Chapter Two

"There is beauty in a woman whose confidence comes from experiences; a woman who knows she can fall, pick herself up, and move on." -Unknown author

The morgue was the usual dismal building with dull grey walls and the familiar scent of rubbing alcohol. Three lifeless bodies lay across white sheets, similar to the pastiness of their pallid skin. Emily Prentiss couldn't quite put her finger on the eerie feeling they gave her. Sure, they were dead bodies, but she had grown accustomed to that factor. What was it about these women that made her feel so…peculiar?

"These women…" The medical examiner shook his head side-to-side and exhaled deeply. "These women suffered a slow and painful death. Grace Williams had 28 stab wounds, and by the time they were done with her, she was probably still alive. Blood loss was the cause of death. Lisa Melz had 33 stab wounds, and she, as well, died from blood loss. What was different about Nicolette was that she had a significant amount of stabs…let's see…67. From what I can see, she died from a stab to the heart. It's the freshest of the wounds, therefore most likely the last one, and cause of death. She also must have been bound- there's rope marks both her wrists and ankles." He grimaced and it was evident he had never seen such a gruesome crime.

"The unsub must have had personal ties with her," Prentiss started. "There's obvious anger and animosity distinguishing her murder from the others."

Aaron Hothner nodded in agreement, inspecting Nicolette.

"She's smaller than the others, too." He added.

"Maybe she's not what he wanted? He got mad?" Prentiss offered.

Before Hotchner could answer, the familiar sound of his phone rang.

"Hotch." He answered after retrieving it from his pocket. Prentiss and the medical examiner watched his expressionless face as they tried to detect any words from the murmurs coming from the phone's speaker. He quickly hung up his phone and put it back.

"Another young woman is missing, same victimology, reported four hours ago." He explains, his voice a monotonous hum.

"From what we can tell, the victims were killed within twenty-four hours of the initial abduction." The medical examiner told them, his brow furrowing with anxiety and concern.

"We need to get going, then." Hotch said as he started for the door.

His rough hands caressed her supple skin, tracing the creases of frown in her forehead and removing any worry she had in her body. She ran her fingers through his coarse brown hair, thinking about the secret urge that wanted her to do so at the most inappropriate of all times. He leaned inward; his hooded eyes seductive and full of desire…yearn…

Prentiss jerked forward in her seat, catching her breath. Coming to realization she was in the car, she eased back and sunk down.

"Are you alright?" Hotchner asked her, slightly apprehensive.

She couldn't look him in the eyes. Not after that…

"Yeah, I'm just still tired." She answered, her eyes gazing out the window. Boston was nice, she thought, and she could picture herself living here one day; the centuries-old cobblestone, the historic buildings, the busy harbor.

The vehicle slowed to a steady halt as the yellow crime scene tape came closer. A block of old, closely settled apartment buildings surrounded them, along with what felt like ostentatious black SUV's pretentiously intruding with their sleek black polish. Hotchner and Prentiss swiftly exited the car and were led by the local Boston Police into the apartment. Just an hour ago, and unsuspecting young woman looked at this building with an intuitive sense of safety, innocently unaware she was facing her death.

Despite the building's external disillusionment, the woman's apartment had a cheerful charm to it. Prentiss blinked at the customary flashing of the crime scene cameras. On a twin bed lay a brunette young woman, around 30 or so, with fresh red lipstick on her parted lips and the color drained from her face. Her arms dangled from the edge of the bed, her ironed red sundress hiked up right below her hips. Her curly dark brown hair sprawled across the

"Neighbors heard screaming," A tall, blond man with a vest reading "DETECTIVE" across it told Prentiss and Hotch as they inspected the body. Emily nodded, soaking in the sight in front of her.

"Can we fit a profile, Hotch?" A familiar voice came from behind Prentiss. She turned around to find Derrick Morgan with J.J. following behind.

Aaron hesitated. What is he thinking? Prentiss thought to herself, awkwardly standing between the two.

"Not yet. I want everyone to get back to the office; J.J. call in Garcia and get Reid." Hotchner ordered. He turned to Prentiss and exhaled.

"We're going to use you as bait."