Fine Line [ spencer reid x reader ] ✔️

SIXTEEN

"Three nights ago outside of Reno, this car was hit by a tractor trailer," JJ starts. Spencer and Y/n take a quick seat next to one another, eyes glancing at the screen in front of them.

"Any survivors?" Morgan asks, giving Y/n and Spencer a small smile of recognition.

"The truck driver walked away unharmed. Jonathan and Rebecca Gallen, the passengers in the car, were DOA. When the local sheriff arrived at the scene, he noticed several things: no blood splatter inside the car. No seatbelt burns. No lacerations from the airbags."

"They were dead before the accident," Spencer murmurs, his brows knit together.

"The autopsy confirmed that and the cause of death," JJ says. "Blunt force head trauma and evidence of rape and torture to the woman."

Spencer sees Y/n shift slightly in her seat, and his right hand moves under the table to rest gently on hers, almost like reassurance. She gives him a side glance, her lips turned up slightly in the corners. Spencer tries to ignore the flutter of butterflies in his stomach when she laces their fingers together, focusing back on the conversation.

"The unsub wasn't very successful at hiding the fact that he murdered two people," Hotch says, raising his brows.

"There's a chance he has gotten away with it before," JJ says, disdain lacing her voice. "After I spoke to the sheriff, I had Garcia look into any similar accidents near the California-Nevada border." The pictures change on the screen. "She found two with a similar M.O. in the past couple of weeks. Both were couples in a car, hit by a tractor trailer."

"It's always a man and a woman stopped right in the middle of the road," Y/n says, her thumb absent-mindedly moving along Spencer's hand.

"It's always at night on a remote highway," Prentiss says, glancing down at the file.

"It can't be a coincidence the victim type and this very specific M.O. are the same in all three cases," Rossi agrees.

"Was Garcia able to find any connection between them?" Hotch asks.

"One thing they have in common is that they all disappeared for forty-eight hours prior to the accidents," JJ explains.

"We know what he does to his victims during that time," Rossi murmurs.

"We just need to figure out where he finds them. Wheels up in thirty."

•••

The team doesn't leave until morning, and Y/n sits next to Spencer by the bigger table on the plane, Hotch and Prentiss sitting across from them. JJ sits off to the side, some headphones on her stomach so the baby can't hear what the team is talking about. Rossi and Morgan sit off to the side, glancing through some files.

"What's he listening to?" Prentiss asks.

"Beethoven," JJ answers, grinning.

"Mmm, I personally preferred Mozart, myself," Spencer says, glancing down at the file in front of him. "But be careful to limit his exposure to one hour a day. Amniotic fluids have a tendency to amplify sound."

"Thanks for the reminder, doc," JJ teases.

"Okay, so all three crashes were on highways outside of Carson City, Lake Tahoe and Reno," Y/n changes the subject.

"All cities with a large and diverse transient population," Prentiss continues. "Not to mention the thousands of locals mixing with seasonal workers."

"An endless pool of victims to choose from," Rossi says.

"Rebecca Gallen was beaten badly." Hotch looks down at the autopsy report. "Ribs broken ante-mortem. He'd need time and privacy to do this."