Part XXI

They had all separated after going over everything, and JJ was slightly surprised as Hotch pulled her away for a moment, holding her back after everyone else had gone.

Prentiss and Rossi were going to talk to Elaine, and Reid and Morgan had collaborated with James to figure out where Jason had disappeared to. Apparently, after Elaine had made the call to Jason and then to Prentiss, she had discovered that her husband had disappeared from the house and had been unable to contact him on his cell.

JJ looked at Hotch, slightly worried about what he was going to say to her. Was he going to bring up the awkward situation that had happened this morning…?

Or was he going to talk to her about the case?

"JJ," he started, and she watched as his jaw tightened slightly. "You just did brilliant work in here. Because of your contribution, you wrapped up the two issues that didn't fit…and saw how they did."

She felt her face flush at his praise, and tried to brush it off, but just like when they had first been given the case, he wouldn't hear any of it.

"You did amazing, JJ…you really did."

The blonde media-liaison finally realized that she was going to have to learn how to take a compliment from him, so she might as well start now. Squaring her shoulders, she lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye.

"Thanks, Hotch…that means a lot to me. Especially coming from you."

She suddenly realized the second part of what she'd just said, and felt her face flush. She averted her eyes quickly and was surprised to hear him chuckle.

"That's good to know," he said, a grin crossing his lips.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and a small laugh escaped her lips at his words, and then she stopped herself, placing her hand across her mouth, not quite believing what she was doing…was she flirting with her boss? JJ shook the errant thought away and instead picked up the papers on the table and moved towards the door…

…and then she paused.

She turned slightly in his direction and said, "I had a good time last night, Hotch."

And with that, she left the room, leaving Aaron Hotchner, for the first time in his life, speechless. Had she just flirted with him and then told him that she'd had a good time?

Well…apparently so.

It was dark out and they still hadn't located Jason Wright, but they were narrowing down their search.

JJ stood in the room, looking over Reid's shoulder as he tried to work the geographical profile. He kept on crossing off certain areas and marking new areas. JJ watched, actually interested in what he was doing, and tried to come up with some possibilities…and then she remembered something.

"Hey, Reid," she said, catching his attention. "Remember when we figured out that the sites were date sites? We still haven't checked Perkins Cove…"

Reid's head snapped back to the board. "You're right, we haven't…!"

He then reached for his phone and quickly called Morgan, who had gone with a couple of the field agents to canvas the area.

"Morgan, I need you to get to Perkins Cove, JJ and I will meet you there," he quickly said, and then hung up his phone, grabbing his coat and heading out the door, JJ following directly behind him as he got into the car and began to drive.

Though he rarely drove, she couldn't deny that he was actually a really good driver.

Within five minutes, they had arrived at the cove, and she got out of the car as quickly as she could. Reid glanced over at her over the hood of the car and said,

"You head up to the office and I'll call Hotch."

She nodded and headed up the boardwalk, which was badly lit, and then the next thing she knew, she felt a hand had wrap around her mouth and she felt something cold and hard jammed into her right side, possibly bruising a rib.

"You try to scream or fight back," the low voice whispered, "A bullet goes into your lungs. Got it?"

She nodded her head, realizing that she had no weapon on her and that Reid wouldn't be able to see her as he had gone off in the opposite direction. She vaguely recognized the voice, but it was different than what she might have expected…and then it hit her.

It was Jason's other personality…it was Thomas.

He had a strong grip on her, so she decided not to struggle, but at the same time she was quickly going over everything she knew about this other personality of his.

Was it possible to reason with him? Would it be possible to talk him down…? Or was he too much of a cold-blooded killer to listen to reason?

What bothered JJ the most, however, was the fact that she didn't fit his victim type, which meant that he really had no use for her. He would probably kill her as soon as he felt that he could get away with it cleanly, without leaving a trace…

…either way, she wasn't going to make it.

Reid headed up to the station where the men were posted and saw Morgan just outside.

"Morgan! Where's JJ?"

A confused look crossed the agent's face. "Why should I know? Last I heard, she was with you."

A look of panic crossed Reid's face, and Morgan quickly picked up on the fact that she was supposed to have been there and that something was definitely wrong. Before Reid could explain, they heard a car pull up and the two of them watched as Hotch got out and headed in their direction.

"Reid," he yelled. "Do you have any leads on Jason?"

Reid and Morgan exchanged a look, trying to decide who was going to tell him…and then Morgan nodded and spoke.

"Uh, Hotch…I'm pretty sure that he's here." He motioned to a couple of detectives. "We're putting a lockdown on the area at once."

Hotch gave him a dark look. "What makes you so sure?"

Morgan took a deep breath, but Reid spoke up before he could.

"Because JJ's missing…"

Part 21/?