Chapter 8

"Ma'am, this is a closed crime-" The uniformed officer with a baby's face sidestepped out of JJ's way when the blonde flashed her credentials in his direction. She barely acknowledged him raising the tape for her or apologizing- her mind was focused solely on the women they were here for. She couldn't believe it- couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that this man had ruined so many lives because of her- because of his obsession with her. JJ knew she was good at her job- she knew that she was a good person and that she tried her best to help those she loved but no matter what she did, no matter how long she lived for, she knew she would never be worth this. Swiping the hair out of her eyes, JJ approached her team from behind and started pulling on the latex gloves the uniform had handed her. It took a while for the others to realize that she was there and by the time they did, she was already behind Emily, staring at the corpse of the blonde woman. Suddenly, a hand wrapped around her arm and twirled her. She faced Hotch, his expression more concerned than upset that she had come.

"JJ, you don't need to be here." he practically whispered. "We can handle this."

"And leave me out of the loop? I don't think so." the blonde narrowed her eyes at her boss who almost flinched at her tone.

"No, JJ." he insisted. "We wouldn't do that, it's just that…you don't need to see it." For a moment, she seemed to consider it before gently pulling her arm out of his grasp and shaking her head slowly.

"Yes," she said, "I do." She proceeded to kneel by Emily's side, ignoring her friend's look, and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. She had to forget who had done this and what he was truly after. She had to forget that this wasn't just some woman- it was supposed to be her. She most certainly had to forget that the teenager lying less than fifteen feet away was supposed to be her sister.

"Jay." Emily said questioningly. The younger woman didn't even look in her direction.

"I have to see it, Em." she sighed. "All of it. I have to know."

"It won't help." Emily assured her but JJ merely shrugged it off.

"Oh yes it will." she insisted. "What'd've we got?" she turned to the medical examiner who was just rising to examine the brunette.

"Her name is Cara Sheppard, 31, from Georgetown." the older man informed her. "Cause of death was manual strangulation around 1 to 3 this morning. Looks like she's been raped but I won't be able to confirm that until I get her back."

"Can you tell how long she was there for?" Emily asked. The doctor raised an eyebrow as he thought.

"I can't say for certain yet but by the looks of it, she isn't too malnourished. I guess he fed them while they were there."

"How kind of him." Emily and the doctor shared a look as JJ mumbled. The brunette waited for the man to move on to the other body before turning to her friend.

"You really don't have to see this." she pressed. JJ seemed oblivious to the fact that she had even spoken. Her sapphire gaze was fixed on Cara Sheppard- how her hair had been combed and her clothes were cleaned. JJ almost scoffed out loud. They all knew that Cara hadn't had much use for them in Jeremy's presence. Almost instinctively, she reached out and moved a strand of hair away from Cara's closed eyes. She tried hard to ignore the deep bruising around the woman's neck as she gently stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry." she told the woman. JJ closed her eyes briefly, trying to picture what Cara would've looked like on a normal day, what her hobbies were, where she liked to go out to eat, how she spent her holidays. Opening them and coming to the somber realization that Cara would never get to spend another Christmas with her family or do any of the other things she could do, JJ rose. Casting one last look to the ground, she fought against the tirade of tears that threatened to fall. Now was not the time and this was certainly not the place. She looked around and caught sight of Emily kneeling over the second body- the body of the dark haired teen. She took a deep breath and released it slowly before finally approaching.

"She doesn't have ID." A uniformed cop told Emily.

"It looks as if she was coming back from a practice when he grabbed her. Besides, she can't be older than sixteen, what kind of ID would she have on her anyway?" Emily thought aloud before turning to the younger cop. "Please have your department check for recent Amber alerts matching her description. If we don't get anything off that then we have no choice but to go to the media."

"She's so young." JJ shook her head as she replaced her old gloves with a new pair and lowered herself down to Emily's eye level. Just as the brunette opened her mouth to speak, JJ raised a hand in protest. "Don't tell me that I don't have to be here."

"I was just going to say that Reid texted." Emily defended. "He said that Cara's been missing for almost five days."

"Then she should've gone missing around the same time Cara did." JJ said as she pointed to the girl's shoes. "She's wearing cleats made for artificial turf. There can't be that many of those around here. We can have Garcia check which open fields were in use around the time of the kidnappings and get team rosters."

"Right." Emily was surprised at how quickly she had put that together.

"I'll let him know." JJ sprung up, happy to have made a contribution but equally as glad to get away from the girl's body. She whipped out her cell phone and pressed Reid's speed dial while watching Emily look over the girl for any more particulars.

"Reid here."

"It's JJ." she said curtly. "I was thinking, can you have Garcia run down any artificial turf fields in the area and find out which ones were being used around the time of their disappearances?"

"I'll call her right away. JJ-" the blonde rolled her eyes, "How are you holding up?"

"Spence, I'm fine and I really wish everyone would stop acting as if I'm going to shatter and focus on finding him."

"You're right, JJ. I'm sorry." At hearing Reid's tone, JJ immediately regretted her temper. Before she could apologize, he said, "I'll let you know what Garcia comes up with." and hung up. JJ sighed, putting away her phone as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Cara Sheppard's body had finished being loaded onto a gurney and JJ froze as it rolled past her. God, this is all my fault. The thought threatened to overwhelm her right there and then until she heard Emily's cry.

"JJ!" the older woman yelled across the field. "Get someone over here now!" Confused, JJ spun on her heel and motioned to the nearest person to join her. The medical examiner's intern followed without question as the blonde sprinted towards her friend.

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There was no denying how worried she was. Emily watched as JJ all but ran away from the body before them and she couldn't blame the woman. Sometimes Emily wondered just how JJ could see what she saw every day and get a decent night's sleep at night. She truly admired the woman from the first day they met. Emily's fingers skimmed the teenager's clothes in search of pockets or anything that would help them discover her identity. There was nothing just like she expected. She lifted the girl's hand slowly and took stock of the tissue beneath her nails. At least she got a piece of him. Emily risked a glance towards the girl's face and almost flinched. JJ was right, she was far too young to have met the worst humanity had to offer. Her heart broke for the girl in a way that seemed foreign to Emily. Placing a subtle hand to her stomach, she managed to guess why. Just as she was about to place the girl's hand back down, something happened that made the woman's blood run cold. It moved. Emily jumped, almost losing her balance as she stared wide-eyed at the girl's hand. Surely, she had just imagined it. Slowly, she reproached and knelt down closer, placing her ear to the girl's mouth as she held onto her now still hand. Just as Emily was about to smack herself on the forehead it happened again, except this time, the girl spoke.

"M-Mom?" Emily gasped loudly as she pulled the girl into her lap.

"JJ!" she cried, stroking the girl's forehead and trying to coo her into settling back down. "It's alright, we're here to help you."

"Ca-Cara?" the girl's azure eyes danced around before finally meeting Emily's. The older brunette looked down at her torso that was littered with far too many stab wounds and began pressing down on as many as she could. The girl whimpered against her, eyes still searching for her friend.

"Get someone over here now!" Emily demanded, her voice on the brink of panic as fresh blood pooled between her fingers. By now, Hotch and Derek had heard her and were rushing towards them. Before long they surrounded the girl along with JJ, the medical examiner and his intern.

"Oh my God." they heard JJ breath as she too tried to slow the girl's bleeding.

"Get a bus, now!" Morgan shouted over everyone's shoulders.

"It's going to be alright." Emily smiled down at the girl who continued to cry. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Taylor." she breathed. "Kira Taylor."

"That's great Kira. My name is Emily." she said with a wider smile. "We're going to get you out of here ok, Kira?"

"I want my mom." the girl sobbed as the BAU took note of her thick accent.

"We'll find your mom sweetie, just relax." Emily promised as she, JJ and the medical examiner tried to slow the bleeding as much as possible.

"Agents, here!" They heard a cry and turned to see an ambulance with its doors wide open, waiting for their patient. Morgan was the first to stand, taking the girl into his arms and carrying her towards it. Kira had yet to release Emily's hand so the brunette climbed in alongside her. The doors were shut and the bus was gone before anyone could even piece together what had happened.

"She's alive." JJ said in an almost questioning tone. "How…"

"Find the first responder." Hotch's voice left no room for misinterpretation. He was out for blood.

"Let's get to the hospital." Morgan quickly ushered the two out of the park and into one of their SUVs. JJ sat in the back, eyes wide and head still reeling, desperately trying to shake off her feeling of dread. Only one thing mattered.

"She's alive."