Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.
A/N: Shout out to Hippichic81 for being the 275th reviewer for this story, and also a shout out to tannerose5, fishtrek, Angel Wings00, and southernbeauty13 for reviewing chapter 48.
This chapter starts on October 9th of 2008 and here's a warning that the F bomb is said in this chapter.
Spencer woke up to hearing Clarissa whispering to the kids causing him to close his eyes and a few seconds later he woke up to being peppered with kisses by Diana and Bridget. As soon as he had his glasses on, he gave his daughters each a kiss before he wrapped his arms around Diana and Bridget while he smiled at Clarissa who had Evan strapped in a baby carrier across her chest.
"What's with the wake-up call?" asked Spencer.
Diana kissed her daddy's cheek causing Bridget to mimic her big sister's actions.
"Did you forget that it's your birthday, daddy?" asked Diana.
"No," said Spencer.
"Happy birthday, daddy," grinned Diana.
"Dada," said Bridget.
"Ahhh" screeched nearly four-month-old Evan.
Clarissa leaned down and kissed her husband.
"Happy birthday, Spence," said Clarissa.
Spencer gave his baby boy a quick kiss before Clarissa looked at her husband.
"I decided that we should go out for breakfast before you head to Georgetown University for your guest lecture while Diana and I head to school, so why don't you hurry up and get dressed so we can meet our reservations at our favorite diner," said Clarissa.
"Yes ma'am," said Spencer as he released Diana and Bridget as he gave his two little girls one more kiss, "Why don't you two go downstairs with mommy and Evan so I can quickly get dressed for my guest lecture with grandma Alex," said Spencer.
"OK daddy," said Diana before grinning at her daddy, "I get out of school before lunch today because of teachers having meetings," said Diana.
"I know, and your uncle Aaron gave me the rest of the day off after my lecture because of my birthday and you having a half day at school today," said Spencer.
While Spencer was off at Georgetown University to give his godmother's students a guest lecture on his part on catching The Angel Maker copycat; Hotch, JJ, Emily, Garcia, Morgan, and Rossi were sitting in the conference room when Garcia looked at Hotch.
"Do you know if Reid has any suspicion about the surprise party that Clarissa arranged?" asked Garcia.
"Not at all," said Hotch before looking at his teammates, "But Clarissa stated that there will be no alcoholic beverages allowed while there are children present at Spencer's surprise birthday party," said Hotch firmly.
Everyone nodded before Hotch smiled a bit.
"I told Reid that he should take the day off because of his birthday and I also got the all clear for us to leave the office at 3 PM today," said Hotch.
Later on that day at 4:30 PM, Clarissa was cutting vegetables for some kabobs for their cookout when Clarissa looked at her husband.
"Can you please stop at the grocery store and pick up more diapers for Bridget and Evan?" asked Clarissa.
"I can," said Spencer.
Lucy who was seasoning chicken and steak grabbed the small grocery list that she made and passed it to Spencer.
"Can you please pick up these groceries for me?" asked Lucy.
"Sure," said Spencer.
Diana looked at her daddy.
"I need new pencils and erasers for school, daddy," said Diana.
"I'll get you some new pencils, Diana," said Spencer.
At that moment Clarissa had a clumsy moment and dropped the knife she was using onto the floor.
"Fuck," said Clarissa.
A wide-eyed Diana who was eating some pineapple and zucchini slices looked at her daddy.
"Mommy said a bad word, daddy," said Diana seriously.
Spencer nodded.
"I know," said Spencer seriously.
Bridget who was in her high chair munching on some small pieces of bananas accidentally dropped a slice of banana onto the floor before she looked at the slice on the floor.
"Uck," said Bridget.
Spencer, Clarissa, Diana, and Lucy's eyes went wide as they realized what word Bridget was attempting to say.
"Oh my goodness," said Clarissa as she placed her hands over her mouth.
"Bridget attempted to say a bad word, daddy," said Diana.
Spencer grinned as he realized that Diana's language skills were becoming more advanced everyday.
"I know, bumblebee," said Spencer before looking at his wife, "Now we're really gonna need to be careful about what we say around Bridget because our 14-month-old daughter just tried to say the swear word you just said, Clarissa," said Spencer.
Clarissa looked at her husband.
"I know, Spence," said Clarissa as she kissed her husband, "You better get going because I want to start cooking at 5:30 PM," said Clarissa.
"Yes ma'am," said Spencer as he went to collect his car keys.
As soon as Clarissa heard Spencer's car pull out of the driveway, she quickly sent a mass text out to her brothers, her husband's teammates, Sarah, and a few neighbors.
SPENCE HAS LEFT THE HOUSE TO PICK UP SOME GROCERIES AND A FEW OTHER THINGS. SO HURRY ON OVER FOR SPENCE'S SURPRISE PARTY AND DON'T FORGET TO PARK ON THE NEXT BLOCK OVER. ~ CR
As soon as Clarissa put down her phone, she looked at Lucy.
"We might as well finish up preparations and get the kids dressed before we dress up ourselves," said Clarissa.
An hour later Spencer entered the house and raised his eyebrows as he noticed no one in the too quiet house. After putting away the groceries and searching the house, he headed to the back patio door that had the blinds pulled and opened it. A few seconds later his eyes went wide when he saw a table that contained side dishes, a table that contained gifts, and a table that contained presents before he noticed Clarissa, his kids, Haley, Jack, Sean, his teammates, Will, Gideon, his godparents, a few neighbors, Elizabeth Prentiss, Ethan, Elle, Elle's fiance Jerry, Elle's six-month-old daughter Brooklyn, the Barry family all wearing party hats while standing underneath a banner that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY! all looked at him.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SPENCER!" shouted everyone while Diana said daddy, Bridget said Dada, and Jack said uncle Spencer.
"You guys," choked Spencer.
Clarissa made her way towards her husband and placed a party hat on his head.
"You like the surprise birthday party I arranged?" asked Clarissa.
Spencer nodded as a few tears started to come out of his eyes as he hugged his wife causing Clarissa to wipe them.
"After you and Emily were held hostage together nearly two months ago, I decided that we needed to do something big to celebrate both yours and Emily's birthdays since your birthdays are a few days apart," said Clarissa before she grabbed her husband's tie and pulled him into a kiss as their tongues fought for dominance.
20 seconds into the kiss, both Morgan and Sean let out loud wolf whistles before Sean who was covering up a giggling Diana's eyes looked at his sister and brother-in-law.
"SAVE THE MAKE OUT SESSIONS UNTIL AFTER WE'RE ALL GONE AND YOUR KIDS ARE IN BED BECAUSE THERE ARE CHILDREN PRESENT!" shouted Sean.
Spencer and Clarissa blushed as they pulled apart.
"Hi," said Clarissa.
"Hi," said Spencer.
"We'll revisit that later, Spence," whispered Clarissa.
Spencer nodded before he reluctantly accepted hugs and handshakes from all of his guests.
A few minutes later Rossi, Gideon, and Lucy decided to start cooking dinner while Clarissa decided to start playing the playlist on her iPod that was playing child-friendly music when Spencer looked at Clarissa as the song "You Can't Hurry Love" by Phil Collins started to play through the speakers.
"Do you want to show off our swing dancing skills, Clarissa?" asked Spencer.
Clarissa laughed.
"Yes," said Clarissa.
A few seconds later Spencer was on the backyard deck with Clarissa leading his wife in a swing dance causing a few other people to join them on the dance floor whether if they knew how to swing dance or not.
When the song was over Morgan shook his head as he looked at Spencer and Clarissa who were both grinning in each other's arms.
"Those were some sweet moves," said Morgan as he thought about how Spencer lifted up Clarissa for a few moves and guided her in a couple of flips.
"Spence's eidetic memory really helped us excel in the dance lessons we took together and it helps that carrying three children around and the working out that we do together help Spence's upper arm strength," said Clarissa as she squeezed her blushing husband's bicep before she and Spencer decided to focus on dancing to the song "Rockin' Robin" that started to play.
Meanwhile, by the grill, Gideon smiled a bit as he watched a laughing Spencer flip a laughing Clarissa on the dance floor before they got back into formation for swing dancing.
"Are they still trying new things together?" asked Gideon.
Lucy looked towards where Spencer and Clarissa were dancing.
"They are and I don't mind watching the Bambini when they go out and try something new," said Lucy.
Gideon watched a laughing Spencer spin Clarissa before pulling her back into formation.
"Hopefully their jobs will never cause their marriage to fail," said Gideon.
After dancing a few more songs, Spencer looked towards the area where Haley and Diana were teaching Bridget and Jack how to kick a soccer ball into the makeshift goal that Haley set up.
"I'm going to grab Diana and Bridget for a dance," said Spencer.
Clarissa looked towards where a heavily pregnant JJ was sitting with Will as JJ held Evan.
"I'll grab Evan for a dance," said Clarissa.
A few seconds later Spencer was looking at his two daughters.
"What do you two say about sharing a dance with daddy?" asked Spencer.
"Yes," said Diana.
"Yes," said Bridget.
Less than a minute later Spencer had Bridget on his hip while Diana who was standing on her daddy's feet held his free hand and the arm that supported Bridget as he danced with his daughters while Clarissa dance nearby while holding a giggling Evan while "I'll be There" by Jackson 5 played.
Over an hour later, Spencer was sitting at the head of the table with Diana on his lap while he supported Bridget on his shoulders when Clarissa who had Evan in a baby carrier across her chest came over with a birthday cake with two lit candles that spelled 27 on top of the cake.
"Make a wish, Spence," said Clarissa.
Spencer turned his head and gave Clarissa a kiss on the lips while Garcia quickly took the opportunity to take a picture while Diana, Bridget, and Evan all grinned at their parents' actions. After Spencer and Clarissa broke apart, Clarissa looked at Garcia as she removed Bridget from her father's shoulders.
"Please tell me you got a good picture," said Clarissa.
"I sure did," said Garcia as she quickly showed the picture.
Clarissa smiled at the sight of Diana, Bridget, and Evan all smiling as she kissed her husband in the picture.
"I'm so putting a copy on my desk at work," said Clarissa as she showed her husband the picture.
"Me too," said Spencer.
"Can we please sing "Happy Birthday" now, mommy?" asked Diana.
"OK," laughed Clarissa as she started to sing "Happy Birthday" while everyone else sans Bridget and Evan joined in before Spencer closed his eyes and blew out the candles.
After Spencer blew out the candles for his cake, another birthday cake was brought out so Emily could have a turn blowing out some candles for her birthday cake so everyone could eat their share of birthday cake.
A few hours later, Spencer entered the master bedroom and gulped when he saw Clarissa wearing nurse themed lingerie as she held up a plate of leftover birthday cake.
"Are the kids still asleep?" asked Clarissa seductively.
Spencer nodded as he gazed at his wife's body.
"I have plans for you, doctor. So please get in bed," said Clarissa.
A few seconds later Clarissa was straddling her husband in bed as she fed him some birthday cake.
Two days later, Spencer and Diana were leaving the movie theater together when Diana who was holding her daddy's hand looked up at her daddy.
"What did you think of the movie, daddy?" asked Diana.
"I liked it and I promise you that mommy and I will buy the DVD when it comes out so we can watch it with mommy, Bridget, and Evan," said Spencer.
"Can we please go to the American Girl store and get some new clothes for my Mia St. Clair doll and buy a new American Girl book?" asked Diana.
Spencer shook his head as he thought about how he and Clarissa have introduced Diana to the American Girl franchise earlier in the year when they found out about the current girl of the year Mia St. Clair because of Mia loving figure skating like Diana while they're slowly introducing Diana to another American Girl character and the books to go with the character.
"We sure can, but after our trip to the American Girl store, mommy and I have to get ready for our date night," said Spencer.
"OK daddy," said Diana.
A minute later Spencer was helping Diana strap herself into the backseat of Clarissa's SUV before he climbed into the driver's seat of the SUV and sent Clarissa a text.
DIANA ASKED ME TO TAKE HER TO THE AMERICAN GIRL STORE, SO I'M GOING TO TAKE DIANA THERE. ~ SR
A few seconds later Clarissa replied.
OK. ~ CR
Four days later Spencer was fixing himself a cup of coffee while Morgan explained the encounter that he and Garcia had at the base's coffee shop. When Morgan was finished, Spencer looked at Morgan.
"So wait, she knew yours and Garcia's name?" asked Spencer.
"I don't know how I could forget a face like hers and I had to order Penelope not to hack into the coffee shop's security cameras when we got here and run her face through facial recognition programs," said Morgan.
Spencer started to stir his coffee as he made his way towards the stairs that led them to the conference room with Morgan and Emily following him.
"You've been with so many girls before becoming engaged to Garcia that you can't remember all their names?" asked Spencer.
Emily scoffed as she noticed the mischief sparkle showing in Spencer's eyes as he glanced at Morgan.
"Oh, come on, are you surprised?" asked Emily.
"This has never happened to me before," said Morgan.
Spencer started to climb the stairs up to the conference room.
"It hasn't happened to me before either," said Spencer.
"Well, it can't happen to you. You have an eidetic memory," said Emily.
"Besides, you only got your wife's name to remember," said Morgan.
Spencer smirked as he nodded at his brother-in-law and Rossi.
"At least I took the chance of asking Clarissa out on a date after knowing her for two weeks while it took you over three and a half years to ask Garcia out," said Spencer.
Emily, JJ, and Rossi laughed while Hotch's lips twitched up a bit at his brother-in-law's comeback.
"Nice one, Reid," said Emily as she held out her hand for a high five that Spencer returned before JJ became serious while everyone sat down.
"OK. Six victims have been killed in a series of burglar/homicides all over central California. In order... Bakersfield, Fresno, Chico and, two nights ago, Alan and Brenda Paisley in Sacramento," said JJ.
"Big area. Are we sure it's the same unsub?" asked Rossi.
"His DNA was found in all the homes," said JJ.
"They hadn't connected it because he crossed jurisdictional lines," said Hotch.
"The head of the Sacramento field office has established a multi-agency task force and he wants us to run point," said JJ.
Morgan looked at the list of names.
"Looks like we got a lot of investigators on this one," said Morgan.
"We'll streamline it if we need to," said Hotch.
JJ took a deep breath as she got ready to say something that no one would like.
"You should know that they've already named him the ""Highway 99 killer."" said JJ.
Hotch sighed as he thought about the riot act he'll be giving.
"We'll deal with that when we get there," said Hotch.
"He targets 1 to 2-person households. He kills the victims while they sleep," said JJ.
Spencer looked at the ME report.
"Blunt force trauma with objects found at the home. Multiple bashes to the head," read Spencer.
"After he kills the victims, he ransacks the homes for valuables," said JJ.
"Which is not unusual for a nighttime burglary-homicide," said Hotch as JJ pulled up some more pictures, "What's unique about this unsub is that after he kills them, apparently he sits down to dinner in their homes. They found his DNA all over the food and the table," said Hotch.
"Are these burglaries that turned into homicides or homicides that turned into burglaries?" asked Rossi.
"Between the two offenses, it seems the primary motivation is homicide. Otherwise, he would have just stolen the items and fled," said Morgan.
"But he stays there for hours. He eats their food, he tries on their clothes, he showers, he even sleeps in their beds," said JJ.
"It's like Goldilocks became a serial killer," scoffed Emily.
JJ showed another picture.
"They've got plenty of DNA, but they found no fingerprints," said JJ.
"He doesn't take their cars. So, how does he get there?" asked Emily.
JJ shook her head.
"No witness reports of strange cars on the street," said JJ.
"No prints, no gun, no noise, no car, no witnesses. This all adds up to prior experience," said Rossi.
"There's a record on him somewhere," said Spencer.
"And until we find it, he's moved on to another town," said Hotch.
"Which could be anywhere," sighed Emily.
A few seconds later Hotch gave a departure time while Spencer looked at Emily.
"When it comes to you bringing up Goldilocks as a serial killer, I'm now going to be thinking about this case every time I read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" to Diana, Bridget, and Evan," said Spencer as he pulled out his personal phone and sent Clarissa a text message.
I'M GOING TO SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA. I PROMISE TO STAY SAFE AND I LOVE YOU, DIANA, BRIDGET, AND EVAN. ~ SR
Spencer was sitting on the couch getting a head start on a geographical profile when JJ looked at him.
"So, four homes in about five weeks. The first one at the beginning of September in Bakersfield. Then Fresno a week later. Chico eight days after that," said JJ.
Spencer drew some lines on his geographical profile.
"Then he changes direction, heads south to Sacramento at the end of September," said Spencer.
"These crime scenes are spread out over 400 miles. I mean, how many serial killers move around like that?" asked JJ.
"Not many," said Rossi.
"Of the ones who do, we categorize them into two subgroups. In one model, he's an itinerant homeless person, someone who's been displaced," said Spencer.
"With the second type, their occupation allows them to travel. He could be killing while on business," said Morgan.
"A truck driver make sense?" asked JJ.
Spencer fiddled with the marker he had in his hand.
"Long-haul truck driver Bruce Mendenhall shot his victims and disposed of their bodies at truck stops, across at least four different states," said Spencer.
"But Mendenhall targeted mostly high-risk victims. Prostitutes and hitchhikers, he picked up right off the highway," said Emily.
JJ checked her phone.
"A truck driver's "MO," he'd use his rig for the getaway. Somebody would have noticed a tractor-trailer parked in the neighborhood," said Hotch.
"How about someone in corporate sales? They still travel," said Rossi.
"Or computer professionals. They travel to install software," said Morgan.
"Or someone in real estate. Like a land assessor," said Emily.
"They just discovered a new murder. In Modesto," said JJ.
Spencer quickly added a new plot to his geographical profile.
"He went south again," said Spencer.
"Right, when we land, Reid, JJ and I will go to task force headquarters," said Hotch as he glanced at his fiancee, Morgan, and Rossi,
"The three of you…," said Hotch.
"Modesto," said Rossi.
"We're going to log some miles on this one," warned Hotch just as Spencer's personal phone rang causing Spencer to look at a picture that Lucy sent him of Bridget and Evan together.
"I have a new picture of your youngest niece and nephew, Hotch," said Spencer as he passed his phone to his brother-in-law.
Hotch looked at the picture of a grinning Evan wearing a onesie that said I'M FOUR MONTHS OLD TODAY with a smiling 14-month-old Bridget.
"I can't believe that Evan's finally four-months-old while Bridget's 14-months-old," said Hotch.
"Me too," sighed Spencer.
Spencer followed his brother-in-law and JJ towards an agent who made his way towards them.
"I'm Agent Liman," said Agent Liman.
JJ shook hands with Agent Liman.
"Hi, Agent Jareau," said JJ as Agent Liman shook hands with Hotch, "These are Agents Hotchner and Reid," said JJ.
Spencer shook hands with Agent Liman.
"We reserved this room for you," said Agent Liman as he led Spencer, JJ, and Hotch to a conference room.
As soon as they entered the room, Hotch looked at the piece of paper that said TRAVEL PATTERN: "HIGHWAY 99 KILLER".
"Who named him this?" asked Hotch.
"I did," said Agent Liman.
JJ looked at Hotch.
"I'm gonna go get started on that memo," said JJ.
Hotch gave Spencer a look causing Spencer to look at JJ as he thought about not wanting to watch his brother-in-law give a dressing down to an agent.
"I'm gonna help you," said Spencer as he quickly left the room with JJ.
A few minutes later Spencer was standing outside of the conference room while Agent Liman left the room causing him to slowly step into the conference room and looked at his brother-in-law.
"How'd he take it?" asked Spencer.
"He'll get over it," said Hotch as he removed the sheet of paper that Agent Liman posted on the board.
"Sometimes I feel like that we have to occasionally give the types of lectures that we give to Diana and Jack to FBI agents and law enforcement when they do something that requires them to be disciplined or we have to be authoritative to our children," said Spencer.
"I agree," said Hotch.
"The first time I had to put Diana and eventually Jack into a timeout it almost killed me. It has gotten easier to discipline Diana and Jack, but it's going to be hard to discipline Bridget and Evan when they're both old enough for timeouts," said Spencer.
"I don't like having to occasionally discipline Jack or Diana too, but we always can't let unacceptable behavior slide," said Hotch.
Spencer's cell phone rang, causing the 27-year-old genius to see that it was Rossi calling as he answered the phone.
"Yeah?" asked Spencer.
"Reid, are you in front of a map?" asked Rossi.
Spencer made his way towards a map.
"Yeah, I am now," said Spencer.
"I think I know how the unsub's getting around. Do you see tracks linking Bakersfield to Sacramento?" asked Rossi.
Spencer looked at the map and realized what Rossi was saying.
"He's hopping trains," said Spencer.
A/N: Part two of Catching Out will happen in the next chapter.
