Reid sat down at the table. The team had decided they were not going to bother him with any questions. But they couldn't avoid the worried looks they accidentally gave him when he sat down. Reid knew that everyone was worried about him and assumed they had heard him scream that morning. He sighed.
"Look, I really am fine, alright? I just had some nightmares. It has happened to all of us. The reason I was so…" Reid seemed to be looking for the right word to describe himself "distracted yesterday was because I was frustrated because I couldn't remember my nightmare. But I'm okay now."
Reid actually seemed honest, and the serene tone in his voice managed to calm the team down. He did look better than he did the day before, despite having woken up screaming and crying that very day. The team sighed in relief before JJ noticed something.
"Wait, so this time you did remember your nightmare?" she asked Reid frowning. Reid looked up at her, and so did the rest of the team, proceeding to looking at Reid waiting for an answer. Reid hesitated, looking uncomfortable.
"Umm…no, that's not what I meant." He finally replied.
"Then what did you mean?" Rossi asked.
"I don't know! I'm just feeling somewhat better today." Reid raised his voice.
"Okay, that's good." Hotch smiled at him "Let's just eat breakfast and go to the California PD."
OOOXOOOXOOO
When the team arrived at the California PD, a man walked up to them:
"Agent Roy Keller. I'm in charge of the Veronica Evans murder." The man said.
JJ shook his hand first, while introducing the rest of the team. Then he shook hands with Hotch, followed by Morgan, Prentiss and Rossi. The man also managed to shake the unprepared and startled Reid's' hand. Reid instantly profiled him on this: a man of authority. Roy Keller was in his sixties, and looked overall healthy.
"I'll bring you to the crime scene. Follow me with your car, I'll go with my own." He walked outside and got in his car. The team followed him outside, and they all got inside Hotch's SUV. This time, the ride was a little longer. It lasted almost two hours. They didn't have much to talk about, and Reid fell asleep on Morgan's shoulder after half an hour. Morgan grunted.
"Hmm…he fell asleep." He said out loud. Everyone but Hotch, who was driving, turned around to look at Reid. Prentiss and JJ smiled.
"He didn't get much sleep in the last two days." Prentiss explained, putting on a sympathetic look on her face.
"Yeah, I know" Morgan said quietly, as to not wake the kid up "But he better not drool on me!" he joked, speaking a bit louder. The team chuckled, and went back to what they were doing; which included reading magazines and uncomfortably playing cards in the car.
OOOXOOOXOOO
Reid was still fast asleep when the car before them, that contained Agent Keller, stopped in front of a house. The house was pretty big, but its garden was completely empty and the grass was dry. Hotch parked the car behind the Agent's car. Morgan shook Reid to wake him up. When the way he was doing it didn't work, Morgan shook him harder, pretty hard, and said his name. Reid slowly opened his eyes, then rubbed them and yawned before exiting the car with Morgan. The rest of the team was already inside of the house. Morgan and Reid ran inside.
Since this was the most recent crime scene, the blood was still pretty fresh. Veronica had been killed in her bedroom, in her bed.
"He stabbed her thirty four times. Nothing seems to be missing." Roy said. JJ raised her eyebrows. Morgan turned to him and asked:
"Thirty four?" the Agent nodded. Morgan looked at Hotch "The first was eighteen, the second was twenty two and now it's thirty four. He's getting more violent. He's beginning to need more and more to fulfill his needs." Hotch nodded.
"Yes. And that means the time period between murders could get shorter. We should expect the next victim today." Everyone nodded.
"How did he enter the house?" Rossi asked. Agent Keller groaned ad rubbed his eyes.
"We're not sure. Every door and window downstairs was locked. And it looks like the only way he could have gotten in through is this window." He pointed at the window next to the door of Veronica's room. "But it seems unlikely." He said hopelessly "It's like a twenty five foot climb. And I doubt he brought a ladder."
Hotch walked over to the window, opened it and looked down.
"For someone very fit it could be possible to climb up this wall." He said, still looking down. Roy went to stand next to Hotch, whom stepped away to give him space, and looked down the window. Then he nodded.
"You're right, it's possible. But hard." He concluded.
"Maybe he's had lessons on how to climb?" JJ suggested.
"Could be. We'll ask Garcia to look into it." Hotch answered "Where did he find the murder weapon?"
"We didn't find a murder weapon." The older man responded "We assumed he brought one and took it with him when he left." The team exchanged glances.
"Well, that's new." Morgan remarked.
"Yeah…yeah, it is." Hotch frowned.
"He's learning. He's not risking not finding a weapon anymore." Reid analyzed.
"And getting more violent. He's learning how to be a better killer." Rossi said. Hotch turned to JJ.
"You're giving a press conference. I think we're ready."
OOOXOOOXOOO
"We're looking for a white man in his mid twenties to late forties. This man is physically fit and strong. He has attacked women in three different states, and we do believe his next murder will not take place in California, but in one of the surrounding states, being Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. He's preying on women in their mid fifties. These women have been ill-treated by men in their past. We beg to women fitting this description to be careful." JJ said, keeping her natural calm in these situations as the crown began asking questions in chaos. JJ stepped away from the stage she was standing on and went to Hotch, who was located some feet from her.
"That was okay, right?" she asked. Hotch nodded.
"What do we do now?" she asked again. Hotch didn't look at her when he said:
"We wait."
OOOXOOOXOOO
When Hotch and JJ arrived in the room California PD had offered the BAU, Hotch was asked the same question by Reid that JJ has posed some minutes ago.
"Now what do we do?"
"We wait." Hotch answered again.
"We wait? You mean for another victim?" Morgan asked upset.
"Or some sort of answer to the press conference." Hotch said.
"You think he'll do that?" Rossi asked.
"Maybe."
OOOXOOOXOOO
"Honey, I have looked for mountain climbing schools, but there are way too many to find one man between the ages of thirty five to fifty!" Garcia sounded desperate and Morgan sighed.
"In which states did you look?"
"I have searched in Utah, Arizona, California, Oregon, Idaho and Nevada for men between the ages of thirty five and fifty who are in mountain climbing schools. Do you have any idea how many men those are? Any idea? Any? Well, here's what I can tell you: a lot! I don't know how I'm supposed to find this guy! You need to narrow it down!" Garcia was really freaking out. They hadn't had a case with this large a killing area before and they had no idea in which state their UNSUB even lived! Garcia had good reason to feel the way she did.
"Okay, calm down, Baby Girl! We'll try to narrow it down. We really don't expect you to find our guy right now, all right?" Morgan reassured her considerately. Reid's phone rang.
"Okay." Garcia said, more calmly than before "Okay, I'll calm down." Reid answered his phone and paced a little further away from Garcia through the computer screen so he could hear the person calling him better.
"You calmed down already?" Morgan laughed.
"Yeah…yes, I have. Yes, I am. Yes. I'll just keep digging. Call me if you need anything, sugar!"
"Gotcha!" Morgan grimaced, and was about to push a button on the laptop's keyboard to hang up the Skype call with Garcia, when something behind him got his attention.
OOO
OMG, that's so evil, a cliffhanger! Sorta. Muahaha! Sorry. What do ya think got his attention, huh? Sorry again.