Coming Home Again Chapter 7
Derek looked at Natalie. "You recognize one?"
Natalie nodded and shot a puzzled look his way. "You don't?" Derek shook his head and Natalie realized why. "Okay, I know why. You were in Chicago after your mom's heart attack scare. We had a case in Georgia that was very similar to this one but it involved three victims instead of five. His name is Paul Reynolds. Once we realized who the unsub was, Hotch had me speak at a press conference to essentially call him out. Insult him, etc. so he'd come after me."
John tensed as he thought of Natalie being used as bait for a serial killer. He concentrated on steadying his temper and his breathing because he knew she wouldn't stand for any macho defending of her honor. She had barely put up with it years ago; she certainly wouldn't now considering she outranked him.
Natalie felt the anxiety coming from her former love but kept her eyes steady on Derek as she continued. "Well, it worked. The next night as I was walking into the hotel from the parking lot he jumped me. Luckily for me I had been expecting it since it was the first time I'd been alone all day. What he didn't expect was for me to know judo and be able to restrain him before he knew what hit him."
Derek laughed and shook his head. "I wish I could have seen the look on his face."
Natalie laughed with him. "It was priceless. Anyway, we got him booked for capital murder. Then we came home. And he managed to escape from custody during his preliminary hearing and until now, he had been off the grid. As in 'Garcia-couldn't-locate-him' off the grid."
"That's not good. Someone has to work really hard to get that far off the grid," Derek replied.
John couldn't keep himself from speaking up. "So now we know who he is, can't we track him down? Get this scum off the street."
Derek held up his hand which caused John to immediately bristle. "Hold up, man. Hear me out. If this guy is clever enough to cover his tracks so well that my girl Penelope can't find him, the fact that we now know who he is means he's got a bigger plan. He's letting us know that he's involved."
John rolled his eyes. "So what? It's one guy against the LPD and the FBI. You're saying we can't catch him?"
Shaking his head, Derek patiently explained, "I didn't say that. But if we go out guns ablazing we are going to lose lives. Police officers and probably civilians too. You guys brought us here for a reason. You gotta trust us, man."
Natalie moved slightly closer to John. "John, Derek is right. We have to be smarter than him, not stronger. He has a plan and based on what happened in Georgia, it involves getting revenge. On me."
John looked into her eyes and realized that with all of his experience bringing down bad guys, he was outmatched on this case. This time he couldn't save Natalie.