Chapter 7
Emily and JJ got to the office at exactly 8 o'clock. They looked around the station and spotted Hotch in the Chief's office. Hotch called them over to come inside the office.
"JJ, the chief and I will go over with what you will say in the press briefing. Prentiss, can you tell the team to wait in the other conference room? After I'm done here, I'll meet you guys in there."
"Okay Hotch." Emily said leaving the room.
While JJ, Hotch and the Chief of Police talked, Emily gathered Reid and Morgan, who obviously just walked in and Rossi in the other conference room.
They compared notes and looked over the evidences once again. They called Garcia to check on 911 calls in the past 6 months just to make sure they did not miss any names. Garcia said she will get on it and will call them as soon as she has anything for them.
After about an hour, Hotch came in with the chief and JJ and started the briefing.
"Alright, in about an hour, JJ will brief the press about the murders but not the rapes. We think it's best to tell them that these are just random murders for now but we won't tie it in to the rapes. But we will make sure we let the public know to be careful about walking or hiking in Shelley Lake Park"
"Hotch, do you think that it's wise to not to let the public know the severity of the case? I mean the FBI is here. Wouldn't they be suspicious?"
"I know what you're saying Morgan, but if we do this, the Unsub will retreat and he might change location. We don't want him to feel boxed in."
"So this way, he will lay low and then in a day or two, he will get the urge to do it again."
"That's what we're hoping for, Morgan."
"Meanwhile, we will have police officers, dressed in civilian clothes roam around the areas, that way he doesn't get spooked. Hoping that he doesn't attack, we'll set up decoys in couple of days. We have some female officers who will act as decoys. We will be there waiting for him if he does attack."
"Morgan go with Prentiss and interview the rest of the women on the list I gave her yesterday that we're not interviewed. JJ and I will finish the other list. Rossi, Reid, I need for you two to go to the crime scenes again then after, talk to the families and friends of the murdered victims. We'll meet back here later."
Just like yesterday, it was a very tiring day for the BAU Team. They really didn't get much new information. Garcia was still going through a couple of lists, the unemployed in the past year around the area and the 911 calls.
After a long day of interviews, the team headed back to the station. As they went over their notes, Garcia called.
"Hello there, team. Well, I narrowed down a list of unemployed in the past year around a 20 mile radius. I came up with over 100 names."
"Garcia, can you narrow it down to maybe men in their late 20's to mid 40's? Since a lot of his victims are around that age."
"Alright, I will have it for you in 5, 4, 3, 2….I have ten names."
Garcia recited the names and addresses of the 10 men on the list.
"Garcia, can you tell us where they worked before? Were any of these men, fired? Are they married, divorced or have any priors?
"Well, out of the 10 names, a couple has priors, five were fired and one was recently divorced. Actually, his ex-wife filed seven months ago. His name is Anthony Miles. He also has a prior for assault. A former girlfriend of his took out a restraining order on him."
"That could be the stressor. He gets fired and then his wife files for divorce." Emily said.
"Alright, what we can do for now is have some police stake out his place. I don't want to do anything that will make him suspicious. I don't want him at all to think that he's even a suspect. We have to catch this guy in the act. I will talk to the chief and will let you guys know tomorrow. Guys, go back to the hotel, eat and get some rest. I'll be here awhile."
The team, without Hotch all went out to dinner. After dinner, they headed back to their rooms.
As JJ and Emily were heading back to their room, Emily's phone started ringing. Without looking at the caller ID, she knew it was Aaron.
"Hello."
"Hey, where are you?"
"JJ and I are on our way up to our room. Where are you?"
"I'm driving back to the hotel. But I haven't eaten yet, so I'm going to get something to eat at the diner."
"Do you need company?"
"That'd be nice, if you are not too tired."
"Sure. I'll see you at the front."
"JJ, are you tired? Do you want to maybe come along with us to the diner?"
"No, I don't want to intrude on you lovebirds."
"You won't be, come on."
"You guys need to be alone. I will see you back in our room later."
"Okay JJ. Good night."
After Emily got off the elevator, she went straight to the front to wait for Aaron. She looked around saw him approaching. She smiled and waved at him.
He stops the car in front of her and motioned for her to hop in. When she got inside, he took her hand and squeezed it. Once they were out sight of the hotel, Aaron leans in to kiss her on the lips. The gesture, the kiss was so simple but it brought calm and relief to both. This is just what they needed, each other.
