Chapter 1 – 372 miles south west

Special Agent Jennifer Jareau ( or most commonly called JJ) was going through some of the case files on her desk and she quickly looked over the briefing that each police department had sent to her, along with some of the crime scene photos taken. She made sure to look at every single detail, trying to determine whether or not the case should be considered. The current file she was holding, wasn't really giving her a red light, so she set it down in a separate pile and picked up the next one. She looked at the name on the folder. It had a tag with the city and state, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA. She opened the folder and quickly read the briefing aloud to herself,

Over the course of three weeks, the bodies of three women have been found in several public parks throughout city.

She took that little note and put it in the back of her head, three bodies, three weeks, all found in public parks, somewhat of a pattern… she thought. She kept reading.

3 women were identified, no common past or present information. 2 were single parents, one was married with no children. Only thing in common for all three victims before homicide, was long blonde hair. All three victims had evidence of forced sexual relations and torture, and cause of death for all three is to be determined. Attached USB has information, photos, etc. Original copies also included.

It was almost as if someone had written the plot for a corny movie. The file in front of her described in detail the exact cases that the BAU handeled. She couldn't put the file back down. She took a quick look at her cell phone to get the time. They should be walking in any minute now… I'll go set up. She stood up, holding the folder, and headed out of her office. She headed down the hallway and made her way towards the bull pen. Once inside she knew she had assumed correctly. Agents Morgan, Reid, and Prentiss were already sitting at their desks. All three smiled and waved and she did the same back. She headed up the stair case and made her way to the briefing room. She took the file and found the USB. She plugged it into the main computer and turned the projector on. The last thing to do is locate the remote…

She made her way out of the room, and headed to the opposite side of the hallway. She knocked on the office door of Special Agent Hotchner. A voice from within called "Come in!" and she proceeded to do so. She briefly stuck her head in and said,

"New case, I'll be ready to brief in about 10 minutes. I just have to call the county and get the jet ready."

He looked up from what he was writing.

"Okay. I'll notify Rossi."

She started out but he stopped her,

"JJ!"

She turned back to him.

"Where are we going?"

"North Carolina."

And with that she was gone. Agent Hotchner stood up and headed to the office directly beside his. The door was open so he didn't bother to wait for an 'okay' to come in. He simply knocked on the door and made eye contact with Special Agent Rossi.

"Briefing in ten minutes."

Rossi nodded, and went back to writing. Hotchner left, went to the railing of the stair and slowly made his way down, hoping one of his agents would see him before he made it to the bottom. Morgan caught his eye, he acknowledged it.

"What's going on Hotch?"

"Briefing in ten minutes. Get your go-bags."

Before he had even turned to go back upstairs the agents were in motion.

Ten minutes later the entire team, including technical analyst Penelope Garcia, was sitting in the briefing room. JJ had just finished explaining the case, and the BAU team was now stating theories based on the photos and information they had just been given. Reid was the first to say something,

"Well, there's one thing that is absolutely certain. The UnSub is most definitely a sexual sadist."

Morgan couldn't help but shake his head,

"No really? C'mon Reid. You can do better then that!"

"No! I'm not just talking about the rape itself, I'm talking about - - JJ could you go back a few slides?"

She nodded and pressed her remote, until she came to the picture of one of the bodies.

"Okay stop! Morgan, look at the rope. It's tied in a very unique manner. JJ, could you go to the 2 previous bodies as well?"

She did so and Morgan nodded, seeing what Reid was pointing out.

"Okay, so the rope on all three victim's is the same."

Reid retaliated,

"Rope can be almost like a sexual release other then the sexual relations themselves. Rope gives the UnSub power, he can take control of his victim. In this case, he ties it in such a way that - -"

Morgan cut him off, nodding. JJ's phone rang. She answered briefly, then hung up.

"Time to go guys."

They were on the jet and they had just taken off. Rossi spoke out of the blue as the rest of the team was looking over files,

"Charlotte, North Carolina huh? Never heard of it…"

Morgan looked up.

"Your kidding me right? You've never heard of the Queen City?"

"Was I supposed to?"

Reid joined in,

"I've never heard of the Queen City!"

Morgan shook his head and laughed,

"C'mon guys. I mean, it's not even a 3 hour flight! Hell, if your driving it's only 372 miles away from Quantico!"

JJ listened to the group drone on and on. She was looking at some of the photos, it was giving her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Still she couldn't get Morgan's words out of her head; 372 miles away… 372 miles southwest of Quantico, Virginia.