Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and no copyright infringement is intended.
--
The BAU team, minus their genius, sat around the round table and gave JJ their attention. "Lincoln, Nebraska, or more specifically, the University of Nebraska, has a serial killer." She clicked the remote and the pictures of five young men came on the screen. "Brett Shelton," she indicated the young man on the top left, "Was the first victim and at the time they didn't consider his death a murder."
"Why was that, JJ," Emily asked?
"The COD was an overdose of high grade heroin. At first Lincoln PD assumed it was just that, a drug overdose. They wrote it up as death by misadventure."
"What changed their minds," Morgan inquired?
JJ sighed, "The other four deaths. Apparently, Brett Shelton was an occasional drug user but not hard core and none of the others, as far as anyone knew, were into drugs. Lab reports confirm that."
"Well," Rossi interjected, "The unsub's certainly got a type. Look at them. They could be brothers." The team all looked at the faces of the five young men on the screen. All were fresh faced handsome young men in their mid twenties with brown hair that stopped just short of their shoulders.
Garcia's voice broke the silence, "Is anybody thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah mama," Morgan said grimly, "They all look like Reid."
--
The red tail of Northwest Airlines flight 1631 ascended into the white fluffy clouds over Minneapolis and began wending its way toward its destination, Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Allie sighed heavily, "Well we're on the last leg; we'll be back in the real world before we know it. Why did the time have to go so fast?"
"Hey, look at the bright side," Reid responded, "We had six great days together. We did some fun things. I got to white water raft albeit not in the usual fashion but that's my life. We met some really nice people. It's nice that Terry and Judy want to keep in touch. We got email addresses and cell numbers for the guys so we can keep in touch with them as well. And," he raised her hand, "Don't forget this little trinket."
"Oh, I could never forget this," she looked lovingly at her ring. "I just wish we didn't have to come back so soon."
"Well, we're not back in the 'real world', "he made quotation marks with his fingers, "Just yet. To quote a Bob Seger song, we've got tonight."
--
The BAU team arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska's fifth precinct in the company of lead detective, Anita Raines. Raines was a mere 5'4" and slim although not skinny. She had auburn hair cut in a short no nonsense wedge. Her heart shaped face was dominated by friendly blue eyes. The way her clothes fit suggested her muscles were well defined and toned. She wore a sapphire blue suit that matched her eyes over a grey tank. Despite her lack of height, she wore comfortable flat black hush puppy loafers. "We've got a conference room set up for you. Let me know if there's anything you need."
The conference room was furnished with a large oval table topped in white laminate. Eight swivel chairs upholstered in blue tweed sat around the table. The team went to work setting up their bulletin board with photos of the dead men. "All the bodies were found in the science building," Emily stated.
"Well, they were all students in the faculty of science so it figures that they'd spend a lot of time there," Morgan responded.
"You wouldn't likely find drugs there though. That would be more for the dorm so perhaps it's someone who wouldn't be likely to see them in the dorm. Did they all live on campus," Rossi asked?
JJ looked at the file, "Brett Shelton, Mitch Duffy and David Felix lived on campus but Angelo Costas and Todd Gabriel didn't."
"So," Hotch stated, "It's obviously someone that's part of their university life, maybe someone on staff, who wouldn't likely see them off campus."
"They all look alike," Morgan remarked. "Something must have happened to the unsub that involved someone who looked like these men. He keeps killing that individual over and over.
"The autopsy report says they were sedated before they were given the fatal overdose." Emily scanned the document. "That tells me the unsub wanted to weaken them. We could be dealing with a woman who had to make it so they couldn't fight back. Drugging is more a woman's MO."
"Okay, there are lots of good looking dark haired guys on campus," Morgan had gotten up to look at the 8x10's on the bulletin board. "Why these five? What did they have in common?"
"According to their files," JJ informed the team, "They all transferred from other universities mid term. Their ages range from 23 to 26. They're all in the science faculty and they all joined some campus clubs. All got good grades, none below a 3.0."
"Okay," Hotch said, "Let's go over to the university and talk to some people. Something these men did made them targets. We have to find out what that is."
"Is switching universities in mid term a common occurrence," Emily asked as they headed for the door.
"I have no idea," Hotch replied.
Morgan dug the keys to one of the SUVs out of his pocket. "Reid would know."
--
They had landed a short time before and Reid was now hefting more baggage than they had left with onto a cart while shooting daggers at Allie with his eyes.
"Now honey, you know I had to get something for everybody in the family and on the team and I couldn't forget Chantal, Mark and little Reid could I?"
They exited the airport concourse for the parking lot and Reid's Ford Explorer where he began to, once again, hoist their luggage from one place to another. He'd just gotten in the vehicle and clicked his seat belt closed when his cell phone rang. He looked at the call display.
"Hi Garcia, man we just landed. We haven't even gotten home yet. I know you want all the juicy details…"
"Sorry sweet thing, that's not why I'm calling. The team is dealing with a serial killer at the University of Nebraska. They really need you there. There's a commercial flight out in three hours. I've booked you a seat."
"But we just landed," Reid argued.
"I know that sweet cheeks but it's not up to me. Anyway, your ticket will be at the United terminal. I'll email all the info to your laptop and you can familiarize yourself with the case en route. You're to meet the rest of the team at the fifth precinct in Lincoln."
Garcia heard Reid sigh heavily on the other end of the phone. "Okay Garcia, I guess we'll talk later." He ended his call and turned sad brown eyes toward Allie.
She took in his expression. "We don't have tonight, do we?"