moonstruck 2 // criminal minds fanfic

ch. 4

When the team returned, night had fallen. The fall days were short and warm. JJ and Rossi had scoured the abduction site for the first three victims.

"Okay, so the first victims were all prostitutes which is why no one paid much attention to their disappearances," JJ said. "They each disappeared on a Saturday from around the same ara, but no one claims to have seen anything out of the ordinary. The first victim, Carla Sanchez was seen getting into a dark SUV the night she disappeared, but that was all the information we could get."

"The abduction sites of the family and the Law Student were spotless. There wasn't a single fingerprint or fiber and no one saw anything," Camilla said, massaging the bridge of her nose.

"There was no evidence at the burial site either," Morgan continued. "I mean absolutely nothing. The guy even covers up his footprints before he leaves. We've got nothing."

"Let's stop focusing on what we don't know then," said Hotch snappily, standing up to pace in front of the whiteboard. He looked at his team and saw that they were as weary and exasperated as he felt a familiar rush of gratitude for their loyalty and friendship. "Okay, what do we know?"

"The unsub is probably a Green Valley resident; he's familiar with the area. He's organized, there was no sign of a struggle so he either knew his victims or he was charming enough that they didn't immediately suspect him," Rossi said, leaning back in his chair.

"He probably has a reasonably high I.Q. if he's able to pull off seven abductions and murders without leaving a trace," Reid said. "That takes patience and planning."

"Maggie what about the family?" Hotch asked her.

Maggie was taken back and became nervous, looking to Camilla for comfort to which she nodded her head and smiled at her while playing with her fingers. "Oh, um. . . of the three family members who were taken from their car, uh only the father showed signs of assault. The mother and the little girl just had ligature marks," said Maggie.

"Was there a sexual element to the father's assault?" Hotch asked.

"None."

"And what does that tell you?"

"That he has some unresolved anger with a father figure in his life," Maggie replied, making Hotch give her a tiny smile.

"So, why is he choosing to bury his victims alive?" Morgan asked.

"Maybe something similar happened to him when he was young," Prentiss replied.

"Maybe. Or the knowledge that his victims are dying slowly is how he gets off." Rossi replied.

"At any rate, this unsub is accelerating rapidly, he can't maintain this level of organization and control for long," Hotch said.

"So we have to wait for him to kill again and hope he messes up?" Morgan asked, sounding less pleased with the notion.

Before Hotch could reply, the room went dark. In fact, as they would soon find out, the entire town did. Someone let out a high-pitched squeal. Hotch reached into his jacket for his phone and used the flashlight. JJ had her arm on Morgan's arm, slightly alarmed, but it was;t her who let out the little noise. Reid was hanging on to Maggie's elbow looking like a startled deer. When Hotch shone the flashlight on him, he straightened up, trying to regain some form of dignity.

Maggie smiled and patted the jumpy young doctor on the shoulder and Morgan gave him a good-natured shove.

"Scaredy-cat," he said, but stopped laughing when the door behind them creaked open in the dark. Slow shuffling footsteps entered the room. A chair scraped across the floor.