"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation"
-Kahlil Gibran
~Prologue~
Late in the evening, a young woman emerged from a hair salon in Euless, TX. Being the last customer of the night, the staff of the salon closed the locked the door behind her.
The woman looked back, smiled, and waved to the woman at the door. As she turned back around to head to her car, she flipped her newly dyed red hair over her right shoulder. Automatically, she adjusted the large black purse hanging off that same shoulder.
She tightened the belt on her light brown trench coat as her blue eyes scanned the nearly empty parking lot around her. Only a few cars were left in the parking lot but she didn't pay them any attention as she pulled her car keys out of her pocket.
Her black heels clacked against the paved parking lot as the hem of her black trousers softly brushed and flapped against each other.
For just a moment, she lowered her blue eyes down to her keys to look at her automatic door opener as she neared her silver Chrysler four door car.
She looked back up as she clicked the unlock button and was about to reach for the door handle when a figure shot out of the darkness behind her.
The woman began to fight back and scream for help as a white cloth, held by a hand covered in a black glove, was smothered against her nose and mouth cutting her screams down to a whisper that no one could hear.
A strong arm covered in a black sleeve kept her pressed tightly back against the much taller man.
"Do not worry my love. I will take you home. Back where you belong. Do not fear," the strange male voice said into the woman's ear.
She furrowed her brow at the odd comforting remarks but she didn't have long to think about them as the chloroform on the white handkerchief did its work. Slowly, she went under.
Aaron Hotcher was sitting in his office going over his paperwork from a case they had closed the previous week.
A faint knock on the door drew his eyes up from his paperwork to see Jennifer Jareau standing in the open doorway.
"Have a moment, Hotch?" J.J. asked.
"Of course, come on in," Hotch closed the file in front of him to give J.J. his full attention.
J.J. came up to his desk with a file tucked up under her arm as she sat in the chair across from him. She held out the file out for him to take.
"This report just came up from Euless, TX. Monica Vorenburg was seen leaving from a hair salon late but she never made it back home on a drive that was only thirty minutes away from her home," J.J summarized.
"One abduction and the local P.D. are calling us in?" Hotch asked sounding suspicious as he opened the file and flipped through the details inside.
"Actually, when the local P.D. were looking into disappearances they checked with the surrounding cities since it's more than common for people to travel a couple of cities over for work or school and they discovered that this abduction is the third in a string of abductions in the Dallas area over the past three years. They were all taken late in the afternoon on November 3rd. The first two women were taken from outside the last place they were seen and then found days later dead in a local park. Both bodies had notes left with them. The police believe it is the same person for all three abductions and if the person behind all of this sticks to the pattern, then the woman only has two more days before she is killed as well."
"Call the team together, if this is the same unsub then we only have a short time to get on the trail."
Hotch closed the file and handed it back to J.J.
"Yes sir."
She took the file, rose from her seat and briskly walked out of his office.
Moments later, the BAU team was assembled in their conference room.
Penelope Garcia sat in her usual chair and turned on the flat screen on the wall showing pictures of all three women. One had short black hair with green eyes, the second had long and straight red hair to her shoulders with blue eyes, and the third had long red hair to the middle of her back and green eyes.
"From left to right we have Coryn Sanders, age 36; Patricia Kernighan, age 35; and Monica Vorenburg, age 39. Each one was taken from outside a post office in Dallas, TX; cleaners in Irving, TX; and a hair salon in Euless, TX respectively. Each on the same day November 3rd one year after another," Garcia began.
"Besides being taken on the exact same day what other connection do these women have to each other?" Derek Morgan asked.
"According to the information sent in by the various police departments, nothing. They lived in different cities and don't have any places where they all frequented," J.J. replied.
"Precisely and this is where things get creepy my dears because if this is the same unsub for each crime then three days after they are abducted, they are killed and dumped in a local park to be discovered by some unsuspecting jogger. And it only gets creepier. A typed note was left with each body," Garcia continued.
"What was typed onto the note?" David Rossi asked.
"As far as the police can tell they are lines of poetry," Garcia replied. "They faxed over copies of the quotes for us to look at."
J.J. passed the copies around the table.
Spencer Reid looked over the copies squinting slightly. "It is poetry all right. From the Romantic Period of authors by the style." He looked up to the team as he spoke. "This style of writing was made famous by authors like Keats, Byron and others. For the unsub to know these authors that well they would have had to either study extensively or do research to locate these precise lines."
"So, the unsub might have a degree in this line of study?" Morgan asked.
"It's possible. People who study English in college tend to choose a particular focus for their degree once they get to the Master or PhD levels of study," Reid provided. "It'd be more likely a student, former student or a professor than just the casual reader to know these lines and use them on even a limited basis."
"So Monica was the most recent one to be abducted," Morgan stated.
"She was abducted yesterday after leaving the hair salon where she had an appointment. Apparently, she's not a natural red head," Garcia joked.
"What about Patricia?" Morgan asked.
"Ah, you have followed the breadcrumbs. Yes, Patricia is a natural red head but unlike either Monica or Coryn her eyes are naturally green and was wearing contacts to make her eyes blue. And to add the cherry to the top of this odd little cake, near Coryn's body they also found a red hair wig she had been wearing over her black hair," Garcia pointed out.
"A wig?" Rossi asked in surprise.
"She was on her way to a friend's birthday party that was a costume party," Garcia added to explain the addition.
"So when each of the women was taken, they were seen as redheads with blue eyes. Seems like the unsub has a type of woman he is looking for and he didn't find it in the first two women," Hotch offered as a possible connection between the women and the unsub.
"So that's why the unsub is killing the women he's taking. He finds out that they only fit his type because of artifice instead of naturally," Reid said with a ring of surety to his normally timid voice.
"We only have a short window in which to find Monica. In the next two days sometime the unsub might discover that she had her hair dyed and she could end up being the next victim. Everyone pack up. We will lift off in thirty," Hotch spoke with his air of command and leadership.
The team rose from their seats, gathering their things, and heading out of the meeting room but Reid hung back with Hotch.
Reid looked over to Hotch, his lips twitching as he worked on how to begin.
"You need something, Reid?" Hotch asked.
"Actually, I had a suggestion for something that would help us with this case," Reid said his voice showing his timid personality and uncertainty.
"What is it, Reid?"
Reid's lips twitched around a bit more as he looked to the ground then back to Hotch.
"Actually, it's someone. I know of someone who has studied this period of authors exclusively and would be able to be an on hand source for this information."
"Who?"
He paused a moment before answering. "Catherine."
"Reid…"
"I know she's not an agent or even trained for things like this. But Hotch, she is a professional in this field and we use those all the time for work like this. Besides, she's no stranger to an abduction case and how we work."
Hotch looked squarely at Reid for a moment, his expression serious.
"I can't promise anything but if she can come in before we take off I will see."
Reid nodded and headed out to contact Catherine.
Fifteen minutes later, a young yet short in stature brunette woman walked into the BAU office. Her brunette hair was carefully styled where it fell down to her shoulders. Intelligent hazel eyes were framed by a pair of rectangular black glasses.
Her makeup was carefully done to look like she barely had any on but her features were highlighted to their best advantage.
This young woman wore a short sleeve blouse with a watercolor like pattern of blues flowing over the fabric that ended just above a black A-line skirt with medium blue pen striping that stopped just below her knees. Her shapely legs were encased in flesh tone thigh highs ending where her feet were covered by a simple pair of black kitten heels.
She looked around the office seeming to be lost.
Morgan looked up from his desk where he had just finished packing with the rest of the team to see the woman standing there. He strolled over confidently to her with a gentle smile on his lips.
"Excuse me miss, may I help you?" Morgan asked politely.
That brought a chuckle to her lips that shone in her eyes.
"Miss…I know I changed somewhat since I last saw you but I did not think it was that much, Mr. Morgan," the now recognizable voice of Catherine sounded.
Morgan looked appropriately shocked as he looked over her.
"Catherine, you certainly have changed. What brings you here?"
"Reid called me. Told me that your boss actually wanted to talk to me about some case or something, he wasn't too descriptive."
"Oh, I see. Hotch is up in his office. Right over there." Morgan motioned off to his right.
Catherine looked over to where he was motioning then back to him.
"Thank you very much. It was nice to see you again." She smiled and turned to head up to Hotch's office.
By that time the rest of the team, sans Reid, had seen the interaction and joined Morgan with their bags in hand.
"Who was that?" Garcia asked.
"Remember me telling you about the girl Reid knew on that case a few months ago?" Morgan asked.
"Yeah. You said her name was Catherine. What about her?"
"That was her."
They all looked up to the woman nearing Hotch's office door. The ones that knew her looked shocked.
"She really has settled into a new life here," Rossi said.
Reid was settled into one of the chairs in front of Hotch's desk behind where Hotch sat.
At the knock on the door, they both looked over.
"Come in," Hotch called out.
Catherine opened the door and stepped inside looking between the two men before closing the door behind her.
"Hello again Agent," she said as she crossed the room.
Hotch rose and shook her hand before they both took their respective chairs.
"It seems like a long time since we've last seen you. You appear to be doing well."
Catherine smiled. "Well, I don't think I would have without Spencer's help. He really got everything moving in the right direction for me." She said as she crossed her legs and smoothed her skirt over her legs.
Hotch nodded.
"Reid called you because we have a new case."
"And…does it involve me somehow?" She furrowed her brows growing concerned.
"Not directly. However, Reid seems to believe that you have some knowledge what would be helpful with the case."
"Oh?"
Hotch picked up the copies of the quotes and held them out to Catherine.
She leaned forward and took them from him. Slowly, she began to read over the untitled and unsigned quotes.
"Well, the first one here is a passage from "The Eolian Harp" by Samuel Coleridge. The second is a passage from "She walks in beauty" by Lord Bryon. They were both writers in the Romantic Period of writers from 1785 to 1830. And…I'd have to see the original of these but it looks like these were typed on an old typewriter instead of a computer."
She looked back up to Hotch.
"I presume that is the knowledge you are referring to?" she asked.
Hotch nodded as he leaned forward onto his desk.
"There's more."
Catherine placed the copies in her lap as she looked seriously at him.
"The originals of those pieces of paper were found folded up on the bodies of two women who were murdered last year and the year before. They were dumped in local parks three days after they were abducted by someone looking for a specific type of woman."
Catherine frowned slightly at that but maintained her composure.
"And what is this type?" she asked.
"Young women with red hair and blue eyes."
"That is very specific."
Hotch folded his hands together on his desk.
"I will have to admit that you do know the things we need to know about the writing this unsub is using but…"
She took a breath and looked at him steadily. "But you want to know if I can handle this...the pressure that you guys are facing and whether or not I could deal with the possible media publicity."
Hotch nodded. "Precisely."
She clasped her hands on her lap as she locked eyes with Hotch.
"Honestly Agent Hotchner, I know I'm not a police woman, an analyst, or a profiler. I'm more than aware the only thing I'm currently allowed to carry by law is mace or pepper spray and a whistle which doesn't really do that much good in the long run. I'm also more than aware that despite the notoriety of the case that we first met I wasn't exactly in the public eye and on the wrong end of a dangerous man of which I took matters into my own hands.
"Bearing those things in mind, I have this in reply. I don't foresee the need of my physical action in any way but I have received some very thorough self defense training to make sure I would be less of a target in most situations while also helping to decrease the fear I had and still have of the same thing happening again. I certainly won't lie and say I'm 100 percent cured.
"Now, if I have to see the bodies of a woman or more that are beaten up then I know I wouldn't be able to simply look at them dispassionately. I can truthfully tell you that I would have to walk away; however, my past experiences would give me at least the ability to keep from losing my cool completely. When it comes down to the fact side of things, I can promise you that I will be able to focus 100 percent on the task and make sure you know everything you would need to know for your case. Or maybe more as Reid could attest sometimes considering the Master of Arts degree I currently have along with the PhD in English Language, Literature, and Research I'm working to obtain.
"Finally, about my previous actions I spoke of, I'm very aware I'm not qualified to undertake such a thing on my own and what I did back then was more than reckless on my part. On that note, I can give you my promise here and now that I won't undertake any thing like that on my own without your permission. I know what my capacity is to be though considering my past history I think, if the situation should arise, in the case of family or friends of these victims I could be of value as someone who has seen the other side and the good that can come of not only their help but also that someone else that's not a member of the B.A.U. or the F.B.I. can understand what they are going through."
Catherine sat back and let her words settle into the silence that followed.
Reid looked from Catherine back to Hotch with a small smirk on his lips.
Hotch eyed Catherine for a moment, glanced at Reid and then sat back into his chair looking at both of them.
"When can you be ready to leave?" Hotch asked.
Catherine's smile warmed her face instantly. "Actually, knowing the way this might have turned out and the fact I was at home when Reid called…I packed. My suitcase is in the car knowing if I was going I would need to be ready in a hurry."
Hotch smiled at that.
"Then, welcome aboard. We leave in fifteen minutes."