Caution to the Wind

Chapter 5

Chapter Summary: Emily and Tara need to talk things out, but cases and assignments keep getting in the way. Follows S12E4, "Keeper," and S12E5, "The Anti-Terror Squad."

They definitely did need to talk—really talk, not just have sex. But when Tara's alarm went off the following morning, the only thought in both their minds was whether they had time for another round before they had to get up and get ready for work. A text from Rossi quickly answered that question: A new case had just come in, and they were needed in the office right away.

A state trooper in rural Virginia had discovered a bag full of dismembered body parts in a homeless man's encampment. The man had fled into the mountains before the trooper could catch him, and he and the victims remained unidentified. Emily felt a shiver go down her spine when Penelope pulled up the map of the area.

"The Appalachian Trail," Emily said gravely.

"Am I, uh, missing something?" Alvez asked.

"We had a case in the same general area six years ago," Spencer explained, "The unsub was never caught."

"That guy was a pedophile. Do the body parts in Virginia belong to a child?" Rossi asked.

"They do not," Penelope replied.

"Well, if there's a silver lining in this, that would qualify," JJ said.

So it wasn't the same unsub, but that just meant there were, as far as they knew, two killers out there on the trail, and to catch this one, they'd need to start from square one. He could be keeping the body parts as souvenirs or trophies, or it could be a forensic countermeasure. It was also possible the unsub just found the body and took the limbs with him—compulsive irrational gathering of objects was definitely something they'd seen before. And profiling him was just the first step; they also had to catch him, which, as Luke pointed out, wouldn't be easy in that terrain. While they brainstormed, Rossi got the preliminary M.E. report on his phone. The body parts had come from five different victims.

"Well, that settles that," JJ said, "The unsub didn't stumble on anything. He's serial."

"This happened less than 90 miles away; it'll be quicker to drive," Emily pointed out.

"The local M.E. isn't equipped to handle all this, so the body parts are being sent to the coroner here," Rossi said, "Prentiss, you and Reid head out there; the rest of us will set up at the crime scene."

If there was any chance of Tara and Emily getting a moment alone today, it wouldn't be happening any time soon. After finishing up at the M.E.'s office with Spencer, Emily stayed behind in Quantico to work the case with Garcia. Tara, meanwhile, scoured the woods with Luke for any sign of their unsub. She noticed a paper plate of dog food lying on the ground, the same type of dog food the unsub had stolen from a local store earlier that morning.

"Alvez!" she called out.

Before Luke could come look at what she'd found, Tara felt herself being tackled violently to the ground. A ragged, wild-looking, redheaded man was on top of her, screaming wordlessly at her, and his hands were wrapped around her throat. She kneed him in the groin and shoved him off of her, then sprang to her feet. She turned around to see Luke knock the man down with a sharp right hook, then kneel down to handcuff him.

"You alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm good," she nodded.

They put him in an SUV and drove him back to Quantico, where Tara got him in an interrogation room for a psych evaluation. He wasn't saying much, no matter how hard she tried to coax answers out of him. Emily got word that Luke and Tara were back and had the unsub with them. To anyone else, it would have looked like she was rushing over to the interrogation room for an update, not in the hopes of seeing Tara and maybe getting a moment alone with her. Luke was standing outside the room, watching through the two-way mirror.