JJ walked over to Hotch's office and knocked.
"Come in", came the reply.
"Hotch, we have a case", explained JJ.
Ten minutes later the team was meeting in the conference room. JJ started presenting the case: "Three bodies were found in Columbia, Missouri. They were all dumped in parks near playgrounds. Victim number one is Jessica Parker, 34 years old, she was found two weeks ago. Her body showed signs of torture; cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. Victim number two is Taylor Brennan, 37 years old, her body was found a week ago, it showed similar injuries, the same goes for victim number three: Emily Jones, 33 years old, she was found two days ago. The preliminary M.E. reports showed similar trauma and defensive wounds. Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head with the same weapon, presumably a bat. In all cases the M.E found splinters of wood in the wounds. The victims were mothers of toddlers and presued rather successful careers." Gruesome pictures appeared on the screen.
"The unsub obviously has a problem with women, the torture seems rather personal, so maybe the victims are surrogates for his partner or a family member like his mother", Morgan said.
"Each of the victims were reported missing at least four days before the bodies were found. There haven't been any reports of kidnappings in the area, so either the unsub knew the victims or he tricked them", added Hotch, " there has also been another woman who was reported missing this morning, her name is Julia Smith, 31 years old, she never made it home last night to her husband and three year old child, so time is of the essence. We will further discuss this on the plane. Wheels up in twenty."
As soon as the jet took off, they reassembled around the table and started to debrief.
"If the unsub sticks to his timing, then we have to find Julia in the next three to four days", Emily started," but it seems like he is escalating because his cooling off period is getting shorter."
"Garcia, please check if there are any connections between the victims and run background checks on them. We have to figure out as to why the unsub chose these women and how he got the opportunity to abduct them." , said Hotch, "As soon as we land we're going to hit the ground running. Rossi and Prentiss, start with questioning the families of the victims. Reid, start by making a geographical profile. JJ, the press is all over this, if we have sufficient information by then, let's try to set up a press conference this afternoon. Morgan and I are going to connect with the detectives working this case."
They scattered around the plane to prepare for their tasks; ever since this morning JJ couldn't help but notice the resemblance between the victims and herself. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she had felt uneasy about this case ever since she had opened he case file.
As soon as they arrived at the station, JJ didn't have time to think about her personal feeling towards this case anymore, it seemed like everyone at the station was overwhelmed by the magnitude of this case and viewed the BAU as their savior.
While dealing with the victims and their families was always the hardest part of their jobs, they dreaded those tasks even more when children were involved. Each of the victims left behind a spouse and a toddler, who were robbed of their loved one and mother. Speaking with the families is often what made Emily even more determined to find the Unsub and bring justice and closure to the ones left behind. The team quickly gained foothold and JJ was able to hold a press conference late in the afternoon.
According to the profile, the Unsub was a white male, between the ages of 25 and 35 years old. He probably lived by himself and had a simple job, lead an inconspicuous life. The public was advised to be cautious but not to panic.
When JJ stepped to the lectern, she immediately felt this unsettling feeling again. She felt like she was being watched. "Of course I'm being watched, it's a press conference after all", thought JJ. She could usually rely on her gut feeling but she thought of it as exaggerated and definitely wouldn't tell the team. She was happy with her position in the BAU as communication liaison but felt like she was often viewed as less tough and as not being able to defend herself. That was at least partially true; she didn't carry a gun. Usually she didn't feel the need to, but in moments like these she couldn't help but think that she would feel safer if she was more skilled in defense.
JJ and Hotch had talked about this a couple of times but Hotch didn't think that carrying a gun was necessary for her work with the press, the families and the victims.
The team went back to the hotel after working until 10 pm; there wasn't anything that could be done at night.
JJ and Emily as usually shared a room, Emily couldn't help but notice that JJ had been unusually quiet today: " Hey JJ, are you okay? You seem a little quiet." JJ sighed: "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just tired...you know with this case I can't seem to stop thinking about Henry."
"Why don't you call him. Maybe talking to him will help?"
"Well, he's probably already in bed, I'll call him tomorrow. Will likes to stick to a strict bedtime routine and...", JJ seemed hesitant about finishing her sentence.
"Everything alright between you and Will?", asked Emily with a worried expression.
"It's getting late Em, let's not get into that, we have to be rested tomorrow", JJ said, avoiding Emily's gaze.
"JJ, you don't have to talk to me but I don't think that you are talking to anyone about this. I'm worried because lately you seemed to be quite sad and distracted. I'm gonna let it go for now but please don't cut me out of this, you know that you can talk to me about anything."
While Emily talked, JJ tried to hold back her tears: " Thanks for reminding me Em, I promise that I will tell you, but not tonight, I'm really exhausted right now."
Seeing the unshed tears, Emily went over to hug her: "Ok, come on let's get into bed. I know that I'm not the best example, but it's okay to cry, you know?"
" I don't know why I'm so emotional all of a sudden, I guess it's just the exhaustion. I'm gonna head for a shower first, okay?"
"Yeah, sure."
JJ felt a little relieved after this. She would confide to Emily eventually, she sometimes felt like she was dumping her problems onto Emily but hearing that she had seen what had been going on for some time now reminded her to not deal with everything by herself.
The friendship between Emily and herself was strong, but there were quite a few demons of her past that non of the team members knew about.
She liked to keep certain things separate and to not feel like her past was determining her present and future.
