Those three weeks were the worst three weeks he had ever experience in his entire life. Every day he lived in fear of receiving a note, a sign, anything that would indicate to them that she was dead. He had to remind himself that he was a psychopath. As long as Victoria kept the bastard entertained and fought that she would live. The problem was, this man was an expert in torture. Every second she was with him meant that a number of unspeakable acts could be done to her. He tried to push these thoughts out of his mind. He didn't need them in his mind. He didn't want them in his mind. What he wanted was her to be back in his arms.
The hardest part of it wasn't keeping his composure. No, the hardest thing was having to lie to Jack about what was going on. He told the child countless lie about how she was on a trip and would come home soon. That conversation then would lead into a conversation about what quantified as soon. Aaron Hotchner was an emotional wreck. He couldn't help but feel betrayed. Maybe it was the universe telling him to just give up on love and be a single dad then die sad and alone at the age of 70 with a cat named Felix and grandchildren. He could live with that.
The truth was that he should have trusted her judgement. In the end she was the reason that they had managed to bring Foyette to justice. She had done the impossible to reunite him with Jack and Haley. All the sleepless nights planning. All the favors she called in just for him.
What could he do for her? They already had all hands on deck searching for her. JJ still had six weeks of leave left and Rossi was determined. Strauss was on his back for allowing it to all happen.
Strauss called him into her office. "How the hell did you allow this to happen? I have the Pentagon calling me to fix this."
Aaron kept his composure. "We have all hands on deck. Garcia and Kevin Lynch are working to find any cyber trails. We are combing through all the documents and leads Hayes left us. What more would you like us to do?"
"I'm bringing in reinforcements. Clyde Easter, head of the London branch of Interpol, has agreed to assist. No one wants this to drag on. It makes us look weak."
"When will be be arriving?"
"He's already here. I've sent him to your office. He's agreed to let Garcia utilize their data base for this case. The only catch is that if she is on foreign soil we will hand the case over to them."
"She's a US citizen."
"Yes, but she also has dual citizenship in Italy."
Aaron knew the legalities and red tape all too well. "We will find her and bring her home soon ma'am."
"Agent Hotchner, Victoria is my goddaughter," she suddenly spoke up as he turned to leave. "Please forgive me if I am being rude."
Aaron shook his head. "No need ma'am. I know everyone here has a personal connection to her. Some more than others."
"Find her and bring her back."
"I intent to bring her back alive if that is what you mean ma'am."
With that Aaron walked out of her office and back into the elevator. His mission now was to confront Clyde Easter. Prentiss had communicated with the man directly after the incident. The man said that they had nothing else on the man. Aaron knew he was lying. Why else would he he here if he wasn't?
Aaron confidently walked into his office. The blinds were closed just as he had left them earlier. Clyde Easter was looking around at the photos he had of Jack. One frame in particular was in his hand. It was a photo of him, Jack, and Victoria. Takuma had taken it on one of their many trips to the zoo.
Aaron closed the door and Clyde said, "Why am I not surprised she got close to you?" Aaron took a seat at his desk as he observed the man. "You know, she's always liked men in suits."
"Why are you here Mr. Easter?" Aaron kept his tone serious and calm. The man was trying to get under his skin.
"Because you've missed the obvious Agent Hotchner." Clyde took a seat. "It's been staring in your face. The phone number she left you was mine. The text I sent was for your team. Not her."
"You knew this was going to happen."
"We knew James Moriarty was going to go after her. That is true, but we also know his number."
Aaron glared at him. "Does this mean we have open channels for sharing information Mr. Easter?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, it does not. We all have our secrets. I'm just here to ensure you don't dive too deep into what you shouldn't." It was obvious that the man before him was a narcissist. It was obvious Clyde loved a good old fashioned power play. "And before you say you don't need any help I have a peace offering." Clyde slipped an envelope onto the table. Aaron took it. "It contains all known aliases that James and Victoria have used. You are familiar with protocol if an agent is in danger."
Aaron nodded. "I always wondered if she had an escape plan."
"Well she does along with enough cash to disappear. But let's not contemplate that. What's important is that I've tracked James all the way to New Orleans using one of these aliases."
"How do we know this isn't a trap?"
Clyde laughed, "Honey the only reason Victoria and I are still alive is because we assume everything is a trap."
He didn't like the way the man said her name. Like there had been something between them. The way the letters left his mouth it was as if he was fantasizing about something from long ago. One thing was for certain, Clyde Easter was not to be trusted.
"Don't call me honey."
Clyde shook his head playfully. "You have no idea who you are dealing with."
"Then stop being a condescending jackass and tell me," Aaron snapped. "We are wasting time."
Clyde sighed. "Fine but I'll give you a piece of advice. Be careful with her, love, she will do what it takes to survive." Aaron shook off his warning. It was ridiculous. "Oh come on, don't you see it? She went back with him at the first opportunity."
"She did it because she realized that if she didn't then Morgan wouldn't have made it out alive," Aaron reasoned. He knew it was because she didn't want Morgan to get hurt. Well they beat him up anyway, but it was nothing compared to what could have happened. She was held at gunpoint and didn't flinch.
Clyde just sat there smugly. "Whatever helps you sleep at night. I take it she and your son get along well. She loves kids but you probably already know that."
"How is this relevant to the case?" The fact that the man tried to pry into his private life infuriated him. How dare he walk into his office and command orders.
"I ask because when it comes to James Moriarty there are no boundaries. He used Morgan to get to her. He will use you and your son if he needs to. He will use her father if he has to, and god forbid he has to kill someone to achieve his goal. What makes him so deadly is that there is nothing he wouldn't do. Victoria caught him once, and while most people wanted to put a bullet in his head we kept him alive. If I have a chance to put a bullet in his head. This time I won't hesitate. He is better dead than alive."
"Tell me what you know about Takuma Miyazaki," Aaron inquired.
Clyde furrowed his eyebrows. "How do you know that name?"
"He's my son's babysitter."
"He's an ex-CIA operative." Aaron was going to have a talk with Victoria once this was all over. That was a given. Clyde chuckled. "That woman. She saw this coming and she knows Takuma would never let that kid out of his sight. My god, you don't even realize how much she cares about him do you?"
"Is he a part of this case?"
"No, Takuma worked on more local cases. National security and stuff like that. James wouldn't know about him. Takuma's files are all classified and locked in a vault. Your son is safe I can promise you that. What I can't promise is the safety of you and your team. Hell I can't even ensure my own safety."
"What does the list of aliases guarantee us?"
"Have your tech analyst set up a notification system. If any of these names are used we will be prepared. I have more but I need this to remain between us. I cannot let this information fall into the wrong hands."
"You do realize that all we want to do is bring her home."
"I am aware."
"What do you have at stake?" Everyone had something in this situation. Rossi has a daughter to lose, the team has a friend to lose, but what did Clyde Easter have to lose or gain?
"What can I say? I want her to work for me again, but I know that the Pentagon has a nice cozy spot for her in about two months. But no, I am here because I owe her a favor. Believe it or not. It's your choice. She once got me out of quite a jam and I'm just here to return the favor."
"Will you be briefing the entire team or will it just be the two of us?" Aaron wanted to know if he was going to cooperate with everyone. He didn't like secrets. Especially since it concerned Victoria.
"I will brief the team. A full briefing on what we know about James Moriarty, although he goes by Jim in casual settings."
"Meeting in five minutes. I will round up everyone in the conference room," Aaron stated before rising from his seat and exiting the office.
His first stop was to Rossi's office. "Dave, briefing in five. We have Clyde Easter from Interpol."
"I thought he refused to give us information," Rossi responded in confusion.
"He says he owes her a favor."
"Well any information helps. Let's hurry up and catch this son of a bitch. I'm tired of being five steps behind."
~~~~~~~~~
Clyde Easter had a presentation all ready as he stood up in front of the team. He exuded confidence in every step as he commanded respect. Aaron couldn't help but notice the way he looked at Prentiss. It was as if he was studying her every move, analyzing her every word in search of something.
"James Moriarty is a fictional character in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, it is also the name of our unknown subject," Clyde began. "His real identity still remains a secret. Records of his birth to adolescence have been erased from all archives and records. We believe that he was abused as a child, that coupled with his already unstable mind led him to commit his first crime, and from then on he grew into who we now know as the Napoleon of Crime. Do we have any questions so far?"
Reid had a raised hand. "How can you link him to any of the crimes if the victimology is all over the place?"
Clyde chuckled, "Good question. Now let's go into victimology. As Dr. Reid has kindly pointed out it is all over the map from poisoning to bombings. There is no set timeline that we I know of, but one thing is for certain. As long as James Moriarty remains entertained then Victoria will remain alive. The moment he feels even the slight hint of boredom it is game over."
"Wait, so what you're saying is that this guy kills because he's bored," Morgan said.
"That is exactly what I am saying. Victoria is smart an resourceful, she will find a way to keep him entertained. From my observations of where we have managed to trace them, if you people would so kindly look at the map on the slide, is that they are going on a cross country road trip. Her idea or his, it doesn't matter. What matters is what it means for us."
Reid's eyes lit up. "If there was a pattern in the places they were visiting we could manage to get ahead of them."
"James is a big spender and has a delusional fantasy about her. She is the only woman to ever get close enough to put him in jail. No one has ever come close to him."
Prentiss spoke up. "Follow the money and see where it goes. If we can pinpoint big cash withdrawals in cities we know then we can figure out which aliases are being used. It's not much but it is a start."
"The problem with that is it won't be much of a help. Large cash withdrawals mean that he won't need to make as many unnecessary stops," Clyde argued.
"What about known associates," Rossi chimed in. "He could be staying with one of them."
Clyde grinned, "Now we're getting somewhere. Have your analyst run the list of known associates with those in the states they haven't visited. Then cross reference that list with properties, rule out warehouses and businesses, only residential areas. From that list we will be able to create a map of potential stops."
Aaron spoke up, "Garcia get on that asap. Reid I want you and Prentiss to create a map. Morgan and Rossi will investigate the places where we know they have been. Look for any clues she could have left us."
Everyone nodded as the search began. Clyde Easter just looked at him. "Bravo, you've finally made some progress. Now to hope that we aren't too late. You have jurisdiction only in the US and territories whereas I, I have a global organization at my command."
"We will find her," Aaron confidently said. Failure was not an option. This time around he knew that she could handle the situation on her own. He wasn't going to continue to doubt her abilities. With Haley he knew that she had no knowledge of self defense or any tools at all to help her against Foyette. This time around her was confident that she wasn't helpless. This time he didn't panic, and that made a world of difference. This time around he would win. Failure was not an option.