Ann-Elise Miller was tired of worrying and tired of cleaning. She grabbed the phone and hit the redial button. She waited; listening to the phone ringing for over a minute, hoping against hope her best friend would answer the phone this time. Impatiently she ended the call, found and called a second number. After three rings the answering machine picked up.

"Wait for the beep. You know what to do." Karen's voice but not Karen. Ann-Elise waited for the beep.

"Karen, where are you? I'm getting worried. I haven't heard from you yet. I know I've already left like ten messages but I'm just getting really concerned. Call me as soon as you get this. I want to know that everything in alright. . . . that you are alright." She ended the call and went back to cleaning. She might not know what was going on with her best friend but at least the house was going to look great.

The next morning

Dr. Spencer Reid was in one of his least favorite places – a school building. He had arrived at Greyshell Middle School with Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. After quick introductions with the school's principal, Hotchner went to look in the missing teacher's classroom, Reid went to question her best friend.

He was happy to see that Ms. Miller's classroom was more vibrant than most. Theatre had not been offered at his middle school and this classroom looked like no classroom he had ever been in. Large tables filled half of the room. The other half was taken up with a portable stage and miscellaneous set pieces. Costumes were displayed on body forms. Show posters covered one wall.

Reid had just introduced himself to Ann-Elise Miller and was now sitting at one of the tables. She had not sat down. Too nervous, she flitted about the room organizing papers, stacking and restacking books and throwing away trash left around the tables.

"F.B.I.? My friend has only been missing for one day." Reid could see panic in her eyes – he hated to see that look but in his line of work, he saw it all too often. He decided side-stepping the issue was going to be the best course of action. The less she knew, until it was confirmed, the better.

"Ms. Miller, when was the last time you saw your friend?"

"Friday, at the end of the school day. She was a little frazzled. Normally she didn't let things get to her. We made plans to get together Sunday, hang out, and watch a movie, anything to not think about . . . school."

"Did she miss commitments often?"

"No, never. That's what has me so worried. I could understand if something had come up yesterday, she normally would just call and cancel. But missing school – that is not like her. She is unstoppable when it comes to teaching. She has been a finalist for Teacher of the Year for the last three years. She's turned down the nomination every year – she doesn't care about the accolades"

"I noticed," Reid pointed to a framed certificate near the classroom's entrance, "that you are this year's Teacher of the Year."

Ann-Elise gave a little laugh. "She's a better person than me." Finally she sat down opposite the young F.B.I. profiler. "You know she was the one who nominated me." She looked down, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I am very worried about her. When she didn't come to school today, I begged the principal to call the police. And they sent you."

"You did the right thing." Reid opened his notebook, ready to jot down any information.

"Had she mentioned any problems? An ex-boyfriend? Unhappy parents or students? Family issues?"

"She thought someone was watching her, following her." She looked directly at Reid, to see if he would react. When his expression did not change, she continued. "She had no proof, no evidence, just feelings."

"What kind of feelings?"

"She just kept feeling like she was being watched. She never saw anyone. She also thought someone had been inside her house but nothing was missing, nothing had been taken. She had placed tape on certain doorways -- to see if someone had been getting in while she was at school."

"Did she say what happened when she checked the tape?"

"No. She had only set the tape Friday. She was going to tell me the results of her experiment on Sunday. That's what she called it – her experiment. She wasn't even sure ifit was real or not. Half the time she was terrified to be alone and the other half she thought she was just being silly or paranoid. Maybe she had watched too many scary movies. I never thought she was crazy or paranoid but . . . . I don't think I . . . . I didn't doenough to convince her to . . .to deal with this situation. Maybe if I had told her to call the police . . . ."

"Ms Miller, first of all, don't blame yourself. You are helping her now by talking to me. This is only a preliminary investigation. If I need to contact you again, how could I reach you?"

"I'll get you a business card." Ann-Elise walked into her office and pulled a card from the open desk drawer. She held the card out. "Thank you Agent Reid."

Reid took the card and put it in his shirt pocket. He gave a small smile and turned to leave.

"Do you think she is still alive?" Reid stopped but didn't turn back around. "I know she is still alive. She's a fighter. She's strong." Reid could hear her voice begin to shake as she continued. "I know that, if she could, she would fight, she would struggle to survive."

Reid didn't know what to say. If he's suspicions were true he had nothing to say to comfort this young teacher. He continued to walk out the room.Reid was sure he heard her sobbing as he quietly closed the door.

Hotchner was in the hallway waiting for Reid. Reid answered before Hotch even asked.

"Karen Wilson thought someone was watching her and she suspected someone had been in her house last week."

Hotchner shook his head. "I found a single, red rose on her desk. Looks like it had been there all weekend. I think we have victim number eight."

They started walking back to the main office of the school. The principal, Mrs. Lorenzo, was waiting for them.

"Gentlemen, is there anything else we can do to help you with your investigation?"

"Mrs. Lorenzo, did Ms. Wilson ever mention feeling uncomfortable with any of the staff members at the school? Or maybe with a parent or a student making threats?"

"No, she loves working here. She's loved by everyone here. This whole situation just seems so unreal. I can only imagine how upset Ann-Elise must be right now. The two of them are almost inseparable." Mrs. Lorenzo paused, looked around to be sure no one else was near them. "There was a concern at the beginning of the year – could this be a part of that?"

"It is too early to tell. We will need to come back, interview other teachers. Will that be alright?"

"No problem. Please come back as soon as you can."

90 minuteslater

Back at the offices of the B.A.U., Hotchner passed out file folders to the other agents sitting around a table in a small conference room.

"We have seven previous victims, the first disappearing just over six years ago. All were female teachers, all worked in public school systems within a 70 mile radius. All disappeared from home. So far only5 bodies have been recovered and two of those were found over twelve months after their disappearances and only skeletal remains were found. One was found in her house, she was never actually taken. Strangulation is the cause of death listed for three of the five found victims."

"What was the cause of death in the other two cases?"

"Blunt-force trauma for the victim found at home and unknow for the other."

Special Agent Jennifer Jareau took over. "We've tried to keep the serial nature of these disappearances and killings out of the media. One piece of evidence has never been released to the public -- a single, red rose is left at the school in the days leading up to the disappearance."

"We now believe Karen Wilson is victim number eight." Hotchner placed a picture of Karen on the board behind him. "This is the earliest we have gotten involved with this unsub. We are potentially two days behind him. We need to take full advantage of this."

Special Agent Jason Gideon stood up. "We have evidence that two of the victims were kept alive for weeks after being taken. The sooner we get this profile worked up, the better Karen Wilson's chances are of being found and found alive."

"Hotch, I want to talk to Ms. Miller again."

"That is fine Reid. Also, interview anyone else at the school. J.J., I want you to take the family and friends of the previous three victims. Morgan and Elle, you take the other cases. Maybe something was missed the first time around. Garcia will come up with a new geographical profile."

"At least we can stay home for this one."

"Morgan, I'm sure those teachers thought staying at home would be a good idea too." Hotch glared at Morgan for a full ten seconds and then left the room.