My Life Had Stood
Chapter 54: Finding Jemma 5
Las Vegas:
"Seriously?" The lead officer gaped after Hotch explained the situation, that the unsub they were after was abducting women from the area and then dumping their corpses in California.
"Yes. And we believe it likely this unsub has been killing for over twenty-five years, moving across the country for most of it. Though for a period between twenty and twenty-five years ago the unsub limited his hunting and dumping grounds to Las Vegas and Los Angeles respectively. If we could figure out why, it's possible we can then find out who he is." Hotch replied, pausing now and then for the officer to absorb his words. "As well as where he is. Based on the resurrgence of victims matching his M.O, the unsub seems to be once more limiting himself to this area."
Hotch paused before further stating that if the officers could give them all their missing persons reports for the last month, it would be helpful.
"Why...?"
"According to Alicia Summers, the latest victim, the unsub has at least one other woman held captive." Morgan interrupted the officer, who seemed reluctant to comply. Though the victims were transported across state lines, easily making it a federal case, it was always better to have the local authority's cooperation. "Maybe two. We also believe he may have a young girl with him, around three years old. Who he kidnapped three years ago."
The officer's eyes widened. He looked from one agent to the other. "...you're kidding?"
"No."
"...I'll see what we have." The officer replied before heading off to do as he said. Once he was out of sight, Morgan and Hotch started discussing the case while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive.
"Hotch, if we're right about the unsub..." Morgan began, his stomach flip-flopping. His thoughts were on what a sexual sadist like the unsub would want with or be doing to a young child. "Jemma...why did he take her? The unsub who abducted these women profiles as textbook sadist, there's nothing to suggest he'd bother to take care of a child."
"...I don't know. So far he's been sticking, albeit loosely, to a type. None of which were younger than seventeen." Hotch replied, beneath his stoic demeanor his own thoughts were mulling over the possibilities. Based on the reports on Jemma's abduction three years ago, they'd each been hopeful as it profiled as a 'paternal desire' based abduction. Thus making it more likely the unsub would keep her alive and raise her.
"Is it possible we're wrong and this unsub doesn't have Jemma?"
Hotch was about to reply when he noticed Spencer and Cam entering the station. The two younger agents immediately scanned the area and steered towards Hotch and Morgan.
0
Rossi cocked an eyebrow as JJ approached, the blonde just hanging up from her most recent call to Garcia. "What is it?"
JJ grimaced, and ran her hand through her hair before answering. "A situation's cropped up back in D.C concerning Alsie and Mr. Reid. Lewis is dealing with it."
"What sort of situation?" Rossi asked, immediately concerned. His first thought was about Emmie and how that alter had attacked William Reid. He wasn't expecting JJ to reply that Lewis believed she'd spotted Vincent Crawford at the hospital. "...What? You're kidding..."
JJ shook her head, feeling conflicted. Part of her wished she was still in D.C helping Lewis but the other part knew that would mean she couldn't be here helping to find Jemma.
"What about William Reid and Alsie, did they recognize...?" Rossi started to ask, his question trailing off at the expression on JJ's face. He didn't need to hear her response to realize the answer. "...Mr. Reid's gone after Crawford, hasn't he?"
JJ nodded. "Lewis is heading to where Garcia tracked his cell phone." She hesitated. Part of her hoped that Lewis could stop William Reid from attacking Vincent Crawford, while another part hoped the opposite. At least that William Reid managed to rough the other man up. "Garcia's going to call Hotch, but..."
Rossi simply nodded quietly, understanding exactly what the younger agent was thinking about. Who she was thinking about: Spencer.
Though the genius agent disliked his father and was still angry at him for various reasons, none of them knew how Spencer would react if they had to arrest William Reid. Spencer hadn't even had time to come to terms with the fact that the woman he'd been dating was actually his twin sister. Or that he was lied to his whole life. If he immediately had to deal with his father being arrested for attacking the man who took his sister as a baby...
"Oh. Before I forget." JJ piped up, having been distracted by her worry. "Garcia mentioned that she found an old DMV photograph of Leah Crawford. It's twenty years old, but she's going to run it against social media, etc. using facial recognition software. See if she can find the woman so we can bring both Crawfords in."
Rossi nodded, the next moment narrowing his eyes as he thought. "What about the Crawfords' son, Adrian Vincent? Was Garcia able to track him yet?"
"Actually yes. He apparently switched back to his birth name after running away when he was sixteen." JJ replied, though not happily. She sadly shook her head. "He overdosed on painkillers two years later, police ruled it a suicide."
Rossi cursed, immediately thinking that there were just some people who should never have had kids.
0
Quantico:
"Come on..." Garcia mumbled, her eyes darting from one computer screen to the next. One showed the ongoing search and comparison of Leah Crawford's photo against social media and other databases. Another monitor showed the location of William Reid's cell phone - Tara Lewis' was also nearby his location, and close enough to tell if the man was there or had ditched his phone. Thus Garcia was least anxious about that one. Since Lewis would've called by now if the man had ditched his phone.
The last two of her screens dealt with the BAU's current case. One combing through all the databases for crimes similar to those attributed to their unsub, and the other slowly sifting through hospital records, trying to find Jemma. This last one was the most aggravating. And the most impossible.
"I need something. Anything to narrow this down." She mumbled, scowling at the screen directly in front of her. That was until her facial recognition search on Leah Crawford pinged a match. She immediately turned to that one, and searched through the files pinged. "All right, that..."
'Huh?' Garcia's eyes widened as she pulled up information on Leah Crawford's alias: Leah Clemens. At first it confused her, before striking her as bizarre. Then her stomach churned as she realized the truth.
"That...she was there. She works at the prison James is..." Garcia stammered, her fingers typing quickly as she opened Leah's file as well as James'. Her eyes widened further and her lips parted into an 'o' once she scanned through James' file. "She's the prison psychiatrist who treated James...? That...that means she spoke to Rossi...and she didn't...she knew...yet she said nothing?"
The tech analyst took in a breath, angry and frustrated at the woman.
Her frustration was short-lived as one of her other searches stopped and beeped. She quickly turned to it. Her eyes widening as she read, she immediately started dialing a number. Her fingers clacked loudly on the keyboard as she searched for even more information.
-"Yes, Garcia? Did you..." Hotch spoke, only to be immediately interrupted by the energized tech analyst.-
"Sir, I think I found the unsub." Garcia said, her eyes scanning over the file on her monitor. It was an article dated around twenty-five years ago, about the deaths of an elderly couple in Vegas. A double-homicide, unsolved and going by the date this incident immediately preceded the start of the abductions.
-"Are you sure?" Hotch asked, thrown a tad since he'd expected the tech analyst search to take a bit longer.-
"Yes, since Alsie was able to remember more of her accident and give a partial name, I was able to filter the suspect list better." Garcia replied, pausing long enough to explain about what Alsie had told Lewis. "Alsie had a flashback and recognized the man who took Jemma. She managed to give Lewis a partial name before she switched to an alter."
-"..." Hotch's eyebrow twitched as he listened, immediately concerned by Alsie having recognized the man who took Jemma. Not from Alsie not mentioning it before, as it was possible she'd hadn't remembered until recently, but rather he was concerned with how Alsie knew the unsub. He didn't mention his concern but simply waited for Garcia to continue, listening to the sound of her typing.-
"I was able to connect a name 'Greg Linnet' directly to three of the victims from twenty-something years ago. And..." Garcia emphasized, leaving no room for an interruption as she continued. "I was able to track his movements for the past fifteen years based on his bank and credit card activity. He was not only in the same city as each victim at the same time, but he was also in D.C three years ago. After which he returned back to his home town and stopped traveling, and changed his shopping habits. One guess to what type of items he started buying."
-"...baby supplies?"-
"Yep." The tech analyst answered, the next moment sending an address to Hotch.
0
Las Vegas:
"Who are you? And what do you want?" Linnet leered at the stranger who'd rung his doorbell.
"You're Linnet, Greg Linnet, right?" The stranger asked, his eyes searching the other man's face. "I'm George Alvarez. I wonder if you would mind talking about a relative of your grandparents who lived in the area years ago? Could I come inside?"
Linnet mulled over the question, trying to place the stranger. He nearly invited the man in until he heard Jemma crying and remembered how he slammed open the basement door. A door he hadn't thought about closing in his rage.
"We can talk on the porch." Linnet replied, quickly exiting and shutting the door behind him. The thickness of the door muffled the sounds from inside.
"Mr. Linnet, was that..." Alvarez started to ask about the crying he'd heard before the man shut the door. It'd sounded like a young child. Something told him not to however, the way Linnet stared at him, as though studying him, unnerved him. "I apologize for interrupting you, but..."
Alvarez hesitated, caught between the urge to leave and his gut telling him something was off. He was quite sure he'd heard a child crying, a fact that choked him with suspicion.
After William Reid had told him about his lost daughter, Alvarez had decided to look into things himself. He'd even made a copy of the report his colleague had gotten from a detective he'd hired. A report that had listed the Linnets as being the only relatives the Crawfords had had in the area thirty-odd years ago.
Though it had also stated the old couple had died and their grandson moved away twenty or so years back. It hadn't taken too long to find Linnet, just a day or so.
Yet he hadn't found any records indicating Linnet had a child or anyone else living with him.
"I'm..." Alvarez backed a step away from Linnet the same moment the man took a step towards him. "I'm just looking for some people. They're distant relatives of yours...the Crawfords. Leah and Vincent, I..."
Linnet eyed Alvarez, caught between lunging at the man or chasing him off. A sharp shriek from inside the house stopped him, pulling his attention away from the stranger. His eyes widened as he recognized the crier, and he started to head back inside. He paused once he realized that Alvarez must've heard it too.
Alvarez' eyes had grown wider the moment he heard the sound and he froze, just for a moment. But long enough for Linnet to lunge at him, knocking him out.
