Tangled Up in You (The Story of Us Book 2)

Chapter 12- Blast From The Past

Hotch was getting frustrated at the lack of evidence at the second crime scene when he got Morgan's call. He answered, expected it to be news on the new crime scene but what he hears makes his blood run cold. "He's got Amanda," Morgan reveals without prompting.

"What?" Aaron asks, feeling as if time stopped. He remembered the last two times Amanda had been kidnapped. He had only felt this way when she was taken by Tobias Hankle. At least when she was taken in Florida, they had a lead, even if it was a small one. Then of course the one with Reid had been planned but this was just like the first time. They had no idea who was doing this or where they would take her. "How? She wasn't supposed to go anywhere alone."

"She dropped her phone outside and there was a number that led to a burner phone as her last answered call. She was working on the case while Reid interviewed a family member with JJ. You know how she is, man, always answering her phone before checking the ID. Probably thought it was one of us and couldn't hear us so she stepped outside only to get chloroformed."

"Did you say chloroformed?"

"Yeah. She must've fought back because he dropped the bottle and it shattered but Hotch, she was the target the whole time." Aaron processes this new information as he tries to calm himself down.

"Dave and I are heading back now. Have everything ready. If Amanda was the target, I have no idea how much time we have."

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When Hotch and Rossi get back at the station, Reid is compiling a list of everyone that he knew that would know about Amanda's tattoo. He quickly crosses off people that wouldn't hurt her like Lacey and James before Hotch speaks. "How do you guys know that she's the primary target?"

"It's her tattoo," Reid answers. "When we were in college, Amanda was big on parties being part of the 'true college experience'. One time, she got a little too drunk and James drove us to a tattoo parlor. She got a tattoo of the word Vegas with a purple heart on the end. All of the victims have the same thing carved into their skin in the exact same spot Amanda got her tattoo on." Hotch winces, wondering what this means for his sister when Morgan walks in.

"I've got Garcia looking into people that have recently bought chloroform but I don't know how much help that's going to be." Hotch opens his mouth to reply when they hear a loud voice from the open door.

"Is there a Spencer Reid here?" They crowd out of the room to see a young woman holding an envelope. Spencer frowns and moves forward.

"I'm Spencer Reid." She hands him the envelope.

"This was put through the post with a hand delivery request," she informs him before turning around and leaving the station. Spencer's frown deepens as he opens the envelope to reveal a flash drive. It's a simple black with red on the switch to push the USB up. He walks into the conference room and opens the computer they use to video chat with Garcia when necessary and plugs it in.

The moment the computer processes the flash drive, a video comes up on the computer, and Emily gasps at the sight. On the screen is a video feed of Amanda sitting in a chair with her arms duck taped to the chair. She's clearly still unconscious but she seems to be coming to. That's when they notice the screen behind her as it turns on. "What the hell?" Morgan asks with a frown.

Meanwhile, Amanda can feel her head pound and wonders if she got drunk the prior night as she begins to blink her eyes open with a groan. That's when she first hears the noise. A laugh, but a familiar laugh. Her laugh, to be exact. She frowns and finally peels her eyes open to see a video screen in front of her behind a camera and judging by the glare on the lens, there's also a screen behind her playing the same video.