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.

A/N- forgot the disclaimer last chapter, so here it is again.

Chapter 4

He had wasted no time in getting her into the hiding place. He knew that within hours the city would be swarming with the cops and even more federal agents. Maybe it had been too risky to take this one. But the elation and joy of outfoxing the feds was slowly overtaking that dread. He knew that search efforts for this one would be tenfold of that of the others, now that it was a federal agent missing. It would be risky to put her with the others. For now, he had no other choice.

Gideon sat on a bench, thinking. His team moved around him, working with the CSIs and detectives, analyzing the scene and taking pictures of the gathering crowd. Someone from the police department was doing JJ's job, holding back the press. He couldn't watch the young man, it made the situation that much worse. He held JJ's badge in his hands, turning it over and over. Why hadn't he seen the inevitable before it happened? He'd lost agents before and he would not, could not, allow it to happen again.

"Gideon." Morgan suddenly stood beside him. "Garcia's on the phone. She's got something."

Silently, he took the proffered cell phone from Morgan. "What is it?"

"Okay, you gave me a very long list, and I haven't totally finished with it but I've found something very interesting." Penelope Garcia's voice came in loud and clear despite the fact she was three thousand miles away at Quantico.

"What is it?" Gideon was in no mood for games, especially when one of his agents was missing.

"All right." Garcia took a deep breath. "This guy, Brian Flannery, isn't Brian Flannery. Or maybe he is, but he is also Ryan Tierney, Kevin Quinn, and Sean Malone, all of whom are on this list."

"You're kidding. And the locals never caught this?" he asked in disbelief.

"I guess not."

"What does he do?"

"Let's see, Brian/Ryan/Kevin/Sean has had several jobs, all at different newspapers. Sean worked at The Newspaper , Ryan worked at The Banner , Kevin at The Tribune and Brian currently works at The Herald in Santa Barbara where he has been for almost a year."

"The victims all had appointments with one of these names. He knew them somehow." Gideon interrupted. "Anything else?"

"Nope. That's it for now."

"She'd have stopped and talked to him, that's how he got her." he hung up on Garcia, who was all too used to it.

"Still doesn't make sense. Even in a city of this size, no one noticed that the same man had four names?" Hotch had joined them.

"Who knows. People see what they want to see. At least now we have something to work with." Gideon stood up. "Let's go meet this guy."

Elle and Reid were still at the precinct, helping the detectives conduct the never ending round of interviews. "Can you describe the man?" Elle patiently asked for the thirtieth time.

The witness, an overexcited girl about twenty, couldn't sit still. "Maybe he had blond hair? Or wait, no, that was the missing girl, the one I saw in the coffee shop."

Elle sighed. "Thanks for your time anyway." She stood up and looked over at Reid, who had his hands full with another female witness, who like her own, wasn't useful, just wanted fifteen minutes of fame.

"I'm going outside." she mouthed to him. She held up her phone so he'd understand. He nodded and turned back to the witness.

Outside, it was a beautiful day which seemed to contradict the morning's event. She dialed Gideon, hoping that maybe they'd found something out.

"Gideon." he answered.

"It's Elle. No one saw anything worthwhile but we've still got a few more witnesses." she told him.

"Garcia gave us a lead, we're going to check it out. Apparently there is a man who has four names, all of which are on the list."

"JJ had that list. He knows we're onto him." Elle hated to remind him.

"Well, now, he has it. He doesn't know there was more then one copy."

She nodded and then realized he couldn't see her. "That's true."

"Okay. We're at the newspaper now, so I'm going to go."

"See ya." she leaned against the brick wall, and took a deep breath. It had already been a long day and it wasn't even one o'clock yet. Somehow, the case had been different when she hadn't known the victims, but now, it was nearly unbearable, although she and JJ weren't close friends.

Reid came out of the precinct looking for Elle. "There you are. They're all useless, each and every one of them. They can all describe JJ but not the unsub." He looked exsperated.

"Gideon has something. They're going to check it out." she told him.

"What are we suppose to do?"

"Stay here, I guess. He didn't say."

"The press is heading toward the precinct." he commented after a few minutes. "I see a news truck."

"And that is what we will do, try to distract the press." Elle started toward the truck.

"You can. I'm not so good in front of the cameras." Reid stammered as he followed her.

"You'll be fine, let's go."

The Herald's office was small as it was one of the smaller papers in town. The three agents strood into the office, meaning business. The young secretary looked up as they came in. "How may I help you?" she asked, politely.

"We need to see Brian Flannery." Morgan told her.

"I'm sorry, he's not here today. Maybe someone else could help you?"

"No, we need to talk to him." Gideon broke in.

"Well, I'm sorry but he's still not here today." she said, annoyed. "I can't make him appear just because you want him."

Gideon started to say something but Hotch held him back. "Do you have an address or a phone number we can reach him at?"

"Yes, I do. But I can't just give it to you."

They showed her their badges. "We're the FBI, ma'am." Hotch said. "Could we have the contact information now, please?"

"Just a minute." She turned to her computer and tapped away on the keys, clicked the mouse a few times and came up with the info. "Brian Flannery, 24352 Cardinal Drive, Port Bates. The phone number is 341-555-3661. That good enough for you?" She was still obviously annoyed at Gideon but didn't seem to mind Hotch and Morgan.

"Thank you." Hotch told her. He lead the other two out of the small office. "Little politeness goes a long way, Gideon." he said when they were outside.

"I don't have time to deal with idiots like her." The conversation ended on that blunt note.

Cardinal Drive was a long deadend street in a nice quiet neighborhood. No one would ever believe a serial killer lived there. The rented four door car that Hotch drove moved quickly down the street, nearly to the end. 24352 was the very last house at the end of a culdesac. The house itself was a two story with a small yard and flowers.

Morgan whistled. "I don't know many men who keep up with gardening."

"Means he's got patience." Gideon grunted.

They filed down the short walkway to the door. Hotch knocked. "Mr. Flannery, it's the FBI!" he called. Gideon and Morgan went around the house, guns drawn. "Mr.Flannery?" Hotch knocked again.

Suddenly, the quiet neighborhood atmosphere disappeared as gunshots rang out. "Gideon! Morgan!" Hotch took off toward the back of the house. He drew his own gun as he ran.

When he got there, the first thing he saw was a brown haired man on the ground, with Morgan's knee in the small of his back. "We got him." Gideon said, trimphantly.

But only half the battle was won, as they still had to find JJ.

Not turning out quite as I'd imagined, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway! And also, I've never been to Santa Barbara, the names of the newspapers and the streetsare purely made up, I have no idea if they truly exist or not. I was gonna post this yesterday but forgot it was Easter and didn't have time. I'll try to finish up within a week or so. Sarah