Emily commandeers the round table room considering how many victims she could eventually be profiling. She sets up two murder boards, one with known victims and one with a map of the Big Sur area. She glances at Reid's files and then sighs. It would be so easy to glance at them…but easy causes errors, she remembers one of her Academy professors beating into the cadets.
She glances at her watch. She can't do much until she gets the full backgrounds on the identified victims from Garcia. But she could go down and see if Rocky is ready to eat. She calls Garcia.
"Pen, I'm going down to the day care center. Rocky should be ready to eat about now. I'll give you a call when I get back up here to see if you have info for me on the victims."
"Sounds good. Give the little princess a kiss for me."
Emily smiles. "You know I will."
When she gets down to the day care center, Matilda smiles at her. "Good timing. Little Miss Prentiss just started fussing."
Emily smiles and winks. "Mother's intuition…and good point to break in the new case."
Matilda's laughter follows Emily over to the cribs. She leans over the one where her daughter lies.
"Hey there, Blue Eyes. Hungry?" Rocky waves a hand at Emily. Emily smiles. "I'll take that as a yes, Mama, hurry up."
She takes her and moves to one of the privacy cubicles. She turns the music list on her phone on low, playing classical music as she gets ready. Rocky is soon hungrily nursing. Emily grins at her.
"You act like I haven't fed you in days, Rock. Of course, maybe you have the appetite of a football player and we should start measuring you for cleats. Is that it? You going to make your Mommy proud by being the first woman in the NFL?"
After spending 45 minutes with her daughter, Emily heads back up to the BAU floor. She starts to call Garcia but the analyst walks into the conference room at that moment.
"Ah, good timing. How was she?"
Emily smiles. "Eating like a linebacker."
Garcia chuckles. "Good for Jayje! And good for you remembering a football term!"
Emily shrugs with fake modesty. "I try."
"Right. Anyway," Garcia hands Emily a flash drive. "Here is everything I know about our victims: credit card history, work history, for one her arrest record, for another her seriously bad driving record, and everything else I could dig up on them. I just spoke with the detective out there and she said the ME is just waiting on final confirmation on 2 more victims and as soon as I have their identity I will run them and get them to you."
"Excellent as always, Garcia." Emily studies her a moment. "Uh, you kept up with this case, didn't you? Like Reid?"
Garcia sighs and leans against the wall. "Sort of. As much as I could with all the other cases I tip-toe through each day. But this one means a lot to me. It's the first time Hotch actually sent me out with one of you guys to pitch a case to the locals. Got to say, I was pissed with how it turned out but it meant a hell of a lot to me that he trusted me with something so important."
Emily smiles. "We never give you enough credit, Pen. None of the cases we solve could be closed without you. And how many times have you saved our asses with either tracking our phones or by doing a 'thing' to protect us? We may not say it enough so let me say it now, you absolutely rock."
Garcia smiles, blushing. "Aw…I love it when you guys get all 'Garcia you're our hero' on me."
Emily chuckles. "Truth is we should do it so often you get sick of it." Garcia giggles. "So, staying with me since the team is on the West Coast?"
"Yeah. But we should still probably drive separately since you will need to keep as normal a schedule as possible for the little princess."
"True. Well, let me get started on the victim profiles. I'll call you if I need you."
Garcia nods and heads back to her lair as Emily plugs in the flash drive and starts to dig into the lives of the women who had died.
On the plane, the team had been pretty quiet, each going over the files of the women they knew. Reid was sitting rubbing his temples when JJ nudges his calf. He looks up at his friend, who sits across from him.
"You okay?" she asks with concern.
Reid nods. "Yes. Just trying to get my preconceived notions out of my head. Kind of hard with an eidetic memory."
JJ smiles sympathetically. "I bet. Anything I can do to help?"
"Know a way to give me retrograde amnesia just on these files?" he asks with a smirk.
JJ laughs. "Uh, let me look into that one."
Further jokes end as Hotch walks up. "So, first impressions?"
Morgan tosses his file on the table. "This guy has been killing a long time. There are bodies there that they think date back at least 10 years. He knows that area like the back of his hand. That's the only way he could find it time and time again."
"Could be someone that works in the forestry industry or in the park service," Rossi points out.
"Or just someone that grew up in that area," JJ points out.
Hotch nods. "Get Garcia on the computer."
JJ nods and patches through to Garcia. "How can I help you mere mortals?" Garcia says as her face pops up.
"Garcia, can you run local juvenile records from say, 20-30 years ago. Look for kids setting fires, torturing animals, beating up smaller kids. Most likely this unsub is in his late 30's to early 40's if the 10 year time frame holds true. But I'd feel better with a larger juvenile search to be safe."
"Right. And you're looking for someone who hits multiple times, right?"
"Exactly."
"Good. And just so you know, Detective Bryant just called. The ME positively identified two more sets of remains. I've emailed you and Emily the information. She is already working on the profiles of the other victims. As soon as I finish delving into the histories of these two unlucky ladies I will get her moving on those profiles."
"Good. Out of curiosity, anything jumping out at you so far on the profiles, Garcia?" Hotch asks.
Garcia looks surprised. "You're asking me, sir?" she squeaks.
The profilers exchange grins as their chief nods. "Yes. You see all the backgrounds, all the connections between them. And you've been doing this enough years I trust you when you have an idea to streamline searches so I trust you as we build our initial impressions and profiles."
"Oh. Um…I see…well, I am flattered. Truly. But, uh, see this one is a little different, sir. I mean, I know I wasn't supposed to since it wasn't an active case but because you put so much trust in me to help Reid with presenting it the case kind of became personal to me so I didn't exactly just let it go to the watch bin like I was supposed to but it never interfered with other cases and-"
"GARCIA!" Hotch yells, stopping her ramble. "Breathe," he says with a grin. She takes a deep breath. "Garcia, it's okay if you kept looking into it. I know there are cases that get their hooks into all of us. You're no exception. If, like Reid, you don't feel comfortable throwing out your opinion I understand."
Garcia breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir. There is one theory I have about the case."
"And that is?"
"This unsub is one sick puppy."
Hotch grins. "I think we can all agree with that one"
Morgan sits up. "Hey, he is a sick puppy! He took pictures with actual film." He looks at the computer screen. "Garcia, he is either a professional or amateur photographer. If he is local we may be able to get a hit on someone buying their developing equipment. There is no way he could send that film out to be developed."
Hotch nods. "Good point."
"On it, sir. Will let you know what I find." Garcia signs off to start a search on this new lead.
Hotch looks at his team. "Get some rest. Thanks to the time change we'll get to work late tonight."
"Gee, lucky us," Rossi says with a grin.
Hotch smirks. "Morgan, JJ, Rossi, I want you three to go right to the burial ground. Control what is going on and how many people are working on it. If there is media, direct them back to the precinct so I can try to get control of what the press is saying. Reid, I want you in touch with Emily. The two of you need to work together on the victim and geographic profiles."
He nods. "Okay. Now that we know more victims we will hopefully have enough points to start to see the unsubs comfort zone."
"Good. Depending on how things are going at the burial ground and the fires we have to put out with the press we will have to figure out how to go see the families and friends of the victims. I'll make the decision on who gets to make those visits when we know more."
Back at Quantico, Emily sits on the edge of the conference room table studying the two maps in front of her. One shows the burial ground, the places where each woman was found pinpointed based on GPS markers used by a very thorough forensic team. The other map shows where the women lived and where they were last scene.
"What got you from there to there?" Emily asks quietly. "What put you on this guy's radar?"
She turns to the pictures of the women. Hair colour varied, eye color varied. Height was close but not exactly the same; within 3 inches of each other so it could be a type. But that just doesn't feel right to Emily.
With a sigh, she picks up the financial records of the women and starts the tedious process of going over where they spent their money…well, at least their traceable money: credit cards, checks, debit cards, monthly bills. She is midway through the second woman's financials when the alarm on her watch goes off.
"Crap. Good thing I set my alarm." She stands and packs the financials of the 8 victims in her briefcase, figuring she can work on them after Henry and Rocky are in bed. She is nearly done when Garcia walks in.
"I just put the profiles of the two newest known victims in the share file on the server."
Emily nods. "Okay. I'll get on those first thing in the morning. I'll finish what I have tonight at home. If you need me, call. If I don't answer it's either dinner time for one of my kids or bedtime."
Garcia smiles. "Awww…that's so sweet. I was worried you'd get so into all this you'd forget to go home."
Emily grins at her. "That's what this visit was about, wasn't it?"
Garcia shrugs. "Maybe a little."
"Well, just so you know, I was worried I'd get sucked in." She holds up her wrist. "Set my watch for 5:30 to be safe." Garcia laughs. "If you talk to the team, let them know I hope to have something for them on the financials tomorrow."
"Will do. See you later, Princess."
"I'll leave the light on for you, Pen."
Emily slings her briefcase over her shoulder and heads down to get Rocky. "Hey, big girl, ready to go home?"
Rocky doesn't answer…because she's asleep. Emily smiles as she gets her into her fleece sleep sack. Emily takes her out and gets her strapped into her car seat. She is glad they secured it in the middle of the backseat of the Hummer so even from the driver's seat she can see the little girl.
Emily climbs into the driver's seat and starts to chuckle. "You know, Rocky, I never think about the height difference between your Mommy and me until I get into a vehicle she drove last."
Emily adjusts the seat, the mirrors and steering wheel and they finally make their way home. When they walk in the garage door Henry runs to them.
"MAMA! WOK!" Then he stops and looks, his head tilted to the side. "Mommy?"
Emily kneels down. "Mommy had to go catch bad guys. But she will call in a little while. She loves you and told me to give you a hug and kiss."
Henry smiles. "Mommy 'pideyman."
Emily laughs. This is new. "Yep, yep she is just like Spiderman."
She stands and takes his hand as the three head on to the kitchen. She smiles at Francesca.
"Hi. Jen and the team are in California. May be there a few days at least."
"Bad case?"
"Very. Serial with a lot of years under his belt."
"Ah…terrible."
Emily nods. "Yes. But, I am home and I believe it's time for Henry's dinner, isn't it?" She says as she looks down at him.
He nods happily. "Si!"
Francesca smiles. "How about I take Rocky and you help Henry with dinner. Chicken parmesan for you; fish sticks and carrots for him."
Emily groans. "Ugh. Fish sticks."
Francesca just laughs, knowing before Rocky was born Emily would have wanted to trade dinners with the little boy. As Francesca heads upstairs Emily and Henry head into the kitchen. She gets a Wet One and cleans off his hands before putting him into his highchair.
"So, juice or milk, Champ?"
"Dooce!"
Emily nods. "Good choice." She fills his sippy cup and puts his dinner in front of him. As she sits down with her own dinner, Henry holds out a bit of fish to her. She smiles.
"Thanks but no thanks, Champ. Your sister may have turned me off fish forever." He grins impishly. "Yeah, I know. That means more for you." She cuts a tiny bit of her chicken parm and offers it to him. He takes it and chews, his eyes getting wide and happy.
"MMMMM!"
Emily chuckles. "Yep, I think you definitely have Father's Italian genes in you." She gives him another little bite, tickled when he eats that, too.
Emily is getting ready to sing Henry his lullaby when her cell phone rings. Henry gets excited…he knows that ringtone.
"MOMMY!"
Emily chuckles and hits the answer button, giving the phone to Henry.
"Hi Mommy! Mommy 'pideyman!"
JJ starts to chuckle. "Hi, Henry. Did you say I'm Spiderman?"
"Si, 'pideyman!"
"Well, okay then. I sure hope your Mama can explain that one. Did she tell you I had to go chase the bad guys?"
"Si! 'pideyman!"
JJ thinks a second and then it hits her. "Ahhh! I'm like Spiderman getting the bad guys!"
"Si, Mommy," Henry says as if she should have understood that the entire time.
JJ chuckles, feeling her heart lighten. "You are so smart, Henry. It is so good you made that connection. I love you so much, Little Man."
"Love Mommy." He then launches into a monologue on his day and his dinner. He finishes with. "Parm MMMM!"
"That's so great, Henry. Think I can talk to your Mama?"
"Si. Love Mommy. Nite Mommy."
"Goodnight, Henry. I love you."
Henry hands Emily the phone. "Hey, baby. I guess you all made it?"
"Yeah. There was a storm so we had to circle a bit before landing but Rossi, Morgan and I are on our way to the burial site. Word has it we may be spending the night up there since there is ice at that elevation because, lucky us, it is unusually cold."
"Gee, lucky you."
"Right. At least they have a cabin up there for us to use. I'd still rather get off the mountain and to a hotel but so it goes, right?"
Emily smiles. "That's what Vonnegut said."
"Right. So, I'm going to let you get Henry to bed. I just needed to speak with him."
"I know, sweetheart. Call me if you want. I will be working on the financials of the 8 initial victims tonight. Should keep me up a while."
"Ugh. Lucky you. Rather be in the field than pouring over financials."
"Me, too, you brat."
JJ chuckles. "Sorry. Well, if you go to bed before you hear from me drop me a text. I love you, Em."
"Love you, too, Jen. Be safe."
"Always."
Emily hangs up and looks at Henry. He has already fallen asleep. She kisses his forehead and, for her, goes ahead and sings his lullaby. She stands and lays him in his crib. She brushes a hand through his hair.
"Almost time to get you a big boy bed, isn't it? You are growing up way too fast, Henry. And yet I can't wait to see who you grow into. Crazy, huh? Get used to it. Your mother and I are both nuts," she warns the sleeping boy with a grin. She gives him one more kiss then heads to her bedroom to start work on her financial searches before Rocky wakes for her next feeding.
