So, third chapter. I'm sorry it took me a while to write this but I've been working on a couple of different stories as well, including the story of my life! (If you want, you can read it on my FictionPress account, link is on my channel).

Aside from that: this is the first time I'm actually writing a case and I'm really nervous about it! I hope I made it at least a little believable and I just want everybody to know that it's not my intention to offend anyone when I reveal more details about the case. On another note: I just picked a random town, I don't actually know anything about it, so if I get anything about it wrong; don't hate me!

Enjoy!

''We all go through life like bulls in a china shop. A chip here, a crack there. Doing damage to ourselves. To other people. The problem is trying to figure out how to control the damage we have done. Or that's been done to us. Sometimes the damage catches us by surprise. Sometimes we think we can fix the damage.

And sometimes, the damage is something we can't even see.''

As Penelope walked into the conference room she noticed everybody was already there. Still half asleep, having gotten back from a case just two days before. She hadn't spoken with any of them since they had just gotten back and when she saw the look on Derek's face she knew that he was still mad at her.

''Sorry,'' she mumbled as she sat down as well and looked down at the case file in front of her.

''It's okay,'' JJ said to her before turning her attention back to the screen. ''There have been two murders in the past two weeks in Great Barrington, Maryland. Two weeks ago a local carpenter found 22-year-old Abigail Thomson dumped on the side of the road. She had been strangled with a blue wire which was still wrapped around her neck, there was bruising all over her body and her left wrist was broken,'' JJ said as the screen showed some of the pictures which had been taken at the crime scene.

The whole team looked at the young woman as JJ continued to speak, ''she also had a couple of broken ribs, a broken jaw, broken nose and her right eye-socket was fractured. Then, last Sunday two teenagers found 19-year-old Winnie Cunningham just down the road from where Abigail had been found. She also had a blue wire wrapped around her throat, and again autopsy confirmed that strangulation was what killed her. Blood test showed signs of GHB, it was likely that because of this she was already unconscious when she was murdered, and she didn't have as many fractures and bruises as Abigail did.'' JJ said as she clicked with her remote to the other photos.

''Was there any sign of rape?'' Rossi asked as he looked through the file.
''No,'' JJ said. ''Neither one of them showed any sign of sexual abuse.''

''Where did they disappear from?'' Reid asked as he looked up from the file in front of him with a frown.
''Abigail was kidnapped from her home, probably during the night or early in the morning. Co-workers became worried when she didn't show up for work. Winnie got abducted after leaving a local convenience store to run an errand for her mother,'' JJ said.

Morgan looked at the photos of the two young women. They both were tall, thin women with dark wavy hair, dark eyes and full lips. But Abigail was dark-skinned, while Winnie was pretty much a lighter shade of pale with freckles.

Just as he was about so say something about this JJ continued, ''three days ago, on Sunday, 28-year-old Rosalyn Goodall was reported as missing after not showing up for her book club,'' she said as she showed them a photo of another woman. Dark brown hair, blue eyes, even paler than Winnie, not to mention the fact that she was older than the other two.

''Did they have any families?'' Prentiss asked as she looked at the photos of the three women side by side.
''Winnie has a two-year-old daughter with her ex-boyfriend, Abigail recently got engaged to her long term boyfriend and Rosalyn has been married for six years with two young sons,'' JJ told her.

''There aren't many similarities between the three,'' Derek finally said. ''Two of them were in a relationship, one wasn't. Two of them had kids, one didn't. Not to mention they were of different races, different ages...''
JJ looked back at the screen. ''The only reason the local P.D. is sure that they're dealing with a serial killer is because the UnSub left the same note at all the different crime scenes. In Abigail's house he left the note 'They did something wrong, it's time to make things right.', he taped the same note on the door of the convenience store where Winnie went and he also left it in Rosalyn's car which was parked on the side of the road,'' JJ explained.

'' 'They did something wrong, it's time to make things right.'?'' Emily asked as she looked at the pictures of the notes. ''Who is they?'' She asked as she looked up at her co-workers - and close friends.
''And what did they do wrong?'' Reid asked, looking up as well.

It was only a matter of seconds before Hotch stood up, ''wheels up in thirty.''

''Baby girl, what can you tell us?'' Derek asked as he looked at the laptop. Though there were clearly some problems between the two of them - and he knew without a doubt that everybody had noticed - he wanted to pretend that things were fine.

''Okay, so there isn't anything too detailed that I could find. None of them were really into social media so that doesn't help. Ehm, Abigail is a paralegal in a big law firm in a nearby town. She got engaged to her boyfriend of five years last Christmas, his name is Collin Webb and he has a job as a teacher in the - only - elementary school in the town. She's an only child and has lived in Great Barrington her whole life, moved out of her parent's house and in with Collin last summer.

Winnie still lives at home. Has a two-year-old son, Isaac, with her ex-boyfriend Lucas Martin. They share custody of the boy. She works as a cashier at the convenience store where she was abducted from and goes to school at night, studying event-management. Her father died of a sudden heart attack when she was eight, and she has lived with her younger brother with their mother in the town their whole lives.

Rosalyn met her now husband eight years ago at a bar in another town. She's the only one of the three that hasn't lived in Great Barrington her whole life. She was born and raised in New York and that was where she met her husband, Frank Turner. After they got married they wanted to move to a small town where they could raise their kids and decided to move to Great Barrington. Their sons are three-year-old Boyd and eleven-month-old Joey. Frank has his own business as an accountant and Rosalyn is a stay at home mom,'' Penelope finished.

''This is starting to become a pattern,'' Rossi noted. ''Every time two of them have something in common that the third doesn't have.''
''Maybe we just have to find what they all have in common,'' JJ said and looked up to find everybody nod in agreement.

Penelope turned away from the computer for a moment as the team exited the plane and she had a moment to herself. She took a deep breath, thankful there wasn't any rape in this case so she wasn't reminded of that.

If only his face, the way he had looked into his eyes, the words he had spoken would leave her alone, then maybe... just maybe, she could find a way to move on. Focus on the future instead of the past, ready to face tomorrow with a clean slate, willing to take on whatever life had in store for her.

She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, calm before the storm she could only guess.

It wasn't that she didn't want to help - really, she wanted to find the bastard who had killed those two women and who had taken the third innocent woman. It was just that at this point it was too much; too much at once to really concentrate on it all. If she was going to do this, she wanted to give it her best but what had happened was kind of making that a little harder than usual.

''I just can't believe this happened to her, she was so young, she had her whole future to look forward to. After the turbulence of the past few years things were finally getting better,'' Lisa Cunningham said in tears.
''I'm so sorry for your loss,'' Emily Prentiss said as she laid a hand on the older woman's arm, trying to offer some support.

''I just don't know why he had to take her of all people. She was so sweet - she wouldn't hurt a fly...'' Lisa continued before being cut off by her own sobbing. ''She finally had a steady job, she was going to school, she was kind of getting along with Luuc, she was enjoying watching Isaac grow up... I mean, it almost looked like she was going to have it all!'' She shook her head as she buried her face in her hands.

''Is this where she was found?'' Derek asked Deputy Tiffany Farrow as they walked down the dirt road.
''Yeah, she was found right-'' Tiffany pointed to a spot on the side of the road where a bunch of flowers had been laid down, ''-there.''

Rossi looked back behind him - they had crossed a similar scene just minutes earlier, the spot where Abigail had been found had a similar bouquet of flowers. ''Well, he obviously doesn't mind anyone finding her,'' he noted.
''Are there a lot of places where one would be able to hide a body around here?'' Derek asked as he turned to Tiffany.

''There are woods all around the town, maybe a few spots in town where he would be able to hide them,'' she looked up at the sky as she thought about this. ''There are a lot of places where you could bury the victim without anyone finding out.''
Derek looked up at Rossi, ''so he wanted us to find them-''

''As if he is making some kind of statement?'' Tiffany asked as she looked back and forth between the two men.
''Yeah... But this dirt road is more on the outskirts of the town. A spot where they would easily be found, but still secluded enough that he could take the time to put them here,'' Rossi told her.

Tiffany and Rossi both turned to look at Derek when the latter man's phone started ringing. ''Morgan,'' he said as he picked it up, walking off to have a little more privacy. He had seen on the ID that it was Garcia and though she probably had information on the case, he still wanted to question her.

''Hi, ehm... I did some digging and I found that Frank Turner - Rosalyn's husband - was arrested quite a few times for abusing his ex-girlfriend,'' Garcia said before Derek could get out another word. ''Also, his mother runs a daycare center in the town where Isaac goes from time to time and he's an accountant for Abigail and her husband.''
Derek rubbed the back of his neck as he thought for a few seconds, ''that's really something. But it could just all be a coincidence; in a town as small as this, everybody pretty much knows everybody.''

''I just thought I'd let you know,'' Penelope said and she was about to hang up when his voice stopped her.
''Garcia?'' He began.

She could hear the seriousness - almost sad tone - in his voice and it stopped her dead in her tracks. ''Yes?'' She asked.
He was about to ask her what was wrong before something stopped him - if she wanted him to know she'd tell him, he shouldn't force her, ''nothing, never mind. Thanks baby girl.'' He hung up before she could respond.

Back in Quantico Garcia leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh. ''I should tell him...'' she whispered to herself.

''Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know… maybe we just wouldn't feel real.
What's that saying? 'Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer?' 'Because it feels so good when I stop!' ''

So, maybe they're onto a lead, maybe it's nothing...? You'll find out later! Please review and let me know what you think of the case!