07x18 - Foundation

[bunniefuu]

[Rock music playing on radio]

[Hitting road bumps]

[Tires screech]

♪ I want to hear some new blood flowing ♪
♪ down into my broken feet ♪
♪ I want to hear my proud lungs banging ♪
♪ out when I hit the street ♪

You ok?

Yeah. I just need some fresh air.

I'm going to, uh, I'm gonna run around a little bit.

I'm gonna be as good as new.

[Turns engine and radio off]

Are we home?

Not yet, buddy.

Go back to sleep, ok?

[Humming]

[Laughing]

He's a goofball.

[Growling]

Aah...

Grrr!

[Chuckling]

Hmm.

He fainted.

[Rolls down window]

Matt.

Dad!

Aah!

Ya-hah!

Ohh!

Whoo, I got you.

My heart is racing.

Ha!

Whoo...

[Sighs]

What is it?

[Clicking]

Car just stopped.

[Click]

Must be the battery.

Stop fooling around.

No, I'm serious.

The car will not start.

At least turn the lights on.

Mom's afraid of the dark.

No, I'm not.

[Click]

Rrr...

[Laughing]

I got you.

I got you.

Ohh!

Hi, hi, hi. Sorry for the cryptic late-night text, but I promised I'd fill you in on the way here, and I am a girl who keeps her promises, so, this boy was found two hours ago in the middle of nowhere.

Technically he was found outside of Crockett, Arizona.

My point is, he has clearly been to super hell and escaped some sort of captivity.

How do we know he wasn't just dropped off there?

Well, he has fresh cuts on the bottom of his feet from the local cactus fields, and that's away from any through roads.

And his skin is rubbed raw around his ankles from chains.

He must've had a chance to escape and he took it.

Or the unsub could have had him in transit.

My God, you guys, look at his eyes.

Yeah, he's jaundiced. Probably hasn't seen daylight in a while.

Yeah, and there's a lot of scars here.

And those are the ones we can see.

It's hard to tell for certain, but he's maybe 13.

Are there any missing children in the area, Garcia?

None until now, but, sir, you may have more information than I do.

I do. Earlier tonight another boy was reported missing in Flagstaff.

That's not that far.

It can't be a coincidence.

Technically it could, but Arizona has the lowest abduction rate in the country, so the chances of these cases not being related are ridiculously slim.

Yeah. That's why child abduction rapid deployment will meet you on the ground.

The Flagstaff abduction is Billy Henderson, 13.

His parents say he was coming back from a friend's house after dinner.

He never made it.

Ok, they set up roadblocks, but the unsub has a head start.

Right now our best chance of finding Billy Henderson is to figure out what the first victim knows.

Exactly. So, Morgan, you and JJ go to the hospital, see if you can get through to him.

The rest of us will set up at the police station.

Losing his victim has likely enraged the unsub.

No telling what he'll do to Billy.

[Muffled] No!

Please!

Please...

Please, no!

♪ Criminal Minds 7x18 ♪

Foundation
Original air date on March 21, 2012

♪

Prentiss: "Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin."

Barbara Kingsolver.

Rossi: Apparently Billy was riding his bike home from his friend's house last night.

Prentiss: They find the bike?

No, the unsub was smart enough to cover his tracks.

And he has the guts to take a good kid from a decent neighborhood.

Billy left his friend's house at 8:20 p.m.

The ride home was less than a half a mile.

[Cell phone rings]

You're on speaker, Garcia.

Ok, I got the whole g*ng on.

It looks like the first victim was definitely held in captivity in Crawford, Arizona.

Why is that?

Because a woman walked in to Crawford P. D.

This morning, says she remembers a boy in chains, in Crawford, 30 years ago, just like the boy found last night.

Is she still at the station?

No. She dropped that b*mb of information and then she took off.

Rossi: What's her name?

Her name's Samantha Allen.

Most documents have her listed as Sam Allen.

36, never married, born and raised and lived her whole life in Crawford, owns and operates a nursery, the plant kind, not the baby kind.

Mother d*ed when she was 5, dad's a real estate developer.

Prentiss: Is there security footage?

Yes. I'm sending that to you.

It's on your tablets right now.

Prentiss: What's she looking at?

Rossi: I can't tell.

What happened?

It looks like she was spooked.

Dave, you and Prentiss see if you can find Samantha Allen.

Reid and I will get set up at the station.

Rossi: All we can hope is that Morgan and JJ get through to the survivor.

You can't examine the scars?

I can't get close enough.

He has the most severe case of C. E. R. I've ever seen.

Conditioned emotional response.

I've only seen it in vets.

That's worse than PTSD.

He had an adrenaline rush when he escaped, but coming down from that will be just as extreme.

And I'm sure he's sensitive to light and sound.

Incredibly. We're keeping it as quiet and dark as possible.

It's probably what he's used to.

He's also been somewhere cramped.

His legs show signs of advanced arthritis.

Any idea how old he is?

It's hard to tell.

His growth has been stunted.

He's got major tooth and skin decay, clearly from a massive vitamin D deficiency.

Best guess.

Maybe 16.

Hey.

My name's Derek.

I'm one of the good guys.

And this is my friend.

I'm Jennifer.

You're safe now.

Doctor says you haven't been eating much.

Food looks pretty good.

You must be thirsty.

Here you go.

It's ok. It's ok.

It's ok.

JJ, this is years of conditioning.

Have Garcia go back to 2000 for missing kids.

Yeah.

Detective, I'm Agent Hotchner.

Detective Perez.

This is Dr. Reid.

I thought your team was bigger.

The rest are following other leads.

Is CARD retracing the escape route that the boy in chains took?

They have been canvassing all night.

There's another team in Flagstaff retracing Billy Henderson's bike ride.

In the chief's office.

Where are Billy's parents?

Thank you.

Detective, you talked to Sam Allen over here and it looked like one of these photos upset her.

Do you have any idea why?

Yeah, well, it's weird.

Why is that?

Because most of these people have passed away.

That's our old chief.

That one there.

He built the station and some of the houses around here.

It's J. B. Allen, Sam's father.

Hi there.

Can I help you?

We're with the FBI.

We heard you were at the police station earlier.

Oh. I told the other detectives, that was a mistake.

Why did you leave the station when you saw your father's photo?

I didn't.

We saw the security footage.

You told them you saw a boy in chains when you were a kid.

Why do you think your father had something to do with this?

He doesn't.

I never said that.

My father is a good man.

This isn't about him, ok?

I told the other detective, I made a mistake.

You know what I think?

I think you saw the news coverage of that little boy they found last night and it triggered something.

If you know anything that can help us and you're keeping it to yourself, that's as horrendous as what's happening to those children.

Look, I'm sorry.

I really, really am.

But I--I--

I can't help you.

Come on, Randy.

Listen, I know how scared you are.

I know you think he can still hurt you, that he's just outside that door.

But I promise you he's not.

Even if he was, he'd have to get through me to get to you, and I'm not about to let that happen.

So it sounds like Billy's always been cautious.

He's our oldest.

And he follows the rules.

It drives his little sister crazy because she's the opposite.

And he rides his bike a lot?

All the time.

Even at night?

He's got lights and reflectors.

He even has a head lamp on his helmet.

We used to ride with him, but he's 13.

He was only two streets over.

And you feel pretty certain that he wouldn't go anywhere with a stranger?

No. No way. Never.

If someone asked for help, would he stop?

Hold on. Are you saying that Billy was taken because he's polite?

I'm not saying that it's his fault or yours.

Billy is a cautious child, and that will be his strength right now.

[Lock opening]

[Creaking]

She left after seeing a photo of her father?

Did she accuse him?

No, the opposite.

She protected him.

Garcia ran her mental health history. She had some grief counseling after her mother d*ed, but other than that, no therapy.

We can talk to her, but we can't force her to help.

No, but something in her gut brought her in here.

If there's any truth to her instincts, there's gonna be some kind of a record of a missing boy from 30 years ago.

Well, have Garcia check unsolved cases and also check into J. B. Allen's history.

We can't rule anybody out.

Ok.

How are Morgan and JJ doing with the boy?

He's so traumatized, he can't even speak.

Give me everything you have on J. B. Allen also, all of the unsolved missings.

You know what? Go back to 1980 just to cover bases.

Thanks, Garcia.

It's ok. It's ok.

What did Garcia find out?

She broadened her search, but nothing that matches his description.

Somebody's gotta be missing this kid.

[Alarm beeping]

No, hey, hey, no. No, no.

That's not for us.

That's not for us.

It's for the doctors outside.

It's for the doctors, not for us.

It's all right.

It's ok. It's not for us.

There you go.

Come on back.

Here. Just take it.

There you go.

[Sighs]

I, um, I got him to nod, but...not much more than that.

And you asked him his name?

Yeah.

What about in Spanish?

It doesn't matter the language if he won't talk.

Mi nombre es Jennifer.

¿Como te llamas?

What's your name, sweetheart?

Can I see what you have there?

Ah.

Do you like eagles?

Yeah, the wings are-- are beautiful, aren't they?

Your back? Wings?

Wings on your back.

Angel?

Is your name Angel?

So, softball, basketball, and soccer.

You played a lot of team sports.

Was your dad a coach?

No. He was always too busy with work.

I guess that's why he kept me busy.

It was ok, though.

The house was too quiet after mom d*ed.

She had cancer.

I didn't really know what that meant growing up, just that...she wasn't gonna get any better.

Ok.

Let's start with today.

What brought you in here?

I saw that...

That boy on the news.

And I saw, um...

I can't really explain it.

I s-- it was like a movie in fast-forward.

It was dark.

So dark.

And that-- that little boy, he had the same chains on his ankles.

[Clears throat]

And then it was over.

Those flashes that I saw. That boy...

Was he real?

That's what we need to find out.

Thanks, JJ.

Is the boy talking?

No, but they figured out that his name is Angel.

Garcia sent a list of all missing kids since 1980 with a concentration in southwest US.

Most are runaways.

All right, let's eliminate the runaways and focus on lower-risk victims.

Whoever's doing this likes the challenge.

Here's the thing.

This unsub is too controlled to let his victims escape. I think Angel must have gotten away because he was being transferred somewhere.

Perez: I'm running out of options here.

The state troopers are eliminating roadblocks, and CARD is coming up empty.

If J. B. Allen is a suspect, why aren't we just kicking down his door?

Because it's too risky.

If Allen is who we're looking for, he has a psychiatric disorder that drives everything he does.

He'll do whatever it takes to hide Billy, but he'll sacrifice him if it means protecting his own freedom.

Everything that this unsub does is methodical.

He had a secure place to keep Angel for years, but when Angel escaped, he didn't mourn his loss.

He drove straight to Flagstaff.

The questions is, why did he choose Flagstaff?

He'd only drive 60 miles out of his way if he knew someone was there to make him feel better.

We don't think that Billy was a victim of opportunity.

We think he was the target.

So this isn't a stranger abduction.

Chances are he'd seen Angel before, too.

The question is, where would he have access to both of these children?

[Crying] Who should we be looking at?

Friends, neighbors, coaches, other parents.

We believe that this man has met Billy before.

What? You're saying this son of a bitch watched my son?

I'm say he talked to him long enough to earn his trust.

Ohh!

But the other little boy, the one that you just found, I mean, why don't you ask him who's doing this?

He's not talking to us yet.

Oh, my God.

Well, what happened to him?

Oh, my God!

That's right. That's right.

Bring it over.

Angel, that's pretty good, my man. You got it.

Keep going.

Ok, please tell me you found something.

I want to tell you that.

JJ, there's not a single kid in the tri-state area who's gone missing whose name is Angel.

I did a nationwide search.

Still zilch.

Why wouldn't he be reported missing?

You tell me.

There's a lot of undocumented workers in Arizona.

Yes, I know. I've pulled harvest schedules already.

But what about school registrations?

There are more Angels than you think.

We think he's been held for a long time.

Did any of them drop out during grade school?

Go back to at least 2004.

2004. 2004...

Second-grader Angel Suarez.

You got a picture?

Yes.

And if I run my simulation software to age him 8 years...

He'd be the boy that's in the room with you right now. It's him, JJ.

You are amazing.

Thank you. Can you send--

Yes. Send his mother's information to you right now.

You're the best. Bye.

That sounded like good news.

I'm about to call Angel's mom.

He's responding to Morgan.

It won't be long before he's talking.

Ok, Angel, the Doc's here.

You want me to stay?

All right, I'll be right outside.

Ok.

Hey, Angel.

You're doing great.

Your mom will be so happy to see you.

[Sighs]

Ok.

It's ok.

We can start again.

I'd like you to close your eyes.

Please.

Close your eyes.

Concentrate on your breathing.

Ok.

You said it was dark.

You were in your pajamas.

Yes. I was burning up.

You probably had a fever.

What did you do?

I called out for my mom, but she wasn't strong enough, so I got into bed with her.

Was your dad there?

No.

Did you hear anything?

My mom's breathing.

Was she having trouble?

Yes.

It's a strange sound.

Was there another noise in the house?

[Faint clanging]

There's something else, but I can't see anything.

I followed it.

My feet are so cold.

Because you were outside?

No. The basement.

[Clang]

I see him.

No, I was too scared.

No, no. I'd go back up to my parents' bedroom.

Mommy. Mommy.

But I peeked out the window.

And there's the boy.

What is he doing?

He's trying to get out of that truck.

He's trying to get out of...

Is your dad driving the truck?

No, no, no. He couldn't have done this.

You don't understand.

He raised me in that house.

He couldn't have been doing that all these years.

No!

Ok. Ok.

J. B.'S friends with the whole town.

Never remarried.

Raised Sam by himself.

That's why this is so painful for her.

She doesn't want to believe that he's capable of it, but her memory's telling her differently.

So you believe her?

It's very hard to fake visceral reactions like that.

Yeah, but she's talking about a time of serious trauma, on a night she climbed into bed with her dying mother.

That plus her age, it's the perfect storm for a recovered memory.

Wasn't that a huge therapy trend in the eighties?

A lot of women manufactured memories of their fathers doing horrific things.

And misguided therapists convinced them that their nightmares were real.

It was a huge waste of our resources.

I'm, uh, just not sure about this.

I think she's credible enough to warrant discreet rolling surveillance.

You'll have to use your own team, 'cause he'd recognize members of this force.

If he has Billy, he won't hesitate to get rid of him.

I'll get a CARD team member to join Reid.

Allen can't know we suspect him.

You know, if J. B. Allen is our unsub, he certainly doesn't seem unhinged.

He went to the market today, and he stopped by his daughter's nursery, and right now I'm watching him landscaping.

At his house?

Yeah.

Is it isolated?

Incredibly isolated.

There's a lot of land.

You remember what Garcia sent us on J. B. Allen?

He started his contracting business in 1975, married Sam's mom that same year.

She d*ed when Sam was 5, as we know.

He never remarried, and despite the newer subdivisions he built, he stayed in the house he shared with his wife.

So he's either sentimental, or he didn't sell because he's customized the house to hide his victims.

Do you think Angel blames himself?

I know I did.

You know, seeing his mom for the first time may not go well.

Well, right now it's just about the shame he's feeling.

She's gonna have to realize that he may not want to see her.

Aah!

Angel? Angel!

Angel, no, no!

Angel, no, no!

Angel, stop!

Stop! Stop! Stop!

It's ok.

JJ, get a towel. It's ok.

Angel, listen to me.

You're safe. You're safe. It's ok.

Angel, you're safe.

It's all right.

Woman: Please. He's right there.

I have to. I have to see him.

I thought he was gone all these years.

My sweet boy.

Don't you understand?

I need to hold him.

Ok. Listen.

Angel hasn't been held in a very long time.

Things happened to him.

He's going to have a hard time at first.

Come on.

I know this isn't easy for you.

If I accuse him and he's done nothing...

Then I've betrayed him.

But if he has, you'll save a young boy.

The best way for you to recover more of your memory is to return to the source of the initial sensory trigger.

That was the basement.

How do I explain going down there?

Did he have anything of yours down there?

Yeah.

See if you can get it back.

[Muffled] Help!

Help!

Help!

Please help me!

I have to help my boy.

And you will.

But first, we need your help.

Someone else's little boy is missing.

We're trying to find out how this man knew both your son and Billy, and to do that, I need to know everything that happened the day Angel disappeared.

It was a Tuesday, after school.

The children were in the front yard.

[Crying]

It started raining, but Angel never came back in.

Did you see anyone talking to them?

No. No cars. Nothing.

The neighbors-- the neighbors helped me look.

I wanted to tell the authorities.

I really did.

But--but we'd have to leave the country and I had to think of my entire family.

Dios mio.

You just have to talk to him, Sam.

You can do this.

Right.

Dad?

[Knocking]

You home?

Back here!

Hey.

Hey.

The yard looks good.

Oh, thanks.

The kids at the store said you were going to Phoenix, but I saw your truck down at the police station.

Oh, yeah. Their order for potted palms came in, so I just--I dropped it off at the station.

Mm. Chili.

You want a bowl?

It smells great, Dad, but I can't stay.

Since when?

It's my chili.

He's not trying to get her out of there.

Not yet.

Hey, is my old catcher's mitt still down in the basement?

Yeah. Why?

I was thinking about coaching softball down at the Rec.

Yeah? That's great.

You still got the homerun record, you know.

Yeah, I know.

That practice paid off, huh?

Mm-hmm.

Is it, uh, it's still in the bin?

Yeah. Let me get it.

No, no, no, that's ok.

I got it.

Uh--uh, I don't think so.

I got boxes everywhere.

I've been trying to sort through some things.

I'm thinking of having a yard sale next week.

You want in?

Sounds good, but come on.

I can get it.

Suit yourself.

He let her go down there.

Yeah, but he hesitated.

He's not acting like he's got something to hide, Emily.

That's how he's gotten away with it.

We don't know that.

You find it?

'Cause it's right over here.

[Chuckles]

Oh.

Thanks.

Told you it was a mess down here.

Yeah. Yeah.

You sure you can't stay?

Yeah.

I'm not feeling great, and I gotta get up early tomorrow.

You going to Phoenix?

Uh, pickups, deliveries.

It'll be a long one.

Uh-huh.

Ok, then.

See you later, Peanut.

Later, Dad.

I'm so sorry.

It's ok. You did everything we asked.

There was nothing in the basement. I'm sorry.

Now all we've got is the kid.

It's called a challenge coin, Angel.

Legend says an American pilot in World w*r I was gunned down over Germany.

And he crawled, across no-man's-land into French territory.

He was desperate to survive.

And he should have been safe, except that the French thought he was a German.

And he was almost ex*cuted.

But he showed them a coin.

It had his squadron's insignia on it.

It was given to him by a fellow pilot so that they would never forget what they shared.

What happened to him?

A French soldier recognized the insignia.

And they set him free.

Angel, the man who took you took another boy and we have to find him.

Can you help us do that?

Angel...

I want you to have this.

It's kept me safe.

Listen...

Carl Buford.

That's the name of the man who hurt me.

I was just a young boy like you, Angel.

And I thought about doing that very same thing to myself. I did.

Because the shame was too much.

But instead, I kept the pain buried inside of me.

And it tore me apart.

But, Angel, I never let that son of a bitch b*at me.

I never gave him that.

I want to make this man pay for what he's done to you.

But I need your help.

I promise you that whoever hurt you will not win.

You and me together can take away what he kept from you and what he values the most, and that's freedom.

Angel, please.

Will you help me do that?

Can you tell us if any of these men look familiar?

No.

It was always too dark.

I'm so sorry.

How do you feel?

Like I failed.

You didn't.

I failed him.

I actually thought he could have done all of this.

[Groans]

I think it took more than a buried memory to come in here.

There is something about your father's behavior, things he has said and done that have bothered you for a long time.

You buried those.

Just like the memory.

Look...

You lost your mother when you were very young.

It would have been too devastating to lose your father as well.

Repressing those memories is a defense mechanism.

So, um--[Clears throat]-- what else did I bury?

His mood swings, probably.

Do you remember when he was happy one day, angry the next?

Yeah.

And when his moods were extreme, did he give you gifts?

How do you know that?

What did he give you?

A bike, once.

Was that one that you had asked for?

No.

It was a-- it was a BMX.

Any others?

My catcher's mitt from today.

What did he do?

You can tell me.

He used to...

He used to bite me.

He hasn't for a while.

But he did...

He did other things.

Will you let the doctor take a look?

Maybe we can match dental records.

Ok.

What about a few years ago?

In 2004, did he give you anything?

That's the year he gave me Randy.

Randy?

My--my dog.

He was just a puppy then.

Guys, Sam's father gave her gifts, trophies, from each abduction.

That's significant.

I didn't know that's what they were.

We need to find out if Angel had a puppy the day he was taken.

A puppy?

Yeah.

Ohh... That's right.

Some of the neighbors were giving them away that day.

They had a whole box.

But I wouldn't let the boys keep one.

Hotch, you hear that?

Yes. Thanks, JJ.

Uh, wait, Hotch.

Um... We're trying to get a dental match.

He's got oldbite marks.

[Gasps]

What is it?

Oh, my...

My dad has his teeth recapped a few years ago.

He said something like, that's what happens when you get older or whatever.

He made a joke about it.

You better not give me any trouble.

No! No!

We're heading to Allen's house.

JJ: You think he's got a secondary location?

He could, but guys like him keep their victims close.

We'll search every inch of the property.

Keep us posted.

Will do.

JJ.

What's going on?

They're going to find J. B. Allen.

Morgan.

Angel said it was always dark.

He must have had him underground somewhere.

It's a big property.

Let's keep looking.

Perez: Oh, God.

It's clear.

His truck's still here.

He may be, too.

He wouldn't risk it. He's gotta have another vehicle.

I'll get the roadblocks back up.

Any idea where he would go?

Someplace that feels like home. Let's go.

You're on speaker, Garcia.

So I tracked J. B. Allen's property developments over the last 30 years.

They're all over the map-- well, of Arizona, anyway.

Sending it to you now.

Hope you can make more sense of it than I can.

Thanks, Garcia.

The one thing that your memory and Angel's escape have in common is he was getting rid of both boys.

He would only do that if he had another boy waiting in the wings.

That means he met his victims before.

How? I mean, they're hours apart.

Look at the towns. He had subdivisions in all of them.

Construction sites are a magnet for 10- to 12-year-old boys.

He...

He gave kids a ride on the backhoe all the time.

They would just line up for it.

Oh, my God. I--

I--I didn't know.

We found his target-rich environment.

The construction sites?

Yeah.

See if Sam remembers a particular one that he took her to frequently.

Just one place?

He keeps his victims for years.

The burial sites would be someplace special, and he'd need a reason to revisit.

Is there a favorite place your dad likes to go?

You mean like the lake or something?

No. Most likely having to do with his work.

Somewhere he's proud of?

His first development.

Where is that?

In Mesa.

Every few years he adds on to it.

He adds another house?

He says that it's the place that reminds him how he got started.

It set the foundation for everything.

Did you hear that?

Loud and clear.

Please! Somebody!

Help me!

Help!

Help!

No!

No! No--

[sirens]

[Sobbing]

Come on. It's ok.

You're all right. You're ok.

Morgan, that's enough!

That's enough!

Are you ready, Angel?

Yeah.

Nino mio, mi nino.

Mi nino.

[Speaking Spanish]

Mi nino.

Do you always keep them with you?

Yeah.

But the one I gave Angel was the only one that had wings on it.

You know Angel's never gonna let that go.

What you shared, I know that wasn't easy.

None of this is easy.

I can't help but picture little Morgan.

You were so alone.

I'm here right now because of what that man did to me.

I know.

I'm just... Sorry.

Morgan: "Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it."

Michel de Montaigne.

JJ: Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.