I'm back. Not sure if I'll have the whole story up by Christmas... ahhh! xp

EIGHT: Exceedingly Angry

"The exact same dream?"

"Word for word."

"Okay, that is strange."

"There was more," Reid said. "The angel said you should take the baby out of Bethlehem as soon as Beth can travel. Even if we catch Majesty, his followers might take drastic action. He shouldn't be here."

"Did Gideon mention that part too?"

"No." Reid looked down. "I don't know if I believe in prophetic dreams or not, but it's too much of a coincidence even for me to ignore."

Hotch nodded. "I don't think we need you to go back to the chatroom anyway, so let's treat the dream as good advice for now."

"Okay." Reid seemed relieved. "I guess you can't move Beth before the baby's born..."

"No, it's too late for that."

A police detective hurried up to them. "Agent Hotchner, we just got a nine-one-one. Another baby has been killed."

"Oh no," Reid said quietly.

"Where?" asked Hotch.

"Up on the north edge of town. It was another Jewish boy, this one almost two years old."

"He's devolving," said Reid. "Broadening his victimology."

"Come brief my team," Hotch told the detective. "We need to get to the scene right away."

Police were already on the scene when Hotch's team arrived. Understandably, the parents of the dead boy were inconsolable. Rossi met Morgan inside the house and they studied the crime scene together. After the photographer finished his work and they'd had a moment to look at the scene, EMT's took the small body away. A few minutes later, they rejoined the team outside.

"He hit hard and fast," Morgan said. "He had to have known the house."

Hotch went to the parents. "I know what just happened is unthinkable, but do you know of anyone who could have done this? Has anyone threatened you or your son before?"

"No," the husband said in a hollow tone. "No one's threatened us... who could... who could possibly do something like this?"

"Has there been anything out of the ordinary lately? Phone calls? A new mail carrier? anything different."

"I thought I saw someone yesterday," the wife said suddenly. "By the garage... but when I went to the window he was out by the road, walking away. I figured I imagined it."

"What did he look like?"

"Um... I don't know. He didn't look particularly big or small... he wasn't fat or skinny. Just... average. I think he was in jeans and a sweatshirt."

"With a hood?"

"Yes... it was black."

"Did you get a look at his face?"

"No. I'm not even sure of his race. But he was built like a man. Oh, God... do you think it was him?"

"It's possible, but we can't know for sure." Hotch was about to ask something else when his phone rang. Beth's name was on his screen. "Excuse me," he said before stepping away to answer the call. "Hello, Beth?"

"Daddy, I fell asleep..." Jack's voice said.

"It's okay, buddy. How's Beth doing?"

"She said to call you. 'Cause the last contractions were less than ten minutes apart."

"Tell her I'm going to head back right away, but I'm on the other side of town, so it will take me a little while, okay?"

"Okay. Hurry..." Jack sounded scared.

Hotch thought he heard a quiet moan in the background. "Is she having a contraction now?"

"Yes! Another one just started. I think she's hurting, daddy."

"Jack, I need you to calm down. Listen to me, okay?"

"Okay."

"Jenny gave Beth her number. It's in her phone. I need you to call Jenny when you hang up with me. Tell her the baby's coming soon and we need her to stay with Beth until I get there."

"What if she's asleep?"

"Keep trying to call her until she answers. If Beth needs you, though, do whatever she says first and then try calling again. Got that?"

"Y-yeah."

"It's going to be okay, Jack. You're doing a great job. I'll be there soon. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Hang up and call Jenny now, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

Hotch went to Morgan and quickly filled him in on what the victim's parents had told him. "JJ and Reid, come with me, please. The rest of you stay and work the case."

"Is it Beth?" asked JJ.

"Yes. She's in active labor now, and I'm not sure how long she has been."

"Let's go," said Reid.

"Should I call an ambulance?" JJ asked, climbing into the front passenger seat.

"No... if she needs one, Beth will have Jack call nine-one-one," Hotch said. "I want to avoid drawing attention to her if at all possible. I'm just glad she's somewhere where people probably won't overhear her."

"Where is she?"

"At the Davidson Hotel."

"You think no one will hear her in a hotel?" Reid asked skeptically.

"She's not in the hotel... just near it."

Jack was getting scared. Beth had told him she might make some noise as the contractions got stronger, but this was a lot of noise. He found Jenny's number as quickly as he could and touched "call." After a couple of rings, a man answered.

"Hello. Is this Beth?"

"No, it's Jack."

"Jack, this is Bob. Is everything all right?"

"Daddy said to call Jenny. The baby's coming soon. Daddy wants Jenny to stay with Beth until he gets here."

"I see. Well, you just sit tight and Jenny and I will come down right away."

"Okay."

"See you soon."

"Bye." Jack took the phone back over to Beth. "Bob said he and Jenny will come right away," he said.

"Okay," Beth panted. "How far away is your dad?"

"He said he's on the other side of town, but he's coming."

"Okay. Oh..." She braced herself for another contraction, moaning softly.

"That wasn't very long," Jack said worriedly.

"I know..." Beth moaned again. "But it's okay... it's okay, buddy." She grimaced.

"Do you want water?"

"Yes please."

Jack opened a water bottle and held it out to her.

Beth took a few sips and then handed the bottle back to him. "Thank you, sweetie. You've been such a big help."

There was a knock at the narrow door and then Bob opened it. "Hey there, you two," he said. "Or maybe I should say you three. Jack, why don't you come outside with me so Jenny has more room to help Beth?"

Jack shook his head. "Daddy told me to stay right here with Beth until he got back."

"Well, I'm sure it's okay now that Jenny's here to help. This is a woman's job. Us men will wait outside. Come on." He held out his hand.

"Daddy told me to stay," Jack repeated, starting to feel upset. Everything was happening too fast.

"It's okay, Bob," Beth said. "Let him stay until Aaron gets here. Where's Jenny?"

"She's on her way down," Bob answered. "She wanted to get a few towels and things."

"We have some here..." Beth trailed off as another contraction took over.

"You sure you don't want to come outside?" Bob asked Jack.

Scared as he felt, Jack didn't want to leave Beth now. His dad wouldn't run away. He would stay and help. "I'm sure."

Beth's phone rang as her contraction was passing and she answered it. "Hello? It's okay... Jenny, it's fine. He's right here." Her eyes seemed to glaze over and then she stole a glance up at Bob.

Jack looked from Beth to Bob, confused. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I have nothing against you," Bob said in a low voice, stepping closer to the bed of hay bales, "so I wanted to wait until the child was born. And I meant no harm to Jack either... didn't want him to have to see this."

"Bob..." Beth said breathlessly.

He stepped closer and she jerked around in panic. The phone flew from her hand to the trailer floor. "No... don't!"

"What are you doing?" Jack shouted.

Bob had grabbed Hotch's pillow and was pressing it down on Beth's face. Jack jumped at Bob, trying to pull one of the man's arms away from her. Bob turned long enough to push Jack to the floor. Stunned, Jack struggled to collect himself.

I have to... stop him...

Hotch's phone rang while he was still driving. He answered it without checking to see who was calling. "Hotchner."

"Daddy, help! Bob's hurting Beth!"

"Oh, my God..." Hotch pushed his phone into JJ's hands so he could concentrate on driving. He turned on the siren and floored the accelerator. "It's Bob. All along, it was Bob."

"Bob who?" asked Reid.

"Bob Herod... he and his wife have a horse trailer they let us stay in... Jack said he's hurting Beth. Reid, call Garcia and tell her to get everyone out here now."

"Got it."

Meanwhile, JJ was talking to Jack, trying to keep him calm. "Jack, can you get away from him?" After a pause, she said, "I know, honey, but you need to be safe... Did you say there's a gun in the trailer?"

"I told Beth to keep one near her," Hotch said. "She must not have been able to get to it... God, I hope he doesn't find it."

"Jack, which is closer to you: Bob or the gun? Okay. That's all right. Sweetie, just try to get out of the trailer. Your daddy's with me. We're almost there. You need to get out of the trailer."

As he pulled off the street and into the hotel parking lot, Hotch heard the sound of a Glock 19 going off nearby, and a fraction of a second later he heard it again from the speaker of his phone, accompanied by Jack's piercing scream.

Horrible cliff-hanger, I know. Merry Christmas again. :p This chapter title came from King Herod being exceedingly angry when he realized that the wise men had no intention of telling him where the messiah was, retaliating by killing all the boys two and under in Bethlehem in an attempt to deal with the "problem." Ironically, Jesus' birth posed no real threat to Herod's reign.