"Our guy, he's a sick serial killer who's killing for revenge. He's revenge driven. He's looking for a woman to blame. Since he cannot find what he's looking for, he's killing others" Morgan started "the women were not sexually assaulted. It is not for his release of sexual tension but for some twisted revenge fantasy."
"So we are looking for a white male, late 20 to early 40s, very attractive. And strong. Athletic, able to navigate through the woods without getting lost and a local" Emily finished
"He knows all the police patrols, schedules and ways in and out" Hotch said "So he's connected to the investigation in someway. might be one of your friends outside this PD, even a family member. anyone"
"The killer has not yet specified why he's on his avenging mission. Could be something related to a woman in his life. A woman who overtook him in job. Makes him feel inferior, socially less attractive." Reid added "A woman's rejection or unloyalty or betrayel"
"He must have had a recent stressor. Like being fired from the job. Death of the last living family member. Some woman he knew being abused. Anything that made him lose their cool" Morgan added
"the guy's invisible. He can bland in well. And he's meticulous. He's able to look for a potential victim, follow her around, know their routine and finding a right time, kidnap them without anyone noticing him or her. So he must be having a vehicle. Maybe a car or a pickup. Not very flashy. Dark or mute color. It won't be clean." Rossi said
"This is a man, able to charm his way into their hearts. Good looking, neatly dressed and smooth talker. They might appear calm and serene but they lose temper quickly if a nerve is struck, especially when it comes to family." Gia added
"he was not here for a long time. So we are looking for anyone who might have moved back to this town recently. Or recently moved in. he would be inviting to his home, very neighbourly. His house and lawn would be groomed and clean. But he is always missing in community gatherings and parties. A loner. And he's getting impatient as the time passes" Hotch finished
"That's it folks. Get to work" Parrish yelled and the people dispersed
"That should keep them busy" Stiles muttered
"Hey, we got a call" Corey rushed to them
"Claire Smith. 23 years old. Missing since today morning. She was supposed to the church for a wedding planning, but never did" Parrish explained
"Do you have a photo?" Gia asked, tensed
"What's wrong?" JJ asked
"Hold you horses" she off-handedly answered as Parrish handed her a photo
"No" she whispered, eyes glistening with unshed tears
"You know her?" Emily asked
Lydia came and took the photo from Gia as Hale comforted her
"It's her cousin" she answered, checking the photo. They all exchanged a look of sympathy for their team mate, disappointment some sort of anticipation.
Rossi squeezed her shoulder in comfort and Hotch turned to Morgan, who nodded back at him
"Speak" Garcia chimed when Morgan called her
"Claire Smith."
There were some patting noises then her voice chimed again
"I'm putting you on speaker, baby girl" Morgan said
"Yeah. I found a newspaper article. She lost her family to a house fire due to short-circuiting. She was the only survivor since she was in the store room near water pipes when she went to check on them. She spent about 3 months in the hospital's ICU in coma. Her sudden recovery was termed as a miracle which happened in a week"
"she must have been given the bite" Liam said
"That was 6 years back when she was 17. So she requested to be emancipated by child services and when she got 18, she officially changed her name to Alisha Foster. Foster being her mother's maiden name. She did her degree in interior designing and was struggling in the field and she worked as a part-time waitress in Smith & Jones"
"Alisha Foster. She's the one he was referring to" Emily said "This guy is true to his words"
"if we go by my calculations, we have nearly 36 hours to save her" Reid said
"Best would be if we patrol ourselves tonight. See if anything's there. One pack and one agent" Stiles suggested
That was how Reid and Gia ended together in a car, waiting outside the wood's north entrance
"you okay?" reid asked
"'m fine" she muttered
Hesitantly, Reid reached and squeezed her arm
"We'll find her" he assured "How about you tell me about Claire?"
"Claire's mom and my mom weren't blood related" Gia explained "they grew up together in the same foster home. best friends. she came to visit us after my father died for about 3 years. i grew up calling Jane aunty and Claire a cousin. She moved to LA when she was 10. We were pretty close. I never knew she changed" she answered when her phone rang
"Grant" she answered, putting the phone on speaker
"It's me" Liam said
"What have you found?" Scott asked
"Are we on conference?" she asked
"Yeah, bugaboo" Stiles answered making Gia roll her eyes
"So yeah, we talked to the nearby 4 alphas. Nathan and Cheryl got their betas alright. Juliana's beta didn't survive. Lost a large amount of black-blood. And Simon, his beta defied him. Oh and Lexy, it was Juliana who gave Claire the bite. She said that Claire became a very healthy beta. She was adapting well" Liam said
"thanks, Liam" Gia whispered
"So no leads" Stiles said "this is not possible. What about Julie's other beta? the dead one?"
"It was a woman. Her name was Baylee" Mason said
"Baylee? Can you tell me her complete name?" Gia asked
"Baylee Cu-Crutz, maybe?" Corey tried
"Curtis?" Gia asked
"Yes! Baylee Curtis" Corey said "You know her?"
"No. But that name, that's my mom's name. Vanessa Baylee Curtis" she said in panic
"I'm calling Garcia to run the name" Morgan answered who was paired with Derek Hale
"Great. An-"
She frowned and exchanged a look with Reid and checked her phone. The call had ended. She tried recalling but no signal.
"Is yours working?" she asked Reid
He took out and checked his phone "No signal"
"Damn" she swore
"So our unsub's using your mother's name?" Reid asked
"I'm pretty much sure. Let's see what Garcia comes up with" she said starting the ignition of the car. She changed her gear and started driving, when she lost the balance and pulled up at the last moment before hitting a tree
"That's surprising" Reid said, sarcasm dripping off
"Wait here. I'm gonna check" she answered and got out of the car
"What's wrong?" Reid called, after a while, but no answer
"Gia?! Gia!"
Reid started opening the door when she returned, panting
"You scared me!" Reid exclaimed
"Sorry. Didn't mean to. We've got two flat tires and only one spare" she informed, getting in
"How did that happen?" Reid asked
"This should answer your question" she lifted and leaf which had some clear gel like substance. Reid extended his hand to touch it but Gia pulled it back
"What's it?" he asked as she threw the leaf out of the window
"Kanima venom. It's a strong paralytic agent. A kanima slashed down our tires. We are trapped with no cell-phone reception" she groaned
"others should be coming to look for us" Reid hopefully said
"Sorry to burst your optimism, Reid, but no one's coming to look for us. It's a rule in the pack. We do not leave our positions until the alpha says so. I myself maybe an alpha, but I'm still a part of Scott's pack and have considered him to be my alpha for a time being. He has authority over me" she explained
"So what can we do now?" Reid asked
"now? Nothing. Just wait and keep an eye on trespassers" she answered
Gia checked her watch for the tenth time in three hours. For now, they had seen no suspects or anyone, for that matter.
She felt something and turned to see Reid slightly trembling. She smiled, removing her leather jacket handed it to him
"Wha-. No. I'm fine" he said
"It's okay. And you are trembling" she chuckled
"What about you?" he answered
"I have survived temperatures below this. Try being thrown in a stream with 3 degrees temperature wearing nothing but one layer of clothes" she said, amused after which Reid hesitantly took the clothes
"You did face all that, didn't you?" he softly asked
"Yeah. But the whole pack was with me, every time. And now when I look at it, it all seems so…..history."
Reid nodded "When I look back to the cases we solved, sure does look like history to me" he chuckled
"it's not the same, Spencer" she said "we hunt serial criminals. We have an upper hand over them. We catch them, corner them. They surrender to us.
Being hunted is not the same. You have to hide and heal. Make sure no one knows who you are, what you are. In worst case scenarios, we have to surrender. And they don't show mercy. The simplest they do is tie us to metal barricades, throw water on us and electrocute us at high voltages. At a certain voltage, we cannot shift. At another level we cannot heal. Ans at one final, we cannot survive"
"Have you ever been caught?" Reid softly asked
"Once, yes. We were in Mexico. The Calaveras used me and Lydia as leverage to get info out of Scott. They spared Lydia but I got electrocuted. It was shocking" she chuckled dryly
They sat in silence.
Gia could feel her eyes getting heavy and she suppressed a yawn
"You can sleep if you want to"
She turned and faced her partner
"I'm good. Just a little tired but I can handle it" she smiled
"You didn't sleep last night too" he deadpanned
Gia gave him a look "were you keeping an eye on me?"
"no. I went down to use the kitchen to get water when i noticed your room's lights were on. I suspected you'd be awake. You usually have darkness when you sleep"
"I don't like darkness" she whispered "It brings nightmares. I usually keep a lamp on just to remind me that I'm safe for the time being"
Gia yawned again
"you should sleep. A werewolf you maybe but you are still part human. Take a small nap. I'll wake you up if I find something"
Gia looked at him and Reid nodded. She gave him a small smile and relaxing a bit, closed her eyes for a nap.
Spencer sighed checking his own watch. It was nearly 3 am. They saw nothing. Their scanner wasn't working either at any frequency. Nor were their cell phones. He froze when he felt a weight on him.
Scott had explained the reptilian nature of kanima. They had made sure to close all the windows of the car they were in. He slightly turned his face and sighed in relief noticing Gia's head resting on his shoulder.
He cannot imagine how many times he wanted to be this close to Gia. Yes he never showcased his true feelings for her, not more than what Morgan and others noticed, but he liked her a lot.
She was smart, funny, intelligent, sarcastic, and had a golden heart. And now an alpha werewolf. But he also knew that a girl as amazing as Gianna Grant would never fall for a man like him. He was a nerd. He wasn't fit, skinny and had social awkwardness. Not to mention the chances of hereditary schizophrenia.
Spencer never realized when and where his arm went but noticed Gia getting comfortable to him, trying to snuggle. He spared her another look. She looked angelic while sleeping. He raised his hand and brushed a few locks of raven black hair from her face as she snuggled deeper, not realizing what she was doing in sleep. Spencer just sighed and himself relaxed a bit, leaning back on his seat
Aish