Hotch jumps out of the SUV as soon as they turn into the precinct's parking lot. Without even waiting for the car to be put in park, he is rushing into the bullpen, eyes flashing wild. Blackberry to ear, every local officer is diving out of his way, scared to get caught in the crossfire.
The rest of the team starts chasing after him, all with concerned looks on their faces. The bullpen becomes a flurry of activity once the newly printed crime scene photos were placed on the victim board.
"Ma'am this is now an official BAU case, two new bodies overnight with the same M.O. and signature. We're going to be all hands on deck here." He doesn't even wait for Strauss to respond before handing up the phone. Once his phone hit the table everyone found a chair around the tiny conference room. "Garcia, what have we got?"
Glancing nervously around the room, Garcia clears her throat and looks at her files on her computer. "Um, overnight off the side of a road, a couple, Evan Harvey and Nina Hale, were found dead. Nina with her, um, throat slashed with multiple stab wounds, and Evan with a single shot to the forehead. He also seems to have been beaten badly with a blunt object."
Taking a look at the crime scene photos, Reid leans forward with his eyes scrunched looking at the fine details. "The blunt object was most likely a car jack or tire iron. The car looks to have a flat tire."
"Unfortunate timing." Prentiss muttered, also leaning towards the picture. "What is that on Evan's face?"
"What was the last thing taken from the last victim?" Morgan asks, fumbling through the files trying to jog his memory.
"George Foyet's glasses were taken from him." Hotch gets out through clenched teeth.
Everyone takes a closer look, and hanging uncentered across his eyes are a pair of glasses. A pair of glasses that look slightly too small for the face they are currently sitting on.
"Yep, we're definitely facing the same killer. No possible way this is a copy cat." Rossi points out. "They never disclosed that the Reaper took something from his victims and then left them at the next crime scene."
Standing up and walking closer to the board, Reid adds in. "Plus, it's strange that he's held on to those glasses all this time. 10 years is a long time to lay in wait and not kill. Especially for someone as prolific as the Reaper."
"Which is why we need to jump on this as soon as possible. We need to find him, and we need to find him now." Hotch crosses his arms, his gaze never leaving the crime board. "Morgan, you and Reid go to the latest crime scene. Prentiss, you and JJ head over to the M.E. and see what you can find on our latest victims. Garcia stay here and run all you can on all the past Reaper killings, find the missing link that we aren't seeing. Dave, you and I will head over to talk to the only person who could probably give us any insight into who we are dealing with, George Foyet."
Hotch has both hands gripping hard against the steering wheel as they speed down the street on their way to the last known address for George Foyet. Rossi keeps glancing over at the Unit Chief, while also not so subtly holding on to the door handle to keep himself upright.
"Talk to me. What is going through that mind of yours?" Rossi asked, ever the calm voice.
Hotch's eyes shift slightly to the older agent. "Nothing Dave."
"That's bull and you know it. Because if nothing was going on, your hands wouldn't be pale from all the blood leaving them with how hard you are gripping the steering wheel, and we'd be going the speed limit, not 20 over." Feeling the car slow a bit, Rossi sags back in the passenger seat. "See, now be honest with me. What has gotten you so shaken?"
Sucking in a deep breath, he whispers. "I just – The Reaper is ruthless. Brutal. One of the worst serials I've ever dealt with. And now Shaunessy made it feel personal with that stupid deal. I need to protect her, Dave. The last time she was pregnant – "
"She was behind a desk. Now she's in the action." Rossi finishes for him, nodding his head in understanding. "Aaron, you have to do your best to separate your wife Emily from Agent Prentiss. You've done so well in the past cases, is this one all that different?"
"I'm scared that it will be."
"Have you talked to her about this?" Hotch bites his tongue and Rossi gives him a knowing look. "I thought not. You need to have this conversation with her. Because it's not going to be just this case you feel this way. It's going to be every single case. And that's when you're going to get sloppy and someone will get hurt. We have to do our best to do our jobs and trust our team to do their job as well. You can't wrap her up in bubble wrap. Even though I know that's what you wanted to do the minute that stick turned pink. For right now, know that she is safe. That's why you sent her to the M.E., right? As far away from the action as possible without letting her know that you're protecting her?"
Parking the car in the street outside George Foyet's house, Hotch just stares at him. "Am I that obvious?"
"What can I say, I know all." Smirking Rossi unbuckles his seatbelt. "Now let's see if this poor sap has anything helpful to tell us."
"Can you tell me what's going on?" JJ pressed as soon as the two of them were alone in the SUV. Buckling in her seatbelt, she stared at the brunette agent.
"I can't JJ." Emily started, buckling her seatbelt and starting the car.
"Bullshit."
"I really can't JJ. I don't know what is going on." Emily stops speaking for a minute, getting out on the road. Finally sighing, she says "One minute he's about to rip someone's head off, the next he's lying in my arms sobbing. I vaguely remember this case when he originally had it. We were just freshly married. Once they touched down from Boston, I remember him being very pissy for a couple of hours. Mad that they were sent away with the killer still on the loose. I think he still regrets leaving back then and not catching this son of a bitch. And now that he's the unit chief, he feels like it's his responsibility to put this guy behind bars, and with barely any leads,"
"And Strauss" JJ mumbles under her breath.
"He has all this weight on him that he doesn't know what to do with." Emily finishes. They both just sit in silence for a couple minutes, letting what Emily just said sink in. "I just don't know how to help him." She says lamely, putting the car in park as they made it to the hospital.
"We solve this case. That's how we help him." JJ said with finality. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she makes her way out of the car and starts walking towards the front door.
"Yeah." Emily whispers to herself, following the shorter blonde.
Hotch and Rossi slowly walk up the modest driveway, watching their steps to not twist their ankles on all of the cracked pieces of pavement. Making it up to the decrepit porch, the elder agent knocks on the door.
"George Foyet? FBI." The two wait with bated breath, but nothing comes from it. Rossi tries again, with the same results. Both of them wait around for a minute or two, hoping that someone will come to the door, but again all is still.
"I guess we'll wait in the car, he's probably out." Hotch mutters and starts making his way back to the SUV parked out on the street.
"You know this never happens on the cop tv shows." Rossi jokes as he walks behind the unit chief. "Every time they go to a witness's house, they're always there. It's the killer that is never present."
Hotch shoots Rossi a look over his shoulder. "Not really something to joke about right now."
"Oh come on, live a little. We need some levity or else we're all gonna drown with sadness."
"You've been spending a little too much time with Morgan and Garcia, haven't you?" Hotch raises his eyebrows at him.
"My cable is out, sue me." Rossi chuckles, glad to see that he got his worked up friend to crack a joke.
"Excuse me, can I help you?" A man walks up to them carrying a brown bag full of groceries.
Rossi jumps into agent mode. "Hi yes, we're looking for a George Foyet?"
The man chuckles self-deprecatingly looking down at himself. "That would be me. What can I do you for?"
Taking a look at the bags in his hands, Hotch sighs. "It might be best if we do this inside." He gestures to the front of the run down house. George takes the hint and starts meandering to the front door.
Taking out his keys, he fumbles with the lock for a second. "I have a feeling I know what this visit is about." Rossi can see the slight quiver in Foyet's throat. Neither agent says anything, following the thin man into his house. George heads towards the sparse kitchen, placing the bags on the small table before turning to the other two men. "It's about what happened 10 years ago, isn't it?"
Without leaving his gaze from the timid looking man, Hotch mutters. "Yes."
George runs a hand down his face before letting out a deprecating chuckle. "I already told you all what I remember back then. I'd really rather not bring it back up. I've picked my life back up, stayed under the radar. Why are you back now?"
"We're here to offer you protection." At those words, George froze, mouth dropped open. "The reaper is back, and we believe that you might be in grave danger being that you are the only survivor."
George's mouth still sat gaping open.
Hotch adds, sensing that George didn't really grasp what they were saying, "We'd suggest going into the witness protection program. To ensure your safety."
"I- Are you sure?" His eyes swung between each agent, looking for the truth.
"Yes." Hotch hands him a small card. "Here's my card. Please think it over and give us a call and we can help you set it up. Thank you for your time." With a slight nod, Hotch and Rossi make their way out of the house and back to the SUV.
"Do you think he'll take us up on the offer?" Rossi asks opening the passenger door.
Hotch, still staring at the residence responds back. "I'm not sure."
"As you can see, he took many brutal beatings with the tire iron. The markings on his hands indicate that he tried to fight back. As for her, only the slashes of the knife." The M.E. states to the two women, lifting up the sheets over the two bodies.
"When would you say time of death was?" Prentiss asks, subtly taking a step to the side of the body, fighting back the nausea that is rearing forward.
The M.E. goes back to her notes before answering. "I would put Evan at around 10 to 11 pm, and Nina to around 11 to midnight. Based on the angles of the stab wounds, Nina would have been looking at Evan as the killer shot him in the head."
"As she is bleeding out, she watches her boyfriend get shot in the head. For him it was a quick death, why was she bleeding out in agony?" JJ speculates, looking over at the slashed throat of Nina Hale.
"I thought with the other kills, the woman went first." Prentiss brings up from the side of the room where she is leaning against the cabinets. "What made Nina so different?"
"Well realistically speaking, she should have been the one to go first, based on the severity of the wounds and the rate of the blood in those wounds, she was stabbed before Evan was beaten with the tire iron." The M.E. pipes up from the foot on the gurney.
"Or maybe he's just getting sloppy. I mean it's been 10 years, he's older now." JJ says.
"Which makes the gun shot wound make sense. And Nina wasn't stabbed nearly as much as George Foyet was. Maybe he tires more easily." Prentiss adds in before turning to the M.E. "Thank you for your time."
She shakes the doctor's hand before quickly beelining it out of that room. Feeling the room start to tilt, she rushes her way to the nearest restroom and locks herself into a stall. She barely has time to kneel down before she feels her breakfast come up and into the toilet. She doesn't hear JJ enter until she hears the banging on the stall door.
"Emily are you okay?" JJ doesn't receive a verbal answer, all she hears is more retching. "I'm right here when you need me."
About 10 more minutes go by before Emily is able to pry herself off of the gross tile floor. She silently makes her way out of the stall and goes to the sink to rinse out her mouth and wash her face. JJ is watching her silently from her perch leaning against the wall.
"So, how far along are you?" JJ asks with a knowing smirk.
Emily looks at her through the mirror before sighing. "10 weeks tomorrow."
Without saying anything else, JJ hands her a mint and gestures to the exit of the bathroom.
"Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time." Morgan states as he looks at the car of Evan Harvey.
"Based off these tire treads, the Reaper left in a hurry. Do you think he might have been spooked from something." Reid asks, standing up from kneeling at the tire treads about 15 feet away from the taped off car.
"Maybe." Morgan calls back, staring at the blood smears on the car. "It seems like Evan inched his way back into the driver's seat, maybe to try to make a getaway away from the Reaper as he was assaulted with the tire iron." He follows the blood trail with his gloved finger, Reid walks up from behind him.
"But he never makes it fully into the seat, from the crime scene photos he is laying half in, half out of the car."
Taking a few steps away, Morgan runs the theories through his head. "Okay, so they break down on the side of the road, flat tire. Evan tells Nina he'll be just a second, and she stays in the passenger seat, seatbelt still on. Evan starts to try to get the tire off, and another car pulls up. The Reaper. What I don't understand is that Nina never got her seatbelt off, did she not hear the Reaper start to beat Evan with the tire iron?" As he speaks, he starts to take the gloves off his hands and starts making his way back to the SUV.
"Do you think maybe he stabs Nina before he starts to beat Evan with the tire iron? It makes sense on how she still has her seatbelt on and him never making it fully into the car." Reid speculates, removing his gloves, following closely behind the other agent.
"But wouldn't you scream if you start getting stabbed?" Morgan fires back, stepping into the drivers seat and turning the car on.
"Not if your boyfriend's life is threatened." Morgan gives Reid a look. "No, think about it. The Reaper pulls up, asks Evan if he would like some assistance. Leaves his headlights on, momentarily blinding Evan. Evan agrees, and the Reaper says he has tools in his trunk. Evan goes back to trying to get the tire off, and the Reaper heads to the passenger seat, he holds up his gun and says 'be quiet or I'll kill your boyfriend out there'. He then slashes her throat, stabs her a few times for good measure then makes his way back to Evan. Takes the tire iron from him and starts beating him with it. Evan feebly tries to get away, thinking if he gets back in the car he can drive away for help. He barely makes it into the drivers seat before seeing Nina's throat already slashed. The Reaper then shoots him in the head before heading back to Nina to continue to stab her."
They sit in silence, letting that theory sink in. Putting the car into gear Morgan looks over at the younger man, "we need to tell Hotch."
Um, hi? It's been way too long. I'll be completely honest, my hyperfixation over criminal minds ended about sometime last year. Hence me never continuing to post. But I'm here, I'm back and I'm determined to finish this story and this series. It's probably going to take a lot of time, I definitely won't be as quick at uploading as I used to be, but I promise to not drop this and then disappear for 2 years. Anyway, I really hope you are all still there and still loving this story. I truly thank you all for being on this journey with me. I'll see you in the next one.