A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. Couldn't get it the way I wanted.

Chapter 11

The team sat around the conference table going over the little information they had on the death of Clarissa Meadows, when the door opened, and JJ walked into the room. Hotch looked into her blue eyes.

"You all right?" he asked the blond. He understood his media liaison felt deeply for the families of murder victims. But since becoming a parent herself, she seemed to feel it a lot more. He also understood it being a father himself.

"I will be," she assured her boss. "I just feel so badly for the Meadows family. They wanted to come and identify their daughter to be sure it was her, but I advised them not to come. We had a photo of Clarissa, and I added we would use dental records to confirm her identity. I told them they wouldn't want to remember her this way."

"No parent should have to see their child like that," Emily stated with compassion.

"No they shouldn't," Hotch agreed grimly. He let out a deep breath. "Okay, any ideas as to why our Unsub seemed to show a modicum of caring when he dumped Clarissa Meadows body?"

"Like Rossi said before, he might have known her from somewhere," said Prentiss.

"Perhaps she reminded him of somebody he loved and lost," said Morgan.

"But if she reminded him of somebody he loved and lost…" began Hotch. "Then why kill Clarissa at all? If he lost the love of his life, he might kidnap Clarissa, but why kill her?"

"Depends on how he lost her," Rossi chimed in crossing his arms over his chest. "If she betrayed him somehow making him angry, he could have killed Clarissa because she reminded him of what he lost."

"But he might also be working his way up to getting the confidence to go after the object of his hatred," JJ added.

"Then why kill the others?" asked Morgan. "Why not just go after whoever made him angry enough to start killing?'

Hotch tapped his pen against the open file in front of him. "It's possible he may not have the nerve to confront the object of his anger yet. But we need to understand why although he brutally murdered Clarissa Meadows, he still showed compassion when he dumped her body. If we can figure that out, it might give us an idea who we're looking for."

"And we still have no idea how he gets close enough to his victims to use his taser to restrain them," said JJ.

"What it shows is we really don't know this Unsub at all," Rossi admitted. "Even though his kills are the same, he always does something different with each one to throw us off track. We're gonna have to rethink the entire profile."

"I may have something," Reid announced from behind Hotch, standing at the white board. The others turned their heads to look at their young genius. "Okay, here is where the first three bodies were found," Reid explained as he drew a circle around the three locations. "And here is where Clarissa Meadows' body was found." He drew an 'X'. The 'X' was just outside and to the left of the circle.

"He's moved outside his comfort zone," Hotch commented with knitted eyebrows.

"Not just outside his comfort zone," Reid was quick to point out. With his marker, he drew a straight line from the circle to the X, and from the X to the drawing of a building and circled it twice. "I believe he's moving his comfort zone as he becomes more confident and daring with his kills."

"Reid, what's that building you circled?" asked Morgan.

Reid looked at all his friends. "That building is this police station."

Hotch's eyes shifted up to the agent. "Reid, are you saying the Unsub is expanding his comfort zone to now include this police station? Is that what I'm hearing?"

Reid chewed his lower lip. "Not exactly. I think he's trying to tell us from where he's gonna get his next victim." He and the others all looked at Morgan.

"Why's everybody staring at me?" Morgan asked looking around at his friends. "Look, we all agreed that because this guy didn't name me in his letter, that he could be trying to draw attention from the real target."

"That may be," JJ said. "But you're the one who got the letter whether you were named or not."

"He's right," Hotch interjected. The others looked at him. "Morgan may have gotten the letter, but any one of us could be his next target."

"But we agree his next victim will be a male," said Prentiss with a look at Hotch. She tossed a few strands of hair over her shoulder. "That puts you, Rossi and Reid in just as much danger as Morgan."

"But we can't ignore you and JJ either," Rossi added. "This Unsub has changed his MO so many times his next victim could just as easily be a woman."

Just then Morgan's cell phone vibrated. He checked the caller ID and pressed a button. He held the phone in his hand.

"Go ahead, baby girl. You're on speaker."

"Hey, my brave crime fighters, I may I have something," Garcia explained sounding enthusiastic. "Remember when you asked me to go back six months and see who might have bought white and pink Dahlias in bulk online?"

"What did you find, Garcia?" asked Hotch.

"Well, at first I had eighty people who had bought either Dahlias or the bulbs. But using the limits you gave me, I managed to reduce the list to about thirty-five. I then went over the same names again, and narrowed it down to as they say in college basketball during March Madness, the final four. Ten stopped ordering completely online a month ago. Five died within the last three months. Six moved out of the state. And nine others stopped ordering Dahlia bulbs two months ago and switched to roses."(1)

"Do you have the names and addresses for the four who still order them?" asked Morgan.

"How can you even ask such a thing, my dark knight in shining armor. I have sent the names and addresses to your phones with super speed."

Morgan chuckled. "Thanks gorgeous."

"Anytime. Be safe my loves." The call ended.

Hotch checked his phone scanning the names and addresses. "Morgan, you and Prentiss check out the first address. Dave, you and Reid take the second; JJ, you and I will take the third and fourth. We all meet back here in about three hours." Everybody got up and prepared to head out on their assignments. "I'm sure I don't need to remind everybody to be extra vigilant." His eyes focused on Morgan. "I'm also sure I need not remind you not to go anywhere unless Prentiss is with you."

Morgan stood in the doorway and rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Hotch."

"I mean it, Morgan," Hotch warned his subordinate. "One step out of line and you're restricted to the police station. I'm not taking any chances that you just might be the Unsub's true target."

Prentiss faced Morgan and jabbed him in the chest with a finger. "And if you don't believe Hotch, mister, you better believe me when I say I will squeal to Garcia. And you know what her reaction will be."

Morgan winced. "Ow. That's a low blow, Prentiss," he kidded.

"Yeah, well, you just remember it," Prentiss reminded her friend. She looked at her boss who stood behind them. "Request permission to shoot him myself if he acts up, sir?"

Hotch and Rossi smirked. "You better listen to her, Morgan," Rossi kidded. "Besides, Garcia probably knows over a hundred places to hide a body where it wouldn't be found."

Morgan shook his head as he followed the others out the door.

Jason Armitage kept himself busy in his secret room with a final check to make sure everything was ready. The day after tomorrow was the day for which he had waited ten years. He picked up the taser from the table, and checked it, finding it fully charged. He grinned when he thought of how Aaron would never see it coming until it was too late. He made a mental note to remind himself to get gas for the truck and the cab. It wouldn't do to be out of gasoline when the time came.

It was risky to grab Hotchner outside the police station; but anything this important was worth the risk. That was why he left the Meadows woman's body where he did. It was close to the police station. And if he understood Hotchner and his team, they had probably figured out by now that his next victim would come from the police station. He would enjoy taking Hotchner right from under the BAU's noses. The only thing he had to figure out still was how to lure him outside the police station alone. After a few minutes, a slow smile spread over his face as an idea came to him. What better way to lure Hotchner outside alone than a threat to a member of his team other than Derek Morgan? There were two beautiful women on his team. One of them would do nicely as the bait. But who should he choose?

The dark-haired woman was certainly a looker. Agent Emily Prentiss. That black hair. Those brown eyes. But she also had the look of a tigress. One who can defend herself probably quite well, and wary of people she didn't trust. Not that he wasn't certain he could take her in a face-to-face confrontation. But he didn't need somebody who would be extremely difficult thus delaying him. And timing was everything in springing his trap.

Now the blond was a different matter. Agent Jennifer Jareau. She also was a looker with those bright blue eyes and long blond hair. He had to admit one thing, Hotchner certainly had excellent taste in women. Unlike the brunette, the blond looked like the less dangerous of the two. Somebody who looked trusting. And that is what he needed; somebody who can be manipulated without much difficulty. It was too bad he had to disappear after disposing of Hotchner, and could not hang around long enough to grab another woman. Jennifer would have been perfect. There was no doubt in his mind she was a screamer. He might even have strayed from his MO and had a little 'fun' with her before killing her. But there would be no time for fun and games. Escape was the primary goal afterwards. Too bad. His smile widened. Yes, she would do nicely as the bait.

"A little more than twenty-four hours, Aaron," he said with a chuckle. "A little more than twenty-four hours and you and I will met for the final time. And I can guarantee you this time I will have my revenge."

But first he would have a bit of fun. He removed his prepaid cell phone from his pocket, pushed several buttons, and pressed the phone to his ear. It rang twice before there was a pickup on the other end.

"Santa Barbara police department," a young male voice said.

"Yes. May I speak to someone with the FBI? I have information on the murders. I think I know who the killer might be."

"I'm sorry, sir. But all members of the FBI are not here right now. But you can give me the info and I'll pass it on to them." There was excitement in the officer's voice.

Sure you will, Armitage thought. He disconnected the call without another word. He didn't need any surprises now. So, Aaron and his team are out. Something must be happening and I need to try and find out what. I think it's time to take a drive to the police station. Pursing his lips, he hurried upstairs, grabbed his car keys, and opened the driver's side door of the yellow cab.

A grim-faced Detective Parsons entered the building not wanting to talk with anyone and hide in his office. This last murder really got to him. He neared his office when he saw a young uniformed officer gesture to him. With an annoyed sigh, he walked over to the front desk. "What is it, Franklin? I'm not in a very good mood right now."

"Just thought you'd want to know. While you were out, I got a phone call from somebody who said he had information about the murders. He said he thought he knew who the killer was. He asked to speak with someone from the FBI."

Parsons appeared to perk up a bit when he heard this news. "Did you transfer the call to one of the feds?"

"They all left her a short while ago. I told him I could take the information but he hung up without saying anything. Sorry."

"Damn!" Parsons swore. Any hope of solving the case, arresting the perpetrator, and sending the feds home was gone. He looked at the officer again. "You said the BAU went out a short time ago?"

"Yes, sir."

"Any idea where they went?"

"No, sir. But they left in kind of a hurry."

"I'll be in my office. Let me know when they return."

"Yes, sir."

Parsons spun on his heels and marched straight to his office and slammed the door. He collapsed in his chair behind his desk and snatched the receiver of his desk phone. "This is Detective Parsons. I want to speak with Doctor Barlow. I'll hold." A few minutes went by before the medical examiner was on the phone. "Ken, Detective Parsons here. Listen, I know you haven't started the autopsy yet, but is there anything you can tell me from a preliminary examination at least?"

On the other end of the phone, Barlow let out a deep breath. "Cause of death is probably the same as the others. I'll know more after I complete the autopsy. But I can tell you this much at least. She sustained a beating about the head and severe blood loss. I don't expect any surprises though. I'll let you know as soon as the autopsy's completed."

"Thanks, Ken," Parsons hung up the phone with a sigh. He ran both hands down his face. How this could be happening in his town? And even with the FBI here, they were no closer to catching this sadistic animal now than they were earlier. And though he would never say it, he wondered if the BAU being here was doing any good or making things worse.

Armitage parked his cab at the corner on the same side of the street at the police precinct. He quickly turned on the off duty sign so nobody would get inside his cab forcing him to leave before he saw what he came to see. He kept watch for about ninety minutes before he saw two members of Hotchner's team get out of their SUV, and walk toward the police station. The duo didn't seen very happy, so he assumed wherever they went, the results were not what they expected. That brought an amused grin to his face.

"Y'know, Reid, I know we have to follow up on every lead to get a handle on this guy, but this visit was a waste of time."

"I disagree," Reid replied enthusiastically. "It was fascinating learning how both Doctor and Mrs. Garrison grow Dahlias expressly for scientific reasons and for the inulin. I mean, in Europe and the United States prior to 1923, and the discovery of insulin, diabetics were often given something called Atlantic starch or diabetic sugar which was derived from inulin."

"Really?" Rossi asked not really interested but not wanting to be rude.

"Yes. And inulin is a naturally occurring form of fruit sugar extracted from Dahlia tubers. In fact, did you know inulin is still used in clinical tests for kidney functionality?" The excitement overcame him completely. The two men stopped on the top step of the police station. Rossi, now exasperated, looked at the younger agent.

"Reid, don't take this the wrong way. But I really don't care."

Reid looked puzzled. "Why not? What they're doing is of great scientific importance."

"To you definitely. But to us mere mortals, growing Dahlias for scientific research has nothing to do with our Unsub. I only hope Morgan and Prentiss, or Hotch and JJ had better luck." The older man opened the door of the precinct and walked inside with Reid behind him.

Armitage watched the two men disappear inside the precinct and let out a deep breath. He understood he couldn't stay off duty indefinitely. After another hour had passed by, he decided it was too risky to stay where he was. He changed his off duty sign to on duty, pulled away from the curb, and headed down the street passing the police station. As he did so, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan walking towards the precinct. He kept going when he noticed Prentiss turn her head towards his cab for a few seconds.

"That's it," she said to Morgan as she watched the cab disappear around the corner.

"What's it?" asked Morgan.

"I think I know how the Unsub gets close to his victims without arousing their suspicions."

Morgan stared at his partner this time. "How?"

"He drives a taxicab."

(1)March Madness is the name given to that time of the year when fans watch the NCAA(National Collegiate Athletic Association) men's basketball championship tournament.