I'm back! And so are the Criminal Minds Gang. Coming to a close. Any last requests?
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Sir. Winston Churchill
"So, there isn't much on any of these people on my database. They have no records what so ever. I found that one of them in the first image that is not in the second was injured in a car wreck and that is probably why she was dropped from the group. She is deaf from the explosion and loud noises still set her off." Garcia said over the open line.
"When was this wreck?" Hotch asked.
"It was about at the halfway point of our investigation. She was hurt but the driver was killed because she crawled away before the car exploded. It wasn't a normal explosion. The witnesses said it was abnormally large and may have been an explosive. The police ruled it as an accident." Garcia typed furiously on her keyboard.
"Does she have any siblings?" Rossi asked.
"Yes. An older brother, in his early thirties, that stayed at her side during her main name is Brendon and he was a straight A student in high school that just dropped off the grid." Garcia read.
"So that could be the gap in his murders. Why wouldn't he just let the others continue?" Prentiss asked. They sat around the in the police station conferance table with Reid turned with his back mostly faceing Prentiss, Prentiss' hand on top of his on the table. Rossi stood at one end of the table and leaned on the wall behind him and Morgan sat, on leg propped up on Rossie's chair, to Rossi's direct right, opposite Prentiss. JJ sat to Morgan's right with her head down on the table. Hotch sat at the other end with his fingers laced together in front of him as his head hung over the papers on the table.
"This guy needs the others to crave his approval to continue to make them blindly follow him. He needs them to crave him so badly that they can't live without him. He has to be present at every murder and gives them a grade on their performances. When he went into mourning he made them go into mourning. That would explain the absense of them killing." Reid said in an almost bored voice.
"Is the brother in the photos?" Hotch asked.
"No, sir. I have a picture of him from his high school years. There is not much on him from there because he didn't get a job or even go to college. His parents have let him stay at their home. He left about a month after his sister's release from the hospital." Garcia sighed.
"We have been chasing him for three weeks now, with a month repreive and over seven murders. This is worse than homocide. It borders genocide. He's wiping out something. What is it?" JJ asked.
"He could just be killing people he doesn't like." Morgan shrugged, crossing his ankles on Rossi's chair.
"Why would he form a group to kill someone he didn't like? Wouldn't he hunger to do it himself? Since he seemed to over enjoy the first murder? " Rossi put his hands on the table and hung his head in thought.
"Maybe he gets his high off of the soiling of others. Making them just as guilty as he is." Prentiss said.
"That would hint at some remorse for something that he still hasn't forgiven himself or been forgiven for." Reid added, leaning his chair back.
"The bombing, maybe." JJ said.
"No, that happened after two of his followers murdered. Garcia, see if he has any criminal record for his teen years or even if there was some accident in those years between him turning ten to age eighteen." Hotch ordered.
"Yes, My Lord." Garcia answered as she started the search,"The year he turned fifteen there was a drowning in a lake in the woods behind his house. The boy was not in Brendon's close group of friends. He left the lake about an hour before the body was found. He went home and told his parents that he had seen a drowning but was afraid to say anything until then. The boy was dead on site and the case went cold. No one was charged."
"That could mean he feels guilty for the drowning." Reid said.
"Or he commited it. He may have been playing and accidently killed the boy. No other witnesses were brave enough to come forward. He may have even found a few of them and made them followers out of fear."Morgan added, the senario playing out in his mind.
"That would be the ultimate way to clense himself. To make others like him. In his world he is cleansing them by making them and himself all the same." JJ said quietly.
"Get them to follow your cause then make them willing to do anything, show them what you would do for them, tell them they will be cleansed of something they did." Prentiss added.
"That would imply that they all have some deep dark secret that they feel is worse than murder." Reid muttered, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.
"Well, there are some sketchy characters here." Garcia said," Grey was not just a college student who was tricked. He was tricky. There were a lot of complaints at his college. They complained their room keys were swiped by him. They couldn't prove it. Later they would reach for a full coin jar for lunch that day and it would be gone and some other small things. Never more than one item and nothing identifiable. Jewlery, small rings and earrings that could be from an outlet store. Thing they could have just misplaced."
"Grey?" Reid asked.
"Yes. He had slippery fingers but was never prosecuted. Angelica, that you have in custody,accidently tripped her cousin and he fell down the stairs. It ruined his soccer career and he lost many scholarships. It was in their local newspaper. She also was engaged to Brendon for a year." Garcia sighed again.
"So that fits Angelica's story. We need to talk to the sister." Prentiss said.
"Reid, can you read sign language and speak it, or do we need a translator?" Hotch asked.
"I can speak it. No translator needed." When he just smiled and didn't embark on a large story that would waste their precious time, they all were caught off guard.
"So, Reid, Prentiss, and I will go see the sister. Garcia, is there any of the others adresses?" Hotch asked.
"Well, it was a monsterous task, with only first names and vegue photos, BUT I have succeeded." She tapped a few keys," Mary Wothington lived about three blocks away from Brendon but after a fight with her uncle, she ran off and hasn't been seen. She has called her parents almost every day."
"Rossi, Morgan, JJ go see Mary's parents and see if they can tell us where any of the others or their daughter is." Hotch nodded and stood. They all went into motion to collect their things and go about their duties assigned to them.
Hotch drove, like always, and Reid sat in the back seat with Prentiss in the passenger seat. Prentiss looked out the window as they drove and Hotch was on the phone. He nodded and hung up.
"They are almost at Mary's parents. What do you think about this sister, Reid?" Hotch looked momentarily in the rearview mirror at Reid then back to the road.
"I just got some information on your tablet, its awful to read on this thing. She is deaf but still must have loyalties or fear of her brother because she didn't tell anyone he was the one who was doing the murders. She might freak out when she sees we are FBI." Reid nodded at the tablet.
"Then we need vests on. Put them under your jackets so she can't see them before hand. She may be dangerous. We never split up. Understood? We are digging into a potential unsubs life, a dangerous one. She may be very loyal to him." Hotch sighed. It had been a while since he had to talk to his team members like this. Like they were new recruits, but he could tell reid was scared and Prentiss was even a little spooked. This case was one of the hardest they had ever encountered. A serial, almost mass, murderer.
The house was small and pleasant to the eye. One story two bedroom, probably one bath. The light blue shutters and white curtains gave it a homey feeling. reid had put his vest under his shirt against his bare skin and was trying not to mess with it as they walked to the front door. Hotch rang the bell and a woman in a white shirt and jeans, a little older than Hotch himself, answered the door, opening it wide so they could see the white carpet and green or blue furniture.
"Hello." She smiled.
"Hello, I'm Special Agent Aeron Hotchner, This is Special Agent Emily Prentiss and Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid." They shook her hand in turn," And we are with the FBI. We have a few questions for your daughter."
"It's about Brendon, isn't it? Oh, he wasn't murdered by that Playlist Reaper, wasn't he?" Her face paled and she almost looked sick.
"No, Ma'am. Just a few questions for your daughter." Hotch put his hand up to show no harm.
"Well, You do know she is deaf. She is learning Sign Language but isn't great." The mother glanced behind her," And she is in the back rehearsing for her recital. We were so happy she was allowed to stay in it." The mother smiled.
"Dr. Reid can speak in sign language and guess anything else she needs to say. She is not in trouble and we can wait until she is done." hotch said and Reid smiled.
"Oh, then come on in." She smiled and moved out of the way of the door. Reid was the last in and turned to the woman.
"Uh, when you open your door, I would suggest hiding part of your body behind the door and not opening it so far so that potential attackers would be less inclined to try to overcome you and take your fancy things." He smiled and followed the other two. He gave Prentiss' glare a questioning look and she sighed, throwing her hands in the air.
In the next room a man was sitting in a chair facing a girl. She was tall with black hair and a cream colored dress. She had her eyes closed and headphones on her neck and held the earpieces to her neck and took a breath. There was a microphone in front of her that wasn't plugged in. The woman pulled up a chair and motioned for Hotch to sit then she turned the love seat around for Reid and Prentiss.
The girl took another breath as Reid sat down and started to sing in a high pitched voice, with a soft hint of a whisper even though she projected through the room. She sang to the microphone as if she were just breathing, she was so comfortable in front of it.
"She was trained by the best to be able to sing without her ears. She feels the pitches of the music through vibrations in the headphones. She explains it as feeling the sound through her vocal cords. she can see a C and hit it almost perfectly without aid." The mother said.
"Absolute pitch , or perfect pitch, is the ability to name or reproduce a tone without reference to an external standard. Most with Absolute Pitchcan name a tone they have heard without aid of a standard being set. They can also perfectly match said pitch with their voice without ever having heard the pitch set to another pitch or standard." Reid said then smiled, trying not to be a know it all, but failing miserably.
"I didn't know deaf persons could do it. She sound beautiful." Hotch smiled to the father who nodded. The girl suddenly stopped then took a deep breath and held a high, but pleasant note then stopped and smiled. Without opening her eyes she started to sign.
" She says,' Mom, who are the people with you?' " Reid translated. The mother stood and touched her daughters arm. The girl opened her eyes, big brown eyes, and smiled then her eyes averted to look at her mother's hands as she gestured to each of the agents then introduced them in turn.
"Agents, this is my daughter Brenda." The woman introduced then Brenda shook each of their hands. Prentiss leaned over to Reid and whispered to his ear.
"There wasn't a Brenda in the photos." She whispered.
"I know." He whispered back to her then he translated for Hotch and Prentiss," She says,' It's nice to meet you. Is there something wrong?' I'll answer her." Reid started to sign to her and speak as he did,"We just have a few questions. Is there somewhere you would be more comfortable sitting and talking to us?"
She pinched her index and middle finger to her thumb. They all knew that meant no. Reid nodded to Hotch. He would translate Hotch and Prentiss' questions quietly for Brenda while they asked and interpret her for them. She pulled a chair up to face them and the parents turned their chairs to face the agents so they were all in a cirlce.
"Brenda, have you talked to your brother in a while?" Hotch asked. She watched Reid's hands then signed something sloppily to her mother who nodded and left the room, soon followed by her father.
"She asked for some private room to speak to us." Reid said.
"Have you seen or talked to him since your accident?" Hotch asked. She pinched her fingers.
"Where did he go?" Prentiss flicked both her hands, fingers down, like she was sweeping something away and then a few other signals. Her sentences were choppy like someone who didn't know how to use grammer.
"Abandoned. Us to... live on our own... when I hurt in the wreck... When I was hurt in the wreck. Felt bad for hurting me." Reid tried to translate after a few times he could fill the gaps.
"So he just left you?" Prentiss asked. She knocked the air twice with her fist to indicate yes," He stayed with you during recovery so he cared a lot for you. Why did he leave you?" Brenda tucked her hair behind her ear and ran a finger across the white bandage that covered her jawline.
"He tried so hard to care for me but the others needed him more." Reid translated.
"Who are the others?" Hotch asked.
"He had a group of friends that he helps outside of church. They..." Reid stopped as she bit her lip and thought of the sign for the word she needed," They need medical care and help with their families. Sometimes he raises money for them."
"How old was the youngest of your friends?" Hotch asked.
"Do you memorise these questions before you come in? Sit in the car and rehearse them." She asked. Reid smiled and pinched his fingers to signal No.
"How old?" Hotch asked again.
"The youngest was eighteen. I say kids because they seem so young and fragile when I met them." Reid looked at Hotch and Hotch nodded slightly.
"How old was the oldest?" Prentiss asked.
"About twenty three." She nodded," Yes twenty three."
"Has he contacted you in any way or have any of the others?" Hotch asked.
" No. They haven't. After the crash they all left." Brenda signed and then let her hands fall limp in her lap.
"Ok, let's be frank, you were part of that group. We know he murdered and had your 'friends' murder. He has a little girl that he intends to harm. We need your help. Where is he?" Hotch asked. The girl grinned and leaned her elbow on her knee, propping her head on it. she contemplated under her short bangs then started to sign.
"Have you checked the church?" She asked. Hotch looked at the other two agents.
"Come with me." Hotch said. They followed him to the other room," She is messing with us. Maybe we can make her slip up. She knows something and knows we know. She is so confident he will get away that she is dangling bait in front of us."
"Why did you have us leave?" Prentiss asked.
"She can read lips. She hasn't been this way very long but is very good at talking and understanding us who can talk."
They walked into the room with her and she was humming to herself in the room. She looked up. Reid wondered how she had know they were coming, one with a sense deprived will develope stronger secondary senses they still have. She had felt them coming. She smiled again.
"How are you, Dr. Reid?" He smiled as he translated for the others as they sat.
"Ii am doing just fine." He said with his hands.
"I felt so bad about Grey. He was sweatheart. Loved his company so much. I saw the shock on your face." He smiled again.
"So, did you hear about Layla? She is a very sweet girl." Hotch said. Reid translated without hesitation.
"You've met her?" She asked.
"Oh yes. She Angelica gave her location right away. Problem was that the others all ran before we got to them. We do have a lot of finger prints though." Hotch said, eyes not leaving hers.
"Why would you need fingerprints? Layla isn't in any danger. Why would they run?" She smiled.
"We found her. Just a day ago. Angelica told us where to find her." Hotch said.
"Yeah. It doesn't take a genious to find her. She's at home sick with the flu. has been out of school for two days." She raised her eyebrows as if saying you are lying.
"So she wasn't taken by your brother?" Hotch asked," Cause she seemed pretty scared when we found her." Hotch said. Niether flinched away," Why aren't you looking at Dr. Reid's translations?"
"I read lips. It was easier than sign language for the first few weeks." She smiled.
"Then you would like to know that.." Hotch covered his lips," Reid, stop signing. Act like we are conversing without her."
Reid covered his own mouth," what are you trying to do?"
"Make her think we have somthing important for her. we are going in circles because we have nothing." He uncovered his face," The evidence is clear. Tell us where they are or we will have no choice but to take the DNA off your glass and compare it to the DNA found at the graveyard." He hoped he called it right. She stared into his eyes then her gaze flickered and she inhaled and started to sing.
"Catch me as I fall," Her eyes never left Hotch's,"Say you're here and it's all over now. Speaking to the atmosphere, no one's here and I fall into myself." She glanced at Reid and smiled,"This truth drives me into madness, I know I can stop the pain, if I will it all away." She stood up and walked up to her microphone and spread her arms," Don't turn away! Don't try to hide! Don't close your eyes Don't turn out the light!" Then her voice dropped," Never sleep never die!"
Hotch stood up and blocked the younger agents with his own body as she pulled a handgun and pulled the trigger three times. Reid moved out from behind Hotch and ducked into the doorway of the other room and Prentiss went behind the couch. Hotch dropped to his knees and doubled over. Prentiss popped out over the top of the couch and shot the girl in the chest twice. Reid looked around the corner and ducked back again as she took one desperate shot at him before she fell gasping to the floor.
Reid ran over and kicked the gun away from Brenda and then put his hand on the gushing wound in her chest. Her mother had frozen in the door then the father rushed from his wifes side and put his hands on her other wound. Prentiss called 911 told them an FBI agent was down and there was another injury.
Hotch motioned for her to help Brenda and Prentiss pressed her hands over Reid's. Brenda smiled, coughed then smiled again, starting to sign, weakly. Reid nodded and she passed out. The Paremedics rushed in and a while later they removed her from the room, a second set of medics laying Hotch down and removing his shirt and vest. He had three nasty bruises and only one had pierced the skin. The wounds weren't very bad at all. They let both Reid and Prentiss ride to the hospital with him.
"What did she say to you?" Hotch asked as he lay in the crisp hospital bed. They had moved him from the ER to a recovery room. He would be out an hour after they were sure he could breathe on his own. It was painful but he ignored it as he talked with the agents. Morgan, Rossi and JJ had not been able to get anything from Mary's parents. They had come to see Hotch and had thirty minutes to talk.
" She said,' Layla's dead. You killed her.' and then she said,' The lake.' We have Garcia finding the address for the lake that boy was drowned in." Reid said.
"Reid, Morgan and Prentiss, go to the lake and check it out. Rossie and JJ check out the surrounding houses to see if they are hiding in the nearby houses." Hotch ordered. They all nodded and Prentiss squeezed his hand reassuringly then grabbed Reid's, Leading him from the room.
Thank you to Lolyncut , Kira, and Rebecca1 for your lovely reviews.
I hope this chapter makes sense. It goes in circles.
Thank you to Nymphadora-CullenBAU for your request for Evanescence. I wanted to do them but I didn't want to use up chapters when I had so many wonderful requests!
Love all of my requestees and this has been a wonderful experience with all the feedback! Thank you for all your help and for the new fans. MCRmy Soldier I love that you liked my story enough to Review. I really hope you will enjoy the next one I write. I hope it gets this much feedback.
Still a little ways to go. Gunna cry, This has been my best story so far. Most reviews ever and great readers.
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