A/N: I got lazyyyyyyy... Had some new ideas for a new story buuuuuuuut I gotta finish this one or might never get it done! I don't own cm and characters... Aha enjoyyyy Thanks for the follows and reviews!
"You mean, this was done on purpose?" JJ asked in shock. "Yes, I do. I don't want to waste another moment questioning the what if's," Hotch stated. "How can we do anything when there is no real case on paper?" Morgan asked. Although he wanted to find the man, they needed to cover all their bases. "We need to gather evidence put it together find anything that this man has gotten away for and get a warrant for his arrest," Rossi simplified.
"You guys are devious," Garcia laughed. "What if it doesn't end well?" Prentiss asked. "Then we will deal with it when it arrives," Hotch said shrugging the question off. Right now they needed to ensure that Reid will be safe as they find the person who did this. "Okay, Garcia. I need you to dig through every detail you can on this man. See if there are any ties with Reid. If he did it out of vengance then they had to cross paths," Hotch stated. "The man is 4 years older than Reid. Check college and High school records as well," Rossi added. "So technically you want me to invade Spencer's privacy as well as Brandon Dale's?" Garcia asked uneasily. "We wouldn't ask you to do it if it wouldn't help Reid," Morgan said softly. Garcia nodded and began typing.
Hotch got up and walked to his bedroom. He pulled out the white board and stand so the team can formulate a profile and actually write it down. He entered the living room and set up the white board.
"Garcia, were you able to find anything?" Hotch question. "Actually something caught my attention. Is there a printer here? I can make a fake case file for you all since you all staring at my baby is quite weird," Garcia smiled slightly. Hotch nodded. "There is a printer here. I just need to turn it on," Hotch stated.
The team watched as Hotch disappeared. Rossi was eager to get his hands on the information Garcia found. JJ was ready to have a conference with the local police on why that man should be arrested. Morgan just wanted to kill the man. Prentiss however was truly curious to how Reid played a part in this whole fiasco. 'Why him?' Prentiss thought.
Hotch came back with file folders and papers inside of them. He quickly passed them out to the team. They used the coffee table to go through the information.
"So Dale is a typical man. Working in a small cubical for a corporation. He's married, no children as of yet," Rossi said with a nod. "
"Why is that?" Morgan asked more to himself.
"Possibly infertility, or maybe marital problems," Emily suggested.
"Maybe he's too busy. His hours at work aren't the typical 9-5 job," Hotch said.
"Yes, April 17, 2001 he worked from 6 am to 10 pm. I'm positive his wife was tired by then. Could he possibly use this to ensure that his wife is asleep and wouldn't notice when he arrives home?" JJ asked. "That is a possibility," Rossi agreed.
"The man spends his money on the best," Morgan said. "Right he's buying more than he could afford. And as a result him and his wife are in debt," Prentiss said. "But the house is 400 thousand dollars. It's a single bedroom and thirty seconds away from Reid's apartment? Why waste money on such a terrible house?" JJ asked. "Look at the land he has though," Rossi stated. "Exactly. He didn't buy the house for the rooms and bathrooms. He bought the house for the land," Hotch stated.
"So the question is, why did he need all that land?" Morgan asked. "If he is a killer he could hide the bodies?" Emily stated. "Or maybe so he can hold people captive," JJ said. "Let's keep that in mind. On to the next thing. College. Coincidentally he went to the University of Las Vegas, but not any high schools," Rossi said. "Right," Morgan said, "He was born and raised in California." The team nodded in understanding. "So we see that Reid and Dale may have walked on the same dirt, but did they cross paths?" Hotch questioned. "Not as children. By the time Reid was in College, Dale should've been in the eleventh grade. Reid went to Cal Tech, and Dale was in Sacramento Public High," Prentiss sighed.
"So we are positive that they probably never crossed paths," Rossi stated. The team nodded.
"I'm printing more stuff out, you all keep doing what you are doing," Garcia said as she walked out the room.
"This guy had no connection to Reid throughout his high school and college years," JJ concluded. "Okay, but look at what this man majored in college," Rossi prompted. "Criminology," Morgan read. "Meaning that he knows what to look for in a criminal, criminalistics, criminal behavior, pretty much what we do," Hotch said with a frown.
"Meaning that this guy knows exactly what he's doing," Prentiss said. Garcia came back with more papers.
"What is this?" JJ asked looking at two stacks of paper filled with names. "Well one stack is the list of people Dale has come in contact with and the other stack is all the people Reid has come in contact with. I started from High school on up," Garcia smiled.
Good work Garcia," Hotch said as the team started looking through the list. "To make this go faster, Prentiss, you look at the high school years. Morgan, you check College. Rossi you check Reid's years from 21-24, and I'll check from 24 to this date. You all highlight the names that are in both files," Hotch said. The team nodded and got to reading the files.
"Reid didn't contact anybody during his high school years, but CPS tried to contact him. The phone was disconnected. I'm guessing Reid kept his mother's life private. A couple of teachers came over, but I don't know why," Prentiss said. "Dale has never met these people before. On Dale's side, he had friends and girlfriends, but none that met Reid," Emily finalized. Hotch nodded in thought.
"Whoa, Whoa, whoa, Dale's father was a teacher at a university," Morgan said looking through the paperwork. "Any significance of that?" Rossi asked. "Yes, he was acquainted with Diana Reid," Morgan said. Garcia got up and wrote that on the white board.
"Garcia look into that, please," Hotch said and Garcia nodded as she went back to her computer.
"Other than that, there was no connection in college," Morgan sighed while rubbing his temples. "Well the same goes for the four years after Reid was out of college," Rossi stated. "Yes, same here except for yesterday when Dale hit Reid," Hotch said. "We need to keep looking for any mishaps on Dale's side," Rossi suggested. The team nodded and began to read the rest of Dale's file.
"He has multiple speeding tickets," JJ said. "How ironic. Was he speeding when he hit Reid?" Prentiss snorted. "Can't we get him for a hit-and-run?" Rossi asked. "We can, but that's not enough for the FBI to get involved," Hotch stated. "Now if he did that to many others, then that would definitely be a case," Morgan said absent mindedly. "Morgan's right. Any other mishap besides the speeding tickets?" Hotch asked. "Um, he was arrested for getting drunk and beating up a man in a bar," Prentiss said. "What year was that?" Hotch asked. "Um last year," Prentiss answered. "Garcia look up everything about Dale in 2008," Hotch said and Garcia nodded.
"This man is the typical man. I mean he gets in a bar fight, has an okay job, speeding tickets, and he's married," Morgan sighed. They weren't getting anything out of this.
"Okay my furry friends! No need to fret, momma's here for you!" Garcia smiled from her position on a chair. "Dale's father is Hector Dale. He was a Literature professor and would sometimes be Diana Reid's TA. They both worked at UNLV, but Hector left his family back home," Garcia said. "Okay something doesn't seem right about that," Morgan said. "Yes, I know. Brandon was four when his parents got a divorce. Hector stayed in Las Vegas and Diana Reid was pregnant with Spencer. That was before William married her," Garcia pointed out. "Whoa, so Diana had Reid before she married Reid's father?" Morgan asked. "I guess so chocolate thunder," Garcia said with a frown. "Well, It can't be that bad. I mean I had Henry and Will and I aren't married," JJ said. "Well you have to admit it JJ. This seems fishy," Prentiss said. "Garcia find Spencer's birth records and see if you can trace him back to conception," Rossi suggested. Garcia nodded and began typing away. "February," Garcia said. "Awe look at cute little baby Spencer," Garcia cooed. "Garcia, focus," Hotch stated. Garcia pouted and JJ laughed. "Was Diana Reid and Hector Dale working together?" Rossi asked. "Yes, they were. You guys aren't thinking that-" Garcia stopped and looked at them. They all fell silent. "She's a paranoid schizophrenic. She can be easily manipulated," Morgan stated. "But Diana Reid is a genius!" Garcia exclaimed. "Yes, she's a genius just like Reid. You know how easy it is to manipulate Reid to doing work for you. Imagine it with a paranoid schizophrenic," Hotch stated. "But Diana Reid is more out spoken than Spencer," Garcia said. "She would do anything to protect Spencer," Morgan said. "That could include lying to him," JJ said. "It wouldn't be the first time," Morgan added. "She lied to him about Riley Jenkins. Spencer had to manipulate his mother into letting him know," Rossi said.
"So you guys are thinking that William Reid is not Spencer's father?" Prentiss asked who has been silent for a while. "We are assuming. It could explain William's reason for wanting us to pull the plug," Hotch grumbled. "But why would he want to keep tabs on him?" Garcia questioned.
"I feel as if there's something we are missing. Diana Reid is somehow connected to Hector Dale. William Reid wasn't that hostile towards Spencer when they were face to face," Rossi stated.
"Well you and Morgan saw Mr. Reid. What did you all think?" Hotch asked. "I mean he's a lonely guy with a cat. He seemed to love Spencer although he felt awkward around him. There was a tension between them, but I couldn't place my finger on it," Rossi explained. "Yeah, I think it was deeper than that whole Reid accusing the man of murder," Morgan stated. "We really need Spence to wake up," JJ said quietly. "JJ's right. Reid knows his family. He may know why his father hates him so much," Prentiss agreed. "This really is strange," Garcia mumbled.
Hotch's phone rang and Hotch saw that it was Bennington.
"Hotch," Hotch said sternly.
"Diana Reid will be flying in today. She agreed because she said her baby needs her," the nurse said slowly.
"Wonderful," Hotch said as he hung up.
"Diana Reid will be coming in today," Hotch announced.
"Do you think we can ask her about Hector and William?" Prentiss asked. "Maybe. It depends on her psyche," Hotch stated. "So, until we speak with Diana Reid. All we have is Brandon Dale knows how our job works. Keeps a profile of a typical man. His father has connections to the Reid family. Somehow his family falls apart the minute Reid was conceived," Rossi said as JJ started writing that on the board.
"So maybe Reid was wandering around and Dale saw him. He followed him until he was all alone in that alley where he sped up and hit Reid. Then he tried to make it look better by picking Reid up and putting him in the truck. Afterwards he drove Reid to the hospital, not bothering to hide his face," Prentiss said. "Yeah, it seems to me that this guy wanted to appear innocent, meaning if he is arrested he already has a story and the cameras can back him up. He did purposely look at that camera," Morgan said.
"Exactly," Hotch said with a nod, "We just need to fill in the holes."
"Garcia, did you get the information about Dale from 2008?" Rossi asked. "Yes, My Doves, I did get some valuable information," Garcia smiled. "Like what?" Prentiss asked. "Well, Dale was arrested for domestic abuse against his wife and she then bailed him out. That was in January of 2008. Then about three months later was the bar fight. Wait.." Garcia paused. "He stayed at the same complex as Reid for about four months and then he moved back into his house," Garcia said quickly. "Now why did he leave the house?" JJ asked. "Maybe he attacked his wife again?" Morgan suggested. "JJ can you figure this out by getting his wife to talk?" Hotch asked. "Would she want to know why we need to know?" JJ asked. "Just say that an agent was hurt and that someone could be framing Dale," Hotch said calmly. "Why should JJ lie?" Emily asked. "Because the wife protects the husband," Rossi answered and Emily nodded.
"So, Garcia where is Dale right now?" JJ asked. "He is at work," Garcia smiled happily.
"Okay, so I'll go do that. Does anyone want to join me?" JJ asked. Morgan stood up automatically. "Yeah, I'll go," He said. The two profilers headed out and did the ten minute drive to Mrs. Dale's home.
JJ and Morgan walked to the front door of the small house. JJ looked around at the wide open land and knocked. "It's so hard to believe that this piece of land is randomly sitting here. You know I think Reid should've bought this house. He would've loved it," Morgan stated and JJ shook her head. "No I don't he would've bought this house even if he did love it," JJ shrugged. Morgan wanted to ask, but he held off as the door slowly opened. "Can I help you? A tall skinny woman questioned nervously. Morgan could tell that this woman has been abused. "Hi, my name is-" "Jennifer Jereau, yes I know," The woman said quickly. JJ looked at her in shock and the woman turned to Morgan. "Derek Morgan," She nodded. "Ma'am, how do you-" "My husband informs me of a lot of things. He likes the FBI and spends most of his time researching it. I think he wanted to become an FBI agent," The woman smiled sadly. Morgan nodded. "Can we come in? We'd like to ask you a few questions," JJ smiled. The woman squinted at them but relented. "Sure," She mumbled.
They walked in and sat at a couch. "Can I ask why you are here?" The woman asked. "Uh, yes. A fellow agent, Dr. Spencer Reid was hit by a speeding truck. We need to know why your husband left last year for four months," JJ said. "Someone could be framing him," Morgan added in. The woman's eyes went wide as she processed the information. "Um, Brandon and I had a was cheating on me so I kicked him out. Of course I couldn't stay mad at him, sp I let him back in a few months later," The woman explained quickly. "Do you know who the other woman was?" JJ asked. "No. I know she was young and very beautiful," The woman said slowly. "Did your husband come home late last night?" Morgan asked. The woman nodded. "Yes, I figured he's cheating on me again," The woman sighed sadly. JJ nodded. "The only difference was he had blood on him and he was panicking," The woman whispered. "If your husband has hurt anyone, would you tell us?" JJ asked. The woman nodded. "Good, did he tell you anything last night?" Morgan asked. "Yes he said he hit a deer. He dropped it off at the vet's clinic and came home," The woman said quickly. JJ and Morgan shared a brief look. "I thought he was lying. He was too calm. Well calm for hitting an animal. He loves animals more than people, so I knew it was a lie. Not to mention he didn't smell like an animal. He smelt like a sweet lavender," She whispered. JJ and Morgan shared another look. Reid always smelt like lavender. He was always fixated on the color purple.
"Ma'am, we know you arte trying to [protect him, but has he hit you recently. The woman visibly paled and the two agents knew the answer immediately. The stood abruptly and walked to the door. "Ma'am, we can help you. We can get him away from you and you can live your life, the way you want to," JJ said quickly. "Please ma'am, we need Brandon Dale in our custody. You are our only chance. He may have murdered someone," Morgan said desperately. The woman paused. She stared at them and took deep breaths. "You mean-yesterday?" She asked and both agents nodded. "Yes, so please. Help us. You are the only way we can interrogate him. We will tell him a witness saw him hit you," Morgan explained hoping she would give them consent. "Fine. Only for the sake of who ever this other person is," The woman sighed as she left with the two agents.
JJ just got off the phone with Hotch. She was also able to convince Strauss that this man could be after the team. This was officially their case, however, they weren't getting extra pay for any expenses.
"The team is on their way. When Mrs. Reid gets here, Rossi will talk to her since he believes that he knows how to get information from Mrs. Reid," JJ stated looking at Morgan. "That's fine. Do we have the warrant?" Morgan asked. "Yes, but Hotch wants us to wait until he gets the team together first," JJ said. "Okay. I just hope we sort this mess out. When the kid wakes up, he doesn't need to be placed in this nightmare," Morgan sighed. "You're right," JJ agreed, "Hopefully Mrs. Reid will have all the answers."
About five minutes later, the team barreled in the bullpen. "Where's Mrs. Dale?" Prentiss asked. "Oh, she's in interrogation room number three," JJ said. "Yeah, JJ and I thought it would be best if Mr. Dale didn't see his wife as he passed the rooms," Morgan added. "Good thinking. We need to arrest Mr. Dale in a proper manner. We won't all just barge on him. Morgan you will arrest him and read him his rights-even though he should know them by heart," Hotch said taking lead. "Rossi, you will be waiting for Diana Reid at the airport. Drive her straight here and tell her that we need to ask her a few questions before she can go see Reid," Hotch said as Rossi nodded. "Wait, how will a paranoid schizophrenic react if she is not allowed to see her son until the government talks to her?" Morgan said raising an eyebrow. "Just tell her that her son's life depends on it. If she is lucid then it will be okay," Hotch stated. "JJ, you have already become acquainted with Mrs. Dale. Try to get more information," Hotch said and JJ nodded. "Lastly, Prentiss you and I will interrogate Mr. Dale. No good cop bad cop scenario. We are both bad cops," Hotch said and the team all nodded in understanding. "Okay, let's get to work," Rossi smiled and the team separated.
Derek slowly walked into the huge corporation building. He thought about how much of a scene this would cause and also the possibility of this man losing his job. Morgan could care less. This man gave Reid the possibility to lose his life. Hell, he did die! He was just lucky that the doctors saved him. A cop followed Morgan as he went up the elevators. Morgan handed the cop the warrant for this man's arrest and Morgan already has his handcuffs ready. Morgan was led straight to the man's desk where a man with dark hair worked on his computer not even noticing the agent behind him. "Excuse me Brandon Dale?" Morgan said loudly causing the man to jump as he spun around. "My name is Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan and you are under arrest," Morgan said as Bandon stood up angrily. Morgan roughly turned him around and handcuffed him. "You have the right to remain silent-" "I know my rights!" Dale sneered.
Morgan shrugged and began pulling Dale into the walk way where he was escorted out the building to the police car that awaited him. "Aren't you gonna tell me what I was arrested for?" Dale asked with a cold glare. "Hey, since you knew everything I figured you would know," Morgan shrugged as he pushed the man into the car. Morgan sat in the passenger seat as the officer began driving. "Is this for hitting that boy?" Dale asked with a huff. "He wasn't a boy," Morgan growled. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Did he die or did he survive and decide to sue me," Dale smirked. It took everything Morgan had to not slap that man.
"All your questions will be answered at the FBI headquarters," Morgan said. He smirked when the man fell silent.
They pulled up to the headquarters and Dale was escorted to the interrogation room. The Hotch and Prentiss couldn't help but stare at the man as he walked through. Garcia wanted to throw her pen at the man for hurting her baby, but decided against it.
"You ready for this Hotch?" Prentiss asked slightly nervous. She wasn't sure how much of a bad cop she could be. "If he makes you mad, let it out," Hotch stated. Prentiss nodded and they walked towards the interrogation room. Morgan was standing in the hallway. "Man believes he is getting arrested for running down Reid. I personally think he's a sociopath," Morgan stated. "Okay, we will check for that. In the meantime, you can call Garcia when we need you too. We will have in our headsets and every time Emily and I slam our hands on the table ask Garcia for more information," Hotch stated. Morgan nodded and went to the glass wall. Emily and Hotch walked into the interrogation room.
"Hello, Brandon Dale. My name is SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is SSA Emily Prentiss," Hotch greeted. "You mind telling me wh I'm here?" Dale questioned. "I'm pretty sure you know why you're here," Prentiss said with cold eyes. "I'm pretty sure I'm here for a pretty stupid reason," Dale smirked. They both held in their anger and nodded. "You really are here for a stupid reason," Hotch said. This took Dale by surprise. "Huh, so you really don't care about Little Man," Dale said with a nod. "Who told you that?" Prentiss said raising an eyebrow. "Don't worry about it," Dale smirked and Hotch slammed his hands hard on the table causing the man to look his way.
Derek called Garcia for Dale's communication records.
"It's our job to worry about it," Hotch sneered. "Tell us who told you!" Prentiss shouted. "Hey, I thought you guys were more sympathetic since the boy grew up with a mother as a nutcase and a dead beat dad," Dale shrugged. "Oh, like when your dad left you for his job?" Hotch said with a chuckle. "Tell me, did he ever say Congratulations on going to UNLV? Did he ever say "Hi son" when you had him as a teacher? I don't think your dad found you worthy," Hotch sneered. Prentiss was mentally shocked at Hotch's choice of words. "Hey, it's way better than getting beat," Dale laughed. Hotch didn't even flinch. In fact Dale wondered if the man even blinked. "I'm not the one running over people," Hotch said raising an eyebrow. "So, you can tell us or we can dig into your not so innocent life and find a reason why you should be going to jail," Prentiss smiled wickedly. "You're not so innocent either Miss Pregnant at 15," Dale scoffed. Prentiss visibly paled. She wasn't sure how he knew so much about them. "I know you guys inside and out. So, don't even bullshit with me," Dale sneered. "I'm sure Agent Morgan is tired of getting shoved in the ass anyways. Tell Agent Rossi I said that it's time for him to stop fucking around with that wicked witch of the west. I'm sure that's why he gets paid more than the rest of you," Dale smirked. Prentiss angrily grabbed the man by his collar and shoved him into the wall. "Listen here you sick son-of-a-bitch you answer what we ask you and nothing else!" Prentiss yelled. "Isn't this against protocol," Dale smirked. "Who's going to know. I shut of the cameras while you were being sent here," Hotch said as he pointed to the cameras which were indeed off.
"I want a lawyer," Dale said. "Now he wants to run like a baby!" Prentiss sneered as she released him with one last shrug. "Exactly why his father disowned him. He's weak," Hotch shrugged. "I'm not weak. My father is weak! He's the one who cheated on his wife!" Dale yelled. "Just like you did last year!" Hotch yelled right back at him. Dale fell silent. He knew he got himself in more trouble than he can imagine.
"Now, we have more than one charge against you. Someone saw you beat your wife. There was another bar fight that a man is willing to file suit against, not to mention the hit and run of a federal agent," Hotch said coldly. "I dropped him off at a hospital," Dale said. "Well, not leaving your information counts as running. You see? You were arrested for stupid-very stupid-reasons," Hotch said as he stood. "We will get you your lawyer. Agent Prentiss you should come," Hotch said as Prentiss stared at the man with enough hate and left the room.