Disclaimer: See chapter 1
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"Well, 'bout time you joined us kid," Morgan said as Reid hurried into the conference room, pulling his messenger bag over his head.
"Sorry I'm late, I…uh…sorry," Reid said as he plopped into his chair beside Emily. He looked up to see Garcia smirking at him and quickly looked down at the table concentrating on the file in front of him and wishing JJ would hurry up and start the briefing.
"There have been three recent bombings in Defiance, Ohio." JJ clicked the remote to show the three bombed buildings on the screen.
"Never heard of the place," Rossi interjected.
"It's a city of about 17,000, approximately fifty-five miles southwest of Toledo. It was established at the site of Fort Defiance built by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne in 1794," Reid blurted out as if reading from a history textbook. He stopped, noticing everyone around the table was staring, "Sorry."
"He hasn't done that in a while," Morgan whispered to Garcia.
"No, but he tends to revert to it when he's nervous," Garcia whispered back.
"Why would Reid be nervous?" Morgan asked but Garcia only smirked and motioned that JJ was continuing.
"The first bombing was a private residence on Summit Street," she clicked the remote and the remains of what appeared to have been a lovely home came up on the screen. "No one was in the home at the time of the explosion which sent off alarm bells. The Irvines," she clicked the remote and a family of five appeared on the screen, "were closely investigated by the police and the insurance company and both are convinced there was no involvement."
"The second bombing occurred in the Jacobson home on Perry Avenue. In this incident there was one victim," JJ clicked the remote, "Cassie Jacobson aged sixteen." The picture of a fresh faced girl with long straight ash blond hair filled the screen. "She was supposed to be staying with a friend while her parents had taken her nine year old twin brothers to Disney world. Della Jacobson said Cassie thought she was too old for an amusement park. According to Cassie's friend Jenna, Jenna's parents got into a huge fight and Cassie was uncomfortable with the situation so, instead of staying there, she went home."
"So what you're saying is she wasn't supposed to be there when the bomb exploded," Emily clarified.
"Right, again the Jacobson's were investigated by both the DPD and the insurance company but neither could find any proof that anyone in the family was involved."
"The third bombing happened last evening at an apartment complex that was still under construction, almost completed actually. Most of the apartments were already rented. This time there were two victims, technically three, I guess you could say. Ron Foley and his eleven year old son Craig," their pictures appeared on the screen, "were walking their bull terrier Lucy and were passing right by the building when it exploded. Ron, Craig and Lucy were all killed from the blast and flying debris."
"It sounds like the bomber's targets are the buildings themselves. All the incidents occurred at night when there was not likely to be a lot of people around. Both houses and the apartment complex were supposed to be empty. It was just really bad luck that those who were killed were there at the time," Reid said.
"Looks like pipe bombs," Morgan said, looking at the picture in his file. "Likely detonated by a remote detonator and that's why the bomber didn't realize there were people around or in the building in question."
"He has to be stopped or more people are likely to die. Wheels up in thirty minutes," Hotch said as he stood and strode from the room.
Reid, Morgan and Rossi grabbed their files and headed off to retrieve their go bags leaving the three women in the conference room. "Aren't those the same clothes Reid was wearing yesterday?" Emily asked, her arms crossed as she leaned against the table.
"Yeah, I noticed that too," JJ said. "Maybe he didn't get his laundry done. I barely got mine finished before I got the call." She gathered up her files and reports.
"Or," Garcia said, grinning broadly, "maybe he didn't go home last night!"
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Hotch, Reid and Morgan stood on the site of the apartment complex blast along with police chief Zeke Bowles and ATF Agent Ken Bryer. Debris littered the roped off area and smoke still hung in the air like a thick fog.
"Nothing like this has ever happened here," Chief Bowles told the profilers.
"No organizations are active in the area," Bryer added, "and we can't get a handle on why these specific targets and where the bomber will strike next."
"Pipe bombs," Morgan confirmed.
"Yeah, and homemade, no glass or nails to add extra injury, probably because the target wasn't people but the buildings themselves. Bombs were all made by the same person, high grade powder, meant to do a lot of damage but no signature that we recognize," the ATF agent responded.
"The dogs have been through the structure and we're confident there are no more explosives but we can't enter the building until we get a structural engineer here to ensure that it's safe," Bowles told them. "We have someone coming from Toledo later today."
"There's no need," Reid said as he looked closely at the building. "I'm a structural engineer. I have a doctorate from Cal Tech. Do you have the blueprints and specs?"
Bowles looked at Hotch for confirmation and the unit chief nodded. "They're over here in the van." He led Reid to the van where he produced rolls of paper for the profiler to examine.
After examining the information, Reid said, "The structure should be sound but I'll have to go in and inspect. Chief Bowles, could I get a hard hat and some steel toed boots?"
"Uh sure, the crew showed up for work this morning but there was nothing for them to do. Most of them hung around though. I'm sure they can accommodate you." He and Reid walked over to some men who stood on the periphery of the crime scene tape with other curious onlookers who'd gathered.
"Hotch," Morgan addressed the unit chief, "you're not really going to let him do this are you?"
"Morgan, it's his area of expertise. How can I say no?" Although with Reid's penchant for finding trouble, Hotch sometimes worried about him crossing the street.
Once attired in protective gear, Reid entered the complex. The others waited and watched for the young man to return as time seemed to crawl by. Eventually he could be seen coming out of the structure covered in dust and soot. Both Hotch and Morgan managed to hold in a sigh of relief. He approached the group. "The structure is fairly sound but not as sound as it should be. This builder was using substandard materials and manpower. The bombs were strategically placed in the ventilation system for maximum impact. The unsub knew what she was doing."
"She," the men said together.
"The vents couldn't hold my weight. They should be able to withstand the weight of a man much heavier than me but the materials are so weak and the workmanship's very shoddy. The unsub was able to crawl through those vents so it was a man much lighter than me and I am, by no means heavy, or it was a woman."