Despite his Italian background, Rossi was not a superstitious man. But he was a religious man – having been brought up by a devout religious woman, he didn't know any other way. So as he sat at the conference table, leaving Prentiss to explain their findings at Dr Carson's office to the rest of the team – minus Morgan – he prayed. Because what else could he do? They had no leads, nothing substantial to tie anyone to the case. Just some dead kid's laptop and a crazy theory that he had pushed. And what if it was the wrong theory? What did that mean for him, the team? What did that mean for Reid?

Prentiss had stopped talking and Garcia was now saying that she had just discovered that all the victims had an injection of morphine, triple the recommended maximum dose, straight to the heart. They had found their cause of death.

"We're obviously looking for a genius," JJ said. "Not up to the level Reid is, but still – genius."

"He is a genius," Hotch conceded. "But you're right; he's not as smart as Reid. In fact, I doubt he's as smart as any of our victims."

"Garcia, who was the first victim?" Rossi asked, putting away his imagined rosary beads.

A few clacking and clicks and then, "Roger Sizemore," Garcia said. "IQ of 166."

"So we're looking for someone with an IQ of 165," Prentiss said.

"Find out as much as you can about Sizemore," Hotch instructed.

Garcia nodded but was distracted by a ding that echoed from her laptop. She pulled out a pair of headphones from her bag which had been dumped on the floor beside her chair and plugged them in, putting them on as she did.

"Guys," Morgan rushed into the conference room, his hands occupied by a sizeable laptop that looked like it had jumped out of a Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks film. "Reid's laptop. His email was open. Look at this."

He put the laptop in front of Hotch but further inside the table so that the rest of the team could easily see.

"Are those emails from...Gideon?" JJ asked slowly, her voice betraying the dread she felt.

"They've been communicating for months," Morgan said, his voice rising but Rossi shook his head.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he interjected.

"How can you ignore this?" Morgan demanded. "They're talking about old cases and things that only we would know. How do you explain that?"

"I don't think it's Gideon," Garcia said suddenly, removing the headphones from her head and looking grimly up at the team. "Gideon's voice message: it's not him. Well it is, but it isn't," she huffed and waved her hands in front of her as if trying to physically erase what she had just said. "I mean, it's him, but it's a recording of him."

"Like Rossi said," Prentiss murmured.

"How can you tell Garcia?" Hotch asked quickly.

"I stripped down the audio," she said. "It didn't take much before I got an echo. It's definitely a recording."

Morgan made to open his mouth in what Rossi was sure would be some sort of objection to this fact but Garcia continued, effectively cutting him off.

"There's more," her voice took on a much more grim tone – even more so than it had been since knowledge of Reid's disappearance. "I've looked for property under his name, bank accounts, phone plans – anything. Nothing came up. He's been hiding pretty well."

"He can't have just disappeared," JJ said.

"He has, but that hasn't stopped me before," Garcia said. "I found an offshore bank account under his name, but he's wiring the money to a credit card under the name of Gordon Simon Stewards. The card was used frequently until about seven months ago and then suddenly no action. None since actually."

"Seven months?" Rossi was suspicious. "Isn't that around the same time Reid started getting messages from the UnSub?"

"Yeah," Garcia affirmed.

"Garcia, where was the last place he used it?" Hotch asked, suddenly feeling very uneasy.

"A little town half an hour away," she replied, reading off her screen. "A coffee shop off the highway."

"Hotch, I'm on it," Morgan said quickly, his voice determined. "Garcia, send me the coordinates." Not waiting for a reply, he swiftly left the conference room. Rossi suspected he didn't want to give Hotch the opportunity to take the task away from him.

"I'll go with him," Rossi decided, taking Morgan's lead and rushing out.

Xxx

The coffee shop was more like a trucker's stop with a rundown cafe off to the side. It was nearing six o'clock in the evening and Morgan was worried that they might have closed for the day. Thankfully, however, it was open and bustling with surly truckers. Morgan and Rossi made their way to the counter where a line had formed. Morgan flashed his badge and, ignoring the curses and swears, pushed to the front of the line where he was met by a stocky middle-aged woman behind the counter. Rossi followed.

"Look here..." she noticed his badge and her voice turned from stern to soft. "What can I do for you, detective?"

"Agent," Morgan corrected. "We're looking for a customer you had seven months ago."

She laughed. "Seven months? Oh hell, darling, do you know how many customers I get a day? I can't even remember who I served an hour ago."

"Can you take a look at a picture please?" Morgan asked, pulling out his phone.

The woman shrugged.

Morgan flipped through his phone's picture gallery before landing on a photo of Gideon. He gave the phone to the woman who smiled instantly.

"Oh, dear me, it's Gordon," she said. "If there's one customer I'm not likely to forget, it's Gordon."

"Why's that?" Rossi asked, intrigued.

"He's just so lovely," she said. "Always gives me the biggest tips." Her face grew concerned. "Is he alright? He's not in trouble is he?"

"No, ma'am, we just need to ask him a few questions," Morgan said quickly. "Do you know where he is?"

She shook her head and handed the phone back to Morgan. "He comes into town twice a year for a couple of weeks."

"So he should be here now right?" Morgan asked. "Last time he came was seven months ago."

"If he was here, I'd know about it," the woman said. "He always comes in."

"Does he ever miss a visit?" Rossi asked.

"This would be the first."

"Where does he stay when he comes here?" Morgan prodded.

"He owns this little cabin about ten minutes off the highway," she said.

"Address?"

Xxx

"I didn't know you had a picture of Gideon in your phone," Rossi started.

"Don't profile me Rossi," Morgan grunted as he got behind the driver's wheel, ready to tear off to Gideon's cabin.

"You liked Jason," Rossi continued. "You weren't as close to him as Reid was, but you respected him. You felt betrayed when he left."

Morgan tore out of the truck stop as if the speed he drove would erase the words that had just left Rossi's mouth.

"That betrayal stung," Rossi ignored Morgan's obvious building rage and discomfort. "Doesn't mean he's the UnSub. You're letting your anger cloud your judgement."

Rossi could tell he had hit the right spot.

"No offense Rossi," Morgan's voice was tight and controlled but the rage was seeping through. "But you don't know what you're talking about."

They sat in silence for a minute. Rossi was content that he needn't say more: he had gotten through and after this visit with Gideon, Morgan could move on. So instead he said, "I've always wanted to see Gideon's cabin."

Morgan turned off the highway and drove down a street with large acres of farmland on either side.

"You haven't?" the younger agent asked, clearly surprised.

"That was always his getaway spot," Rossi replied. "He never told anyone where it was."

"Except Reid," Morgan said.

"And Hotch," Rossi peered out the window. "I think that's it." He pointed towards a small cabin clearly visible from the street. A short driveway lead to a carport that was unoccupied. Morgan drove into the driveway and put the car into park.

"You ready?" Rossi turned in his seat to face Morgan.

Morgan just looked at him and the turned and got out of the car. Rossi met him at the front door.

Morgan knocked. There was no answer.

"Gideon!" Morgan called through. "It's Morgan and Rossi! We need to talk to you about Reid."

Still no answer.

"Morgan," Rossi whispered and when Morgan looked over at him, confused as to why Rossi was looking down.

Morgan followed Rossi's gaze. At first, his confusion was intensified: he had no idea what he was meant to be seeing. They were losing the sun and the fading light was casting shadows all around them making it even harder to see. So Morgan bowed his head and then squatted. And that's when he saw them.

Maggots.

Morgan looked up at Rossi, horrified. He was sure his face mirrored the look Rossi wore and in an instant, he was up and kicking the door open.

The cabin was dark but that's not what Morgan noticed first. The stench that greeted them upon opening the door was close to unbearable. He knew that smell all too well and the panic in him nearly took over.

He clawed at the wall for a light switch. Finding it, the cabin brightened and Morgan saw it all.

Decomposing body. Smashed skull.

Xxx

A/N: Hi all! Sorry for the late chapter. I have a lot of work to do in my non-fiction life and although all the reviewers are sooo kind, I feel like there is a loss in interest which makes me slightly unmotivated. I really struggled with this chapter and it probably shows. So apologies! My thanks to People Person I'm Not, neuroticmango, run and remember, Annber03, Sniper, lovecrimindsteam and Elohim Aelf.

I got a question asking if there will be more Reid. This is a Reid centred fic but at the moment there is a serious lack of Reid. I have a plan to fix that but if I tell you then I might as well not write the story LOL I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who gave me well wishes! Very lovely of all you guys xxx

Oh and maggots feed on dead flesh, fun fact.

Hope to read your feedback! xx