9th Hour: FBI Office

"Okay our theory here is that Marisa's going to be looking for you, so we need to put you right out in plain sight." A man who introduced himself as Agent Leroy James explained. "We've got to let her see you."

"So where do you plan on putting me?" Catherine was leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Well we were thinking of someplace you frequent, maybe a park near your home."

Catherine laughed. "That's ridiculous. Do you really think I would go for a walk in the park after my daughter and lover had just been kidnapped? Do you think Marisa would believe it?"

"I suppose not," Agent James rubbed his chin. "Where's a place you would go?"

"I think I actually felt safer when Erika was in charge," Catherine muttered.

"Me too," an agent sitting next to her mumbled quietly.

"Sanchez," James warned.

"I'm sorry, sir," Sanchez took a deep breath. "But sir even you have to admit that having Erika with us is a lot better than having her against us."

"Well we can't control that, now can we?"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Erika strolled carelessly into the room.

Agent James stood up, along with everyone else in the room. "How did you get in here?"

Erika shrugged. "I walked."

"You've got some nerve," Sanchez said.

"Marisa and I had an understanding," Erika walked further into the room. "It's the same understanding I have with all of the killers I help capture."

"And what understanding is that?" Catherine asked bitingly.

"I don't directly interfere. I give up all the information the FBI needs to capture them, but I don't personally involve myself. Mr. James knows all about it. So does every other agent important enough to be told, which I guess wouldn't mean you, Sanchez."

Catherine moved away from her chair. "So you would have watched Marisa murder my family and done nothing?"

"Yes," Erika anticipated Catherine's slap and caught the blonde's hand. She seemed to bring out Catherine's violent tendencies.

Catherine struggled to remove herself from Erika's hold, but Erika held to her firmly. "Why?"

"It's a game to me, Catherine. It's all just a game. When I first saw Marisa's work, I was impressed. She was good. She was one of the best I've ever seen. She challenged me, made me think more about the workings of her mind than anyone else has before." Erika dropped Catherine's hand; a look of disgust covered her face. "But ultimately she's a vast disappointment. She's as textbook as they come."

"So everything you said about your daughter being murdered…"

"It was the truth. The man who killed her wasn't a very big challenge. He was as simple minded as they come."

For the first time since she had met Erika, Catherine was afraid of her. The woman's only motive was to have fun. She didn't care about who was being killed or what the killer did. Erika only cared about the challenge.

"You look frightened, Catherine," Erika was amused.

"Leave her alone," Agent James ordered as confidently as he could. To be honest, the woman scared the hell out of him too.

"Shut up, Leroy," Erika replied, her eyes still focused on Catherine's. "So what scares you more, Catherine? Is that I could have been your best friend and murdered your family one by one by one, and you would have never known it was me? Or is it that now you realize exactly how crazy I am, you still can't help but want to trust me?"

"You should be shot and removed from our misery," Catherine didn't have an answer for Erika. A part of her actually still wanted to believe that Erika couldn't be as evil as she obviously was. Her mind didn't want to believe that a person like Erika could exist and not even give a single clue as to her true nature.

Erika could be anyone she wanted to be. She was smart, terribly, frighteningly smart. She was confident, not overly confident just truthfully confident. She was beautiful, supermodel type beautiful. Erika was the type of evil that no one really wanted to admit existed in the human species. The thought of someone who was so normal, was actually so abnormal was scary.

"If it makes you feel better at all, I've never run into a psychopath who can actually beat me. That means I'm the only one that your textbooks can't explain."

"I don't think that helps anyone at all," Sanchez spoke from her place behind Catherine. "We still know you exist."

"You know that I don't kill."

"But we also know you don't stop those who do," James sounded defeated. He felt defeated, just like everyone in the room, besides Erika, felt. They needed Erika to exist so that she could help them. It wasn't a very pleasant realization.

"So how do we stop Marisa?" Catherine walked back to her seat and fell into it.

"Marisa won't be satisfied to just kill Catherine," Erika took a seat across from Catherine. "She wants everyone dead now, because she's realized that the woman she's been killing for isn't the actual person she was killing for. She's angry with Catherine for that, so she wants Catherine to suffer. That means she's going to try and kill Lindsey and Sara first."

"So what does that mean?" Agent James had retaken his seat and was watching Erika intently.

"It means we give her what she wants. We put them all together under one roof, and let her try and have her revenge."

"It's too dangerous. I'm not going to put them through anything like that again," James responded stiffly.

"She'll do it now or she'll find a way to do it later." Erika met Catherine's eyes. "Would you rather it happened in a controlled environment or would you rather it happen at Lindsey's next birthday party, or would you rather Marisa take Lindsey when she's at school and wait until you get home, call Sara over to the house and have you watch her be shot when she walks through the door?"

Catherine's head dropped. "I want it to end now," her voice was strained. "I want this night to be over."

"Okay," Erika sighed. "That means we take them back to Catherine's house. It would make sense for you to have a car outside protecting them, but any more than that and Marisa will walk away. The agents outside will be a threat, so she'll most definitely be looking to kill them. You need to find agents that don't mind being shot."

"Are you suggesting I let two of my guys get killed?" James asked incredulously. Erika raised a brow at him and he let out a derisive snort. "Of course you are."

"They don't have to die," Erika offered. "They just have to be willing to be shot at. If they can spot Marisa before she shoots them and end up shooting her, then all the better."

"Then what?" Catherine hadn't lifted her eyes yet. She still wasn't ready to face the woman across from her.

"Well once the agents are taken care of, Marisa's going to go for Lindsey first. She's young and easy to drag around. She'll take her to your bedroom, where she's hoping to wake you and Sara up."

"Hoping?" Sanchez asked.

"You and Sara will be under the covers fully armed. I suggest when she comes in the room you shoot her until she's dead."

"Wouldn't it be better if we stashed some agents in the closet and bathroom, and have them come out when Marisa comes into the room?" James offered sarcastically. "We aren't exactly allowed to shoot suspects in cold blood."

Erika shrugged. "Have it your way. I believe Marisa should die, though."

Catherine agreed with her, but she was sure they had vastly different reasons for wanting Marisa dead.

"Is that all?" James asked.

"Just don't fuck up again," Erika told him darkly. "I'm tired of you making me look stupid. Do your job and do it right this time or I will be very tempted to kill you." She held James's blue eyes for a long moment then started to laugh. "Gotcha." She got up from her seat and walked out the door laughing all the while.

This was the woman they were trusting with their lives. It was an insane concept, they all thought they were crazy for doing it, but they didn't know what else to do. Erika could be leading them right into a trap, but…

Erika had given them a lot of opportunities to catch Marisa, Sanchez and James realized. She had given them everything they needed to know, long before Marisa had her sights on Sara or Lindsey or even Catherine herself. Erika had done everything but deliver Marisa bound and gagged to their front door step. They had always been the ones unable to follow through.

"We'll leave in fifteen minutes," James said absently.

Catherine nodded and was running through her head exactly how she was going to tell Sara that Erika was back, and they were putting their lives in her hands again. For some reason, she didn't think Sara would be that receptive.