Corn Maze

Chapter One

"So we've talked to all the families and friends, and Reid has pinned down a geographical profile. Neither did much because all of the victims were victims of opportunity, and the geographical profile is...the town." Morgan sighed. "Small towns can be helpful, and sometimes not so much. Do you have anything else, Reid?"

"Not yet," the genius answered from the desk. "I've been trying, but there's so little to go on. There were no victims to talk to, the families know nothing. Garcia is tracing the chemicals used to scald their hands, but even that might not give us much. He could just buy it out of state."

"And to add to that, he probably uses cash," Rossi said. "Is anyone else seeing a pattern? This guy is an expert. No witnesses the families of the first two victims didn't even realize they were gone until it was way too late. All the bodies were at the same dumpsite, right outside the police station. He's not only smart, he's cocky, but that cockiness stopped when we arrived. He hasn't made a peep."

Kate was shaking her head as she stood up, her voice cutting through a puzzled silence. "I'm going to get something to drink," she said, stretching. "I'm thinking Starbucks. Anyone want anything?"

"I'll take a Pumpkin Spice Latte," JJ said.

"Espresso," Reid requested.

Kate paused, hand on purse. "No one else?"

"Maybe tea?" Rossi said. "Just plain tea."

"Okay," Kate said. "I'll be back soon. Don't worry about me taking the SUV, I'll just walk."

Morgan's phone rang and he picked up. "Baby Girl, tell me you got something."

"I do," Garcia assured him. "How did you know?"

"It was just wishful thinking," Morgan drawled. "Here, I'll put you on speaker."

"Okay, so I traced the chemicals and there is one, I'll say it again, one person who gets deliveries in this area. His name is Robert Ashburn, and he owns a farm out of town."

"Isolation?" Hotch asked, sitting up straighter.

"Except for a corn maze that is only open part of the year? Oh, yes."

"And abuse?" Rossi asked.

"You know it. It seems he was checked into the hospital by his teacher when he was eleven. There was evidence that a whole lot more was going on than just a broken arm, but it was dropped when he refused to say anything and he went back to his father. Nasty, huh?" Garcia said.

"What's the address?" Morgan asked.

"It is 43…"

"Hey, someone else was just reported missing," Detective Bryce came rushing in, and the rest of Garcia's sentence was lost. "A blonde named Casey Wyrick. Same age range."

"How long?" Hotch asked, jumping to his feet.

"Twenty-four hours," Bryce returned.

"We need to get going. None of the other victims had much longer than that," Morgan said. "Can you give me that address one more time, Baby Girl?"

"Sure thang, Chocolate Moose," Garcia returned. "It's already on your phone."

The team responded quickly, running to get their vests, and it was as they were walking out to the SUVs when Reid halted. "What about Kate? She went to get coffee."

Bryce paused. "One of my men can give her a ride out." He turned. "Hey, Tom!"

A deputy on his way to his car paused. "Yeah?"

"Wait here for the other FBI agent," Bryce ordered.

"Sure thing," Tom agreed.

The team was off.

Kate waited in line, stifling a yawn. The line was longer than she had expected for the late hour. Who else goes to get coffee at nine o'clock? She wondered, and stepped forward. "Two Espressos, one Pumpkin Spice Latte and a large Green tea."

After ordering, she stood to the side, and slid her cell from her pocket when it beeped. Expecting to see a call coming in, she was surprised by the message that appeared. Low Battery.

She turned it off, planning to plug it in at the station, when her order number was called. "Thank you," she said, and left the shop, heading out into the cool autumn air.

She loved autumn. The leaves, the cool weather, Halloween...

Her mind wandered as she walked, and she shivered when a particularly cool wind rushed by. "I should have brought a coat," she noted to herself as the police station came into view.

A deputy was leaning against his car. "Agent?" He asked when he saw her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"They have a lead. I'm supposed to give you a ride. Everyone else already left."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Um, let me leave these inside and grab my vest."

"Sure thing," he said, getting into the car and starting the engine.

She hurried inside, to the conference room they'd been provided, dropping her purse on the table along with the coffee tray. She remembered that she had brought a sweater in her go-bag, but it was in the SUV. "Shoot," she muttered, as she grabbed a vest. If her bag had been there, she could have taken her sneakers and a sweater. As it was...well, her shoes were fine.

She hurried back out to the waiting squad car and slid into the front. "Thanks for waiting, uh..."

"It's Tom, Agent, um?"

"Callahan," she returned.

"Yes. I couldn't remember if it was that or Jareau." With that, they were away.

Once at the house, the team climbed from their cars. They saw an older, but well kept farmhouse, next to a corn field. Signs along the way had told them it was a corn maze at this time of the year, owned by the neighboring farmer, not Ashburn.

"Detective Bryce, can my team do this?" Hotch asked, walking to where the man was standing.

"Sure," Bryce answered. "We can keep watch from outside."

Hotch hurried back to the team. "Morgan and Rossi, you go around back. JJ and I will take the front, and Reid, go to the side in case he tries to run," Hotch ordered, and they hurried to the positions.

Hotch nodded to JJ when they were ready.

"Robert Ashburn, this is the FBI!" She shouted, and Hotch opened the door.

The house seemed to almost entirely consist of dark, narrow hallways. Hotch and JJ flicked the lights at every doorway, and each time the light flickered and went out again. They could hear Rossi and Morgan doing the same, and then Hotch touched his earpiece. "Reid says someone just ran out the side door," he related to JJ. "You go join up with Rossi and Morgan. I'm going outside with Reid."

"Yeah," she said, and Hotch ran outside where he saw Reid waiting tensely. Detective Bryce had already ordered some of his deputies into the corn maze, and he didn't look happy.

"Do we pursue him?" He asked, and Detective Bryce scowled.

"Jack Mason is famous for his impossible corn maze. I've sent some men in, but Ashburn was already in when we spotted him. I told one of my deputies to request a K-9 unit."

"That's good," Hotch said. "My team will finished sweeping the house, and then we'll join in the outside search. Hang on a second," he said, listening to his earpiece. "Morgan found the victim. Let's go in."

Tom was silent as they drove, and the radio was also. It crackled to life occasionally, but nothing that pertained to this case.

After a few minutes, Tom spoke. "Hey, can you refresh a few things on the profile for me? My mind has been at home these past few days and I may have missed some things."

"What's happening at home?" She asked.

"My wife might be pregnant," he answered.

"How exciting," she smiled, but he didn't want to talk about it so she returned to his earlier subject. "What did you want to know about the profile?"

"I don't know, um, how do you know that there were two people?" His eyes flicked to her, then back to the road.

"You need two people to pull off the kidnappings," she answered.

"Not necessarily. I mean, we haven't spoken to any victims," he said. "Only family, and there were no witnesses. Do you actually know how they were abducted?"

She considered her words. "We profiled that because of their lack of confidence, they wouldn't be able to charm their victims, so that leaves snatching."

"How do you know there are two?" He repeated.

"I guess we don't," she said, startled.

He looked at her. "Sorry, I..."

"It's fine," she said quickly. "Will we be there soon? I wasn't there when the call came in."

"Oh, yeah, we're going to the old McCormack place, just down the road here. Some city dude bought it last year. No one realized he was actually living there, though."

"What did the town gossip say he bought it for?" She asked.

"To sell again. There were some crazy rumors about developers and for a few months people were going wild over it. The whole town was divided into two groups of who didn't want developers here and who did." He laughed. "Sure was dumb. Nothing happened, and it's not going to."

They passed a large sign advertising a corn maze. Kate pointed to it. "Where is that, in relation to the McCormack place?"

"Right next to it, actually. The back of the corn maze adjoins his property."

They'd gotten Casey out of the house, and spoken with her, but she was too dazed to say anything and they didn't need anything from her at the moment. Hotch sent the ambulance off, climbed down and rejoined them.

"Bryce's team can go inside the house," he said. "Right now, I think our best bet is inside the maze. JJ, you're with Reid and me. Rossi, you and Morgan are together."

He led the way to the entrance, and withdrew his gun and flashlight. "Be careful," he warned Morgan and Rossi, and they hurried into the maze, separating at the first fork.

It was an eerie thing, to be inside. Hotch felt a shiver go up his spine when they first went in, despite his vest and jacket. The corn blocked some of the wind, but not all, causing a whistling noise. It was very dark; there was no moon out tonight. The corn seemed to act as a sound trap: they could barely hear the noise the other searchers were making.

They advanced at a steady pace, until a fork. "That looks like a dead end. Reid and I will check it out. JJ, check in with Bryce and then Morgan and Rossi."

"Of course," she said, as they walked away, holding their flashlights high. It was indeed a dead end, and they hurried to rejoin JJ, but when they came to the fork, she was nowhere in sight.

"JJ?" Hotch called.

Reid darted forward. "JJ?"

It was five steady minutes, of action-delayed panic before they found her, and she looked just as scared as they were.

"I'm so sorry," she said in a rush. "But I know I heard something, I thought you were behind me and..."

"We won't split up again," Hotch said. "Come on."

Tom turned onto a dirt road, and Kate could see the flashing lights in the distance, and when they stopped, she jumped from the car. None of her team was in sight, but Detective Bryce turned as she walked up.

"Agent Callahan, you made it."

"Yes, I did. Where is everyone?" She asked.

"He got into the corn maze," Bryce answered. "The victim, Casey, they barely saved her. He took off running when he saw us. Everyone is out searching. I've requested a K-9 unit."

"Are we joining the search?" Tom asked, coming up behind her.

"Yes. You two can partner up?" Bryce asked.

Callahan nodded. "How many entrances are there?"

"Technically, just three, but you can break the stalks or squeeze between them to get out." Bryce sighed, massaging his forehead. "He was smart, to go inside. For years, Jack Mason has been doing that corn maze of his. It's different every year, more complicated." He sighed again. "I got lost inside last year. Hell, the whole department did. So be careful," he said, pointing at them.

"Of course," said Callahan. "How about you leading the way, Tom?"

"Sure," he answered, and led her to the entrance. The shouts made by searchers were barely audible from here. She took out her flashlight and gun.

"Let's go," she said, and they dived inside.

As they delved deeper into the maze, taking various turns and keeping their guns out at all of them, Kate noticed how silent it had gotten. Either they were getting farther away from the others, or the others were just keeping quiet, which wouldn't surprise her as neither Tom nor she had said a word in five minutes.

The corn blocked some of the wind, but she still shivered when a wind came up, again wishing for her sweater and regretting going to get coffee at such a time. Kate noticed that Tom was fiddling with the radio on his belt.

"What are you doing?" She asked, and he dropped it quickly.

"I was considering checking in on my wife. She has one of these," he answered. Kate turned her attention back to the maze, to the turns they were taking.

They were getting deeper in, closer to the center. Kate was feeling spooked. "We should talk," she said.

Tom was startled. "About what?"

"Do you have any more questions about the profile?"

"I don't think so," he said.

"Do you want to know more about FBI life?" She asked.

"I—not really." He paused and she did also.

"What?" She asked. "Do you have a question?"

"What will happen to the guy, if we catch him?"

"He'll go to jail," she said. "He killed four women."

"And you can prove that?" He asked, amazed.

"We found him with a live victim," she said. "Or, my team did. My guess is that he'd already started the torture, the same kind of torture the other victims received. We'll have enough from that."

"And what about his partner? If he has one, that is," Tom asked.

"We profiled the UnSub as the dominant partner," she began. "My guess is that the submissive one was bullied into it, but nevertheless took pleasure in the tasks. He'll go to jail too, but maybe not for as long."

Tom considered that, and then he didn't say anything more, moving again to go farther into the maze.

"Garcia?" Hotch said.

"Yes, sir, I'm here," she replied.

"I think we need to leave the maze. Can you call the rest of the team and tell them to make their way out? I'm no longer thinking that this is our best chance."

"Why not, sir?"

"Because it's huge," Hotch said. "And we've been out here for two hours and no one is close to finding anything. The exits are being patrolled, I don't think he can get out, so we can put this time to better use."

"I'll call them," she said. "Never fear. Over and out."

Some time later, the team, sans Kate and Hotch, was gathered by the squad cars, holding hot cups of apple cider that had been provided.

Hotch came over from where he'd been talking with Bryce. "He has men circling the perimeter. I'm fairly certain Ashburn can't get away. We need to profile where he'll be going. To the center? Does he actually know the maze well?"

"Hey, Hotch?" Reid asked. "Where's Kate?"

Hotch looked around. "I told Garcia to call everyone," he said, taking his phone out and dialing.

"I was thinking you'd call," Garcia said. "I couldn't reach Kate and her phone has been turned off."

Hotch frowned. "Why would she do that?"

"She was using it a lot today," Reid offered. "Maybe her battery got low?"

"Maybe," Hotch said. "Garcia, can you look into finding out who Ashburn's partner was?"

"I have been, sir."

"Call me back with your results," he said.

"But I—"

He hung up and walked over to Detective Bryce. "Who is Agent Callahan partnered with?"

"The same deputy who drove her here, Tom Jones."

"Have you been in contact with him at all?"

"Not since he went in. I tried when you came out of the maze, but his radio must not be working."

Hotch walked back to the group. "So Kate's phone is off and Deputy Jones' radio isn't working, or he's ignoring it."

"Could Garcia trace her phone?" JJ asked.

"She said it was off, and we know that she's in the maze, so that wouldn't do much good." Hotch shook his head. "There's nothing we can do about it right now." He called Garcia again, on speakerphone.

"Sir, you should not have hung up on me. I have the name of his partner."

"How'd you find it?" Morgan asked.

"His calls. There is a number that was called a half-hour before all of the abductions, and frequently in the days before them. Here's the eerie part," Garcia said. "The number traces back to a deputy at the police department."

Morgan and JJ exchanged worried looks and for a moment they were all silent.

"What's his name?" Rossi asked finally, clearing his throat.

It seemed to be getting darker. Kate looked at the sky and wished for the moon. Even the stars seemed faint, unfriendly in the cold night.

She went over the details of the case in her mind. Why exactly had he dumped the bodies by the police station? Cockiness, like Rossi had said?

Kate mentally shook her head. He was too smart for that. The police station had to hold some significance. Did he hate the police? Was he taunting them?

She considered something else, thinking back to her first case with the BAU. Revisiting? He couldn't be revisiting, that would be too dangerous, but maybe they were displays nonetheless. For the partner, maybe?

She considered that. He had shown uncanny sense in the abductions. There was no one around, and it was when the police were changing shifts.

Was that not because they were avoiding the police, but because the submissive was an officer and that was the only time he could?

She shook her head. That theory was ridiculous.

And yet...

She turned to look at Tom, considering asking him if he'd suspected anyone in the department, but...he wasn't there.

"Tom?" She asked, spinning around and shining her light into the space around her. "Tom?" She repeated, louder. She jogged ahead, further into the maze. "Tom, where are you?"

She heard a sound and turned to look, then stumbled when the corn gave away to nothing. She'd reached the center. "Tom?" She called, once more.

There was nothing. It was absolutely silent. She shined the flashlight all around, stepping carefully forward. She remembered why they were in the maze in the first place, and had the sickening feeling of realization: the UnSub had seemed to be the type of hole up. He could have gone to the center.

She took a step forward, going slower now, wondering if she should go back inside the maze. She wasn't cold anymore; adrenaline had warmed her. She wished for the sweater anyway.

She heard another sound, behind her, and spun around. "Who's there?" She heard running footsteps, she couldn't tell where, her finger tightened on the trigger.

"Where are you, you son of a bitch?" She hissed. "Tom, if it's you..." Her voice trailed off. The footsteps seemed to be coming from two different directions. In front of her, she saw a shadow move.

She shot, just as someone darted up from behind and there was a sudden explosion of pain that originated on the back of her head. She crumpled to the ground.

All was black.

A/N: This will get more team-centric in the next two chapters. :)