Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.
On the doorstep
Modern psychology confirms what Indian sages already knew thousands of years ago: What we do to others influences ourselves much more than anything others do to us.
Morgan had seen the woman before, back in the hotel. She had caught his attention because she had looked totally out of place in the shiny lobby: Her unhealthily skinny figure, ten-years-out-of-fashion clothes, ghostly white complexion and shockingly dark shadows under her eyes had made her appear like a complete wreck, probably addicted to something. To his surprise the manager had been very friendly to her. His body language had displayed nothing but respect. They had shaken hands and he had thanked her for something.
Now she was crossing the parking lot where Morgan was loading his car after a weekend of rest and recovery in Las Vegas. He couldn't help but watch. The way she moved between the parked cars was too strange not to notice. She didn't simply walk to her car – she practically crept up on it as if she was planning to ambush the vehicle. With a swiftness and quietness that betrayed regular practice she zigzagged her way towards it, throwing reassuring glances over her shoulder every few seconds. Finally having reached the automobile she hectically tore open the driver's door and was about to jump in when something stopped her dead in her tracks. Hands pressed to her mouth to suppress a scream, she stumbled backwards against the car parked next to hers and sank to the ground. Morgan was with her in a second.
"Hey, are you okay?", he asked. Stupid question, obviously she wasn't. He looked into the car, trying to establish what had terrified her so much. Judging from her reaction, he expected nothing less than a beheaded corpse. He found zilch. Puzzled, he turned to the shaking bundle on the ground.
"The pillow…", she choked. "The pillow…" On the driver's seat was a large blue pillow. It looked totally unobtrusive. Still mystified, Morgan took it out of the car and held it towards her. She shrank away. "I don't like blue…", she whispered.