Old Enemies – Chapter 2

In Wilson, NC

As Morgan and Rossi looked over the crime scene, Blake talked to the detective who greeted them.

"Well, this looks all too familiar," Morgan stated plainly.

"Yeah, whoever is doing this has done his research," Rossi added.

The scene was just like every other Reaper murder scene. Blood everywhere, the woman obliterated and the man tortured with enough stab wounds that would allow him to feel extreme pain but not enough to kill him quickly. Rossi stared at the "eye" drawn in blood on the side of the SUV. "You know, I actually thought I would never have to look at another one of those," Rossi confided in Morgan.

"I know. With Foyet dead, we had no reason to think we would," Morgan said.

"Actually," Rossi started, "Garcia came to me after the first murder in Florida."

"What? Why didn't you bring it to the team?"

"It was just the one. The police knew it was a copycat. They weren't asking for help, they just wanted us to know about it. It wasn't until the news report tying them all together that we knew there was another serial killer loose."

With that, Blake walked up to them. "Well, the local police say that Mr. and Mrs. Lane were liked by all. Their forensic team found nothing except a bloody boot print." Rossi and Morgan looked at her questioningly. "And before you ask, the print is from a size 13 common work boot sold at almost every store around." She could see the disappointment cross their faces.

"Well, the real Reaper never left any foot prints," Rossi stated.

XXXXX

Back at the police station

"The files from the first three crime scenes are on their way. Garcia is compiling data on all eight victims, and. . . "JJ started.

"Did she get ahold of the reporter?" Hotch interrupted.

"Yes. He is due to arrive by 5:00"

"Good, that gives us time to start on victimology. Reid, I want you to go over the files chronologically and see if we can get a handle on where he's going," Hotch told him.

"Well he's definitely using Interstate 95. All of his victims were within 20 miles of it. He could possibly be a transport driver," Reid speculated.

"They could just be victims of opportunity as he travels north, though," JJ mused.

"True. Too many 'mights' and not enough concrete evidence," Hotch mused.

"I don't understand why he would contact that reporter to connect all of the crimes," one of the NC detectives started, "when in reality he was getting away with them."

"Credit," Hotch stated plainly.

"Huh?"

"He wants the credit. He wants people to fear him, and without connecting them, only those people where the crimes took place had fear. By claiming all of the crimes, he widens his fear zone," Hotch explained.

"Now every traveler on 95 will be worried," JJ added.

Three uniformed officers brought in file boxes. Reid opened the first one and started reading.

XXXXX

Somewhere on the outskirts of Sutherland, VA

"Oh, Thank God!" a man said getting out from under the hood of his car. He noticed a police cruiser pull up behind his car.

"Honey?" a woman asked as he walked past the driver's window.

"It's alright. A cop just pulled up," he told his wife and continued on to the police car.

"Something I can help you with?" the cop asked as he got out of his patrol car and walked up to the man.

"Yes, please. My car just died, and we can't get a cell signal out here." the man told him.

The cop smiled. "Yeah, no cell towers anywhere near here, but my radio works. You want me to call for a tow truck?" the cop asked him.

"That would be great." The man told him.

The cop returned to his car, and the man went back to his wife.

After a few minutes the cop approached the stranded vehicle. "I really want to thank yo. . ." the man started but was stopped short by a blast to his chest from the cop's pistol. The woman started screaming as soon as her husband's blood splattered on her.

"Shut up!" the cop, now wearing his Reaper mask, yelled to the woman. The shock made her settle down to just whimpering. "That's a good girl," he said as he slammed a knife into her chest several times.

XXXXX

At the police station

Most of the team was in their make-shift conference room. All of the information from the four murders was posted on the white boards around the room. Hotch looked at the photos of the eight victims. Two younger couples, one middle aged, and one older; all killed on deserted dark roads. The scene in the room could have been from ten years ago; it was too close to the real thing, and Hotch had an uneasy feeling gnawing down deep in his gut. He was never one to put any stock in gut feelings, but he couldn't help feeling he was missing something.

Hotch glanced over the boards again, and he let his memories of the past boards come into his mind. Scanning through the whiteboards of the past, Hotch knew there was something missing, but he just couldn't figure it out. He wished he had Reid's eidetic memory because he was sure there was something missing from the present boards. He shook his head in disgust; he just couldn't figure it out. "Where's Reid?" he finally asked the group.

"Getting coffee, I believe," Blake told him without looking up from the file in her hand.

Hotch sat down, still looking at the white boards. Rossi glanced at his friend. He could tell something was digging at Hotch, but he wasn't sure if it was just old memories or something new.

"Ahhh, finally," Blake gasped as Reid came into the room carrying six cups of coffee.

As Reid started handing out the cups, Hotch pulled him over to the boards. "Alright Reid, tell me what's missing here," he said gesturing towards the boards.

Reid looked over the boards to see if anything had been added in his absence. Seeing nothing, he looked at Hotch questioningly. "I don't understand." he admitted

"Think back to the boards from the Reaper case. Something is missing now that was there before," Hotch told him.

The rest of the team joined the two men, curiosity getting to them. Reid took a moment to bring up the boards from the past – looking through them in his mind. A smile formed on his lips as he realized what Hotch was talking about. "The objects," he said plainly. Hotch's head snapped back to the boards as he smiled. He knew Reid would know.

"Huh?" Blake said as she looked back and forth between the members of the group.

"The Reaper would take something from his victims and then leave it on the next victim, so that all of the murders could be connected to him," Rossi explained.

With that, they all grabbed a file to see if any objects were misplaced on the victims. "I got nothing," Morgan confessed as he looked at the third set of murders.

"Me neither," JJ said looking at the first case.

"Nope," Blake said of the latest case.

"Niente," Rossi added in Italian as he looked at the second.

"Would there be anything though? I mean if the police weren't looking, would they have noticed?" Reid asked the group.

Hotch considered that for a moment and then looked at Rossi. "I want you to go south and interview all of the families to ask about any objects lost or found." Rossi nodded his acknowledgement. Hotch then turned to the girls. "JJ, Blake, interview the families here for the same thing. Only the families will know if things are out of place." All three of the agents grabbed their stuff and left the room as a local agent came into the room.

"Agent Hotchner?"

"Yes."

"There's been another one," the young agent confessed worriedly. "It's in the outskirts of Sutherland, VA. That's about two hours away."

XXXXX

In John's Creek, FL

Rossi knocked on the door of the house belonging to the daughter of the first couple who were killed by the unsub. "Yes?" a young woman said as she opened the door.

"Mrs. Butler?"

"Yes. May I help you?"

"I am Agent Rossi with the FBI. I called you earlier."

"Oh yes. Please come in," she said as she led him into her family room. She motioned him toward the couch and took a seat in the chair across from him.

"First of all, let me say I am very sorry for the loss of your parents," Rossi said genuinely.

"Thank you. You said you needed to ask me something about my parents?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you have had a chance to look over your parents' personal effects."

"Of course," she looked at him with questioningly.

"Was there anything missing that should have been there?"

"Actually, there was. How did you know?"

"Well, as you know, your parents' murder has been linked to a serial killer." She nodded her head. "This killer is copying another serial killer from a few years ago. Part of that killer's action would be to take a personal item from his victim. I was just wondering if the killer took something from one your parents," Rossi explained to her. "May I know what he took?"

"My father's P-38" she said flatly.

"Ok," Rossi started.

"I wouldn't even care except that my father told my son he could have it once he was gone. My son loved that stupid little can opener."

Rossi, of course, knew what P-38 was. He was in the army and had owned one of the little metal can openers, too. "If I find it, I promise to get it back to you."

"You know, there was something in the bag that didn't belong to my mother. Would that have been from the killer, too?" she asked.

Rossi looked at her with concern. He didn't even think to ask her about something found that didn't belong because this was the first killing. Or was it? "What did you find? Are you absolutely sure what you found couldn't have belonged to your mother, and you just didn't know about it?"

"There's no way that locket belonged to my mother. It was older, used, and it had two pictures in it of people I have never seen. That man and the boy are no one I know," she explained.

"May I see the locket?"

"I took it back to the police station. I just thought it got put in my mother's stuff accidentally."

"Ok. I want to thank you for your time," Rossi said as he prepared to leave.

"Of course. I really hope you catch this bastard. Nobody else needs to lose her parents. It just isn't fair."

Rossi gave her arm a quick squeeze, and he let himself out. He needed to call the next victim's family to let them know he was going to be a little late since he had to go to the police station and look at this locket.

XXXXX

Rossi entered the police station and asked for the detective in charge of the case as he showed his credentials. The detective came up to meet him and took him back to his desk. The detective knew exactly what locket Rossi was asking about. He took out a small evidence bag out of his desk drawer and handed it to Rossi. "Has it been dusted?" Rossi asked him. With the detective's nod, Rossi took the locket out of the bag.

"Mrs. Butler swears that it didn't belong to her mother or anyone in her family," the detective explained, "and we didn't find any prints. We also couldn't connect it to any other case, so I don't think it just accidently ended up in Mrs. Butler's mother's personal items. I just can't figure out where it came from," the detective explained.

Rossi looked at the locket closely. On the back of the simple gold locket the letters "HH" were carved. Rossi carefully opened the locket, and his breath hitched in his chest as the blood left his face. Staring back from the locket was his boss and friend, Aaron Hotchner. On the other side of the locket was a picture of a young Jack, Hotch's son. How the hell? Rossi wondered.

"You know who it belongs to?" the detective asked.

"Yes. It belonged to a woman who died over three years ago," Rossi said. The detective looked at the agent with concern. Rossi continued. "I'm not really sure what this means, but I will be taking the locket with me."

"Of course. Just let me know when you get this son of a bitch."

Rossi promised he would, stuck the locket back into the evidence bag and then into his pants pocket. He then said goodbye and left to visit the next set of families.

XXXXX

Outside Sutherland, VA

Hotch, Morgan, and Reid walked around a green minivan as they took in the scene. A man was dead in the driver's seat and a woman was dead in the passenger seat. The word: "FATE" was scrawled in blood on the inside of the windshield.

"The driver was taken down with one GSW to the chest. The passenger was taken down with multiple stab wounds," a Halifax County Deputy told them.

"Notice anything out of place?" Morgan asked him.

"Other than two dead bodies on this normally peaceful road?" He chuckled a little but noticed Morgan's glare and quickly added, "No sir."

Hotch started going through the inside of the vehicle, but he didn't notice anything out of place either. He turned to the deputy, "Once everything has been processed, we will need the files ASAP."

"Of course, sir."

"We also need to talk to the families," Reid pointed out.

XXXXX

JJ and Blake met with Charles Lane's brother at the local police station. "Mr. Lane, we were wondering if anything in these items seems out of place," Blake told him as she handed him an evidence bag stuffed with the couple's personal effects.

The distraught man handled the bag while he tried to see everything in it. "May I open it?" he asked looking at the agents. They nodded assent, and he dumped the items on the table. He slowly started picking up each item and moving them around on the table.

"Also, let us know if you know if anything is missing, please," JJ instructed.

After looking through all of the items he handed JJ a pair of sunglasses. "These aren't my brothers or my sister-in-law's."

"Are you sure?" Blake asked him.

"Yes. My brother had prescription glasses and sun lenses that clipped on them, and I've never seen Sarah wear a pair in my life," he said very sure of himself. "But I don't see Chucks' fingernail clippers."

"Fingernail clippers? Is that something he always carried?" JJ asked.

The man laughed. "Yes. If Chuck was dressed, he had them in his pocket. He used them all the time, for everything. We used to tease him about being MacGyver in the way he could do wonders using those stupid clippers," he told them as his eyes welled up with tears.

"Alright. I really want to thank you for doing this. I know it must have been hard," JJ said as she grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

"If you find his clippers, can I have them back?" He asked putting the items back into the bag. "I know they only cost a dollar, but they were very important to Chuck. He would go crazy if they weren't in his pocket," he explained as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I'd like it if they were in his pocket when I bury him."

"Of course. If we find them, we will get them back to you," Blake told him with a small smile.

XXXXX

Rossi pulled into Darien, GA, as the sun was going down. He had called Sandi Knowles, and she had assured him it wasn't too late for him to meet with her. Sandi's sister had died with her new husband in the second murder. As he knocked on the door, he could see Sandi moving through the house toward the door. "Hello. You must be Agent Rossi."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you for visiting with me this evening," Rossi said with a small smile.

"Not a problem, anything I can do to help you find my sister's killer," she told him as she lead him to her table. "Would you like some coffee or something?"

Rossi would normally never ask anything of a victim's family, but the look on the woman's face made him think that she needed to give him coffee almost as much as he truly wanted it. "Yes, please." He sat at the table looking at the personal items from the accident/murder that were spread out. He immediately noticed the little P-38.

"Cream or sugar?" she asked from the kitchen.

"Black is fine," Rossi told her. "I see you had a chance to go through the items," he stated as he accepted the mug from her.

"Yes." I even had Mike's brother over earlier to help identify Mike's stuff. There was this thing on Mike's key ring that didn't belong," she told him picking up the key ring. There were so many keys on it that she had to move a few of them around to get to what she wanted. "We don't believe this belongs to Mike," she said showing the P-38 to Rossi.

"Are you sure?"

"We don't even know what it is. I've never seen it before and neither has Tommy."

"It is an army personal can opener. Was Mike ever in the military or into things like that?"

She laughed. "Not Mike."

"Was there anything missing?" Rossi asked as he took the can opener from the key ring.

"Yes. My sister's iPod wasn't in the bag, nor was it in the car. She hated listening to the radio, so she never went in a vehicle without it."

"And you're sure she couldn't have left it some place?"

"Never. Donna never carried a purse. It was always in her pocket if it wasn't hooked to the car stereo. It had a "Cars" case on it."

"'Cars'?" Rossi asked confused. "What type of car?"

Sandi laughed a little. Not a car, but 'Cars' the kid's cartoon. Hers had Mater, the tow truck, on it."

"Oh, I see," Rossi lied. "Well, if we find it, I will make sure you get it back." He finished the coffee, thanked her, and headed back to his car.

XXXXX

JJ and Blake got back to the conference room in time to meet with the reporter who received the letter from the unsub. "I really want to thank you for coming in Mr. Tolburt," JJ told him with a smile. She had to smile, but the guy gave her the creeps. Not only had he reported on the news that the FBI was trying to cover up past mistakes, but she was also getting bad vibes from the guy.

Blake led the way to a table away from the conference room. They didn't want him to see any of their evidence. Once they were all seated, Blake started. "So the letter you received in the mail, was it addressed directly to you?"

"No. It was just addressed to the station. One of the assistants opened it and brought it to me. So are you guys lying about the Reaper being dead?" he asked with a sleazy grin.

"No, but you are going to report what you want." JJ told him as she tried to keep the ire out of her voice.

"Hey, I was just reporting what the letter told me," the man said defensively.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe you should have checked the story out before putting it on the news?" Blake asked him.

"I did, well sort of. I looked into the killings. The letter was right about where and when they took place," he told them with a smirk.

It was taking everything in her for JJ to not punch this idiot in the face. "But you didn't check on any of the other facts to see if they were true?"

"Yeah right! Like if the FBI was going to cover up something, they would admit it."

"The Reaper is dead. This is a copycat. It's that simple," JJ argued back.

"Then why are you guys trying to keep this out of the news? I know there have been more murders," he said getting up to leave.

"And where do you think you are going?" Blake asked him.

"You have your letter, you have your case. What else do you want from me?" he asked. "You can't keep me here. I have done nothing wrong."

"Have you received anything else?" JJ asked him.

"No," and with that he left.

"What an asshole!" JJ said as she watched him leave the room. Blake just smiled at her, apparently she was thinking the same thing.

XXXXX

"Hey JJ," Rossi said as he read the caller ID when his phone rang. "I just got done with case two, but I'm going to find a hotel soon, and head to St. George first thing in the morning."

"I assume you found items?" JJ asked.

"Yes. A little can opener from case one and there's a missing iPod from case two," Rossi explained. He couldn't tell her about the locket. He wasn't even sure how he was going to tell Hotch. Hell, he hadn't even figured out how it got on the Florida woman anyway.

"Mr. Lane's brother gave us a pair of sunglasses, and he said his brother's little fingernail clippers were missing." With that they said goodnight, and JJ wished him a safe journey.