Chapter 21 – Eta

The team were exhausted as they entered the bullpen, the fire had finally been extinguished at the cemetery and as they had expected a body, not the one named on the tombstone, was inside. Knowing there was little more to be gained from staying at the scene they headed back, reaching the bullpen just after 9am, yet already there was a foreboding presence standing in Hotch's office.

"I didn't realise the devil rose this early in the morning."

Garcia muttered under her breath as she walked towards the break area, desperate for a caffeine fix.

"Poor choice of words kitten."

Rossi shook his head but then he heard Hotch sigh heavily next to him.

"It was to be expected Aaron, there's going to be increased pressure now and you know that now Strauss is back she's got a point to prove."

Erin Strauss watched the team trudge in, not that she was surprised she had been kept abreast of the Dante killer but now the bar had been raised and the Director, TV reporters and journalists were demanding answers and she herself needed some too. As Hotch walked up the stairs Erin took a deep breath, he knew how vulnerable she was and if she pushed him or the team the wrong way she could well be on her way out of the FBI for good.

"Erin..."

"It's ok Aaron I'm not here to berate you."

Hotch nodded as he walked around and sat down at his desk, raising his eyebrows as he saw the cup of coffee sitting on the desk waiting for him, he eyed Strauss carefully as she sat down in the chair opposite him and took a sip of her own coffee.

"Are Jack and Tasha ok?"

"Yes a little confused, well Jack anyway Tasha was watching the news when it happened."

"Where are they now?"

"Jack's at school, I think Tasha has gone back home."

Erin frowned slightly and looked hard at Hotch.

"You think that they're in danger?"

"Do you?"

"No not at the moment, I think that the next victim living close to me was a coincidence."

Erin nodded her head knowing that Hotch would not put Jack in any danger, not after what had happened with Foyet.

"I've got the Director asking me questions and the media hounding my secretary."

"You'll have my report as soon as I've written it."

"Thank you and any extra support you may need just let me know, we will find room in the budget for this."

"Thank you ma'am."

Erin nodded as she stood up and walked swiftly out the room, the team didn't need her around to confuse matters.

Dave frowned as he walked towards the yawning brunette, it was not place to tell her that no matter how much makeup she put on there was no disguising the dark shadows that were haunting her face.

"Oh sorry Dave I didn't realise that you were there."

Emily smiled as Dave sat down on Morgan's chair and wheeled it closer.

"Here."

Dave handed over a coffee as they glanced over and watched Strauss walk stoically out of the bullpen.

"Well she wasn't there long, it can't have been that bad."

"Oh I don't know Dave, the venom can be delivered short and sharply!"

Dave smiled and shook his head before he took in a deep breath.

"What are you going to do about Jack and Tasha? I know that it is unlikely that the unsub will target them but I'm worried enough about Henry that I didn't want to leave him this morning."

Emily nodded her head as she took a sip of coffee, checking around her that there was nobody nearby.

"I think that we need to be cautious, I know that Aaron feels the same even though officially he won't say so. The best thing is for them to be with one of us at all times apart from when they're at school."

"My thoughts exactly, between us we should be able to manage that, but what about Tasha?"

Emily sighed as she thought about her daughter.

"She knows what is going on and that she needs to be careful."

"Good well I'd better get on, we'll sort the rest of the details out later."

Emily nodded her head as she checked her watch, Tasha was due to be meeting a counsellor shortly but there was no way that she could meet up with her until later in the day, instead she quickly fired off a text message.

Hope it went ok, go to the apartment & lock up, see u soon x

Reid was so concentrated on the files in front of him that the conversation between Emily and Dave completely

passed him by. He had skipped the next circle, even though it contained three sublevels Reid knew that the unsub was probably already onto them, he needed to look further ahead than that, the only worrying factor was that he was running out of potential victims. He had settled on looking at Fraud, the eighth circle of hell, and had narrowed his search down to either D.C or New York. The fact that the last kill had attracted so much publicity had helped Reid, the unsub would continue to court publicity and that meant that the victims would need to be as prominent as possible. Fraud of the Church, Reid sighed as he saw the list of potential victims, he thought that by picking this one he would have a good chance of narrowing the list down but then one name leapt out at him and sent him running out of the bullpen towards Garcia's office.

Morgan walked up to the conference room, his arms full with takeaway bags as he quickly placed them in the middle of the round table and stood back.

"Ok lunch is served!"

Morgan laughed as Garcia patted the empty chair next to her which Morgan duly sat in and looked on in amazement as Emily and JJ quickly helped themselves to the food. Reid hadn't bothered with any food, he was anxiously tapping his pen on the table, waiting impatiently to share his thoughts with the team.

"Right I know that you all saw Section Chief Strauss here earlier, it wasn't a big surprise, she knows the pressure that we are all under but needs some answers to give not only the media but the Director too. Any extra resources are at our disposal, I think that we need to use those for forensic tests as there is a large backlog at the moment."

Hotch took a breath as he finished and put his pen on top of his file before he reached across and grabbed a spring roll before JJ's muffled voice filled the room as she struggled to finish her mouthful of food as she spoke.

"The media are going crazy, this was a national monument and they got some spectular footage of the fire from the helicopters, then us swarming over the scene has got them asking a lot of questions. My phone has been ringing non-stop even though I changed numbers since I came back somehow they still know how to get a hold of me."

JJ shook her head as she reached across and grabbed the container of chow mein before she felt Emily's hand on her shoulder, knowing that it was a small gesture of comfort that she needed to cope with the stress she was currently feeling.

"You know I'm getting slightly pissed that we keep playing catch up with this bastard. He won't stay still, he keeps piling the bodies up, am I the only one who thinks that we might not catch this one?"

Morgan threw his chopsticks down onto the table, he hadn't intended the force to be as strong as it was but they flew across and landed near Hotch who quietly put his hand on top of the rattling objects, he knew, he felt his friend's frustration.

"I know how you feel Morgan, this is a tough case and the unsub has definitely upped his game but I asked Reid to start looking at possible future victims, but not from the next circle, we need to identify them further along and then maybe we can catch him."

"Uh yeah on that I think that I may have found one."

Reid stuttered slightly as he spoke, still tapping his pen as all eyes suddenly fell on him.