Cornfield – Johnson County, Indiana – Night
A girl, Meredith, is running through a cornfield while a car is following her.
Man 1: Better run there, Meredith! Whoo-hoo! You can run faster than that, girl! Aah! Whoo-hoo!
She turns and the car stops.
Man 1: Meredith? Where'd you go, baby? Meredith? Come out, come out, wherever you are. Meredith?
The men get out of the car and start looking for her. She stops running and wait.
Man 2: Fan out.
Man 1: Meredith… Meredith?
Meredith, thinking she can escape, starts running, but a man grabs her.
Meredith: Hah!
Man 1: Found her!
Meredith: No! Please… Please…
Man 1: Shh… Shh… It's all right.
Man 2: Let me know when you're finished.
Meredith: No! No!
The man takes her away.
Conference Room – BAU – Quantico, Virginia – Day
Prentiss: Whoa.
Garcia gives all of them an Ipad tablet.
Garcia: Welcome to the 21st century. Yay, technology. Behold. Everyone has a new tablet.
Reid: We've gone paperless?
Garcia: Fear not, doctor of the dark ages. I went old school for your anti-technology quirk. Paper files, hard copy photos. But the abacus is your responsibility.
Hotch: Garcia, not that I don't appreciate your efforts, but exactly where did the funding for these come from?
Garcia: I did a thing.
Hotch: A thing?
Garcia: Best not talk about the thing.
Hotch: We'll talk about the thing later.
Garcia: Ok. Instead, let's talk about harvest season. Because it is harvest season inIndiana, and farmers are finding more than corn in their fields. Meredith Joy, Kimberly Jukes, and Amanda Frye were all discovered murdered inJohnson County,Indiana.
Hotch: All 3 women were exotic dancers living in different counties in the state. Kimberly Jukes, the first victim, went missing 6 weeks ago.
Garcia: And in each instance, the women finished their shifts, but they never made it to their cars.
Morgan: It says here Amanda Frye was found90 miles from her house. This guy's going a long way to abduct his victims.
Reid: If he's dumping the bodies in the same county, it's a good chance he's located nearby. It shouldn't be too hard to work up a geographical profile.
Prentiss: Meredith Joy put up quite a fight. She's got defensive wounds all over her body.
Hotch: And the lab discovered two different samples of DNA under her fingernails, so we're dealing with at least a team.
Rossi: One that rapes, beats, and strangles their victims in a cornfield.
Prentiss: They're using condoms. I bet one of these guys has a record and he doesn't want us connecting the DNA.
Hotch: And they're accelerating their attack schedule.
Reid: It's 3 weeks between the first and second kill, 2 weeks between the second and third.
Garcia: Meredith Joy died October 31st.
Hotch: Now they're down to one week.
Rossi: Who's missing?
Garcia: Her name is Stephanie Wilson. She was abducted last night from Club Prowl inTippecanoe county. She finished her shift at midnight, but she never made it home to her 2-year-old daughter. Babysitter called the police, and Stephanie's car was left in the parking lot like the others.
Hotch: And there's a clear pattern. All the women have been abducted on Friday night and murdered sometime Sunday evening.
Morgan: Which means we've got less than 2 days to save Stephanie Wilson.
Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Michael is waking Stephanie up.
Michael: Stephanie. Hey, wake up, sweetheart. Hey, come on, sleepyhead. You gotta get back to work now. That's a girl. Come on, now. Rise and shine. Hey, no sleeping in. It's time to get back to work. Hey! Shh, shh. Hey, don't you struggle. Hey, don't struggle. Don't struggle. You know better than that, don't you? Yeah, you do. Yeah. All right. Batter up.
Stephanie wakes up.
Chris: Yes, sir. Whoo!
Chris sprays champagne all over Scott, who is laying on a couch.
Scott: Oh! God, what the hell, man!
Chris: Wake up. You don't want to miss the show. Here. Take this.
Michael turns on the music. Chris gives Stephanie a pill and stands her up.
Stephanie: No, no. No… No… No.
Chris starts dancing with Stephanie who is handcuffed to a lap dance bar.
OPENING CREDITS
Hotch Voice Over: "The herd seek out the great, not for their sake, but for their influence, and the great welcome them, out of vanity or need." Napoleon Bonaparte.
In the plane - Day
Morgan: Hey, guys. Look at the patterns on the cornfields. It's all hard turns and zigzags. They had to have been chasing these women.
Reid: Do you think they escaped?
Morgan: Maybe if it was just the one time, but all 3?
Hotch: They let them go so they could chase them again. The women probably thought they were being released.
Morgan: I'd say we're most likely looking for two dominant Alpha male personalities, but we shouldn't rule out one dominant who allows his submissive to have sex with these victims in order to control him.
Prentiss: Well, it certainly speaks to their arrogance if they're that confident the women won't get away.
Rossi: Prostitutes and strippers usually make easy targets. Maybe they need to up the challenge. The hunt could be what gets them off.
Hotch: Garcia, focus on prior sexual crimes in the area. This kind of confidence doesn't get built overnight.
Garcia: Yeah, I am compiling as we are face-timing. I'm also running DNA results through unsolved crimes inIndiana and the surrounding states.
Hotch: Good. Let me know as soon as you find anything.
Reid: You know, interestingly, all 3 victims had downers and uppers in their system.
Prentiss: Well, were the drugs used to subdue the women, or is it a ruse to get them to come home with them?
Hotch: Prentiss and Reid, go to the club where Stephanie Wilson worked to find out. Dave, you and Morgan work the dumpsite, and I'll work victimology at the local Sheriff's station.
Sheriff’s Office – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Sheriff Jeff Salters is talking to an officer, Kemp.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: You think you can give me the run-around, Kemp? I don't think so. No one talks to the press but me. This is my department, my investigation. Do you understand? You make me look bad. It's not enough I got the FBI coming in. No, now I have to deal with fumbled plays from my own team? Desk duty, 2 weeks. Dismissed.
Kemp goes away and Hotch enters the office.
Hotch: Sheriff.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Sheriff Jeff Salters.
Hotch: Aaron Hotchner.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Sorry about that. One of my guys leaked the news about the dead woman to the press. I needed to, uh, send a message.
Hotch: Why is the investigation being kept a secret?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Well, that was my call. I don't want these guys skipping town before I have a chance to arrest them. This ends in my jurisdiction.
Hotch: Has Stephanie Wilson's father arrived?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: He's waiting in the conference room. He's pretty messed up about the whole thing.
Hotch: That's understandable.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: I just don't get it. You know how many strippers and prostitutes I saw get beaten up and raped when I worked the city? Sometimes it's like they're asking for it.
Hotch: Nobody asks for this, Sheriff.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Not consciously, anyway. Shall we go in?
Hotch: I think I'll speak to him alone.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Look… I call it like I see it.
Hotch: These women are victims of heinous crimes. I won't have you judging them in front of their families.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: And I won't have you telling me how to run my show. The governor may have requested your help, but this is my case.
Hotch: It's not a show. It is your case. And you can watch from the outside.
In A Bar – Indiana – Day
Chris is working. He is serving a customer, Jimmy Joe.
Chris: That had to hurt.
Jimmy Joe: Let's just hope he can take care of business again tomorrow.
Chris: Are you suddenly a doubter? 'Cause there's the door, man.
Jimmy Joe: Are you seeing this?
He shows him the TV where the reporter talks about the murders. Chris turns up the sound.
Reporter: …Live at Schmidt farm, where the body of Meredith Joy was discovered late last week, making her the third victim in recent weeks to turn up dead in a cornfield. The Johnson county Sheriff's department remains quiet about their investigation thus far, but we'll stay on the scene as this story…
Scott enters the bar and joins Chris.
Chris: What are you doing here? I thought we agreed not to come to each other's work.
Scott: What did you get me into?
Chris: Me? I didn't know anything about this.
Scott: Those girls are dead, Chris. Chase them around, have some fun with them, they won't remember a thing. That's what you told me.
Chris: Scott, that's how it was.
Scott: You really didn't know? Where's Michael?
Chris: I'll meet you out back in 10 minutes.
Room – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Hotch is talking to Stephanie’s father, Gregory Wilson.
Gregory Wilson: She said she was making extra money waiting tables at a bar. She's my little girl. I didn't question it. God, this is all my fault.
Hotch: No one could have foreseen Stephanie's abduction. It's not your fault.
Gregory Wilson: I know, I know. I just, I… I can't… Amy needs her mother. What are you doing to try to find her?
Hotch: We're helping local law enforcement by building a profile.
Gregory Wilson: Profile? Why aren't you just out there looking for her? Who knows what these… these men are doing to her. I need you to find my daughter.
Hotch: We are looking for her. Hopefully this will point us in the right direction.
Gregory Wilson: No, no, that's not good enough. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just, um, this has all just been too much.
Hotch: It's all right. Mr. Wilson, I assure you, we will not stop until we find Stephanie.
Club – Indiana – Day
Prentiss and Reid are asking questions to a lap dancer, Tara Dice.
Prentiss: What would it take for you or one of your co-workers to go home with a customer?
Tara Dice: Nothing. I have a boyfriend.
Reid: Does he know that you work here?
Tara: It's how we met. He doesn't have a problem with it. Do you?
Reid: No, not at all. I'm fromLas Vegas. I don't have a problem with it. I just, um, these are questions that we have to ask.
Prentiss: We are not judging you. We're just trying to find Stephanie. Now, you said you met your boyfriend here. So you did go home with a customer once before.
Tara: Those were the early days. Everyone's a little wild in the beginning.
Prentiss: Not the veterans?
Tara: We know to play it safe.
Reid: Was Stephanie the type of girl who played it safe?
Tara: She never really went through a wild phase. All she cared about was getting home to her daughter.
Prentiss: Did anyone try and take her home last night?
Tara: Everyone tries. Every night.
Prentiss: Nothing stood out?
Tara: I know she got asked to go to a party. We all did. But she turned them down.
Reid: Them plural?
Tara: There were these two guys. They got dances from each of us.
Prentiss: What kind of party were they offering?
Tara: I never got a chance to find out. It's bad business to discuss private deals on the floor.
Prentiss: Can you show me where you and Stephanie gave them their dances?
Tara takes them to the boxes where she and Stephanie danced.
Tara: Yeah. Over here. I was in here while Stephanie was in that one.
Prentiss: Ok. Could you sit down?
Tara: Yeah.
Prentiss: All right, I can see the whole room, but I can't see my partner. If you're working as a team, you both want to see the girl you're gonna take home. Why would they do it somewhere where they can't see each other?
Reid: We should take a look at the club surveillance footage.
Security Room – Club – Indiana – Day
Reid: Only 2 cameras. There's a lot of blind spots. How do you keep an eye on all the girls?
Jonah: We got the one guy in the back, one guy on the floor at all times.
Prentiss: It looks pretty full.
Jonah: Are you always this busy on the weekends? Only on theme nights.
Reid: The unsubs probably picked crowded nights to make sure they blend in.
Prentiss: Well, they're smart. They make a plan of attack before they get to the club, then they separate and choose their prey.
Reid: I doubt they were very happy when Stephanie turned them down. Alpha personalities don't handle rejection well.
Prentiss: They abducted her from the parking lot just like the others. It didn't matter what she said. Stephanie was going to that party whether she wanted to or not.
Cornfield – Johnson County, Indiana – Day
Morgan and Rossi stop the car in the cornfield and get out of it.
Rossi: How the hell did they find this place? We must have taken 30 different turns to get here.
Morgan: Thank you, Deputy. We're definitely looking for a local. We should position black-and-whites in the area. We might be able to spot the unsubs before their next hunt.
Rossi: Garcia should pull surveillance footage of gas stations, too. With all this driving, they have to be getting their fuel somewhere.
Morgan: I don't get it.
Rossi: What?
Morgan: These guys enjoy the thrill of the chase. I mean, all right, I'll buy that. But what I don't buy is them taking such a big risk.
Rossi: Well, they wouldn't let their victim loose unless they were certain she couldn't get away.
Morgan: So what would make them so certain?
Rossi: Manpower.
Morgan: It would take one person to drive the truck. It would take another guy to handle the spotlight to track her in the field.
Rossi: Is that enough?
Morgan: Not for me. I mean, come on, look at this place. How can two guys guarantee that she's not gonna get away?
Rossi: They drug her. Maybe they think that's enough.
Morgan: Or we're dealing with more than two unsubs.
Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Michael: Hey, fellas. Who's tagging in?
Chris: Did you really kill those girls?
Michael: I was protecting us.
Scott: You protected us so well, the FBI's here.
Michael: What?
Chris: They got here this morning. What do we do, drug her and dump her?
Scott: I don't want any part of this.
Michael: Too late. You're in just as deep as the rest of us.
Chris: We only had sex with them. We didn't kill anyone.
Michael: First of all, a jury's not gonna call it sex. They're gonna call it rape. Second of all, I told you I'd take care of it. What did you think I meant?
Scott: I don't know. That… that you'd drug them to make them forget us or something. Then let them go, not this.
Michael: If we'd have let them go, we'd all be in jail right now. Like it or not, we're safe 'cause of what I did.
Chris: None of that matters right now. The FBI are after us. What do we do?
Michael: So what if the Feds are here? We covered our tracks. They can't connect the girls to us. We still got our whole weekend. I say we lay low, enjoy ourselves. Party ain't over yet, baby.
Conference Room – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Morgan: We know these guys are local, so we should be looking for anybody working fields or agriculture.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Only problem is, more than half ofIndiana is farmland.
Prentiss: Garcia, were either of the other clubs having theme nights when the girls went missing?
Garcia: Oh, my gosh. All of them. Meredith Joy was abducted on Dollar Draft night, Amanda Frye on Ladies night, and Kimberly Jukes on Fantasy Football Friday.
Morgan: So, Reid, you were right. They're targeting nights that the clubs were at capacity so they won't be easily recognized by the security cameras. Reid.
Reid: Guys, I think I found our two unsubs. These guys have gotten dances from half the girls in the club. They're very careful to hide their faces from the cameras. And this guy seems to be communicating with someone across the room.
Prentiss: But if his partner's sitting in the booth next to him, who's he talking to?
Hotch: Garcia, do you have another angle?
Garcia: No luck, head Hotch-o, the other camera faces the door.
Hotch: If there's a third unsub, we could be looking at a pack.
Prentiss: That makes sense. If these two in the booths are underlings, they would look to the pack leader to choose the target.
Rossi: That's why they abduct the women from the parking lot.
Reid: Stephanie only knew about the first two men. If there was a third, she never would have seen them coming.
Hotch: Garcia, any luck with the DNA database?
Garcia: Nothing in a 5-state radius, but I am opening my parameters to nationwide. That is gonna take some time, though.
Rossi: That's the one thing we don't have. We have 24 hours before Stephanie Wilson ends up in a cornfield.
Hotch: We might even have less than that.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: What do you mean?
Hotch: Two unsubs working toward a common goal is one thing. Add a third and all bets are off.
Morgan: We only found two traces of DNA. One of them probably doesn't know about the murders.
Rossi: The pack hierarchy will start to break down. They'll question their leader.
Hotch: And when that happens, the Alpha will have to reassert his authority, and Stephanie Wilson will be the object of his aggression.
Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Stephanie is dancing.
Chris: You should have told me. After all we've been through, I don't get why you'd lie to me.
Michael: I'm worried about Scotty. You know him best. You think he'll run to the Sheriff?
Chris: No. He's been with us on two hunts now. He knows he'll get locked up if he talks. He'll stay loyal.
Michael: Let's hope so.
Michael gets up and shoots next to Stephanie.
Stephanie: Ohh!
Michael: No, no, no! You're gonna have to do a hell of a lot better than that, girl, or we're gonna have a real problem.
Scott: What are you doing?! God!
Michael shoots again.
Stephanie: Aah! No!
Michael: Now dance!
Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Later, Scott comes when Michael and Scott are out.
Stephanie: Who… who's there?
Scott: Hey. I brought you some breakfast.
Stephanie: I'm not hungry.
Scott: Look, if you eat, I'll take off the blindfold. But you have to promise not to look at me. Can you do that?
Stephanie: Ok.
Scott takes off her blindfold.
Scott: It's… it's ok. Just keep your eyes closed. You can open them now.
Stephanie: You're going to kill me, aren't you?
Scott: No. No, it's just… I don't know.
Please let me go.
Scott: I can't do that.
I don't want to die.
Scott: I don't want that either.
Then let me go. I have a daughter. She's only 2. Please. I want to see my baby.
Scott: I'm going to do everything I can to get you back to her. I promise.
Chris and Michael come in.
Michael: You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep.
Scott: I was just saying that to get her to eat, ok? We need her to last, don't we?
Michael takes on her blindfold.
Michael: Whoops, this must have fallen off. There we go. Go wait in the truck. Hold up. You forgot something. Stay with him.
Scott and Chris go away.
Conference Room – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Sheriff Jeff Salters: I just can't believe someone from our community would be involved in this.
Rossi: Don't underestimate a pack leader's influence. These guys are being manipulated into playing his game.
Hotch: We think at least one member of the pack didn't know that the women were being killed.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Why here? Why now?
Hotch: Each of the women was abducted on Friday night and not killed until Sunday.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: So?
Hotch: So why are they avoiding the work week?
Rossi: Could be blue collar. They like the game, but they can't let it interfere with their jobs.
Hotch: I don't think so. The pack strikes not only on the clubs' busiest nights but also the cheapest. They have a limited income, they blend in with a young crowd, and they're unavailable Monday to Friday.
Rossi: If one of them is from out of state, that would explain why they didn't start their killing until the summer was over.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: What would?
Room – Police Department – Indiana – Day
The team gives the profile to the policemen.
Hotch: We believe the men we're looking for are college students. That's why the killings coincided with the beginning of the fall semester.
Reid: This means they're most likely in their late teens to mid-20s, but don't rule out older students who transferred in or enlisted in the military right out of high school.
Rossi: Right now we're canvassing colleges in the area.
Hotch: College students are impressionable kids eager to fit in and find their place in the world. This environment is conducive to the creation of a pack.
Reid: In a typical pack, not all members are created equally. There'll be a dominant one, an Alpha personality who's most likely the oldest member of the group. We believe he could be from out of state and has likely committed similar crimes before. The lieutenant will be fiercely loyal to the pack leader. The Alpha demands this. He probably comes from a broken home where he felt a loss the dominant was able to fill. And finally, we have the follower, the newest member of the pack. He hasn't cemented his loyalty to the Alpha when already he's starting to question his role in the group. It's unlikely this member is privy to the pack leader's ultimate agenda.
Hotch: It won't be long before the dominant realizes the low man is a liability. We need to find this man before the pack eliminates him.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: How do we do that?
Rossi: We drive a wedge between them. Amp up the pressure. This is our best chance of finding Stephanie alive.
Outside The Campus – Indiana – Day
Scott, Chris and Michael stop the car and get out of it. They notice policemen interrogating students.
Scott: How do they know where we go to school?
Chris: They're going to every campus in the area. Chill.
Scott: No. I'm out.
Michael: No one's out.
Scott: No, look, ok? I'm not gonna tell anyone. I swear. Ok? I'm gonna skip town.
Chris: Just calm down and be smart. We'll figure it out.
Scott: I can't. I just can't.
Michael: You brought him in, you fix it.
Garcia’s Office – BAU – Quantico, Virginia – Day
Garcia: I come bearing new information. After I expanded my search nationwide, CODIS bounced back a DNA match to a series of rapes inLouisiana.
Hotch: The dominant's done it before.
Garcia: DNA matched only one unsub, but there's another sample in theLouisiana cases.
Reid: He had partners before.
Hotch: Just not the same ones.
Rossi: So he moves on when the pack dissolves.
Garcia:Louisiana P.D. were crazy close to solving who done it, but then the rapes stopped. Two locals went missing and they pinned the crimes on them.
Reid: I'm sure they didn't just happen to disappear.
Hotch: Garcia, do a search of local colleges for students fromLouisiana.
Garcia: Yeah, I'm gonna do that. Garcia out.
Hotch: If he's killed his partners before, he'll do it again.
Rossi: But if he kills his accomplices, Stephanie Wilson is as good as gone.
In The Car – Road – Indiana – Night
Chris is driving. Scott is next to him.
Chris: Everything's gonna be all right.
Scott: How? The Feds are closing in on us. Where are we going?
Chris: Michael has a plan.
Scott: I don't trust him.
Chris: You trust me, don't you?
Scott: Yes. I trust you, but… Michael is unpredictable. How do you not see that?
Chris: I've known him a lot longer than you have. All right? Have faith.
Chris stops the car in the cornfield.
Scott: Why are we stopping?
Chris: We're ditching the truck and skipping town.
Scott: So, what, we're just gonna leave the truck in the middle of nowhere?
Chris and Scott get out of the car.
Chris: Yep.
Scott: Who's that?
Another car arrives.
Chris: It's just Michael coming to pick us up.
Scott: Why didn't you tell me?
Chris: Relax, would you.
Michael gets out of the car.
Michael: You ready?
Chris: Yes, sir.
Chris beats Scott up.
Scott: What the hell, man?!
Michael: It's time you learned a lesson in loyalty, Scotty.
Scott: I thought you were my friend. Uhh!
Michael gives Chris a bat.
Chris: What's this for?
Michael: Finish the job.
Chris: What are you talking about? He's learned his lesson.
Michael: Lesson's not his, it's yours. Finish him.
Chris: I'm not a killer, man.
Michael: You are now.
Chris turns to Scott.
Scott: No…
Michael: There's only one way out the brotherhood.
Scott: Don't do that. No. Don't do this. Chris, I'm your friend. Chris, don't, please!
Chris: I'm sorry.
Scott: Please don't do this! No, no, no! Aah!
Chris beats him up with the bat.
Cornfield – Indiana – Day
The next day, a tractor runs over Scott's body.
Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Chris is vomiting in the toilets. He washes his face.
Chris: Keep it together, Chris.
Cornfield – Indiana – Day
Policemen are on the crime scene.
Morgan: Stephanie?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: No. Male victim. We managed to I.D. what was left of him. Name's Scott Kagan. He was a sophomore atErnstromCollege.
Reid: This might be one of our unsubs.
Morgan: We said they'd eliminate the weakest link, and it looks like he was it.
Reid: The pack isn't just breaking apart, they're completely collapsing. Rather than kill Stephanie Wilson, they decided to eliminate one of their own. I mean, how long until the lieutenant realizes that he's expendable as well?
Morgan: Hopefully soon. Stephanie may have gained another day, but that's not gonna last.
Reid: We have another problem, that they've changed pattern also. We're 3 counties away from the normal disposal area.
Morgan: Maybe they saw the patrol cars at the usual dumping grounds and got spooked.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: No, not a chance. My guys were parked at the edge of the field. No one saw them.
Morgan: Well, then maybe they knew about the patrols in advance.
Garcia’s Office – BAU – Quantico, Virginia – Day
Garcia: Scott Kagan looks like a super outcast. Record of marijuana possession in high school, moved on to harder stuff in college. Scott rushed the fraternity Kappa Iota Phi, but was thrown out before he became a full member. According to his school counselor records, he never really fit in anywhere.
Hotch: Well, not for lack of trying. That's exactly what made him vulnerable to the Alpha.
Rossi: He didn't stand a chance. The dominant befriended him and gave him a place to belong.
Prentiss: Garcia, we know the pack leader is connected to the rapes inLouisiana. Do any students atErnstromCollege match to that area?
Garcia: No such lucky. I have cross-referenced with profile, location, and criminal record. I have zilch.
Hotch: Let's concentrate on the lieutenant. He's our local connection.
Rossi: Check the entire state,Fort Wayne toEvansville. This guy knows the country roads like the back of his hand.
Prentiss: Like Scott, both members were probably rejected by Fraternities or Athletic Organizations.
Reid: Their actions must have been deemed inappropriate to get them kicked out, not just drug offenses but violence as well.
Hotch: And they knew about the police traps. At least one of the unsubs is connected to the investigation.
Garcia: Do you think they have an inside man?
Rossi: It's possible. Run background checks on members of the Sheriff's Department, civilians and officers alike.
Outside Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Michael is dancing with Stephanie. Chris takes his phone and dials a number.
Chris: I'd like to speak to the Sheriff.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: This is Sheriff Salters. Hello? Hello, is anyone there?
Michael: Everything ok?
Chris: Yeah. Fine.
They enter the house and Michael beats Chris up.
Michael: Who you calling, buddy?
Chris: No one.
Michael dials the next number.
Woman: Sheriff's office.
Michael: Now, why'd you have to go and do something like that?
Hall – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Garcia: Sir, I need to talk to you guys really, really alone.
Hotch: Ok. Hang on. Conference room.
Conference Room – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Hotch, Rossi and Prentiss enter the conference room.
Hotch: Go ahead, Garcia.
Garcia: I ran a list of police officers with children who go toErnstromCollege, and I cross-referenced that with my flagged campus violent offenders.
Rossi: What did you find?
Garcia: My apologies, sir, but Sheriff Salters has a son that goes to Ernstrom, and the deeper I dig, the more interesting it gets. It appears young Salters has a sealed record.
Hotch: Unseal it.
Garcia: I already did that. And it's blank.
Prentiss: What do you mean?
Garcia: Everything in it has been erased.
Rossi: Who'd know better that the FBI are here than someone living with a cop?
Prentiss: Do you think Salters knows?
Rossi: How could he? He's searching for a leak in his own department, only he's the leak.
Hotch: Garcia, dig up everything you can on Salters and his son.
Garcia: Yes, sir.
Hotch: Stay here.
Sheriff’s Office – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Hotch: Sheriff, I need to talk to you.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: I'm busy.
Hotch: Then I can come back with a warrant. Your son Chris has a sealed record, but I think I know what's in it. He's been arrested for assault and probably drug violations, too, and you've covered up for him. That's why it didn't turn up in our initial search.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Are you a father, Agent Hotchner?
Hotch: Yes, I am.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Well, then you understand. I couldn't let these, uh, these incidents ruin Chris' future.
Hotch: I understand that if you run your home the way you run your department, then you bully your family the way you bully your officers.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: I run a tight ship.
Hotch: How long ago did your wife stop putting up with it and leave you?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: You son of a bitch.
Hotch: How many times have you hit Chris?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: How dare you accuse me of abusing my son!
Hotch: You call it discipline. You hit Chris in order to maintain control, but you lost that control a long time ago. Has he started to hit you back yet?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Don't tell me how to raise my son.
Hotch: You've covered up domestic disturbance violations and drug offenses. Have you covered up anything else?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: What are you getting at?
Hotch: Have you discussed details of the case with Chris? Did you tell him about the checkpoints?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: He was asking me about my day.
Hotch: That was in order to escape detection. I'm sorry, Sheriff, your son's right in the middle of this, and if you don't help us find him, we're gonna lose him and Stephanie Wilson.
Conference Room – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Morgan: Hotch, he's not in the dorms and he's not answering his phone.
Reid: You know, if Salters inflicts physical punishment on Chris, then it's highly unlikely he's the Alpha of the group.
Hotch: No, based on what we know, Chris wouldn't be the dominant, nor would he have the confidence to lead. But if the dominant protected Chris…
Rossi: He'd have his unwavering loyalty.
Hotch: Sheriff, when Chris started Ernstrom, was there an upperclassman who befriended him or who he looked up to? Did he join a Fraternity? Did he play on a sports team?
Sheriff Jeff Salters: He didn't do this.
Hotch: Garcia, anything?
Garcia: I'm searching, sir.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Track team.
Garcia: And Kappa Iota Phi.
Prentiss: That's what we've been missing. Garcia, expand your previousLouisiana search to former Ernstrom students who fit our offender profile.
Garcia: Narrowing, narrowing… Molto bene. Michael Kosina ofLouisiana. Uh, let's see. He was kicked out of Kappa Iota Phi after questionable sexual conduct with a student in 2004. The charges were dropped. But the incident earned the fraternity probation from its national chapter.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Michael Kosina. I met him. He caused Chris' bar fight. He did this to my son?
Hotch: Were Kosina and Chris at Ernstrom at the same time?
Garcia: Yeah. Chris was a freshman when he was a senior. Michael dropped out a few weeks later after he got into an altercation with one of his professors.
Rossi: This type of dominant would definitely have issues with authority.
Morgan: Tell me you got an address, baby girl.
Garcia: En route as we flirt, baby.
Hotch: Morgan, wait until Sheriff Salters arrives. He might be able to talk to Chris.
Morgan: All right, but, you know, Hotch, if that doesn't work, Prentiss could be our best shot.
Hotch: True. The pack objectifies women. They wouldn't know how to handle negotiating with one.
Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Michael: We gotta hit the road.
Chris: Why?
Michael: They're getting too close.
Chris: No, they're not.
Michael: It doesn't matter. They're in our heads. First Scott and now you.
Chris: You can trust me.
Michael: Really?
Chris: Look, I didn't say anything, I swear.
Michael: Doesn't mean you won't next time. We're leaving.
Chris: Where are we going?
Michael: I don't know yet. I have to make a stop first. Trust is earned.
Michael gives Chris a gun. He takes it.
Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Later, Michael unties Stephanie.
Stephanie: What are you going to do to me?
Michael: Don't worry, baby. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Ok? Stand up. Here we go. Come on. Hey. We do this, we're free and clear. Huh? No more pops telling you what to do. We hit the road to a brand-new life, just you and me, brother, to the end.
Chris: To the end.
Michael: Away we go.
They go away.
Outside Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Chris and Michael get out of the house with Stephanie. They see all the cops and point their guns at them.
Morgan: Hey! Chris Salters! Michael Kosina! FBI. Give yourselves up.
Michael: We want to negotiate.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: The time for that is over, son.
Michael: Oh, I wish I was your son, Sheriff. It wouldn't be my ribs getting bruised.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Christopher, walk this way and we'll work it out.
Michael: Don't you get it? He's done taking orders from you.
Chris: Sorry, dad. Can't.
Morgan: Prentiss, go. Go.
Prentiss: Michael. Chris. My name's Emily Prentiss. I'm holstering my weapon. I just want to talk.
Michael: That's what they all say.
Prentiss: That's quite a feat, manipulating a cop's son into committing rape and murder.
Michael: Shouldn't we be talking about how your fine ass is gonna get us out of here?
Prentiss: You wish. Look around. Everyone's guns are trained on you. Not Chris. You. No one wants to shoot a cop's kid. But you? I might shoot you myself.
Michael: You call yourself a negotiator?
Prentiss: Chris, I know you're loyal to Michael. I get it. He was there for you when you thought nobody else was.
Chris: Nobody was.
Prentiss: That might be true. But you need to understand that Michael's done this before.
Michael: Don't listen to this bitch! She's trying to get us to surrender. We should rush them now.
Prentiss: You don't want to do that, Chris, do you? That's suicide, for you. Michael doesn't care. He was gonna kill you the moment things got tough, anyway. Just like he killed his last team.
Chris: What's she talking about?
Prentiss: Two men went missing following a series of rapes inNorthern Louisiana. What do you think happened to them?
Chris: Is that true? Were you gonna kill me, too?
Michael: What do you mean, too? I didn't kill Scott. You did.
Chris: You said that it was to protect us.
Michael: Us, me. It's all the same. It don't matter, anyway. We're not getting out of here, either one of us. I need to know you're with me. To the end. Well? Too late.
Michael points his gun at Chris and the sheriff shoots him several times. Michael falls on the ground. Stephanie joins Prentiss.
Stephanie: Aah! Aah! Ohh!
Chris: What did you do?!
Morgan: Put it down! Put it down!
Sheriff Jeff Salters: It's over, Christopher. It's over.
Chris: I am not going to jail.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: We'll get you a good lawyer. We'll figure out a way to get your sentence reduced.
Chris: You'd like that, wouldn't you, dad? A chance to play hero.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Son…
Chris: Well, too late. You don't get too win this one.
As Chris goes to shoot himself, the sheriff shoots his son in the arm.
Reid: Medic, we need a medic.
Chris falls on the floor.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: I had to, son.
Outside Unknown Location – Indiana – Day
Later, Chris is arrested.
Hospital – Indiana – Day
Gregory Wilson and her daughter come to see Stephanie.
Sheriff’s Office – Police Department – Indiana – Day
Hotch: Sheriff? It's time for us to go.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Yeah. You know, I keep asking myself what I did wrong. How did my son become a murderer?
Hotch: There's an answer that a profiler could give you, but you don't need to hear that. And you don't need any criticism from me. All I can say is that in my own life, I try to run a very tight ship at work, and then when I come home, I try to give my son all the love and compassion and understanding that he deserves. And I'm not saying this is your failing, but something made Chris vulnerable.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: I know I've lost him.
Hotch: I don't think you have.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: It's going to take every connection I've ever had to keep him off death row.
Hotch: And after that, he's going to need you more than ever. Chris is lost. But he doesn't have to spend the rest of his life that way.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: What can I do?
Hotch: Be there for him. Make amends. And help him do the same. Good luck.
Sheriff Jeff Salters: Thank you.
They shake hands.
Hotch Voice Over: "Without heroes, we are all plain people and don't know how far we can go." Bernard Malamud.
