Never Together Nor Apart

[Chapter 43]

Hotch's POV:

"Hotch our latest abductee looks just like our last two victims," Morgan says over the phone.

"His house is in the hunting zone?" I ask.

"Smack in the middle. Roommate came home and saw blood on the window. Wallet and keys are still here too?" He replies.

"What about hair color?"

"Naturally black," Morgan says after a pause.

"He might not be a surrogate. He might be the actual object of our unsub's focus," I suggest.

"Hotch, you might be right. You know what, let me call you right back. I think I got something," he sounds puzzled.

"Good, thanks," he hangs up.

*time skip*

"Medieval torturing techniques have long, dense history. Skinning someone alive was commonplace. Placing someone's hand in boiling water happened almost daily in the church. From the way these joints were disarticulated, it appears as though we're dealing with either drawing and quartering or the rack. The rack was the most prevalent way to disarticulate the human body. If our unsub's using it, he's beyond maniacal, he's a sadist," Reid explains what caused the victims bones to dislocate in such a way.

"Reid, remind me never to get on your bad side," Dave jokes.

"What? Why?" Reid responds cluelessly.

With a slight grin I call Garcia.

"Garcia at your service," she picks up my call.

"Can you find anyone in the area that might sell or rent medieval torture equipment?" I question.

"Spanking the keys as we speak. Don't worry they like it. Ok, I have cross-checked stretching equipment with S & M equipment and I found something that stretches something, but I don't that it's the something we're looking for," she insists.

"Maybe he made it himself," Reid suggests.

"That would be pretty elaborate," Dave counters.

"Ok, I'm gonna keep looking. I'll get back to you soon," Garcia announces.

"Thanks," I say before she hangs up.

"I just went to the latest abductee's home. Not only did our unsub use fake blood in some kind of ruse, but the front porch security cameras were also disconnected right before the abduction," Morgan says as he walks over.

"So he cased the site," Dave says.

"Well, it's residential streets— a lot of people coming and going. That's high risk behavior," Morgan says concerned.

"Yeah, the unsub didn't care. He needed him and it was worth the risk," I vocalize.

*time skip*

"The box is wrapped this time?" Reid says as he opens it.

"What is this? A gift?" A local P.D officer asks.

"His natural hair color is black and he still kills him. And look, no neck wounds," I observe.

"Then how did he die?" The officer asks again.