Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; I don't own 'Criminal Minds'. I only own the characters and the plot I have created. I am also assuming I don't need to explain who Hotch, JJ and the others are, etc.

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'A Force of Nature'

Chapter One

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The elevator door opened and team members Reid, Morgan and Prentiss walked into the Behavioral Analysis Unit. "It must be another local case," Morgan commented over his shoulder to Prentiss. "JJ said not to worry about a go bag."

"She didn't tell me that," Prentiss commented. "I was told to bring mine."

"I was also told not to worry about a go bag," Reid added.

Just then Rossi came out of his office and motioned to the three. "JJ and Hotch are ready in the conference room."

"What have we got?" Morgan asked as the team settled into their seats around the table and opened the file folders JJ had placed at their seats.

"Frankly," Hotch remarked, "We're not exactly sure what we have."

Prentiss looked at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Hotch motioned to JJ, who clicked on a slide and turned back to the team. "We have three victims," she stated as the team looked at photographs of two men and one woman. "All shot to death execution style. Linda and Peter Grains in Philadelphia, Dawson Malloy in Trenton, New Jersey." She clicked on another slide and a series of twelve photographs appeared on the screen. "In addition we have another twelve potential victims; living in six separate cities."

"Okay, you lost me," Morgan commented. "How do we know we have twelve potential victims?"

"What connection do they have to the actual victims?" Reid asked.

"The only thing any of them have in common is they were all in Bermuda at the same time," Hotch commented.

"Bermuda?" Rossi asked. "Were they all part of the same tour group?"

"Yes and no," JJ sighed. "The Grains and two of the potential victims were traveling as part of the same tour group. The other eleven people just happened to be there the same time they were."

Morgan's brow furrowed. "I don't get it. How do we know about potential victims unless we know they have something else in common?"

"Because we also know that all fifteen of these people received identical death threats by letter," Hotch inserted. "Since three of the fifteen are now dead we can safely assume the other twelve are potential victims."

JJ clicked on another slide and a copy of the threatening letter appeared on the screen. "I know what you saw," Prentiss read aloud. "You will pay for what you saw. You will pay with your life." She looked around the room at the others. "Pretty vague."

Reid looked up from his folder. "According to the police report, the Grains were killed almost two weeks ago. If all these people received the same threat, why are we just now hearing about it?"

JJ continued, "Because the Grains and Mr. Malloy died in two different cities no one made a connection at first." She clicked on a picture of one of the potential victims. "Alan Riverton lives in Philadelphia also. He reported his threat to the local police, and at that point it was connected to the Grains case. The detective in charge of the Grains case entered information about the threat into the national database and discovered there were eleven other reports regarding an identical threat from Simi Valley, California; Boulder, Colorado; Saint Louis, Missouri; Mesa, Arizona and Great Falls, Montana. The other two members of the tour group were Bill and Lynda Duncan from Saint Louis."

"What about the twelfth threat?" Reid asked.

JJ clicked on the last picture just as Garcia entered the room. "Oh, my gosh!" she gasped. "Is that who I think it is?"

JJ laughed. "Yes, Penelope, it is who you think it is."

Reid looked at her in confusion. "Who is he?"

"His name is Daniel Meier," JJ continued. "And he did receive the same threatening letter as the others. However, he has had an ongoing issue with a stalker for several years. And, since he's gotten used to receiving mail from his stalker, he basically opened the letter, read the first line and then filed it like all the others he's gotten over the years."

"He threw it out?" Morgan asked.

"No, he filed it. Literally. When I spoke to him on the phone he told me he has a file box containing various pieces of mail he's received from his stalker. He said when he first started receiving the mail he would throw it out, but then his father convinced him he should save them all as potential evidence. He simply filed it under the date he received it and forgot about it."

"You talked to him? On the phone?" Garcia gasped.

"Down girl," Morgan laughed. "What made Meier change his mind about this letter?"

"Apparently his mother was watching a television show with a Crimestoppers report that mentioned the letters and the fact everyone involved had been in Bermuda at the same time. She mentioned it to her son who then dug his own letter out and called the local police," Hotch said.

"So Meier was in Bermuda when the others were?" Rossi asked.

"Yes," JJ continued. "And so were his parents."

"Wait a minute," Reid said, sitting up in his chair. "It says in the file here there are twenty other members of the tour group, plus family members and friends of the ones who were there on their own, a total of thirty-five additional people; but none of them have been threatened."

JJ nodded. "Exactly, Spence. That's part of the mystery. That's why we aren't sure exactly what we have here. Everyone was in Bermuda at the same time, not all part of the same group, not staying in the same hotel, most of them did not know each other, and only some of them have been threatened. In the case of Daniel Meier, for example, he has been threatened, but his parents who were on the trip with him, have not been."

"So, exactly who is Daniel Meier?" Reid asked.

"Kid, don't you know anything?" Morgan joked. "Daniel Meier was on the U.S. Olympic figure skating team in Vancouver."

"He certainly was," sighed Garcia.

"Garcia watching figure skating I can believe," Reid commented. "But you Morgan?"

"Hey, I watch figure skating, mostly the ladies and the ice dancing."

"Why? For the short skirts?" Reid looked at Morgan with a smirk.

"Only if they're over twenty-one," Morgan laughed.

Rossi shook his head and looked over at Hotch who sighed. "Can we please get back to the case?" He looked around at the group. "All the victims who have been threatened are now under police protection. Local F.B.I. offices in their cities will be interviewing them and passing the information on to us. Daniel Meier lives over in Georgetown. Morgan, I want you and Reid to go to his house and interview him. Prentiss and Rossi will go to Trenton and talk to the police. JJ and I will go to Philadelphia, talk to the police there and also interview Alan Riverton. At this point Mr. Riverton and Mr. Meier are the only two potential victims we'll be speaking to ourselves, so let's make the most of it."

"I love Georgetown," Garcia commented to no one in particular.

"That's nice, Penelope," Rossi said as he stood up.

Garcia turned to Morgan. "I don't suppose…"

"No."

"Derek, come on! I just want to meet him!"

"No," Hotch added. "You're not going."

"Oh, you're all so…so… Oh, never mind!" Garcia snorted, stomping off in a huff.

Hotch shook his head as Morgan chuckled. "Come on, Reid. Let's get going."

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**The hardest thing about this whole story idea was coming up with a crime that it made sense for the BAU to become involved with.