Agents of Lies

Chapter Two

"There's no room for secrets in sisterhood." -Erin Forbes

"Two more women have been confirmed missing, which brings our total to eleven missing," Garcia stated. "Kendrix Corbett age 35 and Karone Nimmo age 33. Both husbands were on business trips and didn't return home until this morning."

"Thank you, Garcia. Let's take a look at victimology," Hotch told the team as they flew across the country.

"Beautiful women in their 20's and 30's," Alex started.

"But there's an outlier in age," Reid interrupted. "Rose is almost ten years younger than the other woman."

"Maybe the unsub though she was pretty or something," Agent Derek Morgan leaned back in his seat. "Or it's not about age, but something else that connects them."

"But they're all different in other ways, too. Everyone else is married, but Rose is engaged and Taylor's a widow."

"Taylor's engaged, too," JJ said. "A few years after her husband died, she met Eric Myers. She said that they didn't get along at first, but they've been together for ten years now."

"Husbands and fiancés all say that they could defend themselves," Garcia stated from the monitor. "Even though they have different backgrounds."

"What exactly did that do, Garcia?" Reid asked the technical genius.

"Dana's a family medicine doctor with a background as an EMT, Trini's a lawyer, Kat and Alyssa are teachers, Ashley's a fashion designer, Cassie's a singer, Jen works with her husband as a Silver Guardian -basically, they are a private police force-, Kendrix and Karone both work for a branch of NASA called NASADA, Rose is a university professor, and Taylor is a former Air Force fighter pilot."

JJ picked up with a little more information on her sister. "Who was medically discharged five years ago after her plane was shot down on a mission, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down."

"So, she'd be the least capable of defending herself," Reid looked at JJ. "Physically speaking."

"She also never has a gun out of reach," the blonde agent stated. "She's a crack shot. Doesn't miss her target. If she or Gia were in danger, she'd shoot to kill. The unsub must've snuck up on her."

"He probably snuck up on the other victims as well," Alex stated. "The reports say that none of the homes showed any signs of struggle, right?"

"That is correct," Garcia confirmed. "The only thing close is that a gun was found on the floor beside Taylor's wheelchair. Fingerprint analysis shows that she's the only one who touched it."

"If the wheelchair was left, it means that regardless of if she was incapacitated or not, he would've had to carry her," Reid mused. "And you can't just carry a woman out of her house in the middle of the day undetected. Someone had to have seen something."

"You're right," Hotch said. "Rossi, JJ, you head to the Silver Guardians headquarters. You'll be meeting with their commanders who will take you to Major Earhardt's house. Alex, Reid, you two will meet with the husbands living in Angel Grove and Reefside. See if they know anything. Morgan and I will be meeting with Mackenzie Hartford and Carter Grayson. Garcia, keep digging. See if there's any connection between the victims."

"Yes, sir!" Garcia saluted and ended the call.

"Well," JJ got everyone's attention. "You've met Blake's family. I guess it's time for you all to meet mine. I just hope my parents don't kill each other before we find my sister."

~*~

When Taylor finally woke up, she found herself sitting in a damp dark room with her back against the wall and hands chained above her head. Instincts on overdrive and PTSD from her brief stint as a POW kicking in, she pulled at the chains, struggling to get out.

"It's no use," came a familiar voice. "They're bolted to the ceiling."

"Unless you have super strength, you're not getting out," said an unfamiliar voice.

Finally getting somewhat of a grip on herself, Taylor looked around and managed to find the owner of the voices. "Jen?" The former pilot recognized most of the women chained up around her. All but one.

"Why'd they chain you up sitting down?" The black haired young woman asked.

"My guess," started the somewhat bored and very annoyed voice that could only belong to Dana Grayson, "would be that they didn't want her to suffocate."

"Suffocate?"

"I've been paralyzed for five years," Taylor spoke up.

Karone Nimmo picked up where the other blonde left off. "Even though we get tired, we can still stand. She can't. Muscles would tear and she'd honestly die of asphyxiation within about a day." At the other girls' confused and concerned looks, she continued. "I know a weird amount about torture methods."

"That's an understatement," Ashley Hammond rolled her eyes.

"Ash," Cassie Johnson sighed. "Stop."

A door opened and the women fell silent. In came a man and a woman with masks over their faces.

"Welcome, Major," the man laughed darkly. "Shall we begin?"