In the conference room Reid is now putting color-coded pins on his map. Garcia had run a program that took river speed, the weight of the women, and where the bodies had ended up to guesstimate where they may have been thrown into the river. Emily walks up and looks over his shoulder.
"Not very narrowed down, is it?"
"No, it's not," Reid agrees. "Unfortunately we would need more bodies to narrow the parameters."
A voice interrupts him. "Actually, I can maybe help you out some." He turns to see Cheryl walking over. She points to 2 pins. "There is no way a human could get there, especially if they were dealing with an unwilling partner."
"Rugged terrain?" Reid asks.
"Yes. No clear path. Even a moose or deer trail would be tough to follow." She points to two others. "Now near these, there are look out points. People can look down to the river below and take in all the beauty the park has to offer. People are told to stick to established trails which of course means that over time people have worn down additional paths along the two ridges to try to get the best picture possible."
Morgan had walked over, listening to what Cheryl is saying. "So how much area are we looking at if we staked it out?"
Cheryl thinks about it a moment. "Well, off the top of my head, I'd say maybe 100 yards in either direction of the established point."
Morgan turns to Hotch. "There could be evidence up there, Hotch."
Hotch nods. "Right. Morgan, Prentiss go."
Emily and Morgan head out. Emily takes just a second to wink in JJ's direction. JJ smiles back and nods.
Once they are in the SUV, Morgan glances at Emily. "JJ going to be okay?"
"Yeah, she will be. Motion sickness is a bitch."
Morgan chuckles. "True. But I'm talking about the jealousy."
Emily looks at Morgan in surprise. "Jealousy? What jealousy?"
"Oh, come on, you telling me you didn't see it?"
Emily thinks a moment then shakes her head. "No. See what?"
Morgan laughs heartily. "I think if you had touched Cheryl once more, or she had touched you, JJ might have pulled her gun."
"What? That's crazy! She knows my heart belongs—" and suddenly the bathroom incident becomes clear in Emily's head. She starts to laugh. "Oh my God…she was jealous! That is not like her so I'll blame the motion sickness for now." She grins slyly at Morgan. "But I am still going to tease her about it later."
The two agents laugh and continue on to the first scenic overlook. After parking, they hike another hour and a half to the first point. They scan the ground the entire way up but it is obvious it is a well traveled path. Any evidence directly along the route would have been obliterated by this time. They pass 20 hikers making their way back down the trail.
As they get to the overlook, they see foot-worn paths to either side of the park-maintained area. Six more hikers are there taking in the view. Emily looks at Morgan.
"Okay, you have a woman in a bikini who does not want to be with you. How does no one see you drag her up here? It's a long walk and we've seen, what, 30 people?"
"At least. I think this is a long shot but let's check these side trails anyway."
Emily nods and they look up and down both paths. As they had feared there is nothing to be found. As they walk back down, Morgan glances at his watch.
"I don't think we can risk checking the other site today. How about first light we check out the other one before reporting to the station?"
"Sounds good to me," Emily agrees.
They head back to the station and find the others had also decided to call it a day. Garcia was still waiting for some programs to run, complaining about the slower connection damaging her reputation for finding information almost faster than it's requested. Hotch looks at the team.
"Five of us will be staying at the lodge down the road. Two of us will be staying in the guest cabin at Cheryl's place."
Morgan wraps and arm around Emily. "I'll stay with Prentiss," he offers.
She backhands him in the stomach with a grin. "In your dreams, buddy."
Even Hotch chuckles at that joke. It's decided that Reid and Morgan will take the guest cabin while the others go to the lodge. Morgan agrees to pick up Emily at 6 a.m. so they can check out the other overlook.
As the group leaves for the evening, eyes hidden just in the tree line watch them. They narrow as they see Emily put her hand protectively on JJ's back.
"Don't touch her, bitch," a voice whispers toward them. "Don't you fucking touch her."
Just before she gets in the SUV, JJ stops and stares into the distance. After a second she shakes her head and gets into the vehicle.
"Don't worry, my love. I'll save you," the voice promises.
