Eros

Chapter 13- Separation

"We can't search miles of terrain in a day- we'll pinpoint areas and possible shelters and eliminate them a few at a time."

Lynn furrowed her brow, but nodded, refraining from speaking her impatient thoughts. Kevin could be being tortured for all they knew- but Hotchner was right.

Rossi answered his phone.

"They searched his house- they're not there- but they did find something interesting. A huge collage of letters, pictures, drawings..."

"Take pictures and bring whatever you can back to the station for evidence. We'll meet you there, Mike is going to assist our search for known hunting shelters."

They returned to the station, and Reid's group started spreading out a wide collection of photos and other papers onto the table in front of them.

Most of the pictures were of Lynn, which no longer surprised her. Most were of her on duty, walking around the town in her uniform. One was her dropping Paul off at Kevin's, which made her blood boil. This monster knew her family- had known them for years without anyone knowing the evil he was capable of doing.

Mike arrived and had large maps of the area surrounding the towns, most likely taken from the community center. With Reid's help, he started pointing out and highlighting areas he knew that either had sheds, cabins, and small camping sites used by the local hunters.

Hotch started to split up the groups again and Lynn looked over the maps silently, trying to decipher where the Sheriff may have taken Kevin. He had to know they were after him now. He was staying near Lewey's but needed a place where he could keep a man subdued and carry out his bloody deeds without interruption.

Houses were isolated. But human screams wouldn't go unnoticed in the large winding neighborhoods, no matter how many trees surrounded them.

"Lynn, are you able to come with us?" Hotchner brushed his hand on her arm, pulling her back into the search planning.

If they went together, anyone paired with her was at risk. She couldn't let the Sheriff have any chance of hurting someone else, no matter how small.

Shame overtook her, and she shook her head, "No. I can't," she felt tears well up and Hotchner nodded and turned back to his team to start the search.

She watched them leave, and though it was fine for her to stay hunkered at the police station so she wouldn't become a victim, she felt as though Hotchner had been disappointed in her- which stung, thinking that he saw her as weak.

Mike hugged her and went back to her maps and she watched Nash across the station, coloring in books with Paul.

There were almost a hundred pictures of herself including older ones of Jennifer and Daniel, and some were of her when she was still in high school. it had almost overwhelmed her at first, but it wasn't because she was scared that she stayed.

Some were from the days at the lake, eighteen years ago, and a memory unlocked within her mind.

The group had been partying, swimming and playing games with each other, and drinking illegally. They had brought two twelve-packs of beer and stayed up most of the night as they camped at the shoreline of the lake- and in the morning they had been approached by a ranger- but she remembered it was an officer now- a younger officer Hollar.

He had visited their campsite to kick them out in the morning, stating that it was time to check out. It must have been easy for him to pose as a ranger. They barely managed to hide all the beer cans before he could arrest them for underage alcohol consumption.

Lynn had forgotten all about that since Daniel's murder and Jen's disappearance completely over-shadowed anything that happened the days and even weeks beforehand.

Hollar knew they left the lake and returned to Lewey's that day. Yet he somehow brought Daniel and most likely Jennifer back to the lake a day after they returned to kill them there. Why not find and kill them in Leweys?

The lake was isolated, but it was an hour and a half away- a long drive with two hostages, even if they were drugged.

Lynn thought back to her parents, and Mike, and Harriet along with them- they had been close friends and had done similar dumb things when they were teens. It was why her own friend group had liked camping at the lake because her own parents had used it as their hangout spot. Maybe it was a special place for Anthony as well.

She stood up and approached Mike who was still pouring over the maps.

"How did Harriet and Hollar end up together?"

"It was so long ago and I was at college before she got sick... but she did send me letters every once in a while. So did your parents... "

"If I remember right, he was a little older than her, and she had been dating him for a few months. In the letter, she sent me her ring- our mother's ring- and told me she wouldn't need it anymore. She wrote about her finding out she had a small tumor that was growing and how she wanted to do something before she died. She wanted me to have it, though she almost threw it into the lake if I remember right."

He tapped the ring on his finger and held it up to see it gleam in under the fluorescent lights.

"I had to get it resized, but I still wear it now, though my wife is gone."

"You don't know how they met?"

"No, I never asked. She was done with him so I didn't feel a need to reopen her love life after she passed away. There might be some information in her journals- I keep them in my attic- should I get them?" He squinted at her and started to stand, but she waved him back down.

"No, I'll run over and get them, they need you here-"

"Are you sure? Isn't it dangerous to go out alone?" He looked up at her where she stood.

"It's fine Mike, I'm a deputy remember?" She patted the gun at her side and he shrugged as she walked out the door.

His story about the ring and the lake confirmed it. The lake must be where Harriet called off their engagement, it was where she and her friends had intersected with Hollar's twisted memories of Harriet. It had to be where he took Kevin.

It was time for her to return to the lake.