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A/n here's the next chapter my lovelies. Once again I have to give my fantastice beta REIDFANATIC mucho kudos. The next twist in this chapter was her idea and a damn good on it was.

The Unexpected Link

Everyone, except Garcia, had congregated into the conference room. Hotch had just finished speaking with Rossi when Stella joined them. "I just spoke with David Rossi in Montana. He's looking into a case of three missing girls from around the Bozeman area. The un-sub is taking them from public places at two-month intervals. The good news for Bozeman is that the pattern hasn't repeated even though we would expect another missing child by now."

"What does this have to do with Lucy?" Stella asked impatiently.

"When I heard you say that Detective Messer calls Detective Monroe, Montana, I began wondering if the cases were connected." Reid said while he began putting pictures up on the white board Adam had pushed into the room.

"I'd like you to see the missing girls from Montana."

He put up the pictures as everyone watched him in silence. No one spoke for a long time as they all stared at the photos. "They all resemble Lucy," Hawkes said.

"It could be a coincidence," Stella said, but there was hope in her voice.

"Yes… It could be a coincidence, but then we talked to Rossi. When un-subs perfect a ritual, they rarely vary from it. It takes something drastic to alter their plans. We would expect a un-sub to de-evolve or begin to lose control. It's unusual for the un-sub to wait longer to kidnap or kill rather than decrease the time between kills." Reid explained.

"I hope there's more to this than just a kidnapper not meeting a time frame." Mac said skeptically.

"There is more," said a very excited voice from the doorway.

Garcia hurried into the room, her pink dress swirling around her tanned legs. "I found the connection. I traced the weapon that killed Lopez to a dealer of antiquities right here in New York. He's also Cuban, but here legally. His name is Guillermo Cortez. He reported a kukri missing in a robbery six months ago. Unfortunately, we don't have the weapon to compare. The good news is that I couldn't find another instance of a kukri being stolen in this part of the country."

"Then we better have a word with this Cortez." Flack said getting up out of his chair.

"Not so fast," she smirked at him. "We don't need to speak to him even if we could. He's dead. He had a heart attack having sex with a prostitute." Garcia informed him.

"That's convenient," Flack dropped back in his chair with a scowl.

"I do have more good news." Garcia took the chair between Hawkes and Reid. "I found a connection between Cortez, Herbert Stanley, Lopez and the case in Montana. At least I think I have."

"What have you found?" Hotch asked.

"I found a known associate of Herbert Stanley. His name is David Cadence."

"Did you say David Cadence?" Mac started up in surprise, fiery red coming into his face.

"What is it?" Hotch asked feeling the tension go up in the room.

"When Lindsay was sixteen, she was the only survivor of a violent crime. A man killed three of her girlfriends and a server at a local diner. Lindsay was the only witness. Four years ago, she went back to Montana to testify against Daniel Cadence. He's serving four life terms as a guest of the State of Montana."

"David is his brother," Garcia continued as though no one had interrupted her. "They grew up in Montana, sons of a rancher. They both began getting into trouble when they were teenagers. When their father died fifteen years ago, he left the ranch to them. It appears that David tried to go straight for a while. He took over the ranch and married Eileen Parry a year later. After his brother went to jail, he went back to his old ways for reasons unknown. He got involved in drug and weapons smuggling. It appears that his wife thought he'd gone out to become a truck driver because he couldn't make the ranch pay off. That's where he could have met up with Lopez and, through him, Stanley. His wife didn't know about his new criminal life until he died two years ago. He left her with a very substantial life insurance policy that paid double indemnity on murder or accidental death. Her daughter died in a drowning accident in the pond on the ranch. Mrs. Cadence ended up in an institution. She was released a year ago."

"You said she had a daughter," Stella said.

"Yes…" Garcia went to the white board and put a picture up.

They all stared in disbelief. "She and Lucy could be twins."

"Are you saying that Lucy is in Montana in the hands of the mentally unstable sister-in-law of Daniel Cadence?" Hawkes asked, dumbfounded.

"We can't jump to conclusions?" Hotch said. "We need to get Rossi and the rest of the team out to that Ranch."

"I'll get them the address." Garcia said.

"We have to tell Danny and Lindsay," Stella said.

"Not yet," Mac said. "We need to wait and see if Lucy is there. I won't get their hopes up for nothing."

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Danny sat down on the couch next to Lindsay. She climbed into his lap and hugged him close. "I wish we had something to do rather than just sit here and wait around for news."

He tightened his grip on her so that his scent, sharp and tangy, surrounded her. "I know Linds… I keep thinking about our trip to Amagansett. I want to go back there when we have her back."

"Why?"

He began playing with her wedding band as he spoke. "I want to make some good memories to replace the old ones."

"Alright… I think that's a great idea."

"What have you been doin?"

She didn't answer until her reached around and took his chin in his hand. "Montana?"

"I was in Lucy's room. I changed the sheets again and…" She bit her lip and tears began to run down his cheeks.

"What is it baby?" He kissed her cheek. "Please don't cry."

"I was looking at that quilt mom made for her. Remember that she told us she knew Lucy would be a girl before the ultrasound proved it."

He ran his fingers over her hands and up her arm. "Yeah…"

"She said she had a dream the night I called to tell her I was pregnant. She dreamed of a little girl with dark eyes and blonde hair. She said it was so real that when she woke up she expected the little girl to be right there in the room with her. She said she just knew that her granddaughter would be a girl."

"She was right," he said softly.

"I laughed at her because I'm all about the science. After Lucy was born, I thought about Mac. He said to me one time that God is a scientist."

She felt Danny shake against her back as he laughed. "Yeah… That sounds like something he would say. If God let your ma know ahead of time about Lucy, then I guess he had his reasons. Can I tell you something Lindsay?"

She turned in his arms and gazed up at his sorrowful blue eyes. "You know you can tell me anything baby."

"When you went to Montana before Lucy was born, I was all excited for a son. I thought that because all the women in my family had boys that I'd have one too. I drove everyone nuts with boy's names. Then you called me that day and said we're having a little girl. I was stunned, and I admit, a little disappointed, but then I was so happy because I pictured her just like you and I love you so much. I wouldn't trade her for a dozen boys."

His voice broke on the last word. Lindsay pulled his face down and kissed him delicately on the lips. "I love you too Danny. We have to trust in Mac and the BAU."

The phone rang just as Lindsay was about to kiss him again. She slid off Danny's lap so that he could fish his phone out of his pocket, which he left on despite orders.

"Don't answer that…" She said. "It could be reporters."

He ignored her and answered the phone. "Messer."

"Hello Detective…"

"Casey," Danny growled. "You son of a bitch… Where is my daughter?" He shouted.

"Manners Danny… I'm calling because I want to propose a trade, you for the location of your daughter."

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She closed the door to her daughter's room. Her little girl slept peacefully again. It wouldn't be long before Sarah would accept and remember her as her mother. This time it would be different from all the others.

She jerked in surprise when someone knocked on her door. Her heart began to race. Perhaps she should just ignore the door. She tiptoed down the hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen door. There was someone at the door.

Emily found the back door to the ranch house unlocked. She opened it at the same time she heard JJ knock on the front door. She crept in to the sunny kitchen. The yellow curtains on the windows and the white flowers in the vase on the wooden table belied the fact that they had a warrant to question Eileen Cadence and search the home for Lucy Messer.

She found the stairs rather easily as Kevin Lynch had been able to get them the blueprints of the house from Bozeman City. She passed the front of the house and hurried up the stairs on her toes, the top stair creaked and she froze, but no one called out to her.

"Who's there?" Eileen called out. If she dealt with the person, they would go away.

"UPS ma'am… I have a delivery for Seven Arrow Ranch."

She opened the door to see a young woman with blond hair pulled back in a brown cap wearing a UPS uniform. "Here you go ma'am… I just need your signature on this."

"Thanks… I completely forgot that I'd ordered anything."

"That's okay… People tell me that all the time."

Eileen signed the paper. "I'll just bring this in." The blond woman said as she pushed in a dolly with large box.

"Thanks… I'll take it from here." Eileen hoped the young woman didn't see her hands shaking.

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The hallway at the top of the stairs boasted flowered wallpaper and three doors. Emily tried the first one but found it locked. She was about to move to the next door when the wail of a child cut through the air. The misery in the cry ripped at her heart. She lifted one of her feet and kicked it just below the doorknob not caring about the noise. She had no doubt at that time, who she would find behind the door. The door snapped open easily as it was a flimsy lock.

As the door rebounded from the wall, a familiar little girl with blond hair and dark eyes stood up in the crib and screamed her daddy.

"It's okay Lucy… I'm going to take you home."

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Sarah began screaming in her room as Eileen bent to look at the large box on the dolly. The blond woman moved quickly pulling something out of her belt. It was a gun. "Ma'am, please put your hands where I can see them."

"Who the hell are you?" Eileen demanded.

"Agent Jareau, FBI… Don't move."