VIII
"Any news Garcia?" Hotch rubbed his eyes as he asked the blonde. She smiled slightly before replying.
"Actually, fearless leader, yes." Everyone perked up at the sentence and gave the techie their full attention. "Well I took Wonder Woman's idea and sent in the recording for sound analysis."
"What'd they find?" Rossi folded his hands on the table. Everyone was tired of the lack of leads they had and any new information would definitely boast their morale.
"They're not done yet but they did manage to send me this." Garcia brought up the recording of Mackenzie's 9-1-1 calls and pressed play.
"9-1-1, what is your emergency?"
"A man's about to be attacked in an alley."
"Who is this?"
"36th and Lexington. Hurry." Click.
"Now, listen carefully my loves." Garcia played it again, this time adding the software that her fellow nerds had given her. The team eased forward and strained their ears to catch what they had missed.
"There!" JJ cried, shooting out of her chair.
"Wow, you got some hearing there girlfriend." Garcia snickered and altered the pitch so the rest of the team could hear it.
"Is that…water?" Emily guessed.
"And seagulls." Hotch nodded in agreement.
"So Mackenzie lives near water." Morgan deduced. "That doesn't really narrow it down Baby Girl."
"Dost my ears deceive me? Is that doubt I hear Derek Morgan?" Garcia pouted and Derek squirmed.
"Never."
"That's right Hot Lips, now listen again." Garcia played back the recording and waited. Again, JJ was the first to hear whatever it was Garcia was showing them.
"Is that…crying?" JJ frowned, thinking that she was hearing things. Without a word, Garcia changed the pitch again until Mackenzie's sobs were clearly audible.
"Mackenzie's a woman." Rossi announced unnecessarily, earning a nod from the techie.
"That was right after the first call." The blonde lowered her voice. "I guess she was so upset, it took her a while to hang up."
"Alright," Hotch stood. "So codename Mackenzie is a woman who lives near water and obviously knew the first victim, Cassidy Newton."
"That helps but how exactly does that tell us how to find her?" Emily questioned.
"Morgan, I need you to contact anyone Cassidy spoke to, in or out of Hail's circle." Hotch ordered and Derek was already taking out her cell phone. "Don't tell them about the other two victims or that we suspect Hail for anything. Just talk to them about Newton. See who he was friends with, if he was seeing anyone, anything."
"Got it." The man was out of the room in a flash.
"Rossi, Reid, speak to the Fox's sister." Hotch handed them a piece of paper with her address on it. "See what she knew about her brother's 'careers'."
"We'll call you on the way back." Rossi took the paper and lead Reid out the door.
"JJ, Prentiss," the two women knew exactly what Hotch would ask of them. "I want you focusing on Hail. Put together a preliminary profile on him using all the information the NYPD has and what you saw yourselves. We know this guy did it, we just need proof."
"Are we telling them we know it's Hail?" JJ asked her boss.
"Not yet." Hotch shook his head. "We'll deliver the profile and see if they come up with anything without our bias. Garcia?"
"Sir."
"Compile a list of everyone that pressed charges against the Fox's and Newton. We want to make sure we don't leave anything to chance. Also, send me everything you've got on Mackenzie and Hail."
"Be back in a flash." Garcia pinged out and soon enough, Hotch's PDA rang with an email. He turned to open it and once he did, a loud laugh erupted from the device. JJ and Emily sprung from their seats and stared at their boss in confusion. Hotch frowned and tried pressing a few buttons only to be met with more ear piercing laughter. Seconds later, the sound seemed to travel to JJ and Emily's PDAs as well. All three agents didn't have to guess at what had happened as they glanced at their devices and saw large letters spelling out 'TRY AGAIN' flashing on their screens. Their phones rang and expecting a call from Reid or Rossi telling them that the same thing happened to their devices, they picked up. Regretting their action immediately, each agent had to pull the phone away from their ear as the sound of Pacman dying burst from the speakers. Glancing at the devices, they saw the same phrase appear on the screen before they went black and refused to turn on again.
"This chick is really starting to piss me off." Emily grumbled as she tossed the useless device back on the desk before opening the door to tell Morgan not to answer his phone.
I'll be pretty busy until Sunday so I hope this can hold you out until then!