An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.

Thomas Jefferson

Deputy Finn drove Hotch, Rossi and JJ not to the Sherriff's station, but to the town rec center. Apparently, Sherriff Lake had called a town meeting there, in hopes of identifying who the body might be. As they pulled into the parking lot, which was full of trucks, SUV's and other winter ready vehicles, Finn said, "Folks might not all show up, though, not if they live too far from town. Weather's been bad, so it's not so easy to get in here, even for this sort of thing."

Exiting the vehicle, they were almost immediately assaulted by voices, most of whom were calling out inquiries to the deputy. He waved them into the building, assuring them that the Sherriff would tell them what they wanted to know inside. Most of them heeded his advice, but a pretty young woman lingered by the car, her red rimmed eyes ghosting over the federal agents before locking on Finn.

"Lexie didn't come home last night, Harry," the woman said in a quavering voice. She was petite, but body type was difficult to pin down due to the heavy winter gear she wore. Her skin was very pale, but for the eyes, which were faintly red as though she had been rubbing at them. "Everyone's saying it's happening again, the killings, like when we were kids…."

Stepping forward, Hotchner drew the young woman's attention to himself and said, "Miss, I'm Agent Hotchner with the BAU. Would it be all right if we asked you a few questions?"

She blinked at him and shook her head in confusion. "BAU?"

"FBI, Mady," Finn said, then caught her arm as she staggered a step back.

"Oh God," she wheezed, worried gaze morphing into panic and darting from one

agent to the next. "Oh God, it happened, didn't it? You found a body. Oh God, Lexie…."

Her legs seemed to give out and she sank toward the hard packed snow beneath their feet. The grip Finn had on her arm kept her from collapsing completely and he scrambled to haul her upright.

As the deputy literally picked the woman up and sat her on the hood of a nearby car, Hotchner exchanged a look with JJ and Rossi. If the fear and panic Mady was displaying was any indication of the town's state of mind concerning the prospect of another murder spree, things were not looking good.

The crowd inside the rec center was little better, milling about in agitation, the sound of spreading rumors and fear several decibels above a murmur. Families stood in tight groups, spouses linked at the hands, parents clutching their children close, much to the disgruntlement of many teens.

It only took a few seconds for their arrival to register with the mob, an a ripple passes through the room, turning heads and silencing half finished conversations. Deputy Finn, head down and arm protectively around Mady, led the way, paced hurried in an attempt to reach the sheriff before the assault of questions began.

Hotchner, Rossi and JJ trailed in his wake to the front of the room, where Lake stood, surrounded by a particularly pushy looking gathering. Unlike the rest of the room, none of them seemed inclined to move out of Finn's path and continued to block his way until Lake gave a huff and waded through them.

"Harry," he greeted his deputy and seemed about to nod to Hotchner, when he took note of Mady tucked into Finn's side. He raised a brow in question and his face fell when he read the younger man's expression. "Office."

Finn knew what he meant by that and quickly whisked the shaky woman off to the side and through a door way, securing the door behind them. Lake pointed to another door and said, "We can speak in there. Just let me say a few words to them."

Well aware they did not want to speak to the crowd just yet, the three FBI agents made their way toward the room indicated. Behind them, they heard, Lake shout over the reformed din.

"Okay, Folks, I know you're scared," the Sheriff was saying, "But pleases stay calm. I'm going to tell you what I can in a few minutes, but we want to wait for anyone else who might be coming to arrive. After all, you all are early. Now, try to take seats, have some coffee and I'll be back soon."

With that, he stepped into the side room where he had sent the BAU members. As he had spoken to the crowd, he had been steadily backing in their direction. He shut the door and turned to face them. "I really have no idea what to say to them. How am I supposed to tell them not to be afraid of this?"

A few years Hotchner's junior, Sheriff Lake looked like a man who spent a lot of his life smiling. His tanned skin was smooth, but for fine laugh lines around his eyes and mouth and his eyes, a shade of brown so deep they seemed nearly black, were kind. At the moment though, he carried the air of a troubled man, weighed down by the horror of a young woman's death and burdened with the responsibility of bringing her killer to justice. On top of that, it seemed that her killer might have gone uncaught in the past, had possibly terrorized this very town fifteen years earlier.

The terrified people out there depending on him were his friends, possibly family. That had to affect a person.

"You can't," Hotchner told him seriously. "It wouldn't matter if you did. They'd still be afraid. What you can do is assure them that we will do everything in our power to see that the UNSUB is caught and brought to justice."

"And I can help you talk with them," JJ said kindly, drawing the sheriff's bleak gaze to her. "There are things we can inform the public they should do to minimized the risk they could potentially be in."

"We also need to confirm that this is not a copycat killing," Rossi said, leaning his shoulder against the wall, near a second door that seemed to lead to the next room. "So far, we don't know for sure that this is the work of the same individual."

Lake heaved a sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. "We'll take you back to the station after this and you can take a look at the original case files. There were details never released to the public and it's pretty clear whoever killed that young woman we found knew all about them. Plus, Dani was around for the original murders and she thought things looked the same."

"Dani is one of your officers." It was more statement than question, but Rossi felt the need to confirm the fact.

"My second in command," Lake replied, then winced a pained, somewhat rueful smile. "Though considering the department consists of Dani, Harry and myself, I suppose that's something like being the middle child in an odd family."

"All right," Hotchner said, then nodded toward the next room. "We'll need to speak with her, then, if her sister is missing, get DNA to match against the victim. JJ, help Sheriff Lake work up a statement."

The sound of the growing crowd in the main room could be heard through the walls. Every person in the small room knew the next few minutes would not be pleasant, not for anyone involved.

TBC

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