A/N: Thank you all so so much for reviewing! This is, admittedly, not a very exciting chapter, and it has a lot of case information, but the case is important! So pay attention anyways. The next chapter will more than make up for it...

Don watched as Mac climbed from the Avalanche, dressed in dark jeans and a zip up jacket, his hair slightly disheveled. He'd clearly woken up and come straight there. The force with which Mac slammed the car door and the pace at which he strode toward Don told him the detective was not in a good mood- and not because he'd been pulled out of bed. Serial killers tended to do that to him. Flack stood up and stepped around the body to meet him. "Bartender found her after closing up. Came out back to throw some trash away and tripped over her instead."

Mac surveyed the body, splayed out between the back door of the bar and the dumpster. Lindsay was already processing, looking somewhat sick as she did so. Don couldn't blame her. It had been bad enough when he thought the first killing was done by a vicious spouse. This made less sense.

"No witnesses. No one heard anything." Don continued as Mac shone his flashlight around the perimeter. "From the lack of blood here, I'd say it's another dump job."

"So why dump the first body in a spot it's not likely to be found and dump the second one where you know it's going to be discovered right away?" Mac asked, greeting Lindsay with a nod as he stepped up next to her to get a closer look.

"Getting more confident?" Don suggested, though something felt off about it. "It's a big jump from hiding the body to displaying it for all to see, though."

"No, you're right." Mac sighed. "It's a leap, but it's all we have to go on." He crouched down and Lindsay stepped back to give him some room to examine the body himself. "No defensive wounds this time…" He muttered to himself. "Perfecting his game?"

"Time of death was recent, rigor hasn't fully set in yet." Lindsay reported. "You think it's the same guy?"

"Similar bullet placement, young female… It's not a lot, but it's looking like it." Mac sighed, and Don could tell there was something else he wasn't saying. "She got a ring?"

"Nope." Lindsay shook her head. "No ID either."

"You and Hawkes find anything on the last vic?" Mac asked as he stood up, snapping off his gloves.

She frowned and shook her head. "The DNA under her nails was degraded, but we got enough to figure out it was from her own blood. She may not have been in the water long, but it still washed out any other trace we might have gotten. Hawkes is still looking through missing persons."

"You sure this is the same guy, Mac?" Don asked doubtfully. "Something's off here."

Mac blew out a breath and nodded. "I know… But the fact is the media didn't have a hold of this until a few hours ago and we didn't release enough information for a copycat killing. A fake would have had to plan this in a couple hours…that fits even less. We don't know the rules yet. Right now we have to assume this guy made a major change in his game for a reason."

Don looked up at that. It was the third time Mac had described this thing as a game. The head of the crime lab had a habit of making intellectual jumps without walking everyone else through his thought process, so it was possible he already had a theory about their perp, but it was unlikely this early on, and just plain odd for Mac not to share it. "Mac," Don pulled him aside, throwing his own rule of not questioning Mac out the window. "Do you know something?"

Mac raised an eyebrow innocently. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't help but think you're not telling me something here." Don shrugged.

"If I knew anything about the case, I would tell you, Flack. You know that." Mac assured him calmly.

Did that mean it wasn't case related? Don sighed. That wasn't it. Mac's behavior the last few weeks had been distracted because he was going through a hard time. Don knew what that looked like. This was different. "Sure." He nodded after a second and watched closely as Mac walked away to finish processing the crime scene.

There was definitely something else…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Adam's head snapped up from where it had been resting on his arms as something smacked onto the table next to him. "I wasn't asleep." He slurred immediately, blinking his bleary eyes as he searched his surroundings. Mac came into focus, looming over him, and Adam jumped again.

"Find me something on whoever sent the last two texts to that phone." Mac said, ignoring the fact that he'd found Adam sleeping on the job. It was 6:30 in the morning, meaning the tech's shift had only started 30 minutes ago, and already he was struggling. Adam never had been a morning person. He'd bribed many a lab tech for later shifts, but sadly had not found a soul willing to switch with him today. It was his fault for staying up until 2 am playing Call of Duty with his cousin in California.

Adam quickly dragged a hand over his face and then picked up the phone. "Sure thing, Boss. Is this for your case? I thought they didn't find any personal items on the vics?"

Mac stared at him silently for a second before he spoke. "They didn't. As of right now, this isn't related to the case."

"Right now?" Adam repeated curiously, turning the phone over in his hands before his fingers raced across the keys, quickly bringing up the texts in question. He read them and confusion quickly spread over his face. "Is this yours?"

Mac didn't say anything. Adam looked up at him and easily read the unspoken demand there.

"I'll uh…be sure to have it back to you as fast as I can." Adam said.

Mac seemed satisfied with his answer. "How long will this take?" He asked.

"Depends…" He started to say, but quickly changed his mind at Mac's expression. "Twenty minutes?"

"I'll be back in ten." Mac had barely made a move to leave before he stopped himself and faced Adam again. "Thank you." He offered sincerely before disappearing across the hall.

Adam was only briefly tempted to sort through the rest of the texts on his boss's phone, but because he valued his own life, decided against it. Now, had it been Danny's phone, he'd already be halfway through the contacts and copying down women's phone numbers. Instead, Adam quickly got to work, hooking the phone up to his equipment and sorting through the relevant data.

As he was waiting for a scan to complete, Adam swiveled in his chair and watched his boss through the glass walls as he pulled on a lab coat and joined Hawkes in layout. He certainly seemed antsy this morning… Then again, cases with serial killers did that to people around here, even Mac Taylor, but maybe it was more than that as well.

Mac had never asked for a personal favor before. Something about these texts had been enough to change that. Adam glanced over the messages again. There was nothing inherently threatening about them. Out of context, they could be considered completely innocent- which was exactly how Adam was getting them. 'Rest up while you can…' That was sent at 10:18pm the night before. 'Game on, Detective.' That had come at 3:25am… not exactly social hour for texting, not that Adam pictured Mac as much of a texter.

Now that he thought about it, 3 am was when they discovered the second body… That could have been a creepy coincidence of course, and Adam had no reason to suspect otherwise. If it was relevant to a case, Mac would have told someone by now instead of asking him to take a look at it off the books…wouldn't he?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Mac, Lindsay and Hawkes stood around the light table in layout, their meager evidence spread out before them, consisting of clothing and crime scene photos and a few other objects found near the body that could be relevant or just trash.

Hawkes pulled one photo toward him. "There's no blood trail and we haven't found the primary crime scene, so we're assuming he drove up and dumped her."

"There are no cameras in the alley or behind the bar," Lindsay continued, "But there is a street camera with a view of the alley entrance. They're sending the tapes up to Adam right now."

"What about trace?" Mac asked, leaning his hands on the table.

Hawkes perked up, dragging the second vic's jacket toward him. "I found traces of ammonia mixed with lemon scent here on the back."

"Disinfectant." Mac sighed. "What else?"

"There's a soil trace we're still trying to identify in her shoes, and her shirt was stained with generic baby food." Lindsay finished with a frown.

"She already had a baby?" Mac slid a picture of the vic across the table to get a better look. Unlike the first vic, this woman was blonde, but also very pretty, possibly younger than the first vic was and dressed just as casual. There was nothing fancy or overdone about them. "And she didn't have a ring… so where's the kid?"

There was silence for a few seconds as the CSIs scanned the evidence, hoping to see something they had missed before.

"Still nothing from missing persons?" Mac finally asked.

Hawkes shook his head. "I'll keep checking. Did Sid get anything?"

"I'm meeting with him in ten minutes." Mac looked up to see Adam waving at him from the AV lab. "Go over the clothes again." He called over his shoulder on his way out the door. Adam looked slightly nervous as Mac approached him. "What have you got?"

"I managed to track down the blocked number. It came back to a pre-paid phone. I tried tracing it and got nothing. It can't be turned on remotely either."

"So you got nothing?" Mac asked.

"Sorry." Adam winced.

"Not your fault." Mac muttered, taking the phone back from him.

"But if you happen to get another text and bring it to me right away, I'll have a better chance at it." Adam offered hopefully.

"Yeah, thanks." Mac turned to leave, but Adam's voice stopped him.

"Boss…" Adam stopped, wringing his hands together anxiously. "You think it's the killer, don't you?"

Mac looked at him in surprise which faded quickly into something unreadable. "I don't know who it is. That's why I needed you to find out."

"Don't you think you should tell someone anyways? I mean…" Adam bit his lip, the words having spilled out without his permission. "I mean…nevermind…"

Mac's expression softened, "I'm not going to derail a case with something that could or could not be related. Besides, you just told me it's a dead end, so right now it doesn't matter. You've got security tapes headed your way. Focus on that…and thanks for trying."

Mac shoved the phone back into his jeans pocket and headed for the 34th floor and the morgue. Hopefully Sid had news that would help them make some connections and keep this from happening again. The evidence they had wasn't much to go on, and unfortunately until they made an ID on the Jane Does or found another body with more evidence, finding this guy was going to be very difficult. Mac would have to wait on the security feed and the rest of the trace evidence until he started worrying, however. Killers had been found on less before…

All the while the texts kept nagging at him. It was the timing- the uncanny timing that made the hairs on his neck stand up. So far they revealed nothing, and even threatened nothing. If not for the timing, he would have dismissed them as pranks, and Mac didn't believe in coincidence. It looked like someone was watching him- who, he couldn't be sure. This serial killer would be the most obvious choice, but Mac had nothing to back it up. There still was the chance, however unlikely, that it was completely benign and unrelated, and that's why he was keeping his mouth shut for now.

"Mac, I was just about to call you." Sid greeted with a grin as the doors swung open.

"Tell me you have something this time." Mac said as he snapped on a pair of gloves and moved to stand across the table from Sid.

"Oh, yes," The old ME beamed. "Very interesting." He almost bounced as he pulled back the sheet, unveiling the body. "Time of death was somewhere between 8 and 9 last night. Same COD as your first vic, bullet to the head, close contact. The shot to the abdomen had similar placement as the first vic as well, and that's where the similarities end. Now here's where it gets interesting."

"What do you mean?" Mac asked. Sid had a way of revealing information like a magician performing a trick- a little here, a little there, but most of all, a long tedious buildup until the finale.

"This bullet below the navel had a slightly upward angle and lodged in the spine. It was also the second shot to enter her body, not the first."

"So she was already dead when he shot her the second time."

Sid nodded. "I would guess your first vic was standing, struggling with her attacker when she was shot. Your second vic was probably on the ground, so the shooter had a different angle. This Jane Doe also wasn't pregnant, though I assume she had a baby no more than 6 months ago. Seems she didn't quite get the chance to lose the pregnancy weight just yet- which is entirely understandable for a new mother. My second wife looked pregnant for two years after my daughter was born-."

"Sid…"

"Right," The ME instantly focused on the body again, "Now, there are no defensive wounds, bruises, or anything else to suggest a struggle, but the tox screen is negative. Perhaps after the first vic, he figured it was easier to make his point after she was dead and couldn't fight back, hence the switch in the order of the shots."

"What point are you making when you shoot a pregnant woman, supposedly aiming for the baby?" Mac wondered aloud.

"Well, the lack of sexual assault on either victim suggests it isn't about sex." The ME suggested. "I'd guess his point is more symbolic of something else."

"One vic is married, the other isn't. It can't be a statement about morality…unless it's about fidelity." Mac went on, almost speaking to himself now.

Sid shrugged. "I'm eccentric, not crazy. It's up to you to figure that one out."

"That it is…" Mac sighed.

"Here are your bullets, and soil trace from her hair." Sid said, handing over the evidence in their respective containers. "You get any sleep last night?"

Mac smiled. He'd been wondering when Sid would ask something like that again. "Yes." He snapped off his gloves and gathered the evidence. "Thanks, Sid." He turned and headed for the door before the ME could question him further. Truth was, even though his sleep had totaled 5 hours, he felt more rested than he had for a while, which said more for his dismal sleeping habits in the last month than anything, because last night was hardly what could be considered a good night's rest.

Mac dropped off the new trace evidence to Lindsay and kept Hawkes on missing persons while he took the bullets. They were pretty badly damaged, but after some clever manipulation and the aid of technology, Mac managed to compare the stria on the bullet from the first vic to the second. Perfect match. It wasn't unexpected, but at least they knew for certain now.

They definitely had a serial killer, which meant they also had to consider why the guy was evolving so quickly. It made him even more dangerous and elusive if there was not set pattern to follow. Then again, if he was getting more brazen, he would slip up eventually. Unfortunately that probably meant finding another body. They needed something now, before that happened.

"Boss!" Adam poked his head into the room, beckoning for Mac to follow him. "I got something on that camera."

Mac quickly secured the evidence and followed the tech back into the AV lab where the security footage was displayed on a large tv screen. "Okay, this was taken at exactly 2am. Watch here." Adam pointed to the screen where a dark, older model SUV slowed, turned into an alley and disappeared. "There was only one other car to enter the alley and that was at 10pm, but the bartender said he went out back at 1am and the body wasn't there." The tape continued rolling as the SUV backed out and drove off. "The car was in the alley for 6 minutes."

"You get anything else off it?" Mac asked as he stepped closer to get a better look at a freeze frame of the car. "No plates…"

Adam shook his head dejectedly. "And the angle of the shot puts too much glare on the windows to get a good look inside." He crossed his arms and shifted his feet as he lifted one hand to point out the car again. "I did manage to figure out it's a 1998 Ford Exporer, 4 doors. The camera quality makes it hard to pin-point a color, but based on the available factory options for this model, I'd have to go with either the medium wedgewood blue metallic or the pacific green metallic with tan trim around the wheels and running board."

"Good work, Adam." Mac praised, causing the tech to smile. "Run that through the DMV and see what you get. It's a good start."

"Already on it." Adam plopped down into his chair and spun it around to face the computer.

Mac was called away again almost immediately as Lindsay excitedly led him into trace. "I ran the soil we found on our second Jane Doe. They're a match to soil samples found at the same park our first victim was dumped."

Mac pursed his lips briefly. "It could be secondary transfer from the car she was transported in. The killer could have transferred the soil to the car after dumping the first vic."

"Which would make sense if the soil also wasn't embedded in the treads of our second vic's shoes." Lindsay explained with a grin.

Mac nodded, his own smile spreading. "You're saying Jane Doe #2 was walking in that park."

She nodded exaggeratedly. "And based on the lack of anything suggesting she was abducted, and the trace in her hair, I'd have to guess she was probably killed there."

"Great work, Lindsay." Mac pulled out his phone and dialed Flack. "We have to get back to that park."

A/N: I hope that wasn't incredibly rushed or too hard to follow... I tend to over-complicate cases. This was just a build up anyhow. In the next chapter, Mac and Don head back to the park and get a big surprise and whoever's taunting Mac ups his game.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! I need to know I haven't lost you after this snooze-fest of a chapter.