Hello CM fans! This is not my first fic, but it is my first Criminal Minds fic. I have recently become a fan of the show and just couldn't resist writing a fic! Since I am new to the genre, please forgive my lack of knowledge about crime scenes and police procedures, etc. I'm just going off of what I have seen on cop shows...and I've seen plenty of them!

This will be a mystery/adventure fic, but what's a good adventure without a little romance? For Hotch, of course! His new lady love will be introduced in this chapter. You may be slow to warm up to her, but I have been pretty successful with OFC characters before so I hope that streak continues with Dani.

Please read and Review...it keeps me going! Enjoy...

Prologue

"Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself." ~ James Anthony Froude

"We've got her!"

"Over here!"

"Detective Callahan, we found her."

D.C. Metro Detective Dani Callahan moved through the thick brush of Rock Creek Park, running swiftly along the uneven terrain. She made her way through the throngs of police officers, park rangers, search and rescue team members, and search dogs like a woman on a mission. Because she was.

A woman on a mission.

And since they were back in these woods, she was failing miserably.

The beautiful young woman was tied to a tree, her face and body so badly beaten that she was barely recognizable. Her neatly styled blond hair had been chopped off and she wore nothing but a torn and tattered old nightshirt that obviously didn't belong to her. But Dani recognized this woman. She would know her anywhere. She would know any of them. She just didn't want to find them like this.

A lock of the detective's bright red hair had escaped from beneath her cap and she hastily pushed it back behind her ear as she moved toward the body so that she could take a closer look.

"Which one is she?"

"Carrie Ann Southard." Dani replied, not even sure which cop had asked the question. "Med student at GW. 23 years old. Went missing from a club downtown three weeks ago."

"How can she tell?"

Dani heard the whispers behind her and did her best to ignore them.

"She can tell."

The homicide detective felt the presence of her partner, Detective Mickey Santos, next to her before she actually saw him. He moved expertly around the tree and the body, searching for the one thing Dani couldn't bring herself to locate. Not yet, anyway.

"Does she have the mark?" Dani asked quietly, her eyes never leaving Carrie's face.

"Back of her neck." Mickey replied grimly.

"Shit."

Dani closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again, her composure intact. Turning to her team, she commanded in a clear voice, "Don't touch anything until Crime Scene gets here…but as soon as they are finished, cut her down. I don't want her up there on display any longer than she has to be."

Without another word to Mickey or anyone else, Dani headed off down the hill they had all just traveled up. She had a notification to make. The worst part of the job. Carrie Ann's parents lived in suburban Alexandria and the drive would give her time to clear her head.

"Dan!"

Dani turned around to see her brother and fellow detective, Tommy Callahan, coming down the hill toward her.

"Slow down, champ!" He told her, catching up to her. "I was calling to you. Didn't you hear me?"

Shrugging, she answered dismissively, "I've got a lot on my mind. Sorry."

He studied her closely for a moment, but didn't say a word. He knew better. Instead he held out the evidence bag that had been handed to him by one of the uniformed cops and told her, "You've got a love letter."

"Addressed to me?"

Dani snatched the letter from him and the tall detective watched his kid sister's face as her eyes scanned the piece of evidence. The sky chose that moment to open up and the rain that had been holding off all morning suddenly came down in a torrential downpour.

"Damn it, we're going to lose our evidence!" Tommy swore, looking up to where his men were taking every precaution they could to protect the body without damaging any of the evidence themselves. But instead of going to supervise, he stayed close to his sister. He was on strict orders to do so…from a cpuple of sources. And neither one of them were men he wanted to mess with. From the bottom of the hill, he continued his tirade, "Where is the damn CSU team? They were supposed to be right behind us!"

But Dani didn't seem to hear him, or feel the rain, or even notice the chaos that was beginning to engulf the crime scene. She never took her eyes off the plastic encased letter in her hands. The rain poured down and was running off the brim of her cap, making a dull tapping noise as it landed on the evidence bag. Suddenly, the red head looked up to the sky and screamed "Son of a Bitch!!" as she pulled off her cap and threw it down in frustration.

Cops all around paused for only a moment, but then quickly got back to what they were doing as if nothing happened. This case was bringing them all to the brink of insanity. And the usually cool and collected Detective Mary Daniella Callahan was no exception.

Tommy gave her a minute before he asked quietly, "Dani?"

Taking a deep breath and reigning in her emotions, Dani pasted a fake smile on her pink lips and assured her worried brother, "You know me and the rain. I hate getting wet." Running her free hand through her curly wet tresses, she added sarcastically, "I just can't do anything with this hair when it's wet."

Tommy returned her smile, but didn't mask the look of concern on his face. Dani, looking tired, began walking back to the truck with the note and instructed her brother, "I need you to take this to the lab yourself, Tom. It may be the only evidence he left that we can use because of this rain. Call me as soon as we get an evidence report or something from the ME…whichever happens first."

"Where are you going?"

"To the Southard's." She informed him tiredly. "I told them that I would let them know the minute we had any information." Looking back up the hill at the body, she added dryly, "Well, we've got some information."

"Take a uniform with you." he said quickly, the big brother in him replacing the cop in him.

She shook her head and handed the evidence bag back to him as she said, "We need everyone here…combing the area. The only tire tracks around here are from our vehicles, so Carrie Ann had to come from somewhere."

Tommy nodded in agreement as he watched her climb into her truck and shut the door behind her. A thought suddenly struck him and he motioned for her to roll down the window.

"This is the second body with his mark, Dan." He reminded her slowly. "This makes it a serial."

"I know." she snapped at him, immediately sorry for her behavior.

But Tommy didn't care. He'd known her long enough to know that she didn't take bad news well. Taking a deep breath, he added, "Remember what Jacobi said? If it's a serial…he's calling in the Feds."

"Shit." Dani repeated again, starting up the truck. "That's all I need."

"I've heard good things about the BAU." Tommy tried to reason with her, knowing instantly that it would be no use. "They caught that militia group in New York and the Boston Reaper…"

"I don't care, Tommy." Dani spat out, narrowing her eyes at him as she put the truck in gear. "This is my case."