Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds
A/N: Thanks again to all who continue to read and review, you make my day!
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Reid stood there, stunned by Allie's words. JJ approached the man. He was about 5' 9" she guessed, thinning gray hair and a gray mustache. He had blue eyes that contrasted with the wrinkled gray suit he wore. JJ bent down, helping him retrieve his files from the floor. "Detective Hollis, I'm Agent Jareau, we spoke on the phone." She introduced the rest of the team. The detective looked rather sympathetically at Reid.
The team started to peruse the files while Hollis said, "Let me get this straight, you think these were homicides not accidents? How do you figure that?"
The team looked at Reid but he seemed lost in thought. He kept looking at the door as if he hoped to see Allie walk back through it. Hotch said, "Detective Hollis, why don't you help yourself to some coffee and Agents Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss and Jareau will explain the situation. I'll be back shortly." He turned to Reid, touched his shoulder and indicated he should follow him as he left the room.
"Sorry Hotch, I guess I lost my concentration there for a moment. I'll go in and talk to Detective Hollis."
"No Reid, the others and I can handle it. You need to talk to Allie," Hotch counseled.
"Well Hotch, I don't think she wants to talk to me. You saw the way she was when she left. She's pissed at me big time."
"Yes Reid, she is and I know what that's like. I know what it's like to turn your back on that anger, saying she doesn't understand and getting lost in the work." Hotch let the so often held in emotion show in his eyes. "That doesn't solve anything. You've got to talk to her. Another thing to consider, if she goes back to the reunion and tells people we're on to a murderer, that would tip him off and we don't need that. Right now he thinks he's in the clear. We need to keep him thinking that way. You have to talk to her."
Reid nodded, "Okay Hotch, I'm sorry this happened."
"Reid, I'm sorry too but you are entitled to a life and Allie's entitled to her emotions and feelings. Go to her. Talk it over. You'll work it out. In case you haven't noticed, that woman loves you." Hotch patted him on the back and returned to the room leaving Reid to ponder his words and Allie's actions.
Hotch reentered the room as the team were filling Detective Hollis in on the reasoning behind deeming these deaths homicides. "You mean this guy," he motioned to the doorway where Reid had left, "Thinks that there's a bunch of murders because the statistics don't add up! Who knows those kinds of statistics anyway?"
"Dr. Reid is a very talented behavioral analyst and he used his vast and varied knowledge to come to this conclusion. Believe me Detective Hollis; he would not involve this team in something of this magnitude on a whim." Hotch stated upon hearing the detective's skepticism.
"I'm sure you're right, it just seems so strange that no one in the four death investigations picked up on any foul play," he replied.
"There have actually been seven deaths, three occurred outside this jurisdiction." JJ added, going through one of the files.
"So what you're saying is this Agent Reid, in about ten seconds, picked up on what had eluded four different law enforcement agencies?" The others nodded and he shook his head, disbelievingly. "Well, I have to head back to the stationhouse, if you need any assistance, let me know, though I think you guys are chasing your tails on this." Detective Hollis said as he headed for the door.
"Hotch, how's Reid," Emily asked after the detective had left.
"Well, he's feeling bad about Allie and bad that he thinks it's interfering with the investigation." The unit chief filled them in on some of his conversation with the young profiler. "I told him to find her and talk to her, that we could hold down the fort here."
"Yeah, it's probably better if he's with her anyway, if you're all thinking what I am," Morgan stated.
"That not only is she a friend to those that died but if this killer is after the Mount Pleasant class of 2002, then that puts Allie smack dab in his target range," Rossi proffered.
"I don't think that possibility has hit her yet. She's too angry at the moment. She'll get there eventually, Allie's not stupid." JJ said while she continued to leaf through one of the files. "It says here that Pam McPhee ate her lunch in the park every day, when the weather was good, and she always got her lunch at the same deli. The killer must have known this and found a way to introduce mushrooms into the equation, knowing it would bring on the allergic reaction."
Rossi was pacing the room, "He knows these people. He was able to approach Pam in the park and get into Marla's home. Laurel had no defensive wounds. He's one of the students. They knew him and they weren't afraid of him. He's like a mission based serial killer but not in the strict sense of the word. It's not a religious or ethical mission he's on. He's retaliating against this high school class for some reason and he won't stop until he's finished with the whole class or we stop him."
"Apparently, Marla Felstead died in her home but, like Reid said, no hint of the botulism toxin was found anywhere in the house." Emily was sitting on the couch provided with the room and poring over one of the reports Detective Hollis had supplied. She took a sip of her coffee and added, "Reid was right, the police should have been suspicious as to how she came into contact with botulism. Obviously the killer introduced it into her food but then removed all traces when he left."
Morgan added, "He'd had to have waited around for the botulism to take hold. He couldn't risk her being able to call 911 once the effects of the toxin hit her. What are the symptoms of botulism anyway?"
Everyone shrugged. "Reid would know," JJ said and they all internally lamented that their resident genius was not with them at that moment, the list of symptoms bursting forth from his encyclopedic mind.
Hotch sighed, "I hope he's having better luck than we are."
Reid found Allie sitting alone at a table as the reunion festivities went on around her. She had a glass of white wine, half gone, on the table in front of her. "Is this chair taken," he asked. She looked up at him but said nothing. "I'll take that as a no," he said, pulling out the chair and sitting down.
"Shouldn't you be with the team? They need your input, if you're going to catch this guy." She didn't look at him, but instead, stared at her former classmates milling about the room. Was one of them a cold blooded killer?