Offices of the B.A.U.

Ann-Elise arrived safely. Reid met her outside and then escorted her through security and to the offices of the B.A.U. Morgan had been sent to her house and his initial investigation had been less than helpful. Hotchner had accepted his called-in report with less than his usual enthusiasm. At this point, they needed evidence of any kind.

Hotchner looked into the small conference room where Reid was waiting with Ann-Elise. Despite her professional attire, she looked like a teenager – or maybe it was just seeing her with Reid. He hated to do it but he wanted to talk to Ann-Elise alone and plans had already been made to get Reid out of the room. Hotchner knocked on the door frame before he entered.

"Ms. Miller, I'm Agent Hotchner, we met a few weeks ago at your school."

"Hi, I remember." Ann-Elise stood up and shook his hand.

"I have a few questions for you. I realize that it has been a bad morning."

"Please, ask away. I want this to . . . be over. Thank you for . . ."

Gideon walked to the door, taking focus immediately.

"Sorry to interrupt. Reid, can I see you." Reid looked torn. He looked from Hotchner, to Ann-Elise and to Gideon.

"Reid, go ahead. I can handle this."

"I'm ok, Spence. Do your job."

Reid left with Gideon.

"How are you holding up, Ms. Miller? I can only imagine how difficult this must be for you."

"I was doing better before this morning and I wasn't doing that well then. This guy has probably destroyed my best friend and now he's after me. I think . . . furious would be the word right now that comes to mind. Is that shallow of me?"

"It is completely understandable. I think, though, that you can find positive ways to use your anger."

Ann-Elise held up her right hand, showing Hotchner a bruise on a couple of knuckles.

"I back-handed a wall yesterday – probably not the most positive use of my anger."

"Probably not."

"My only solace is that no students saw my tantrum. My penance is that it hurts like heck every time I write."

"Let's talk about this morning. I know it may seem obvious but are you sure you locked all doors and windows. There was no sign of forced entry."

"I always lock the doors. In the past few weeks I've become quite obsessed about it. I even bolted the door after . . . . I went to bed." Hotchner caught the pause and had a feeling he would need to look into the reason.

"Can the bolt be opened from the outside?"

"No, it's just a sliding bolt lock that I installed myself when Karen first went missing. It can only be accessed from inside the house."

"What about the back door?"

"It's a sliding glass door and I have a security bar across it. I was told the glass would have to be broken to get in through the door when the bar was in place."

"Do you keep a spare key outside?"

"Not outside. I have two spares: my Dad has one and Karen. . . had the other." Hotchner could actually see the color drain from her face. "Oh God, I didn't even think . . . I was so worried about her. I must seem very stupid right now."

"I'll help you get someone to change your locks today."

"Thank you."

Office of Agent Gideon

Gideon and Reid had been waiting for almost fifteen minutes for Hotchner to finish talking to Ann-Elise. Reid, who had his back to the door, almost jumped out of his chair when Hotchner walked in.

"She wants to go to work today. She's definitely more angry than scared."

"Actually, most teachers have some self-sacrificing tendencies. During the 1998 shooting at a middle school in Arkansas, a teacher saved the lives of some of her students by shielding them with her own body."

"Reid, is this really the statistic you want to use while convincing me to let her go to school today?" Reid just looked down at his shoes.

Morgan knocked on the door.

"Elle just called from the school – there was no rose left in her classroom." He held up an evidence bag with a red rose inside it. "Look at this. It's not like the others. The stem is broken and it looked like it had been thrown down on the table. The others were perfect: no broken stems, petals intact and placed carefully on the desk."

"The unsub has gone off script. Why?"

"It's my fault." Everyone looked at Reid. "He's seen her with me. That's why he's escalated like this. Previously there were at least five months between victims, twelve months between the initial four victims. I've put her in danger."

"Reid, I think you may have saved her life." Reid looked directly at Hotchner. He had hoped to ask this privately but he needed to know now. "You were at her house last night, weren't you?" Reid nodded. "I don't mean to get too personal but how late were you there? Where were you in the house?" Hotchner stopped there. He didn't want to ask what he had been doing.

"I went over after work. We had dinner. We watched a movie. We both fell asleep in the living room. I was on the floor, she was on the couch. I left when Morgan called this morning."

"All of the previous victims were alone when they were taken. Even the victims who were married were alone when they were taken. Sandra Dean's husband was out of town when she was killed at home. Lisa Robertson's husband worked third shift. I believe that late last night or early this morning the unsub came in while you were there. He didn't take her because she wasn't alone. I think you saved her life."

"Alright, but that still doesn't tell us why he left the rose at her house instead of at school."

"We are confident that he keeps his victims alive for awhile. Something happened in April – that is when he first took his first four victims. We also are confident that since he started escalating, the new victims are replacements when he gets rid of the previous victim. If the pattern is being followed then we have to believe that Karen Wilson is dead."

"Hotch, I don't want Ann-Elise to know that. Not yet. She's barely getting by on hope and if we take that away from her – she's already depressed, she barely eats anymore and work has become her sole reason for existence. She can't go home right now. Maybe you should let her go to school."

"We can wait on telling her about our theory. If, and right now it is a big if, I let her go to school, we have to keep a very close eye on her. If the unsub decides to try again, it will be today."

"Why today?"

Gideon answered. "It's Friday. He always takes his victims on Fridays."

"Hotch, I want to volunteer to stay with her today. I won't let her out of my sight."

Hotchner thought it over. He had been hard on Morgan over this case and it was probably more over his own shortcomings than Morgan's.

"Fine." Hotchner looked at Reid, speaking before the young genius could even open his mouth. "You and I will stay outside the school. Gideon, we have missed something – I don't know how or where but we've missed something and it has become a costly mistake. Go over everything again. Get Garcia to check the employment files one more time. We can't make another mistake."