If you are just coming across this story disregard my notes about changes, but if you were curious and decided to reread I hope you enjoy the new version. I have not changed the story, just tried to tell it better.

I hope that it is better and if you have a chance let me know your thoughts.

Happy reading!

Oh, and I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters. Duh!

Prologue

Her body was weak and vulnerable, but her mind remained strong refusing to give in, willing her to fight. She had a lingering hope it wouldn't end this way. She clung tightly to the edge clawing for a firm hold, but it was a losing battle. She didn't know what she had done to deserve such a fate, and pleaded for the torment to stop. Her begging words fell on deaf ears and were drowned out by menacing laughter. She stared in the eyes of evil and saw her end in them. It happened so fast no word or action could stop it. His large hands wrapped perfectly around her slender neck. With gradual pressure he squeezed and reveled in the effects of his action. Without air her brain began to shut down. It no longer mattered what commands that surged through her mind her limbs refuse to respond. Then it was over, and the pain was gone.

The crisp morning hung heavy on the cusp of a warm afternoon. The lingering cool salty air welcomed the BAU Agents as they climbed out of the two black-tinted Federal issued vehicles. They paused and glanced around the small coastal community. People had stopped and gathered in curiosity to their arrival, but grateful for their presence. Within a short period terror had cast a dark cloud over the tight knit community.

People were drawn to living there with the belief that bad things aren't allowed to happen in small towns. They're supposed to be able to keep their doors unlocked without fear. Leave their windows open all night to enjoy the refreshing ocean breeze. Children could play joyfully in their front yards without worry. But evil resides everywhere. It lurks patiently in the shadows for the perfect moment and strikes without remorse. The anxiety and fear was palpable. Everything felt as though it was unraveling and the pressure to end the horror compounded with each new woman that had gone missing.

The team could only turn away and hurry into the police station, their task clear. Introductions were short and to the point as the undesirable news that the body of the recent missing woman, Christy Smith, had been found.

They relocated quickly and the small conference room transformed into a scene of organized chaos as the case continued to unfold. The thick and stale air was broken up by the rhythmic voice of Spencer Reid. He continued a recap of the information as it had been placed on the board. Hotch stood to the back listening but thumbed through an opened file in his hand. Emily leaned against the edge of the table, one leg on the ground the other on chair next to Morgan, who was studying photographs of the victims. Emily's arms were crossed and resting on the raised leg. Her fingers fidgeted but her eyes never wavered from the young Doctor. They all absorbed his information as fast as he expelled it.

"With finding Christy Smith, we now have three women in three weeks. Their ages range from twenty to twenty-five." Reid twisted his torso and waved his dry erase pen at the photos behind him. "There isn't a single physical commonality between them. All have evidence of torture and repeated sexual assault. COD's strangulation."

"The torture looks experimental and varied." Derek said displaying the photo he had lifted from the table. "While the rape and strangulation are the one constant."

"His signature, maybe?" Emily threw out.

Morgan lifted a shoulder forward. "The torture doesn't fit to me, it's sloppy. There's a lot of control to everything, from how planned out the abductions are, to the time frame he keeps them and even how he dumps the body."

Emily shook her head in disagreement. "He leaves them out in the open, on the side of the road like they're trash. He doesn't care anymore."

"I don't know," Reid interjected pointing to the circles on the map. "Look at the locations, all within a mile of their mother's homes."

"The town is seven miles square, Reid." Morgan countered. "It could just be a coincidence."

"Reid may be right, it seems too convenient to be a coincidence. He could be from the town, or even still be a resident." Emily said and began to flip through the opened file as if looking something specific. "The victims all went to high school around the same time, they could have been friends."

"The town's population is 9,684, so there would be some social overlap." Spencer countered.

"Yeah." Emily shrugged lifting her phone. "But still something for Garcia to look at."

"I agree. " Hotch said nodding to Emily, then looked past everyone to the board. "He could be targeting them for another reason, a personal agenda."

Derek tossed the print onto the pile in front of him. "Christy Smith's body was found just an hour ago. All the women were abducted within twenty-four hours of the last body showing up. If there's a personal agenda we need to figure it out before another woman goes missing."

Hotch was about to speak when JJ's form filled the doorway and caught his attention. After making eye contact she silently signaled for him to join her. He set the file and papers down next to Emily and excused himself from the group to meet her outside.

"Hey." She greeted him as he stepped into the hallway. She angled her head in the direction of a plain clothed officer waiting patiently by the nearest desk. "Sergeant Morris asked me if I'd go with him to speak to Christy Smith's mother. He's never had to do a death notification like this and would like some support."

"That's fine. When you get back I'll need you to set up a press conference. We'll need to make sure the town is receiving more accurate information on what they need to be on the look out for."

"Of course, I should be back within the hour." She smiled and directed herself back to the man, who was now eager to leave.

Aaron briefly watched the two as they walked away before he turned into the room to delegate assignments. The chatter had grown quiet as the three remaining team members continued to study the files and boards on their own. Everyone's head popped up as Aaron began to speak.

"Reid, stay here and continue with the victimology. Morgan and I will head over to the dumpsites."

He paused before he directed himself to Emily. "Since Dave's not here with us, do you think you can handle the ME by yourself?"

"Absolutely." The brunette nodded and took one last gulp of her coffee before heading out.

Emily pushed through the glass doors of the Coroner's building and grabbed for her sunglasses to relieve the brightness from the assaulting afternoon sun. She paused for her eyes to adjust before she took steps to the SUV. Her mind spun with what she had just learned about Christy Smith, and her heart ached at the unnecessary pain she must have been put through before her life was taken so abruptly.

Emily had just curled her fingers around the black handle to release the latch when her phone began to vibrate in her coat pocket. She released her hold to fish it out, but fumbled with the small device and lost the chance to answer before it went to voicemail.

"Damn." She mumbled in frustration and quickly pressed send not looking to see whom actually called. When the line picked up and heard Spencer's voice she quickly apologized. "Sorry Reid, what's up?"

"It's okay. Are you still at the ME's?"

"Just leaving now, why?"

"Hotch wants you to go check on JayJe."

Emily was curious to why Aaron had not called her directly, but shrugged it off, the purpose unimportant. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't think so. They've been gone too long, and we need JayJe back for a press conference. Neither her or Morris are answering their phones."

"They're dealing with a grieving mother, Reid." Emily quickly reminded him.

"I know, but Hotch needs her back here. You're the closest to the house, so maybe swing by?"

"Sure." Emily shrugged before she ended the call and climbed into the SUV.

She sat in the drivers seat and scrolled through her phone for the address. After finding it she punched it into the car's GPS. Once the destination was locked in she fired up the engine and pulled out of the small parking lot and onto the street. As she drove, Emily couldn't help but feel it was an enduring town. All major business, the post office, library, police station and only grocery store filled up the literally named Main Street. The street bisected the town with residential neighborhoods on either side. Few cars clogged the streets. There were trees and lush green parks on what appeared to be every corner. The largest building was the high school, but its beautiful architecture and stunning bell tower stood proud and tall in the skyline.

The sound of the GPS signaling her arrival to the Smith house was a reminder to why she was there and it immediately replaced the tranquil feeling she had. She pulled to the curb and glanced curiously to the small property. It was older and worn compared to the large and more modern ones that surrounded it. Just as she threw the gear into park and cut the engine her phone lit up again announcing a call from Penelope.

"Garcia." She casually answered as she released her seat belt.

"Emily, my pet!" Penelope enthusiastically greeted back. "I was cross referencing the families of the victims like you asked, and I found something very interesting."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. The mothers of the victims were all friends at one time. Like the talk of the town cool girls, but a tragic accident divided them."

"What kind of accident?"

"A car accident, and the driver was Mary Smith, Christy's mom. Good ole soccer mom was tipping the bottle, a blood alcohol .10. The other car had the worst damage. The driver died, and her two boys were badly injured."

Silence hung between the two women for a moment, only the clicking of Penelope's keyboard took up the background. Emily had begun to push the door open but paused, holding it from closing with the toe of her boot. She leaned back against the seat and waited for more information.

Retrieving what she was searching for Garcia spoke again. "It was the top news at the time. Small town, big drama, and the papers ran with it. Mary's passengers weren't injured, but they made it clear they no longer wanted to be associated with her. Claiming they didn't know she was drunk. Oh, and the kicker." She paused for the dramatic effect. "Mom didn't do any time."

Emily shook her head in disgust. "Thanks, Garcia. I'm at Ms. Smith's house now."

She stepped out of the SUV, swiftly shut the door and pressed the lock button on the keychain. She kept the phone to her ear as she strode across the street and stopped to peer into the unmarked police car parked in front of the house.

"I can see Morris' car, so they're still here. I'm just going to see if JayJe needs help wrapping this up."

"Sounds good my sweet. Talk to you soon."

"Bye." Emily ended the call and tucked the phone back into her pocket. She picked up her pace as she followed the small concrete path that led to the small porch. She turned and gave the neighborhood a quick once over before she made her final approach to the door.

Emily didn't envy JJ having to be the one to notify the mom of the latest victim, but now she was curious to talk to Mary Smith about the new information she just received. She stopped abruptly when she saw that the door was slightly ajar. Through the crack she could see what looked like a body on the floor. Her senses immediately went on high alert. She unholstered her gun and used it to slowly push the door open. Her eyes ping ponged around the entryway and family room looking for any possible threat.

After clearing the room of any danger she took large strides to the man that lay in a pool of blood. As she neared she was careful not to step in or smear the crimson trail that lead from the other room to him. Emily slowly knelt next to Sergeant Morris. She kept her head up and eyes moving around to not be surprised by anyone. She pressed her fingers against his neck in the vicinity of the carotid artery. No pulse. With how much blood loss there was, she was not surprised. She rose slowly and took in her environment and tried to understand what could have happened. Morris appeared to have been shot then dragged to the family room. There was no sound filtering through the house and it worried her to finding her friend in the same state as Morris.

With her gun leading the way she swiftly crossed the doorway that led into the kitchen. She came in contact with a woman who sat alone and motionless at the kitchen table. Her eyes were glazed and vacant, staring into the space in front of her. An open bottle of whiskey took up a small space on the round table. The woman's arm rested next to it, her hand clutching a tumbler half filled with the alcohol. The only visible movement was the trembling of her hand, which caused small waves of amber to lap at the edges of the glass.

"Ms. Smith?" Emily whispered as she continued to look around the room. Nothing appeared out of place. There were no obvious signs of a struggle besides the blood trail. Small amounts of dishes were in the sink. A newspaper and what looked like an audio recorder were the only occupants of the counter top.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked, keeping her voice as low as possible.

The woman didn't respond and her eyes refused to budge from what ever was captivating them.

"Where's the Agent that came in here with Sergeant Morris?" Emily pressed.

The woman's inability to answer started to frustrate Emily. "Ma'am is the person that did this still in the house?"

Initially she gave her nothing, and then suddenly her head swayed in a nonsensical circle. Emily was unsure what she was trying to say, and tried again to elicit another response, a word, a groan, something, anything, but the older woman returned to her original frozen state created by what Emily assumed was shock.

Not wanting to waste anymore time Emily turned away and moved down the short hallway that dead-ended to a bedroom. Tucked tight to the wall she stepped first to the small bathroom. With her foot she nudged the door open then sprang in. Finding nothing she continued to the closed door of the bedroom. She paused for a moment and tried to hear if there was any movement or telltale signs of anyone on the other side. She hazarded a glance back to Ms. Smith who was still at the table in a catatonic state.

She exhaled a breath and swung the door open and her eyes landed immediately on JJ. Her head had popped up with the door bursting open, fear tainting her eyes. Relief replaced the initial fright as she recognized her rescuer. Emily wanted to get to her but knew she needed to clear the room before she could help her friend. The room wasn't large, and she accomplished the task without fail. Satisfied for the moment she then turned all of her attention to JJ.

The blonde liaison sat awkwardly on the floor. She was backed up against the wall tucked beneath the only window in the room. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and legs bound tightly at the ankles with duct tape. A single piece was firmly secured over her mouth and kept her from talking, but her eyes spoke of her distress. They widened in a silent speech as she watched Emily approach and kneel beside her. Emily examined the side of her face. It was swollen and bruised from the impact of whatever was used to overtake her. The red and blue shades blazed against the pallor of her skin.

"Hey." Emily said then gently peeled back the tape.

"Thank God, Emily." JJ whispered looking over the brunette's shoulder as if anticipating someone else.

"Do you know where the UnSub is?" Emily asked and began to work on releasing the tape.

JJ shook her head and when she spoke her quiet voice trembled. "He came out of nowhere. He killed Morris and before I had a chance to do anything-" she stopped, her words trailed off.

"It'll be okay now." Emily said in an attempt to soothe and continued to fight with the sticky material.

"Emily!" JJ suddenly called out in alarm.

Emily turned with the warning but it was too late. The worn tread of a boot filled her eye line seconds before it came in contact with her head. The force propelled her into the wall and her limp body settled gracelessly on the worn carpet.

JJ felt all her muscles tense at once as the man that had towered over her bend down to her level.

"You guys really need to mind your own business." He growled and hastily replaced the tape over the blonde's mouth.

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