Disclaimer: See chapter 1
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Hotch was on his cell to Fredericksburg as the team sped down the I95 towards the abandoned motel that was midway between Quantico and Fredericksburg. "Detective Alvarez, I just want you to take him into custody." Hotch listened to the detective. "No, we don't have any hard evidence against him yet but he fits the profile and is a person of interest. You can hold him for seventy-two hours without charges. It's better than him being on the loose, able to finish with his latest victim, if he hasn't already, while we build a case." Hotch, Morgan and Prentiss were in one SUV while Rossi, Reid and JJ followed in another. The early evening traffic on this Monday was fairly light so, with lights and sirens, they were able to make good time.
The sirens were silenced about a mile before the motel so as not to herald their arrival if Norman happened to be there. They saw no vehicles as they entered the parking lot. "Good, maybe he's not here. Let's go around back and park," Hotch suggested. "If he shows up he won't see our vehicles."
"If this is even the place," Morgan replied as he drove around to the back. Rossi followed suit with the second SUV. The dilapidated building had originally been gray but the paint was peeling exposing the wood siding underneath as was the white on the trim. The building was surrounded by large oak trees which had probably given the motel its name. "Shady Slumber," Morgan said as he looked at the lopsided sign that swung slightly in the soft breeze on creaky hinges. "What kind of a corny name is that? It's like something out of…"
"Gunsmoke," Reid interjected, getting out of the SUV.
"Gunsmoke," Rossi repeated, "you weren't even born when it was on."
"I know, but I watch reruns on TVLand." Reid's voice rose enthusiastically. "Did you know it was the longest running scripted TV show in history? It ran from 1955 to 1975 with over six hundred episodes," Reid told them as he donned his vest.
"Reid," Hotch said sternly, "as fascinating as that is, perhaps we could concentrate on the matter at hand.
"Sorry Hotch," Reid replied.
The door to the office was open, the lock long ago broken and rusted. The sign in desk sat empty except for an old register. No computers like were used now. Dust had collected everywhere. The paint was chipped. JJ squealed slightly as something ran across the floor. "What's the matter JJ," Morgan asked with a slight grin.
"Nothing," JJ replied, "I just hate mice."
"Well then you don't have to worry," Reid replied, "because that was a rat," which didn't appear to make JJ any happier.
They quickly cleared the small office behind the sign in desk. There were no keys to the twelve units that made up Shady Slumber, that would have been too easy, Reid thought. "We'll each take two rooms," Hotch ordered. "Morgan, you take the first two, Prentiss, the next two. I'll take the next two, then JJ, Dave and Reid. Okay, let's go."
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Detective Alvarez and two uniforms reluctantly stormed into the bookstore on the U of MW campus looking for Ray Norman. The detective doubted the wisdom of this when they had no physical evidence to suggest this was the man and all he would get out of it was paperwork and a bad bust. He didn't really trust what the profilers had said. They appeared to be smart people but this was his town and he didn't like them phoning him and telling him what to do. The clerk working the checkout told him that Ray's shift had ended at 4pm and he'd taken off as soon as she'd gotten there. The threesome hurried out of the bookstore and decided to check Quaff before they went to Norman's apartment.
The bartender knew Ray Norman but said he hadn't seen him in the bar today. "Have you ever noticed him talking to Laura Matthews, Leslie Hughes, Caroline Brown or Sharon Webb?" the short, slightly balding, Latino detective asked.
"I think so, but he talks to a lot of girls and a lot of guys talked to those girls. You don't think that Ray…he's harmless," the bartender told him. "He talks to a lot of girls and they think he's fun but they don't really take him seriously, you know, not like boyfriend material."
Suddenly Detective Alvarez thought about what the young kid at the BAU, at least he seemed like a kid, had said about the murderer feeling emasculated and how he would somehow communicate this to the women around him. He'd thought it sounded like a bunch of psychobabble but now, listening to what the bartender had to say, he wasn't so sure that the kid hadn't hit the nail on the head. "Quick," he said to the officers that were with him, "we have to get to Norman's apartment, fast."
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Morgan kicked open the door to the first unit. It was how it had been before the motel closed. The bed was neatly made although moths had started eating through the brown spread covering the double bed. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere. He entered the room, his weapon drawn and swung around from side to side. He cleared the bathroom and went on to the next room.
He kicked in the door of room number two and immediately knew Reid had been right. This was the place. There was blood everywhere. Morgan identified medium velocity spatter on the walls, particularly the one behind the bed, consistent with a stab wound. There was evidence of an arterial spurt and the bed linen was covered with blood where the young woman had bled out. Morgan could see some blood drops on the floor, likely cast off from the knife, he thought. A rope was wrapped around one of the rungs of the headboard and one around each of two rungs of the footboard, likely used to tie the woman down, he surmised. The headboard and footboard were beige in color. That's probably where the beige flecks came from, Morgan thought. As she struggled against her bindings; the friction caused paint to chip off in her hair. Morgan turned and left the room just as Hotch was coming out of one of his rooms. "Hey Hotch," Morgan called, gesturing for the unit chief to join him.
Hotch looked at the room. "Let's get CSI in here. We'll probably find two more. I hope we don't find three. I'm going to call Detective Alvarez."
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Detective Alvarez got off the phone with Hotch and spoke to the two officers with him. "Agent Hotchner is having a federal search warrant faxed. Someone from the precinct will bring it to us. He also wants CSI in the apartment as soon as possible. I guess they found something at the motel.
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Prentiss found nothing in her two rooms but Rossi and JJ each found a room that was blood spattered like the one Morgan had discovered. Reid had cleared his first room and was just about to kick in the door of the second when they heard a car turning into the parking lot. Reid ducked around the corner of the building while the rest of the team darted into one of the rooms to prevent themselves from being seen. The car, a blue Pontiac Sunfire, stopped in the parking lot. A young man about 5'9" with longish brown hair and small wire rimmed glasses emerged from the vehicle. He was wearing blue jeans, a navy tee shirt and a denim jacket. The team appeared from the room with their guns trained on the man. "Freeze FBI," Reid heard Morgan yell. While they dealt with Norman, Reid kicked in the final door.
The woman on the bed screamed when the door burst open. "It's okay," Reid said, barely looking at the woman for a moment as he swung his arms around the room and approached the bathroom. He couldn't be sure the man outside was Ray Norman, he thought, so he still had to clear the room. Satisfied there was no on else in the room, Reid holstered his weapon and turned his attention to the woman lying on the bed.
Sharon Webb looked at her rescuer. He was tall with brown hair and eyes. His vest said FBI which gave her some relief. "It's okay," he said again. "I'm Spencer Reid with the FBI. Everything's going to be okay now." Sharon nodded as he approached the bed, tears of relief running down her cheeks.
The woman on the bed was half naked. Her jeans had been removed and thrown across the room. Her shirt was ripped open at the front. Reid grabbed the filthy bedspread near the floor and covered her nakedness as best he could. He knew it wasn't ideal but it would do for now. She had a large bruise on her left cheek and her eye was swollen. Blood had oozed from a cut lip and had dried on her chin. "I'm just going to undo these ropes, okay?" He reached to the top of the bed and began working on the knots in these ropes. He should go get Emily or JJ but he didn't want to leave the woman until she was untied. Finally the knots loosened and he was able to release her hands and did the same with the ropes binding her feet. "Okay, you're free now," he said as he pulled the rope away. "I'm going to go get one of the female agents to come and help you. I'll just be a minute," Reid said as he turned to the door only to feel his hand grasped by the shaky fingers of Sharon Webb.
"Please," she said weakly, "please don't leave me."