one night stand | spencer reid

eighteen

stella's POV:

"he did not pick mccarty at random." spencer blurts from the other side of the room.

morgan raises his eyes to the team, directing his gaze away from the floor. "he didn't take the gut shot. why?"

i come to a sudden realization, and glance up at the team from my lap. "he wants to send a message. 'nobody takes credit for my work.' his ego won't allow it. he feels under-appreciated." i share, using my hands to emphasize my thoughts. it's a habit that i've picked up from spencer, who often uses his hands when he talks.

"yeah, that makes sense, but why did he not take the kill shot on his other victims?" prentiss asks.

derek's phone begins to ring, and he walks out. we all assume that it's penelope, with more information on our unsub.

"we know if the killer has no contact with his victims, he will contact the media." hotch informs.

JJ gives him a puzzled look. "but he hasn't contacted the media."

"he has contact with his victims. and there's only one way. the hospitals." derek says, walking back into the room, putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

-

i pile into a car with hotch, the lead detective, and spencer, as we head to one of the hospitals. spencer and i sit on opposite ends of the backseat, with hotch and the detective in the front.

"this could very well be hero homicide." hotch shares.

"what's that?" the lead detective asks, glancing over at hotch.

"the best known case was hospital nurse, richard angelo. he would inject toxins into his victims, then wait for them to crash so that he could run to the rescue and save them." spencer rambles. "he killed 25 people, and that's just what we know of."

"if he attacked them to save them, why'd he kill 25 people?" the detective asks as she pulls to a stop at a red light.

"wasn't very good at it." i mumble, while staring out the window at the buildings, watching people walk and talk down the sidewalk.

"we should start with Dr. Landman." hotch says, pulling out his phone to call the rest of the team.

-

i take my seat at the large conference table in the hospital, with emily on my left and spencer on my right.

"okay, courtesy of garcia," derek begins, pulling a piece of paper out of a fax machine. "landman was army, started out in MP school."

"there's the law enforcement piece." i blurt.

"well he was smart, got a degree on uncle sam, and ended up a doctor with special forces, and bounced around from hospital to hospital since his discharge in 2001." derek finishes, setting the paper he was holding down.

"has dr. landman been under any unusual strain?" hotch asks, turning towards a member of the hospital.

"last month, he was passed over for chief of surgery." she murmurs.

"let's get a warrant for his house. let's see if we find the weapon." hotch orders. derek and emily get up to go there, while JJ heads upstairs to speak with landman.

it is just hotch, spencer and i in the conference room, sorting through files and some surgeries that landman has performed.

-

eventually, hotch, spencer and i are huddled outside of the room where JJ and landman are having a heated conversation. landman was not happy with the allegations.