surrender, criminal minds [ 2 ]

043. the good earth

"What do you mean, he's not going?" Penelope asks. "Every kid loves trick or treating."

"Henry's scared." JJ says. "One of his little buddies told him Halloween was the only time when all the real monsters come out because they can blend in."

"Never thought about that. Good monster strategy." Rossi says. Penelope chuckles.

"You did tell him it wasn't true, right?" She asks JJ.

"Of course I did. But he's convinced." JJ says.

"Childhood fears are resistant to adult logic. Sometimes you just have to wait it out." Rossi says.

"For how long?" JJ asks.

"Well, if he's 23 and this still worries you, you got a problem." Rossi says making Madelyn laugh.

"At least you have this issue. I have the issue of what could happen at a seventh grade Halloween party." Madelyn says.

"They're not going trick or treating?" Penelope asks.

"Nope. One of their friends is having a party at her house so they wanna go to that instead. I'm pretty I've lost the trick or treating age." Madelyn says, frowning a little. "When did they grow up? They were one yesterday."

"Yeah." JJ chuckles. "And, see, the thing is, I think I am partly to blame." She adds as the four get up and walk towards the round table room.

"How?" Penelope asks.

"Well, the other night Will and I were up late, we were having some wine, talking about some of the cases we've worked on, and at one point, I said I felt like there was no end to all the monsters walking around, and..."

"Henry sneaked into the room to listen to the grown ups." Rossi says.

"Yeah. We need a cone of silence for our house." JJ says.

"That's the one perk to single parenting. You don't have any other adults to talk to about gruesome stuff late at night." Madelyn says and JJ chuckles.

"Those of you who like a good mystery, please unleash your inner Agatha Christie, cause this one's a real humdinger." Penelope says. "Gary Ellard, Barry Deaver, Paul Hicks, Terry Rodgers. Over the course of the last month and a half, these four men have gotten in their cars in La Grande, Oregon, and drove into the never-to-be-seen-agains-ville, poof, gone. The latest victim, Terry Rodgers, disappeared 24 hours ago."

"Forensic evidence point us anywhere?" JJ asks.

"Uh, point would imply there is evidence, and there is no evidence, at least for the first three victims." Penelope says.

"No forensics, no witnesses, no ransom demands. Maybe these guys just voluntarily decided to hit the road." Derek says.

"Four sudden disappearances in a community this small -- this isn't about seeking green pastures." Rossi says.

"Based on last known sightings, we're dealing with a sizeable geographic area." Hotch says.

"He's efficient and well organized." Derek says. "It's not easy to make four people vanish and stay vanished."

"It has been done before, though. Political kidnappings frequently require holding multiple adults simultaneously." Spencer says.

"Or they're already dead. Nothing says "can't be found" like a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere." Rossi says.

"Assuming they are alive, how is the unsub controlling them?" Blake questions.

"And for what purpose?" JJ adds.