Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season Three

In Name and Blood: Part Two

By the time you got back to the police station, there is news of another kidnapping in the area.

"Hey. What do we know?" Vic asks.

"Woman's name is Claire Thompson. Her husband tried to reach her on the cell phone. When she didn't pick up, he drove to the department store. The car's in the parking lot, but she's not inside."

"Is that the husband?" JJ wonders, pointing to the man inside the station who looks distraught.

"Yeah. JJ, take Strauss with you," Derek informs.

The best thing he could have said by far.

"I had the department store uplink the security footage to your analyst in Quantico. My desk is over here," an officer says, leading your team to his desk.

Just then, Penelope requests a video chat. You lean over and press accept, and her face pops onto the screen.

"Garcia, baby girl, please tell me something I want to hear," Derek begs. "Did you locate the missing girl on the security footage?"

"On it. It's coming your way. Keep me on speaker, will you?"

The video pops up, and you can see the woman on screen looking through clothes and deciding what she wants to buy. Nothing seems out of the ordinary for this woman.

"She doesn't seem to be on anyone's radar," Spencer voices your thoughts.

Just then, a little boy comes into the frame and grabs her attention.

"Look. Who's the kid?"

"Does Claire have a son?" you ask.

"No, a two-year-old daughter."

"It looks likes the kid is lost."

Claire grabs the kid's hand and he escorts her out of the frame where you can no longer see her. You expect the video to change views, but nothing else comes.

"Penelope, this all you got?" you ask.

"That's it. They turned down a hallway without any security cameras, and we lose them."

"I'll get a list of missing kids, see if we can make out a resemblance to any of them," Vic offers.

"Shit," you sigh, thinking about what Hotch said. At this point, JJ and Strauss come back from talking to the husband. "It's something Hotch said. All the abductions and disposals have been timed around school time. We thought the unsub might work in the system. What if this guy's actually using his own son to lure his victims?"

"Then the profile changes, and we need to give it out as soon as possible," Derek says.

"I'll gather my men and women," Vic suggests and leaves the group.

Strauss has a look on her face that suggests she didn't like it when you said Hotch's name. It's like she doesn't want him being part of this team anymore. It worked really well before, why take him out now? Just because Elle went rouge, doesn't mean it was his fault. What happened with Gideon isn't his fault either, so she has no reason to bench him other than showing off that she is the boss of him, and whatever she says goes.

As soon as Vic gathers everyone on the force, your team stands in front to give the profile. Strauss stands off to the side to observe this since she doesn't really know how to participate in something like this.

"Detective Wolynski told us you're trying to single out trucks and vans. That's smart. The unsub is dumping his victims in the business district, so I'd agree with you--he's probably not driving something that would stand out. He may even have some type of company logo on the side of his vehicle as well," Derek begins.