A loud buzzing jolted Joey out of her sleep. She rolled her head to see her phone lit up on her nightstand. Joey cringed and closed her eyes again. Maybe if she just ignored it, it would go away…
But it persisted. Joey grabbed her phone and glowered down at the new text from Garcia. Good morning sunshines. Back to work today!
She glared at the clock. It was just past six thirty. Joey rubbed her eyes, giving herself a mental pep talk to get out of bed. It was going to be a long day.
After Joey had quickly showered and made sure her go bag was packed, she hurried out of her apartment. She was running late. Taking speed limits as a suggestion, she made it to the office by 7:15.
Inside the bullpen, Joey dropped her bag off at her desk and headed straight for the break room to get coffee. Three hours of sleep. She mentally counted. She sighed as she added cream and sugar.
Inside the conference room, Joey took her seat between Morgan and Reid. She was grateful to see that she wasn't the last, as they were still waiting on Hotch.
"Woah." JJ said as she glanced up from across the table. "You alright, Joey? You look a bit…zombie-like."
Joey grinned into her coffee. "Oh yah, just some noisy neighbors that make it hard to sleep. Plus I'm a night owl anyway, so early mornings take their toll."
"I thought you said you were a morning bird last week?" Morgan asked.
"It varies. Sometimes one, sometimes the other." Joey took a sip. "Sometimes both."
"But then you never get to sleep." Reid pointed out.
"And that, good doctor, is where God's gift of coffee comes in." Joey raised her mug in a mock-toast.
Reid looked as if he was about to respond, perhaps with a text book worth of facts about the side effects of coffee, but was cut off by the entrance of Hotchner. "Let's get started." He nodded to Garcia as he pulled the door shut behind him.
Garcia stood and flicked her remote in the direction of the screen. "Today, my dear crime fighters, you are headed to Cleveland, Ohio." She pulled up three pictures of victims. "In the last six days, three women were found strangled and dumped in alleys around the downtown area."
"All three have signs of being restrained before they were killed." Reid muttered as he thumbed through the report.
"He crossed racial lines." Prentiss noted. "One was Caucasian, one was Hispanic, and one was Asian."
"But they're all within a similar age range." Joey said, flipping through the papers in the report. "Early to mid-twenties."
"Strangulation is really intimate." Morgan said thoughtfully, running his hand along his chin. "And it takes quite a bit of strength usually."
"But if these victims have signs of being restrained, this UnSub could be weaker or have a physical ailment." JJ pointed out.
"Socioeconomic status kind of seems all over the place." Prentiss furrowed her brows. "One was a grad student at Cleveland State University, one was a first grade teacher, and one worked at a law firm."
Joey rubbed a hand over her eyes. She wished the caffeine would kick in. She glanced out into the bullpen and felt her heart skip and her breath catch. Chief Pearce had just entered and was making his way across the floor. Joey felt her palms start to clam up, and she rubbed them subconsciously on her thighs.
"Ryan?" Joey glanced up to see everyone staring at her.
"Uh yah, sorry." Joey felt Morgan look into the bullpen, but she carefully kept her gaze on Garcia and the screen. "What were you saying about something being left at the crime scene?" She could feel her hands start to shake, so she wrapped them around her coffee mug.
"Yes." Garcia gestured at the pictures. "At each crime scene, an olive branch has been carefully placed on each victim."
"That's odd." Joey mused. "Olive Branches are usually associated with presenting a peace offering. This doesn't seem very peaceful."
"It could mean something to the UnSub." Reid said pensively. "By killing these women, he could be offering peace to someone or something specific."
Joey chanced a look back out into the bullpen. Pearce was ascending the stairs to the conference room. She quickly stared into her coffee.
"If you'll excuse me, Chief Pearce needs a word." Hotch gave a small bow. "Wheels up in thirty."
Joey sat frozen in her chair for a moment while everyone else stood to get ready. "You coming?" Reid asked as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Joey smiled and gave a small nod. Shaking herself slightly, she stood and made sure Pearce and Hotch were in Hotch's office before filing out behind the rest of the team.
Once the team had assembled on the jet and it had taken off, Hotch wasted no time gathering everyone. "It's a short flight, so let's go over what we know." Garcia's image appeared on the screens. "Garcia, what did you find about previous criminal records of the victims?"
"So far nothing." Garcia's voice was mixed with the sounds of a clacking keyboard. "The most serious thing any of the victims had was a parking ticket or an overdue book."
"Okay, we're going to have to talk to each of their families when we get there and see if they had any enemies." Hotch opened his report.
"The abduction sites are all clustered together, as are the dump sites, but he travels across the city between the two." Reid muttered, eyes scanning the report.
"We know that this UnSub doesn't have much of a cooling off period." Hotch looked around at everyone. "He's killed once every two days, and since there's signs of him holding these women before killing them, there's a good chance he already has his next victim. When we land, Reid, Prentiss, and Ryan go to the most recent dump site. Morgan and JJ, go to the M.E. and see if there's anything else they can tell us. I'll coordinate with the locals and see if anything's changed."
"Good luck!" Garcia called before the screen went dark.
JJ moved away to text her husband while Prentiss and Hotch went to make coffee. Joey was about to pull out a book when she heard Reid. "Hey," he brushed Joey's bruised wrist. She sucked in her breath and flinched. "Woah, sorry. What happened?"
Joey gave a tight smile. "You know me, I bruise easily. I could accidentally bump something in my sleep and wake up looking like someone used me as a punching bag. It probably happened while I wasn't paying attention."
Morgan eyed her from his seat across from her but said nothing.
"Do you want me to get you some ice for it?" Reid asked.
"No, no. That's okay." Joey insisted. "It's not that bad. It only hurts when I bump it again."
Reid nodded and pulled out a book from his messenger bag.
Joey watched him for a moment, then turned to gaze out the window, letting the sight of the billowing clouds surrounding them calm her as she mentally prepared herself for the case.