I apologize for the late update. Thanks to sarahb2007, MH96 and red2013 for reviewing. Do enjoy this chapter and let me know what you liked or didn't like. Thanks!
Derek and Reid walked back into the station, a confused Keith Barnes between them. Hotch nodded at them, "Prentiss just called; they talked to Hank Howards but they've got nothing for the moment. They're going to talk to his aunt to see if they can tie him to any of the murders." Derek gestured to the young boy, "We got Barnes and his laptop, what about Sam? Do we let him go?"
The unit chief frowned, "Do you think he's hiding anything? From what you told me it doesn't seems like he knows anything at all." The bald man nodded, scratching his neck, "He seems clean, but I'd like to see what Keith here has to say about these murders. I'm thinking he might know something." "Ok, I'll speak to Sam Carlton again, reconfirm everything and then I'll let him go."
Reid tilted his head over to where the unit's laptop was set up, "I'm going to check out his laptop; maybe run things through with Garcia and see if she has anything new." Derek placed a hand on Keith's shoulder and guided him towards the other interrogation room. "Come on man, I'm going to ask you some questions now."
Hotch shut the door behind him and Sam looked up hopefully at him, "Can I go now? My mom will be worried." Hotch sat down and took in the weary look on the boy's face, "We notified your family when we took you in, explained that it was just standard procedure and that you were not incriminated. At least not yet." Sam sighed and buried his head in his hands, "God, you still think I had anything to do with this mess? I told the other agent everything I know! I didn't do anything!"
Hotch spread the pictures of every victims before him, "Sam, you said you've seen all these girls before and you met them at the after parties? Were Keith and Hank with you when you met them?" Sam shrugged, "Yeah they were. But like with Patricia Morton, I was the first to leave. My uh," he cleared his throat, a light flush spreading across his freckled cheeks, "My mom is kinda strict and I have to be home before 11 every night."
He tapped his pen against the table lightly, "How did you choose to talk to these girls Sam? They were all blonde and blue eyed cheerleaders, were they your type?" Sam frowned, clearly uncomfortable with the question. "What do you mean, how I chose to talk to them? They were hot and didn't seem like they minded the company." Hotch gestured at Selina Camden's picture. "Selina's a cheerleader, Sam. Did you approach these girls because they looked like her?"
Sam cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward a little, "What the- Look, I swear to you, Agent, I didn't notice that they looked alike. It had nothing to do with us approaching them." He tilted his head a little, "Anyway, it wasn't me who chose who to talk to. It was always Hank who wanted us to go talk to them, but we didn't have any problem with that."
"Tell me about Hank and Keith. Do you think they could've done anything like this?" Sam shook his head vehemently, "No way! Hank wouldn't ever do anything like that; neither would Keith. They're not killers, man." Hotch flipped a copy of Keith's file over to him, "Do you know that Keith has a record? He's been charged for drug possession, breaking and entering, petty theft; basically he's done everything a teenager could do wrong."
"Ok, I know Keith's had a tough time." He placed both hands on the table and looked earnestly at Hotch, "But he's a good kid. His dad was abusive and he had to work to help out with his mom. He has his problems but Hank and I are looking after him now. He's not your killer."
Keith stared uncertainly at the pictures before him, Morgan leaning with his hip against the table. "Do you recognize these girls, Keith?" The boy bit his lip and nodded, "Yeah, we saw them at those parties with Wilson High. That's Sam's ex isn't it?" He pointed towards Selina and Morgan sat back down, pushing Selina's picture towards him. "What do you know about Selina Camden?" Keith shrugged but looked down, not meeting Morgan's eyes as he scuffed his feet against the floor, "Just that she and Sam were together before she dumped him last year. Sam said she was cheating on him, and he kept trying to get her to admit it when Selina filed for the restraining order."
Morgan noted his lack of eye contact, "Hey kid, look at me." Keith reluctantly glanced at Morgan, "Keith, did you know Selina asides from her being Sam's ex?" Keith nodded and sighed, "No, I don't. I've only seen her with Sam; I've never talked to her before." Morgan narrowed his eyes and settled back. Something about Keith didn't sit right; he was willing to bet that the kid knew the girl better than he was saying.
Seeing Keith starting to close off, he changed tactics. "Did Sam ever had a fight with Selina? Did he tell you about them?" The teenager shrugged once more, "They fought a little I guess. Like I said, Sam tried to get the truth out of Selina but she didn't want to talk to him. Said Sam was a psycho and she wanted him to stay away from her." "Was Sam violent against her?" Derek noted how the boy stiffened a little, "I'm guessing Sam had a nasty temper on him." Keith gritted his teeth but remained silent. Derek smirked a little; time for the bad cop routine now. He stood and paced to stand behind Keith.
"So Sam was pissed off when she dumped him and he killed her. And when you guys met all these Selina look-alikes he thought he'd teach them a lesson? Is that it?" Morgan placed his hands on the back of Keith's chair, "Did you and Hank help him kill these girls, Keith? Did you hold her down when Hank or Sam stabbed them to death? Did you enjoy watching them die? Did it make you feel good to see them die? Maybe you threw a punch or two; made you feel like a man."
Keith twisted around to stare at the agent, eyes wild as he took in Morgan's words. "No! Man, that is sick! We didn't kill them; Sam didn't touch them, neither did Hank and I." His jaw clenched and his eyes closed off as he leaned back, "I'm not going to talk anymore. I may be a lousy student but I know my rights. I want my lawyer if you're going to ask me these questions."
Reid clicked the computer open as he talked to Garcia on video. "Garcia, we know that the UnSub attends Wilson High and that his victims were all from neighbouring schools. I think he might live somewhere near, would make sense that his comfort zone is somewhere within the circle of schools. I've emailed you an approximate geographical zone where he might live in; see if you can find anything off it."
Garcia nodded, a bright yellow feather in her hair bobbing cheerfully. "Got it, and I will cross check it with our three suspects' home address. Got anything from Keith Barnes's computer?" He shook his head, eyes skimming through the mess of uncategorized documents. "Not yet, he's clearly disorganized though. I'm not sure if he could have carried out the abductions and the murders of these girls. He could be an accomplice, but I don't think he's capable of carrying out the planning." He squinted at a strangely labeled folder, "Hang on, I think I just found something."
He clicked on the folder and took in the countless picture files, "Strange, it's the only folder in the entire computer. Oh Lord." Garcia waved at him, slightly panicked. "Reid, what's going on? What's on the computer?" Reid looked up towards the blonde and swallowed hard. "Garcia, Keith Barnes has been stalking Selina Camden."
Derek read the text Reid just sent him and straightened, "We're not done yet Keith. Care to tell us why you were stalking Selina?" Keith glared at him and turned away, "I don't know what you're talking about." Morgan shook his head, "Wrong answer man. We found all sorts of pictures on your laptop, all of them were of Selina. Now you want to tell me again whether you knew Selina Camden, or do you want to be charged with kidnapping and murder? You better not be lying this time kid."
Sam stared at Hotch, mouth moving silently to form the words. "Keith was stalking Selina?" The unit chief looked on at him calmly, "You're saying you don't know anything about this?" The blonde shook his head furiously, "No! I thought Keith didn't know Selina; at least that's what he said." "Well clearly he's lying, one of my agents just found countless of pictures of Selina, both taken from afar and from near." Sam leaned back, clearly shocked as he dragged a shaking hand through his hand. "God, Keith? Did he kill those girls?" He looked up pleadingly at an impassive Hotch. "He's a good kid, honest. I don't- He couldn't have killed them." Hotch stood and sighed; clearly it was time to let Sam leave. He just hoped the others were having more luck than he was.