Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Author's Note(s): I know…I haven't updated in like years. Sorry about that. Real life finally caught up with me sadly and my workload has increased. This is no excuse however so yep, I apologise. As always a big thanks to everyone who is reading and those of you who reviewed, i.e. smokeylove, didi2909, RavennaNightwind and LadyPuzzler.

Easier to Lie
Chapter 9

"Should we set up a parameter?" asked the Agent in charge of the local police force.

Morgan opened his mouth to answer but Hotch beat him to it. "No. It's been over an hour and with all these back streets he could be anywhere by now. It's very possible he also lives in the area so he could very well be hiding in his home. We'd be wasting man power."

Understanding, the agent, whose name was Bryson, nodded.

"Our time would be best spent searching for the new victims," Morgan added.

Instantly, the agent was off giving instructions to his task force and advising them where to look. Morgan reflected how much easier the beginning of this investigation would have been if they had been working with someone equally cooperative, rather than that pompous sheriff, who was currently peering suspiciously around at them all as though he was expecting some sort of foul play from them. It was infuriating.

"Morgan," Hotch's voice suddenly said, rousing him from his thoughts, "I want you to go with Reid and JJ to look through the files Garcia sent to us. See if you can narrow down the suspect list, compare criminal records and such. You know the drill."

"Sure thing, Hotch," Morgan said immediately. This would be a good opportunity to try and get some information about Reid and JJ about what happened out in that snow storm. Something was definitely going on between them.

He spotted them still stood near the door leading into Prentiss' friend's office. Reid seemed to be pointing down the street and saying something about statistical probabilities, he was obviously in text book quoting mode because Morgan barely understood a single word that was coming from his mouth.

"Hey, Reid. Come on. We don't have time for your idle gossiping," said Morgan, effectively cutting off whatever the boy genius was about to say next and causing a ghost of a smile to appear on JJ's face.

Looking wounded, Reid turned his head and said, "I was talking about the case."

Suppressing a sigh, Morgan gestured to them both to follow him. "I know, Reid. I was joking."

"Oh…" mumbled Reid, his cheeks flushing pink, "I knew that."

JJ really did smile at this, she patted his shoulder lightly, "Don't worry about it, Spence."

Now that was interesting, thought Morgan. He was definitely going to have to do some prying into what went on with those two last night. If only his little resident gossip was around for this. Garcia would be having the time of her life watching what she would deem to be cute little exchanges between their two youngest team members. Morgan could still remember how gleeful the computer tech had been when Reid and JJ had gone to watch the Red Skins together. If it was hard to get the woman to be quiet on a normal occasion, it was practically impossible when she was trying to decide whether or not to play matchmaker. He shook his head and bit back a grin.

"Hotch wants us to start going through the files that Garcia sent," Morgan told them while indicating for them to get into the car.

They both nodded, and then just to add further interest they sat in the back together, leaving Morgan alone at the front of the car. When he told Garcia about this she was going to love it.

Most of the car journey passed in silence with the occasional seemingly random statistic or case study from Reid that he thought might help them narrow down the list of suspects. Morgan wasn't sure it was going to be that easy, if the killer was really going through a psychotic break, which now seemed distinctly possible then he might not have any criminal record at all. But it was hard to pinpoint in these types of cases. Killers having a psychotic breakdown were the most unpredictable and needed to be stopped soon or else the body count would just keep increasing at an alarming rate.

The furtive glances between Reid and JJ in the back seat were not missed by Morgan. He could see them quite clearly in the car mirror. There was obviously something they needed to talk about, and Morgan hoped they would do so it sooner rather than later. Whatever their issue was should not get in the way of the case and they shouldn't allow themselves to be distracted. But then again, JJ had been through something terrible recently and a momentary lapse was hardly her fault.

As they pulled up outside the police station, Morgan ran his hand over his head and took in a deep breath. He was repeating the details of the case over and over again in his mind, trying to think of something they might have missed. It was so very frustrating.

Then his phone rang.

"Morgan," he said, putting the phone to his ear.

"We found the victims," came Hotch's voice, "Same MO. Man stabbed, woman tortured. The scene is a lot more bloody than the last two."

"He's definitely devolving then," said Morgan, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yes. Let's hope this means he'll make another mistake."

"Another mistake?"

"Running into a psychiatrists office covered in blood in the middle of the day is a sizeable mistake."

Morgan snorted, "I suppose you're right."

"Are you there yet?"

"Yes," said Morgan, glancing at Reid who was just about to walk into the police building.

"Good. Keep me posted."

With that, Hotch hung up.

Morgan slipped his phone back into his pocket and followed Reid and JJ. One of the few people that were not off searching for dead bodies showed them to a small, comfortable conference room, where what looked like a small mountain of paper work sat.

"It looks like my desk back in Quantico," said JJ with a raised eyebrow.

Smirking, Morgan gestured towards the pile. "You should feel right at home then."

She signed dramatically and sat down at the table, pulling a large chunk of the files towards herself. Reid followed her suit and took the chair opposite here. Not quite willing to look through that heap just yet, Morgan cast his mind around for something to briefly distract himself with.

"Do you want coffee?" he said.

Reid looked up from his file and nodded eagerly.

"No thanks," said JJ.

Morgan left the room to get them drinks. He had not been at all surprised when Reid had said yes. The guy seemed to live, talk and breath coffee. That amount of caffeine was good for nobody. Morgan wasn't about to go and tell someone else how to live their life though. If Reid wanted coffee, Morgan wouldn't stand in the way.

Carrying the coffee carefully, Morgan paused outside the door before entering. Reid and JJ were talking in hushed voices. He had never seen the point in talking in such low tones, nothing attracted more attention than someone trying not to attract attention.

"…But JJ what should I-"

"Not now, Spence. We have work to do."

"But-"

"No buts. This isn't the time or the place. We'll talk about it tonight."

Morgan cleared his throat loudly and entered the room holding his cups of coffee like a trophy.

"Here you go, Reid," he said, placing it down in front of the boy. Reid offered Morgan a weak smile of thanks and then looked guiltily down at his hands. Morgan merely shook his head and sat down to work. After only ten minutes of looking through paperwork, he prayed that Hotch and Prentiss were having more luck.

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Author's Notes: On a random note, a few days ago my other story, Flawless, reached 10,000 hits. So YAY, you kids are awesome.

I realise that once again not much happened in this chapter and that it's annoyingly short. I'm working on it though! I think my muse has kind of left me and my fascination in Criminal Minds is waning. Probably all those essays I've been doing driving me to distraction. Going to have a Criminal Minds weekend though and hopefully I will be inspired enough to finish this story with minimal gaps between posts!

Thank you for continuing to read :) You are awesome.