…THAT took like furevuh… Anyhoo, now's the second shortest-of-the-three-chapters chapter. Everyone see Masterpiece? Brilliant! That's why I love both Rossi and Reid… I think it's a bit sad that I was cracking up laughing at Reid's joke… maybe more that a bit sad… Anyways!
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Earlier that day…
"Remember, this unsub is impulsive and will go to any lengths not to get caught," Hotch concluded.
"But," I added, "he's a coward, especially now. He'll be hiding in the shadows now he knows we're on to him. He'll be irrational and desperate."
"We need to be careful. At this point, he's unpredictable." Hotchner nodded tersely, signaling the end of the profiling.
Five hours later…
"Talk to me baby girl," I heard Morgan say from the corner some time later. He held his cell phone to his ear. He nodded a few times slightly. "Alright, thanks." He snapped the phone shut, turning to the rest of us. "Garcia's got a name: Jude Sears. According to her, his rap sheet is nothing to laugh about."
"How big is it?" Reid chimed in.
"Big," Morgan affirmed, "but they couldn't get him on any of the major crimes; not enough evidence. From what Garcia said, he's seems like our guy."
"Address?" I inquired.
"She's got it on its way," Morgan replied. I nodded once, leaning against the wall, waiting.
"What else is there?" Prentiss spoke up.
Morgan closed his eyes in thought. "Garcia said that it was luck she'd gotten him. Apparently, he's got two houses. The second one is right in the middle of the crime scenes. His job gives him access to all of the victims. The only reason we didn't catch it before was because his main residence is marked as his first house, which is miles away from the city."
"His job?" Hotch asked.
"Ice Cream man," Morgan answered wryly. I wasn't expecting that one…
I was silent the whole was to Sears' house. Hotch was driving and Prentiss was in the back. The others had gone off to his other house, in case he was there.
What we'd found out about Sears thus far was that he was a high school dropout who'd gotten bad grades and had a problem with acting out. His mother had walked out on him and his drunkard father when he was fifteen. His father was an abusive man, and he'd died recently. That was probably the trigger that set him off. He was murdering these men who resembled his dad, using his job that required him driving around neighborhoods to scout out for perfect candidates. He had motive and access.
I already had my bulletproof vest strapped on and so did Hotchner. Prentiss was putting hers on in the back. It was precautionary, of course. Sears was known to have guns…
Hotch parked the SUV in the driveway of an utterly run-down house. The grass seemed to make a personal jungle around the dirty, loose, once-white siding. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. This man could afford two houses, and yet it was in this terrible of shape… Then again, that might be the only reason he was able to have two in the first place.
We walked slowly up to the front door that seemed to be barely held up by the hinges. Tentatively, Hotchner knocked.
He waited a few seconds before knocking again. "Jude Sears! FBI! Open up!" he called. "Mr. Sears!"
"Hotch," I said quietly. The team leader glanced at me. I jerked my head towards the back, and he nodded at me.
Carefully, I drew my gun, slowly walking along the side. I pressed myself against the wall, peeking over into the empty yard.
"Clear," I called to Hotch, who was watching me expectantly. He nodded and I knew he meant that they were going in. I was going to stay back and search some more.
Holding my gun near me, I walked through the weeds and wild grass. There were numerous old, broken, children's toys, strewn around pell-mell. There was a sandbox filled with some murky liquid that I cared not to investigate. I kept exploring. The thought came to my mind that this could've been Sears' childhood home.
My thoughts didn't progress much, though, as I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. My vision went black, and I had no time to even cry out. I could do nothing and could vaguely remember being dragged. Hotch and Prentiss were still inside, and I knew their search would come up empty. After all, the unsub was right with me, outside.
Dun dun dun? Okay, next chapter will be back to the present. Ole!
Review please!
