Chapter 8: Uncovering the Secrets and Lies

Nikki awoke with a throbbing in her head as though a ton of bricks had been dropped on her head. She willed her eyes to open, only to see a blinding light. She tried to straighten herself up, but it was useless, as she was chained to a wall. She looked around and found two other women trapped the same way. They had their eyes closed, so she could not tell if they were sleeping or just resting. Obviously, they had endured torture of the worst kind. " Hello, sleeping beauty", a voice grumbled from a dark corner as she turned her head franticly to find him, " It's about time you woke up, I've been waiting for you."

" What do you want from me?", Nikki whispered hoarsely.

" Well, hello to you too. And how have you been, Nicole?", he asked. The way that he said her name sent familiar shivers up her spine.

" Oh, whatever you want, just get it over with", she yawned.

" Oh, whatever I want? Oh, but you know what I want, you've always known what I wanted, Nikki", he answered, and used her pet name casually as though they were friends, " I see that you've come back. It's been five years, I believe. Such a long time to be away from home. Bet your parents and brother didn't handle it very well when you left."

" You're an asshole. Go to hell", was all that Nikki responded with.

" Oh, I've been there, done that, sweetheart", he chuckled.

" You have no right to call me that, scumbag", she hissed.

" Oh, a feisty one, now aren't we? Just like I remember. But, as I recall, I broke down that wall, and you surrendered to me", He laughed, coldly. She gasped as she remembered it well, and what a fool she had been. He gave another laugh, and then a satisfied sigh. " It's always nice to remember, isn't it?"

" Oh, yeah, right. You haven't changed much, have you? Why don't you come out of that corner, stop cowering against it", Nikki sneered.

" Still spiteful, I see. Well, that'll change. I assure you, it will. By the time I'm finished with you, you'll beg for mercy, I swear you will. I very much don't like the name the papers gave me in Chicago. I mean, " The Triangle Killer". Yeah, that sounds scary, very original", he couldn't keep the sarcasm from hitting his voice.

Nikki could hear the sarcasm, she knew that the killer would not like the name, it's why she told the papers to call him that. She was so sure that the killer would make a mistake, and she would catch it. Unfortunately for her, he hadn't.

" How long have I been here?", Nikki asked, calmer.

" Oh, about three days. Damn, it took you long enough to wake up. I've been sitting here for the last two days", he grumbled.

" Ok, so, I see that you've managed to capture more women. So, clearly you've been killing for the past six months because of little old me?", Nikki asked, squarely.

" Oh, it's more than that. You left me", he scoffed.

" You're accusing me for the reason you became a serial killer! You're blaming me! You're despicable!" Nikki screamed.

" Is that the best you can do? Honey, I've been called worse", he laughed.

" Oh, you despicable, no good, rotten, son of a bitch!" she screamed and flailed. Oh, how she wanted to smack that sly little smirk off of his face.

" Ok, now we're getting somewhere", he smiled, " But, I'd save your strength, or at least what's left of it. You're gonna need it." He grinned devilishly, then got out of his chair and left.

Nikki choked back a sob that was threatening to escape. She couldn't cry and show a weakness, that was exactly what he wanted. It was him, all along. She couldn't believe it, actually, she could. Her mind suddenly drifted to Don Flack. She could see his bright, baby blue eyes. His smile, she could hear his voice. She remembered that night not too long ago when she had gotten drunk and Danny let Flack take her home. Oddly, she remembered feeling at ease at his apartment. She remembered everything that had happened before he had taken her home. She remembered clinging to him as though he were her life line. He was her life line now…whether he wanted to be or not.

" Wait, what if they can't give us a profile?", Flack asked.

" I have faith that they will. Relax, Don", Mac stated rather calmly. It was almost as if this didn't bother him. Flack found himself thinking back to every conversation him and Nikki had, and every look they had shared.

" I hope so, Mac, I really do", was all that Flack said. Everyone turned as a man they all assumed to be Agent Hotchner walked into Mac's office. He had short black hair, dark brown eyes, and about 6'2", same as Don. Behind him, there trailed a group of people, who Don assumed to be the rest of the team. Agent Hotchner walked up to Mac and said, " Agent Hotchner." Mac only nodded as he shook hands.

" Agent Hotchner. Mac Taylor, we spoke on the phone", Mac announced.

" Oh yes. This is SSA Morgan, SSA Prentiss, Dr. Spencer Reid, J.J, and SSA Rossi", Hotchner announced his team.

" This is my team: Stella Bonasera, Lindsay Monroe-Messer, beside Lindsay is her husband, Danny Messer, Sheldon Hawkes, and Det. Don Flack", Mac explained proudly. They all exchanged "hellos" and handshakes. Then, they turned to the work they needed to get to.

Nikki awoke to the sound of screaming, and quickly closed her eyes again as soon as she seen what was in store for her. She had already endured enough torture in these past few hours than she could ever imagine. She wondered how long ago she's been kidnapped, then, shook it off as another bloodcurdling scream came full force. Nikki could hear the woman named Julie crying not too far away from her. She could feel the unwanted tears slipping down her cheeks once again. She didn't like crying, but she couldn't stop the tears, she thought it was a sign of weakness, although Danny had always said that it was good to cry, not all the time, but sometimes. She smiled when she thought of Danny and Lindsay, and the baby they would have. Then frowned when she thought that she'd never get out of here to see them again.

The other woman named Rebecca, that was being tortured a little farther away, but close enough that her screams were basically deafening, screamed again and again and again. Nikki wanted to put her hands over her ears to block out the noise, but even if she could she doubted that it would block out the young woman's screams.

" Hey. Nicole?", whispered Julie. Julie was a pretty, young woman of only 24. She had brown hair that went past her shoulders, when it wasn't in a knot, and dark brown eyes. She had a slender figure.

Nikki turned her head and replied, " Yes, Julie?"

" You're a cop, do you think we'll make it out of here?", Julie asked, desperately.

" Well, actually, I'm a CSI. And, I'm not sure. I hope so", Nikki corrected. Nikki felt so helpless and she wished that she could get them all out of there, wherever "there" was. Nikki had talked a lot with these women and found out a lot about them. It had kind of grown into a friendship of sorts.

Beside her, Julie sighed heavily. She worried a lot, but had told Nikki that it was mostly for the fact that she might not see her husband again. She was also worried that something might happen to her unborn child. Nikki had a feeling that with all the torture they were enduring, it wouldn't surprise her to learn that Julie miscarried. Which, she hadn't yet.

Again and again, the screams filled the room until finally, it grew silent.

" Ok, so, you're Nicole's brother?", Agent Hotchner stated.

" Yes, I am. Agent Hotchner, you know this already, why are you asking me?", Danny asked suspiciously.

" It's just standard procedure. I need to know everything about your sister. She's not married, no kids. It says that she was living in Chicago for five years, is that right?", Hotchner stated, more than asked.

" Yes, she was. About three months ago, we lost a CSI. Mac was looking for another, he found Nikki. Two months later, and she was here", Danny replied.

" So, you had contact with her, after she left? You two are close?", Hotchner asked.

" Yes, we are. We share everything, we're brother and sister. If I know if there's something wrong, I ask her about it", Danny stated.

" So, why did she move to Chicago?", Hotchner asked, seriously.

Danny hesitated, and Agent Hotchner didn't miss that. Instead, he stated, " You don't know, do you?"

Danny looked down at the desk, and replied, " No, I don't. Five years ago, she up and left. We, me and my parents, didn't hear from her for four months, then I got a letter from her saying that she moved to Chicago and not to tell anyone but our parents. I've tried asking her what happened that would make her leave like that, but she never answered, instead, she would change the subject."

Agent Hotchner looked down at his file and then got up and left. He ran into Prentiss on her way out from talking to Flack.

" Ok, so, we've got over thirty dead people, a missing CSI who left for Chicago five years ago without a word, and not a whole lot of time. Have we got anything else from her co-workers?", Hotchner asked.

" Well, they're all tired and she's been missing for four days now. We've also got another two women missing along with that. A Julie Saunders, and a Rebecca Edwards. Julie Saunders is 24 and married, and Rossi is currently talking to her husband right now, so, if there's anymore info on her, we'll know. Rebecca Edwards is 27 and engaged. None of them have children either. Nothing much in common as far as I can tell, Hotch", Prentiss answered.

" Look deeper, Prentiss", Hotch replied as he walked away.