15.) Fear

*~ Omniscient ~*

Rossi frantically shuffled through the paperwork, trying to find something that would help him and his team out, but he was coming up short.

"Dammit!" He spat, slamming the piles of papers down on his desk. His mind was racing and all he wanted was to make sure Marci was brought back home safe and sound, but that wouldn't happen unless he calmed himself down.

"Dave? Are you alright?" Hotch asked, stepping into the office. He noticed how stressed Rossi looked and wanted to make sure he had a clear head.

"I just...I don't understand how he found them. How did he know where they were? I was careful when I brought them here, assuring them both that they'd be safe and can finally live a normal life, and I failed."

"You didn't fail. There's no way you could have known that this was going to happen and for all we know...he could've been closing in on them, but you saved them. You got them away just in time and we are going to do everything we can to get Marci back." Rossi nodded his head, just as JJ entered the room.

"Sorry to interrupt, but have either of you seen Melanie?" She asked.

"Wasn't she downstairs with you?" Hotch questioned.

"She was, but she came up here and I haven't seen her since." Hotch glanced at Rossi, before they both rushed out of the office.

Meanwhile, Spencer was standing in Melanie's bedroom, looking at the paintings she had along the walls. He remembered her telling him that she took up painting as a hobby, but he had never seen anything she's painted until now. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he'd know it when he saw it.

"Find anything?" Morgan asked, stepping into her room.

"Nothing yet. You?" He asked.

"Same. I don't think he left any clues, to be honest. Nothing that we can see, anyways." He picked up the picture that was sitting on her bedside table, staring at a young Melanie; along with her mother and grandmother. "Poor Melanie. I can't imagine how she must be feeling right now. To lose her mother at a young age and go on the run, just to finally have a moment of peace and happiness, just for it to be taken away from her once again." Reid walked up to him, looking at the picture, hearing a faint rattling sound as Morgan handed him the picture.

"Wait, did you hear that?" He opened the back of the frame, revealing a locket, that had dried up blood smeared all over it. "Is that blood?"

"I think the real question is...whose blood is it?" Morgan questioned, while Reid slid some gloves on. He opened the locket, finding a small device inside of it. "What the hell is that?"

"This is how he found them. He's been tracking them this whole time." Reid placed the device back inside the locket, reading the inscription that was on the inside of the locket.

To my beautiful daughter, who will forever hold a special place in my heart. I love you. -Mom.

"This doesn't make sense..." Reid murmured. "This locket was a gift to Melanie from her mother, so how did she not know that there was a tracking device inside?"

"Unless she didn't know that she even had the necklace." Morgan said, coming out of her bathroom. "Did you know she was taking antidepressants and anxiety meds?"

"No...I didn't know." He glanced at the pill bottles, one by one. "But it makes a lot of sense. Melanie found her mother's body after the fact she had been murdered, and that type of visual would be hard on any young child." He was about to go and check on Melanie and ask her about the locket, but Hotch, Rossi, and JJ walked into the room and stopped them from doing so.

"Where's Melanie?" Hotch asked.

"She went outside for some air, but we found this locket and it had a tracking device inside of it. That's how he knew where to find them." Reid said, pointing towards the bloody necklace. Rossi slid on gloves and examined the necklace, taking a deep breath.

"This necklace was found next to Melanie's mother's body, after she had been murdered." He said. "Almost as if...he wanted her to find it, knowing she wouldn't resist taking something that had sentimental value."

"So if she had this locket since she went on the run, then why did it take this unsub so long to come after her? That just doesn't make sense." JJ voiced.

"Maybe he saw that she was no longer living in fear of him and wanted to take that away." Reid said. "Think about it, they spent the last fourteen years in hiding and he never made a move, because he knew they were scared. The moment they find a permanent place to settle down, start living normal lives, and actually finding happiness...he swoops in and takes that away."

"He feeds off of their fear." Rossi sighs. "I need to go check on Melanie." He walked out of the room, heading downstairs, and stepping outside. He looked around, seeing officers across his lawn and some nosey neighbors that were watching from across the street, but no Melanie.

"Melanie?" He called out. He noticed her car was gone and he rushed back inside the house. "Reid, whose car did you and Melanie drive here in?"

"Hers. Why?" He questioned.

"She's gone!"

"Gone? Gone where?"

"You don't think the unsub got to her, do you?" Morgan questioned.

"He very well might have." Hotch murmured, pulling out his phone. He dialed Garcia's number and put the call on speaker.

"Talk to me, lovelies." She answered.

"Garcia, I need you to pull up Melanie's phone records and see if anyone has called her within the last half hour."

"On it." She typed fast, pulling up Melanie's call log in no time at all. "So aside from Rossi, it seems that she received a phone call from an unknown number, and the call lasted up to two and a half minutes."

"He must've called her and lured her away." Reid said, pulling his phone out. He rushed out of the room, dialing Melanie's number, as he started pacing. "Come on...pick up! Pick up!"

Melanie sat quietly at the airport, waiting for her flight to be called, as she worked out every possible scenario in her head. She was already willingly going into the lion's den, but she wasn't going in without some sort of plan. Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, she pulled her phone out, seeing Spencer's name on the screen. Surely they all knew she was gone by now, so there was no point in ignoring the call.

"Hey Spencer." She answered.

"Melanie, where are you?" He asked.

"I told you I needed some air."

"We know you spoke with the unsub." She sighed, feeling the tears swell up in her eyes. "Listen to me...whatever you think you have to do, you don't have to do it alone! We are here for you and we are going to help get your grandmother back."

"I..." She began, taking a deep breath. She looked around, wondering if she was being watched. "I can't talk about this right now."

"Please...don't do this." His voice cracked, making her cry harder, as she covered her mouth.

"I don't have a choice. He'll kill her if I don't go to him and I can't let that happen. I can't let someone else I love and care about die."

"Flight 180 to Port Isabel, Texas is now boarding." The voice blared through the intercoms, pulling Melanie back to reality, as she quickly wiped her face.

"I have to go, but Spencer...I just want you to know that...I'm really glad I met you. And this is probably too soon to say, but...just in case something happens to me, I want you to know that...I love you." Before he could respond, she hung up the phone, dropping it on the ground and stomping on it. She knew they'd have Garcia track her phone, if they hadn't already, and she wanted to at least be halfway to Texas before the team attempted to come to her rescue. Tossing her broken phone in a nearby trashcan, Melanie boarded the plane, feeling as if that were the last time she'd ever talk to Spencer again. And well...that wasn't too far from the truth.

Back at Rossi's house, Reid still had the phone pressed against his ear, as a single tear fell from his eyes.

"Spense?" JJ spoke, as he turned around. JJ had been standing behind him, eavesdropping on the conversation he just had with Melanie.

"He's luring her back to Texas." He told her. They both rushed back into the house, letting the team know what Reid had just figured out.

"He's taking her back to where it all began." Prentiss said.

"And if he plans on carrying out his fantasy, then we only have about seventy-two hours before he kills her." Hotch said.

"Then we need to get to Texas now." Rossi voiced. "If he's luring her back to where it all began, then that means he's taking her back to her childhood home."

"Then we have no time to waste. Let's go."