Chapter Three
Jennifer and Agent Hotchner were the last to board the BAU jet. Kristina sat back in her seat, watching the rest of the team- her team- interact, in order to watch the dynamic between the members. Dr. Reid sat across from SSA Prentiss, the latter of which teased the young doctor in near-perfect French: "pour quelqu'un qui sait tant de choses, vous vous connaissez peu de choses sur les femmes..."
Kristina chuckled.
Reid adjusted his glasses, his face scrunched up into a frown.
"You know I don't speak French that well, Emily."
The older agent grinned, clearly enjoying the one area in which her intellect surpassed that of the certifiable genius.
"You have so much to learn, Reid."
Kristina moved from her place in the back of the plane and sat across from them, leaning back against the tan leather headrest.
"tout ce qu'il faut, c'est un bon maƮtre."
"Okay, this isn't fair!" Reid protested. "What are you guys saying?"
Emily's head rolled back in laughter as SSA Rossi returned from the back half of the plane with a water bottle.
"I didn't know you spoke French." He slid in the seat next to Kristina, who shrugged.
"I've never had to use it before."
"Well, you're just full of surprises, aren't you?" He smiled, patting her knee.
She craned her neck and saw Agent Morgan in the back of the plane, grinning ear-to-ear with his cell phone pressed against his cheek.
"Thank you, Baby Girl...Yeah, get back to me if you find anything. You're a Goddess." He hung up, still smiling. SSA Rossi noticed the confusion flicker in Kristina's eyes and lowered his voice so that only she could hear.
"Penelope Garcia, Technical Analyst. She knows all and sees all. You'll get to meet her when we get back."
"Looking forward to it," she chuckled.
Doctor Reid was still cross, his arms folded and his eyes purposely avoiding Emily's as Jennifer slid into the seat next to him.
"Spence?"
When he didn't respond, she turned to Emily for an explanation. The older Agent innocently shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know what's wrong with him."
"There's nothing wrong with me!" He snapped, taking Jennifer by surprise.
"Calm down, Spence." she warned him as Agent Hotchner approached them carrying the case file with all the information that the Columbus Police Department had regarding the three murders. He remained unfazed by the playful dissent of his team.
"We've got a five hour flight ahead of us. When we arrive in Columbus, we need to start working the profile immediately. If the pattern holds, the unsub could be attacking someone today."
The team arrived in Columbus promptly at 4pm and immediately split into groups: Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi went to the dump site to see what they could glean of the unsub's methodology from the location, Hotchner and Reid were to visit the victims' families to gather more information about their daily routine, and Jareau and Kent stayed at the Columbus Police Department to get insight from the force and develop a more thorough profile.
What they knew thus far was rather limited: he was most likely a white male between the ages of 25 and 40. Like his victims, he most likely lived in Columbus and has for most of his life. His crimes were planned out, his targets specifically chosen, and his signature slashing of the wrists and ankles was very, very specific. He experienced a recent stressor, like a death of a loved one or loss of a job, which unearthed some unpleasant memories from his past. This was the missing piece of the puzzle- once they realized the connection between the victims, they could figure out why he chose them.
After Kristina finished telling the police this information with Agent Jareau, they had a brief moment alone in the conference room which had been set up as a temporary command central for the BAU.
"So, JJ..." she began, wondering how long she would have to walk on eggshells with the overprotective Agent. Her blue eyes seemed to eat right through any of Kristina's attempts to smooth over their interaction from earlier. Why the seasoned pro felt the need to impress her, she had no idea...
"Agent Kent?" Jennifer broke the awkward silence between them.
Kristina cleared her throat.
"Should you call Agent Hotchner or should I?"
When they pulled up to the home of Wilma and Russell Gray, Agent Hotchner spoke for the first time since they stepped off the plane.
"I'll talk to the parents directly; I want you to look in Alicia's bedroom. See if there's any indication of why she was targeted."
Reid nodded as he unbuckled his seatbelt. They had to be especially careful with victims' families. They had a murder to solve, but they did not want to overly pressure the families at such an emotional time.
The young doctor walked behind his superior as they approached the house, and immediately excused himself as Mrs. Gray offered them tea.
He quickly found Alicia's room and pulled a pair of crime scene gloves from his back pocket. He scanned the room as he slipped them on, initially seeing nothing out of sorts. Alicia's room looked like any typical college student's bedroom: white walls were covered by music and movie posters, picture frames, a floor-length mirror. Her queen-sized bed centered the wall to the right, and opposite the bed was an antique vanity, littered with makeup and perfumes and other girl stuff that he never quite understood. He carefully opened the drawer of the vanity only to find more makeup pencils and glosses and nothing that helped their profile whatsoever.
He had all but given up hope when he decided to inspect the photos in the frames on her wall- maybe one of the other victims would be in one of the pictures and they would find their missing link.
No such luck.
Hotch was having the same fortune with Alicia's parents. Alicia was a good student, had plenty of friends, rarely fought with anyone, didn't drink or stay out late. She even volunteered for charities from time to time. They couldn't imagine why someone would do this to their daughter. He wasn't cruel enough to tell them that their rose-colored glasses weren't helping them catch her killer.
Aaron stood from the Grays' floral print couch as Reid emerged from the hallway leading to the bedrooms. They still had two other houses to visit today.
"Mr. and Mrs. Gray...if you think of anything else..." His eyes flickered over to Reid, who was removing his crime scene gloves.
"Please, do not hesitate to call."
Doctor Reid and Agent Hotchner left the Gray home, if only slightly discouraged by the lack of information gathered. Hotchner pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed number two on his speed dial: SSA Emily Prentiss.
Emily was standing at the top of a muddy ditch off route 104 when her phone rang. She didn't even need to check the caller ID to know who it was.
"Hey, Hotch..." she muttered, as Agent Morgan climbed out of the ditch and wiped his dirty hands together in disgust.
"The rain washed any evidence we would have found. There's nothing to go on."
"We just left the Gray house," Hotch sighed on the other end of the line.
"They sounded like they had a close relationship with their daughter but denied any problems she might have been having."
"Figures...she was just a kid, Hotch." Emily rationalized.
"That doesn't help us with the profile much." He shot back.
He was right- if the victims were simply chosen at random, they would have a much harder time catching the unsub. His methodology didn't suggest it, but there was always the exceptions to the rule...
"Tell Hotch that we'll save him a trip and visit with the Carlsbad family." SSA Rossi prodded Emily from behind, having taken a lap around the dump site and come up empty. Emily nodded.
"Hotch, there's nothing here. The rain washed away all evidence that the bodies were even here. We're going to the Carlsbads' to talk to Christy's husband."
The Carlsbad residence was a twenty-minute drive from the dump site on route 104. It was white with green shutters, nearly identical to a dozen other houses in the neighborhood.
When Mr. Carlsbad answered the door, Agent Morgan could tell that he had been crying. With puffy red eyes he led the three FBI profilers to the living room, but Derek opted to stand. He liked to put himself in the unsub's shoes, to try to get inside their heads in order to better understand how, and why, they do what they do.
The first thing he noticed- the house was well-kept. Spotless, really. It had to have been cleaned recently.
"Mr. Carlsbad, do you have a housecleaner?" Emily asked the mourning husband. He shook his head.
"No, no...Christy did everything. She cooked, she cleaned...she was an angel."
Emily shot a glance over at Derek, wondering if Mr. Carlsbad really determined his wife's worth by her housekeeping skills.
"Did Christy have a part-time job?"
"No. she volunteered sometimes, but I have a good job. We didn't need money."
This caught Dave's attention.
"What charities did she volunteer for?" He asked calmly.
The question made Mr. Carlsbad pause.
"I don't know, there were a few of them...what does that have to do with anything?"
Emily tried her best to console him.
"We don't know, sir, but the more we know about your wife's life the more of a chance we have of catching the guy who did this."
Morgan was already dialing Quantico.
"You've reached Penelope Garcia's Help Line, caller, what's your trouble?"
The sound of her voice made Derek smile.
"Hey, BabyGirl, i need you to do a search for any charities the victims were involved in. See if there's any overlap."
"Anything for you, My Love." she sang. "I'll call you back in a few."
While Kristina helped set up the tip line and answered pressing questions from a pair of particularly pesky policemen, Jennifer talked to the rest of the team; first Hotch, then Emily, then finally, her best friend.
"Hello Gorgeous!"
Jennifer peeked out the glass window of the conference room and couldn't help but laugh at the new girl trying to calm down an irritated older policeman, to no avail.
"Hello? Jayje?" Garcia greeted her again, and the daydreaming Agent snapped back to reality.
"Hey, Pen, sorry." she apologized, getting back on track.
"What's up?"
"What's up?" Garcia laughed. "Where are you today, JJ?"
She sighed.
"I'm right here, Garcia."
"Okay, well, I've got some good news. I found the link between victims. It's a charity called Columbus Cares- all three victims were involved with the charity. Hotch and Reid are heading to their offices right now. On a hunch, I did a search for criminal records within the ranks..."
Garcia's 'hunches' never ceased to amaze Jennifer. The technical analyst was a wizard with computers, there was nothing she couldn't find online.
"I have a home address for the guy who started the charity- Richard Silverman. Arrested for aggravated assault and battery in 04. He lives a few miles from the precinct. I've told the guys, and they're on their way there right now but you guys will probably beat them there."
Jennifer nodded.
"Thanks, Garcia."
She hung up and turned the GPS function on her PDA, then slipped out of the conference room to rescue the new girl from the officers still pestering her.
"Agent Kent," she tapped her shoulder, amused by the relief that washed over the brunette's face. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to tear you away. I need you with me. We've got a lead."
