I don't own Criminal Minds, CBS does…damn!

Hugs to all of my reviewers and alert placers! My muse is being a little stubborn, not leading me very well on this storyline so we'll see how it goes. Wish us luck

Chapter 3

Within two and a half hours the team had landed in Cincinnati. The Police Chief had met them at the airport and had taken Reid, Hotch and JJ back to the police station to get them set up. Emily and Rossi were being escorted to the latest crime scene by some local detectives working the case and Derek and Penelope were headed to the hotel. Just to be safe, the Chief had assigned several extra officers to work the hotel to keep Penelope safe at that location.

"See, Baby Girl, you have nothing to worry about. You have a whole squad of Cincinnati's finest at your beck and call," Derek smiled at her.

"Ahh, but as much as I appreciate a man in uniform, there's only one man I want protecting this body, Hot Stuff," Penelope retorted giving Derek a quick wink as she carefully watched the hotel staff unload her babies from the SUV.

Chuckling as he followed her into the room where her computers were being set up he stood back and watched for a few minutes as Penelope directed the men on where every piece of equipment was to go. He was always in awe of her intimate knowledge of her babies and loved watching the pride she took in her work.

After the last piece of equipment had been set up, Derek walked over to Penelope and took her into his protective embrace. "I'm sorry Baby Girl," he said as placed a kiss on the top of her head, "but I've got to go and join the others. Remember, I'm just a phone call away and if you need anything, the officers are right outside your door."

"I know Derek," Penelope said as she gave him one last tight embrace before backing out of his arms. "I'll be fine, just go and do your profiler magic so we can catch Averitt and get on with our lives." She flashed him her most confidant smile, hoping Derek wouldn't worry too much about her.

As he turned to leave, he heard Penelope's phone ring. He smiled to himself as he heard her greeting, "Talk to me you cute little package of grey matter…", knowing it was Reid on the other end and that he could leave feeling she was safe, at least for the moment.

At the crime scene:

"So, have all of the bodies been dumped like this one, out in the open?" Emily asked as she studied the dead woman laying at her feet.

"No, the other four were recovered in abandoned warehouses, mostly discovered by homeless people seeking shelter," the police detective replied. "We thought it kind of strange that this one was found here in the alley, like maybe he was interrupted or something."

"I don't think so," remarked Rossi as he knelt down next to the body and examined the tattoo that had been carved into the woman. "This carving was done while she was still alive, just like he did with Garcia. You can tell by the amount of blood that she appears to have lost. So there should be a lot of blood around the dump site and I don't see any."

"Meaning…?" Emily prodded.

"Meaning that it looks like he was done with the torture process and he had probably already killed her before bringing the body here," Rossi observed.

"Are you saying he left her out in the open on purpose?" the detective asked.

"That would make sense," Emily explained. "He's wanting to get our attention and when he didn't think the BAU had been called in on the other four killings he needed to do something to make sure we would be brought in the case."

"That would explain the escalation in the time between the killings, too," Rossie mused as he stood back up. "He's getting impatient and is ready to finish with the revenge he tried to take out on Morgan six months ago."

"So now that you guys are here, does that mean the killing is going stop?" the detective asked hopefully.

"Just the opposite I'm afraid, detective," Rossi said with a shake of his head. "My bet is the escalation has just begun and he's probably on the verge of a spree. He'll want to show off for Morgan, torture him by killing more women right under his nose."

Having gathered all the information they needed, Rossi and Prentiss headed back to the police station. It was time to bring the police up to date on Averitt and to get them as much information as they could on him in hopes of finding him as soon as possible.

Police Station: An hour later.

"Chief, if you would gather all your officers, we're ready to talk to them about Averitt," Hotch instructed the chief as he headed out to round up the BAU team.

Once the officers had been assembled, Hotch began, "Thank you all for joining us here. As I'm sure you are aware, this case is a little different for us. Usually at this time we would be giving you a profile of an unsub, or an unidentified subject. However, in this instance we already know who the killer is; Ben Averitt, also known as, Ken Avery. About six months ago, Averitt took our computer analyst hostage as a method of trying to exact revenge against another member of our team, Derek Morgan," Hotch indicated Derek as he spoke. "At that time, we were unable to apprehend Averitt and he escaped but, thankfully, our analyst survived the attack. Now we believe that Averitt has returned in an attempt to finish what he started in Quantico and, unfortunately, has chosen your city in which to do so. I'm going to turn this over to Agent Morgan so he can give you some background on Averitt and give you some insight to his motive behind the killings," Hotch stepped back allowing Morgan to take over.

Derek proceeded to give the officers a complete recounting of Bradley Averitt's original killing spree in Chicago as well as a summary of Ben's kidnapping of Penelope. More than once, Derek had to stop and take a deep breath as he told of Penelope's experiences, not even realizing himself how fresh those memories still were and realizing, once again, how close he had come to losing her. When he was done, all he wanted to do was to go back to the hotel and hold her in his arms, but he knew there was still work to be done.

Once Derek was done, Reid took over the presentation. "I've been studying the victimology of the murders in Cincinnati, hoping we could get a grasp on how he's choosing these women. We know, clearly, that all of the victims are blonde, between the ages of 30 and 40 with a curvaceous build. What we don't know is where he is first making contact with them. After some research into the background of each woman, we have found that they are all single, well-educated and have medium to high paying jobs. Also, each body has been found between the hours of midnight and three a.m. This leads us to believe he is picking them up in the evening, possibly in a high-class bar or restaurant. Some place they may go after work. Pay special attention to those types of places and any reports of suspicious men hanging around or bothering the customers," Reid finished his explanation.

"We are counting on your knowledge of your city to help us locate Averitt," Emily spoke next. "We believe that he did not go back to Chicago because Agent Morgan is too familiar with that territory. He's hoping to keep us off balance by bringing us somewhere we aren't familiar with. Cincinnati is a good choice for him because it's not so large that his actions wouldn't be noticed, but on the other hand it's big enough for him to be able to hide in. Also, he knew that he was right on the state border of Kentucky and that communication between the two states' police agencies might be more complicated than just between neighboring cities."

"Pictures of Ben Averitt have been handed out to each of you, " Hotch resumed. "Our analyst has worked with a sketch artist to recreate what he looked like at the time of her abduction and you also have various other pictures of him from other time periods in his life that we were able to find. Be aware, he does change his appearance often from what we can tell." Hotch stepped back and nodded to the chief, indicating he was finished.

"So what do you think, Hotch?" Rossi asked as the officers dispersed. "Are we going to be able to find this asshole before he takes another victim?"

"I don't know, Dave, but for Morgan's sake, I sure hope so," Hotch answered as he watched Derek head off to a corner and pull out his cell phone. "I'm not sure how long he's going to hold up under these circumstances."

As soon as the briefing was over, Derek knew he needed to hear Penelope's voice. He had to make sure she was still okay. Reliving the nightmare of Penelope's kidnapping had really shaken him and now the reality of having more women tortured and killed all in the name of revenge against him was becoming overwhelming.

"Speak to me Oh Gorgeous Adonis of Mine," Penelope answered when Derek called.

"Hey Baby Girl, I just needed to hear your sexy voice," Derek smiled as he heard Penelope's voice coming through the phone. "Are you okay?"

"I'm wonderful, Sugar. How are you doing?" she asked softly.

"Better now, Penelope. Just hearing your voice makes my world a better place."

"Well then just wait until you get back here tonight and get to hold me in your arms!"

"I can't wait, Baby Girl. It may be late, we're going to try to follow up on some leads first," Derek said as he saw Hotch signaling for him to join the team. "I've gotta go, Pen. I love you."

"I love you too, Derek. Be safe, My Love and I'll be waiting for you." Penelope sighed as she hung up the phone. As glad as she was they were in the same city, at that moment, she still felt as if they were miles apart. Closing her eyes, she said a quick prayer, Please let this end quickly and keep Derek and the rest of my family safe." As she opened her eyes, a shudder ran through her body and a great sense of foreboding took over her heart. Somehow, she knew that even prayer might not be enough to get them through this one.

TBC

So my muse came through and got me through anther chapter. I'm beginning to feel this might be an epic story at the rate I'm going but I'll try to keep it moving along. As always, please let me know what you think and please, please, please leave reviews. I love all your suggestions and try to incorporate the ones I can!