I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters, including Theo. I do own Jackie, Lucas, Jo, PJ, and Dexter.

Please be advise that this chapter includes content that some may find disturbing. Remember that this story is for mature audiences only.

Graphic Warning: Viewer Discretion Advised

Also, I've left an important message at the end of this chapter. It's vital that you read it!

It took about half an hour for Jackie, Theo and Lucas to get to Robert Codie's house. It was small and appeared to have seen better years based on its worn out condition. On sight, one could smell beer, cigarettes and a lot of other intoxicating stuff around it. This better be quick. She could hardly breathe around this place.

The sign marked No Trespassing gave shivers down Jackie's spine. Guess Robert Codies wasn't very friendly to strangers. She tried to calm herself. They were just going to talk to this guy, right? And if it got bad, they could always arrest him. And if it did come to that, she hoped that she was the one to be allowed to handcuff him. She'd been wanting to do that since she became an official FBI agent. Not to mention that a guy who enjoyed torturing animals rightfully deserved it.

As they walked up onto the porch, she took notice of the two fox hounds on each side of the deck. Both of them were chained up and barking up a storm at the door. They must want to go in since their careless owner didn't bother to let them in the warm, safe house. Poor pups.

"So, this guy torchers a wild canine but has two dogs of his own?" she questioned as she allowed one of the hounds to sniff her hand. "How does that make sense?"

"He might really dislike wild animals" Lucas told her.

"Well, my dad disliked this one Labrador Retriever on his team while he was deployed in Afghanistan a few years back. But he never purposely ran her over or torcher her."

"Lets just see if Codies has switched from abusing animals to people" Theo told them.

Jackie grunted. Couldn't he show any sympathy towards animals? They were living creatures too. She quickly shrugged it off. At least he agreed that this guy was a likely serial killer. And if he was their unsub, she'll have all the means to give him a piece of her mind.

Theo knocked on the door. Nobody answered. He knocked harder. Still no answer. He knocked again, this time the door creaked open. A startling realization came over them. Why wasn't the door locked? From the fear in both of their eyes, she knew that they all thought the same thing. Something was seriously wrong.

Pulling out their guns, they barged the door wide open. Theo shouted "FBI!" as they carefully walked in.

The place seemed to be in order from first glance. At least it was for a guy like Codies. It was a one story house with the kitchen to the right while the living room was to the left and the main room was up ahead from where they stood. Theo quickly searched the main room, as well as the bedroom that was down a ways. Lucas made haste towards the living room. While Jackie took to the kitchen, where dirty dishes laid unclean in the sink and the counter was layered with dust. Didn't this guy clean up after himself every now and then? What was worst, she could smell the beer cans from the trash before she even saw it. No wonder his wife left him.

"Shepherd, Holston!" Lucas shouted from the living room. "Think I found him."

She quickly moved to where he was. Theo was already with Lucas by the time she got there. Both of her partners looked distraught by what they'd found. She too became disturbed by what was in that room.

There, laying face down on the brownish carpet that had a big red stain was Robert Codies. He had a deep opened cut wound on his stomach where his guts were splattered on the floor. A hunting knife and arrow were left covered in blood right by him. His eyes were wide opened, with no sign of life in either. Well, somebody had made quite a mess out of him.

"We're too late" Theo snapped in frustration.

Lucas already had his camera out and was taking multiple photos to document the whole scene. "At least we got a fresh trail of our unsub's work."

"But at what cost?" Their usually fearless leader asked angrily. "How long can you estimate that this guy took to kill Codies and leave?"

"Um, that would be White's job" Jackie informed him.

"Then, call him!" He them walked out. Lucas gave her a quick annoyed stare.

"Was it something I said?" she questioned him.

Without saying anything to her, Lucas pulled out his phone. He made a quick call to PJ and walked out of the room, leaving his camera behind on the floor. That left her alone with the body. Guess it was up to her to document this scene. So she grabbed Lucas's camera and took a few more pics of what was left of Robert Codies.

...

Some time after Lucas had called, a police car showed up. PJ was one of the people inside it. He quickly got out, came in the house with his medical bag and began looking over the body. How he could handle cutting open recently killed flesh like that, Jackie could never figure out. But she did appreciate his talent as a medical examiner.

"What is the exact time of death of this victim?" Theo asked him as he watched.

"I would say judging from the temperature of this sample" PJ answered. "He'd been killed roughly less than an hour ago. Forty-five minutes at the most."

Theo shook his head furiously. "So if we had gotten here an hour earlier, we could have saved him. We may have even caught this killer before anyone else could have gotten hurt."

Jackie couldn't understand why he was so upset. Sure, they were too late to save Codies. But that was no reason to be mad at themselves. "Holston, this is not our fault" she told him. "We've only just got here. No one finds a killer in one day."

Theo looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Who did these people call to help them find this killer? We're the ones who are responsible for protecting every person in this town while this unsub is here. And until we catch this guy, no one is safe." He quickly turned around and went outside. Lucas followed him after giving her another annoyed expression. Great, she had made their leader leave again. What had she said to upset him this time?

"Jacks, check this out" PJ interrupted her thoughts.

She looked down at the body and asked "what up, White?"

"Codies was said to have beaten that coyote to death and taped its mouth shut, right?"

"Must you bring that up again?" Thinking about anything involving animal abuse made her sick to her stomach.

"Well, it looks like this unsub damaged his internal organs from the first blow. And look." He turned Codie's head to the side, revealing that his mouth had been taped. "The unsub duck taped his mouth shut. Then he used something, I'm suspecting a baseball bat, to beat him repeatedly with. Finally, the killer used the hunting knife to rip his internal organs out. Which, to be honest, was not necessary at all. He would have died shortly after his stomach was opened." He gave her a skeptical look. "So why would he go through all that trouble if his intention was just to kill him?"

She wasn't so concerned. "He could have just wanted to be sure he was dead."

PJ examined the body closely. "I don't think so. He bled out quite a lot. Not to mention that his mouth was taped shut the same way the coyote he tormented had been. That can't be just a coincidence that this unsub chose to ensure that he suffered almost the exact same way he made that coyote suffer. I think there's more to this than meets the eye."

"What are you thinking of?"

"We know that this unsub wounds his victims before killing them. He wants them to suffer. But Robert Codies was suffering from the first stab. So, why was he beaten repeatedly and his body cut opened while he was still alive?"

She made a quick guess. "For the joy of watching someone suffer as much as they can?"

PJ shook. "I'm thinking that this guy may have done this form of killing for a reason. Just as he'd chosen a particular style of murdering for every single one of his victims. But, the question is, why?"

Did White have a point? Was there a reason why the unsub killed Robert Codies this way? This could be a break in the case.

"I'll need to study his body, along with the others, more closely" PJ added. "In the mean time, keep an eye on Holston. I'm not sure how well he's handling all of this."

Jackie nodded. She did notice a change in Theo from this recent murder. She was worried about how he was taking this sudden new death. Hopefully, that fresh air outside would help to cool him down.

When she got out, Theo was already talking to a police officer. Probably informing them of the newest victim. The two hounds each sniffed her legs. She would have to call Animal Rescue to ensure that they were taken care of properly. And see that they both get better homes than they previously had. It was the least she could do for them.

Lucas then walk over to her. "All okay?" she asked him.

"Theo's just worried about how long it will take for us to put all the pieces together" he explained. "Think Robert Codies' death has really hit him hard."

She understood Theo's feelings. She may not have liked Robert Codies, but she understood why her friend was so upset by his death. If someone had been killed so soon after the previous victim, who knows how long until the unsub chooses someone else. And if more people were killed under their watch, Theo would surely break down over it. "Who would blame him? Where do you think we should do now?"

He gave her a serious stare. "Before we do anything else, we should deliver the profile."

The killer has strike again. Now our heroes are ready to deliver the profile. Will it be enough to catch this unsub before it's too late? Stay tuned.

P.S. What goes around comes around. An old saying that means that whoever commits a despicable act will be punished for it in time. And right now, there's a certain someone in Daniel, Wyoming who has done something very horrific but has yet to be punished as they rightfully deserve. But if there's one thing that I have learned is that one will not get away with their crimes forever. And I hope that my story here has helped to make that point clear.