The social time with J.J. upon her return to work from maternity leave is short lived as two work issues become priorities. First, Morgan hits an obstacle in the continuing work on the Dirty Dozen case. The cryptic message he receives ends up affecting Garcia the most. And second, Joy, Rossi's daughter, contacts him regarding a possible case. She has been writing a series of articles on violence against women on college campuses. In her research, she has discovered what looks to be a pattern of missing freshman and sophomore women from different east coast institutions, four over nine years. Her urgency lies in that if these missing women are the work of a serial kidnapper/murderer, the number five victim may have just been abducted. She is Bahni Desai, a straight A student and generally non-partier at Judy Temple College in Alexandria, Virginia. The team first has to find evidence that Bahni has been abducted and that it is connected to the other missing women cases. When that evidence does present itself, a lead stumbles onto them. But in the investigation, Rossi can sense that Joy isn't telling them the entire story, that story which may not only assist them but help protect her. Beyond the want and need to find Bahni as soon as possible for her own safety, the successful wrap-up of this case is important to Reid in needing to deal with a personal issue which may take him away for a short period.
—Huggo