Title: Without a Trace (working title, got any better ideas?)
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS and I think Paramount. I don't own either (wish I did, then I'd have some money).
Summary: When an unsub targets one of their own, the team must work quickly before it is too late.
Chapter Two
He staggered through the woods, the limp body over his shoulder, weighing him down, pressing his feet into the deep mud beneath him. He struggled through the mud and underbrush, nearly tripping over fallen tree branches.
He knew exactly where he was going, he had been there before. But this trip was different, this time, he was going to send a message to those high and mighty FBI agents. This woman he carried would be found, her message would be that he meant business, that he was not to be messed around with. He did not like to be mocked. The media mocked him: "The Ghost", "Spirit", and many other names. It made him angry.
He had thought of another plan to get his message across. He would take one of their own and watch with great amusement as they ran in circles trying to find her. They hadn't found the others yet, they would not find her either. They'd find only what he wanted them to find.
The body lay in the mud, face up, the lifeless eyes staring into the clearing sky. Nearly naked, her clothes ripped and torn so badly they hardly resembled clothes anymore. In her right hand, she held a note.
Gideon knelt in the mud beside the body and gently pried the note out of the dead hand. "I need an evidence bag," he called.
Reid scurried over to him. "Here," he said, holding the bag open so Gideon could drop the note inside. "What does it say?"
Gideon straightened the note inside the protective plastic covering and read aloud:
"She danced as the devil, now she sings as an angel."
"Sounds like a religious thing." Hotch commented, coming up behind them.
Gideon nodded, agreeing with him.
"It sounds like he feels a need to cleanse them, maybe by killing them?" Reid spoke up. "See the marks over the body, they look like burn marks. Fire can be a symbol of purity."
"Possible. It could also be that the unsub wants to destroy her. She was a pretty girl, maybe he is trying to say something about that as most of the marks are based on the face and upper body." The men began to walk away from the body, leaving the crime scene techs to do their job.
"Morgan," Gideon called to him. "Get Garcia on the phone, see how she's doing on the lists I gave her and have her compare this crime to others."
Morgan nodded and started dialing Quantico on the phone.
"Garcia, what can I find for you today?" Penelope Garcia answered the phone.
"It's Morgan. How you've been doing on the lists?" Morgan asked.
"Okay, we're playin' straight today." Garcia pushed her chair over to one of her many computers. "So far, no biggies. A couple DUIs, but nothing that suggests kidnapping."
"Thanks. We've just found the body of one of the victims, Cleo Bartholomew, and Gideon wants you to run the details through NCIC."
"Give it to me, sugar." she posed her fingers over the keyboard ready to type.
Morgan smiled and began to tell her what they knew so far. "She was half naked, holding a one line note in her hand. Keywords on that would be dance, devil, sing, and angel."
"Sounds like church." she commented as she typed.
"Yeah, it does. Whackos hide behind the church all the time. Okay, and she was burned with a circular object on her face, and upper body."
"Got it. I'll call you with anything I get."
"Bye." Morgan clicked off the phone and went to join the rest of the team.
The reporters clammered around the platform.
"Is it true that a body was found?"
"Who was it?
"Where was she found?
"What is the condition of the body, how long has she been dead?"
JJ stood at the podium and looked at the crowd of reporters. "Yes, a body was found this afternoon. However, we aren't annoucing the identity until the family can be notified. We won't know much until tests are run. We'll tell you what we can, when we can. Thank you." she stepped down and to the side, away from the crowd.
"That's not going to keep them quiet for long." Elle commented.
"No, it's isn't. But we don't have anything else to give them." JJ answered. She glanced back at the crowd. "It's almost easier when there is something to give them, then people know what's going on."
"You miss it?"
"Not at all." she smiled.
"It's getting to be dinnertime. Let's find the guys and go find something to eat." Elle said.
"Great idea." JJ agreed and they went to find the men, who were just coming in to find them.
"According to the coroner's report, Cleo Bartolomew was probably kept alive, between three and five days, after her abduction. The C.O.D. is strangulation." Gideon told his team, that night after they had eaten.
"What about all the bruising and marks on the body?" Hotch asked.
"Most of them were done postmortem."
"Do we know what caused them?" Elle spoke.
"Something round in shape, probably a metal rod."
Reid picked up one of the autopsy photos off the table. "It looks like a circle within a circle."
"Could be anything just about. They took swabbings down to forensics but it'll be a while before we know anything." Gideon answered.
"Will we get anything tonight?"
"Doubt it, it's nearly ten o'clock." Gideon said, after glancing at his watch.
"I think we should try to get some rest, tomorrow is going to be busy." Hotch suggested.
"Yeah, you're right. Who's ready to sleep?" Morgan agreed, half joking.
Gideon sighed, he hated leaving things half done. But there was nothing left to do tonight, and it had been a long flight earlier. "All right. I want everyone back here bright and early, got it?"
With that, the team parted for the night.
A/N- I don't know if JJ ever actually was a reporter, they've never said anything about it, but why not? And also, I know an autopsy probably wouldn't be done in a day, it just works better with the story!See you next week with the third chapter! Sarah