Dave and Hotch have located the old man with the dog. Elsewhere, Em may have just unknowingly saved her own life.

Through The Fire

Hotch guided the SUV to the parking space near the sidewalk path leading toward the park. Throwing the engine into park, he turned off the ignition.

"If what Morgan said was right, the man walking the dog would have been there between six-thirty and seven. And the dog would need to be walked again at two. We may be able to catch him," Rossi unlatched his seatbelt and looked around. How different the area looked in the sunshine.

Hotch followed his friend. "Has the Ambassador talked to you?"

"Yes." Rossi's eyes scanned the area. "She wanted to know my intentions toward Emily."

"And you told her what?"

"The truth. I'm going to marry her daughter…come hell or high water."

"And she was happy with that?"

"I guess since I promised to bring Emily home…come hell or high water."

"Setting the bar a little high?"

"I never make a promise I can't keep," Rossi replied. Hotch raised his eyebrow. "I never make a promise I can't keep for the people that I love."

"One of you is going to have to leave the BAU."

Rossi shrugged. "I'm turning fifty-eight in two years, so the FBI is either going to force me to retire or put me out to pasture. Either way, I would like to beat them to the punch."

"There is always the interrogation methods class at the academy. No one is better than you when it comes to interrogations. You might think about applying there before turning your hardware in for the second time," Hotch remarked.

"I've considered it, but I was hoping to run it by Em first."

"If you think you can handle having a wife who is always going from case to case and leaving you at home…" Hotch's words trailed off but the implication was there. "You know as well as I do the toll this job can take on a marriage."

Rossi looked at his right hand and twisted his FBI ring around. "No one on earth knows better than I the toll this damn job takes; I've lost everything - including the shirt off my back - twice. I'm not going into this blind. Besides, it will be interesting to be the one who stays at home waiting for my spouse."

"I see you've thought this through."

"I figure I can either marry Em or wait until she's out of town and move all of her stuff to my place. I figure the first won't get me shot…"

Hotch looked at his friend for a long moment. "I wouldn't rule anything out yet; Emily hasn't married you." A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"I'm glad I haven't made you my best man; it saves having to tell you that I chose Morgan instead," Rossi quipped.

Hotch caught a figure walking up the path. "I think that's who we're looking for; come on." Getting out of the SUV, he walked over to the older man walking a dog.

"Excuse me; may we speak to you for a moment?" Hotch asked.

The older man looked around. "May I ask what this concerns?"

"The abductions and murders in the area."

"You are…?" the man asked.

Hotch and Rossi flashed their credentials. "I'm Agent Hotchner and this is Agent Rossi. We just have a few questions, Mr. …"

"Grant. Lou Grant."

Rossi pulled a photo from his coat pocket. "Do you know this woman?" he asked and handed it over. Lou looked at it for a moment before he recognized the person.

"I've seen her around. In fact, I talked to her a couple of weeks ago over…" Lou pointed toward the tunnel, "there." He handed the picture back to Rossi. "She was nice. Very talkative. Buster seemed to like her. Has something happened to her?" Genuine concern was in his tone.

"Do you remember who she was with?" Hotch inquired.

Lou shrugged. "A young looking black man. I think she said he was her friend after I told her that he couldn't possibly be her fiancé for leaving her behind."

"Did you notice anyone in the area? He would have tried to conceal himself or blend in with his surroundings. But he would have still stood out somehow," Rossi prompted.

Lou thought hard. "I don't recall anyone other than that young lady and her gentleman friend."

"Do you walk your dog here everyday?" Hotch asked.

"Nearly. When the weather is good…like today."

"How many times?"

"Twice a day. Unless the weather is bad then I let him out in the yard."

"Were you walking Buster this past Sunday morning?"

"No. It looked as thought it might rain and it was too cold to walk." Lou became nervous. "I'm sorry agents, but has something happened?"

"The woman you talked to was abducted Sunday morning while she was jogging," Hotch replied.

"She was?" Lou looked at Hotch and Rossi for the truth. Both agents nodded. "Here? I told her to be careful."

"You don't remember anyone?" Rossi questioned again. "Think hard. He would have been lurking, lying in wait He stood out."

Lou concentrated on everything he had seen in the area. "Wait! I do remember something. A couple of weeks ago, Buster and I were walking down the path when this man passed by. I didn't think anything of it but Buster started growling."

"What did he look like?" Hotch asked.

"Tall, a little heavy set…he had a limp."

"You didn't see his face?"

Lou shook his head. "No. He kept his head down. I'm sorry. Do you think he might be the one you're looking for- the guy who's been doing the killings around the area?"

Hotch glanced at Rossi then back to Lou. "We don't know. I would like to ask that until all of this is over you stay out of the park. There is no telling if he thinks you may have seen him and what you know. It's just a precaution."

"I understand." Lou pulled on Buster's leash. "Come on boy." Buster whined as he tried to sniff Rossi's jeans. "You must have a dog?"

Rossi nodded. "I do."

"So does she."

"Who?"

"That young lady. You two agents have a good day. I hope you find her." Lou started to walk away.

"Well, at least we know Emily was possibly targeted," Rossi stated as he scanned the last know area where Emily had last been seen. He walked over to the bench and looked at it. "He knew she was running with Morgan and waited until she was alone."

"Dave, no one could have seen this coming. This guy is good. He's a serial killer with no set M.O. He got by the police for quite sometime before he decided to take Emily."

"He's methodical. He had a routine. He keeps them for three days before disposing of them. It's day two for Em," Rossi responded out loud as he realized the time was running out.

"Which means he's going to go hunting again…soon. He can't help it. But he's going to screw up somewhere and when he does…"

Rossi sighed. "I know."

"You think we should have followed Strauss's advice and release Emily's information to the press?" Hotch wondered.

"No. If anyone can get out of this alive, it's going to be Emily. She'll be profiling him, looking for his weakness before making her move. If he knows that she's a federal agent, it could back fire on her."

Hotch digested Rossi's words. "True." he looked at the area. "Come on, let's head back and see if Garcia has found anything."

Turning around, the agents walked silently to the SUV and got inside.
***

Emily knew she had to be hallucinating. She was cold, hungry and she swore she heard voices. They were talking about her but she couldn't make out the words. She wanted to tell them to shut up but she couldn't form the words. She wanted to go home and curl under her comforter. She wanted something hot to drink and hold on to the nice warm body that occupied her bed. But she couldn't.

Her captor had taken her for a shower, but it had hurt too much when the spray touched her skin. Her fever was high and she couldn't concentrate. She had tried not to recoil from his hands washing her, but he held her still until he was done washing her.

Drying her off, he had put her in a robe then ordered her to the bedroom but when she stalled, he pushed her. Her response had been to vomit on his shoes. It hadn't been much, but it had disgusted him. He hadn't raped her, but he had beat her senseless and thrown her back down in the shelter.

If she could only get her thoughts together, she could try to figure out a way to get out of there. She just needed energy. But first she needed to make her body stop hurting.

"Hi, Mommy," a little voice called out.

Emily shook her head. She was hearing things. Was there someone else down there with her? Opening her swollen eyes, she tried to focus on the dark room. "Is anyone here?" she croaked. Only silence.

"It's okay, Mommy," the voice assured gently. "Everything is going to be okay."

Emily felt the tears well up. Her baby, the one she had… This had to be the end; why else would she becoming to visit her if time hadn't run out?

"I'm sorry Baby," she whispered. "I'm so sorry." Emily leaned her throbbing head against the cold cinder blocks and closed her eyes.
***

The man paced the floor impatiently. His plan had just fallen apart. Throwing a glass against the wall, he shouted a curse. The bitch had to get sick. He had waited three weeks for her and now she was sick. There was no way he could have fun with her now. Sure he could have fucked her, but when she threw up on his shoes, all thoughts of having fun with her had gone out of his mind as he punished her.

He was going to have to get rid of her now. He had hoped to keep her around for a little while longer, but she was useless to him now. He was going to have to start over.

"Dammit! Why didn't I take her when I had the chance?" he thundered to the empty room. He was going to have to go hunting tonight…unless his foot didn't stop hurting. Opening the Tylenol bottle, he washed the pill down with a beer. He could keep the bitch alive for another day before he got rid of her. Until then, he was going to rest his leg.

Turning out the light, he limped down the hallway to the bedroom.