A/N: Sorry for taking a little longer this time, but I was trying to figure out some details of the case. Hope you'll enjoy!

Chapter 8

"Miss Jensen, thank you for coming in so quickly," JJ said as she shook the woman's hand. "I'm agent Jareau. Let's take a seat," she said as she led the victim's wife to the nearest couch in a quiet corner of the police station.

"Mandy," the woman replied before sitting down next to JJ. "What happened to my husband?" She asked, wiping her cheeks away while new ones spilled onto her cheek.

"My team is doing everything they can to figure that out right now," JJ said softly. "From what I've understood you arrived in Las Vegas only yesterday morning?" She asked. Mandy nodded in confirmation. "Can you tell me why your husband was out on his own?"

"My daughter and I were tired and wanted to go to the hotel, but Carl…" she hiccupped, "he said he wanted to get right into the Vegas experience, didn't want to miss a thing," she explained. "So he dropped us off at the hotel and decided to head to the Strip for some gambling. He promised he'd be back in two hours, so when he didn't come back…" she choked, shaking her head a little, "sorry."

JJ shook her head, giving the woman a sympathetic smile, "You don't have to apologize, I'm so sorry for your loss," she said. "Did you try calling him at all yesterday?"

"About a hundred times," Mandy Jensen nodded, "it went straight to voicemail every time so I knew something was up. Carl always picks up the phone when I call."

JJ continued to talk with the victim's wife for another hour before having a local police agent escort her back to the hotel with her daughter. She headed to the layout room and met with Tara who had been talking to the daughter. "So, the wife tells me the victim didn't want to go back to the hotel yet, he dropped them off and said he'd go and gamble for two hours. She tried calling, the phone went straight to voicemail."

Tara nodded, "Sounds about the same as the story I got from the daughter. Can you imagine how worried they must've been last night?" She shook her head a little bit, letting out a deep sigh. "Some things I will never be able to get used to."

"Me neither," JJ sighed and looked up when she saw Rossi and Reid come back into the police station. "Let's go see if they have any information," she suggested.

"Our UnSub has changed from her pantyhose to a strangle wire," Rossi explained during the briefing. "Seems like she's evolving, becoming more efficient," he added.

"Or maybe she wants to move to a more gruesome manner," Reid interjected, "by using the strangle cord it's almost like cutting someone's throat," he explained. "It could be she is trying to gain confidence. This crime scene was definitely bloody, she could be moving on to other ways to kill."

Hotch let out a sigh, "Which will make it harder for us to determine which victims are hers and which are not," he said as he looked at JJ and Tara. "Any useful information from the victim's family?"

JJ shook her head, "Not really, the wife and daughter were dropped off at the hotel so he could gamble at the Strip, he'd promised to be back two hours later, when he wasn't she tried calling him but it went straight to voicemail."

"So she turned off his phone in order not to be interrupted," Tara suggested, looking around for confirmation.

"Could be," Hotch replied with a nod, before turning to Rossi and Reid again. "Did you find a cellphone at the crime scene?"

They both shook their heads at the same time, "The victim only had his wallet on him, all that was left was his driver's license."

"Garcia, try and see if the phone has become active again and if the credit card has been used," Hotch said as he turned to the computer screen. "She could be becoming careless," he said.

"Let's hope so," Rossi nodded.

That evening JJ grabbed Reid's arm as they walked towards the hotel. "Can we take a walk?" She asked, looking around to see if anyone had overheard her.

Reid stopped and frowned, "Uhm… are you sure you want to have this conversation here?" He asked.

"I can't help but go crazy Spence, please?" JJ asked, almost pleadingly.

Reid nodded and looked around. "Why don't we go for a drink at that diner across the street?" He suggested. He knew he'd feel more comfortable if he could look into her eyes, which he wouldn't be able to do if they were to walk next to each other.

JJ let out a sigh of relief and followed him, finding a nice quiet table in the corner. She sat opposite him and tried to meet his eyes. "Dave talked to you last night, didn't he?" She asked.

"Briefly," Reid nodded, "Said he'd been talking to you at the bar," he said and paused for a minute so they could order their drink. When they'd done so, he let out a sigh. "He told me you were struggling…"

JJ nodded, "I am," she admitted, her voice breaking as tears threatened to fall. "I am afraid that I broke something that was still so fragile," she whispered.

Reid looked down at his hands for a moment, before reaching out and grabbing hers. "You didn't break it," he whispered, "we've been through so much already, I know we'll get through this as well."

JJ choked when he took her hand, tears spilling onto her cheeks as her heart thudded in her chest. "Oh God Spence, you have no idea how good it is to hear you say that," she admitted.

Reid gave a small smile, "It doesn't mean it's all good now," he admitted, "I'm still disappointed that I missed out on so much," he said.

JJ nodded, "I know," she whispered as she wiped at her cheeks. How could a man have such a big heart, she briefly wondered as she looked deeply into his eyes.

Reid looked back into hers before getting up and sliding into her side of the booth, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close against him. He let out a deep sigh and kissed the top of her head, taking in her smell.

This caused JJ to break down, clinging to him as she cried. All the fear and insecurity seemed to leave her body through the salty liquid. She pulled away after a bit and cupped his cheek. "You're amazing Spence, I'll wonder how I deserved you for the rest of my life," she whispered.

"As I'll do the same thing," he admitted with a small smile, looking up when the waitress brought their order. "Cheers," he said as he raised his glass, "to new beginnings."

"New beginnings," JJ smiled and clinked her glass with his.

TBC