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A/n hello all... The BAU makes it's appearance in this chapter. Many thanks to all my loyal readers. Please enjoy!

Division of Attention

Rossi tapped on Hotch's office door, entering when invited in by the Unit Chief. "What's up?" Hotch asked wearing his usual dark suit and glowering facial expression.

"I just got a call from an old friend whose head of the New York City Crime lab." Rossi said as he went to stand near the long narrow windows.

"You mean Mac Taylor." Hotch said.

"Yes… You've worked with him before," Rossi inquired.

"No, but his reputation's made it up to Quantico. He's an ex-marine."

"Semper Fi," Rossi interrupted with a smile.

"Of course. He's been a cop and a CSI for over twenty years. He's the last of the cops hired under Giuliani. He has a reputation as a hard nose scientist who doesn't jump to conclusions without the facts. His closure rate of cases is one of highest in the country."

"You know your CSIs," Rossi smirked.

"Let me guess," Hotch said with just the hint of a smile. "You're in here because Mac Taylor's looking for Shane Casey."

"Why do I bother?" Rossi jerked his shoulders. "That's why they pay you the big bucks."

"I got the request for help about twenty minutes before you walked in here. You've been following the news." Hotch asked.

"Yes… Shane Casey has escaped custody three times and killed six people. He kidnapped a little girl, the daughter of Danny and Lindsey Messer, two of Mac's CSIs."

"That was ten days ago. They have been trying to get a line on him since then, but nothing. The police Commissioner called us in."

"That's why Mac just called me. Apparently his boss didn't tell him that they'd called us."

"I get the feeling that there's some bad blood between the Chief of Detectives and Mac Taylor." Hotch said as he stood up from his desk with the file in hand. "We could be walking into some infighting."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Rossi began as JJ breezed in looking very concerned.

"I just got a call from Detective Halstead in Bozeman Montana. There are three little girls missing. The pattern's very disturbing."

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose. "Get everyone in the conference room now."

Garcia followed Rossi, JJ and Hotch into the conference where Emily, Morgan and Reid were sitting. Morgan was teasing Reid about his new hair cut while Emily smirked at both of them. "…bet we can find you all kinds of female admirers now kid." Morgan was saying.

"Shut up Morgan!" Reid slapped away Morgan's fingers in his hair.

"Quiet everyone!" Hotch took his place and JJ began to talk.

"This is Kylie Sweeny…" She brought a picture of a small, blond haired girl with dark brown eyes and a tooth missing from her smile. "She was went missing from a park two months in Bozeman Montana. She is the third to go missing in the last six months. The first two victims Carilynne Prescott, and Hannah Telford also went missing from parks in the middle of the day. She put up two more photographs of small girls with blond hair and dark eyes. "So far, the pattern is two months between kidnappings. The locals are concerned another child may go missing any day now."

"The police haven't found any bodies or any evidence at the crime scenes. They interviewed, did knock on doors of business around the parks, but now one saw anything out of the ordinary." JJ continued as she put up more pictures of green hilly parks with normal looking picnic tables and playgrounds.

"The ages range is interesting," Reid said. "Kylie was two years old, the first victim Carilynne was nearly three, and the second victim, Hannah, around a year and a half."

"So the un-sub is a preferential offender," Emily proposed.

"He has a flexible age range." Rossi observed.

"The un-sub blends in." Emily observed. "What about park personnel like groundskeepers?"

"I'm on that!" Garcia said from behind her laptop. "If anything pops I'll let you know."

"Have you been able to get anything from the security cameras in the surrounding businesses?" Hotch asked their brightly dressed tech.

She regarded him from behind sapphire blue glasses frames. "No… All the angles are blocked by hills of grass or buildings like the bathrooms and pavilions. The footage we got of the playgrounds show the girls playing but I couldn't see anyone that looked out of place or watching the kids."

"Keep at it!" Hotch ordered. "Then I want you to turn over all you've done so far to Kevin Lynch. I'm taking you and Reid with me to New York."

"What's going on?" Morgan asked looking curiously up at his boss.

"Rossi and I both received requests from the head of the crime lab in New York City and the Police Commissioner. I trust you've all been following the news about convicted serial killer Shane Casey and the kidnapping of Lucy Messer."

JJ put up a photograph of a little girl with blond hair and brown eyes. She wore a cute little pink outfit with a cloth hat perched on her head. A man held her in an orange sweatshirt that was playing at frowning in sadness for the camera.

The team surveyed the photograph with silent eyes.

"Shane Casey killed two people involved with the conviction of his brother Ian Casey in 2003. He didn't believe that his brother killed a bartender he'd robbed. He felt that his brother, who committed suicide after his conviction, wasn't guilty because the case hinged on the eyewitness account of one witness. He nearly killed his brother's lawyer and had also targeted another CSI that was the ME at the time of the crime." Reid said into that silence.

Everyone grinned at each other as Reid finally took a breath and stopped talking. "Nice recap kid." Morgan said.

"Why did you get the call?" Emily asked Rossi who appeared to be deep in thought over the case in Bozeman.

"He's a friend of Detective Mac Taylor, which is why he's going with you, JJ and Morgan to Bozeman. There's some political stuff in the NYPD and they don't need an excuse to take the case away from the crime lab." Hotch said.

The local FBI isn't getting anywhere, which is why Quantico has been called in. Now Shane Casey is clever and dangerous. He never kills the same way twice, at least not yet. He leaves obscure clues having to do with mythology, currency and numerology. That's why I need you Reid. If he resurfaces, you're the best mind we have to figure out the clues. He leaves them as stalling tactics. Let's make sure he loses that advantage."

"Yes sir…" Reid answered soberly, but the light of challenge lit up his eyes.

"I don't have to remind you that this is one of our own." He said to Reid and Garcia. "We get Lucy Messer back alive."

He stared down Reid who'd looked like he was about to open his mouth with some depressing statistic. "I said alive." Hotch repeated.

Reid and Garcia looked at each other then the boss. "Yes sir."

"Rossi, you and the team take the jet. The rest of us will drive to New York."

"Don't let Reid drive." Morgan warned Hotch as they all stood up from the table.

"Why not?" Hotch asked before Reid could speak. "I don't understand where this idea came from that he can't drive."

Reid grinned at Morgan who looked like he wanted to argue, but didn't dare. "Fine… Take your life in your hands if you want."

Emily smacked Morgan upside the head. "Shut up you. We have a case to get to."

"Geez… What did I say?" He growled.

"You know!" She shot back, "Leave Reid alone for a change and concentrate on your job."

"Hotch…" JJ said into the laughter that followed. "Why don't I see what I can do about getting you on a commuter train instead? If I'm lucky I'll be able to get you a work area so you can talk on the trip."

"Thanks… Let me know as soon as you can."

JJ hurried out of the room. The rest followed, their laughter dampening into concern as tension filled the room again. It was the first time in a long time their attention had been divided.

Rossi went back to his office and shut the door. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Mac?"

"Yes…"

"It's Dave."

"When will you be coming?" Mac said.

"Not me… My unit chief SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA Dr. Spencer Reid and our best Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia will be there in a few hours."

"I was hoping to have you here as well."

"I can't Mac; we have another urgent case in Montana. In addition, you should know that the Commissioner called in the team without notifying you. I don't want to add to the tension or give the defense attorney an excuse to use against you when you find Shane Casey. They could argue that you brought in a friend in the FBI."

"I can't say that I'm surprised. I'm not that popular with the higher-ups. I was just trying to bring in the best Dave."

"Well thanks for the compliment. Don't worry, there's no one better when it comes to profiling then Aaron Hotchner and Spencer Reid. Dr. Reid has a mind like you've never seen. It you get anymore nutty clues, he's the one to figure it out for you, fast."

"Thanks Dave… I owe you one."

Rossi went to his window and looked out into the cloudy day. "Trust me, I'll think of something good."

Mac laughed. "I'm sure you will. I can't lose her Dave. She's my God Daughter and I love her. I can't watch Danny and Lindsey go through the hell of losing her for good. They've been through enough as it is." Mac said bluntly.

"Don't worry Mac. They'll be there soon. I'm going to look over the case on the trip to Bozeman. I'll call you if I think of anything."

"I'd appreciate that. Thanks again Dave."

"Hey… You'd do the same for me right."

"Yeah… Once a Marine, always a Marine. We take care of your own. Take care."

Rossi shut his phone and grabbed his go bag. The weather outside looked like they were in for another rainstorm. He wondered where the little girls were that day, including Lucy Messer. He shook his head. He had to focus on the un-sub for right now. It wouldn't help to speculate if they were cold, hungry or in pain. It only made the job harder.