"Why are you gripping the armrest so tightly?" Prentiss asked casually.
"Because you drive like a maniac." Reid responded from the passenger's seat.
"I am not that bad." Prentiss argued as she took a left turn at almost forty-five miles per hour. Reid's knuckles whitened. In the back, Joey grabbed onto the drop-down handle above the door, but didn't say anything, merely grinning out at the street.
The latest dump site was just off one of the main roads in downtown Cleveland, and Prentiss, Reid, and Joey were headed that way. "Of all the danger I've faced in this job, I don't really want to die because you flipped the car in the middle of an intersection." Reid said through gritted teeth.
"You're dramatic." Prentiss rolled her eyes.
"I'm nauseated." Reid shot back.
Prentiss shared an exasperated look with Joey, but didn't reply. As she pulled the car into the alley and parked it, Reid practically threw himself out of his seat.
"Joey is driving on the way back." He demanded as they approached one of the local police officers who was there to assist them.
"Officer Brooks, nice to meet you. You got here fast." The police officer said with raised eyebrows.
"Did we?" Prentiss asked in mock surprise as Reid gave her a mutinous look.
"What can you tell us?" Joey asked, not allowing Reid the chance to bite back.
The officer indicated for them to follow him. He lead them over to a large blue dumpster surrounded by litter and trash. The place was still taped off, and the four of them ducked under to move closer.
"The body was found lying next to the dumpster around 2 pm. It was wrapped in a sort of tarp." Officer Brooks explained as Reid ducked down to inspect the sides of the dumpster.
"So what is that, remorse?" Joey asked.
"Well, it was pretty haphazard." Officer Brooks put his hands on his waist. "It wasn't wrapped neatly, just sort of there."
"It could be to contain a mess." Reid muttered, his face inches from the corner of the dumpster.
"2pm is pretty late in the day for the body to be discovered." Prentiss mused. "The other two bodies were discovered early in the morning, indicating that the UnSub dumped them sometime in the night. Maybe this one's different?"
"Probably not." Officer Brooks shook his head. "This alley may be off one of the main roads, but most of the buildings here are either closed or under renovation, so no one has a reason to come back here. A jogger was the one who reported it."
"Reid, what is it?" Joey asked as Reid reached out and started scratching at the side of the dumpster.
"When did they last work on the renovations?" Reid demanded.
"Uh…three or four days ago, I think." Officer Brooks replied. "It's an old dry cleaning place that they're turning into a coffee shop."
"Why?" Prentiss bent down next to Reid, who held up a finger.
"Plaster." Reid pondered.
"You think it's from the renovations?" Joey asked.
Reid shook his head. "No. This kind of plaster isn't used in construction." He looked up at the officer. "Where's the nearest art studio?"
Officer Brooks raised his eyebrows and exhaled loudly. "Oh I don't know, at least five or six blocks away."
Reid nodded and brushed his hands off. "We need to get back to Hotch."
Joey thanked Officer Brooks and the three of them headed back to the SUV. "Prentiss," Reid threatened. "Do not get in that driver's seat."
"I have the keys." Prentiss said simply.
"Hand them to Joey now."
Prentiss rolled her eyes dramatically and slapped the keys into Joey's waiting hand. Joey chuckled as she unlocked the car and they got in, Prentiss next to her, Reid in the back.
She was about to start the car when her phone started buzzing. Joey pulled it out to find that Chief Pearce was calling her. Her expression darkened as she stared at the screen for a moment before silencing it.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" Reid asked.
"I'll call back later." Joey replied as she turned the ignition. She felt Prentiss eye her from the passenger's seat, but ignored her as she pulled the SUV into reverse and backed out.
The Cleveland precinct was modest but well-furnished and bustling as Reid, Prentiss, and Joey entered. They found Hotch in a conference room toward the back of the third floor where he had arranged a map of the city and tape up the pictures of the three victims.
"We found plaster at the latest crime scene." Reid said as a greeting. "But it's not anything that would have been found around that area."
"Morgan and JJ said they found plaster under each of the victims nails and in their lungs, as well." Hotch replied, turning at their entrance.
Prentiss pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Willing and ready!" Garcia's voice chirped from the other end.
"Garcia," Prentiss said. "How many art studios in Cleveland work with plaster?"
Hotch and Joey watched Reid begin to build a geographic profile. "Oh…yikes. Around fifteen." Garcia replied.
"Stick to either the north or the west side of the city." Reid suggested, stepping back from the map.
"Uh…" There was the sound of keys clicking. "That brings me to six."
"Garcia, take out any of the studios that only deal with sculpting or casts." Hotch instructed, looking down at his phone. "Morgan and JJ said one of the victims had traces of acrylic paint in her hair."
"Okay…" There was more clacking of the keyboard. "That brings me to four studios."
"Cross check those with the lives of each victim and see if all of them visited one of those studios." Hotch said. "And run a background check on the employees of all of them. It's likely the UnSub works at one of them."
Four hours and six interviews later, Joey could tell they were close to catching the UnSub. Garcia had found that all three victims had visited one of the art studios near the latest dump sites at least once in the past two months. A janitor at the studio had past convictions of sexual assault and battery, and he hadn't shown for work that day.
Morgan and JJ were on their way to his home, but Joey was sure the UnSub was keeping the victims in the studio, so she, Prentiss, and Reid had waited until the art studio closed before piling into one of the SUVs and driving over. Hotch said he, Morgan, and JJ would follow as soon as the other two returned.
As the SUV sped through the downtown streets at the hand of Prentiss, Joey's phone rang from her pocket in the passenger's seat. Joey glared down at the number used by Pearce before silencing it.
"Still not going to answer?" Prentiss asked.
"We're in the middle of something." Joey replied shortly. She could feel Reid's eyes burning on the back of her neck from the back seat, but a sudden jerk of the car threw them off. Prentiss had crossed three lanes of traffic with one swift swivel of the wheel.
"Prentiss!" Reid shouted angrily.
"Sorry, I didn't realize the turn was coming up so quickly." Prentiss pulled up in front of the art studio and threw the car in park. The three of them climbed out.
"We should wait for back up." Joey commented, drawing her gun out of its holster.
Reid shook his head. "Local PD is on their way, and the UnSub already has his next victim. She doesn't have much time. We have to go in now."
Joey looked to Prentiss, who nodded. "Reid and I will take the front. Ryan, you head to the back and make sure he doesn't try and make a run for it."
Joey nodded and broke away from the other two who were now silently opening the front door. The back door to the art studio was connected to an alley. Moving around a large dumpster, Joey placed a hand on the handle of the large steel door to check it. Seeing that it was unlocked, she pulled it open and stepped inside.
It took Joey's eyes a few moments to adjust to the dark interior of the back room of the studio. She glanced around to see canvases leaning up against walls and boxes of paint and brushes stacked haphazardly off to one side. A dim light was emanating from a room ahead of her, so she carefully stepped her way over to the door frame.
Thomas Hayden was a small, twitchy man who seemed to be sweating profusely despite the cool winter air. He was standing over something Joey couldn't see, but then he stepped away to reveal a young woman strapped by her wrists and ankles to a table. Her mouth was taped shut, but she was quite conscious.
Joey could see that Hayden had grabbed a small wire tool used to sculpt clay. He hobbled toward the restrained girl. "Thomas Hayden!" Joey called out, her gun raised.
Hayden turned at lightning speed and pulled a gun from one of the nearby boxes, aiming it at the restrained girl's head. Joey paused. That was unexpected. "Hayden, let the girl go."
"I can't!" Hayden shouted, twitching nervously. "I have to do it. I have to. For her!"
"For who, Hayden? Who are you doing this for?" Joey glanced down to the girl on the table, trying to give her a reassuring look.
Hayden didn't seem to be listening to Joey. He was muttering to himself under his breath.
"Hayden…" Joey took a step forward.
"NO!" Hayden screamed. "Get away from me!" Joey saw Hayden raise his gun…
The sound was deafening as both weapons fired at the same time.