It took a week.
Only a week for Mitchell Diaz's life to go down the drain.
It started out with the murders of two strangers in a city miles away. But once the BAU show up after the third murder occurs in her city, everything gets put together.
She...
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CHAPTER 96: SPARKS
MITCHELLWASWORRIEDABOUTSPENCER.
It had been a few weeks since the case involving Gideon. And Spencer had been a bit distracted ever since.
He was still getting over Gideon's death, everyone could see that.
Luckily, they haven't had any cases where they needed to travel, but he still was slow on his paperwork. And that was very not like Spencer.
He started staying late, and Mitchell assumed he was finishing his paperwork. But sometimes, the next morning, she would show up and he would be in the same outfit from the day before.
So when she arrived at work one morning to see him in a rumpled shirt and tie, she wasn't very surprised.
Mitchell noticed everyone in the conference room so she placed a cup of coffee down on Spencer's desk before joining everyone, who was staring at the news on the monitor,
"An explosion happened at a Beanery Brew house in Indianapolis earlier this morning." Penelope informed the team,
"First responders are reporting 6 deaths, 16 wounded." Hotch added,
On the screen, there was a man dragging a pregnant woman from the smoking building,
"Brave guy." JJ commented,
"Anyone claimed responsibility?" Derek asked,
Penelope shook her head, "Not yet."
"No, but Indianapolis P.D. believes it may be related to a bomb that went off in an elementary school last week." Hotch continued,
'Yeah. That was relatively low yield." Penelope pressed the button on the remote, which changed the video on the monitor to show the footage of the first bomb, "It claimed the life of Morton Truby. He was a custodian working graveyard shift. Authorities found traces of TNT."
"Until today they thought it was an isolated incident." Their team leader finished,
"Could this be another Boston or Oklahoma City?" Kate questioned,
"Beanery is a popular chain. Exactly the type of location a domestic terrorist would target." JJ stated,
"The unsub wants everyone looking over their shoulder." Dave commented,
"And we also shouldn't rule out a disgruntled employee or fundamental groups." Mitchell added, crossing her arms,
"At this point we can't rule anything out." Hotch grabbed their case files, "Let's move."
Everyone grabbed their bags and hastily made their way towards the elevator, Spencer swiping the coffee cup from his desk as he passed.
"TNT doesn't pack much bang for its buck." Derek commented as Hotch pressed the button for the elevator, "It'd be pretty hard to hide the amount needed to cause the damage to that coffee house."
"This feels like page 118." Spencer spoke and everyone stared at him in confusion, "'The anarchist cookbook'. 'TNT for dummies'." He listed books for building bombs, "The blast at the school seems rudimentary. It may have been the unsub's testing ground."
"The coffee house could indicate a drastic escalation." Dave stated,
"The book also teaches you to make Nitroglycerin, and a coffee shop could represent a steep learning curve." Spencer added,
'So this guy is either quick on his feet or both blasts were part of a sophisticated plan." JJ said,
"In that case, we can't be certain that the coffee house is this guy's finale." Kate finished for her,
"Yeah. Which is why the plane's been ready." Hotch said as the elevator doors opened, "We can be in Indianapolis in two hours."
They all squeezed into the elevator, and Mitchell was pressed up against Spencer, "Is this okay?" She asked him after felling him tense up,
He stared down at her before nodding and glancing towards the doors. The entire team stood there in silence, waiting for the elevator doors to slide open.
When they did, and everyone filed out, Spencer walked behind her, "Thank you... for the coffee..."
Mitchell nodded, giving him a kind smile, "Of course." She stared at the dark bags under his eyes, "Are you getting any sleep?"
Spencer didn't answer as they reached the SUVs, which brought them to the airstrip. She understood it wasn't something he wanted to discuss in front of the others.
Everyone took their seat and it wasn't long before the jet took off. They all studied their case files, and Mitchell was mentally going through the profile of terror bombers,
"This is interesting." Kate spoke up, breaking Mitchell's concentration, "The maintenance worker killed at the school was working late installing a new circuit panel. He wasn't supposed to be there."
"So the unsub may not have intended to kill anyone." Spencer stated from his spot on the couch next to Mitchell, "And if he canvassed the site beforehand, he would have anticipated the school being empty."
"Exactly."
"But with the coffee house, he struck first thing in the morning, when it would be packed." JJ added,
"Maximizing collateral damage." Derek commented,
"I don't like it. That's a pretty fast confidence boost."
"Successful bombs always have a practice run." Mitchell hummed, "Maybe the school was his."
"But what's his endgame?" Derek questioned, "Most bombers like the attention they get from playing God. They don't go dormant, they strike again."
"So will this guy." Kate stated,
"No one's claimed responsibility for either attack." David informed them, "That could point away from a fundamentalist or a fear driven offender."
"Could be a personal attack." Mitchell spoke up, "Went after a specific victim, didn't want to draw attention to himself so he chose to strike in public."
"We'll rely on divide and conquer." Hotch spoke up, "Victims, witnesses, and ballistics. See if we can find a pattern so we can prevent a third attack."
