THIRTY ; BEATRICE AND ANDREW.

It was in situations such as this one that Quinn Carson wished she wasn't so timid.

It wasn't that she was afraid of Joseph Lawrence. The more she thought it through, the less she feared him. She knew exactly what he could do to her. He wasn't going to kill her. He wouldn't. He was playing a chess game with the BAU and she was his King.

She wasn't afraid of death either. Death happened, it was natural. She only feared the things she would miss while she was gone.

What she was afraid of however, was the unknown. She turned her cheek at the uncertain. She flinched at the obscure. She did everything in her power to be aware of every situation she was in.

In this situation, Quinn didn't know where she was. She didn't know if her team was looking for her. She didn't know what Lawrence's next move would be.

Quinn Carson didn't like not knowing. She feared it, actually.

So, as Quinn sat strapped to a chair in a pitch black room, she was left alone with her fear. The dark room spoke her, the incessant taunting of silence ringing in her ears. She could hear the quiet whisper to her, sneering words of mockery, teasing the chance that fate would let Joseph Lawrence appear before her. Just because she didn't fear him, it didn't mean that she wanted to see him.

She had attempted to see through the dark- a task she had evaluated as useless. The only detail she knew about the room she was in was that it was large. The walls weren't anywhere near her. The room echoed. Quinn suspected an industrial building of some sort. Maybe an abandoned hall.

It was warm, too.

A door in the corner of the room screamed as it opened. By the sound that it made, Quinn was able to eliminate a hall. An industrial building was the most likely choice.

Her suspicions were denied as Lawrence flipped a switch. The lights powered on above her, flickering dimly above her. The white light looked nearly green as it reflected off the ceiling.

Quinn widened her eyes. She was in a train car.

Lawrence's shoes clicked against the cement as he neared her. His ever-present smirk twisted his lips, dark eyes meeting hers. "It is nice to see that you're up," he said, voice almost in a sing-song tone. "I was starting to think that I had killed you."

"Wouldn't have been a first for you," Quinn muttered.

The man almost laughed. "I can't say that I was actually expecting a response from you," he mocked. Lawrence looked her critically, eyes narrowing as he seemed to evaluate her. "You've changed, haven't you, Quinn?" She stiffened. He grinned. "So sad I'll have to change you back."

Quinn clenched her jaw. Do not give in. "Where am I?" she asked.

Lawrence cocked his head slightly, eyes flashing around the area. "You don't recognize it?" he questioned, seeming almost upset. Quinn didn't reply, looking around the room. "I have to say, I am a bit disappointed. This was a relevant spot."

"To you or to me?"

Lawrence raised an eyebrow. "To both of us." He paused. "And your father."

Quinn didn't even attempt to conceal her confusion. "My father?"

A sickly smile appeared upon his lips before he slid a hand over his mouth. "It seems I've said too much." Quinn's mind spun. "I should probably stop. It's time for you to speak now."

Quinn eyes followed his hand to his pocket. Her stomach dropped as the light above them reflected onto the small blade.

Joseph Lawrence simply grinned.

-----

To say the Behavioral Analyst Unit of the FBI was puzzled would be an understatement.

Hotch had ordered the deepest digging of all of the Horsemen's lives. He wanted Garcia to break through as many barriers as she could, extracting as many details from any year of any of the team's lives. So far, the information on Lawrence was limited. They had found multiple, unimportant things about Lucas Nelson. There was practically nothing about Kyle Masters.

But as for Quinn Katherine Carson, born April 17th, 1987 to parents Beatrice and Andrew Carson, they had found a plethora of new facts. The girl had been born in Boston, Massachusetts, but was soon moved to Visalia, California and remained there for the rest of her life. She attended Stanford, enrolling in Pre-Law and English classes, and graduating in the higher percentile of her class, simply because of her work ethic. Quinn wasn't brilliantly book smart, but was able to receive the grades that she did because of how hard she worked. Penelope couldn't help but smile as she read this information.

Quinn however, wasn't the most interesting part about the search. Quinn's family took that role. Though she was an only child, she had multiple cousins, several aunts and uncles and two sets of grandparents.

And it seemed as though all of them were dead.

"What does this mean?" Penelope asked, bottom lip quivering. "I mean, some of her relatives died from natural causes like old age or strokes, but her cousins, they were so young when they passed."

Morgan hovered over Garcia, eyes scanning the screen in front of him. He went rigid as he noticed something. "Hotch," he said, calling his boss over.

"What is it?" he asked, gaze transferring from his teammate to the computer.

"Quinn's parents," he stated, pointing to their names. "They were the last to die."

The two exchanged a glance. Though the fact could have been completely coincidental, they knew that it wasn't. This was the Horsemen they were dealing with; nothing was coincidental.

"Why is that significant?" Penelope asked.

A sigh escaped Derek's lips. "I think it means we need to investigate Quinn's parent's involvement with this group."

-----

L O V-E.

The four letter word mocked Spencer Reid. The more he stared at the piece of paper he had filled in, the more his heart ached. It only reminded him of what he let slip through his fingers.

He had dissected the note line-for-line, word-for-word and had only come up with false hope.

"How're you doing?" JJ asked him as she walked into the red room. Her voice was soft, as if she were unsure whether or not to approach the genius. When he didn't look at her or reply, she sighed quietly. She sat down before him. "They're investigating Quinn's parents," she said.

His brow drew downward, gaze meeting hers. "Her parents?"

"They're playing with the idea that they had some sort of involvement with The Four Horsemen."

Spencer's mind began to turn. He stared at the letter, then turned to Quinn's birth certificate that laid before him. "They're apart of this too?"

"We're not sure," JJ replied. "But it's a definite possibility."

Spencer's eyebrows furrowed more. "It goes on farther than Quinn," he said to himself, sparking JJ's attention. He looked at her. "What if like this situation, The Horsemen go farther than the four of them?"

"Are you saying that there are more Horsemen?"

His eyes shut as he recounted his first viewing of Masters when they had brought the group in for the first time. "Masters said, 'we've got sources everywhere. There won't be anymore murders. Not on our watch anyway'. Maybe he wasn't telling the truth. Maybe those sources are other members."

JJ looked hesitant. "It seems like a bit of a reach," she said, honestly. Spencer slumped slightly, knowing that she was right. "But we can't eliminate the possibility of the Horsemen being deeper and more convoluted than we previously thought."

Spencer nodded. He stared at Quinn's birth certificate, eyes falling upon Andrew Carson's name. "Did Garcia ever figure out what Quinn's dad did for a living?"

JJ thought for a moment. "He did the finances for one of the largest electric railroads in California." Spencer glanced away from her and then focused on the paper.

His eyes widened as a piece of the puzzle fell into his head.

-----

When it came to torture, Joseph Lawrence knew exactly what he was doing.

Quinn ached everywhere. Her eyes were clenched shut, body bracing for the moment that Lawrence would return.

He had started with small gashes. Deep enough to draw a heavy amount of blood, but not so intense that she would need stitches. The cuts got longer. He expanded his territory. Her arms, legs and stomach were his personal favorites.

She was then doused in salt water.

It was brilliant, truthfully. The salt seeped into the cuts, stinging relentlessly and repeatedly. Quinn had seen him used this method on multiple women.

She had never thought that she would be the one receiving it.

Quinn wondered what time it was. She wanted to know what her team was doing. She wanted to know if they had solved the game.

She wanted to know if she was going to die.

The door squealed again, revealing the figure of Joseph Lawrence carrying a small table with a laptop on top of it. Quinn flinched as she heard the sound.

He placed the table in front of her. Quinn didn't look at him. "I suppose it's time to tell you something," he said as he leaned toward her. She could feel his breath upon her neck. "It's quite groundbreaking, really. I'm interested to see how you take it."

Quinn bit the inside of her cheek. "Well don't delay it," she spat, feeling herself shake.

Lawrence chuckled. He moved in front of her, hands on the side of the table away from her. "Quinn, Quinn, Quinny," he sang, inhaling through clenched teeth, "we have been keeping some very vital information from you."

"We?"

Lawrence's smile broadened. "The Horsemen. Me, Nelson, Masters." He paused, looking hesitant. "The others."

Quinn froze. "What others?"

"You don't actually believe that it was just the four of us, do you?" Lawrence asked, eyes widening. Quinn remained unmoved. "Do you really think that a group as successful and well orchestrated as the Horsemen can run with just four people?" He made a clicking noise with his tongue, as if to reprimand Quinn. "Oh Quinn, there are so many more. We're scattered across the globe. The leader of the Horsemen has a leader. It is a complex system."

"So, you have a leader?" Quinn asked. The fear she felt only built up inside of her.

Lawrence laughed. "Oh honey," he cooed, leaning forward. "I'm not exactly a leader."

"What?" Quinn gasped, mind spinning. She couldn't seem to comprehend anything that was happening in front of her. She looked at Lawrence, confusion written across her features. "Then what are you?"

A smile appeared. Quinn could see every single tooth. "A cover-up."

Quinn shook her head. "I don't understand-"

"Everything will make sense, soon," Lawrence vowed. He did not lie. A grin came upon on his face. His eyes were wild. "Allow our leader to explain it all to you," he said.

Quinn watched as his right hand clamped over the lid of the laptop. She began to breathe heavily as she attempted to process what she had just learned. Her brain was fried. She was in shock. She could feel her heart hammering out of her chest as Lawrence opened the computer.

And she was sure her heart stopped when she saw Kyle Masters grinning at her on the screen.

-----

EVERYTHING WILL BE EXPLAINED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. DON'T SEND ME DEATH THREATS JUST YET.

this is the twist i have had planned since i came up with this mess of a story. i can't tell you how excited i am to show it to you and see your reactions.

please don't hate me because i love you all tons:-))))
-mags