Hi guys, let me know what you think of this 1st chapter, (Although I'm updating regardless!) it would help me to know what you guys think and where you want the story going :)
Happy reading!
Chapter 1:
Spencer looked up from his book as a knock rang through his apartment. He folded over the corner of the page and placed it on the table before heading to the door. To tell the truth, he wasn't really reading the book, it was just a front to put on so no-one would know that his mind was occupied elsewhere.
He looked through his peephole to see JJ standing outside smiling up at the peephole. Spencer undid the deadbolt and opened the door with what passed for a smile on his face.
"Hey Spence. Morgan, Emily and Will are downstairs, we're going to see a movie, do you wanna come?" JJ asked, with hope in her eyes. Maybe today Spencer would finally leave his apartment for something other than work.
"Thanks for the offer but I think I'll pass." Spencer said, gesturing vaguely downstairs. "I'd probably just bring everyone down."
JJ sighed before saying, "We just want to know that you're okay Spence. We're all worried about you."
Spencer pulled his lips into a tight smile and said, "I'm fine, I've just got some stuff that needs to get done you know."
JJ nodded and said, "Well thanks anyway Spence. I'll see you later okay?"
Spencer nodded before closing the door after his friend's retreating form. As he was heading back to the table, he bumped into a cabinet and a slightly open drawer fell out onto the floor.
Spencer sighed before kneeling down to gather up the fallen papers. It was only when he was halfway done that he realised what he was picking up. Maeve's letters. It had been a week since he had last cried over her, but looking at her letters was just too much. He felt tears slowly rolling down his cheeks.
An hour later, Spencer was asleep on the couch when the phone rang. He jolted awake and grabbed it.
"Hello?" Spencer said, tiredly.
"Reid, you need to come into the office. We have a case." Spencer heard Hotch's voice say through the phone.
Spencer responded with "I'm on my way", hung up the phone and headed into his bedroom to get his bag. He quickly checked that everything was there before straightening his tie, grabbing his keys and heading out of the apartment.
Half an hour later, Spencer was in the office and heading towards the meeting room when a very annoyed looking Prentiss, Morgan and JJ stepped out of the elevator, obviously not wanting to be at the office.
Spencer let a slight smile slip onto his face when they straightened up and tried to look professional for their superiors. When Morgan caught sight of Spencer, he led the others over to him.
"How's it going Reid?" he said, slinging an arm over his shoulders.
"Good. Sorry about your movie." Spencer replied, casually shrugging the arm off his shoulders.
"We ended up just grabbing ice cream instead. It's no fun without you pointing out the mistakes in the movie Reid." Prentiss said, ruffling his hair and heading up into the conference room.
Spencer let a brief smile escape him before remembering the letters and letting a frown reappear.
Morgan and JJ looked at each other with sad eyes and followed Emily up stairs, Spencer following closely behind.
The rest of the team was already there, chatting around the table. JJ stood up and flicked on the first slide. "In a ranch in Texas, a former ranch hand by the name of Kyle Banner was found on the porch of another employee and daughter of the ranch owner, Zoey Webster." A picture of a bautiful blonde woman popped up on the screen alongside a picture of a blackened body, reclining in a porch chair.
"The body was burned to the point where the victim died but not to an extent where the body fell apart. This expresses a previous desire to pose the body in this manner on Miss Webster's porch. The local police station have posted 24 hour security outside her house in case this UnSub is in fact after Zoey." JJ continued, flicking the powerpoint to a slide that showed a wide shot of the porch with the victim posed in the far right corner.
"Why are they calling us in when this is a first time offence?" Morgan asked, flipping through his tablet in confusion.
"The police believe that the UnSub has tried to kill three times before but failed for various reasons." Hotch said, reading off names of his tablet, "Gemma Richards suffered from 2nd degree burns at the hands of a masked assailent, Paul Hargreaves suffered from third degree burns at the hands of a similar attacker, and finally Roger O'Donnell suffered extensive burns to his entire body and died in hospital before police could question him. All of these attacks occurred within a 12 mile radius of the ranch."
"That is definitely cause for suspicion. Do the police have any leads?" Rossi asked JJ.
"Zoey's ex boyfriend is in custody as he has previously expressed his desire to hurt Zoey before and a woman by the name of Grace Hunter has undergone extensive questioning about her connections to all four victims, but nothing more substantial than circumstantial evidence." JJ sighed before sitting down at the table.
"How far apart did these attacks happen?" Reid asked, furrowing his brow at the paperwork in front of him.
"The first two were weeks apart, the third came a few days after and then Kyle was found two days after Roger died." JJ said, looking at Hotch, knowing what he would say.
"The attacks are happening closer together, we need to get out there as soon as possible. Wheels up in 30." Hotch stood and stalked out of the room.