Chapter 45

Once Hotch and the team went over everything at the station, they went to the hotel and gathered in Hotch's room to discuss the more sensitive topic of shapeshifters and such.

"So it can touch one of us and then turn into us?" Morgan asked with wide eyes.

Rossi nodded as he took a sip from his drink.

"While I think all of this is wild-crazy, I do not want any of my pets to be cloned!" Garcia exclaimed.

Mack laughed. "Don't worry, Pen. We'll watch each other's backs and Hotch will keep an ear out for the shifter."

They all looked at Hotch and he nodded. "I can tell when one is around."

"So we treat this just like any other case: we work the profile, we search, we find, simple," JJ put in ever being the voice of reason.

"Actually, we may have worked this type of case before," Reid started and everyone looked at him. "Well, think about it, we didn't know any of this even existed until Hotch became a vampire. Who's to say that some unsub we found wasn't human. Statistically, with the amount people we've put away, I would be more surprised if they were all human."

Rossi's brows rose with that and he nodded. "Probably."

"Well, I know I haven't seen someone change shape right in front of me and I know I've never seen a vampire!" Morgan insisted.

"But how do you know you haven't seen a vampire and he just took that memory away?" Mack offered as she glanced at Hotch.

The fear that creeped into Morgan's eyes with that thought made all of them laugh.

"Maybe the lead local on twenty other cases wasn't human. You could have been standing right next to one without even realizing it," Hotch put in. He didn't like the way they all seemed set on the nonhumans being the bad guys.

"Very true. Detective Bartles was a great police officer and none of us knew what he was until he showed us," Rossi agreed quickly as if he sensed what Hotch was thinking.

"Just face it, My Mocha Dream, we can never go back to that world, so you might as well just accept this new one," Garcia told him as she wrapped her arm in his.

He took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right, Baby Girl. Denying it isn't going to make it any easier." He looked around at the rest of the team and then settled his gaze on Hotch. "Whatever it is, Man, we got your back."

Hotch nodded his thanks. "Alright. Let's get to bed. We'll meet up for breakfast here at the hotel and then head to the station and figure out what our next step is then."

XXX

The next morning when Hotch reached into his bag to get his clothes, he eyed the lockbox that held the bags of blood. After the strange weekend he'd had with Kahlan he couldn't remember if he was supposed to feed that morning or the next. I don't feel hungry. In fact, he was still feeling the unusually powerful after effects from feeding on Kahlan, so he bit his lip. Coffee. That'll tell me if I need to feed.

So he slid on his shoes and went down to the little room set aside for breakfast. He didn't think any of the team would be up yet and there was only one other guest in the room, and he didn't give the man still in his pajamas seeking the coffee pot another thought. Hotch took the little cup back up to his room and took a drink; it tasted fine, so he smiled. I can wait at least one more day. As soon as he thought that, though, he saw Kahlan's face in his mind. But I'll have some with me in case it hits later in the day.

Once he was dressed, he went in search of the team and found most of them already enjoying their meal. Garcia, who had just finished making herself a waffle, smiled and handed the fresh breakfast treat to Hotch. "Just in time, My Liege," she offered with a little bow.

He shook his head, though. "No. I'm good. You go ahead."

She frowned over her glasses which were the perfectly pink match to her dress and glanced at the other hotel guests enjoying their meal. "Appearances, Mon Capitan, appearances," she whispered as she pushed the plate even closer to him.

He sighed and accepted the plate with a small smile. "Thank you, Garcia."

A wide smile spread on her face. "Anytime, Bossman."

Hotch turned to join the others and saw Rossi chuckling. "Shut up, Dave." Once he sat down, he reached over and stole Rossi's syrup.

"Hey!" Rossi yelled as he tried to snatch it back and the rest of them laughed.

Before they could finish breakfast, Detective Iona called; they had another body. The newest victim was found on the Molokai Island's northeastern tip. A poor family of tourists visiting the Malawa Beach Park had the displeasure of finding the heartless corpse washed up on the shore, and the detective had a chopper waiting at the closest airstrip to take them to the scene, so they headed out leaving Garcia to wish them safe return and a promise to find them everything she could once she had a name.

XXX

The short hop to the next island didn't take that long, and the helicopter was able to land pretty close to the scene. As they climbed out, Iona met them and showed them the way. "The ME just got here, but her initial report is that the victim has been dead for three days," Iona explained.

"So possibly before Mr. Jackson on Kauai?" Mack asked him.

He nodded. "She said she'd get a more definite answer once she's able to do the autopsy."

"Any ID yet?" Morgan asked him.

"Not yet. This Jane Doe was found naked, but she is a native," the detective explained. "I do have several officers going around with a photo to see if any of the locals know her, but she could have come from any of the islands."

Rossi and Reid shared a look. The first four victims, three men and one woman, had been of different ages and looks, two residents and two visitors, but none of them had been Polynesian. "Well, there goes our thought that this might be an anger thing against outsiders," Rossi quipped.

JJ huffed obviously agreeing and shook her head. "This unsub doesn't seem to fit any of the norms."

They all looked at Hotch as they walked along the sand, but his focus was elsewhere as his head slowly drifted back and forth, and even though they couldn't see his eyes behind his sunglasses, they all knew his eyes were roaming even more than his head.

Rossi shot a look to Morgan, and he nodded slightly and moved closer to the detective. "So exactly how popular is this beach?"

The rest of the team also moved closer to the local as Rossi drifted closer to Hotch. "You're being too quiet," he led softly.

Hotch took a deep breath. "It's here."

Rossi lost a step but quickly recovered and moved even closer as he looked around. "Can you tell who yet?" The only people who were there were police and such.

Hotch inhaled through his nose as his head moved a little to the right. "Not yet."

Rossi nodded, and when Hotch lengthened his stride to get closer to the other people at the scene, Rossi grabbed his arm making Hotch look at him. "Be careful," he whispered, and Hotch nodded and went to the throng of people.

Rossi kept a close eye on him and when Hotch got about halfway through searching for the shapeshifter, his eyes locked with Rossi's and then gestured to a local officer. Rossi nodded and then went towards the middle aged man as Hotch went over to the ME and the rest of the team.

Rossi looked at the officer Hotch had pointed out and mentally smiled at the name tag on his shirt: Schewel. He moved a little closer. "That's five. Whoever this is, they're getting bolder," Rossi mused aloud.

The officer nodded. "I can't believe this is happening here of all places."

Rossi looked at him. "Here?"

Schewel nodded. "This is supposed to be paradise, and is for so many. . ." He sighed as he ran a hand down his face. "Stuff like this. . . this isn't paradise."

Rossi nodded as he studied him. "No it isn't. I really wish we could get some clue as to who it is. Maybe if we did, we could help you turn it back into paradise." He thought the man looked genuinely upset but he didn't know enough about shapeshifters to know if they would show normal human emotions or not.

The officer turned to him and frowned slightly. "That's what we all want."

Once they were done at the scene, Hotch and the team loaded back up in the helicopter and promised to meet back up with the detective in Honolulu. All they discussed on the ride over, though, was the case because the pilot could hear them. Rossi, though, text Garcia and had her dig up all she could on Sargent Schewel, and she immediately text him back and said she would have it by the time they landed.

XXX

"I was able to trace the Schewel family back for twelve generations. The first Schewels to arrive in Hawaii started one of the first pineapple plantations on Maui and it has been going ever since," Garcia started to explain through Rossi's phone as the team headed from the airstrip to the station.

"How many of the family are left?" Mack asked.

"A lot of them. The whole extended family has mostly stayed. I see where several of them went to the mainland for school and such, but most of them have come right back here. Those of working age are dispersed throughout Hawaii and are in many different jobs. Sargent James Schewel's two brothers are a firefighter right in Honolulu and the other is Medic on Maui. His three sisters are a teacher, a nurse, and a stay-at-home mom," she reported.

Hotch and Rossi shared a look. "Sabastian said they liked to stay together. Are there any of them who just turned sixteen?"

They could hear her working her keyboard as she hummed. "Mon Capitan is right as always. Sargent Schewel's sister, Mrs. Amanda Keely, that's the stay-at-home mom, has a daughter, Heather, who turned sixteen last week."

"And where do they live?" Rossi asked her.

"On Maui. I just sent you everything on the whole family."

"That's great work, Garcia," Hotch told her.

"Of course it was, but I will keep digging. Oh, BTW, victim number uno, Sally Peters, and victims number three, John Barns went to the same high school, but they were six years apart and I can't find any other connection between any of them. I'm sorry," she told them and they could all hear her frustration.

"It's alright, Baby Girl," Morgan started from his car. "We figured these were just victims of opportunity so it isn't surprising that you can't find anything."

Garcia's laptop dinged and she gasped. "Oh no. Apparently little Heather has been absent from school since the day before her birthday."

Hotch sighed as he shook his head. Shapeshifter or not, he really didn't want to think of a teenager being responsible for the gruesome murders. "Has the father been at work?"

"You think he might be doing this for her?" Reid asked him.

"We've seen parents do some crazy things for their kids," JJ put in as she mentally cringed. She wanted to think she would do anything for her children, but she also wanted to think she would never cross that line, and she silently prayed that she'd never have to find out.

Hotch slowed the SUV down and then turned it around. "Garcia, contact Detective Iona and tell him we are using the chopper and going to follow a lead on Maui, but don't say anything else."

"Aye, aye, Sir, and I will hit you back as soon as I check on the dad's job. Please keep my pretties safe," she offered and then ended the call.