Reid was glad when they finally deplaned, and stepped out into the sunlight. That was until a strong north wind came whipping across the private, open airfield. It was mid-spring, and he knew that there was still ice on some of Canada's lakes, and even snow on the ground; they'd been hit with a blizzard only a week ago. So it seemed their northern neighbor was more than willing to share its icy wind.
Beside him, Michelle was shivering like crazy. 'At least it's not a blizzard.' She was mumbling to herself. Reid knew that, like him, she hated cold weather. He was from dry, dusty Vegas, and Michelle had grown up in Phoenix, Arizona.
'The SUVs will be here soon.' JJ promised, hanging up her phone. 'They had a bit of a delay.'
Sure enough, they pulled up five minutes later, and the cold Agents immediately climbed in: Hotch, Morgan and JJ in one vehicle; Reid, Michelle, Emily and Rossi in the other. They drove in silence to the precinct, where Detective Thomas Harper was waiting for them.
'Thank you folks for coming.' He said solemnly after introductions had been made. 'We've done about as much as we can, and the brass decided it was time to call in the feds. We've got a conference room for you and everything, just as Agent Jareau requested. '
Hotch nodded. 'JJ, could you, Rossi and Michelle set up in the conference room? I'd like the rest of us to speak with the remaining friends of the girls.'
'I thought you might,' Harper said grimly. 'They're already waiting for you.'
Reid was a little puzzled. He was usually asked to start a geographical profile off the top, or at least set up their space. Why did Hotch want him to interview teenage girls? He was the exact opposite of a teenage girl!
'I think Hotch wants to get me out of my comfort zone.' Michelle whispered to him. 'That zone being with you.'
He didn't have time to respond before they were being lead into a waiting room where three teenagers sat. They were red-eyed, and obviously devastated. But what Reid hadn't expected was that one was a slight young man with dark features. That particular detail hadn't been included in the case file.
'Agents, these are Robert, Corrine, and Heather.'
'I'm SSA Hotchner, and these are Special Agents Prentiss, Morgan, and Dr. Reid.' Hotch introduced them, and shook each youth's hand. 'We're very sorry for your loss. But we have a few questions to ask.'
The overly made-up blond, Corrine, sighed wearily. 'What do you need to know?'
'Did your friends have any common enemies? People who might want to hurt them?'
'No, never.' Heather said firmly, here deep brown eyes flashing. 'We told the Detective, and we'll tell you too; no one would ever want to hurt our friends.'
Robert shook his head. 'Someone might want to hurt me through you guys. If this is because of me…'
'Rob, it's not you.' She said fiercely. 'None of those straight morons who are always hassling you would ever have the brains to pull this off. It's got to be something else.'
Heather seemed to be the natural-born leader; being strong for the other two. Corrine didn't have the energy to be strong, and Robert was obviously a follower. Reid noticed that Heather was also the one who seemed to be the least absorbed in her grief. 'Who was the ringleader of the group?' Morgan asked.
'Chelsea.' Heather answered matter-of-factly. This surprised Reid. 'She was the queen bee, and then it was 'Mandy, Irina, and Cass. Then the rest of them, and then me.'
Reid was surprised. 'You place yourself in another category?'
'I'm not really a "get in with the crowd" sort of person.'
'You're still a part of us.' Corrine assured her quietly.
'Were you the last people to see them alive?' Emily asked. 'It says in our file you were at parties.'
'Well, we're probably it then, aside from their killer.' Heather replied solemnly. 'But I don't remember seeing any of them leave.'
'Had they been drinking?'
'Everyone was drinking. That was the point of the parties. Seems like everyone's parents are away right now, because of work or whatever else. So we all were a little stupid. Maybe that's what got them in the end.' She said, and Reid was sure he'd never seen a darker expression on a teenage girl's face.
Michelle stared at the map of the neighborhood from her seat at the table. 'What if,' She began, tilting back in the chair. 'What if this is just like Rossi suggested; a dangerous stalker case?'
Reid, who was standing next to where she sat frowned. 'You think it's possible he's eliminating all people he sees as coming between them and his target?'
'It's possible. Which one struck you as the type who might have a stalker?'
'Heather. She's charismatic, and certainly attracts attention.' Looking up at him, Michelle raised one eyebrow questioningly, and watched her friend turn a brilliant crimson. 'Not that sort of attention, and certainly not from me. She's over a decade younger, and I'm certainly not one to notice—'
'Spence, she's messing with you.' JJ giggled from where she sat reading reports.
'Hey, how come JJ gets to call you Spence?'Michelle asked. She'd tried that shortly after they first met, but Reid had asked her not to.
'It's a habit JJ cannot seem to break.' He admitted. 'She's the only person I know who calls me Spence.'
'Not anymore.' Michelle grinned. 'I'm not letting JJ get an exclusive nickname for you. Unless you two—'
Reid turned even redder than before. 'JJ and Will have a son.' He muttered, and both girls laughed.
'Will popped the question a couple of weeks ago, but I refuse to wear that beautiful a ring in the field.' JJ explained. 'Spence is Henry's godfather.'
'Aww…' Michelle was thinking of how cute that must be, to see Reid holding his godson, when her phone began to ring. 'Agent Soraley.' She answered crisply, in case it was someone from Quantico.
"Michelle sweetie, where are you? I called your office, and someone said you'd gone out into the field on a case." It was her mother.
'Mom, I'm in North Dakota. We have six bodies out here.'
"Oh, so I take it you aren't so thrilled with the job then?"
'I like it a lot Mom. I'm working with Spencer. It's good, but I'm in the middle of a case. Can I call you back later?'
"You know where you can always find me." Her mother said, and they hung up. Looking over at JJ, she saw that Emily had joined them, and they both were grinning.
'Your mom?' Emily asked in near-disbelief.
'Yes, my mom called me on my first day of work in a new assignment. Which is big for her, because she can't even hold a phone herself.' She replied a little defensively. 'And it's not like I write to her every day.'
'No, that's Reid.' JJ agreed. 'But I'd like to think that Henry will call me every once in awhile when he's out of the house.'
'Though he isn't even out of diapers yet.' Emily grinned. 'Michelle, you are going to fall in love when you meet Henry.'
Michelle shook her head. 'I'm actually not very good with kids. My mom used to call it the genius effect—seeing as the other genius we knew had the same problem.'
She was looking at Reid as she said it, but he seemed utterly oblivious to the conversation that was going on around him. He was just staring at the map, with all its pushpins; red for crime scenes, blue for the victims' homes, yellow for where they'd last been seen, and green for their school. Reid had such a look of concentration on his face, she could just imagine how quickly his mind was working; superimposing areas over one another to find a sort of common denominator.
'Spence, what are you thinking?'
Before he could reply, Hotch and Rossi walked in. 'What do we have?' Rossi asked, looking at the map.
'The parks where the homicides occurred are not correlated to the victims homes or school, but are all within five blocks of where they were last seen.' Reid rattled off. 'They are all different sorts of parks; memorial, playground, decorative, and of different sizes. I believe they have no meaning to the Unsub, other than being secluded and quiet in the middle of the night.'
Hotch seemed to be only half listening. He was looking at photographs of the parks, and the victims. 'What were they doing there so late? And why were they alone?'
Michelle didn't know if he was asking himself, but decided to answer anyways. 'They had been partying, they were drunk, and they trusted whoever they left with. Teenagers think they're invincible, and then they end up dead.'
The team of profilers faced the detectives, and officers. They had discussed and conferred for hours with one another, and were ready to give a tentative profile. Michelle wasn't thoroughly satisfied with it, but it was a place to start. However, they had already run it past Heather, Corrine, and Robert. They hadn't thought of a single person matching the description.
'The person you are looking for is a white male, ages 15-20, associated with the victims' neighborhood.' Hotch began. 'He may be a student, a staff member at the school, or even a neighbor. At this time, a student is much more likely.'
'He picks teenage girls of the same group of friends. This could be a coincidence, or the link between them.' Rossi continued. 'It may be that the Unsub is working his way up to his main target; one of the three remaining friends. He may or may not murder Robert, we can't be sure.'
'The Unsub is very anger motivated and personal; his aggressive overkill of the girls shows us this.' Morgan added. 'There is no sexual activity that has been found at the crime scenes, so it's possible he has enough control to take pictures or simply use his memory to relive the moment later for sexual release.'
'His waiting for the girls to be intoxicated to gain their trust shows that our killer has little to no self-confidence. He will be shy and socially awkward, especially around women. He will also be quite unremarkable among his peers; none of the remaining friends were able to think of a particular person when we gave them this profile.' Reid concluded. Michelle couldn't help but think of the irony that he had probably just described himself, aside from the unremarkable part. He was especially remarkable.
'Should we hold a press conference?' Harper asked, as they all got up, and Hotch started moving towards the door. I was late, and they wanted to get some sleep.
'No, it will be pointless. And there's also the chance our killer could go into hiding on us, if he thinks we're on to him.' Hotch said firmly. You're better off patrolling the area tonight. In case those three decide to party tonight. I can't imagine why they'd want to though, with a killer loose. But teenagers will do things you'd never imagine.'
Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon! Please leave your oppinions with me. I live for feedback.
