Hotch rushed back to the alley, ducking under the tape while pulling on his rubber glove. Because Elle's stride was short compared to his, he got there first, crouching down next to the pieces of cloth and carefully turning them over. How could he have missed it? Damn it, he was stupid. Looking up at Elle and seeing her arriving by his side breathless, still holding the phone to her ear, he listened to her relate to Morgan the letters they, too, had found.

After each letter came a pause, most likely so Morgan or Reid could write it down.

"D… E… N… K." another pause. "Yeah. I know, it almost seems like gibberish. … uh huh. We will." she snapped the phone closed and pocketed it, looking at Hotch solemnly. "We're headed back to Oakland. Gideon said this clue could be - "

"I know." Hotch interrupted. She didn't have to say it, he knew. It would either make or break the case, seeing as how there was nothing else.

Standing up, Hotch brushed himself off and began taking off the glove, but paused a moment before bending down again and taking an evidence bag out of his coat pocket. He didn't think there would be any prints or blood, but everything was worth a shot.

XXXX

Reid was staring at the letters in front of him, knowing they made sense somehow when his phone went off, startling him. He fumbled around in his pocket for his phone, but since it was set on vibrate, it was hard to hold, and in his startled state, he almost dropped it. Hoping Morgan hadn't seen his little episode, he flipped open the cell and stuttered out an answer.

"D-Dr. Sp-Spencer Reid…"

It was Gideon's voice that came over the line.

"Reid, I think I've stumbled onto something. There was - "

"Pieces of cloth at the scene." Reid finished for him. "Each with a letter in black ink on it."

"Yeah. Any idea what lurl means?"

"Lurl?"

"Yeah. L - U - R - L."

Before Spencer responded, he wrote down those four letters on the small paper that he'd written down the other eight on. Then taking a small breath, he shook his head, even though Gideon couldn't see it.

"I don't think it's a word, I think it's some kind of scrambled code."

The line was quite for a moment, then Gideon suddenly said,

"Do the best you can to crack it, but meet us in Oakland. There isn't that much out here for us to find, and I'm getting worried about the team being broke up like this." - click.

Without concern, seeing as how most phone conversations with the team ended up like that, he flipped his cell closed and pocketed it again, still staring at the letters he'd had written out in front of him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized Morgan had asked him who that was. Responding softly, his eyes and most of his mind still focused on the paper,

"Gideon. Wants us to meet him and the team back in Oakland…"

"Then lets go." Morgan said simply, but Reid held up a hand to still him.

There was something here. In Reid's mind, the letters were constantly switching and re-arranging themselves, moving so rapidly that…

That was it!

But the moment of surprise and achievement quickly passed into shock and horror as he looked up at Morgan, his breath caught in his throat.

"What, what is it?" Morgan asked, as usual, impatient to understand what Reid had figured out without him.

Swallowing, Reid forced his mouth to work again. "It says… 'Kill a hundred…'"

"Kill a hundred? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Morgan shook his head, shoving a hand frustrated through his hair.

But Reid didn't dare tell him he'd already figured out what it meant. In the same moment he'd seen the letters fit themselves together perfectly, he'd also figured out what 'O Veon East' meant. It was a code, and it was meant for him…

'To save one, kill a hundred.'

XXXX

Morgan had just started for the car that would take them back to Oakland when a shrill scream erupted from the park next to them. It sounded like a little girl's scream, and as a simple reflex, Morgan was off and running in that direction, leaving Reid wide eyed and staring at him for a few seconds before following as fast as he could.

Reid was breathless when he finally caught up to Morgan, who had stopped in the center of the park and was looking around, trying to pinpoint where the scream had come from. Glancing behind him quickly to ensure himself that Reid was still behind him, he took of in another direction, obviously following instinct, as the scream had already stopped. But before Reid could follow, he heard a whimper from the bushes behind him. Turning around quickly, his hand went down to where his gun was - before he realized foolishly that he didn't carry a gun anymore.

Calling softly, he said,

"Who's there…?"

Another whimper found his ears before a young girl's head - she couldn't have been more than seven - poked out of the shrub, her face soaked and stained with tears. Quickly stepping forward, Reid tried to get through the shrub to the little girl, afraid she'd been hurt somehow, but stopped dead in his tracks when he realized not only was he out of view of everyone in the park - which there weren't that many there anyway, but still - but there was an unmistakable click of a gun just behind him. The little girl seemed to sob a little harder, but was amazingly quiet this time.

"Hands where I can see them, Agent." came a deep, gruff voice from behind Reid.

His heart pounding and his eyes wide, Reid slowly raised his hands, out a little so whomever was behind him could see them easily.

Morgan continued to move through the park, growing more and more frustrated as time passed. What if somebody abducted the child and he was right there, but couldn't stop it? What if the UnSub suddenly changed his MO and was now targeting children? Damn it, what if? Turning around, he looked around for Reid, starting to run a hand through his hair again, but stopping cold when he realized Reid wasn't anywhere behind him. Moving back the way he came, he tried to comfort himself with the fact that he'd been running. Maybe he just had to stop and take a breather.

But after a few minutes, even that possibility didn't look very promising. Yanking his cell out of his pocket, he punched in Reid's number and waited as it started ringing.

But Reid never picked up.

XXXX

"Agent Gid - " but Gideon didn't get any further than that before Morgan's loud and rushed voice started shouting in his ear.

Moving the phone slightly away from his ear and trying to keep his eyes on the road at the same time, since he was already driving back to Oakland, he heard all to clearly that Reid was missing. And it was all he could do not to punch the gas and turn the car around.

The rest of his team was already headed back to Oakland, as was he. So when Morgan asked if he should stay and keep looking for Reid, Gideon made the hardest decision of his life.

"No. Come back. I won't risk losing you as well." and shut the cell.

Groaning and resisting the urge to close his eyes with regret, Gideon continued down the road, Sheriff Manson looking at him strangely from the passenger side, but thankfully asking nothing.