Again, thanks for the nice reception this story is getting. Much appreciated. Now lets get the the fun stuff and see what trouble Emily may be in.
The man stood over the crumpled body rubbing his sore ribs. Her resistance had surprised him. All the other women he had taken had been too frighten to put up any fight. But this one was different. He sensed that this one was a fighter and he was looking forward to the battle and breaking her.
Giving his ribs one more rub, he bent down and rolled the woman over and checked her pulse. It was strong and steady. Perfect. She'll be out for hours. Methodically he frisked her from top to bottom. When he pulled up the hem of the fleece pullover he wasn't surprised to find the Glock on her belt. He knew she was some type of cop. He hadn't known that when he saw her for the first time yesterday getting out of a car with the black man and going into the ranger's station.
She had instantly intrigued him. She had potential but he had been unsure if she was the right one so he had decided to watch her before making a final decision. From a safe distance he had followed her, first to dinner and then to the hotel. Just as he was settling down for the night, she had surprised him by coming back out and heading for one of the town's many outdoor stores. He had been puzzled by her purchase of men's hiking boots but it hadn't diminished his interest.
The next morning, he had followed her and her friends back to the ranger's station. When it had become obvious that she wasn't going to be coming out any time soon, he had gone about his own business. So it was much to his surprise, and delight, when she and the black man had sat down next to him at the lunch counter. He had discretely listened in on their conversation, even though they had taken great care not to be overheard. That was how he learned that they were cops and what their plans for the afternoon were.
All doubts vanished that she was the right one when he had witnessed her chance encounter with the little girl. She was his type of woman and he had to possess her. So while they had headed off to their first stop, he had hotfooted it their final stop to lie in wait for them. He didn't have any difficulty in locating the exact spot since he remembered where he had committed every murder. It had been a long wait, but it had paid out in the end; she had separated from the black man and had walked blindly into his hands.
In her back pocket he found her credentials. He flipped it open and let out a low whistle. "I have trapped myself a genuine FBI agent." Now he was more excited by the challenge of beating her into submission. He held them up to her face and peered intently back and forth between the two. "The photo does not do you justice, Agent Emily Prentiss," he said to her unconscious form. "You are far prettier in person."
Chuckling, he tucked the badge and weapon into his backpack. He would have to hold on to the gun for a while until the heat died down. A missing agent will have this whole area crawling with cops but they will never find them, he knew these mountains like the back of his hand. Then he would be able to pawn it. It was in good condition so he should get a good price for it. He chuckled some more. It's not like she is ever going to be in need of it again.
Now humming a happy tune, he pulled out a short length of rope from his bag. He rolled his drugged captive on to her side and lashed her hands tightly behind her back. He checked the knot again before picking up the unconscious agent and effortlessly tossing her over his shoulder. Bending at the knees he scooped up his pack. He straightened and paused to readjust his load. Once he had her in a more comfortable position he trotted off into the woods with his prize.
Naturally Derek was the first one back to the car. Emily was more comfortable in the woods, from her time she spent in the French Alps with her grandfather, than he would ever be. Like she had said he was a city boy. Derek preferred the sounds of car traffic, loud music, and the constant chatter of pedestrians to birds chirping, squirrels barking overhead, and the wind whistling through the trees. He glanced in the direction Emily had gone but didn't see her. She's probably on her way back, he thought. So to pass the time he retrieved the file from the SUV. Derek hopped up on the hood and started to review it.
Derek glanced at his watch and then to the trees hoping to see Emily emerging from them. He tried to ignore the nagging worry that had begun to eat at him. He was no longer interested in waiting and acted. Tossing the file aside, he pulled his phone out to call her. As it rang, he planned out a few choice words he'd have for her when she answered, reminding her what he said about getting lost. He felt the pit in his stomach grow when her voicemail picked up. She would have answered. With them being separated there would be no way she would ignore his call. Images of her tripping and hitting her head, lying injured and helpless ran through his mind.
Anxiety for his missing partner spurred Derek into action. Leaping off the SUV, he took off in the direction he had last seen Emily heading in. He ran blindly ahead, weaving through the trees and dodging rocks, shouting out her name. When a low hanging branch almost took his head off, Derek realized what he was doing was reckless. Running amok in the woods wouldn't find Emily, it would only result in him getting lost and Hotch would end up looking for not one, but two missing agents.
Derek forced himself to walk and to pay attention to his immediate surroundings. As his frenzied eyes scanned the leaf littered ground, he alternated between calling out her name and dialing her phone. As he searched, the slope of the terrain gradually increased and he was soon panting from the exertion. Like Emily had, he bent over and rested one hand on his knee to catch his breath. With his other hand he redialed Emily's phone.
The faint ring tone reached his ears. Derek shot upright, eyes scanning the woods, unsure if he had heard it or if it was a figment of his imagination. The ringing faded away. He hit the redial and held his breath. The ringing started up again. He hadn't imagined it. His head swiveled to the right.
"EMILY!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, taking off in a full run, exhaustion forgotten.
When the ringing stopped, Derek hit the redial button and veered to the left, pinpointing the source of the sound. He burst into a tiny clearing and ran past the phone before he had realized it was there. He slipped to a stop and went back. Breathing heavily, he stared down at the abandoned phone. With a shaking hand he picked it up.
"PRENTISS!" he yelled, hoping against all odds that she would answer. But all Derek heard was the echo of his own voice. Dismay overtook him when he realized that he held Emily severed lifeline in his hands. He had no way to find her.
"Damn!" Derek swore quietly. He glanced around the tiny clearing one more time before reluctantly making the call he did not want to make.
"Hotch."
The Unit Chief straightened, sensing something was amiss by the sound of the dark agent's voice. "Morgan, what's wrong?"
He heard him sigh. "It's Prentiss. She's…she's missing."
"What do you mean she's missing?" he asked sharply. Everyone around the table looked up at his tone.
"I can't find her, Hotch."
He started to explain when Hotch stopped him. "Morgan, I'm going to put you on speaker." He pushed a button and held the phone out so that everyone could hear. "Can you repeat what you just said?"
"Prentiss and I were checking out the last location and instead of staying together, we separated to cover more ground. When she didn't return with a reasonable amount of time, I went looking for her. All I found was her abandoned phone."
"Where exactly are you?" Hotch asked. Derek gave him detailed directions. "Stay where you are. We're on our way."
"Hotch, I can't. I have to keep looking for Emily. She could be hurt," Derek's protest came over the line.
Hotch glared at the phone in his hand. "You will do no such thing. Stay where you are. That's an order." Then he hung up, not waiting for Derek's rely.
He glanced at the shocked and worried looks on his team's faces, keeping his own concern off of his. Right now they needed a leader who was calm and emotionless. He turned his eyes to the blonde. "JJ, go back to the hotel and get an article of Prentiss' clothing. We may need it for the dogs. Dave, go find the head ranger and bring him up to speed." Both nodded and hurried off.
Hotch turned his attention to the young genius. "Reid…"
"I think I can help Emily best by staying here and coordinating the search areas with the rangers. By studying the maps I might be able to discern the best locations to search."
Hotch nodded and watched him go to work with a new map. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a little after three already and when they got up there it would be closer to four and only a few hours away from sunset. By the time they got everything organized, it might be too late and they would have to start the search for Prentiss first thing in the morning. It was an uncomfortable thought for him, leaving her alone in the woods overnight, especially if she was injured in any way. But there wasn't any thing he could do until they got there and assessed the situation. All he knew for certain that time was of the essence.
The first thing Emily became aware of when she came to was the throbbing headache behind her eyes. Second was that her mouth was as dry as the Sahara desert. She didn't even have enough spit to wet her lips. Third was that she was lying on her side, the smell of damp dirt and decaying leaves tickling her nose. She sneezed twice, which only made the headache worse. When she tried to cradle her aching head in her hands she discovered they were securely tied behind her back.
At first she was confused, having no memory of how she had gotten into this jam. Then it slowly returned in bits and pieces. She had been heading back to meet up with Derek when someone had grabbed her from behind. She remembered struggling and landing a blow to her attacker then everything went black. Had she been hit on the head? No, there had been a prick of pain from a needle. Lovely, she thought. I've been drugged.
"It's about time you woke up." A wave of fear coursed through her. That wasn't Derek's voice. "I was getting tired of carrying you."
Emily pried her eyes open. Everything was a big blur. She had to blink several times before the blurriness started to fade. Gradually things came into focus and she found her captor sitting on a rock, eating a can of baked beans. He waved the fork in her general direction. "I was surprised to see that you were a Fed. I didn't know they let women in. Are you that black man's assistant?"
I can use that to my advantage, she thought. Let him believe I am a weak woman, afraid to fight back. Emily let her eyes drop to the ground and shifted nervously. Mentally she smiled. He hadn't even bothered to tie my feet. Thinks I'm too scared to run away.
Emily managed to find enough spit to talk. "I'm the media liaison," she lied, letting her voice crack.
He frowned at the title as he tucked the empty can in his pack. "What does that mean?"
"I speak to the press." Emily kept her face turned away but watched his every move through half lidded eyes. She needed him closer.
He chuckled condescendingly. "Ah. Put the pretty face in front of the cameras. No need to think. Just read the words put before you by the men." He stood up and shouldered the bag. He boldly walked over to her reaching for her arm. "Time to go."
Emily lashed out with her right foot, aiming for the nerve that ran along the outside of the knee. The heel of her boot connected solidly. He bellowed in pain as the leg went numb and buckled beneath him. Her captor went down in a heap clutching at the knee.
As quickly as she could, Emily rolled to her knees and then to her feet, fighting off a wave of vertigo that threatened to send her tumbling to the ground. On wobbly legs she staggered away from her kidnapper, who was still rolling in the dirt. With each step her legs grew stronger, her stride lengthened until she was soon running at full speed.
She ran until a cramp in her side brought her to a stumbling halt. Ducking behind a tree, Emily leaned against it, chest heaving as she gasped for air. She cursed the traces of the drug still coursing through her veins for slowing her down. She peeked around the trunk and saw no sign of pursuit yet. She had five, maybe ten, minutes tops before the paralysis in his leg wears off and he comes after her, abet somewhat slower. Meanwhile she had to put as much distance between them as possible.
Keeping her eyes glued on where she had come from, Emily sat down and struggled to get her bound hands in front of her. With one more painful twist, she got them pass her hips and around her feet. Now she would be able to defend herself if needed. Emily looked around to orient her natural sense of direction. Once she knew which way to go, she took one last look back to see if the coast was clear. It was. Getting to her feet, Emily headed east at a trot, gnawing at the knot of her tied hands.
She kept checking over her shoulder and was beginning to think that she might have shaken him when something heavy smashed into her from the side. She and her kidnapper went down in a tangle of arms and legs, rolling down a slight incline before slamming into a tree, temporarily stunning both of them. Emily was the first to recover. Rolling on to her knees she gave her head a shake. Damn! He's fast and quiet. I didn't hear him coming.
She started to crawl when he jumped on her back, driving her into the hard packed earth. As he clawed at her, Emily thrust her bound hands forward groping along the ground for anything she could use as a weapon. Her fingertips encountered a tree branch but it was just out of reach. She reared up and sent her elbow back connecting with his chin. Pain shot through the elbow but it was enough to loosen his hold on her. Emily wriggled forward and snatched up the branch. She twisted in his grasp and delivered a roundhouse swing to his head, snapping the branch in two.
He grunted in pain and rolled off her. Emily surged to her feet, the broken piece still clutched in her hand. Seeing his captive was on the verge of escaping, he lurched ahead and wrapped his arms around her knees before she had managed to take two steps. Emily went down hard, knocking the breath of her. Gasping for air, she levered herself on to her elbows and tried to drag herself away. He used his weight to pin her. She bucked and twisted, trying to dislodge him. With one hand he pressed down between her shoulder blades while he stuck his other in his coat pocket and pulled out a hypodermic needle. He used his teeth to uncap it and jabbed it into her neck. Emily cried out in pain. Her last thought before sinking under its influence was: Crap! Almost made it!
He climbed off her inert body, breathing heavily and wiped away the blood trickling down his chin from biting his tongue when she had elbowed him. "Bitch!" he growled and delivered a swift kick to her side. He didn't get any gratification from it, she wasn't conscious to feel the pain.
He had woefully underestimated her. He had known she was a fighter when he had taken her. But he had associated her elbowing him in the ribs as a reflex act of protection because she was scared of him. And the way she had acted after waking solidified the misconception. The last thing he had expected was her attacking him and almost succeeding in getting away. None of the previous women had tried to escape. Well he would simply have to take extra precautions to keep this one under control.
He bent over Emily and loosen the rope wrapped around her wrists. He pulled her arms back and retied her hands behind her. Then he picked her up and slung her unconscious body over his shoulder and headed back to where he had left his pack, grumbling under his breath about her forcing him to carry her for several more hours.
Yes, Emily almost made it and Derek is going out of his mind with worry. Do come back and see how it plays out. Don't forget to let me know what you think. Until next Weds.
