one night stand | spencer reid

eighteen

"i just got informed that landman drives a two-seat red maserati." hotch mumbles from behind us.

"so if he's the shooter, he has to have a second vehicle." spencer says, slightly turning to hotch and i.

we hear landman say that he has an alibi when asked where he was at the time of mccarty's shooting. he said that he was speaking with another doctor in his office. she's down in the ER currently.

spencer and i turn to hotch. "stella, spencer, lets take a walk down to the ER."

as we are walking, we engage in small talk. "my guess is Dr. Pate is going to corroborate landman's alibi." i say while pulling open the door to the ER.

"you don't think landman's the shooter?" spencer asks, his head only slightly turning in my direction.

"richard angelo wanted to be a hero because in his everyday life he was a nobody. landman's a surgeon. he has power and recognition." hotch shares from behind us.

"yeah, but you know, surgeons are a different breed. they're the stars in their field, and landman is definitely not one of them." spencer retaliates. we all just look at each other and continue to walk towards Dr. Pate.

-

spencer, hotch, and i look around at the groaning patients and frantic nurses and doctors in the ER as we wait for Dr. Pate.

"at least, not for landman, and not in the O.R." hotch continues from our earlier conversation.

"the policemen and ER personnel are on the exact same 24-hour shift schedule." spencer points out.

"so the unsub wasn't shooting at the shift change because there are fewer cops on the street. he works the second shift in the emergency room. he gets his contact with the victims here." i whisper-shout, as to not alarm anyone running around us, but loud enough for hotch and spencer to hear.

just as hotch whips out his phone to alert the rest of the team, someone, maybe a nurse, projects her voice in hotch's direction. "sir, you can't use your cell phone in the hospital."

hotch quickly puts his phone away and heads over to her, and we all three pull out our badges in sync.

"excuse me for a minute." hotch begins, and the nurse steps out from behind the desk, so that she is face to face with us.

"we're FBI agents, and we believe that one of your staff members might be the sniper. now, the man that we are looking for works second shift, and he would've transferred from Arlington in the past 2 weeks." hotch states.

"we haven't hired any new personnel in 2 months." she exclaims, her eyes glancing between the 3 of us.

"are you sure?" i ask, making sure that we aren't wrong.

"yeah. look, i've got patients who need me-" she's cut off by hotch grabbing her arm.

"he's vain, rude, arrogant, he works out. he shows up to work late. he blames others for his mistakes, doesn't take responsibility for his behavior. all of his coworkers detest him." he exclaims as calmly as possible.

i watch as the nurse's face quickly turns fearful. "oh my god, it's phillip dowd. h-he picks up shifts at Arlington."

"is he here today?" i ask.

"oh my god." she begins to say, turning around in circles, looking for him. i gently grab her by the shoulders.

"ma'am, your patients need you calm. now, tell me, is dowd working today?" i ask calmly, staring her directly in the eyes.