Buffy curses when she sees the police hanging out near the car she had borrowed from the marina. They are trying not to look like they are watching but they are not good at being invisible. No problem. She looks around and sees a guy near a van taking off his wetsuit. She takes a deep breath, bringing tears to her eyes. She approaches the man.
"Um, hi," she says, her voice wavering.
He looks at her in surprise. "Hi. You okay?"
"Not really," she mumbles. "Um, look, my boyfriend dumped me. Literally. Left me and my boards here and took off."
"Bastard," he says, frowning.
She fakes a nervous laugh. "You don't know the half of it. Look, I trust you 'cause you're a surfer and look like you can be trusted. Can you maybe give me a ride back to my boat? It's in the marina up the road."
"That bastard going to be there?" he asks with concern.
"Nah. He probably went to his house." She bites her lip nervously, and idea forming in her head. "Well, I mean…I guess he would. Yeah, I'm sure he wouldn't wait there for me." She glances around nervously, trying not to meet the man's eyes; playing the scared little woman card that sickens her.
He sighs. "Look, how about I take you there and come down to the boat with you to make sure." He gives her a kind smile. "My mother would kill me if I didn't make sure you were safe."
Buffy gives him a small smile, her eyes still nervous. "Oh, uh. Okay. Wouldn't want to see you killed, I guess."
He chuckles. "Thanks. Let's get your stuff stowed and go."
He puts her boards and backpack in his van and opens the passenger door for her. She gives him a nervous thank you. As he walks around the back of the van to the driver's side, she rolls her eyes.
"Stupid sap," she mutters.
Twenty minutes later they are pulling into the marina. She looks around, seemingly making sure her non-existent boyfriend isn't around.
"I…I don't see him."
"Good. Come on. Let's go make sure."
He grabs both of her boards, leaving her with just her backpack. She leads him to her boat and points it out. He lays her boards on the docks and climbs onto the boat. He ducks down into the cabin, not noticing Buffy had followed.
"Well, it looks all—UNGH!"
She watches as he crumbles to the ground. She sets the fire extinguisher back in it's holder on the side of the boat. She fingers the shark tooth on her necklace.
"I know I wasn't supposed to harm them but this one was too good to lose. His purity and kindness make him a worthy sacrifice for you."
She gets her boards and backpack off the dock. She drags him farther into the cabin and doses him with ketamine. Another storm was heading towards Galveston. Time to head back there again. She strokes a hand down the man's face.
"Fear not. You're purpose in the world was greater than you ever know."
She stands and grabs the zipper pull on her wetsuit. As her back is revealed so are the series of tattoos on her back: Hun-Nal-Ye, Gucumatz, Huracan and Tepeu. Those four circle the largest one in the center of her back: Manik, Mayan god of sacrifice and ritual suffering. She is his priestess, serving him and the gods that govern the seas and storms.
She quickly changes into shorts and a tee shirt. She had planned to wait out the storm here. But she is sure they had sent her the men on the beach to expose the FBI agent to her. A warning that she must leave. A warning she will heed.
"Thank you, my masters. I head north to honor you at nightfall. Protect me."
With the storm starting to hit hard, she pulls out of the marina. One man watches the boat leave and shakes his head.
"Damn fool to leave in this shit. May God have mercy on your soul," he mutters and turns back to battening down his hatches.
The team regroups at their SUV's. Emily sits in one, checking radar patterns on the two storms she had been watching. Hotch shakes his head.
"Board we were watching was owned by a guy probably in his 60's. Way out of our profile," he notes.
JJ shakes her head. "It had to be that woman we saw. If only I'd hit send before I dropped my phone."
Rossi looks at her. "A) you didn't drop it, it was knocked out of your hand. And B) forget about her for now. If you focus on her and it isn't her you may miss something."
JJ lets out a breath and nods. "Right. I knew that. Sorry. Just frustrated."
Reid pats her shoulder. "Join the club."
Morgan walks back up to them as the police load the stolen car onto a flatbed. "They'll dust it for prints. Maybe we'll get lucky."
Emily leans out the door. "Guys, the two storms I'm tracking look like they may converge into one. Galveston is in their path."
Hotch sighs. "When will they hit."
"First waves should be rolling in tomorrow night. Worst of it the Friday morning and afternoon," she reports.
Hotch nods. "It's more than we had. We can—hold on." He answers his phone. "Hotchner."
"Agent Hotchner? Dr. Goran. Just finished preliminary toxicology tests on the body parts brought in today. This guy had ketamine in his system."
"Ketamine? I think that answers how she overpowered them."
"She? This killer is a woman?"
"Possibly. Anything else you can tell us?"
"Got 2 good fingers off this man. If he has prints on record we may be able to find him. He also had 3 tattoos. Sent them on to that Garcia woman I sent the others to."
"Excellent. If they are on record she'll find them."
"Right. Hotchner, there's one more thing. The leg that was recovered showed signs of having a hemorrhagic reaction."
"What exactly does that mean?" Hotch asks.
"That sick fucker cut that leg off while the victim was still alive."
"Holy shit," Hotch mutters.
"Yeah. I doubt he lived past that removal but…still…the ketamine would have meant the poor bastard knew exactly what was happening. Catch this sick fuck, Hotchner. Please," the doctor asks desperately.
"We'll do our best. We're heading back up that way tonight. We'll see you in the morning to take a look at the body."
"Sounds good."
Hotch hangs up his phone and stares out at the sea a moment. "Reid…ketamine."
Reid knows he's being asked to give a run down of the uses of ketamine. "Ketamine is often used as a general anesthesia in human and veterinary medicines. In high doses it can cause respiratory issues or act as a paralytic."
"How would our unsub get a hold of it?"
"Working or stealing from a medical facility. Garcia can maybe check that out. But it can also be used to control pain in controlled areas or it can also be used to treat someone with bipolar disorder who does not respond well to other treatments."
"This doesn't feel like a bipolar sufferers actions," Rossi points out.
"No but pain could be the key. Maybe a surfing injury was severe enough to send her into this type of treatment and she kept some around for this task," JJ suggests.
Hotch nods. "That sounds right. Okay, Morgan, Reid head to the marina where the car was stolen. Maybe she got a ride back some other way. Stay the night here and join us in Galveston tomorrow."
Reid nods. "Okay. I'll call Garcia and get her checking on the ketamine angle."
"Good. JJ? A word please," Hotch asks and steps away from the group.
JJ follows him to the stairwell that leads to the beach. She is expecting a dressing down for losing their first suspect and the photo of her. Instead, he surprises her.
"Tomorrow is Thursday. If we don't have the case solved you're heading back to DC on Friday morning."
"What? Why? I didn't mean to let her get away, Hotch! I had to flash my badge at—"
"JJ!" He interrupts her. "This hasn't got anything to do with that. You did what you had to do to diffuse the situation. No harm there. But you have a test to take on Saturday. Change that…you have a test to passon Saturday. If I get one more resume or email from an agent who has heard I've got a position coming open I may retire so I don't have to deal with them. I hate hiring people."
She grins at him. "Uh, right." She chuckles. "Guess it's a good thing Emily got foisted off onto you then."
He laughs. "Yeah, she shows promise."
JJ nods. "Right. Promise. Okay, guess we better catch this bitch tomorrow then. I hate the thought of leaving before we have her."
The two head back to their SUV. When JJ gets in the drivers seat of hers, Emily looks at her.
"All okay? He's not pissed about the phone, is he?"
JJ laughs. "Not this time." She tells Emily what was said. "I hate the thought of leaving you here alone with the sickness and the nightmares and such."
Emily reaches over and takes her wife's hand. "I'll be fine, baby. I promise."
"Promise me if you need to you'll call Reid or Morgan? Please?"
Emily squeezes JJ's hand. "I promise."
"Good."
They continue their drive north to Galveston with Emily mapping out other storms in the Gulf of Mexico. If they miss their unsub in Galveston they would once again have to try to guess which beach she would be hitting next.
In the other northbound SUV, Rossi looks at Hotch. "What didn't you tell us?"
Hotch stares out the windshield for a moment. "The victim was alive, Dave," he says quietly. "He was alive when she cut off the leg but immobilized by the ketamine. Most likely he knew exactly what was happening until death finally claimed him."
Rossi looks out the passenger side window. He says a quick prayer under his breath and crosses himself. Their unsub had her gods, he had his. And he believes his will be the one victorious in the end.