Thank you all so much for the reviews! They are really helping to keep my muse red hot. I'm glad you like the story and hopefully I can't keep up with those expectations with each new chapter. Lol

Without further ado here is the next chapter….

Chapter 4

While Morgan and JJ got in touch with their inner feelings Rossi and Reid went to interview David Silver at the State Penitentiary where he was being held for the murder of his wife Stacy. A murder he was adamant he didn't commit.

"Mr. Silver I'm David Rossi and this Dr. Spencer Reid, we're with the FBI. We're here looking into the couple's retreat 'Love's Divine.' We understand you and your wife attended one of their week long seminars about 3 weeks prior to her death."

"I didn't kill my wife." David started, slamming his cuffed fists on the table to accentuate his point. "Those people at that damn retreat are responsible for Stacy's death. We were going to expose them for the con artists they really are"

Rossi leaned in "What made you suspect they were con artists?" They were fairly certain the man was innocent but before they told him as much they wanted to hear what he had to say uninhibited.

Silver adjusted himself in his seat and picked at his cuticles before telling his story "Stacy and I were having a good time, we felt like we were finding out more about each other than we did before we got married. We were in the main building where the offices are and we were a little tipsy sneaking around looking for a place to" he paused looking at the two men raising his eyebrows to get them to understand where he was going. When they both nodded back they understood he continued with his story "we tried a few doors and they were locked but finally after about the fourth or fifth locked door we found one unlocked and slipped inside. The room was dark and we stumbled around looking for a place to relax when after a minute or two Stacy found a lamp and turned it on. Well the office turned out to be conference room and on the table were files for all the guests that were at the retreat with us"

Rossi's interest was more than piqued by this. They knew the Shaw's did intensive background checks and were very specific about the clientele they allowed at their seminars but what David Silver was describing was the targeting of guests. "What were in the files?"

"Things were circled like occupations and salaries. I mean we all filled out questionnaires about what we did for a living and some likes and dislikes but I never told them how much I made at my job and some of the files were starred as if to say those people were more important than others"

"When did you find this out?" asked Reid who up until now had remained silent

"Two nights before we were set to leave. The rest of our stay Stacy and I toiled over what we should do, if we should say something. In the end we decided to stay quiet for at least that night but the next day we asked if we could see Mark and Allison one on one with the pretense we wanted to thank them for what wonders they had done for our marriage. They agreed and in their office we asked them about the files and it was like two totally different people had emerged from the one's we spent 6 days with. Mark Shaw threatened us right off the bat saying if we told anyone about what we had seen they would ruin us. We didn't believe them. I mean c'mon they run a frickin couples retreat what could these people possibly do to us? Well I got my answer didn't I?" He held his head in hands and silently sobbed over his lost wife. "And no one, no one believes me"

Rossi and Reid shared a look before Rossi reached across the table putting a hand on the torn man's arm "actually Mr. Silver we believe you."

Silver's head shot up in total disbelief "you do?"

Reid cleared his throat "we believe the Shaw's may have had a hand in another couples untimely demise as well"

Rossi picked up from there "Do you remember a couple named Sean and Katherine Higgins?"

Silver emphatically nodded

"Yeah nice couple we shared a table at dinner with them two of the nights we were there. What happened to them?"

"We think they may found out something similar to you and realized the Shaw's were con artists. Their deaths were staged to look like a murder-suicide"

Silver ran a hand through his the shock evident on his face "my god. All I wanted to do was put some fire in our marriage and look, I got my wife killed"

Rossi explained it wasn't the young man's fault for what happened that he couldn't have known what he was signing him and his wife up for because the Shaw's were obviously very good at what they did. Silver asked if all this meant he could go free and sadly Rossi and Reid had to explain to him not until they found hard evidence that linked the Shaw's or someone who worked for them to Stacy's cut break line. They told him to sit tight because they were going to get him out all he had to do was be patient.

The young broken man told them he could hold out for as long they needed him too knowing that vindication for him and his wife was forth coming.

After returning to the station Rossi called Garcia and told her he wanted to know everything possible about Mark and Allison Shaw. Con artists as good as them don't just pop up out of nowhere. Rossi had no doubt the couple had been doing this for a long time and this couples retreat was them just taking a step toward perfecting their craft.

Seeing Rossi very animated while on his cell made Hotch ask Reid what was going. "He's asking Garcia to look into the Shaw's. Turns out they target their guests after they arrive"

"Target?" Detective Tane inquired

Hotch nodded "Many con artists with a set up like this will single out and focus in on specific people targeting them as ones they think are easy and or worthy marks"

"In this case it's their salaries and occupations that make them the targets" Started Reid who was scribbling notes down on a dry erase board. "This is obviously a long term con meaning the Shaw's want return customers or even investors in 'Love's Haven' out of those they target. They saw the Higgins and Silver's as threats to what is potentially an endless supply of money" Reid looked over at Hotch and noticed the concerned look he had on his face "What's wrong?"

"If the Shaw's are targeting based on wealth then we may have inadvertently made Morgan and JJ a target"

"How so?" asked Tane

"We inflated their net worth to make them appealing to the program and be accepted but according to what Reid just said it goes beyond just being accepted into the retreat, if they are targeting their guests after they arrive then there is no telling what lengths they will go to insure they get what they want." Hotch stared at the tack board that had pictures of the victims on it "we need to expand our search for former guests as well as employees"

By now Rossi had rejoined the group "What are you thinking?" he asked following Hotch's line of sight to the tack board.

"I'm thinking there are more victims out there just not all of them are dead"

Rossi looked from the blackboard to Hotch and summed it up in one word "blackmail"

Hotch sighed and nodded

Mark Shaw reviewed the files before him. This new crop of couples to come through his doors was the best group yet. He had already narrowed the field of 20 couples to 5 whom he felt would yield the best results for him and Allison.

As if realizing her husband was thinking about her, Allison Shaw came up behind him wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her head on his shoulder. "Are these the new candidates?" She asked removing her arms and coming around to stand next to him.

Laying the 5 files out in row for her to see Mark nodded. "Yes. These 5 show the most promise. Especially these two couples" he said using one hand and pointing to a young rich couple from L.A. while the other hand pointed to JJ and Morgan.

Picking up JJ and Morgan's file, Allison scanned over their portfolio as well as their illegally obtained bank statements and resumes. "What's their story?"

"Newly married and unsure of their future" Mark replied with smirk. "They want to learn to communicate with each other better and prepare themselves for their long lasting future together" Mark replied with a voice heavily laden with sarcasm.

Allison rolled her eyes in disgust "Where do these people come up with this crap?" She asked tossing their file back onto the table before picking up another and skimming through it.

"Well my dear their 'crap' as you put it is what's keeping us in business" Mark replied as he slowly pulled the file from her hands. "We keep playing our cards right and soon it will be retirement time"

Allison folded her arms across her chest "as long as there are no more screw ups"

Mark narrowed his eyes at his wife "those screw ups were handled were they not?"

"They were but I'm surprised your methods haven't made the police camp out on our front lawn. That detective…."

Mark scoffed "that detective couldn't find his ass with both hands if someone handed him a road map to it. We've dealt with stronger and smarter before and we came out on top. We'll be fine"

Allison knew her husband loved to push the limits and lately he was pushing them to the max. She just hoped it wouldn't come back to haunt them. "If you say so" she said before heading out of the room to check up on their guests.

Morgan wanted to crawl out of his skin. He was currently sitting listening to the other husbands describe what they disliked about their wives and it made him wonder how some of these men managed to get a woman to marry them in the first place.

One guy complained that he disliked how his wife sent everything to the dry cleaners which he found that preposterous because after all he paid the help to do the laundry so why send everything to the dry cleaners and leave them nothing to clean? Morgan wanted to slap him.

Several of the dislikes were along those lines however he was impressed by one young man who said he liked how his wife insisted they do a 'date' night once a week no excuses and they wouldn't go out to eat but instead cook their meal each week together. He said at first he was reluctant because he could barely boil water but he discovered it was less about the dinner and more about them doing something fun together. Something he found ironic because hated cooking and never thought it could ever be fun.

While some of the other husband's poked fun at the kid for what they felt was cheesy Morgan couldn't help but commend him for having what he did. Someone to come home to not only to share a meal with but someone to have fun preparing it with as well.

Letting his mind drift, Morgan conjured up a scene of him and JJ in his kitchen joking around tossing pieces of nondescript food at each other occasionally taste testing what the other was preparing or in this instance, attempting to prepare. Companionship, lasting companionship was something over the past year Morgan had begun to yearn strongly for. Having buried his feelings for JJ deep down inside himself he never thought, given her relationship with Will that those feelings would ever have the chance to come to the surface but with Will's departure those buried emotions were slowly working their way up from the abyss he had placed them in. Morgan knew that when they did finally break through to the surface, they would do so with a passion he had never experienced before and there would be no pushing them back down once that happened.

Morgan was so lost in his thoughts that he was vaguely aware someone calling his name. "I'm sorry what?" he asked looking around the group for the person who called out his name. Hearing his name again his attention was drawn to the counselor running the session.

"I said Derek it is your turn to share a like or dislike about" the man paused perusing the sheet in his hand for Morgan's wife's name

"JJ" Morgan finished. Seeing the look of confusion on the gentleman's face as he searched his papers for the name he had just been given Morgan smirked "her real name is Jennifer but everyone calls her JJ"

The man stopped looking and made an "Ah ha" face then scribbled down the factoid next to JJ's name on his paperwork.

Morgan had hoped no one would ask why her nickname was JJ when their last name was Steel. Sadly he wasn't that fortunate no sooner had he scribbled the note down did the counselor ask the question. Morgan explained that when they were little JJ's younger sister couldn't say Jennifer so instead she would just say the first letter of Jennifer twice therefore making her 'JJ.'

Thankfully they all bought the story as fact and didn't ask any more questions. However, the side bar hadn't gotten Morgan out of the original task he was asked to do so he was honest and told the group what it was about JJ he liked most.

"She's caring and compassionate. She always puts the needs of those around her first and she'll sacrifice her own happiness to make sure it happens" As he said the words Morgan's thoughts immediately drifted to Henry and how much JJ sacrificed to ensure her son had everything he wanted and he was happy. "She brings out the best in people. She brings out the best in me"

Even the men who earlier Morgan considered shallow and selfish were moved by his final statements regarding his 'wife.' Examining their reactions Morgan could tell none of them could say the same about their spouse, not even the young man who did date night with his wife. It made Morgan feel proud he had a woman like JJ in his life.

Now only if he could find a way to tell her.