Evening all, hope your all well. thank you all new followers and thank you for the review, guest viewer. it really means a lot, glad i can still surprise you even tho i'm now 15th chapter's in. There is a trigger warning for this chapter it has mentions of rape and violence, if not for you, this chapter can be skipped without you missing anything really as its a filer chapter to move the story for wards. happy reading :)

Chapter 15.

January 22nd

Rick's POV

Rick sat back in his chair and stared at Lilly's file, relaxing his eyes until the words blurred on the scatted pages, he had been stuck in his office, reading and re-reading the post-mortem report, since 7.30 this morning. Rick pushed the section containing the photographic record of the procedure futher to the back of the file, there wasn't one part of his brain that needed to see those images again, the first hand experience had been enough.

Rick let his head hang forward and closed his eyes, he was beyond tried and missing Lori, he hadn't had any free time lately to spend with her, being so busy with this case, even tho he kept hitting dead ends, his calls to the organized crime unit hadn't turned up anything on the drugs no missing prescriptions or stolen drug batches to chase up. Jane's interview with Lilly's family and friends had turned up nothing, she had been a ordinary girl living with her parents as well as working with them in their shop, all of her friends had said she was a happy, outgoing woman, there was no mention of a boyfriend in her life. Rick knew there would be no respite for the family, Lilly hadn't died of natural causes or been killed in some tragic accident, she had been viciously taken from the world, it wasn't something her family would get over. Rick opened his eyes, shock his head and pushed away from his desk. He needed a break.

Rick was sitting alone in the briefing room, staring at the floor-to-ceiling glass that separated him from the main office. The bottom third was frosted so all he could see was the shadowed bodies of his team wandering back and forth, only their heads in focus, no one looked in at him but he still felt observed, everyone was waiting for his lead.

"you ready for me?"

Rick looked up to see Spencer, their consultant forensic psychologist leaning against the glass door, for someone whose job entailed putting himself into the mind of some seriously disturbed individuals he had an oddly relaxed demeanor.

"sure, take a seat…. And shut the door," rick said.

Spencer sat down and began adjusting his seat; higher, lower, tripped back. "they can't afford decent chairs" he said all but fighting with the chair.

As rick watched the performance he thought it was pretty obvious why the vast majority of the office thought Spencer was a grade- a arse- wipe. "so what od you have for me, Spencer?" rick asked.

With an exaggerated sigh and a roll of his eyes Spencer gave up on the chair and took a blue ring binder out of his briefcase he pulled out several sheets of paper and with- out speaking slid them across the table. "well… the psychological and geographical profiles are really coming together, the second body has given me an excellent sense of the suspect's motivations.

"I assume, when you say the second body, you're referring to Lilly Chambler." Rick said, biting his tongue, already wishing this particular meeting was over. The sheer delight evident on Spencer's face wasn't right. "can you just run me through what you've got, spender?"

"absolutely, that's what I'm here for…. No problem." Spencer smiled, oblivious to rick's mood. "I've approached the profile with four aspects in mind. Firstly, the antecedent, meaning the fantasy or plan the suspect had before the act, and what triggered his activities on those days and not others. Secondly, the method and manner of the murder, I think that's self- explanatory. Thirdly, body disposal obviously we know he didn't transport his victims after their deaths, but that in itself is interesting and finally, post- offence behavior, is he following you? I mean to say, following the case, enjoying being part of such an exciting investigation." Spencer took a deep breath and sat back, he looked delighted by his own brilliance.

"this isn't my first profile briefing." Rick said.

"naturally…. I'll take you through the crime scenes and highlight where your man is speaking to you."

Rick decided to ignore the emphasis Spencer placed on 'your man and speaking to you' instead he looked down at the first sheet of paper and scanned the details printed in tight black ink. Espinosa, the first victim had been reduced to ten bullet points. Spencer began reading them out, "the fist victim was found at 14.00 hours at the edge of new cemetery; very significant."

"what? The time or the location?" crick asked.

"both Dr Martinez out the time of death in the early hours of the morning, so it's fair to say he likes to work at night… the cemetery itself may represent the suspect's mindset at the time of the attack. If this was his first victim… doubtful.. but if it was, the cemetery would be a logical choice."

Rick turned his chair so he could stare at the whiteboard at the end of the room, pictures and documents had been attached to it and interlinking arrows drawn on with a green marker pen. Somehow the chaos of the board helped him concentrate and absorb Spencer's assertions without having to absorb Spencer's manner as well. "go on."

"of course… he may not have killed like this before, but he will of have practiced I would of imagine that he started of small, scaring young women, that kind of thing nothing major, jumping out of brushes or following them home so they knew he was there." Spencer said.

"how long would you say he's been building up to this?" rick asked.

"years, five maybe more, as I say he would have started small."

Rick thought of all the unreported assaults or unsolved sexual attacks he had seen in his years of service. Any one of them could have been a starting point, a building block. "what are we talking about here Spencer, sociopath… psychopath what?"

"certainly not a sociopath the suspect will be above average, intelligence, organized ritualistic and functioning on all cylinders. Top of his game, you might say?" Spencer smiled, exposing two rows of straight bleached teeth.

"Jesus, Spencer try and rein in your weird- shit phrases, will you?" rick said, shaking his head. "Top of his game… unbelievable."

Spencer nodded but said nothing that was the trouble. The guy was so good at his job it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"what I want to emphasize here rick, is the suspect's desire for power, the attacks, the locations, even the murders themselves… they're all secondary."

"secondary" rick asked.

"yes the locations, through significant, are hardly discreet. The chamber's girl was even moved mid- attack, no doubt because of the alley's proximity to the general public. That's what I mean by power rick. Rape, though violent is rarely about sex, carrying out these attacks in built- up areas is the suspects way of demonstrating his superiority and dominance over not only his victims but everyone else, you included."

Rick felt the muscles in the back of his neck tighten. "just want I needed to hear… so what about the wrist wounds? What's that about?

"I couldn't say, although I would suggest that they are inextricably linked with his performance, during the rape, in my opinion he is able to perform sexually but only in a perfunctory way, meaning the excitement of the blood and rape would be enough to maintain his erection but he will be unable to climax, this could explain the throat wound he would go as far as he could and then the frustration of not being able to ejaculate would be so intense that he would have to do something to bring the attack to an end, he certainly wouldn't want the victim to witness his short comings, shall we say?"

Rick paled, aware that the image of Lilly's killer struggling to climax on top of her was going to stay with him for some time. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was coming next, but rick knew he had to ask. "there will be other's?"

"yes, without a doubt." Spencer said.

Rick had heard enough for now, he wanted to go home, so he could start teaching Lori how to use a gun, so he knew she would be able to look after herself when he wasn't around. "can we wrap this up and I'll go over your full report and come back to you."

"right, well it you have to go." Spencer sounded like a peeved child.

"yes, I do. Quick rundown if you?"

"fine, as far as I see it…"

"main points, Spencer just the main points."

"yes." Spencer looked down at his notes. "main points, excellent, geographical knowledge, lives and works locally, sexual inadequacies. Twenty- five to forty- five, white male, hunting within his own ethnic group. Above average height. Above average intelligence. Strong."