Hi everyone!
I'm back! I just wrote this one on the fly because I want to see what kind of response I get from all of you. I haven't decided if I'm going to continue writing this one or not, I'll leave that up to you.
F.Y.I.-- I don't like Rossi's character so I'm still using Gideon ;)
Please don't for get to R&R! Thanks!
**I own nothing, nor do I make any money off these stories.**
"Everything can change at any moment, suddenly and forever." - Paul Auster
Chapter 1--Bloodbath
Two dollars?! A two dollar tip on a hundred dollar bill? Kristin McKinnon sighed as she pocketed the money and ran a hand through her short brown hair, How am I supposed to pay for rent and food and diapers this month? Her mind flashed to an image of her two year old daughter, Sophie, and she felt her gut clench as her heart soared; a mix of dread for her financial situation and unconditional love for her child; the only good thing that came out of an abusive relationship.
She looked over to the only other table she had; a lone man drinking his third glass of water I'm not making a tip off this one either, she concluded; after all, water was free. This man was a server's worst nightmare; creepy and not buying anything.
"You aren't going to make any money just standing there, Kristin," snapped her manager. "Get back to work."
"Sorry, Shawna," she replied with her eyes cast downwards to hide the hatred that was sure to be flashing in her eyes. She snatched an armful of dirty dishes off the table and expertly balanced them on her way to the dish pit in the back.
Six hours later, Kristin walked out of the restaurant with all of her tips for the night—a devastating $20. She pulled her jacket up around her neck and shivered against the blistering, snowy wind as she made her way to the bus stop whereupon she stopped short; the creepy water guy was waiting for the same bus as her. If he can't afford a cup of pop than he surly can't afford a car, Kristin! Lots of people take the bus!
As she waited, creepy water guy kept staring at her, making her nervous. The bus finally came and she waited for him to sit down before choosing her seat far away from him. They both got off downtown but most people did anyways to catch their other bus connections. She hurried to catch the 35; the bus that would take her almost to her small, dingy apartment.
She sat down and quietly groaned as pain shot down her spine and into her feet.
"Hi."
Kristin's head snapped up as creepy water guy sat beside her, "Hi," she replied, politely nodding before putting her earphones in; an international sign for 'do not talk to me'.
"Aren't you the waitress from the restaurant?"
She pretended she couldn't hear him as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
"I know you can hear me."
Kristen began to lightly bob her head as if keeping time to the music from her dead mp3 player.
"Don't ignore me!" he nearly yelled, causing a couple people to glance his way before quickly looking away.
She pulled an earphone out, "Look, Sir, I just finished a long day and I'm not really in a chatty mood." The earphone was put back into her ear as she began to quietly hum her favourite song. Creepy water guy said something that sounded like, "You have condemned yourself," but she convinced herself that she must have misheard him. She pulled the string and the bus stopped; she and her unwanted companion got off the bus and that's when she started to get nervous until he took one last angry look at her and stalked off in the opposite direction. She waited until he turned a corner before she walked into her apartment building and took the elevator up to the 15th floor.
She walked down the dim hallway and knocked on door 1546.
The door opened and an elderly woman stepped out into the hall with one shriveled hand over her heart, "Kristin! I thought something happened to you! You're late. You're never late!"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Santora but I was a bit late leaving work and I had to wait awhile for my bus."
"Why didn't you call me with your cell phone child? You know how I worry!"
Kristin hung her head, "I couldn't afford to pay that bill last month so they cut it off."
"Oh child," the woman sighed as she hugged the young woman, "I know how tough times are for you right now, but things will pick up at the restaurant soon enough."
"I hope so."
"They will. Have a little faith. You will be back on your feet in no time."
"Thank you Mrs. Santora. How was Sophie today?"
"She was perfect, as always. If only mine were as good as her all those years ago."
Kristin laughed, "She is a great toddler. She rarely gives me any trouble. I'm so lucky to have her."
"You are. Come in and I'll wake her for you."
The two women stepped into the apartment as Sophie ran around the corner, chestnut curls flying, "Mama!" she laughed.
Kristin scooped her daughter into her arms and nuzzled her neck, "Hi Baby, how are you?"
"Good Mama. Go home now Mama?" she asked as she played with her mother's hair.
"Go get your blanket and we'll go home."
The child wiggled out of her mother's arms and went off in search of her blanket. Kristin chuckled to herself before pulling a few bills out of her back pocket, "This is for last week Mrs. Santora."
The older woman shook her head, "No. You keep that for now."
"That's not right. I'm paying you to take care of my daughter."
"Pay me when you have the extra money, besides, I love watching Sophie! She keeps me company all day and makes sure I don't get into too much trouble."
"This isn't right," Kristin repeated.
"If you must pay me, do it when you have a little more money. I know you will pay me when you can."
"Thank you Mrs. Santora."
"Tank you Mrs. Sant'ra!" echoed a little voice.
"Okay Monkey! Come here, let's get you home and into bed! Say goodnight."
Sophie reached out and hugged the elderly woman, giving her a wet kiss on the cheek, "Night night!"
"Goodnight love."
"Thanks again."
"Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow around the same time?"
"Yeah, I'll drop Sophie off around noon."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Kristin took the elevator to the 17th floor and entered her apartment, closing and locking the deadbolt behind her. She bathed Sophie before reading her a book and putting her into her new 'big girl' bed. She turned on the nightlight before closing the door halfway. She made her way into the kitchen and sat down at the table to try and figure out how to pay some of her bills.
Forty minutes later she sat back and sighed; she had found a way to pay for next month's rent. The floor creaked in her bedroom and she froze, listening, "Soph?" she gently called before shaking her head.
Kristin stood up and stretched until she heard her bedroom door squeak and the back of her neck prickled, "Sophie?" She left the kitchen and walked down the miniscule hallway, stopping outside her daughter's room, noticing the toddler sleeping peacefully. She stood there for a few minutes enjoying the peace her daughter brought to her soul before returning to the kitchen to put the bills away.
As she placed the bills into a neat pile she felt warm air on the back of her neck; she gasped and spun around to find creepy water guy standing behind her with a menacing sneer on his face, "I told you not to ignore me." Kristin opened her mouth to scream when the man raised a large hunting knife into the air and shushed her, "Now, now, we don't want to wake up the baby, do we?"
"Please, I'm sorry. Take whatever you want. Take the T.V. My wallet's in my purse over there," she gasped, pointing to the table by the front door.
"I will take what I want, unfortunately, it's nothing material. I want your body and if you scream, I will kill your child. If you're quiet, I'll spare her. Turn around."
Her mind screamed for her to fight back but her body complied; her mother's instinct willing to do anything to keep her child safe…
Emily winced as she watched JJ almost run into Hotch's office.
"What's up Emily?" Derek Morgan asked.
"JJ just practically ran into Hotch's office."
Morgan sighed, "It's going to be a bad one."
Hotch emerged from his office a short time later with JJ hurrying off to the conference room, "Briefing room, two minutes," he announced to the bull pen.
"It's a bad one," Morgan sighed.
"Yeah," Emily agreed.
All of the agents began gathering what they would need for the briefing of their next case before heading to the conference room.
Once in the room everyone took their usual seats and waited to be bombarded by brutal photos and other evidence of unspeakable crimes.
JJ stood and began to brief the agents, "I was contacted by a homicide detective in Buffalo. They've had two rape/murders in as many weeks. The first victim was Julia Smythe, 24. A waitress at a local chain restaurant; she was last seen leaving work on December 6th and no one saw her again until the Super went to check on her after she didn't show up to work on the 8th. He found her bound and gagged on her kitchen table. She had been raped before being gutted with a hunting knife. He cut her from her throat to her pubic bone while she was still alive, watched her bleed to death and then left the apartment."
"How do they know he watched her die?" Morgan asked.
JJ clicked the remote in her hand and a picture appeared on the screen, "There are two footprint voids in the blood which means he waited until the blood had somewhat coagulated before moving from his spot."
"Wouldn't someone notice a guy walking around with bloody shoes?" Emily spoke up.
Another picture appeared on the screen, "He walked to the sink and appears to have washed his shoes before leaving the building."
"Security footage?" Gideon inquired.
"None, she lived in a controlled rent building which means no cameras."
Reid sat back in his chair and paled, "Where was the child?"
Everyone looked at him as he nudged some crime scene photos forward; a crib, playpen, children's books and toys.
JJ unconsciously rubbed a hand over her lower abdomen, "The victim's child, a 23 month old girl was at the victim's mother's house for the weekend."
"Witnesses?" asked Gideon.
"None. The police scoured the building and surrounding areas but no one saw anything or anyone out of the ordinary."
"Evidence?"
"Not much. He wears a size 12 shoe."
The older man sighed, "That's it?"
"No prints, no fibers, no semen left behind and no one can tell if anything is missing from the apartment. The mother hasn't been able to enter the place where her daughter was murdered." She took a breath before continuing, "The second victim was Kristin McKinnon, 23, also a waitress at a chain restaurant. She was last seen by her neighbour who watched her 2 year old daughter while she was at work on the 16th and her landlord discovered her body after the victim's work and neighbour called when she didn't show up to drop off her daughter or to work her shift. It appears the unsub tied her to her kitchen table before raping her. The local M.E. says he began to cut her before the kitchen table broke and our victim somehow managed to crawl just outside her daughter's room before he cut her throat and she bled out."
Hotch cleared his throat, "The daughter?"
JJ glanced down before looking him in the eye, "The first officer on the scene discovered her covered in her mother's blood. It appears she woke up soon after her mother was killed and crawled under her arm to lie beside her."
"How long was she there?"
"At least 12 hours. She's in the hospital being treated for shock."
Silence filled the room as minds worked to digest the information and tempers struggled to be controlled. Gideon pinched the bridge of his nose, Morgan's jaw worked, Emily clenched and unclenched her fist, Hotch's stoic expression barely covered the anger bubbling beneath the surface, Reid stared blankly at the case file and JJ worked on steadying her breathing.
"Witnesses?" Reid inquired.
"None."
"Evidence?"
"Just some bloody footprints and a smudge print on the wall where he cut the victim's throat but it's not enough to run. They can barely get three points from it."
"What kind of shoes?"
"Steel toed shoes. It's a brand that is widely available for anyone looking to buy that type of shoe from workplaces to Wal Mart. The shoe is a dead end."
After a few moments Hotch cleared his throat, "Buffalo appears to have a killer targeting young, low income Caucasian mothers. He attacks them in their apartments where he rapes them before gutting them and watching them bleed to death."
"We can assume he's a sexual sadist which means he's probably a white male between 25-45," Emily contributed.
"He blends into his surroundings because no one seems to notice anything out of the ordinary; he's careful, meticulous because he doesn't leave evidence behind except with his last victim because the table broke and she left the kitchen causing him to change his plan on the fly," Gideon added.
"He left boot prints because he knew they'd be untraceable. We can also assume that if he is working, he does some kind of physical labour because he has to be strong enough to overpower these women and cut through a lot of tissue and muscle," continued Morgan.
"These aren't his only crimes; he's had practice, time to almost perfect his trade. Garcia should check for similar crimes nationwide because eviscerating a person is something that will get the local police's attention. This type of killer won't stop until he is caught or killed," finished Reid.
"The local P.D. have asked us to come and help them solve this one before more women die. We're flying because it'll be faster. Wheel's up in 20," Hotch concluded as he stood and left the room with the other's following him.
Reid rose form his chair and stood beside his wife, placing his hand on the small of her back, "You okay?"
"We need to get him Spence. We need to get him."
"We will."
"I know, but how many more women are going to be killed before that?"
"Too many."
Okay everyone, that's it for now...
Don't forget to R&R or else I won't know whether to continue writing or not! Thanks!!
FiestyFeral