Chapter 3 –

JJ had just finished talking to the Chief of Detectives at Chicago, the team had now received the official invite into the case and the team were all getting ready to meet at the jet but before that JJ needed to go somewhere...quite desperately.

"Hi Em!"

JJ quickly ran in an empty stall, her bladder almost at bursting point, she only had time to shout out at her friend. It didn't take long for JJ to finish up and she walked out to wash her hands, surprised to see Emily still there staring down at the basin.

"Umm...is everything ok Emily?"

Emily had come into the restroom to gather her thoughts before they headed out to Chicago, she needed to ensure that everything was compartmentalised, what she hadn't anticipated was being disturbed by her good friend.

"Uh...yeah...sure JJ. Come on we're going to be late."

Emily forced a smile, an action that didn't go unnoticed by JJ but she knew that now wasn't the time to push.

"Ok well if there's anything...at anytime Em..."

JJ turned and smiled at her tall friend who walked towards her, placing a comforting hand on her right shoulder.

"Thanks JJ I know, just not now ok?"

JJ nodded and followed the older agent out of the toilets and back to their respective desks to retrieve their bags and head towards the jet and meet with the rest of the team.

It was getting dark as he threw the occupied sheet into the trunk of his station wagon. Nodding to her as he heavily sat in the driver's seat and began to drive out of the wilderness, following the stream of lights towards the city. The two of them had sat at the kitchen table, a street map of Chicago spread out on top of the plastic blue and white checked table cloth. He had listened obediently to her, he always had for as long as he could remember, and when her wrinkly, scrawny index finger rested on the Lake View Presbyterian Church on West Addison Street, he knew where he would be heading that evening. So here he was, thirty minutes later, checking his mirrors carefully so that his presence wasn't too obvious as he stopped. Although he had done this 'job' before, it still made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the adrenalin rush of dumping the body in such a public place coursed around his body. He knew why she had picked this one...neither of them had been there before and there was a service due to take place first thing in the morning, meaning that she could be discovered and put to rest soon. Checking once again that it was safe he walked around and opened the trunk, throwing the dead weight over his right shoulder and walked purposefully towards the steps. He stopped briefly halfway up and laid her down horizontally on the step, carefully pulling back the sheet around her eyes as he crossed her hands over her chest before finally laying a necklace between her fingers. As he stood up he whispered a quiet prayer before venturing back to the safety of the station wagon and the roads home.

Morgan rubbed his chin, hard, his head was starting to pound from the lack of sleep and partying from the night before and then combined with the thoughts of the menace that was praying upon his home town. Closing his eyes Morgan stretched out his arms around the back of his head, trying hard to find a moment of peace before heading into the chaos that would greet them when they landed.

Hotch glanced across the aisle and saw the slight anguish on the Chicago native, frowning slightly Hotch turned back to his companion sitting opposite.

"Do you think he's ok?"

Dave raised his eyes from the file he was reading and looked first at Hotch before glancing around the rest of the jet.

"It's always tough going to a case at home, but this is not going to be easy on any of us."

Dave rested his head back against the seat and subconsciously let his gaze wander over to Emily who was sat talking to Spencer.

"What are your thoughts Dave? You were quiet earlier."

Hotch leant forward as Dave picked up his small notepad and threw it over to Hotch.

"If Garcia is right, and she normally is, then this unsub has been operating for ten years, preying on young pregnant girls, but do you want to know what is really bothering me?"

Dave leant forward as he watched Hotch pass the notepad back to him, both men unaware of the other agent approaching them.

"What's happening to the babies?"

JJ slipped into the seat next to Dave smiling as she placed a mound of files onto the table.

"Exactly JJ, are they keeping them...selling them...killing them?"

"That's a question that is going to be crucial to solving this case, in the mean time I'll get Garcia to do some digging."

Hotch reached for his cell and relayed the information he needed Garcia to search for.

"Well we're going to land soon, when we do Morgan and Dave can head to the morgue and see what the ME says about the latest body. Reid can look at the geographical profile, JJ can you start with victimolgy whilst Prentiss and I will go and see Chloe Dixon's mother."

Hotch looked at JJ and Rossi who nodded in acknowledgement, both silently hoping that they wouldn't be at their destination for too long.