Read my Lips
Chapter 27
"This is the guy?," Rossi asked. "I mean we did profile him as a doctor and a textbook narcissist but…"
From his tone, it was clear that Rossi was skeptical about the validity of their current suspect. They'd followed flimsier leads before. But this one was pointing towards a well known plastic surgeon and reality television star. If that wasn't strange enough, the man lived on the other side of the country from where the kidnapped women were being held. There was no evidence to suggest that the plastic surgeon to the stars had even been to North Carolina recently, let alone kidnapped a dozen women there.
Still, the evidence Penelope found couldn't be denied. Eliana was dosed with a high concentration of Marinol, a drug that was typically used to relieve the nausea and vomiting caused by cancer treatments. Penelope and Kevin dug through a million miles of electronic pharmaceutical order reports. They kept going until they found a medical practice that was ordering Marinol when they shouldn't be. A plastic surgeon's office wouldn't need drugs to combat the effects of chemo. And they certainly didn't need as much as they were ordering.
"If he isn't our unsub, he knows who the unsub is," Morgan countered. "And he may be the one responsible for the murders happening in LA. Each of those women were killed almost immediately after the women here were taken. The timing can't be a coincidence."
"You think there's even a possibility that it could be one unsub doing all this?," Spencer asked. He didn't think it was likely. The timing alone spoke to two different unsubs, even without the other evidence. "There's two completely different signatures. He's like Ariel Castro on the east coast and Josef Mengele on the west."
"Let me see that," Derek requested, taking the laptop from Kevin's hands before he approached Eliana. She was curled up in a chair, wrapped in the fluffy hotel bedspread that she drug down the hall to Rossi's room when Derek rousted her and Spencer out of bed. The large white blanket almost completely engulfed her. The only parts of that were visible were her bruised face and the tips of her toes. "Does he look familiar to you?," Derek asked, turning the laptop towards her so she could view the picture of the man who they believed might be responsible for dozens of grisly murders.
Eliana snaked her hand out from under her blanket burrito, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she carefully studied the picture. "He was wearing a mask," she explained. "Do you have a picture of this guy without his clothes on? I got a good look at… you know… the rest of him." There was an awkward silence in the room as Derek shook his head. They might be able to find a picture of Dr. Famous without a shirt on. But finding one of his naked groin might prove to be a little more challenging. Eliana slipped her hand back under the blanket, pulling it tighter around her body. "I'm sorry, I wish I was more helpful," she lamented.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for," Derek assured her. She not only got them the only lead they managed to dig up so far, she did one better. She saved herself by escaping from the monster's lair.
The room was quiet for a moment as everyone considered the new information in their minds. It took Prentiss a moment to realize that as their heads popped up, everyone seemed to be looking at her. She was the leader now, not Hotch. They were waiting for her to make the call.
"We haven't been invited to California," she admitted. "But since this is part of an active investigation, I think I can justify our presence there." She glanced around the room. It was almost midnight. The rest of her team looked as exhausted as she felt. Even if they flew to California in the middle of the night, they wouldn't be able to hit the ground running until the morning anyway. "Let's get some sleep. Wheels up at seven?" Prentiss glanced at Rossi, relieved when she got his nod of approval. The group dispersed slowly, some of them pairing off to discuss the case a little more as they shuffled off to their rooms.
Even on a private jet, the flight from California took a few hours. The team spent that time learning everything they could about Dr. Will Reynolds, plastic surgeon to the stars. Kevin and Penelope already dug through the background of every single one of his employees with a fine tooth comb. Most of them were women. And none of the men even came close to fitting their profile. Unfortunately, all of this meant that the handsome doctor himself was still their main suspect. And the thought of it was already giving Prentiss a stress headache. Will Reynolds was the absolute worst kind of unsub. He was rich, which meant that he had the financial capability to hide behind expensive lawyers. And he was famous, which meant that as soon as the press caught wind of what was happening, there was going to be a full on media circus. Overeager reporters would interfere with the investigation. In some cases, they even stole or tampered with evidence.
"If we want anything to stick, we're going to have to catch him in the act," Prentiss said, leaning forward and snapping the lid of her laptop closed. "It's the only way." All the circumstantial evidence in the world wouldn't hold up in court. Not with the kind of lawyers the plastic surgeon to the stars could afford.
"Every disappearance in LA happened within four days after one of the North Carolina kidnappings. He keeps them alive for twenty four to forty eight hours before he kills them," Spencer said. He paused, his eyes flicking towards Eliana's sleeping form. She was curled up on one of the narrow sofas, covered in one of the thin airplane blankets. "So we're still within his window."
"Tailing him is our best option," Derek agreed. "We may be able to figure out where he's holding these women during his kill window. And if we get really lucky, we'll catch him while he's luring in his next victim."
Prentiss nodded. Given the circumstances, they couldn't bring him in for questioning without evidence. And the best way to get that was to tail him and hope to catch him in the act. Local law enforcement wasn't aware of their presence in the area. But the BAU had an advantage they didn't usually have. Aleksander was a high ranking army general. And he had no qualms about calling in favors in the way of vehicles, extra men, and the ability to stay at and land their jet at the LA air force base. Once Eliana was safely deposited in an on base military housing unit and left with not just one but two personal guards outside her door, they were able to get their surveillance mission on track fairly quickly.
Dr. Will Reynolds was easy to find. And it wasn't hard for the BAU to blend in with the paparazzi that were already following him around and waiting outside his home. JJ and Rossi were stationed at his house. Morgan left with some of Aleksander's borrowed muscle to sit outside Dr. Reynolds's fancy medical practice. Kevin stayed at the air force base to coordinate with Penelope and relay everything she found back to the team in real time. It was Prentiss and Reid that were actually following the suspect himself. But so far, the only criminal behavior they'd witnessed was the obscene amount of money he was spending on clothes and shoes.
"How much do you think those shoes cost?," Prentiss asked. She was familiar with designer labels. Her mother didn't wear anything that wasn't high quality.
"Fifteen hundred and eighty five dollars," Reid chirped. Prentiss spun around in her seat, raising her eyebrow at him as she asked how he knew the exact number. Reid knew a lot, but she didn't think the exact price of a pair of designer men's loafers was part of his mental encyclopedia. "I googled it," he admitted, flipping the screen of his phone towards her.
"Arrest him for that," Aleksander suggested, gesturing towards the very well shod man they were watching from inside their air conditioned SUV. Prentiss laughed and shook her head. During their surveillance mission, the only thing so far that she was counting as a win was that the open hostility between Reid and Eliana's father had ceased.
"Look!," Reid barked, leaning forward from the backset and pointing out the tinted windshield. Ahead of them, Will Reynolds was lingering near a food truck that sold coffee and high end baked goods. But he wasn't ordering anything to eat or drink. It was one of the truck's customers that had caught his interest, a petite brunette that looked to be in her mid twenties. Her dark hair caught the light and shone as she tossed it back over her shoulders. She was holding the inevitable venti soy latte, dressed in the cliche overly trendy way that young women in LA tended to favor. Her jeans were so distressed that it made wearing pants at all seem pointless. Her freshly augmented breasts jutted out from her chest, straining against the stretchy fabric of her crop top. Whatever Will Reynolds was saying to her was making her laugh.
Reid felt a chill run up his spine when the young woman reached over and touched Dr. Will's arm. On one hand, he was terrified for the girl. But on the other, he was eager to finally catch their unsub at something other than having too much money and bad taste in shoes. The vehicle filled with nervous anticipation as they watched their suspect lure his latest victim in for the kill. He was handsome, rich, and famous. Plus, he was a plastic surgeon, which was like LA's version of royalty. It wouldn't take much more than a few charming words for him to talk any of these young aspiring models back to his penthouse apartment.
As Reid watched, another attractive young woman approached the good doctor and his companion. This one was slightly taller than the first, with short cropped blonde hair. It was then that something unexpected happened. The blonde girl wrapped her arm around the brunette and kissed her. They tangled up their tongues, making a slight scene on the sidewalk near the coffee truck while Dr. Hollywood looked on in confusion. When they were done, the brunette with the fake breasts turned and began to laugh at him.
"Did you really think you could pick me up just like that?," the girl asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Even if I was going to sleep with a man, it wouldn't be one with gray pubes." Her friend laughed as they twined their hands together. And the two girls mocked him again as they headed off down the sidewalk, calling him Dr. McCreepy.
Dr. Will Reynolds stuffed his hands in his pockets, watching the girls as they disappeared into the slowly moving crowd. To the average bystander, he didn't appear upset by the encounter. His stance was casual, as if nothing had happened. But as he began to draw closer to their SUV, Reid could see a vein bulging on the side of his neck. Spencer reached for the door, cracking his window just enough that he was able to hear what the good doctor was grumbling under his breath as he passed by their SUV.
"I'll cut your feet into pieces and feed them to the fucking seagulls," he hissed. "And I saw your name on your debit card when you used it to pay for your coffee, you stupid little cunt."
If there was any question left in their minds as to whether or not they found the man that was responsible for at least the California murders, that answered it. While Aleksander kept a careful distance behind Reynolds' black escalade, Reid and Prentiss called the rest of their team with an update of what they just heard and witnessed. If he was any other suspect, they would have already arrested him. But as it was, they were still locked into their plan of catching him in the act.
The sun began to sink lower in the sky as they followed the dark cadillac out of the city. He drove for some time on the highway before taking an exit that Reid knew would lead them towards a more secluded, wooded area. The lights of LA gave way to mature redwood trees on either side of the hilly side road he was leading them down. Without as many cars around, they were forced to let him actually get out of sight. Not having eyes on him made all of them anxious. And though Reid knew it was technically illegal, he was starting to wish they'd planted a tracking device in his car.
As they rounded the next curve, they nearly hit him. His escalade was stopped on the side of the road, at the top of a dirt and gravel drive that led into the woods. Aleksander kept driving until they were out of sight before he eased the vehicle over and turned around. They got as close as they dared, pulling over onto the shoulder and exiting the car.
Reid pulled his gun out, pointing it ahead of him as they eased their way through the woods in the direction they saw Dr. Reynolds take. Reid was worried that the man might have driven further into the woods than they would be able to walk. But a few moments later, he was happy to find that his fears were unfounded. His fancy SUV was parked outside a cabin. The building was a large A frame, the kind that was probably built to serve as a family vacation home or a weekend retreat. From the size, Reid guessed there were at least three bedrooms inside. And he could see small rectangular windows along the foundation, which meant it also had a basement. If all his years in the BAU taught him one thing it was that nothing good happened in basements.
The lights were on inside the cabin. And the light outside was dimming, giving them the perfect vantage point to watch him without being spotted.
"He might already have some poor woman tied up in there," Aleksander whispered.
Reid hesitated a moment before he replied. He wasn't eager to start another argument with Eliana's father. But he doubted there was a woman in Will Reynolds' cabin. "He wouldn't have been out hunting earlier if he already had what he wanted inside," Reid explained. To his relief, Aleksander simply nodded.
Reid glanced at Prentiss, ticking his head towards the cabin. "I'm going to take a closer look," he whispered.
"Don't get too close," she warned. "If he sees you, it's over."
Reid nodded before he started to move slowly through the treeline. He moved parallel to the house. Once he reached the backyard, he began to creep up closer. A million warnings flashed through his mind. This could be a trap. The man inside might be Casanova. Maybe he set all this up to lure me here and kill me. Despite his reservations, Reid kept moving until he was within arms reach of the cabin. He lifted himself up onto his tiptoes and peered in the window. The sight inside almost sent him reeling backwards onto his ass. Dr. Will Reynolds was stark naked. And the only thing separating him and Reid was a thin pane of glass.
Spencer collected himself and rose back up onto the toes of his converse sneakers. Dr. Will was pacing back and forth across the tastefully decorated room talking to someone on the phone. His naked body was covered with a thin sheen of sweat and his erection was jutting out in front of him like a swollen flagpole. Spencer pulled his phone out of his pocket. Feeling like a major peeping tom creep, he quickly snapped a few pictures of the man in his birthday suit. Eliana might not be able to identify Casanova's face, but she could tell them from these photos if this was the man that hurt her or not.
As Spencer was sliding his phone back into his pocket, suddenly the man inside the cabin started screaming full force. Spencer almost pissed himself as he fumbled for his gun. He was prepared to burst inside and save whoever the crazy killer was hollering at. But when he looked in the window, he realized the man was screaming at his own reflection in the mirror.
"Goddamn you Casanova!," he screamed. "You let one of your little sluts get away. And now we're both fucked!"
