As she walked into the bullpen, JJ felt her stomach roll. She had a feeling this was going to be a bad one, a case that haunted them for ages and ages and ages. What had bothered her the most, however, and convinced her that they had to take the case was the in-your-face victimology.
Three female police officers.
She hadn’t had to look much past that to have her convinced, but she had. Presenting the case to the team would take more than their dedication to their profession to convince them it was right up their alley. And she’d found that factor as she went through the file.
Her stride was purposeful as she made her way up the stairs to Hotch’s office and she saw the team start putting things away, preparing to go to the conference room, setting ready bags on desks so they were quickly accessible when they had to leave. JJ knew she looked grim and knew that the urgency showed in her face. She was glad the team could understand before anyone had to say anything.
She knocked on Hotch’s door. “Sir, you’re going to want to see this one.”
Much like the rest of the team Hotch’s face hardened when he met her eyes. He moved quickly, leaving whatever he was doing to follow her to the conference room, taking the proffered file on the way.
The team was silent as they sat around the conference table, no jokes, no laughter, just mental preparation for what they could potentially be seeing. JJ passed files around, sliding Emily’s and Morgan’s across the table to them.
“Tucson, Arizona has a serial cop killer.”
Morgan was the first one on full alert. “A what?”
“Three female police officers have turned up dead in the last two and a half months,” JJ began, picking up the remote for the flat screen television at the front of the room. She brought up the pictures of the three victims.
“Reese Joshlynn, 31, Erica Raghnall, 26 and Michelle Pegeen, 29, sex crimes, gang unit and street officer respectively. All went missing upwards of a week before their bodies were found.”
“This can’t be easy on the city,” Morrow spoke up.
“Zoe Duyen, 32, went missing yesterday,” JJ said.
Hotch didn’t need to hear anymore. “We’re on the plane in half an hour.”
The team scattered.
Emily stopped by JJ’s office on her way to the tarmac. Her head was reeling with the information and the pictures and while she’d love to go to Aaron, she had a feeling that this was going to grate on them all. The blond sat at her desk, head in her hands.
“Female officers.”
JJ looked up and sighed. “Yeah.”
“You don’t think…”
“With how involved we get, it’s possible,” JJ finished.
Emily sighed. “Aaron’s going to flip.”
“How do we know he’s not just sticking to Tucson?”
“We don’t,” the brunette replied.
“Then maybe that’s something we can run with,” JJ said.
But for how long? If their unsub was targeting female law enforcement agents, without regard to their unit or department, what was to say that one of the BAU women wasn’t going to be on his victim list, especially with how involved they got in their investigations. And JJ was always on television trying to calm wide-spread panic during their cases.
“Humouring and handling,” Emily said suddenly, crossing her arms over her chest. “We can take care of ourselves.”
“Of course we can,” JJ agreed with a small smile.
But even so, they both knew what they were about to get into could pull them all apart at their strongest seams.
“I think I envy Pen,” JJ said as she grabbed her ready bag.
Emily nodded her agreement as both women made their way to the elevator. “I think I do too.”
Forty-five minutes later, they were up in the air, files spread around all six of them, laptop open on the table.
“I’m stating the obvious here,” Emily spoke up, “But it looks like he doesn’t like women in law enforcement. The way he’s dressed these women speaks to someone who is very traditional in his beliefs, feels that women should stick to the 1950s idyllic model.”
“What’s the significance of a feather duster, a frying pan and a pillow case?” Morrow asked, pointing to three pictures. “There’s no consistency.”
“Not in cause of death either,” Reid murmured. “Reese Joshlynn choked to death, Erica Raghnall died of blunt force trauma and Michelle Pegeen was suffocated.”
“Why?” JJ asked. “Why be so inconsistent with the way he kills them?”
“To cover his tracks?” Emily theorized. “The only connection between these women is that they’re Tucson police officers.”
“Why choose these women?” Morgan agreed.
“Better question, how did he get police officers to go with him?” Aaron inquired.
“Ruse,” Morrow said immediately. “If I was in there shoes, I’d have to think someone was in trouble or something to follow a stranger.”
“Play on the nature of the officer,” Emily concurred. “A missing kid, a wounded neighbour… he could be using any number of things.”
“They were all off duty. Filed as missing because they missed work,” Morgan said.
“Why law enforcement?” JJ asked. “There are tonnes of women that don’t follow the ideal model, so why did he specifically chose women that worked in the police?”
“A very good question, JJ,” Aaron said. “A very good question.”
Detective Nick Shaw rocked back on his heels as the small private jet landed. He was anxious to meet the Behavioural Analysis Unit and even more anxious to get on the streets trying to catch this guy. He’d heard from another officer that they’d helped out a hundred different precincts when they were in a jam and if he wanted some serious help, the BAU was the way to go. The man had sung the unit’s praises and, after doing some research and presenting the idea to his captain, Nick had placed a call to Agent Jennifer Jareau.
He’d been more than happy when she’d responded with the affirmative, but he still wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. They were the FBI after all and there were stereotypes involved with government agencies. Nick had been fortunate enough to have never handed a case off to the Arizona bureau. He’d heard from other members of his unit that they were glory-seekers. But the friend that had suggested the BAU had said that this was a unit that didn’t want the credit. They just wanted the guy.
Nick watched the people file off the plane. A short blond came out first, looking nervous but confident as she swung her bag over her shoulder. A tall gangly man came next and Nick had the sudden impression that the man was a graduate tag-along. He stopped a few feet away from the end of the stairs, separate from the first woman. Then came a built African-American man, head bald, bag swung over his shoulder. To Nick’s surprise, the man was smiling, saying something to the next woman that came out, another blond professional.
She was the one who made her way towards him when she spotted him. He assumed it was Agent Jareau. As she approached, he watched the last two file out, a raven-haired woman and a dark haired man. The latter was what Nick had expected from the FBI, not the other mostly business casual dressed agents.
“Detective Shaw?”
Agent Jareau was a diminuitive woman, but Nick got the strong impression that it most often worked in her favour. And he’d be blind not to notice her attractiveness. “Welcome to Tucson. I wish it was under better circumstances.”
“So do I,” she agreed. “This is the rest of the team, Special Agent In Charge Aaron Hotchner.”
Nick’s FBI stereotype.
“Superivisory Special Agents Derek Morgan.”
African-American muscle.
“Jane Morrow.”
Nervous Blondie.
“Emily Prentiss.”
Stoic, intelligent brunette.
“And Dr Spencer Reid.”
Graduate Student. Nick raised an eyebrow. “Doctor?”
“Our expert in everything,” Hotchner said. “Where can we start?”
Nick had the impression that he’d like Hotchner’s straight forward manner even if the man seemed to separate himself. Well, except for the brunette. He stood pretty darn close to her for colleagues. “The precinct. I’ve got you guys a room in there that’s all yours. We had the guys pull all of the information we could find on the victims and their families, not to mention autopsy reports and any other case paraphernalia.”
“You’re the lead detective on the case?” Jareau asked.
“Since the beginning,” Nick agreed.
“I’ll ride with you if that’s okay?” she asked with a dazzling smile.
She was already his hero for accepting their case. “Fine with me.”
“Perfect. I want to talk to you about how we’re going to handle the media and the panic.”
And she was becoming more and more his hero every second. The media had been a circus and they’d been unable to control the wide-spread of the news.
“We’d also like to talk to those that were close to all three victims,” Morgan spoke up. “Get an idea if these women were specifically targeted. Preferably the people that reported them missing.”
“I’ll get my guys on it as soon as we’re on the road,” Nick agreed. He and Jareau split from the rest of the group, the others heading to two FBI-provided Tahoes off to the side of the tarmac. He turned to the blond woman. “I can’t thank you enough for coming.”
She smiled. “I’m just glad we’re not running into resistance.”
“You will,” he warned her. “Some of the guys aren’t exactly sold on this whole profiling thing. But I’ve looked into some of the work you guys have done. It’s pretty impressive.”
“They’re a good team,” Jareau agreed as she pulled open the passenger’s side of his car.
“And your Agent Reid is really a doctor?”
“Three Ph.Ds,” Jareau responded. “IQ of 187.”
Nick whistled. “Wow.”
Jareau nodded. “What can you tell me about the media coverage for the case?”