First of all I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave a review so far. Second of all I warn you I wrote part of this chapter when I was angry about something and part of this chapter while I was in the dentist's chair (don't ask) so I apologize for any evilness that may have been imparted. I apologize for the delay in updating but I have a lot going on. I would update every day if I had the time. Anyways enjoy this chapter. Coming up next chapter... the profile... maybe ;)
Warning: References to some adult themes and minor language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the Criminal Minds characters. All other characters and mistakes are my own.
"Grab the crash cart. Ready a standard dose of adrenaline. He's crashing!"
Ten minutes after those fateful words had echoed through the room and the profilers had been hustled out of the room a nurse came out and pretty much told them that even when the patient was stabilized there was no chance in hell that they were getting anywhere near the patient again.
Gideon called Detective Stanfield first who promised to have a pair of officers stationed outside Hayes's room at all times even if they had to enlist the aid of the state police to make it so. His next call was to Hotch. "Hayes crashed right after we started questioning him. His doctor isn't going to let us try again any time soon." Gideon paused to listen before hanging up.
"They're still in Augusta and Hotch wants us to meet him at the field office. How fast can you drive?"
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The same forensic pathologist was on duty when Hotch burst through the doors of the chief medical examiner's office. The surprise on her face made it clear she hadn't expected to see him so soon but one look from the agitated unit chief silenced any protests.
"The body from the field office" Hotch demanded.
"We haven't had a..." the pathologist trailed off at the look on Hotch's face. Silently she waved him towards the back where a body was laid out on a table covered by a white sheet. "I don't really know what to tell you. We haven't even gotten around to doing preliminary–"
Hotch cut the woman off. "Half a dozen bodies here are the work of a single killer. The man who put these bodies in your morgue abducted a federal agent and if we don't get what we need he's going to do the same thing he did to all these victims to my agent." The look he gave the woman practically screamed that Reid's blood would be on her hands.
The pathologist paled at Hotch's words. "I-I'll put a rush on it sir."
Hotch heard a snort behind him and rounded on the culprit. Agent Parker had accompanied them over from the field office. Hotch shot him a look that could have curdled milk. "Something about dead bodies you find amusing, agent?" The venom in his voice was clear even to the pathologist.
"You said it yourself... you have 6 bodies in the morgue, 3 of which are at least somewhat recent, and yet all you seem to care about is some agent who couldn't even take care of himself in the field." Parker's entire statement dripped with sarcasm and condescension.
Arrogance aside, the agent's words stung Hotch like a slap to the face. Parker had a point. They hadn't been paying nearly enough attention to the other victims, they were so focused on their youngest. Hotch was so shocked by this realization that he didn't even react to the jab at Reid.
Elle, on the other hand. wasn't quite so occupied. She ground her teeth so loudly in her attempt to control her anger that JJ felt the need to step up beside her and place a hand on her shoulder. Whether the hand was meant to comfort or restrain wasn't clear but it appeared to help calm the agent some.
"There is one thing I can tell you." the pathologist ventured, drawing everyone's attention. "Based on liver temp, I would say that your three most recent victims were all killed within a two hour window. "
Hotch looked at the pathologist in confusion. "Wait did you say 3 victims?" The pathologist couldn't have possibly have know about Marvin Hayes and while there had been no confirmation from Morgan or Gideon yet he was pretty certain Hayes was in the hospital.
"Uhhh, I uhhh meant the two most recent victims." the woman covered quickly. The expression on her face resembled that of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
"Doctor, if you're hiding something I'll personally see to it that you get charged with obstruction of justice." Hotch threatened.
"Well, a woman was dropped off at the hospital earlier with multiple gun-shot wounds. She woke up just long enough to ask the nurse about a man she saw being stabbed repeatedly. She died shortly after. They called about half an hour before you arrived to let me know another body would be coming in. When I called the FBI office to report it, the agent I talked to ordered me not to tell anyone about it."
Hotch could feel the rage boiling inside him as the woman told her story. "I need the name of the agent you talked to" he barked out, the tension in his voice clearly audible to everyone in the room.
"Let me see... I think the man's name was Parker... Agent Alex Parker."
On hearing the woman's words he turned to glare at the man standing in the corner. "Don't think I won't be reporting this to your superiors" he told the agent before turning back to the pathologist who began to speak again.
"Anyways, based on liver temp from the first two victims and the time the woman, assuming she was shot by the same man, was dropped off at the ER, the attacks all occurred within the same 2 hour window."
Hotch mulled the information over in his head for a while. If the 'newest' victim was attacked by the same UNSUB then why did he take her to the hospital? It had to have been the UNSUB since anyone else would have just called 9-1-1 to report it. The woman had been talking about their latest victim... maybe she had interrupted the UNSUB at work and he reacted on instinct.
Hotch mentally pushed his questions aside when his phone rang. He answered as soon as he saw who was calling. "Hotch." Hotch listened while Gideon confirmed that the man in the hospital was indeed Marvin Hayes but otherwise the hospital was currently a dead end.
"We're not done in Augusta yet and we could really use your help. Get here as soon as you can." Hotch hung up the phone without waiting for a reply. After working together for so long there were times when Hotch could just trust Gideon to do what was necessary. Satisfied that the rest of his team were on the way, Hotch turned his attention back to the body in front of him.
The most obvious thing about the body was the myriad of stab wounds on the victim's chest. Unlike with the previous victims where the stab wounds were inflicted with careful precision, the stab wounds on this victim seemed random, violent and completely out of control. "Doctor, how many of these wounds would have hit major organs?"
Joining Hotch at the table the forensic pathologist did a quick scan of the body. "It's hard to know for certain without a more thorough examination of the body but I would say at least a dozen, and that's on the low end."
JJ saw Hotch and Elle exchange a look at the pathologist's words. "What?" she asked.
"That many wounds to vital organs? That's some definite overkill" explained Elle.
"In other words... he's devolving." Hotch's words seemed to echo in the sterile room long after he finished saying them.
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When Paul opened the door he saw Reid's head snap up in the light still spilling out from the open door to his editing suite. He felt his captive's eyes on him all the way down the stairs and across the room. He shoved the barrel of the kid's gun up against his skull and chuckled inwardly at the look of terror on Reid's face.
Reid on his part struggled as much as his bonds allowed, trying to put as much distance between his brain and the barrel of the gun as possible. The logical part of his brain told him that a few inches wouldn't make any difference in terms of survival but at times like this instinct overruled logic.
Paul was starting to get annoyed with the kid's squirming. "Stop struggling" he hissed, and the young man's movements instantly ceased. The instant compliance gave Paul a immediate sense of dominance and sent a thrill running through him.
Sticking the knife in his belt, he kept his gun trained on Reid as he slipped the cuffs off the hook. Awkwardly he used one hand to release Reid's left wrist from the handcuffs just long enough to handcuff his arms behind his back again.
Then, just for the thrill of it, he forced the young man down on his knees, a gun to the back of his head ensuring compliance. He could hear each breath the doctor took as his knees hit the ground. He stopped for a second and inhaled deeply, the smell of sweat and the stench of fear giving him a rush.
Seeing the pale, shirtless young man so helpless before him he began to wonder... his fantasies were cut off by a grunt of pain. The sound brought him back to reality and reminded him of the knife still sticking out of his captive's gut. He would have to tend to the wound before anything else.
Reid kneeled on the ground in silence and fear wondering what his captor was waiting for. His winced with every involuntary grunt of pain. Suddenly his view of the world was cut off as the hated blindfold once more enveloped his head.
Paul roughly grabbed the kid and pulled him off the floor. It was sad how little effort it took on his part. Dr. Reid hadn't weighed much before but after a few days of being sustained strictly through an IV he seemed to weigh almost nothing.
He had pocketed the gun so he could tie the blindfold. Now he snaked one hand between his captives bound arms and his back while using the other hand to draw the knife. Pressing the knife to the kid's throat he leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "We're going to walk now. Try anything and your dead." To emphasize his point he pressed harder than necessary drawing a thin, stinging line across the younger man's throat.
Reid was forced to march in front of the man. Blindfolded, he couldn't tell where they were going but he figured his captive would be taking him upstairs again. He was surprised when they stopped somewhere in the basement and his surprise was compounded when he heard the man unlock a door. He hadn't noticed any other doors when the overhead lights were on.
When the door was open the man pushed his captive through it. Reid stumbled a bit but luck was on his side for once and he didn't fall. With his hands bound behind him a fall probably would have forced the knife further into his gut.
Reid felt the pressure of the knife leave his throat but before he could react the man swept him up in a bridal style carry. That lasted only seconds though before he found himself dumped on some sort of table. Reid shivered once as cold metal met naked flesh.
He tried to sit up but a hand on his chest forced him back to the table. When he felt the first leather strap wrap around his ankle he kicked out with his free foot but without any way to judge where his captor was all this earned him was a stinging slap to the face.
The blow stunned the kid long enough for Paul to finish strapping his ankles to the table. He puzzled for a moment over what to do with his upper body. All of his previous guests had been well and truly broken by the time they ever saw this room so leg and arm restraints were all that were needed.
Making a decision he walked over to his refrigeration unit in the corner and pulled out an ampule of vecuronium powder. He easily snapped the neck off the little glass container and quickly mixed up a solution of the drug. Paul filled the syringe and after checking to make sure no air was trapped inside he went over to his restrained 'patient' and proceeded to inject the solution into his captive.
Paul smiled as the drug took hold within 60-seconds. A paralyzing agent, it would prevent the doctor from moving during the procedure but still let him feel everything that was happening. He moved back to the refrigeration unit to prepare a second dose, just in case he took longer than expected.
Reid gave a sharp intake of breath when he felt the needle pierce his vein. The movement jostled the knife sending a flare of pain through his body. When the pain died down he tried to shift his body into a more comfortable position only to realize his muscles were no longer responding. The needle must have contained some sort of paralyzing drug. Fear lanced through him at this realization.
Reid laid there helplessly, feeling a bit like a ragdoll as the man un-cuffed his arms so he could bind his wrists to the table with leather straps.
Suddenly pain ripped through him as the knife was torn from his body. There was nothing he could do about the waves of fire that washed out from the stab wound. With his vocal cords paralyzed by the drug, Dr. Reid couldn't even scream.
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"In other words... he's devolving."
A silence settled between the agents as they processed what Hotch had said. The forensic pathologist soon broke the silence by clearing her throat. Hotch gazed at her, silently conveying permission to speak.
"It might be worthwhile to note that neither appear to be drained of blood. I'll need to do further tests to confirm this but based on lividity it's clear they had plenty of blood left in them when they died. " the pathologist explained.
Hotch frowned at this latest bit of news. "That fits with our theory about the partnership so far. George Stanley was the artist who used blood in his artwork. With him out of the picture there was no reason to –"
"No, that's not right" Elle interrupted. When her teammates turned to face her they saw she had her hands up to her face and was using her palms to rub her eyes. "Something Reid said."
"Something you remember?" asked Hotch.
"It was something Reid said after..." Elle paused again. "After we went to... a print shop."
Hotch found himself pausing at Elle's words. Elle had told Morgan that Reid had dragged her back to the SUV after receiving some crime scene photos from Garcia. Maybe he had dragged her back to the SUV to visit the print shop. If they could narrow down what print shop they visited they might just find a clue as to whatever angle Reid had been working. "Elle, take JJ and head back to the station. I want you to contact Garcia and get her help to try and figure out what print shop you guys might have visited. This could be important."
While Elle didn't really want to leave before they had a chance to discuss the newest letter from the UNSUB she didn't really feel up to arguing with her boss at that moment. Reluctantly she took the keys from her boss, knowing that Morgan and Gideon were already on their way down.
"Sending those two away might have been the smartest thing you've done all day." remarked Agent Parker, once the girl's were out the door.
The normally stoic Hotch resisted the strong urge to roll his eyes. He would have forgotten Agent Parker was in the room if it weren't for the smart-ass comments he offered up every so often. Now that the girls had gone and taken the SUV it seemed he was stuck with Parker for the time being.
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Only 10 minutes into the procedure Dr. Reid's eyes had rolled into the back of his head as he lost consciousness. Paul had checked his vitals and everything was normal so Paul figured his 'patient' had passed out from the pain.
While the doctor was still unconscious, Paul unstrapped him from the table and handcuffed his hands behind his back as before. With that done he lifted the kid into a bridal carry. While he generally didn't have a problem with dragging his captives along the floor, he was in a bit of a hurry.
The last thing Paul did before shutting off the lights was grab the other syringe he had prepared. He carried Dr. Reid up the basement stairs, through the house upstairs and outside to his car. He debated sticking the young man in the trunk of the car again before finally deciding on the back seat.
He dumped Reid onto the seat so that his cuffed hands were under his body. Before shutting the door he injected the contents of the second syringe into his captive. That would give him at least half an hour before Dr. Reid would be able to move again.
He was about to shut the door when he decided he should take extra precautions. The young agent had already proven himself far stronger than Paul had ever imagined. Grabbing his duct tape from the trunk of the car he quickly wrapped several layers around Dr. Reid's ankles. Next he grabbed a rag from the trunk and stuffed it into his captives mouth, using more duct tape to secure it.
Bound, gagged and blindfolded as he was the doctor wouldn't be able to offer much resistance. Paul slammed the back door, slid into the driver's seat and started up the car. It was time to take a ride.
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Hotch had called Gideon while they were on the road and asked them to meet him at the chief medical examiner's office instead. The reason for the change became apparent when Morgan spotted the black SUV with government plates heading in the opposite direction. Evidently Hotch had sent the girls back to the station for some reason. It wasn't entirely surprising given that Elle seemed to still be suffering from the effects of the UNSUBS' attack.
When the agents arrived at the office, Hotch was waiting outside along with another man neither of them recognized. Morgan pulled up beside them and rolled down the passenger side window. "Need a lift?"
Hotch grinned briefly before opening the back door and sliding in behind Morgan. The other man slid in next. When they were both buckled in Hotch introduced the man. "This is Special Agent Alex Parker from the FBI field office."
Morgan glanced at the man in the rear view mirror before pulling away from the office. Agent Parker remained silent the entire way while Hotch filled his agents in one what they had learned from the forensic pathologist.
Morgan swore loudly when Hotch told them about the gunshot victim who had died in the hospital. She hadn't even made it to the operating table. The fact that she had woken up long enough to actually speak to a nurse was a minor miracle. His emotions were tempered by the fact that yet another person had died because they hadn't caught the UNSUB coupled with the fact that the rapid escalation displayed by the killer spelled nothing good for Reid.
When they arrived back at the field office, Hotch led the way to the conference room they had used earlier rather than waiting for Agent Parker to take the lead. When they got to the conference room he pulled Gideon over to the side. "I'm not sure if we should move our base of operations to the field office here or keep working out of the station. The fact that the UNSUB dumped a body here may mean he works somewhere between the two."
"We don't have to decide right now. Why don't you just show us what you found." Gideon took a seat at the conference room table. Seconds later Hotch joined him at the table, sliding the evidence bag containing the letter towards him.
Gideon didn't bother to take the letter out of the bag, reading through the clear plastic instead. When he got to the part accusing him of not being there for Reid he frowned. There was no way the UNSUB should have known Jason wasn't with his team. After finishing reading the letter he silently passed it to Morgan.
Morgan wisely decided to take a seat before reading the letter. When he neared the end, the profiler jumped to his feet, the outrage clear on his face. "I swear when we find that son of a bitch if he's so much as touched Reid..."
"Morgan" Gideon called.
"I will rip him apart with my–"
"Morgan." Gideon tried again. "Think for a second. What is the one thing all his male victim's have in common. What did he do to them."
Morgan eyes went wide as he realized what Gideon was getting at. "Stab wounds."
"And what do repeated stab wounds usually tell us about the UNSUB?" Gideon prompted.
"It's a form of piquerism and is typically a substitute for the – oh!". Morgan calmed down a bit. While they couldn't be positive that the UNSUB was impotent, the evidence did seem to suggest that the wording in the letter was nothing more than an idle taunt designed to throw the profilers off their game.
Agent Parker chose that moment to throw in his two cents. "Clearly you don't think Dr. Reid can protect himself, so I don't see why you allow such a liability to stay on your team." The way he almost spat the word doctor made it clear he was mocking the missing agent.
Already on edge over the letter, the comment riled Morgan up beyond his breaking point. Before either profiler could move Morgan was in front of the man with his fist cocked. WHAM! There was a distinctive crunch as Morgan's fist broke the man's nose.
Agent Parker looked stunned for a second before he backed away from Morgan and ran out of the room. Gideon sighed while Hotch gave Morgan a stern look. "You really shouldn't have done that."
All the rage had drained out of Morgan once his fist had made contact. He flashed his superior his most innocent look. "Agent Parker really shouldn't be so clumsy."
Hotch raised an eyebrow. "He 'fell', did he? Morgan this isn't some depraved UNSUB we are talking about but a federal agent."
They stopped talking as the door opened and SSA Blackwell barged in, followed shortly by Agent Parker who was clutching a rag to his face in a vain attempt to stop the blood gushing from his nose. "Agent Parker tells me one of your agents assaulted him."
Morgan opened his mouth to speak closed it when Hotch held up hand to silence him. "My entire team is on edge right now because one of our own is missing. Agent Parker has been antagonizing my agents, insulting Dr. Reid, and ordered the medical examiner to withhold information crucial to our investigation. Go ahead and press charges against Agent Morgan but when more bodies turn up I'll make sure Agent Parker is charged with negligent homicide."
Agent Blackwell paled for a moment before turning on his own agent in a rage. "Is this true Alex?"
Agent Parker was too shocked to answer his boss. "Well. I. Umm. You see." He wilted under his superior's stern gaze.
"My office. Now." he ordered before turning back to the profilers. "I'm sorry Agents. I never expected Agent Parker to behave in such a despicable way. I'll make sure he doesn't press charges." With that he followed Agent Parker out of the room, leaving the profilers alone to finish going over the UNSUB's letter.
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The first thing Reid noticed as he returned to the realm of consciousness was that his whole world seemed to be moving. After listening for a couple of moments he decided that he must be in some sort of vehicle. A car maybe.
His last memories were of his captor pulling the knife out of his gut, pouring some sort of stinging liquid into the wound and then using a thread and needle to close it up. He must have passed out sometime while the man was in the process of setting the stitches.
It seemed odd to the young profiler that an UNSUB would take the time to stitch up a victim. Victim. Up until this point Reid had deliberately avoided using the term to refer to himself. He wasn't ready to give up yet.
The paralytic the man had injected him with seemed to be slowly wearing off. He could feel his toes responding to his control. When he tried to move his legs, he realized they were bound somehow. After testing his bonds, Reid figured the man may have used duct tape, judging by the way it stuck to his skin. It really shouldn't have surprised him that his legs were bound. He could feel the handcuffs on his wrists and taste the foul gag in his mouth.
Reid sighed inwardly. Wherever the man was taking him, he hoped they got there soon. Lying on his back like this was starting to get painful. Reid let out a low groan. After everything I've been through over the past 3? 4? days, I'm worried about my arms falling asleep? He would have to share this with Morgan and Garcia when he saw them again. He knew it would make them laugh.*
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"Seek and you shall find, mortal" It was good to hear a witticism from their tech goddess. They had definitely been lacking since news of Reid's disappearance had come to light.
"Garcia, can you look up any print shops within a 5 mile radius of the neighbourhood Reid and I were canvassing?" Elle asked.
"I'll have it for you in a jiffy." she replied. They heard her typing away furiously and then... "There are 5."
Elle frowned. Normally they would just visit all of them but with the killer escalating and Reid still missing there was a sense of urgency to everything they did. "Is there any way we can narrow that down?"
"If Reid was trying to print the crime scene photos then cell photos wouldn't have been high enough resolution. Garcia is there any other way Reid could have gotten access to the photos?"
"Yes m'am. I sent it to everyone's e-mail as usual. I only sent it to Reid's phone because with his anti-technology quirk the good doctor refuses to carry a PDA."
Elle frowned at the mention of PDAs. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen hers... Focus! "How many of these prints shops would let someone access their e-mail to print off pictures."
Garcia's fingers were busy as she ran the search again. A moment later she had her answer. "Three."
Elle growled in frustration. "Still too many. Is there any way we can narrow it down more?"
Garcia worked quickly, calling up everything she could on the 3 shops. Bingo! "While there are 3 shops in the area that would have catered to our genius's needs, only one has hours late enough for you guys to have visited."
"Thanks Garcia, you're a miracle worker." chimed Elle just before the technical analyst hung up.
Elle and JJ headed to the SUV. It was less than a 15 minute drive to the print shop Garcia had identified. Elle thought she saw a flash of recognition in the store clerk's eyes when they entered but it might have been her imagination.
Elle and JJ both flashed their badges at the man. "Can you tell us who was on duty here Friday night?"
The store clerk looked slightly annoyed by JJ's question. "Why don't you ask your partner there. She was here." Elle was right, the store clerk HAD recognized her.
"Due to circumstances beyond her control, Agent Greenaway has no recollection of parts of Friday evening. You might want to stop being belligerent and answer our questions."
"Okay, okay." The man threw his hands up in mock surrender.
"Was there a man with me with when I came in on Friday. Little over 6 feet, brown hair, hazel eyes, kind of skinny?"
"Yah. I think you called him Reid or something. He said he wanted to print something off his e-mail so I told him to use the computer in the corner." The store clerk waved to the aforementioned computer.
"Do you know what he printed?" asked Elle?
"A bunch of pictures. I don't know. He paid for the printing and then you guys left."
"Thank you for your time." said JJ before the girls left the print shop.
Once they were outside she turned to Elle. "If Reid had the pictures with him when you guys left, and they weren't at the crime scene with the rest of the pictures... maybe they're still somewhere in the SUV?"
* For not having his priorities straight...again
If Reid seems a little out of character in the car, I was trying to show that he wasn't broken yet and also a little bit loopy at this point. Don't worry he's still our lovable genius.
Until next time, thanks for reading.