CHAPTER THIRTY:
HOW DOES IT END?
( original )

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"WE'RE LOOKING FOR A white male in his late thirties to early forties," said Dallis, taking the lead for the profile. "This man is targeting dark-haired, green-eyed females in their early thirties. So far, he's killed six women and abducted a seventh, starting with prostitutes and eventually evolving to middle-class suburban housewives. We believe these women are a surrogate for someone in his own life who has wronged him. A wife, a parent, maybe a woman who's rejected him that he feels needs to be brought to justice."

"When he abducts these women, he keeps them for no longer than forty-eight hours," continued Hotch, reminding them of Amy Collins. Each minute they spent discussing her potential killer was a precious second taken away from her life.

"We believe this is out of necessity rather than paranoia or fear," Rossi interjected. When Geddes cleared his throat and instinctively opened his mouth to argue, Rossi merely looked him up and down. "He uses chloroform to subdue his victims in secluded locations, then ties them up to keep them from fighting back when they come to. Drives his car right up to the scene of the crime, digs a shallow grave no deeper than three or four feet."

"Now, this might profile as a killer wanting to be caught," said Morgan. "But we have reason to believe this male might be physically incapacitated in some way. He doesn't have the strength to lift the bodies or to dig deep enough into hard soil, so he keeps the victims for short periods of time and dumps them in easy to access locations."

Emily cleared her throat, stepping forward. "But make no mistake, this unsub's physical disabilities don't hinder his intellectual capabilities. When he cuts open these women, he uses a scalpel to make precise incisions from the breastbone to pelvis. He has, at the very least, a basic background in medicine that encourages his interest in the human body."

"These interests are what drive him to torture and demean the victims," Dallis stated, folding her hands together on her lap. "There seems to be no sexual element beyond the stabbing of the genitals, but the lack of care in these cuts compared to the ones across the torso indicate a man fuelled by rage. He won't surrender without a fight."

"We should be looking into organ donation," Geddes insisted, making Dallis sigh and Rossi roll his eyes before turning his back.

Hotch had already warned them privately that Geddes had very specific opinions on this case. He'd successfully managed to distress Amy Collins' husband into believing she was already dead, leaving Todd to make a poor attempt at consoling the man as Hotch dragged Geddes aside for a scolding. Too proud to admit he was wrong, he threw himself into the first theory he could think of which was the 'most logical.' Ever since, he'd opposed any other suggestions from the team.

Dallis would've gone as far as to suspect him but if he had Amy Collins he wouldn't be sitting in his precinct from morning to night trying to find her. Unfortunately, Victor Geddes was just a grade-A asshole.

"There would be evidence of rearranged or missing organs in the previous murders," Reid shook his head, running a hand across his face as he thought out loud. Dallis closed her eyes, tired of the theory already tried and tested. This wasn't about the organs, and the sooner Geddes shut up the better. "Besides, autopsying requires specific shears to crack through the sternum in order for the organs to be removed. When this unsub cuts the victims open, he does it so they can bleed out."

With a pointed glance at his watch, Hotch insisted, "While we search for Amy Collins, it's important that we remain alert. This unsub is looking to blend in. Whether that's avoiding the police presence entirely or making themselves useful to the investigation in order to avoid suspicion is yet to be determined. Don't be ruling anybody out too quickly."

Geddes' eyes narrowed. The corner of Dallis' mouth twitched with the threat of a smirk.

Saved by the bell, Geddes' phone started to ring. He excused himself, allowing his officers a proper chance to ask the team their own questions. When Geddes emerged from his office, he clutched his phone like it was a weapon, brandishing it towards Hotch.

"Search is over," he declared. "Amy Collins has been found not too far from where Jessica was dumped. She was right under your bloody nose!"

Hotch wasted no time, ignoring the petulant tone that weighed each of Geddes' words. The room was quiet, solemn for another life lost, except for that undercurrent of tension. Dallis turned to her boss, waiting for what he'd have to say. As expected, it was business as usual.

"Morgan, Dave, I want you back out at Grenfell National Park. Take Cohen with you."

"Actually," said Dallis. "If it's alright with you, I want to go back to the morgue. I know Amy's body might not be there yet but I have more questions for Kate I'm hoping she can answer."

Hotch considered this, then nodded. "Alright. Report back to me on what you learn."

Outside, Dallis held Kate's business card in one hand, her phone in the other. 'Grenfell Morgue' was printed front and centre in bold font; underneath was Kate's full name, title and contact number. Dallis dialled, waiting for the soft and feminine sound of Kate's voice greeting her but instead it went straight to her voicemail.

"Kate, it's SSA Dallis Cohen from the FBI calling," she said, just in case Kate checked her phone before Dallis got to the morgue. "I'm on my way to you now. Not sure if you've been notified yet but they've found Amy Collins' body. I have some more questions for you, so I'll see you soon."

But the morgue was empty when Dallis arrived. Masen must've already finished up for the day, leaving Kate in the other room on her own. Like before, Dallis let herself in, eyeing the sliver of light beneath the closed back door.

"Kate, are you in here?"

She received no answer.

Dialling Kate's number once more, she heard a faint vibration on the other side of the wall followed by some rustling. Kate appeared a moment later with a Chinese takeaway box in one hand and her phone in the other.

"I'm so sorry," she gushed, her face hot. "I only just got back from lunch."

"No worries," Dallis mumbled, scanning her face for some kind of... concern, maybe? Did she not know about Amy Collins? "You've heard...?"

Kate sighed. "About poor Amy? They're transporting her body now. You're welcome to wait with me if you like."

Dallis shrugged, leaning against the desk as Kate took a seat on the other side and sipped from an energy drink. The scent of cooked Kung Pao Chicken was mouth-watering, making Dallis' stomach ache in a state of hunger. She sniffed, taking in the alluring smell (and once again complaining that her runny nose could only mean one thing.)

"I actually had a theory I wanted to run past you." Kate waved a hand at her, unable to respond mid-bite. "Could the unsub be injecting the victims with some kind of drug to paralyse them?"

Kate paused. Slowly, she lowered the takeaway box onto the desk, her engagement ring glinting in the light like a fractured piece of sunlight. "What makes you think that?"

In truth, it was the case they'd been invited to consult on in Pittsburgh. If there were no signs of blunt force trauma, she wondered at the use of a paralysis drug that would allow the unsub to sneak up behind them undetected. It would also explain why the unsub seemed to only have a limited amount of time with them. Once the drug wore off, their strength to fight back returned.

"Just something I've seen before."

"It's possible," said Kate eventually. "I would have to take another look at the bodies. I didn't see any needle marks in my initial autopsies..."

"Try the hairline," Dallis suggested.

Kate led the way into the room where Jessica Aveyard's body waited. Dallis' brows pinched as she watched Kate draw the body out of one of the fridges. She was practised, rehearsed. Without stopping to think, her gloved fingers combed through Jessica's hair until she reached the base of her neck where dark hair became translucent white skin.

"Wow, you were right," Kate breathed out. She barely spared Dallis a glance, transfixed by the tiny bruise. "How did I miss this?"

"You weren't looking," Dallis tried to assure her kindly but she was admittedly more focused on her phone where she was sending both Hotch and Rossi the same message.

Dallis: Got some info for you. Jessica has a needle mark on the back of her neck, at the hairline.

Her phone roared to life barely thirty seconds later.

"Amy Collins has the same mark," Rossi declared. "Right where you said it would be."

"This is Pittsburgh all over again," Dallis muttered.

"Only without the framed suicides."

"Do we need to re-evaluate the profile?" she contemplated, subconsciously drawing closer to Jessica's body. Kate hesitated but took the hint, muttering that she'd give her a minute alone before retreating to the front room. "We're missing something, Dave, and it's beginning to piss me off."

There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the line broken by faint, inaudible gasps of surprise in the background. Dallis' stomach twisted. She said Rossi's name warily.

"Her wedding ring is missing."

Dallis' eyebrows pinched together. "How can we be sure she was wearing it when she was taken?"

Rossi's voice dipped into a sarcastic murmur. "Unless somebody cut her finger off before she was kidnapped, we're pretty sure."

Dallis wasn't sure she'd heard him right. Cut her finger off? She gritted her teeth, warring against the hot flush of emotion threatening to creep up her throat.

"So he's cutting off fingers now?" she scoffed. "No jewellery was taken from the other bodies, let alone fingers!"

"Look, they're almost ready to transport Amy's body to the morgue," Rossi said. "Why don't you stay there, do some research with the pathologist. Morgan and I will meet you there and we can regroup."

Tired, Dallis merely sighed and accepted his suggestion before hanging up the phone. Now that her heart was no longer punching against her ribcage, she could hear Kate's voice on the other side of the cracked door along with the sound of typing. Dallis contemplated joining her but something kept her rooted in place.

She stared down at Jessica's face. Angry veins spread in webs across her skin. Her lips were tinged blue, frozen to the touch. When Dallis drew back the cloth covering her, she found folded hands containing ten intact fingers.

"Who did this to you?" she whispered almost desperately.

As she pulled the cloth back over her body, the closed back door caught her interest. Beyond the practical set-up of the room, she hadn't paid much attention to the rest of its contents. Her mind drifted several minutes back in time, pondering what was behind that door that drew Kate towards it. On both occasions, Dallis had arrived at the morgue and she was hidden back here. Was it strange for her to spend so much time here, surrounded by death and decay?

Dallis wasn't a nosey person but before she knew it she'd opened the door. Something was scratching at her brain. I'm here, it said. Notice me.

There, on the desk, cast aside desperately beneath scattered paper, was a gold wedding band slick with blood.

Dallis had Rossi's number dialled in a heartbeat.

"Are you on your way?" she said in a rush of panic.

Rossi's response was immediate. "We've just left. Are you alright? You sound worried."

"I'm not trying to jump to conclusions but I think I know who our unsub is, and it's not a man."

"What?" Rossi exclaimed before there was a rustling on the other end of the line. She heard him saying, "Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker. Morgan, you're gonna want to hear this."

"Dave, I need you here now," Dallis pleaded, beginning to retreat out the door. She'd play it cool, say Hotch had called her back to the station. Anything for Kate to let her go without suspecting her. "It's her."

"I'm coming, Dallis, who... is it the pathologist?"

Something cold pricked the back of her neck. Dallis let out a stunned gasp, her phone clattering onto the tiles. The toe of Kate's boot darted into her vision to kick it beneath her desk. At the same time, Dallis' mouth opened to release a scream. One hand had knotted in her hair and pulled, wrenching her head back so hard that she felt her scalp sting. The other pressed a cloth over her mouth and nose. It stunk of a chemical that made her head spin. She couldn't hide from it. Kate's determined glare was the last thing Dallis saw before the darkness consumed her.

It was as easy as falling asleep.

Waking up, however? Dallis had to drag herself back into the land of the living.

The first thing she noticed was the cold. Time had clearly moved forward, casting the room in the early shadows of a sunset. Dallis tried to lift her head, an odd whimper slipping past her lips when nothing happened. She forced her eyes down, glimpsing her body laid across something metal. The mortuary table. There were restraints pinning her wrists and ankles in place but that wasn't why she couldn't move. Her body was heavy. Numb. As if she was paralysed.

"You're awake. Good."

Kate approached her with a determined glint in her eye. Dallis could only see half of her face. No matter how hard she tried, teeth gritted, chest rising and falling with every shallow inhale and exhale, she just couldn't move. Couldn't breathe right. Her mind and body had been disconnected. She'd never felt this terrified.

What was going to happen to her?

Were Dave and Morgan still coming?

"Kate, why are you doing this?" She sounded groggy but panicked. No. She had to calm down. She couldn't let Kate realise she was afraid. Somehow, she needed to talk her down from this ledge she'd secluded herself on. "I didn't do anything to you."

"God, you're getting better at this," was Kate's curt reply before she disappeared again. Dallis heard the sharp scrape of some kind of metallic tool and squeezed her eyes shut. Just as quickly, she opened them again, feeling horribly exposed in the dark.

Kate was going to cut her open and let her bleed to death. She knew that. She couldn't do anything to stop it. The voices of her other victims screamed in Dallis' head. Fight. Don't let her get away.

But how?

"Better at what?" she asked, trying to wriggle her fingers.

Nothing.

"Sounding genuine," Kate scoffed.

When she reappeared, she laid a set of heavy shears on the table beside Dallis followed by a scalpel. Dallis' vision started to swim. Her blood rushed to her feet, leaving her faint. Was Kate going to deviate from her previous murders and crack open Dallis' ribs? Her discovering the truth must've left Kate reeling. She had to act quickly.

"You know, I actually started to like you for a second," Kate continued.

Her gloved fingers toyed with the buttons of Dallis' shirt then ripped straight through them. The rush of air against her exposed skin made goosebumps scatter across her torso. Kate eyed the prominent bones of her ribcage with keen interest. Dallis swallowed down the acidic sting of bile in her throat before she started to choke on it.

"But you're just like the rest of them."

"We didn't do anything to you, Kate," Dallis repeated firmly. "Someone else hurt you, didn't they?"

Kate didn't answer. Using a permanent marker, she started to dot a precise line down the centre of Dallis' torso, outlining just where she was going to cut her.

"Was it the person who put that ring on your finger?" She could see it now through Kate's gloves.

Kate scoffed. She wasn't seeing Dallis on the table anymore. Much like the other murders, she'd crossed the point of no return, confusing her thoughts with reality. "You would know, Sophia. You both did it together."

"I'm sorry..." She didn't know what else to say. Maybe if she said it enough, Kate would stop.

"Don't say that to me! Your apologies are too little, too late, homewrecker."

Sophia. Dallis had no idea who this was but Kate spat the name with such contempt that it must've been ingrained into her memory. Dallis envisioned a dark-haired woman, a younger one, pursuing Kate's fiancé.

Homewrecker. 'Did it together' had to mean they cheated, leaving Kate behind. She wanted the women she killed to feel her pain, the agony she longed to inflict on Sophia. There was nothing more to them but blood and bone. How, then, were they so different from her that her fiancé couldn't stay?

Dallis' time had run out. Kate's steady hand had picked up her knife.

"Please," she yelped, accidentally biting down on her tongue and sending blood gushing down her throat. "Please, I'm not Sophia! I'm Dallis, remember? I'm Dallis!"

Kate pressed the sharp point of the blade to her chest. Dallis' head moved the tiniest bit, seeing the first drop of blood bead on her skin.

"Please! Kate, I can help you, please please--"

Her voice had risen into a desperate, irrational scream. Kate hissed, letting up with her knife for a second so she could reach for the damp cloth she used to cover Dallis' mouth before. She scrunched it into a ball and forced Dallis' lips open, smothering the words on her tongue. Hot tears gathered in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks into her hair. She sobbed against the sickly sweet texture of the cloth, closing her eyes as the knife moved back to her chest and pressed down...

There was a loud bang, like a gunshot. Dallis' eyes snapped open wide. She couldn't move her head but she heard footsteps at the door. Had they come for her? She was alive. They'd gotten to her in time. There was another noise. This one was a gunshot. Kate's body dropped to the ground. She didn't move again.

Dallis was still screaming. Her pinkie finger twitched. She needed to get the restraints off now! She needed to move. She had to get the cloth out of her mouth before she swallowed a fatal amount of the chloroform. Oh god oh god oh god--

"Hey, it's okay, Dallis. We got you. It's okay, shhh. You can stop screaming now. We hear you. We're here."

She hadn't even realised it was her making that horrible noise. It reminded her of a wounded dog. Broken. Betrayed. Fingers reached for her lips again and removed the cloth, allowing her to gulp down fresh air. Her screams soon became croaky sobs. Morgan loosened the restraints on her wrist. He kept trying to soothe her as he reached out to pick her up.

"Dave," Dallis cried, wanting to reach her hand out to him. He was right there, behind Morgan. He still had his gun in his hand.

Dallis' eyes shut again. She couldn't open them this time. Fear slammed against her in a heavy wave.

Morgan groaned. "She's going to pass out."

Rossi was there then, a soft hand resting on her cheek, but Morgan was right. She was gone again. As Dallis slipped away, the last thing she heard was Rossi's voice.

"You're safe now, Dolcezza."

She believed him.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

KATHRYN MAKIN'S FIANCÈ OF five years cheated on her a mere four months before the first murder occurred. The report Dallis was given claimed that Kate was shattered from the betrayal. She stopped leaving the house for anything but work. Her friends lost touch, her family too. Everyone lost patience with her, or so she believed. Their sympathy was skin deep, leaving Kate to fester in misery that eventually became rage.

Why was she in the wrong? She wasn't to blame! She loved her soon-to-be husband with everything she had. She was faithful, and some random girl named Sophia -- some insignificant creature, was the direct quote -- batted her eyelashes and ripped Kate's world from out beneath her feet. Just like that.

Kate wanted her to suffer, and she did when the baby in her stomach died and took her out with it. At last, Kate saw misery reflected on her fiancé's face. She waited for him to return and beg for her forgiveness. Of course, Kate would be there with open arms. But he never came.

So Kate started looking at the women around her with contempt. Picturing the liquid gold of their Siren blood that surely tempted men like her fiancé. Each time she cut them open, the thrill only lasted a second. Their blood was red. It ran the same. Each of them died and became empty vessels. Was Kate an empty vessel too?

The authorities believed she never intended to hurt Dallis until she caught her snooping in the office. Her tools had been scattered around the room in a frantic attempt at composure. Privately, when Dallis came to and was cleared for visitors in the hospital -- naturally, her mum and Anthony were first in line, having flown out as soon as they got the call, so it took Dallis a while to catch up on the case -- Morgan confided in her that she even held her hands up in surrender when Rossi and Morgan barged through the locked door. Even then, Rossi hadn't hesitated to shoot a bullet between her eyes.

Dallis stared at him now, at his composed expression, and struggled to picture him ending Kate's life without remorse. She knew he had it in him. But for her?

"You're angry with me," she stated.

Rossi raised an eyebrow. Everything he'd done since he entered the room ago was polite. He hugged her chastely, arranged the flowers he'd gotten for her on her bedside, told her he was happy to see her awake.

Yet something was missing.

"That can wait until you're out of the hospital."

"Don't do that," Dallis snapped, frustrated with the suggestion.

Everything going well, she'd be on a flight home in the afternoon. Only twenty-four hours had passed since Kate tried to end her life, though the doctors were confident she'd recover with no physical scars.

But that wasn't enough for Dallis.

"I'm not angry at you," Rossi sighed, running a hand down the side of his face.

"Fine," Dallis huffed. "Not angry. You're upset then."

His head snapped up. "Of course I'm upset." In spite of what he said, he spat the word like it meant nothing. "Upset doesn't begin to describe what I'm feeling, Dallis. I ask you not to push me right now."

She sank against the pillow, waiting for the outburst she knew would come anyway. Barely a moment later, Rossi's chair scraped across the ground.

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

Dallis froze. That wasn't what she thought he would say.

Since she regained her movement, she'd done everything in her power to keep it going. Tapping her foot against the mattress in tandem with the heart monitor. Routinely clutching the weathered blanket with a tight fist. She wouldn't take it for granted ever again.

Now, she was motionless.

"I don't expect you to feel the same," Rossi tried to sound earnest. Each step he took led him towards the window. At least he wasn't heading for the exit, but Dallis resented the distance all the same.

That was another thing the report said. Rossi carried her out of the morgue, holding onto her for dear life. Even Hotch wasn't allowed near Dallis, not until the paramedics confirmed she would live.

"I don't." If he repeated it enough, he'd believe it. "But try to understand what it was like. I could hear you screaming halfway down the street. I didn't think I'd find you alive in that room. I thought I'd never get to tell you that you made me believe in love again!"

Dallis swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Rossi's eyes narrowed.

"Don't get up," he barked.

Dallis ignored him. "I'm sorry, Dave."

It was different apologising to Rossi. Not often was there anything for them to be sorry for. When she apologised to Kate, she did it without reason, but for Rossi? She longed to take his pain away. To make him understand.

"I don't think I've ever truly been in love," she admitted, breath hitching when his hands grasped her hips to steady her. "But I know if there's anyone in this world I want to experience it with, it's you."

He silenced her with a kiss. Dallis sighed and sank into his touch, trusting he would keep her upright. She hoped he'd never stop kissing her, that this love he spoke of was real. What were the odds something so beautiful would just fall into her lap?

Part of her understood then, why Kate was so heartbroken when she lost it. Nothing existed outside that hospital room and Rossi's mouth guiding her own in a kiss like ambrosia, sweet as the food of the Gods that made games out of love and sorrow.

"Can you take me home now?" Dallis whispered when they parted for air. "Please?"

Rossi smiled. He smoothed her hair back from her face. Traced his thumb over the curl of her bottom lip that he pecked with another delicate kiss. "When your doctor clears you, I'll take you anywhere you want."

Dallis grinned and drew him back towards her, feeling warm again. Safe.

For a moment, she was untouchable.

She'd forget the feeling sooner rather than later.