"And sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in"
- Jane Austen

Spencer worked relentlessly. Everything was at stake - his life with Monica, her place in Veronica's life, Monica's own life. He tried to connect all the dots, cross all the lines, but nothing. It wasn't until his fourth day in El Paso, that he could hope.
"It's either him", Matt pointed to the photographs on the white board, "Or him"
Luke said,
"That should be easy enough to verify. I'll call Garcia"
Before anyone could protest, Luke walked away and placed the call. Tara and Emily exchanged a glance, smiling. Spencer was too pre-occupied to notice what was happening around him. His entire purpose in life had become to find George's killer before Monica did. He wouldn't allow her to get blood on her hands. Something like that would destroy her, who she really was.
"Reid, what do you think?", Emily asked.
He stared at the pictures of both the men, one of whom was responsible was George's murder. All the information he knew about them processed itself in his mind, making his eyes rove over the board in rapid succession.
"Reid?"
'Have to catch him before Mon…'
JJ said,
"Reid, your phone is ringing"
Ready to dismiss the call, he looked at the screen to hit the red option. But the screen said "Dr. Monica Knight calling". He couldn't believe what he was seeing or saying. But he managed to speak.
"It's Monica"
"What?", Matt said.
Emily didn't waste any time. She walked over to Luke and yanked the phone out of his hands. She gave instructions to Garcia to intercept the call coming on Reid's phone. When Emily gave him a nod, Spencer answered the call.

There was so much he wanted to say, to yell. But the moment he heard Monica's voice, Spencer's anger vanished, replaced by an overwhelming sense for her safety, and longing.
"Hey doc. You're most likely quite angry with me", she said.
He choked a faint sob,
"You think?"
"I'm sorry. I just… I needed some time alone to process everything. It was wrong, but I don't regret it. I do miss the hell out of you and Veronica though"
"Monica, I know you're in El Paso"
Across from him, Emily shook her head, urging him to say anything else but that. Reid was beyond listening. He had to tell Monica what he wanted before she was lost to him forever.
"I know your story is you're in England, but I know you're here. Tell me I'm wrong"
Monica didn't reply for a moment. She said at last,
"I have a ticket and everything. There's a stamp on my passport"
"That doesn't mean shit when it comes to you and you know it"
"I know you're angry"
His voice quavered,
"Don't. Please. I can't lose you like this. Killing that man will not bring your brother back"
From the other end, he could hear the tremor in Monica's voice. Spencer clutched the phone tighter, willing herself to come back to him. She said,
"Veronica is loving it at Audrey's, huh? How's Bu…"
"Monica, please don't do it"
She sighed, her voice thickening with a sob. She said, resignation echoing in her voice,
"I have to go. I love you"
"Monica? No. Monica?"
She hung up.
Spencer stood there, unaware of the stares pointed at him. His hand holding the phone fell limp to his side. He vaguely heard Emily speak on the phone,
"Did you get it? How is that possible? Garcia, English. Fine. Keep me updated"
When he looked up, Emily was looking at him, trying her best to hide the sympathy so apparent on her face. He turned away and went back to the board.
"Spencer…"
He said without looking back,
"We need to find this guy"
That was all he said, before throwing himself into work again.

Garcia, bless her, had compared cellphone tower locations and employment records for the last ten years for both the suspects. She called the team and relayed the information to them.
"I'm 99% sure it's Christian Leslie"
Matt said,
"He fits the profile better"
Emily rose from her seat, saying,
"No time to waste. Garcia, his address"
"Already sent"
"Thanks"
Spencer didn't need to be told twice. He tightened his holster, checking his gun. Monica's face appeared over and over again in his mind. He took a deep breath to steel himself, and followed his team out of the El Paso PD's precinct.

Christian Leslie lived in a rundown apartment building in the shadier parts of Dallas, true to the geographical profile Spencer had drawn. If he was the perp, taking him down wouldn't be easy. 6'3" tall, weighing over 200 pounds, he was unlikely to go down without a fight. Thinking of it only made Spencer glad that he had gotten to the UnSub before Monica could. But his hope began to crack like fragile glass when Emily told him and the team,
"Landlord says he saw Leslie going out at 8:30. He usually spends his Friday night at the bar six blocks from here. I need four of you to…"
"I'm going"
"Reid…"
He was walking towards the police SUV before she could stop him.

Luke and Spencer had tried to blend into the bar crowd, only that there wasn't a crowd to begin with. It was the filthiest bar Spencer had ever seen. Drunk men who stank to high heaven were sprawled in it wherever they could find space. Matt was trying to get the incoherent owner to speak up.
"That's him, all right. He's one of ma regulars. He came in just a while ago. He ain't in trouble though he is?"
"When did he leave?"
"Just about five minutes before you came in. I s'ppose you guys just missed him by a moment"
The owner grinned, hanging his head. The bartender told Matt,
"Don't mind Lou. He ain't in his right mind. Leslie left minutes before I saw you come in. Took some working girl along on his arm"
Spencer pushed past the drunk owner of the bar and Matt to question the bartender. He feared the worst.
"What did she look like?"
The bartender scratched his armpit, shrugging,
"Just like 'em whores. Prostitutes, I mean. Cheap dress and…"
"No. Her hair, her eyes. The colour of her hair, her height, her face"
"She was real blonde. Runny makeup, not too tall, I guess. She had Leslie drooling all over her in seconds"
Feeling sick and disgusted to the pit of his stomach, Spencer showed the bartender a picture of Monica. He asked,
"Did she look like this?"
The bartender watched the photo up close for a minute. He shrugged,
"Not the hair or anything, but that's her face all right"
Luke cursed under his breath and Matt turned away. Spencer simply stood rooted to the spot, his face a grim mask of indifference.
Monica had done it after all.

A car honked hard as she swerved past it. The limp body in her trunk was her only concern. Elephant tranquillizer may have had put the bastard down but she didn't trust the effect to last longer than an hour. Her brother's murderer was a heavy brute. And a disgusting asshole. She had endured his touch in the bar, but now that she thought of it… she felt sick, and ready to barf.
'Control yourself', she thought, 'You can't afford to stop now'
Trying with all her might, she focused on the driving instead. She scratched at her hairline where she had glued on the peroxide blonde wig.
'Almost there'

She soon pulled the truck into an empty lot right outside the dock. As she got out of the car, darkness swarmed in around her. The dock workers were far away, enough that she could stow the burden in the container she had access to. His shoes made some screeching noise as she dragged him into the darkness of the empty metal container and shut the door from within.