Chapter seven, here we go! Hope you guys like it!
There had to be a connection. A pattern of some sort. It couldn't just be random.
Reid stared at the map on the board, red dots in the places the previous murders had taken place, black lines connecting each of them. There was a star around the the dot in northern Wisconsin, where the line began, and from there it snaked around the country, all leading up to the cluster of them stuck in Maryland.
He couldn't have just wandered. There had to be some sort of pattern. This guy was way too meticulous, his planning being so detailed… it couldn't have been random.
He heard someone come into the room, saying something along the lines of, "Delivery for the BAU? I was directed back here?"
"Yeah, here's fine," Reid said, jumping up to study the pattern along the west coast. They'd been expecting a few files to come in from Virginia, the second place of murder. They'd decided it was important to study the UnSub's evolution, starting from the beginning.
"Okay, there you go, buddy," the delivery guy said, and Reid heard the footsteps walking back out.
"Yeah, thanks," Reid said quietly. He suddenly realized what it must be, the pattern behind the murders. It was so painstakingly simple that he was amazed he hadn't seen it before. He'd just been looking at it the wrong way. It wasn't a map he needed. It was a list of the murder sites. It wasn't geographical at all.
Reid turned to the table to grab a notepad and a pen, something to write down his ideas and make sure he was right, but was stopped by the presence of the thing the delivery guy had brought.
His heart started beating so loudly that he could hear the blood rushing in his ears, his throat started constricting, his fingers shaking as he reached up to brush the hair out of his eyes.
This couldn't be. It wasn't.
He kick started himself back into action, stumbling slightly as he walked to the door. His vision started swimming in front of him, but he blinked hard and everything jumped back into focus.
Reid scanned the people milling about, sitting at desks, talking to each other in hushed tones. He finally found Hotch standing with Detective Skinner just outside his office, Rossi off to the side. He froze for a second, debating whether he could keep this to himself, not bother the rest of the team so that they could stay focused on the case and not worry about him.
But, no. He had to tell them. They were in danger too. This guy wouldn't hesitate to hurt them, he was sure.
So he made his way over to them, walking quickly and attempting to act calm.
"Hotch," he said his voice surprisingly level and even.
"One second, Reid," Hotch said, turning back to say a few more words to the Detective, words Reid didn't hear owing to the slight buzzing in his ears. Rossi, however, turned to look at him, seeming like he knew that something was wrong.
"Hotch," Reid said again, his voice suddenly betraying him and shaking slightly. That got Hotch's attention, and he turned his full attention to him, looking alarmed.
"What. What is it?"
"Um… we got… a… in our room," Reid managed to get out.
Hotch immediately started walking to the room, passing through the desks and chairs, Rossi hurrying along behind him. Reid stood numbly with Detective Skinner, who was looking after the Agents like he wanted to follow.
Hotch had barely been in their room for ten seconds when he came bursting back out, already on the phone, no doubt getting the rest of the team back to the station from various interviews they were conducting around the town. Detective Skinner awkwardly walked away from where he was standing with Reid, going over to ask Rossi what was going on.
And suddenly, the entire station was one big flurry of activity, people moving quickly and shouting instructions.
Reid walked slowly back to their room, staring at the vase on the tale. Seven flowers. Six white, one red.
He didn't have to look to know his was the red one.
Reactions. They'd always interested him. The reactions of the police and the family members to the murders. And this time, it was even more fun than usual. He was able to witness the reaction to the roses, as the police knew what their significance was. Everyone in the station was running around, half frantic, half panicking. He'd threatened the life of one of their precious FBI Agents.
Some might think it would be hard to get at the Agent. He laughed. It was so simple. So… easy. The Agent would be dead by that night. By far, it would be his most exciting kill. He'd never killed anyone of such status. Police officers, yes. Well known business men, company owners, lawyers, managers, yes. But never before an FBI Agent.
Nikolas laughed again, before driving several blocks away to a busy lot to take his usual nap. It helped to give him a clearer head. He kicked his seat back, smirking. He could hardly wait.
"You're sure, Reid?" Hotch asked. Reid sighed.
"I didn't actually turn around to see who it was. I was too focused on breaking the pattern, and I thought it would be the files from Virginia," Reid answered. "But it was definitely a male, mid-twenties."
"Well, we've always got the security cameras," Rossi said reassuringly, but at that moment Detective Skinner walked over, looking grim.
"Actually, we don't," he said. "We checked all of them. He obviously had knowledge of where they were. He managed to hide his face from every one of them. No identifying clothes or body abnormalities. We sent the footage over to your tech analyst already, but we aren't expecting to get anything from it."
"Alright, thank you," Hotch said, nodding as the Detective walked away.
There were a few more moments of silence as they all stared at the seven flowers. "I did break the pattern, though," Reid said quietly.
"What was it?" Rossi asked, looking a bit like he wanted to add 'Though why would it really matter now?'
"It looks random on the map, but if you take the name of the states and put them in a list, it's every third state alphabetically. Backwards," Reid said.
"Who operates like that?" Rossi said. "Wouldn't it be more convenient to just go state by state? Or at least in normal alphabetical order?"
"Maybe he has to. It could be a compulsion," Hotch said.
"Or he's just doing it to skip around and make it harder to trace him," Reid said. He looked out at the station, noticing Morgan, JJ and Prentiss coming through the front doors and making their way to the back, looking slightly frantic.
"Hotch, what's going on?" Prentiss asked quickly. "You said it was urgent."
Hotch turned an eye to the flowers, and the other three stared for a moment before Morgan spoke up.
"Oh no. That's not what I think it is."
"Oh, yes. It is. Seven roses, six white, one red. Bearing condolences and an apology," Rossi said.
"They're for us?" JJ asked, sounding astounded. "But we haven't been in the papers! Which of us could possibly be targeted?"
Reid shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Hotch and Rossi looked over at him.
"God damn it," Morgan said, rubbing his neck as he stared at Reid's guilty face, realizing it was him.
"Oh, Spence. No," JJ said softly.
"Of course it's me. It's almost always me, isn't it? As I've said before, I don't ever have any normal fans," Reid said, forcing a little smile.
"But when were you in the paper?" Prentiss asked.
"A few days ago. Just a little piece in the back of the paper. A lesser known publication, too. But I guess it was enough for the UnSub, though," Reid said, motioning to the board where he'd pinned the article he meant to send to his mother.
JJ went to study it as Morgan walked over to the flowers. "When did these get here?"
"Just over half an hour ago," Reid answered. "I didn't get a look at the guy."
"Well, I can tell you one thing," Prentiss said. "I went to talk to the owner of that flower shop that the flowers were delivered from. Apparently, they don't do deliveries. They don't even have any male employees."
"That rules that out, then," Hotch said. "Listen, we've got over five hours. We're going to make sure this guy doesn't touch Reid."
Reid forced another smile as everyone nodded firmly. But still… he couldn't help but feel an ominous sense of fear creeping up on him.
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