enough data that the locals will be happy to see us by then."
Emily said, "Good, that gives me a chance to pack a bathing suit."
***
SEVEN DAYS AGO
The next several days were busy. Reid had Garcia running several different patterns to make certain this wasn't happening anywhere else. Garcia had suggested that the California branches might have a similar pattern or have an earlier wave. That hadn't proved to be the case, something Emily, and everyone else, was profoundly grateful for.
She spent Friday and part of the weekend in Ohio with Reid interviewing not only Karen Miller's friends and family, but those of several other missing girls. A second geographic profile was emerging based on where the girls went to high school. Reid's preliminary theory, and she had to admit she thought he was right, was that the part of the Midwest most heavily hit by the unsubs was due to the fact there weren't too many minorities. No one from the DC area or Detroit had been taken, but this one circle of southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, eastern Indiana, and western West Virginia held all the high schools these young women came from.
Garcia was running searches to see which schools might have trips going to Orlando. With the financial crisis, there were fewer, but still enough for the BAU to plan when it could be the most help.
Driving back to the airport after the cognitive interview with Karen Miller's friend Stephanie, Emily turned to Reid and asked, "Why me? Hotch said he gave you a choice of partners."
"Honestly, it was a coin toss between you and Hotch. Mogan's working too many other angles. You both relate to people more easily than I do, and Rossi's more likely to get people's backs up than I am. I figured Hotch needed to have evenings with Jack. Did I take you away from something? I should have asked."
"No. I should have realized your reason would be practical -- and kind. I'm sure Hotch appreciates it, especially since he will have to be with us next week."
Reid nodded. "I think he's trying to arrange for Jack to come down to the parks when the case is over. It's not like he doesn't have leave saved." He glanced away from the road to look at her. "What was the problem with Stephanie? Thank you for taking over her cognitive interview, by the way."
"The problem with Stephanie is that she thought you were cute."
"Right."
"Reid, I don't know what you see when you look in the mirror, but the crutches and getting a little older have filled you out a bit. You're well-dressed, fit, smart, and very different from small town boys." Emily smiled at the expression Reid seemed to be wearing. "Stephanie had a crush on you."
"I don't even know how to think about that."
"I can name several people at Quantico who'd love to go out with you." She decided to tease him a little. "Just tell me if you prefer men or women, so I don't disappoint the wrong group."
Reid gave her a quick glance. "I've never kissed a guy, so I don't really know. I think interesting is more important, don't you?"
Emily really wished she hadn't been taking a swig of water when he said that. "Um, I experimented a little with one of my roommates in college, but, yeah, actually I'm pretty hardwired to like guys. Not that interesting isn't important, but so are other things." She couldn't tell by Reid's smile if he'd been teasing her or not.
"I'll bear that in mind," he said.
They pulled into the car rental area.
Emily said, "I'll write up my notes on the bit of the interview you missed. When we get to Dulles, do we hit the office or go home?"
"We call Hotch and ask." Reid patted her shoulder a little awkwardly. "I hope I didn't bother you with what I said. I didn't mean to pry."
"It's fine. Really."
He gave her a nod and a quick flash of a smile, and they went to check in for their flight.
***
FOUR DAYS AGO
The whole team plus Garcia and Anderson flew down to Orlando three days later.
The profile, including both geographic profiles, was just about complete. Disney security and the three local sheriff's departments had requested their presence to coordinate efforts. Rossi offered to join Anderson at Universal Studios at least until it was determined whether the team needed him elsewhere. Morgan was working with the Kissimmee sheriff's department so that Sea World and most of the minor attractions would be covered even though the profiles put them as less likely to be hit. The local FBI office would be taking evening shifts at Pleasure Island and a different team member would work a double shift to accompany them each night. JJ had lost the draw and was taking the first double.
Garcia was looking forward to her set-up. The Disney people had explained she'd be in the main control room housed in the Castle. Emily didn't think she'd ever stop squeeing. She wondered if Penelope would even use her hotel room.
Emily had been pleasantly surprised by the Disney Security liaison. James Clarke had been very helpful.
He'd started by listening, which was always a plus, and then, much to Reid's delight, had started spouting statistics.
"I won't pretend the crime rates don't go up a bit during Spring Break, but the fact is, most professional criminals avoid the parks at that time. The really smart professionals avoid the parks entirely. We get more assaults, high school boys fighting over girls or sports, but pick pocketing actually goes down." Clarke shook his head. "The saddest statistical uptick is rape. There are very few. We don't permit underaged drinking and we're very strict about it. But the fact is we can't and don't watch everyone all the time and teenagers and booze can lead to some nasty things. Our crime rates are still much lower than Orlando's or indeed any other city or entity this size. Now, you're telling me we've had kidnappings. Anything we can do to help you, you'll have -- in under five minutes if I have anything to say about it."
They'd given the profile to a room filled with over a hundred police officers from three different districts.
"We think we have a cult leader operating in and around your parks…" Morgan began the profile clearly.
Hotch took it up. "These men think they're special. Although the narcissistic personality type crosses gender, sexual preference, and racial lines, most unsubs are preferential for their own race, so we have him as a white male."
"While there are women with this type of personality disorder," Emily said. "There are no documented cases of one leading a cult directly. Most either find another way to fulfill their needs for fame and success or take a secondary role within a cult to bask in the reflected glory around a charismatic man with whom they share a destiny."
JJ picked up the threads. "We think the unsub is using a ruse, perhaps suggesting these young girls audition for him or that they might become models."
"It's likely he's a type known as a breeder." Reid continued, "He thinks his specialness has to be passed along. He's targetting young women who are unlikely to be sexually active. He wants to be the center of their worlds by being their first sexual experience and also to ensure that any children are his."
Emily nodded. "There's a chance there are other males in the cult, but they will have lesser privileges with the women."
Hotch said, "What's more likely is that he'll have a woman his age or older who feeds his delusion, a mother or a sister or perhaps his first victim, who will be part of the ruse. A young woman is less likely to be wary of a man and a woman together than of a single man or pair of men."
Morgan continued, "These victims are willingly leaving the group they're with. From our interviews with the friends of the victims, they intended to come back. They thought they were sneaking away to meet someone, but they weren't intending to run away from home." He nodded at Reid who started a powerpoint.
"Please look closely at the pictures of the victims. This unsub has a particular type. If you see women of this age and type with a family, they are probably safe. You're looking for blondes and redheads approximately fifteen years old in a group with other teenagers. The unsub is probably in his late twenties or early thirties, and he'll blend in by having a woman who might be one of our earlier victims with him. They might wear matching shirts or something identifying the way several of the family reunion or class groups who visit your parks do."
Emily finished. "These women, no matter how they started, are probably on the unsub's side. This is the only life they've known for anywhere from one to six years. They may have carried his children, stolen for him, or lied to get welfare checks. Stockholm syndrome will have set in, so don't underestimate these women or think they will want to help us or be rescued. While it's not impossible, it is unlikely. They may even put their bodies between us and him if we aren't able to get him in the act."
They spent the next twenty minutes taking questions, but Emily was impressed by the seriousness the group brought to them.
***
Since then, they'd rotated through the parks -- different team members taking different areas each day with local police and the parks' private security assisting. At night, they tried, usually in pairs -- though last night she'd had girls' night with JJ and Garcia at the Tahitian luau -- different restaurants at the various hotels around the park, watching for the unsubs.
Tonight, Reid asked her if they could have dinner together and had completely flabbergasted her by taking her to Tutta Italia at Epcot.
"I know the French restaurant is supposed to be one of the best, but I figured we'd be more likely to see our unsubs or their target in here. Sorry." Reid seemed a little nervous, but she felt his hand at the small of her back guiding her. "Besides, you lived in Italy, and I wanted to hear how it compared with the real food of Rome."
"You'll never see a restaurant in Italy that's anywhere near this big."
They were seated at a table in the middle of the room with excellent sight lines for the whole restaurant.
Emily continued, "We had similar seats for the luau last night. How are we getting them?"
"Clarke set up something with Garcia. When one of our names comes up for a restaurant reservation, we get the seating we request and a table with the best view of the other diners. It may not be the best view for the show if you're at a luau, but we're here to observe our fellow diners."
The waiter came up and offered them a choice of waters or other drinks.
When he left them with their menus, Reid said, "All of the staff here are Italian. Even the chefs. Would you order for me?"
Emily looked at her dining companion and thought for a moment. "What would you prefer, meat or fish for your main course?"
"Whichever looks better to you. You know the food, and I don't."
"All right. If you're not going to give me any help…" Emily perused the menu. When the waiter returned, she ordered in Italian for both of them, much to his delight.
Reid grinned at her when the waiter left. "I'm not even going to ask what I'm getting. I like surprises."
"Haven't you ever been out of the country?"
"Well, you were with me the one time I went to Canada, but let's not discuss that at dinner."
Emily shook her head. "Let's not. Don't worry. No pork."
"I appreciate that." He took a sip of his water, a little nervously, and looked around the room. "I've asked Hotch if I can have a few days off when this is done. He's decided to bring Jack down in a month or two. I'm going to stay. Clarke's already arranging for me to get tours of the underground areas at the Magic Kingdom and things like seeing Space Mountain when it's not in the dark."
"Didn't you go to amusement parks when you were a kid?" Emily thought for a moment. "I don't know why I'm asking. I never did. Tivoli when we were in Copenhagen and a couple of trips to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg back when I was in college are about it for me."
"There wasn't much in Vegas, though a couple of the big strip hotels have roller coasters now. When I was at CalTech, I went to Knott's Berry Farm with friends a couple of times."
"Did you enjoy it?"
Reid's grin was huge. "I did. One time, the people at Knott's invited our class down for a design contest, this was for my engineering degree. My design came in third. Good enough to net me an A. I actually thought about it as a career for about ten minutes. That's what intrigues me at the other two parks, the engineering and physics. This place is a wonder for design."
"But you keep requesting Epcot. I know the rides aren't the big thing, well, we never actually go on them at any of the parks." Emily shrugged.
"Yeah, we're getting all the worst parts of amusement parks with none of the good ones. Well, other than pleasant company over good food." Reid raised his water glass in a toasting gesture.
"Why Doctor Reid, are you flirting with me?"
"I hope so." He blushed.
Emily's jaw dropped.
The waiter saved her by bringing the first course. He divided the pasta between the two of them, said, "Prego," and left.
"I ordered this dish because I loved it in Italy, and it's never made the right way in this country. But I checked with the waiter and he said it was as close to home as he could get."
Reid looked at his plate. "They leave the shells on the clams. I never knew that."
"Reid. You're pretty good at flirting. And yes. They leave the shells on because the clams are too small to take them off. I hope you like it." She twisted her first forkful and tasted it. "Our waiter was right. This is as close to Italy as I've had."
Reid took a bite. "It's good. What part of Italy is this from?"
"You're more likely to get it in the coastal regions of northern Italy. Southern Italy would use a tomato sauce and larger clams. It's good, but I feel like I can taste the sea with this style."
"I heard you and Rossi being sarcastic about the 'World Showcase' and how the campanile was on the wrong side of the palace, but I find it fascinating. To answer the question you asked earlier, we went to Mexico on a case before you joined, and Canada, of course, but I've never been out of the country other than that. Finding things I want to see some day is kind of cool."
Emily smiled. "You find everything fascinating. That's wonderful. And if something ersatz makes you want to go and experience the real thing, then this place served a purpose. My problem was I saw too many Americans expecting things to be just like home, but different. Controllably different, I guess. I actually heard one woman complain in the Ukraine that she couldn't find a decent hamburger. They'd just emerged from years of Soviet rule. They had a vibrant cuisine based on locally grown foods -- because, hey, who could afford to import food? -- and she wanted a hamburger that she could recognize."
Reid nodded. "I love Vegas, but I know most of it is -- what's the word you used? -- ersatz. Coming back East was weird for me. I hear people who move West complain about how dry it is or that the mountains don't look right. There's no horizon here. I can handle the rain, not seeing the hills, but I miss an infinite seeming horizon."
Emily smiled and was about to say something when their fish arrived.
"No vegetables?" Reid looked puzzled.
"The vegetables are a separate course. Then salad if you want it, but I didn't order one. I also didn't order dessert."
"Is that because you didn't see a good one?"
Emily smiled. "I'd usually have fresh fruit for dessert with a meal like this, but I thought you might want something more."
"So fresh fruit is a typical dessert?"
She nodded. "They'll bring a bowl with fruits of the season and a bowl of water and let you select your favorites to round out the meal. It's too early in the season for apricots or peaches, but those would be my favorites. Or a scoop of good gelato and an espresso."
The conversation ranged widely over medieval Italian literature, TV -- including a debate about the best Doctor on Doctor Who, and whether steampunk could properly be classified as science fiction.
They'd ordered a plate of three gelati -- Reid letting her select a hazelnut, a suppa inglese, and a straciatella -- and shared it to cap off their meal.
On their way back to the Contemporary Hotel, where Clarke had arranged for all their rooms, they saw a group of about six girls waiting for the monorail.
Reid said, "I'm not all that good at estimating women's ages. Are they in our age group?"
Emily took his arm and walked up the platform with him so she could look more closely. "Yes. There are at least two who'd fit the victimology."
"It's probably not wise for me to ask them anything. Can you find out what group they're from?"
"Garcia can." She motioned to him to stand in a particular place and took three pictures in quick succession with her cell phone. None of them were actually of Reid.
A blonde girl from that group came over to Emily. "Would you like me to take a picture of you two together?"
She quickly hid the picture currently on the screen and said, "Yes, please." She walked over and took Reid's arm.
The girl took the picture and said, "You make a really cute couple."
"Thank you…?" Reid said, leaving her an opening.
"Vivienne." She giggled.
"I'm Emily and this is Spencer. So where are you girls from?"
"Herrin, Illinois. We won the statewide acapella championship for our school and got a trip out of it." She was obviously thrilled beyond belief.
"Congratulations," Reid said. "Just the six of you?"
"No, we have ten in our group, but the guys weren't interested in a nice dinner out. We ate at Japan. It was really cool."
Emily nodded. "I can imagine. We went to Italy."
"That sounds so romantic." Her friends giggled and motioned to her to come back. "I have to go. Nice meeting you."
"Did I miss subtext?" Reid asked.
"I think they may have dared her to talk to us -- or you."
"Is this like with Stephanie?"
Emily laughed. "I'm almost positive it is."
"Let's get those photos and the information to Garcia. I'm a little disturbed that we may have just spoken to our victim."
They stepped on the train, making sure to get on a different car from the girls. It was just crowded enough that they had to stand.
Reid said, "When we get back to DC, I'd like to take you out. Hamlet's going to be playing at the Folger, and there's a good Indian restaurant not too far away."
"A real date."
He nodded.
"I'd like that." Emily looked more closely at his face and raised one eyebrow. "Are you contemplating taking over the world again? You look like your 'eviler' twin."
He laughed. "I was actually trying to figure out if I could convince you there's a solid undercover reason to kiss you good night tonight."
Her eyes danced. "You said you were staying here after this was over. If I take some of my leave, would you like a companion?"
He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Yes. I would."
"That was nice. Not on a case, though."
Reid nodded, but he couldn't suppress a smile.
***
CURRENT
Prentiss sent the picture of the couple to Garcia. The three of them went in separate directions with the girl going back toward the Living Sea area and the couple going toward the lagoon.
Reid called her again. "Did you recognize the girl? The hair was the wrong color for Vivienne, but I think that was part of her group."
"I never really saw her face. I got the couple, though. Visually, they match the profile."
He hung up and walked toward her. She grinned as he loped toward her.
"Why so happy?" he asked.
"It looks like your gait is fine. It's the first time I'd noticed since the injury."
"Cool. May I see the picture you took?" Reid held out his hand for her phone.
After looking at the picture, he called Garcia. "Can you conference Emily in. She's standing right next to me, but I want her to hear you, too. And could you clean up the picture of the woman with our unsub? Her back was to me for most of the conversation, and I was concentrating on the other two."
Emily's phone rang and when she answered it, she heard Garcia give a little snort. "I take my genius has no time for witty repartee."
He smiled at Prentiss as he said, "Emily's beauty so dazzled me that I forgot I was communicating with a goddess."
"My chocolate honey's been giving you lessons." Garcia sounded thrilled.
"Not really. Actually, Garcia, from the squinty vision on Emily's phone, I think that might have been Karen Miller."
Emily raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded. She heard one of Garcia's computers make a noise and hoped it meant the result was ready.
"Score one for an eidetic memory. My facial recognition software says you're right."
"Did you check the name I gave you last night, the acapella group from Herrin?" Emily asked.
"Yes, milady. The Carl Sandburg High School acapella group, The Little Cats, did indeed win the state championship including a trip to Disney World." Garcia's voice was teasing.
"I didn't get to see the girl the unsubs were talking to, but Reid did. If you can send him the yearbook pictures or something, we might be able to see if there's a link."
Reid looked at his phone and went through the pictures quickly. "Jill Watson. They were talking to Jill Watson." He looked at Emily. "She was one of the girls with Vivienne last night."
"Thanks, Garcia," Emily said.
"Yes. Thank you. Can you get pictures of Karen Miller and the man with her out to everyone? Not just the team, but the locals?"
"Of course. Do you want me to patch the bossman in?"
"No. Ask him to meet us by the lagoon as soon as he can get here, though, and PG, be ready to do this conference thing again when they get here since we don't have our usual communications gear." Emily said and hung up the phone. Reid did the same.
Emily looked at him. "Can we use the high school information?"
"Not that I can see. Garcia's got every cop in four counties and three private security networks on alert for our unsub. The most we can do is wait for Hotch and see if Jill Watson tries to slip away from her friends when they leave The Living Sea."
***
Emily's phone rang a few minutes later, just as Reid touched her shoulder and pointed. Vivienne and Jill were leaving the exhibit together. They were giggling and looking around which made her think they might have slipped their leash. "Just a minute, Hotch." She looked at Reid.
"Have Garcia patch me in. I'm tall enough not to lose them at a distance."
She nodded and explained to Hotch as she watched him stride to her right toward the Mexico section of the World Showcase.
Clarke and Reid were patched into her conversation with Hotch and Garcia.
Hotch said, "Where are they?"
"They're ahead of me and walking purposefully. I'm on the bridge and they're just about at Germany."
"Would it be a good idea for us to catch up with you? Or would it be better if we looped around in the other direction?" Emily asked.
"Hotch's call, but looping around seems less likely to draw attention to the fact that we're following them. I just hit Germany, by the way."
"I'm in favor. We'll meet you at… I don't know this park, what would be a good halfway point?" Hotch directed the question to Clarke.
"American Adventure," he replied.
Reid said, "Got it. I'll see you guys at the photo point there if I haven't had any indications they're stopping sooner."
"I assume I should leave the line open?" Garcia asked.
"I think so." Hotch thought for a moment. "Have you found the unsubs?"
"Last I saw, they went in to restrooms in Japan. I am keeping an eye out for them."
"I'm sure you are, Garcia."
The three of them were passing the UK when Reid's voice came back on the line. "Don't bother with American Adventure, the girls passed it and are heading your way."
Garcia said, "That's Japan. Don't let them go into the restroom, my genius."
"If I try to keep them out, I'll have half the fathers in the park trying to get me arrested." Reid responded. "I think we're safe. They've stopped to listen to the drummers."
"I can tell," Emily said over the din. "We've just hit the French side of the lagoon. Should we keep coming toward you?"
Garcia interjected. "I just saw Karen Miller leave the ladies' room and head ... It looks like she's turning into Morocco."
Clarke said, "Get the word out to my people to start clearing Morocco and Japan of the guests. Make sure they don't spook the suspects."
Hotch concurred. "Do it, Garcia."
"On it, bossman."
Emily turned to Hotch. "We need to let the personnel at the Morocco pavilion know they should get out of our way too."
"Thinning out the number of guests in that area without alerting anyone will be difficult enough Agent Prentiss, how do we get the merchants out of the way too?" Clarke looked between the two agents.
Hotch nodded at Prentiss, then turned back to Clarke. "We'll stay by the gate until we have more information."
Garcia said, "And I've got Mister Unsub leaving the little boys room and heading your way."
"I see him." Reid said. "He's definitely heading toward Morocco rather than the girls."
"Damn. We can't get him on suspicion without an overt move." Hotch hated having civilians in danger.
Clarke looked into the shop where Emily was talking to a merchant. "Is she speaking Arabic?"
"Yes." Hotch gave a half smile. "Her ability with languages can be very helpful. Although we're lucky they didn't try to meet up in China or Japan."
"She doesn't speak Norwegian either, my liege. Karen Miller is two shops away from Emily. The rug shop."
There was silence on the line for a moment, and then Hotch said, "Our unsub just passed us and went in to the rug shop." He turned to Clarke. "Any reason why they'd come here?"
"It's not far from the International Gateway, although UK and France are closer. Most people don't even think of that exit. Damn. There's an emergency exit between Morocco and Japan. There's also one near the outpost on the other side of the lagoon. They're so rarely used even the Cast forgets about them. Security, emergency services, and people who've seen them used are about the only ones who'd know."
"Garcia?"
"I'm cross referencing the photo from Emily's phone with Disney employment records and weighting the search toward security and emergency services personnel."
Hotch's mouth twitched in pleasure at her happy voice. "I hope you're not charging extra for mind reading. Strauss has been trying to cut our budget."
"Pish. It's all part of the service."
Reid spoke up. "The girls are headed your way. I'm coming behind them."
Emily said, "I'm in the ceramic shop. The woman behind the counter has gotten most of her staff out of the store and called the other shops to let them know too."
Hotch said, "Good job, Emily. Clarke, which store is closest to this emergency exit?"
"It's at the back of Souk al-Magreb."
Reid came up to Hotch and Clarke.
"Meet Prentiss at the ceramics shop and then wander toward the Souk. Clarke and I will head there directly and see if we can get in place before the unsub does."
"Got it. I don't suppose we can prevent the meeting?"
"If we do, we alert them and lose our chance. I haven't seen any indication either of the unsubs has a weapon," Hotch said.
Reid nodded and walked over to the ceramic store. He tried to find Vivienne and Jill in his peripheral vision. He found Emily seated with the owner at a table which gave her a vantage point to take in the whole courtyard. He accepted a chair and a glass of mint tea.
Emily said, "Fatima has been very helpful. When we leave, she's going to close up the shop for a little while."
Reid smiled at Fatima. "That's a great idea."
Ten long minutes later, the unsub and Karen Miller headed toward the shop where Hotch and Clarke were lying in wait. Reid and Prentiss waited until they saw the teenagers head that way too and then quietly got up and followed them.
It took very little time to get Miller and the unsub into custody, although Clarke discovered they weren't quite unarmed. Miller had pepper spray and tried to use it to get away. Hotch missed most of the cloud of pepper, since he had his back to Miller while he was cuffing the unsub.
Hotch said to Reid, "Wait with Clarke for the emergency team. Prentiss, would you ask the young ladies to come with us and have them call the adult responsible for their group. Garcia…"
"I've already called Morgan, Rossi, and Anderson back to central security. I have a match on a Disney personnel record. He worked for them in 2002 under the name of Roger King. When they found he had several aliases, he was fired. No felony convictions and no arrests in Florida, but I'm widening the search. As best I can tell, his real name is Roger Pierce."
"Thank you, Penelope. Keep the line open until we get into the security van."
"Yes, sir."
***
Roger Pierce refused to answer any questions without his attorney, and Karen Miller clammed up the minute he did. It was her driver's license that told them where to look for the other victims. The home address was in a small town in Alabama just up from the Florida panhandle.
Morgan planned out the assault, with a little input from Reid and more from Hotch, but it was his voice that, two hours later, guided the local office through the perimeter and into the compound. The officers who made the assault found eighteen women ranging in age from twenty-five to fifteen and nearly thirty children, the oldest of whom was ten.
After Miller and Pierce were taken away, Hotch took the team to Garcia's lair to help her pack her equipment.
Morgan asked, "How'd we miss six more women?"
Garcia answered. "Two were taken from Dollywood and two from Six Flags in Georgia. The other two were the oldest. One came from a waterpark in Alabama and the other was a cousin of Pierce's. Chronologically she was the first."
Rossi turned to Hotch. "When do we get on the plane?"
"Ten o'clock tonight. I know Garcia wanted a chance to explore the park a little. Clarke got us reservations at a restaurant back at the hotel. Reid and Prentiss, I expect your preliminary reports in my email by close of business tomorrow."
"Yes, sir," Emily said.
Reid nodded his agreement.
Rossi looked at them. "Really, you're staying?"
Reid said, "Clarke is arranging for me to talk to the animatronic engineers. Some of the stuff this place does is amazing."
"And what does Miss Emily Prentiss want with fake castles when she's seen real ones?" Morgan's eyes were teasing.
"To hell with castles, I'm taking the engineering tours too. I figured I'd never get an invitation on my own, but with Doctor Reid, the sky's the limit."
JJ leaned in to her. "Don't kill him. Reid can take hours over this stuff."
"I'll leave the safety on my weapon."
As they headed downstairs Hotch hung back a little to walk with Reid who was still having some problems with stairs. "I'll turn a blind eye right up to the moment this effects the team."
Reid stopped and stared at him.
"I spoke to Vivienne and Jill. They kept talking about what a cute couple you were." Hotch smiled. "They could be right."
Author: Fabrisse
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Reid/Prentiss
Characters: Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid, BAU Team
Genre: Case fic with benefits
Rating: FRT
Prompt: 16 -- a souk @ story_lottery
Summary: A case at an amusement park involves kidnapping and dinner for two.
Spoilers: Through season 5
Warning(s): None.
Word Count: 7,050
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
CURRENT:
Emily Prentiss put on her sunglasses and tried to look more like a tourist. It wasn't easy. All her life she'd been told never to be an obvious American, not to be too brash or too casual. Basically, she thought, she'd been taught to be the anti-Rossi.
She looked around the square and saw Reid out of the corner of her eye. He seemed absolutely fascinated by a leaping fountain, but she was certain he was also scanning the crowd for behaviors that would indicate the unsub.
Prentiss wasn't entirely certain how she got Epcot center for her assignment today. Reid, she knew, had volunteered; after they'd done an overview of the parks, he'd volunteered for Epcot every day. JJ and Rossi were at the Magic Kingdom doing something similar, and Hotch had taken the MGM studios. The locals were at the adventure park with Anderson coordinating, but none of the previous disappearances had taken place there.
Her phone rang and she pressed her earpiece to answer it.
"Based on the last two incidents, I think I see a couple who could be our unsubs, bright yellow shirts."
Prentiss nonchalantly looked for the people Reid mentioned. There they were, a man in his early thirties with a woman who was younger talking to a teenaged girl who fit the victimology. It was a possibility. From her body language the girl was not related to either of the two adults, but she was interested in what they were saying.
***
TEN DAYS AGO
Prentiss gave up watching Reid go through his consultation stack sometime during her second week with the BAU. He'd open a file, run his fingers down the pages, look at the external evidence included in the file, and type out a profile. It usually took under an hour, including running spell check. She was really glad Morgan was more like her, or she might have gotten discouraged, back when she started with the team.
The current file in Reid's hand had been there for nearly two hours. He'd disappeared into Garcia's lair about half an hour earlier and that was after he'd gone into JJ's office and come out with two other files.
Finally, Reid went back to JJ's office and twenty minutes later, they were in the roundtable room.
JJ started. "The sheriff's department in Orange County, Florida sent us a request for a profile last week based on a pattern of missing persons. They wanted to see if they were looking at an unrelated series or, potentially, a pattern of kidnappings. It ended up on Reid's desk where he remembered he'd seen a similar request last year from Kissimmee, Florida. When he mentioned that to me, I remembered one we received a couple of months ago from Orlando." She nodded to Reid.
He said, "I asked Garcia to check with Universal Studios, Sea World, and Walt Disney World to see if they had any more information than the bare bones the respective sheriff's departments had. They did."
"I take it there's no doubt in your mind people are being kidnapped?" Rossi asked.
"None. The good news is, the other search I had Garcia run, for a pattern of bodies found, came up with nothing. Unlike the ones from our Virginia case a few weeks ago, I think we have a chance of these women being alive."
"Talk us through it," Hotch said.
"Since 2003, one to three teenaged girls have gone missing in the greater Orlando area each year. Obviously, more than that end up as missing persons whether they're runaways or crime victims, but these young women have all been on class or extracurricular trips from other parts of the country, usually sophomores, and they've all gone missing from one of the theme parks during the second or third week in April. The disappearances don't come on weekends when the parks are most crowded. No one reports seeing struggles. No other crime statistics go up in the parks beyond what's expected from Spring Break."
Reid took a breath to continue his explanation, but was stopped by a question from Morgan. "Is there any reason to think these girls aren't runaways? They come on a class trip and walk away from a problem at home. If they've saved money toward the trip, this may be a prime time for them to try a new life."
"Of the missing persons that the local police sent to us, I'd say three out of the fifteen might have disappeared by choice. There are interviews with friends from home that indicate they had something to run away from. I also think they're not part of the pattern because they were different grades in high school and in one case the missing girl was black which doesn't match up. All the others have been pale skinned, light eyed, and had red or blonde hair. Their ages were fifteen, with the exceptions of one sixteen year old who'd been held back and a fourteen year old from 2006 who'd been skipped a grade. What worries me is that we might find either this pattern goes back farther or that there may be others who were taken who never had missing persons reports filed."
Emily asked, "How would that happen?"
"One of the girls from 2007, Karen Miller, wasn't reported missing until three weeks after her class returned to Ohio. Her friends covered for her with the chaperones, so they thought she was on the bus back to Cincinnati with them, and her parents filed the missing persons report at home. It wasn't until one of the girl's friends said something to the police, that anyone realized Karen had gone missing in Florida. Teenagers want to be part of the pack so much that they'll cover for each other."
Emily nodded. "So the first thing we'd need to do is see if there might be other girls who slipped through the jurisdictional cracks."
"Exactly. Each of the three big theme parks is in a different county. The unsub or subs don't hit all three every year. I'm slightly surprised that all three jurisdictions had requests into us because they noticed a pattern."
Morgan said, "Has anyone officially invited us in?"
JJ shook her head. "They just requested consultations. I wanted Reid to present it and let the team decide whether this is something to pursue. It's kidnapping, so technically we can claim jurisdiction because the girls were all from out of state. Interstate movement means we don't need an invitation. There's the added complication of Disney having its own police force because it's part of both Orange and Osceola counties."
"Not to mention none of those parks wants to be touched by a scandal," Rossi said.
Hotch looked at the pictures Reid had laid out from the files. "I think it's clear there's a pattern. These young women could be sisters."
Reid added, "We're a week from the window for this year's girls to be taken. I'd like to prevent it if we can. Based on the information we have here, I think nothing will happen at SeaWorld. They hit it the last two years. Universal was also hit last year, but not the year before that. I think one of the Disney parks is the most likely target."
JJ said, "Great. Two county sheriffs and the Mouse's private security."
Reid shrugged. "If we can also get information from Orlando and Kissimmee, it's possible that we can come up with a more precise pattern."
Hotch said, "JJ make the calls. Garcia, I want you to pull every missing person report filed in any of those four areas for the last decade. Limit it to girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen. I want to make sure the twelve Reid's sure about are the only ones."
"Yes, sir." Garcia grinned at him briefly and left to get started.
"Reid, once Garcia has them, I want to sit down with you and Morgan to review the files. JJ, please talk to the relevant LEOs and set up a video conference for tomorrow afternoon. Morgan, pull someone from the bullpen that you trust. I'm going to put you in charge of the unlikely parks with whomever you pick as a backup. You can call in the rest of the team at any time, if Reid's prediction is wrong, but you'll mostly be working alone with the locals. This is going to have too many chances to go wrong. Since we have nearly a week before the usual time frame opens, I hope to have enough data that the locals will be happy to see us by then."
Emily said, "Good, that gives me a chance to pack a bathing suit."
***
SEVEN DAYS AGO
The next several days were busy. Reid had Garcia running several different patterns to make certain this wasn't happening anywhere else. Garcia had suggested that the California branches might have a similar pattern or have an earlier wave. That hadn't proved to be the case, something Emily, and everyone else, was profoundly grateful for.
She spent Friday and part of the weekend in Ohio with Reid interviewing not only Karen Miller's friends and family, but those of several other missing girls. A second geographic profile was emerging based on where the girls went to high school. Reid's preliminary theory, and she had to admit she thought he was right, was that the part of the Midwest most heavily hit by the unsubs was due to the fact there weren't too many minorities. No one from the DC area or Detroit had been taken, but this one circle of southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, eastern Indiana, and western West Virginia held all the high schools these young women came from.
Garcia was running searches to see which schools might have trips going to Orlando. With the financial crisis, there were fewer, but still enough for the BAU to plan when it could be the most help.
Driving back to the airport after the cognitive interview with Karen Miller's friend Stephanie, Emily turned to Reid and asked, "Why me? Hotch said he gave you a choice of partners."
"Honestly, it was a coin toss between you and Hotch. Mogan's working too many other angles. You both relate to people more easily than I do, and Rossi's more likely to get people's backs up than I am. I figured Hotch needed to have evenings with Jack. Did I take you away from something? I should have asked."
"No. I should have realized your reason would be practical -- and kind. I'm sure Hotch appreciates it, especially since he will have to be with us next week."
Reid nodded. "I think he's trying to arrange for Jack to come down to the parks when the case is over. It's not like he doesn't have leave saved." He glanced away from the road to look at her. "What was the problem with Stephanie? Thank you for taking over her cognitive interview, by the way."
"The problem with Stephanie is that she thought you were cute."
"Right."
"Reid, I don't know what you see when you look in the mirror, but the crutches and getting a little older have filled you out a bit. You're well-dressed, fit, smart, and very different from small town boys." Emily smiled at the expression Reid seemed to be wearing. "Stephanie had a crush on you."
"I don't even know how to think about that."
"I can name several people at Quantico who'd love to go out with you." She decided to tease him a little. "Just tell me if you prefer men or women, so I don't disappoint the wrong group."
Reid gave her a quick glance. "I've never kissed a guy, so I don't really know. I think interesting is more important, don't you?"
Emily really wished she hadn't been taking a swig of water when he said that. "Um, I experimented a little with one of my roommates in college, but, yeah, actually I'm pretty hardwired to like guys. Not that interesting isn't important, but so are other things." She couldn't tell by Reid's smile if he'd been teasing her or not.
"I'll bear that in mind," he said.
They pulled into the car rental area.
Emily said, "I'll write up my notes on the bit of the interview you missed. When we get to Dulles, do we hit the office or go home?"
"We call Hotch and ask." Reid patted her shoulder a little awkwardly. "I hope I didn't bother you with what I said. I didn't mean to pry."
"It's fine. Really."
He gave her a nod and a quick flash of a smile, and they went to check in for their flight.
***
FOUR DAYS AGO
The whole team plus Garcia and Anderson flew down to Orlando three days later.
The profile, including both geographic profiles, was just about complete. Disney security and the three local sheriff's departments had requested their presence to coordinate efforts. Rossi offered to join Anderson at Universal Studios at least until it was determined whether the team needed him elsewhere. Morgan was working with the Kissimmee sheriff's department so that Sea World and most of the minor attractions would be covered even though the profiles put them as less likely to be hit. The local FBI office would be taking evening shifts at Pleasure Island and a different team member would work a double shift to accompany them each night. JJ had lost the draw and was taking the first double.
Garcia was looking forward to her set-up. The Disney people had explained she'd be in the main control room housed in the Castle. Emily didn't think she'd ever stop squeeing. She wondered if Penelope would even use her hotel room.
Emily had been pleasantly surprised by the Disney Security liaison. James Clarke had been very helpful.
He'd started by listening, which was always a plus, and then, much to Reid's delight, had started spouting statistics.
"I won't pretend the crime rates don't go up a bit during Spring Break, but the fact is, most professional criminals avoid the parks at that time. The really smart professionals avoid the parks entirely. We get more assaults, high school boys fighting over girls or sports, but pick pocketing actually goes down." Clarke shook his head. "The saddest statistical uptick is rape. There are very few. We don't permit underaged drinking and we're very strict about it. But the fact is we can't and don't watch everyone all the time and teenagers and booze can lead to some nasty things. Our crime rates are still much lower than Orlando's or indeed any other city or entity this size. Now, you're telling me we've had kidnappings. Anything we can do to help you, you'll have -- in under five minutes if I have anything to say about it."
They'd given the profile to a room filled with over a hundred police officers from three different districts.
"We think we have a cult leader operating in and around your parks…" Morgan began the profile clearly.
Hotch took it up. "These men think they're special. Although the narcissistic personality type crosses gender, sexual preference, and racial lines, most unsubs are preferential for their own race, so we have him as a white male."
"While there are women with this type of personality disorder," Emily said. "There are no documented cases of one leading a cult directly. Most either find another way to fulfill their needs for fame and success or take a secondary role within a cult to bask in the reflected glory around a charismatic man with whom they share a destiny."
JJ picked up the threads. "We think the unsub is using a ruse, perhaps suggesting these young girls audition for him or that they might become models."
"It's likely he's a type known as a breeder." Reid continued, "He thinks his specialness has to be passed along. He's targetting young women who are unlikely to be sexually active. He wants to be the center of their worlds by being their first sexual experience and also to ensure that any children are his."
Emily nodded. "There's a chance there are other males in the cult, but they will have lesser privileges with the women."
Hotch said, "What's more likely is that he'll have a woman his age or older who feeds his delusion, a mother or a sister or perhaps his first victim, who will be part of the ruse. A young woman is less likely to be wary of a man and a woman together than of a single man or pair of men."
Morgan continued, "These victims are willingly leaving the group they're with. From our interviews with the friends of the victims, they intended to come back. They thought they were sneaking away to meet someone, but they weren't intending to run away from home." He nodded at Reid who started a powerpoint.
"Please look closely at the pictures of the victims. This unsub has a particular type. If you see women of this age and type with a family, they are probably safe. You're looking for blondes and redheads approximately fifteen years old in a group with other teenagers. The unsub is probably in his late twenties or early thirties, and he'll blend in by having a woman who might be one of our earlier victims with him. They might wear matching shirts or something identifying the way several of the family reunion or class groups who visit your parks do."
Emily finished. "These women, no matter how they started, are probably on the unsub's side. This is the only life they've known for anywhere from one to six years. They may have carried his children, stolen for him, or lied to get welfare checks. Stockholm syndrome will have set in, so don't underestimate these women or think they will want to help us or be rescued. While it's not impossible, it is unlikely. They may even put their bodies between us and him if we aren't able to get him in the act."
They spent the next twenty minutes taking questions, but Emily was impressed by the seriousness the group brought to them.
***
Since then, they'd rotated through the parks -- different team members taking different areas each day with local police and the parks' private security assisting. At night, they tried, usually in pairs -- though last night she'd had girls' night with JJ and Garcia at the Tahitian luau -- different restaurants at the various hotels around the park, watching for the unsubs.
Tonight, Reid asked her if they could have dinner together and had completely flabbergasted her by taking her to Tutta Italia at Epcot.
"I know the French restaurant is supposed to be one of the best, but I figured we'd be more likely to see our unsubs or their target in here. Sorry." Reid seemed a little nervous, but she felt his hand at the small of her back guiding her. "Besides, you lived in Italy, and I wanted to hear how it compared with the real food of Rome."
"You'll never see a restaurant in Italy that's anywhere near this big."
They were seated at a table in the middle of the room with excellent sight lines for the whole restaurant.
Emily continued, "We had similar seats for the luau last night. How are we getting them?"
"Clarke set up something with Garcia. When one of our names comes up for a restaurant reservation, we get the seating we request and a table with the best view of the other diners. It may not be the best view for the show if you're at a luau, but we're here to observe our fellow diners."
The waiter came up and offered them a choice of waters or other drinks.
When he left them with their menus, Reid said, "All of the staff here are Italian. Even the chefs. Would you order for me?"
Emily looked at her dining companion and thought for a moment. "What would you prefer, meat or fish for your main course?"
"Whichever looks better to you. You know the food, and I don't."
"All right. If you're not going to give me any help…" Emily perused the menu. When the waiter returned, she ordered in Italian for both of them, much to his delight.
Reid grinned at her when the waiter left. "I'm not even going to ask what I'm getting. I like surprises."
"Haven't you ever been out of the country?"
"Well, you were with me the one time I went to Canada, but let's not discuss that at dinner."
Emily shook her head. "Let's not. Don't worry. No pork."
"I appreciate that." He took a sip of his water, a little nervously, and looked around the room. "I've asked Hotch if I can have a few days off when this is done. He's decided to bring Jack down in a month or two. I'm going to stay. Clarke's already arranging for me to get tours of the underground areas at the Magic Kingdom and things like seeing Space Mountain when it's not in the dark."
"Didn't you go to amusement parks when you were a kid?" Emily thought for a moment. "I don't know why I'm asking. I never did. Tivoli when we were in Copenhagen and a couple of trips to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg back when I was in college are about it for me."
"There wasn't much in Vegas, though a couple of the big strip hotels have roller coasters now. When I was at CalTech, I went to Knott's Berry Farm with friends a couple of times."
"Did you enjoy it?"
Reid's grin was huge. "I did. One time, the people at Knott's invited our class down for a design contest, this was for my engineering degree. My design came in third. Good enough to net me an A. I actually thought about it as a career for about ten minutes. That's what intrigues me at the other two parks, the engineering and physics. This place is a wonder for design."
"But you keep requesting Epcot. I know the rides aren't the big thing, well, we never actually go on them at any of the parks." Emily shrugged.
"Yeah, we're getting all the worst parts of amusement parks with none of the good ones. Well, other than pleasant company over good food." Reid raised his water glass in a toasting gesture.
"Why Doctor Reid, are you flirting with me?"
"I hope so." He blushed.
Emily's jaw dropped.
The waiter saved her by bringing the first course. He divided the pasta between the two of them, said, "Prego," and left.
"I ordered this dish because I loved it in Italy, and it's never made the right way in this country. But I checked with the waiter and he said it was as close to home as he could get."
Reid looked at his plate. "They leave the shells on the clams. I never knew that."
"Reid. You're pretty good at flirting. And yes. They leave the shells on because the clams are too small to take them off. I hope you like it." She twisted her first forkful and tasted it. "Our waiter was right. This is as close to Italy as I've had."
Reid took a bite. "It's good. What part of Italy is this from?"
"You're more likely to get it in the coastal regions of northern Italy. Southern Italy would use a tomato sauce and larger clams. It's good, but I feel like I can taste the sea with this style."
"I heard you and Rossi being sarcastic about the 'World Showcase' and how the campanile was on the wrong side of the palace, but I find it fascinating. To answer the question you asked earlier, we went to Mexico on a case before you joined, and Canada, of course, but I've never been out of the country other than that. Finding things I want to see some day is kind of cool."
Emily smiled. "You find everything fascinating. That's wonderful. And if something ersatz makes you want to go and experience the real thing, then this place served a purpose. My problem was I saw too many Americans expecting things to be just like home, but different. Controllably different, I guess. I actually heard one woman complain in the Ukraine that she couldn't find a decent hamburger. They'd just emerged from years of Soviet rule. They had a vibrant cuisine based on locally grown foods -- because, hey, who could afford to import food? -- and she wanted a hamburger that she could recognize."
Reid nodded. "I love Vegas, but I know most of it is -- what's the word you used? -- ersatz. Coming back East was weird for me. I hear people who move West complain about how dry it is or that the mountains don't look right. There's no horizon here. I can handle the rain, not seeing the hills, but I miss an infinite seeming horizon."
Emily smiled and was about to say something when their fish arrived.
"No vegetables?" Reid looked puzzled.
"The vegetables are a separate course. Then salad if you want it, but I didn't order one. I also didn't order dessert."
"Is that because you didn't see a good one?"
Emily smiled. "I'd usually have fresh fruit for dessert with a meal like this, but I thought you might want something more."
"So fresh fruit is a typical dessert?"
She nodded. "They'll bring a bowl with fruits of the season and a bowl of water and let you select your favorites to round out the meal. It's too early in the season for apricots or peaches, but those would be my favorites. Or a scoop of good gelato and an espresso."
The conversation ranged widely over medieval Italian literature, TV -- including a debate about the best Doctor on Doctor Who, and whether steampunk could properly be classified as science fiction.
They'd ordered a plate of three gelati -- Reid letting her select a hazelnut, a suppa inglese, and a straciatella -- and shared it to cap off their meal.
On their way back to the Contemporary Hotel, where Clarke had arranged for all their rooms, they saw a group of about six girls waiting for the monorail.
Reid said, "I'm not all that good at estimating women's ages. Are they in our age group?"
Emily took his arm and walked up the platform with him so she could look more closely. "Yes. There are at least two who'd fit the victimology."
"It's probably not wise for me to ask them anything. Can you find out what group they're from?"
"Garcia can." She motioned to him to stand in a particular place and took three pictures in quick succession with her cell phone. None of them were actually of Reid.
A blonde girl from that group came over to Emily. "Would you like me to take a picture of you two together?"
She quickly hid the picture currently on the screen and said, "Yes, please." She walked over and took Reid's arm.
The girl took the picture and said, "You make a really cute couple."
"Thank you…?" Reid said, leaving her an opening.
"Vivienne." She giggled.
"I'm Emily and this is Spencer. So where are you girls from?"
"Herrin, Illinois. We won the statewide acapella championship for our school and got a trip out of it." She was obviously thrilled beyond belief.
"Congratulations," Reid said. "Just the six of you?"
"No, we have ten in our group, but the guys weren't interested in a nice dinner out. We ate at Japan. It was really cool."
Emily nodded. "I can imagine. We went to Italy."
"That sounds so romantic." Her friends giggled and motioned to her to come back. "I have to go. Nice meeting you."
"Did I miss subtext?" Reid asked.
"I think they may have dared her to talk to us -- or you."
"Is this like with Stephanie?"
Emily laughed. "I'm almost positive it is."
"Let's get those photos and the information to Garcia. I'm a little disturbed that we may have just spoken to our victim."
They stepped on the train, making sure to get on a different car from the girls. It was just crowded enough that they had to stand.
Reid said, "When we get back to DC, I'd like to take you out. Hamlet's going to be playing at the Folger, and there's a good Indian restaurant not too far away."
"A real date."
He nodded.
"I'd like that." Emily looked more closely at his face and raised one eyebrow. "Are you contemplating taking over the world again? You look like your 'eviler' twin."
He laughed. "I was actually trying to figure out if I could convince you there's a solid undercover reason to kiss you good night tonight."
Her eyes danced. "You said you were staying here after this was over. If I take some of my leave, would you like a companion?"
He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Yes. I would."
"That was nice. Not on a case, though."
Reid nodded, but he couldn't suppress a smile.
***
CURRENT
Prentiss sent the picture of the couple to Garcia. The three of them went in separate directions with the girl going back toward the Living Sea area and the couple going toward the lagoon.
Reid called her again. "Did you recognize the girl? The hair was the wrong color for Vivienne, but I think that was part of her group."
"I never really saw her face. I got the couple, though. Visually, they match the profile."
He hung up and walked toward her. She grinned as he loped toward her.
"Why so happy?" he asked.
"It looks like your gait is fine. It's the first time I'd noticed since the injury."
"Cool. May I see the picture you took?" Reid held out his hand for her phone.
After looking at the picture, he called Garcia. "Can you conference Emily in. She's standing right next to me, but I want her to hear you, too. And could you clean up the picture of the woman with our unsub? Her back was to me for most of the conversation, and I was concentrating on the other two."
Emily's phone rang and when she answered it, she heard Garcia give a little snort. "I take my genius has no time for witty repartee."
He smiled at Prentiss as he said, "Emily's beauty so dazzled me that I forgot I was communicating with a goddess."
"My chocolate honey's been giving you lessons." Garcia sounded thrilled.
"Not really. Actually, Garcia, from the squinty vision on Emily's phone, I think that might have been Karen Miller."
Emily raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded. She heard one of Garcia's computers make a noise and hoped it meant the result was ready.
"Score one for an eidetic memory. My facial recognition software says you're right."
"Did you check the name I gave you last night, the acapella group from Herrin?" Emily asked.
"Yes, milady. The Carl Sandburg High School acapella group, The Little Cats, did indeed win the state championship including a trip to Disney World." Garcia's voice was teasing.
"I didn't get to see the girl the unsubs were talking to, but Reid did. If you can send him the yearbook pictures or something, we might be able to see if there's a link."
Reid looked at his phone and went through the pictures quickly. "Jill Watson. They were talking to Jill Watson." He looked at Emily. "She was one of the girls with Vivienne last night."
"Thanks, Garcia," Emily said.
"Yes. Thank you. Can you get pictures of Karen Miller and the man with her out to everyone? Not just the team, but the locals?"
"Of course. Do you want me to patch the bossman in?"
"No. Ask him to meet us by the lagoon as soon as he can get here, though, and PG, be ready to do this conference thing again when they get here since we don't have our usual communications gear." Emily said and hung up the phone. Reid did the same.
Emily looked at him. "Can we use the high school information?"
"Not that I can see. Garcia's got every cop in four counties and three private security networks on alert for our unsub. The most we can do is wait for Hotch and see if Jill Watson tries to slip away from her friends when they leave The Living Sea."
***
Emily's phone rang a few minutes later, just as Reid touched her shoulder and pointed. Vivienne and Jill were leaving the exhibit together. They were giggling and looking around which made her think they might have slipped their leash. "Just a minute, Hotch." She looked at Reid.
"Have Garcia patch me in. I'm tall enough not to lose them at a distance."
She nodded and explained to Hotch as she watched him stride to her right toward the Mexico section of the World Showcase.
Clarke and Reid were patched into her conversation with Hotch and Garcia.
Hotch said, "Where are they?"
"They're ahead of me and walking purposefully. I'm on the bridge and they're just about at Germany."
"Would it be a good idea for us to catch up with you? Or would it be better if we looped around in the other direction?" Emily asked.
"Hotch's call, but looping around seems less likely to draw attention to the fact that we're following them. I just hit Germany, by the way."
"I'm in favor. We'll meet you at… I don't know this park, what would be a good halfway point?" Hotch directed the question to Clarke.
"American Adventure," he replied.
Reid said, "Got it. I'll see you guys at the photo point there if I haven't had any indications they're stopping sooner."
"I assume I should leave the line open?" Garcia asked.
"I think so." Hotch thought for a moment. "Have you found the unsubs?"
"Last I saw, they went in to restrooms in Japan. I am keeping an eye out for them."
"I'm sure you are, Garcia."
The three of them were passing the UK when Reid's voice came back on the line. "Don't bother with American Adventure, the girls passed it and are heading your way."
Garcia said, "That's Japan. Don't let them go into the restroom, my genius."
"If I try to keep them out, I'll have half the fathers in the park trying to get me arrested." Reid responded. "I think we're safe. They've stopped to listen to the drummers."
"I can tell," Emily said over the din. "We've just hit the French side of the lagoon. Should we keep coming toward you?"
Garcia interjected. "I just saw Karen Miller leave the ladies' room and head ... It looks like she's turning into Morocco."
Clarke said, "Get the word out to my people to start clearing Morocco and Japan of the guests. Make sure they don't spook the suspects."
Hotch concurred. "Do it, Garcia."
"On it, bossman."
Emily turned to Hotch. "We need to let the personnel at the Morocco pavilion know they should get out of our way too."
"Thinning out the number of guests in that area without alerting anyone will be difficult enough Agent Prentiss, how do we get the merchants out of the way too?" Clarke looked between the two agents.
Hotch nodded at Prentiss, then turned back to Clarke. "We'll stay by the gate until we have more information."
Garcia said, "And I've got Mister Unsub leaving the little boys room and heading your way."
"I see him." Reid said. "He's definitely heading toward Morocco rather than the girls."
"Damn. We can't get him on suspicion without an overt move." Hotch hated having civilians in danger.
Clarke looked into the shop where Emily was talking to a merchant. "Is she speaking Arabic?"
"Yes." Hotch gave a half smile. "Her ability with languages can be very helpful. Although we're lucky they didn't try to meet up in China or Japan."
"She doesn't speak Norwegian either, my liege. Karen Miller is two shops away from Emily. The rug shop."
There was silence on the line for a moment, and then Hotch said, "Our unsub just passed us and went in to the rug shop." He turned to Clarke. "Any reason why they'd come here?"
"It's not far from the International Gateway, although UK and France are closer. Most people don't even think of that exit. Damn. There's an emergency exit between Morocco and Japan. There's also one near the outpost on the other side of the lagoon. They're so rarely used even the Cast forgets about them. Security, emergency services, and people who've seen them used are about the only ones who'd know."
"Garcia?"
"I'm cross referencing the photo from Emily's phone with Disney employment records and weighting the search toward security and emergency services personnel."
Hotch's mouth twitched in pleasure at her happy voice. "I hope you're not charging extra for mind reading. Strauss has been trying to cut our budget."
"Pish. It's all part of the service."
Reid spoke up. "The girls are headed your way. I'm coming behind them."
Emily said, "I'm in the ceramic shop. The woman behind the counter has gotten most of her staff out of the store and called the other shops to let them know too."
Hotch said, "Good job, Emily. Clarke, which store is closest to this emergency exit?"
"It's at the back of Souk al-Magreb."
Reid came up to Hotch and Clarke.
"Meet Prentiss at the ceramics shop and then wander toward the Souk. Clarke and I will head there directly and see if we can get in place before the unsub does."
"Got it. I don't suppose we can prevent the meeting?"
"If we do, we alert them and lose our chance. I haven't seen any indication either of the unsubs has a weapon," Hotch said.
Reid nodded and walked over to the ceramic store. He tried to find Vivienne and Jill in his peripheral vision. He found Emily seated with the owner at a table which gave her a vantage point to take in the whole courtyard. He accepted a chair and a glass of mint tea.
Emily said, "Fatima has been very helpful. When we leave, she's going to close up the shop for a little while."
Reid smiled at Fatima. "That's a great idea."
Ten long minutes later, the unsub and Karen Miller headed toward the shop where Hotch and Clarke were lying in wait. Reid and Prentiss waited until they saw the teenagers head that way too and then quietly got up and followed them.
It took very little time to get Miller and the unsub into custody, although Clarke discovered they weren't quite unarmed. Miller had pepper spray and tried to use it to get away. Hotch missed most of the cloud of pepper, since he had his back to Miller while he was cuffing the unsub.
Hotch said to Reid, "Wait with Clarke for the emergency team. Prentiss, would you ask the young ladies to come with us and have them call the adult responsible for their group. Garcia…"
"I've already called Morgan, Rossi, and Anderson back to central security. I have a match on a Disney personnel record. He worked for them in 2002 under the name of Roger King. When they found he had several aliases, he was fired. No felony convictions and no arrests in Florida, but I'm widening the search. As best I can tell, his real name is Roger Pierce."
"Thank you, Penelope. Keep the line open until we get into the security van."
"Yes, sir."
***
Roger Pierce refused to answer any questions without his attorney, and Karen Miller clammed up the minute he did. It was her driver's license that told them where to look for the other victims. The home address was in a small town in Alabama just up from the Florida panhandle.
Morgan planned out the assault, with a little input from Reid and more from Hotch, but it was his voice that, two hours later, guided the local office through the perimeter and into the compound. The officers who made the assault found eighteen women ranging in age from twenty-five to fifteen and nearly thirty children, the oldest of whom was ten.
After Miller and Pierce were taken away, Hotch took the team to Garcia's lair to help her pack her equipment.
Morgan asked, "How'd we miss six more women?"
Garcia answered. "Two were taken from Dollywood and two from Six Flags in Georgia. The other two were the oldest. One came from a waterpark in Alabama and the other was a cousin of Pierce's. Chronologically she was the first."
Rossi turned to Hotch. "When do we get on the plane?"
"Ten o'clock tonight. I know Garcia wanted a chance to explore the park a little. Clarke got us reservations at a restaurant back at the hotel. Reid and Prentiss, I expect your preliminary reports in my email by close of business tomorrow."
"Yes, sir," Emily said.
Reid nodded his agreement.
Rossi looked at them. "Really, you're staying?"
Reid said, "Clarke is arranging for me to talk to the animatronic engineers. Some of the stuff this place does is amazing."
"And what does Miss Emily Prentiss want with fake castles when she's seen real ones?" Morgan's eyes were teasing.
"To hell with castles, I'm taking the engineering tours too. I figured I'd never get an invitation on my own, but with Doctor Reid, the sky's the limit."
JJ leaned in to her. "Don't kill him. Reid can take hours over this stuff."
"I'll leave the safety on my weapon."
As they headed downstairs Hotch hung back a little to walk with Reid who was still having some problems with stairs. "I'll turn a blind eye right up to the moment this effects the team."
Reid stopped and stared at him.
"I spoke to Vivienne and Jill. They kept talking about what a cute couple you were." Hotch smiled. "They could be right."