Hi Friends!
I know it's been longer than usual and I'm sorry. Work was busy last week and my little girl developed her first fever. Talk about a scary thing for a first time mommy! Anyways she is better now and I couldn't be happier for that.
Thank you all for the reviews! I loved and appreciated them! It makes me happy to hear how much you are enjoying the story! Thank you also for following and favoriting! I'm just glad to know you guys like what I write :)
So, in this chapter I mention some places in Virginia. They are all real places but I have never been to Virginia so I don't know if the use of them is completely accurate. So I'm sorry to anyone that lives there and actually knows the geography. Please forgive me for skewing it!
Please forgive my mistakes. I make them all the time. My fingers and brain don't always communicate properly and little things do slip through.
Enjoy!
The next week and a half went by in a blur for the genius. The deposition was just the first hill in a long roller coaster ride of drama involving West. It seemed like there was something new to do with the former agent every day.
The day after West was fired Reid had gone down with Hotch to the local police station and filed his formal charges against West for assault. They had him give an official statement and said that they would keep both Hotch and himself updated on their progress.
Then on Monday he was called in again by the higher-ups of the FBI for his formal statement regarding the archives incident. The next day Morgan, Garcia, and Agent Bellancia were all interviewed and the video files from archives were analyzed and logged as evidence. By Wednesday the agents assigned to the case had enough evidence to get an arrest warrant for Baker. So they went ahead and brought in West's lackey on kidnapping charges and hoped that in the process of interviewing him he would incriminate the former agent.
Reid and Hotch were allowed to watch Baker get questioned by the agents in charge. The interrogators didn't have much difficulty prying information out of the man. The felon was happy to exchange all the information he had for a reduction in his sentence.
The questioning revealed that the two men had known each other since high school and that West pulled some strings to get Baker the temp job in human resources. Reid and Hotch decided that the relationship between the men couldn't be labeled as a friendship. Baker admitted to looking up to Damien like he was a mentor. The naïve man had nothing but admiration for the former agent and over the years he had been doing all that he could to impress West. On the other hand, the former agent must have recognized the man's gullibility and subsequently took advantage of it to get Baker to do all of his dirty work, including detaining Reid down in archives.
On Friday, Damien was arrested for assaulting a federal agent and transferred over to the care of the FBI for questioning on his involvement with Reid's attempted kidnapping. West's was arraignment was scheduled for Monday and Spencer hoped to be present barring a new case.
Reid breathed a sigh of relief when he entered his apartment on Friday night with the knowledge that a protection detail was no longer needed. He was excited to put all of the drama behind him and enjoy the much needed respite that the weekend brought with it. He was finally able to relax at home and not have to worry about the former agent retaliating. So the genius took advantage of the open weekend and filled it with activities that he loved; watching his favorite T.V. shows, reading books, writing an article for a psychology magazine, and catching up on sleep.
He even allowed Morgan and Garcia talk him into going out with them on Saturday night. Of course the two brought along their significant others but for once Reid didn't feel like a third wheel. They all enjoyed a few adult beverages, except for Reid who ordered his favorite non-alcoholic beverage, an Arnold Palmer, instead. After they got their drinks the group of five hunkered down into a semi-circular booth and chatted the night away. Their conversation topics were as eclectic as the group themselves, ranging from a debate over whether Pluto should still be a dwarf planet to the best type of candy to give out on Halloween. The one topic that they managed to stay away from, surprisingly, was work. Never once did they bring up the horrors that the profilers face on a day to day basis and the night was better for it.
Alas, all good things must come to an end and the genius soon found himself sitting in the bullpen bright and early on Monday morning. He was already two files deep into his work when the rest of the profilers started filing into the office. The genius was touched at how each of his friends seemed to walk with a lighter air, almost as if a fifty pound weight had been lifted off their shoulders now that they didn't need to worry about West anymore.
Not too long after his entrance, Morgan sauntered over to Reid's desk and ruffled his hair. "So, today's the big day, isn't it?"
"If by big day you're referring to West's arraignment, then yes. It is," Reid responded as he grabbed Morgan's meaty fist and removed it from his floppy locks.
"What time is it at?"
"Uh…one o'clock."
"You going?"
"Yeah."
"Do you want company?" the darker agent offered.
Reid thought about it for a few seconds, "Ah…no you don't have to do that."
"I know I don't have to but I wouldn't mind keeping you company. Besides, I think it'll be fun to see the look on West's face when they haul him away in cuffs," Morgan chuckled a little at the thought.
Reid nodded his head and said, "Alright. Thanks. I was planning on leaving around twelve-thirty."
"Twelve-thirty it is, unless you want to grab some lunch first."
"Yeah we could – "
"Guys, we have a case," called Garcia from up on the balcony overlooking the bullpen. She had just exited Hotch's office carrying her tablet and a file folder.
"We'll be right there, mama," Morgan called at the perky blonde. He looked back to his friend and saw disappointment clouding Reid's eyes at the realization that he was going to miss out on seeing West in court. "Aw, come on kid. We can get updates while we're out in the field. Besides, maybe it will irk West more if we don't show up…ya know…kinda like we're saying he isn't worth our time."
Reid managed a small smile at his friend's attempt at cheering him up, "Yeah, maybe you're right for once."
"Ha! There's a first time for everything," Morgan laughed, clapping his friend on the back as they walked up the stairs to the conference room together.
"Alrighty super heroes, there is no need to pack your bags! You guys are staying close to home for once," Garcia trilled once Morgan and Reid sat down in their seats at the round table. She clicked a button on her remote and the images of two men with no visual similarities showed up on the screen behind her, "This is Caleb Greenspan and Markel Mansour. Both of them were found washed up on the banks of the Potomac within the past two weeks. Caleb was found last Saturday by some hikers on the shore of Widewater State Park and Markel's body was discovered yesterday by some nature enthusiasts down on the beach of Aquia Landing Park. According to the ME the cause of death in both cases was drowning. So the local P.D. reached out to us before a third body shows up on the banks of the Potomac."
"Two drownings in the Potomac River don't scream serial killer to me," Rossi commented flippantly.
"No, but the similar ligature marks and wounds do," Reid countered upon observing the photos of the deceased bodies that were in his file folder.
"Exactly," said Garcia as she pushed a button and pictures of the men's wrists and ankles were visible. She then clicked the remote one last time and two pictures of neck wounds were shown in close up detail.
"Okay, well those look like a signature to me. There's no other reason for them…they weren't physically damaging enough to kill, only maim. But to me the real mystery are those ligature marks…there's something strange about them," Morgan stated as he squinted his eyes at the screen.
"Yeah, I see what you mean," JJ agreed. "Look at the ankles…the bindings didn't wrap all the way around their feet, only the front of them are scarred."
"So they were tied to something," Hotch deduced.
"But only by their feet? Their wrists are chaffed all the way around from the…rope, I assume," Rossi looked at Garcia for confirmation.
"Actually it was strips of leather. The M.E. found some fibers in the Caleb's wounds. Oh, and they found adhesive residue around their mouths," she explained.
"So he gagged them with duct tape in order to force them to breathe through their noses. He wanted to have complete control over them and how they died. But now I'm wondering whether or not they were tied up when they were drowned. Would this guy want them to struggle against him so he could further assert his dominance or did he just sit back and watch as they suffered?" Morgan asked the group.
"He watched. I mean…look at how deep their wounds are. They were pulling hard against the restraints in order to free themselves and escape the water," Reid said, gesturing to the vivid pictures.
"I'll lay odds he got off on watching them die a slow and painful death," JJ said in disgust.
"Oh, that's more than likely," Reid agreed.
"Why do you think that?" Garcia asked.
"Well, drowning is an incredibly painful way to die. The victim is alive when they're submerged and they can literally feel their lungs fill up with water when they take that last desperate breath. It really is a form of torture that gives the perpetrator a sense of power and dominance. The unsub is literally denying the victim the one thing they need in order to live. And if he was there watching he would revel in the sense of fear pouring off the victim all the way up until their life left their body. This unsub is a bit different though…," Reid trailed off in thought.
"How so?" she inquired curiously.
"Well, most unsubs that choose to drown victims like to be more hands on, so they can feel their targets die…he doesn't. He's satisfied with watching. It's almost as if he wants to tease them with his presence...making them know that he's their only source of salvation and he is right there in range to help them…but he won't," Reid paused for a second in order to organize his thoughts. "But in the end, their death represents the unsub purging himself of his issues. It's symbolically a way to release the problems that are bothering him and starting fresh with his life."
"Reid's right. Drowning is usually a cleansing ritual," Hotch said thoughtfully. "So what is our unsub trying to move on from?"
"And what was the trigger?" Rossi postulated.
"And we definitely need to analyze victimology because right now I can't see any similarities," Reid added.
"Alright, Dave, you and JJ go down to where the latest body was found and see what you can find out. Since they're not technically dump sites try to conjecture as to where they may have been dumped. Morgan and Reid, you two are going to the M.E. Garcia, start delving into their histories. We need to find out what they have in common. I'm going to go down to the local P.D. and grab their notes and talk to the officers that found the bodies. We'll meet back here at two to go over our findings," Hotch ordered before getting up and dismissing the group.
Morgan and Reid stood in the middle of the stark examine room with Dr. Delisi off to the side. The two victims were laid out on the cold metal tables, pale and lifeless.
"Well, they don't really have any similar physical characteristics. So they weren't chosen for their looks," Morgan began, walking over toward Markel's body.
Reid started to examine Caleb's corpse, "No…that's for sure." He stood up and walked over to the counter with the supplies and pulled on a pair of blue gloves. When he got back to the body he grabbed Caleb's left arm and lifted it up to examine the wrist wounds. As he was looking at the tortured skin his eyes caught on some markings further up the arm. "What caused these scratches?"
Dr. Delisi stepped forth next to Reid and pointed at the erratic cuts that marred the man's skin. "Splinters. I found hundreds of them embedded in both of their arms."
Reid straightened up and looked at Morgan, "They were tied to something wooden. Maybe a beam or something and then dunked into the water."
"Reminds me of the Salem witch trials," Morgan commented. "You don't think this unsub is some kind of wacky witch hunter?"
"No…actually, the witches were tied to chairs that were fastened to a wooden beam that dunked them into the water. So if our unsub was intent on remaking his own version of the witch trials he would probably stayed truer to the historical details…well that and the fact that at the time they were only hunting women, not men," Reid explained.
"There were a few larger ones in their shins but significantly fewer than their arms…probably due to the fact that their legs were protected by their pants," the doctor added.
"So was he controlling the dunking? Is that why he didn't do it with his own hands? The wooden beam was a substitute?" Morgan questioned aloud.
"And where was he doing it? A pool? Right in the Potomac? Did he drown them somewhere else first and then dump them in the river to throw off the investigation?" Reid added.
"Actually, I think he did drown them in the river," Dr. Delisi said as she flipped through the paper work she had and handed it to Reid. "As you can see the water we recovered from Mr. Greenspan's lungs was from the river."
"So he has a secluded location somewhere along the Potomac where he can literally dunk a body into the water until they drown. Great…we have Garcia search for isolated locations where an unsub can murder grown men undetected," Morgan said sarcastically.
"It's not going to be that simple. The Potomac is over four hundred miles long and lined with multiple state parks. There is no way she would-"
"Sarcasm, Reid…sarcasm," Morgan said, cutting off the genius.
"Oh…right."
"Alright," Morgan said, turning to the M.E. "Thanks for your help. Let us know if you find anything else."
"Of course, agent."
He looked at Reid, "Let's get back and see what the others found."
When the best friends got back to the round table room they found the other profilers already settled into their respective seats and an evidence board with information tacked onto it. Morgan went and sat down with the others while Reid wandered over to look at the new data about each man.
"What did you two find out?" Hotch asked immediately without a greeting.
"We believe they were tied to some sort of wooden plank. They had tons of splinters stuck in their forearms, like their hands were tied around it. They had a few in their legs too but not nearly as many due to their pants protecting them. We think he might have been tying them to it and dunking them in the water," Morgan explained to his coworkers.
JJ's eyes lit up, "You mean like the S-"
Morgan held up his hands and shook his head, "No, and don't even get Pretty Boy started. I brought that up already and he shot me down."
Reid frowned, missing out on his friend's playful smile when he shut down JJ, and pushed the conversation in a new direction, "So, Caleb was the general manager at a local restaurant? He was only 20…that's pretty young."
"Yeah, and we found out that Markel was an account executive at one of big health care providers," Garcia supplied from behind her computer screen.
"And he was 32…that's quite an accomplishment too," Reid said, his voice trailing off in thought.
"What's going on in that genius brain of yours?" Rossi asked.
"Well…they're both really accomplished at what most would consider a young age…Maybe the unsub is jealous of their accomplishments?" Reid suggestion.
"That's a thought...it's going to be hard to find someone connected to the both of them though," JJ said, looking pointedly at Garcia.
The technical analyst looked up at the challenge in her friend's voice, "If there is a connection my mighty fingers will find it."
"Okay, Garcia your new job is to find out if there is anyone that may be acquainted with both of our victims, be it a client or a friend," Hotch ordered. "Rossi, JJ and Morgan, the victims' families are going to be here soon and I want you both to interview them for more information."
"What about me?" Reid asked, slightly confused as to why he hadn't been assigned a task.
"I need to see you in my office," Hotch said simply.
Reid nodded his head and got up from his seat. He silently sent Morgan a questioning look and the other man shrugged his shoulders in response.
The genius dutifully followed his superior out the door and into the man's warm office. "What's going on?"
Hotch heaved a gigantic sigh which put the doctor immediately on edge, "West posted bail and was released with the specifications that he's not to leave the area."
"W-what? They just let him go?"
"The judge set his bail high but apparently West had alot of money in the bank. He was out in minutes. We've already recalled his surveillance crew and your personal protection detail. He won't get to you."
"I-I don't believe this. Why did the judge set a bail? Shouldn't he have been retained without bond?"
"Regardless of his actions Damien seems to have friends in high places. His attorney was the best money could buy and he probably pulled some strings behind the scenes."
Reid sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands, "This is ridiculous. I shouldn't have to go around being scared for my life. All I did was my job! Damien was the one that got everything twisted up with his jealousy."
"I know but we can't let our guard down because it isn't fair. We don't know what he might do between now and his hearing. Just hang on and it will all work out in the end," Hotch tried to reassure the younger man.
The boy snorted, "Yeah? What's to say he doesn't pull more of those strings and somehow get out of all of the charges?"
"Nothing except for the fact that we won't let that happen. He may have friends but I have connections going all the way up to the Supreme Court. I will call in whatever favors I need to make sure West is put behind bars like he deserves," the older agent laid out firmly.
Reid lifted his head up slowly and smiled at his boss, "Thanks Hotch."
The other nodded, "Now…do you want to stay with one of us until this all blows over? There is safety in numbers, you know?"
The genius thought about it for a few minutes, "You know what…that might not be a bad idea…at least for a few nights."
"Good, I was hoping you'd agree. Why don't you grab Morgan have him drive you to your apartment so you can pack a suitcase?"
Reid shook his head, "No that's alright. I drove myself in today. I'll take my car back home, get my stuff, and have the protection detail bring me back. That way my car isn't down in the garage for the next week."
"Okay, they should already be outside of your apartment. I'll call and let them know to expect you within the next half hour," Hotch said, picking up his phone.
Reid took in a bolstering breath and stood up tall, "Thanks again. I'll just be glad when this is all over. You'll tell the others what's going on, right?"
"We'll all be glad when this is over. And I'll fill them in while you're gone. Oh, and Reid…be careful going home."
The genius gave him a small smile at the caring words, "I will."
Reid pulled out into traffic and let out a groan of disdain. He had thought this was over! He shouldn't have to put his life on hold just for a deranged former agent who couldn't handle being second best.
He honestly did not want to live with one of his teammates for the next few weeks but he knew that if he refused they would worry about him to no end. Wasn't he ever going to be old enough in their eyes to take care of himself?
Suddenly the car lurched to a stop on the side of the road with a puff of grey smoke coming from the underneath the hood. "What now?" he bellowed as he steered the antique car to the side of the road.
"Great…just great," Reid muttered as he got out of his car and looked around. There was only one stretch of his drive that was completely deserted and his vehicle managed to breakdown on it. There were tons of trees lining the road and nothing else but gravel and pavement were in sight. Modern cars were zipping by him on the busy road, completely ignoring the stranded agent as their drivers went on their way.
The genius got out his phone and hit the number two on his speed dial.
"Reid? Where are you? Is everything alright?" Morgan asked in a panic when he answered.
"Yeah…it's me. I'm fine…but my car isn't," the genius admitted reluctantly as he struggled to open the hood without burning himself.
A large guffaw came through the receiver, "Man, kid, I told you that you needed an upgrade."
"I know…it's smoking…what does that mean?" Reid asked as he jumped away from the car as the steam escaped into the open air.
"Sounds like you overheated it. Don't you ever take it in for maintenance?"
"No…why should I when I barely ever us it? There shouldn't be anything wrong with it!"
"Yeah but things leak and break over time…come on you're the genius. You should know that," Morgan teased. "Look I'm on my way to get you now. Where are you?."
"Off on the side of Fuller Rd. So this isn't something I can fix?" he asked as he leaned over the exposed engine, surprised at how much head was radiating off of the machine.
"No man…unless you've got some antifreeze in your trunk."
"I don-" Reid was cut off as a sharp pain radiated through the side of his skull causing his world to go black.
His phone fell to the ground and Morgan's voice could be heard calling his best friend's name already fearing the worst at the lack of sound coming through on his end.
It was cold, colder than he had ever felt before. So cold that if felt like little ice needles were poking him all over his body. Where was his blanket? Had he kicked it off throughout the night again? He hated it when he woke up cold and his fluffy comforter was strewn about across the floor.
Suddenly a burst of water sprayed over his face, jarring him awake in alarm. His eyes whipped open and were met with the cold murky water of the Potomac River.
Panic surged through his body as another spritz of water peppered his face with tiny drops of moisture. He struggled to pull his arms up to wipe it out of his eyes when he realized that his hands were secured tightly behind him. He then tried to kick out his legs in order to launch himself away from whatever he was tied to but found them fastened just as soundly. His body's automatic response then was to shout out for help but he couldn't open his mouth a millimeter due to the duct tape already wrapped around his head.
"I see you're awake," came a smirk voice from off to his right.
Reid turned his head and his gaze was met with the sopping wet form of former agent Damien West.
"I was worried that I hit you too hard with that tire iron but as always you proved me wrong," Damien called from his perch on his speedboat "The Hideaway" which was moored on the dock next to Reid. The former agent was using a towel to dry his hair and pulled out a bag of fresh clothes to change into. "So, do you like the water, kid? I hope so because it's going be the last thing you see."
The genius yanked harder on his arms and felt them rub up against the wooden column that he was tied against. He looked up, ignoring Damien's taunting words, and saw the wooden planks of another dock.
The way that Caleb and Markel died suddenly clicked in his brain. He knew his eyes went wide when Damien's chuckle floated over to the water and infiltrated his ears.
"The tide is already on its way in my boy…and I did my research. This particular stretch of the Potomac can increase up to a foot during its regular tidal cycle. But look out there, what do you see?"
Reid's gaze followed the man's finger and took in the sight of a full moon in a quickly dimming sky. If there had been any color left in his face it would have all drained out at that sight. The profiler jerked his head down and noticed that the water was just below his shoulders. He was mentally doing calculations when West's voice once more pierced the roar of the water in his ears.
"A full moon! How lucky can we be? You know what that means right? Oh who am I kidding of course you do, it's a spring tide. And guess what? That water is going to rise up at least another one foot six inches before it starts to recede...which means it should come up to just below your eyes by the time it's all said and done…making this one of the best nights of my life," Damien proudly stated as he sat down nice and dry on one of his captain's chairs.
Two real quick points on the timeline:
1) I back myself into a corner and if you were to go by the actual dates JLH's character would have joined the team the week that this is happening. Obviously she isn't part of my story so please forgive me for that mistake.
2) The new moon was on September 24th and the full moon was on October 8th...once again not aligning with my timeline, but I so needed it to be a spring tide for my story. So let's all pretend that I am in control of the moon phases for this lovely tale and go with it :)