Chapter 1
She walked up the stairs of the FBI: Behavior Analysis Unit Building to find the man she was looking for. She was a young twenty five year old woman with a purpose for walking up these steps. She was the kind of girl who kept her eyes on the prize and was determined to do what she wanted in life. She was a boutique owner in New York. She built from the ground up and was proud to call it her own.
She reached signed in in the lobby and took the elevator to the fifth floor offices. She stepped through the glass doors and finally spotted the man she was looking for and a big smile spread across her face.
"Uncle Jason!" She exclaimed. Jason Gideon matched her smile and walked to the door and greeted his niece with a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Aria, what're you doing in Quantico?" Gideon asked, looking at the team that was walking towards them.
"I'm visiting you of course and I'm on my way to Miami to visit college friends! It's been a while since I last saw you." Aria explained still giddy seeing her uncle for the first time in two years.
"And who is this, Jason?" Aaron Hotchner asked.
"This is-"He was cut off.
"I'm Aria Gideon. You must be Agent Hotchner." She said giving him a smooth handshake.
Hotch gave her a small smile as he introduced her to the entire team. She shook everyone's hand and gave big smiles to all, but a smile wouldn't do for Garcia. So she welcomed Aria with her notorious hug. Aria loved meeting the team. She'd heard so much about them from calls with Gideon. Aria and Gideon were pretty close. The thing she cared most about in life was her family.
She sat down for breakfast with the team, so she could chat with them until a case came in. She talked for about an hour about past cases and why Gideon never mentioned her before. Gideon blushed at his niece as she laughed happily and talked of the fun times she had when she was younger with Gideon. She asked the team simple questions about their family. She asked Hotch and JJ about their families and everyone else about their everyday lives outside of work. Pretty soon a case came in and she had to leave. Spencer Reid, the youngest member of the team, was asked by Gideon to escort her out of the briefing room.
Aria and Reid walked side by side down to the elevator. They made small talk being that Reid was quite awkward in one on one situations with people, women in particular. He walked stiffly, hands in his pockets next to Aria, trying to make the best of the situation. She smiled sweetly at him when they reached the lobby. Reid smiled weakly back at her. Aria began to notice the somewhat godly like features of his face. He had high smooth cheek bones soft dark brown eyes and glossy brown hair. Aria touched his shoulder ever so gently and said thank you for walking her down. Reid gave a quick smile and turned and walked back into the building and upstairs back to the briefing room.
Reid's mind was going over every little thing that had just occurred. The light touch, the small talk, the small smiles, but of course it didn't connect to anything in his head. Clearly out of touch Morgan waved his hand in front of Reid's face as the case was being explained.
"Four people have been killed in the last month. The victims are Melissa Sims, John Ezra, Claire Burns, and Drew White, all in their mid to late twenties. Their bodies were found in Miami, Florida. The doctors say that they were all killed a week before they were found, most likely during the weekend." JJ explained.
"There are more than a thousand potential Unsubs in Miami this time of year. It's Spring Break. That's practically the perfect place to kill someoneā¦even during the day in front of everyone." Morgan stated.
"That's not exactly true." JJ continued. "The victims were found either burned or stabbed to death. Melissa and Claire were burned on a wooden cross, while John and Drew were stabbed to death."
"The cross makes it seem religious." Emily Prentiss examined
"We can't make assumptions. Let's get the jet ready and head to Florida." Hotch finished. The team fled out of the room grabbing their go bags and heading down stairs to go to the jet. Reid stopped Gideon in mid stride to say something important.
"Gideonā¦" Reid said.
"Yes?"
"Aria said she was heading to Miami about an hour ago. She probably took a plane, but you may be able to reach her." Reid said with his eyes lowered.
Getting the hint, Gideon quickly took his phone out of his pocket and began dialing. "I'll call her."
-Seventy Minutes Later-
The team just finished unpacking and was heading over to the crime scene. JJ took initiative and pushed the press away from the crime scene and was giving them minimal details, but not a full on profile. Hotch, Prentiss, Morgan, and Reid went over to the small cabana where Melissa, the latest victim, was burned. The last bits of the cabana were only small shreds or covers from the bench.
"This would have had to have taken place when no one was around. Not one person could have missed a burning tent. Miami's beaches are always crowded especially on the weekends, especially now." Prentiss concluded.
"I'll need to speak to the owner of the beach club." Hotch said to a patrol officer on the beach. The officer nodded and headed inside the building. The officer appeared minutes later with a man dressed in a loose white shirt and casual jeans with dress shoes.
"Hello, Agents." The owner said shaking Hotch's hand. "I'm the owner, Oscar Hill. Did you need something?"
"Was there some kind of event going on at the time of the fire?" Morgan questioned.
"There was a big party going on at the other side of the building. We're still cleaning up. A few hundred students showed up even early this morning." Oscar informed.
"So no one would've even been paying attention." Reid concluded.
"Was this a well-advertised event?" Hotch asked.
"Well yea, we have to get the word out. I wouldn't be surprised if people all over the east coast were coming down here."
"So the UNSUB knew when and where the victims would be. Thank you for your time." Hotch said taking the team back inside the building.
Gideon was waiting in the building lobby, pacing back and forth while cursing at his cell phone under his breath. Aria wasn't picking up her phone, after he called her more than ten times. She landed two and a half hours ago. Gideon explained to the team that he found out where her hotel was and that he would head there in about thirty minutes. Reid offered to go with him and he agreed.
Hotch, Morgan, and Prentiss updated Gideon on the new information, but they still had no real information to go on and no motive. There were stuck. Hotch let Reid and Gideon go off to Aria's hotel hoping to inform her about the recent events.
