Hotch turned as Garcia rushed into the conference room, laptop in hand, "I have so much news"
"Did you get a hit on the blood?" Morgan asked. Garcia shuddered,
"You mean the blood this sicko left on my beautiful newly painted walls? Yes."
Rossi sat down, "Who's was it?"
Garcia glanced at Morgan, who sighed, "It was the kids wasn't it"
The tech analyst nodded, "It matched the DNA of the body you found at Rosso's" she put her laptop down, "I also talked to records and apparently they did have a glitch in their system but no one noticed because it was during the bi-monthly evac drill"
Prentiss shook her head, "Perfect cover"
Garcia held up a finger, "But I also got a hit on the three rings found at JJ's"
JJ walked to stand behind her, "Who?"
"They belong to three agents who work two floors down"
Reid wrinkled his nose, "What?"
Garcia nodded, "I'm not finished, the weird thing is, unlike the rest of the rings owners, these agents aren't missing, they've clocked in every day in the past week"
"Including today?" Prentiss asked, when Garcia nodded, she looked at Hotch, "We need to talk to them"
"Okay, Dave, go with her. As of now, they aren't suspects but be careful" Hotch nodded to them as they left.
"Hey Hotch?" Hotch looked at Reid, who looked at Morgan, who nodded.
"If you don't know any of the other three people then there's a large chance that the person you know is-"
"The Unsub" Morgan finished.
Hotch turned back to the board, "I know, I've gone through records and made calls, no one I've put away has recently been realised and I can't find any family members or acquaintances that fit the profile" he shook his head, "Without a motive, without a suspect, we're playing his game"
JJ put her face in her hands, "He's doing this on purpose, spacing out the attacks just enough to keep us exhausted and on edge"
"We can't do this much longer Hotch" Morgan admitted.
Hotch let a breath out through his nose, "Then let's make sure we don't have to"
********
"Agent Andrews!" Prentiss called out to an agent walking down the hall, he turned and paled when he saw them.
Rossi walked up to him, "Can we ask you a few questions?"
He looked around nervously then back at the two agents, "It's not time"
"Time for what?" Prentiss asked slowly.
"You have to wait for the others"
Rossi gave Prentiss a look, "Do you mean agents Tracy and Morris?"
Agent Andrews looked at the ground, "And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."
Prentiss put her hand on her gun, "Why don't you come with us?"
"Keep my wife safe" He pulled his gun off his hip, before either Prentiss or Rossi could react, he turned it to his head and pulled the trigger.
The people around them started to panic, the agents pulled their guns, the rest made for the door.
Prentiss put her hands up, "It wasn't us!"
Another shot rang through the air and Rossi spun, spotting Agent Tracy just as he hit the ground. Prentiss drew her gun as a third shot rang out and someone yelled Agent Morris' name.
She looked at Rossi with panicked eyes, "What the hell?"
Rossi shook his head, "Have Anderson track down their families, the Unsub was threatening them"
Prentiss looked down at Andrews, Rossi moved past her, "Now Emily!"
The young woman snapped out of her daze and rushed after him, Rossi led them back to the seventh floor and into the bullpen. Prentiss split off towards Anderson as Rossi sped up to meet the rest of the team, Hotch met him next to Reid's desk,
"We heard there was gunfire, what happened?"
"They just shot themselves Aaron! No warning, nothing! It was fear tactic" He turned to Reid, "Andrews quoted Genesis to us before he fired, the verse about the sixth day, is there something we're missing?"
Reid's eyes widened, "Seven days! That's it, today is the sixth day since I got the letter, he's set everything in motion so it takes exactly this long for us to figure each clue out"
"Are you saying he's religion based?" Morgan asked, "That wasn't in the profile"
Hotch shook his head, "I don't think he is, but he likes patterns, clues, the spoons and the riddle, the writing the apple juice it all connects"
"So he has extreme OCD" JJ said, "Combine that with a psychotic break and you have a motivation to kill in an intelligent way"
"He wants to outsmart us" Morgan shook his head, "Kid, what happens on the seventh day?"
"God goes back to heaven and watches his creations, it's a day of rest" Reid answered.
Prentiss walked back up to them, "Anderson and a few other agents are on the way to Andrews', Morris' and Tracy's homes"
Reid looked around, "Heaven..."
"What is it Reid?" Hotch asked, lowering his eyebrows at the young agent.
"Heaven is where it started, when God rests he goes back to where it all started, in the letter the Unsub sent me he said our meeting would come soon. It all started here! The letter was delivered here" Reid rambled.
Prentiss looked around as well, "He's coming here on the seventh day"
Rossi looked down at his watch, "It's eleven o'clock pm"
Hotch turned and waved a security guard over, "We need a full evacuation now!"
The guard started to say something when the lights above turned red. A voice came through the guards radio,
"Someone is in the building, he killed the guards at the front gate and shut off the cameras!"
The security guard looked at Hotch for a split second then turned, using the key attached to his belt to open a small compartment, inside was another key hole and a button. He shoved a different key in as he pressed the button.
The red lights turned yellow as agents started lining up at the doors.
"Hotch, this is going to take to long" JJ warned, "We're on the seventh floor, it'll take a good forty five minutes to get out"
Hotch looked at his agents, panic setting in. He kept his expression calm, "Then get ready"
********
Hotch's phone rang and he pulled it out, stepping away from the others before answering, "Hotchner"
"I was just informed you condoned a full evacuation Agent Hotchner" Strauss' angry voice came through the receiver.
Hotch looked at the ceiling, "All due respect ma'am but I have reason to believe we are all in danger"
"It's one man against an entire building of trained FBI agents! You are causing panic"
"This Unsub has taken too much time perfecting this case, keeping my team on edge. He won't come in here with a gun and a half baked plan to kill a couple agents"
Strauss paused, "You think it's a bomb"
Hotch looked back at his team, all of them showing some nervous tick. He turned so they couldn't tell what he was saying, "I do"
"Aaron, I want you out of there"
Hotch could've laughed at her sudden change in demeanor. He didn't, "There are protocols, We have to wait until the lower floors are clear"
"Then I'll send bomb squad!"
"They won't get here in time. Let my team do our job, talk him down"
Strauss huffed, "Do you really think you can"
"We have to try" He hung up and put his phone in his pocket. When he joined his team Rossi gestured at his phone,
"What was that about?"
"Strauss" Hotch looked around, "She was questioning my decision to start a full evac"
"Was?" Rossi asked.
Hotch nodded, "I explained the situation and she agrees"
The security guard from before stepped forward, "They're ready for us to go down" he led them outside, "We'll take the stairs, I don't want to risk the elevator shutting down."
He opened the stairwell door when a gunshot rang through. The team pulled out their guns and Garcia stepped behind Morgan as the security guard fell back to the ground, a bullet hole clear on his forehead.
A man stepped through the stairwell door and grinned at them, Hotch glared, "Maxwell Corduroy"
Maxwell smiled, "So you remember me!" he looked at the other agents, "We were friends a long time ago, when Aaron was still a lawyer"
Hotch cocked his gun, "Until I found out you'd been planting evidence, convicting innocents to further your career"
"Oh ho! He really does remember! You ruined me, sent me to jail for fifteen years"
Rossi stepped forward, "From planting evidence to murder? Pretty big step"
Maxwell walked past him and up to Reid, so close his chest was pressed into the young man's revolver, "I knew your dad you know, William, used to work at the same law firm before I moved on to bigger things" he smiled at Hotch, "Small world huh?"
"That's enough, put your hands in the air and drop the weapon!" Morgan spat, stepping between Maxwell and Reid.
The former held up his gun, "This one?" he chuckled and pulled back his jacket, revealing a large bomb strapped to his chest, "Or this one" his gaze turned sinister and he threw the gun, hard. The team ducked as the movement made it go off, the bullet lodged into the ceiling.
Maxwell walked further into the BAU, stopping just before the large glass windows, "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."
He grinned, his eyes flashing with anger, "Today is a day for rest, for all of us"
Hotch's eyes widened and he pushed JJ and Morgan -who happened to be closest to him- forward, "Go!"
The seven of them bolted towards the bullpen, trying to get as far away as they could.
The last thing Hotch heard was the double glass doors shattering.