be the one ⇢ s. reid

xxvii.

"Luke usually never talked about his time in the military or the fugitive task force. I know we're close but I think there were some things that he kept from me so I didn't have to worry about it. If I didn't worry then he would have nothing to talk about." 

Melanie was on the phone with Emily. The team were soon finding out, and Luke realizing, how this case was similar to one Luke worked on years ago. The way the killings were five years ago was done by a man named Eduardo Ramos, a leader of a cartel that Luke and Phil were hunting down. The way Ramos had killed his victims was the same way this unsub was doing it.

Luke caught Ramos of course but he ended up escaping prison three years later. The team were made to believe that Ramos was back doing his dirty business. The people that were connected to his arrest were dying and the team could automatically assume that it was Ramos getting his revenge - which meant that Luke would be on Ramos' list. 

Ramos a strong contender until Manny, a man both Luke and Phil worked with in Mexico, informed him that Ramos was dead. He was shot twice behind the head - just like the victims on the case. More on Ramos was that he also had bleach in his stomach.

This could now be assumed that the team had a copycat killer on their hands. 

"But since you're contacting me about Luke's past - does this have anything to do with my brother, Emily?" There was a fear in Melanie's voice. Of course she was always terrified when her brother was involved in situations he couldn't get out of because of his job but he was a literal target now. 

Emily was almost hesitant to answer Melanie's question to avoid having her worry. 

"Let's just say Luke figure out who did this and...."  Emily sighed. On the other end, Emily was rubbing her forehead. 

She was frustrated at Luke for defying orders but also scared for his safety and for Melanie's. Because Jeremy Grant, the man behind the attacks, had been going after not only the victims but their families as well. The least thing she wanted was for Melanie to panic. 

"And? And what Emily? What did Luke do?" Melanie knew her brother. He was hot headed and weirdly enough didn't like being told what to do when he knew he was right. 

"Listen Mel, just let me know if you hear from Luke." 

Before Melanie could even reply, Emily hung up the phone. 

"Em!" She exclaimed. The femme huffed at realizing the other had hung up the phone. She wanted to call Luke to find out for herself what was going on but she trusted her brother. He would do the right thing ...right? 

Melanie placed her phone down and decided it was best for her to go back to work. She was currently at her brother's dog-sitting Roxy - something she had offered to do now that she was able to work from home. 

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It was hard for Melanie not to be on edge when her brother was in a case involving him, or someone close to him. But instead of worrying, she had continued to focus on her own work until she had decided to take a nap. 

Because she had dozed off, she was unable to hear or sense her phone ringing. 

All calls coming from Luke who was frantically calling her. He was speeding off in one of the black SUVs with no thought in his mind. He left Matt at one of the potential victim's home after calling Manny to tell him it was Jeremy. However when the call connected to Manny, it was Grant who picked up the phone. 

Jeremy had explained to Luke what his plan was which is what the team had already theorized. Except he was going to let Luke live while killing someone who is close to him: Melanie. He wanted to have Luke feel what he had felt after Ramos had killed Jeremy's family while he was away on an assignment.