Morgan had never been so happy to see a crime scene. His pride wouldn't allow him to drop and kiss the dirt, but it was a closer thing than he would have liked. Reid staggered slightly as he extricated himself from the tiny backseat of the crew cab, and Morgan knew his heart had to be racing too. God, the girl drove like a maniac!
The scene was typical, a corner of the woods taped off with police tape. They had parked just inside the tree line, and began studying their surroundings. It looked like a typical southern Kentucky forest with the exception of the dark, vaguely human-shaped spot in the dirt from the blood that had seeped out of the torture victim, and the small dark spot from the gunshot wound of the other victim. In no time, Morgan had finished his walkthrough, Reid had done his "genius" thing and pulled clues out of thin air (or so it seemed to Teri). She watched as he examined everything, details she never would have thought significant. When he stood up, compared the photo of the bodies in his hand to the scene around him, and proclaimed that it was the act of murder was secondary to a larger purpose, and that there was nothing symbolic in the way they were dumped, she looked at him as if he were a particularly interesting insect. One with seven legs or something.
"How in the Hell did you come to that conclusion?" She demanded.
Reid was flustered. His team had gotten to the point where they just accepted what he said as right. It had been a long time since he'd had to explain his trains of thought. "Well, if murder was that actual intent, he wouldn't go through so much to get to it. And if he was, he would do the same to both victims. And the way the bodies are laying, they weren't positioned specifically or anything. It looks like they were just dumped out of a vehicle and left like they fell. It's simple stuff. Sherlock Holmes stuff."
She tilted her head, studying him for a minute. "I never liked Sherlock Holmes. Seemed like he was always guessing."
Reid grinned. Such a perfect challenge. This girl spoke his language. He wondered briefly if she knew anything about Star Trek. "It's not guessing if you have all the pieces to the puzzle."
Her face lit up in the smile her brother would recognize as her 'this is going to get me in trouble, but damn, it'll be fun' look. "I have got to see you drunk!"
Whatever Reid had been expecting, that was NOT it. "You…um…excuse me, WHAT?"
Morgan laughed. He loved Reid like a brother, but sometimes the kid was so clueless. Well, to be fair, this girl had an unorthodox way of doing things, but that was definitely part of her charm. "Reid, I believe the lady just asked you for a drink. Now, are you going to accept, or do I get to sweep in and try to ease the burn of rejection?"
Reid and Teri looked at each other for a split-second and simultaneously rolled their eyes. Morgan couldn't help but laugh.
"Um…well, I'd love to," Reid said, "but we don't drink when we're on cases. Maybe…something else?"
Teri's grin turned downright evil. "Yeah. Something else…"
Just then her radio went off again. "Cash to Tango. If you guys have things covered at the Marsten scene, we're going to move on to the Mills/Fuller scene. You guys good?"
She looked over at Morgan and Reid, who nodded. "Everything's 10-4 here. See what you guys can figure out over there."
"Cool. And the BLS crew back at the station wants to know if they should go ahead and take the transfer to Lexington, or wait until the next crew comes in."
Teri sighed. "Dammit, Jim! I'm a paramedic, not a dispatcher!" She thought for a moment. "Tell them to go ahead and go, I'll be on call. Surely someone can drive me."
Reid thought his heart would choke him completely as it jumped into his throat. She was a Star Trek fan! Enough of one to make jokes. Wow.
She continued. "I'll put my radio on scan, that way I can hear you and Bradley."
"Who's Bradley?" Morgan asked.
"Dispatcher," Teri replied, pushing buttons on her radio.
"Was he on duty when the bodies were found?"
Teri shrugged. "He's pretty much always on duty. From four p.m. to eight a.m. six days a week. He's our only full time dispatcher. When he's not there, he's at school or with me training. Bradley and Trevor are in paramedic class, so maybe I can get a full night's sleep sometime in the near future."
Morgan nodded knowingly. He had received many calls to duty during the few hours of sleep his mind allowed him. He couldn't imagine being the only one in town trained to do his job. He took out his cell phone to call Hotch to check in, and Teri caught the motion. "Won't have any service out here. This whole area is a cellular dead zone." She waved the radio. "This is the best way to keep in touch. You need to use it?"
Morgan took it, and thought for a moment, trying to keep in the spirit of things, he keyed up and said, "Murtaugh to Riggs?"
There was radio silence for a moment, and Teri giggled, Morgan wondered whether Hotch or Gideon would actually answer to that. Finally Hotch answered, sounding amused. "Uh…Riggs here. Go ahead."
Morgan smiled. This was kinda fun. "Just lettin' you know that we've done all we can here. You guys want us to check out the other scene?"
There was another moment of quiet, then Hotch spoke again. "Yeah, if you want to. We'll head to the lodge and get set up."
"10-4. Murtaugh out."
Reid was looking at him funny. "Murtaugh?"
Morgan stared for a moment. "Reid, for the love of God, tell me you've seen Lethal Weapon. You HAVE to have seen it!"
Reid shook his head. "Nope."
Teri looked at him. "How is that even possible? I have all four of them on DVD!"
"Four of them?" Reid asked.
It was a good thing the radio went off then, because nothing else would have saved Reid from the most merciless teasing he had ever been on the receiving end of. "Clayton dispatch to unit 661."
Morgan held the radio out to Teri. "That you?"
She took the radio, but shook her head. "Nope. I'm 660."
"Then who's 661?" Reid asked.
Morgan already knew the answer. "Trevor, right?"
She nodded. "This can't be good. Bradley never uses our numbers. He calls us by name."
"661, dispatch. Go ahead."
"You need to report to Johnson's farm, back field, in reference to…" The dispatcher trailed off, not liking what he had to say. "In reference to double 10-7."
"Oh, God," Teri muttered.
Morgan dropped his head.
Reid looked confused. "What? What's a 10-7?"
"They've found more victims," Teri said. She keyed up the radio. "Tango to Cash. You copy?"
"10-4."
She looked up at Morgan. "Ok Tell Riggs me an his boys will meet you there."
"10-4."
