Resurrection Day Chapter 6

BAU Headquarters –

Even though he would never admit it, Hotch was a little unnerved by the phone call.  Hotch looked around the room at the others as the buzz of the phone rang in his ear. 

The man was devolving and they needed to find him quickly if they were going to save Morgan.  Until now they had no real clues except for the fact that he was an admirer of the Reaper using his crimes to pattern his after. 

“He’s a ballsy son-of-a-bitch!” Rossi groaned.

“Just like Foyet…” Hotch began.

“But he’s not as smart. He’s studied the Reaper’s cases backward and forward he thinks he can beat us.”  Reid added.

“But he can’t and if Garcia is right we know where he has Morgan.”  JJ added.

Home of Derek Morgan -

Anderson smiled confidently as he looked around the home.  The others didn’t realize just how close he was; they were no doubt trying to find where he lived or if he secretly owned any other property.  They would never find him until he was ready for them to find him.  As he walked around the living room he ran his fingers across the leather sofa and examined the artwork hanging from the walls.  Then he picked up picture after picture from the mantle envying the smiling faces of the people who were a family even though they did not share any DNA.  It should be him in those pictures; smiling and acting silly feeling wanted but he was on the outside, left out.  His anger overcame him as he violently flung the pictures to the ground smashing the glass across the floor. 

The Reaper had attacked Hotch in his home waiting for him after the senior agent returned from a case in Canada.  Anderson had done one better attacking Morgan at the BAU headquarters and then bringing him here and as he slowly walked around enviously examining each room he felt not only justified but vindicated somehow.  He’d worked for the BAU team for the last eight years and his only real accomplishment was managing to remain invisible unless of course they needed an errand run or some menial task performed.  Not now he had them all scared shitless and willing to do anything he commanded to save their friend.

Anderson glanced at his watched and taking one final look around the room he headed to the basement.  As clever as he had been he knew that eventually even the overpaid, overrated agents of the BAU would figure things out…not soon enough, he snickered to himself.

He knew he was coming the third step had given him away.  Morgan had meant to replace the rotten piece of wood months ago but his job had delayed him.  His hands and feet were still bound and his body especially were he’d been stabbed were throbbing with pain.  Oddly, he took comfort in the pain it meant that he was still alive, still had time to convince his captor to release him and still time for his team to find him.  Anderson’s over confidence and rage would have to be his only weapon…it was all he had to fight with and even time was beginning to choose sides against him.

“Miss me?”

“Back so soon?”

“I love your stubbornness…so damn sexy!” Anderson chuckled.

His heart rate increased he knew what was coming next the knife in the man’s hand confirmed it.  Anderson dropped to his knees and leaned in close.

“Now, be a good boy…I’ll try to be gentle.”

Morgan closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing.  He hated the arrogant grin on his face that seemed to grow more and more with each visit.  Slowly running the knife up and down his chest, Anderson watched for any sign of fear.  Seeing none he angrily plunged the knife into Morgan’s left side.  The pain was like the first time, raw and piercing and the repetition of the brutality had not done anything to dull his senses.

“You should be use to this by now, Derek.”

He didn’t know the sound of his first name could sound so dirty.  He cursed himself for not being able to hide the pain.

 “Your friends are quite concerned for you.  It’s sweet really.”

“What are talking about?”

“How you all regard each other…you’re like this little family…you love each other.”

“Yeah we do.”

Anderson slowly pulled the knife from his body and Morgan could not suppress his cry of agony the grin on his tormentor’s face was now a toothy smile.

“At last! I knew it would only be a matter of time.  I must admit you are most stubborn!”

“You sick son-of-a-bitch!”

“Now, now, Derek, I thought we were becoming close.”

“I’d rather be dead!”

“And so you shall!”

Garcia’s hunch had been right Morgan’s car was parked in the driveway.  Hotch and the others quickly got out of the SUV’s and headed toward the house.  Rossi and JJ headed around the side of the house toward the back entrance, Hotch and Reid to the front.  On his mark, Hotch ordered them in.  Swiftly and quietly they began a search room-by-room meeting at the basement door. Hotch led the team down the steps pausing momentarily on the squeaky third stair.  There were no sounds and no movement from the darkness as they continued and no reaction from the third steps announcement of their presence. Then there was the blood; lots of blood in varying shades of brown, burgundy and bright red…no doubt Derek’s blood and it stilled them as they formed a semi-circle around the stained concrete floor.  None of them had ever been in his basement until now.  They’d spent countless weekends over the years upstairs and in Derek’s backyard but never the basement.  Most of them never realized that this room, cold dark and now smeared in blood even existed. 

They were certain he would be here they’d operated on next to no leads and this was their best hope.  It wasn’t that they were wrong in fact they had gotten it right and Anderson true to the Reaper’s form had indeed brought Morgan to his own home to torture and brutalize him.  The problem was that they were too late.