Chapter I
September 23, 2010
"Alright," Jennifer Jarrau started as the team sat down in the briefing room and the pictures assembled on the screen, "This is Susan Kartry, Makenna McMurray and Linnea Parkins, all victims of what the Washington PD believe to be a serial killer. These women were all found in the same alley at the same time of the day over the past two weeks, all with a slit throat, all Caucasian, all brunette and all around the age of 25. The victims all had a vast amount of post mordum wounds; everything from breaking their bones to burning them."
"Overkill is an understatement," Emily Prentiss muttered to herself.
"This man is definitely projecting an unbelievable amount of rage out towards someone," Hotch muttered.
"Do you see the victims' eye colours?" David Rossi pointed out.
"They all have either partial or complete heterochromia iridis," Spencer Reid answered, "That means part of the eye or the entire eye is a different colour than the other."
"The police believe the murders were actually committed in the alley," JJ went on.
"So, the guy waits for someone who looks exactly like these women to walk by and jumps out at them?" Morgan said doubtfully, "We may be looking at a guy who kidnaps them first then brings them to that specific place to finish the job."
"The police chief has noted an attempted murder similar to these ones committed almost 10 years ago on a Harper Greene. She was 16 years old and was attacked same place, same time. A busboy found her and called the police, but the case was never solved," JJ reported.
"And she's still alive?" Penelope Garcia asked.
"They were able to save her, yes," JJ answered.
"You know what this means," Derek Morgan turned to his team knowingly.
"It's not over with him," Hotch said worriedly.
"And he's not going to stop until he's got her," Rossi finished.
"Agents?" a fit middle-aged man approached the team as they entered the precinct.
"Yes, I'm special agent Jennifer Jarrau, we spoke on the phone," JJ introduced herself, "and these are special agents Derek Morgan, David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Dr Spencer Reid and Aaron Hotchner, unit chief."
"I'm Lieutenant Dawson Keeley," the man introduced, "We have everything set up like you asked, come with me. So far we have no leads; this guy doesn't leave anything behind."
"If you don't mind I would like agents Prentiss and Morgan to go back to the crime scene," Hotch asked the man.
"Of course, officers Diego and Leary will take you. They're just on finishing up their break," Keeley informed the team, "And we brought Greene in for the interview, she's in the break room."
"I'll talk to her," Reid volunteered, "I'm not as intimidating as the team; she'll be more comfortable talking to me."
"Good idea," Hotch nodded.
"Right this way," the lieutenant nodded.
"Did you notice Reid looking her up before we got here," Morgan whispered to Prentiss.
"Oh yeah," Prentiss chuckled, "she's 25 and very pretty."
"Harper Greene?" the lieutenant verified as she stood up in response.
"That's me," the young woman nodded with a shy smile. Spencer studied her for a second; she was wearing an aqua, chiffon dress with crossed pleating across the waist and a ruffled hem that ended midway down her thigh with a dainty nude blazer and nude peek-a-boo pumps. Reid guessed she stood at around 5'2" without the heels with long brown hair she had interlocked into a four part, rope braid on her left side reaching just beneath her breast with side bangs swept elegantly across her forehead. She was tanned and seemed physically fit and attractive with breathtaking eyes, one golden brown and the other hazel blue.
"I'm Lieutenant Dawson Keeley," he shook her hand, "this is agent Dr Spencer Reid, he'll be the one interviewing you."
"Hi," Spencer smiled kindly.
"Hi," she greeted and bit her lip. Spencer noted it as her being anxious, but he could not deny that she looked adorable
"Right this way," Spencer touched the small of her back to lead her to a private room for them to talk.
"You said you're name was Harper Greene?" Spencer started as the two sat down in the room.
"Yeah," Harper nodded.
"You're 25, right?" Spencer asked.
"Yup," she sighed then slightly straightened out as a question popped up in her mind, "How old are you?"
"I'm 28," Spencer answered matter-of-factly, "and what do you do?"
"I'm a kindergarten teacher."
"How sweet," Reid smiled awkwardly.
"Thanks," Harper said bashfully and their eyes met for a second before an officer brought in a file for Reid to read. The room was silent as he scanned it over before looking up at her one more time.
"It says here you were 16 years old when you were attacked," he said in surprise.
"The case was never solved," she said, "I had gone out on an early walk around the corner and was attacked in the same alley way as the other girls."
"And you were found at around the same time that morning," Spencer finished.
"Mhmm," she nodded cutely, "After surgery I was fine, my uncle worked day and night to piece it together, but the resources weren't so great. He was a detective here at the time. He couldn't find anyone who would have a motive or any witness to do a sketch."
"And you never saw anything?" Spencer leaned in.
"No, he got me from behind and covered my mouth, but he was shaky, like he was nervous," she told him.
"Have you ever felt like you were being stalked prior to or since the attack?"
"No, I still take precautions, but I've never been followed or sent anything."
"Interesting, could you wait here for a second, Harper?" Spencer stood up.
"Of course," she smiled a dazzling smile and Reid nodded awkwardly.
"New girlfriend?" Morgan teased as the youngest team member entered the common area again, but Reid ignored him and went straight to the news.
"She's definitely his first victim. Her case file is almost identical to the other three victims. She has complete heterochromia and she's the same age as the other victims," Spencer reported, "The only thing is she told me that he was shaky and he couldn't get the blade deep enough. He eventually left her and a busboy found her and called an ambulance."
"So, he chickened out?" Prentiss summarized, "In other cases the UNSUB would just panic and stab the victim until she bled out."
"So, our UNSUB has a specific execution style," Rossi answered, "He must of fantasized about the kill before actually attempting it. But then, the real thing overwhelmed him with anxiety or emotion when he actually tried to attack her. And his victims being almost identical to his first shows there's a personal connection between them in his mind."
"But the overkill still doesn't fit," Hotch said thoughtfully.
"Stalkers commonly show immediate remorse for the objects of their affection," Reid said, "this guy just keeps hurting them, like he can't help it."
"This doesn't make any sense," Morgan stated, "Why didn't he just go straight to the girl, why all this?"
"He's probably preparing himself for her," Prentiss offered, "He doesn't want to freeze up again."
"Or trying to scare her," JJ said.
"Someone this calculated wouldn't easily let his emotions take over, he must've been ashamed of his failure to finish the job," Rossi said.
"This kind of guy has to be a stalker," Morgan deduced.
"But when I asked her, she was positive she wasn't being stalked," Reid added, " I think it would be a good idea for me to stick by her for a few days. I can probably find signs as to who he is through Harper's memory." The room fell silent as the team pondered the almost too eager request
"Something's off with this guy," Hotch broke the silence, "Until we figure it out, I want you, Reid, to stay with Harper. Play her boyfriend, best friend, anything, use your real name and job when asked. If he feels we're cutting him off from her he might lash out towards us."
"Or, at least me," Reid added solemnly.
"Right, bring her in we'll have to explain what's going on," Hotch ordered.
"We have officers specially trained for these situations," Keeley started, "I'm sure we can find someone more suited—," but the man was cut off by Rossi.
"Dr Reid is one our most gifted members," the man defended his friend, "He can protect this girl better than any other officer I know."
"Are you saying my officers aren't good enough?" Keeley accused.
"No, I'm not Lieutenant," Rossi explained, "I'm saying Reid should not be underestimated."
"Reid, you can bring her in now," Hotch nodded to Reid as an indirect finish to Rossi and Keeley's confrontation.
"Alright," Spencer nodded and brought Harper back to the briefing room.
"Hello, I'm special agent Aaron Hotchner and these are special agents Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, David Rossi, Jennifer Jarrau and you know Dr Reid," Hotch introduced hurriedly, "Reid will be going undercover with you. Tell your friends and whoever ask that he's your boyfriend or best friend, whatever your comfortable with, take him everywhere; we suspect that since your attacker is no longer dormant you're more at risk than ever. Be vague when texting or calling someone when it concerns your whereabouts and, if you can, avoid the area around that alley."
"Okay, I can do that," she nodded thoughtfully.
"Go with agents Rossi and Jarrau and tell them your day to day schedule, be as specific as you can," Hotch ordered politely as she sat at the desk with the two agents.
"Reid, don't think I forgot about what happened with Lila," Hotch began, but was interrupted by the boy himself.
"All due respect, but that was a highly threatening situation," Reid explained hurriedly, "Emotions were running high with Lila. This is different; Harper has a realistic grasp on what's going on. There is no immediate threat to her and she's a pretty optimistic girl who doesn't let her emotions get the best of her. People like that handle themselves exceptionally well in stressed situations. So, any feelings that may arise will be completely natural," Reid nodded reassuringly, "Uh excuse me," stammered as he went back to Harper.
"He likes her," Rossi stated as Reid approached Harper.
"I'm wondering if I should be worried," Hotch thought aloud.
"We're his team mates, Hotch, not his parents," Rossi patted his colleague and friend's back.
"So, you're my boyfriend," Harper stated as Reid approached her.
"Only if you want," he blurted sheepishly, "It's really the only way my sudden involvement in your life would be justified with your friends and family. I'll be accompanying you everywhere to a point. The places I'm not at least one of our team members or officers will be."
"All this work for one person?" she asked in surprise.
"Cutting you off from him will cause him to panic," Reid explained, "To him; it'll become personal between him and me with the FBI. He'll feel like we, or at least I, am getting in the way and turn his rage to me and away from potential victims."
"How heroic," she commented with a smile.
"It's just part of the job..." Reid tried to play it off with a slow nod, but had a hard time hiding his smirk, "So, let's go back to your apartment. Is it possible for you to lay low tonight?"
"I was gonna' go out for dinner with some friends, but I can cancel," Harper said as she took out her phone and started texting furiously.
"Jeez, what are you telling them?" Reid chuckled.
"That I forgot about plans I made with the cutest guy from Quantico," she giggled as she walked over to a beckoning JJ.
"Cutest guy?" he repeated bashfully as Morgan came up behind him.
"Please don't tell me this is gonna' be like last time," he teased.
"She isn't Lila," Reid reminded his friend.
"I know," Morgan nodded, "She's actually sweet and humble."