A/N: I'm back with this story…and there has been some changes. Please leave feedback to let me know you're reading. If you read it before, please bear with me through the reposting of the updated chapters. We'll soon be back to where we left off.

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DISCLAIMER: The Characters of Sue Thomas, Jack Hudson, Bobby Manning, Dimitrius (D) Gans, Donna Gans, Tanya Gans, David (Davey) Gans, Myles Leland III, Tara Samuel, Lucy Dotson, Ted Garrett, Darcy D'Angelo, and Levi are the property of Pebblehut, Paxson Entertainment, Dave Alan Johnson, Gary R. Johnson, and their subsidiaries and related parties. Similarities of other characters to individuals real or imagined are purely coincidental.

Pleasantly surprised, but not shocked, he couldn't help but appreciate just how long things could go before anyone noticed the women disappearing. Terrible things happened every day, so much so that people had become accustomed to it.

A laughing pair of lovers huddled beneath the stars not fifty yards away from the red-stained snow. He wondered if they'd find her or if some happy family hiking through the woods would stumble across her later.

The world is such an oblivious place, he thought taking one last look at the body, the woman's brown eyes still open in terror, her soft blonde hair shimmering in the moonlight.

As he slinked off into the darkness, he knew this wasn't his first and wouldn't be his last. He looked forward to his next conquest. He only hoped she was as adventuresome as the last.

Chapter 1

The bullpen was quiet, as it had been for the last week, giving the team time to finally catch up on their paperwork. However, the seemingly endless days of shuffling, typing, and filing had them a little giddy at times as they attempted to find ways to amuse themselves.

Bobby had started it by taping the ball of Tara's mouse in place. She'd gone through checking the connections on the back of her computer, reinstalling the drivers, and rebooting before she finally opened the mouse and realized the cause.

As retaliation, Tara had hacked into his computer and changed the 'AutoCorrect' feature in Word to replace the word 'the' with 'Aussie Pride' every time he typed the word in his reports. She knew he'd fly into a panic and start scanning for viruses as soon as it happened. Unfortunately, Sue had problems with her computer that day and had moved to his, ending up being the hapless victim.

Not to be outdone, the three women had teamed up and planted an obnoxious rap CD in Bobby's CD-Rom drive. Then, they stood back and watched when the tall Aussie arrived the next morning and turned on his computer, only to have the abominable music blaring from the speakers.

Smiling conspiratorially towards Jack, Bobby watched as Tara sat down at her desk. Having screen captured her desktop and saved it as the new desktop, hiding all of her actual icons, they knew she'd freak trying to figure out why her desktop had suddenly locked up.

However, D came striding into the room before Tara could turn on her computer. From the frown on the black agent's face, and the stack of files he was carrying, Bobby figured they had a case, and whatever it was couldn't be good.

"Listen up, people," D announced, stopping in the center of the room while he waited for Levi to notify Sue of his presence. "The Salt Lake City Office has requested our assistance on a case," he stated, before moving toward the board next to Jack's desk.

"Utah?" Myles asked, his brow arching. "What could be going on in Utah of all places that would require our assistance?"

"Murder," D replied grimly as he dumped the files on the corner of Jack's desk, handing Lucy the top folder to being posting pictures on the board. "It looks like they might have a serial killer on their hands. Only three bodies have been discovered so far, but more than twenty women have disappeared in the last three months."

"That's a lot in three months," Bobby commented as he perused one of the files D had left on Jack's desk. "Why are we just getting it now?"

"And what makes them think it's a serial killer?" Jack asked as he snatched other file from the stack.

"All of the women have been about the same age, as well as physical characteristics, and have disappeared while working at or guest of the same resort," D answered, his eyes subconsciously drifting towards Sue.

Glancing up from his file, Jack noticed the exchange and looked worriedly between his two co-workers. Concerned, he hoped it wouldn't be long before he figured out what that fleeting look was for, but waited impatiently as Lucy continued posting the pictures of the victims and missing women on the board.

"The Assistant Director isn't pleased with how the investigation is going. Senator Graham from Utah got him out of bed this morning with the news another woman had disappeared," D continued, turning his back to the board unable to hide his obvious discomfort with the situation. "I've been on the phone with the Assistant Director twice already this morning. He requested our involvement and had these files brought over."

"So where is this resort?" Jack asked stiffly, not particularly liking the way the briefing was going, but unable to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

"The Salt Lake City office covers a lot of territory and with that area, a suspected serial killer would have a lot of places to hide," Myles commented from his desk. "Three months really isn't a long time, especially when only three bodies have been found."

"Everett, just north of the Arizona border," D announced, finger spelling the names for Sue as he continued.

"Serendipity is a five-star spa and resort that offers all the pampering, luxury, and relaxation you can afford for a measly twelve hundred dollars a day," Bobby read from the file he was holding.

"Whoa," Tara breathed in amazement, turning to Sue wide-eyed. "Definitely not someplace I'd ever get to go," she mentioned.

"Actually, Tara, the spa's data processing clerk suddenly won an all expenses paid cruise to the Hawaii…" D started, pulling a couple of files from the bottom of the stack and handing one to Tara.

"No doubt courtesy of Uncle Sam," Myles stated briefly as he watched Tara open the file and begin reading.

"Her position with the computer will give you access to the client and personnel files, and possibly find something that the other agents didn't," D continued, grinning slightly at the other man's comment.

"So I get to go, but I've got to work," Tara groaned, plopping unhappily into her chair. "Bummer."

"Well, I'm sure you're not going to be the only one, shelia," Bobby consoled her. "I'll be happy to volunteer," he smiled broadly, looking around the room for objectors.

"Sorry, Crash, as team leader, I think it should be me," Jack boasted as he shuffled through more of the files.

"Well, Jack, I'm glad you said that, because you'll be going as the new assistant director of spa services," D declared, handing the dark-haired agent another file from the stack.

"Sounds…uh…exciting, Sparky," Bobby joked, stifling a pretend yawn.

"Uh, thanks," Jack frowned, looking through the file he'd been given.

"Hey, look at the bright side, Jack," Sue offered with a tentative smile. "At least your administration and not stuck sweeping floors or something," she grinned, earning an amused smirk from the dark-haired agent as the rest of the room began laughing.

"Uh, don't laugh, Myles," D warned, pulling another file from the stack. "That would be your cover," he smirked as the tall blonde's face dropped.

"What?" Myles asked aghast. "Jack gets to be a director, and I'm stuck as the janitor. I think my Harvard education would make me a better administrator," he persisted, even while he opened the file to look.

"Sorry, Myles," D apologized reluctantly. "We need Jack's legal expertise to make the cover plausible."

"Yeah," Myles scowled at the tall agent. "So what are the rest of you going to do while we are slaving away in Utah?" he asked, throwing the file on his desk to read later.

"Well, the Assistant Director wants another set of eyes on the patron side of things," D informed them as he grabbed another couple of folders.

"Woohoo, sounds like a job for me!" Bobby clapped his hands together enthusiastically.

"Actually, he requested Sue," D interrupted the Aussie's celebration.

"Sue?" Jack and Bobby asked at the same time.

"Me?" Sue questioned, sure she'd read him wrong.

"The Assistant Director is aware of your…um…surveillance abilities," D smiled at the long-haired blonde. He carried the file over to where she was standing next to Lucy, before continuing, "He feels you'd be essential for this case, being able to see what other people are saying, without actually having to place microphones."

"Ahh, a grey area in the current privacy laws," Tara commented from behind her computer. "Good choice."

"Well, she's not going alone," Jack declared firmly as he glared at the older agent, the worry on his face evident.

"Don't worry," D put up his hand to hold off any arguments while he explained. "Bobby will be going with her and I don't want you to let her out of your sight," he demanded, giving the other man a meaningful look.

"No worries," Bobby affirmed, moving next to Sue as he draped his arm over her shoulders. "We'll be joined at the hip," he offered, giving her a gentle squeeze as he smiled.

"That's good because that would go well with your cover," D grinned as he handed Bobby a file.

"Cover?" Sue asked curiously, her eyes darting back and forth between her co-workers as she tried to keep up with the conversation. She hadn't even had an opportunity to look at the file in her hands yet.

"That's the sticky part," D grimaced, hoping that someone else would save him from having to say it aloud.

"Hey, it can't be that bad," Sue grinned looking from one to another. "I made it through being married to Jack…"

"At that deserved a metal," Bobby offered as the dark-haired agent rolled his eyes, enduring the teasing yet again.

"What could be worse than that?" Sue asked D with a reassuring smile.

"Being married to Bobby," D offered frowned before pointing to the board behind her.

All except Sue could hear the audible gasp from Lucy as she placed the last photo and took a step back to look at her work. Every victim had the same long blonde hair styled in a variety of different ways.

"No way, D," Jack complained, fury in his voice as well as his face. "She's not going to be the bait again!" He couldn't help remembering what would have happened had he not left his phone as flashes of Simon straddling Sue on the floor with a scarf around her neck came into his mind.

"She won't be, Jack," D tried to assure him. "We'll have agents all over the place. She'll never be in any danger," he continued as Jack glared at him.

"I won't let her out of my sight, Sparky," Bobby encouraged his best friend, recalling his own emotions when he'd learned they'd left Sue in danger that day.

"There's more," D interjected, his eyes darting between the two agents as a silent message passed between the close friends.

"What more can there be?" Jack growled, his frustration with the case building.

"All the missing women are pregnant."