EMILY AND I WERE SLOWLY FALLING INTO A ROUTINE. Key word: slowly. I still find it weird I get to boss around the people I've worked with for almost a decade. We're lucky to have a team like them. I know I wouldn't want to lead any other group of people.
Emily and I were at the office late tonight. Rosie was having a sleepover with Penelope. It warms my heart to know they're getting along so well. I had a feeling they would.
I picked up my head to see Emily staring at me. Her eyes were hungry.
I knew what this meant.
Emily had a thing for sex in places where someone could walk in. It was something I never imagined her liking but after we've done it quite a few times...I've come to love it. It's exhilarating.
I raised my eyebrows and she smirked. We've been together so long we don't have to say words. Our faces say it all.
With that, she got up and locked the door and shut the blinds. I stood up and walked around my desk. She stalked over to me and put her arms on my cheeks instantly. Her lips were on mine in the matter of seconds.
Since we've been unit chiefs, our sex life has been a bit different. In a way, it's been more fun. Office sex is pretty fun if I do say so myself.
She flipped herself around and sat on my desk. I straddled her. Our lips didn't break contact once.
She started unbuttoning my blouse and as soon as my bra was exposed, she latched her lips on my skin. I held the back of her head and let out a soft moan.
The thing was, we couldn't be loud. That was the only downside.
I got off of her and pulled her pants down just enough to expose her black lace panties. I smiled at the sight.
I moved them to the side and started swirling my finger around her core. The contact caused her head to fall back. I love seeing the affect I have on her.
After playing with my fingers, I moved on to my mouth. I latched my tongue on her core and she began to squirm.
Her hands became laced in my hair as I was working. I could tell she was trying so hard to stay quiet. I lifted my eyes up to see her biting her lip. This only seemed to encourage me.
I began to swirl my tongue around faster and she was coming undone in the matter of seconds. Her high hit her quite hard. Her hips were bucking and her hands were pulling at my hair.
I kept going until she was finished. When I removed my face from between her legs, I came up to her level and kissed her.
"That was fun." I let out with a smirk.
She was still breathing hard.
"Yeah." She strained out.
I helped clean her up and we headed home for the night.
Never a dull moment here.
—
As soon as we got into the office, Penelope had a case for us.
Spencer was supposed to be back today. His mom was supposed to be in a clinical trial for Alzheimers but he pulled her out of it. She's now living with him at his apartment.
Emily, Rossi and I were making our way to the conference room.
"Isn't Spencer supposed to back today?" Rossi asked us.
"He's adjusting to having his mom around, but, yeah, he should be here by now." Emily replied.
I let out a sigh. "Let's do this."
The team sat down while Emily and I stood around the table. We waited for Penelope to get started. This case is a rough one. Aren't they all?
"Palm Springs, California. Playground to Hollywood, currently a horror scene. Enter one male torso, unidentifiable. If it wasn't for a woman who had some car trouble, no one would have ever even found the body. And the coroner on site said the dismemberment probably happened postmortem." Penelope started.
"Now, the 2004 torso murders here in DC are still unsolved." Emily spoke.
"We profiled the unsub in that case, removed the body parts as a forensic countermeasure to prevent I.D.ing the victims. We figure he must have gotten locked up on another case." Rossi added.
"Now he may be back and taunting us. Any potential victims on the local missing persons lists?" JJ asked.
"So far there's been no reports of a missing male there in the last month." Pen replied.
"So, no missing persons and a chopped up body we can't identify. Is Robert Durst in town?" Tara asked.
In walks Spencer with an answer. "Nope, he's serving seven years on a weapons charge. Sorry, I'm late guys. Traffic was bad." He said. I smiled and nodded at him.
"Any I.D. on the torso victim?" Emily asked.
"Uh, they don't have enough of him to do a query with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Database." Pen replied. Of course not.
"He made a real effort to pull off permanent concealment." JJ added.
"Well, that could indicate a known link between the unsub and the victim." Tara said.
"Or he hoped to hide the fact that a killer had just arrived in town." Stephen spoke.
"It strikes me that he must be familiar with the area. I mean, you don't murder someone out in the desert and then bring the body back into a populated area." I said and pulled up the map.
"So the unsub was skilled enough to hunt, kill, dismember, and dispose of his victims all within city limits." Spencer spoke.
"And escape without being seen." Luke added.
"And his tradecraft was on point, too. He brought an effective cutting tool and had a secure location of vehicle to do the deed." Stephen said.
"That kind of planning could indicate he's been fantasizing about something like this for quite a while." Tara continued.
"And if the reality didn't live up to the fantasy, he'll keep at it until he gets it right. Wheels up in 30." Emily said.
Everyone packed up their things and went to their desks. I went to go talk to Spencer as he was making coffee.
"Hey, is everything good?" I asked sincerely.
"Yeah, I'm good. I'm a little frazzled." He replied honestly.
"How's your mom? You got your hands full I'm sure." I let out.
"I finally found an in-home nurse that knows what she's doing. It's just we've had a little trouble coordinating our schedules." He replied.
"Do you think you should be there to help ease the transition?" I asked. I know this job can be demanding but family always comes first.
"No, I think it's important that my mom learns to rely on Nurse Campbell." Spencer replied.
I tilted my head. "She's your mother. If you need more time, take it."
"Oh, all that I need is a comprehensive plan to help me balance being at home with her and doing my work here." He replied. Exactly what I'm saying.
"Then you should take the time to do that."
"That's just the thing. By distracting my conscious mind with work, it will allow my subconscious mind to form a plan at roughly 10 billion times the speed." Spencer said and gave his signature tight lipped smiled before walking off. He is one strange man but I love him for it.
—
We talked more about this on the jet. Garcia beeped in to give us information.
"The victim in the dumpster was Paul Mastriano. 28 year old real estate agent. When he didn't come and pick his daughter up and take her to school yesterday morning, his ex-wife immediately contacted the Palm Springs Police Department. I'm sending you the deets now."
"So we can rule out the DC torso case. He only killed prostitutes." I spoke. That's good, at least. "How did the ex-wife I.D. this victim?"
"She had his DNA profile when they did a genealogy study together before they broke up last August."
"So they were married seven years, had a six year old daughter. Did the wife say why they divorced?" JJ asked.
"No, but let me look at the records...Well, he had a domestic abuse complaint and two DUI's last year."
"Could the wife have had something to do with the murder? Didn't your buddy Judd Ray barely survive a hit his wife put on him?" Luke asked Rossi.
"Yeah, she hired a hit man. But this, I mean, I've had cases where husbands dismembered their wives, but rarely is it the other way around." Rossi replied.
"She came in to I.D. him. In those cases, the guilty spouse didn't want law enforcement to know that their other half was dead." JJ added.
"It says here he was last seen at a strip club about a mile away from where his body was found." Stephen pointed out.
"Well, a lot of creeps and criminals around a place like that." Tara let out.
"We'll have to check that out." Emily replied.
"The story's blowing up on him. This guy's gotta know we found the body." Luke said.
"It could cause him to accelerate." Spencer added.
"Penelope, any similar cases in the area?" Emily asked.
"Well, I can check VICAP and neighboring states." She paused and typed. Her face fell. "Jeepers. Another body, and by body I mean torso, was just found 10 blocks from the original one."
Yeah, he's accelerating.
"Was it found in a dumpster?" JJ asked.
"Uh, no. Pedestrian spotted it in a parking lot."
"It could be an acceleration, or the unsub was interrupted. We are 20 minutes out. Notify Chief Bailor to leave the body and crime scene undisturbed until we get there." I said to Pen.
"Consider it done." She replied and hung up. I then turned my attention to the rest of the group.
"JJ, why don't you, Tara and Luke go to the newest disposal site. Dave, Stephen, find out what you can about the first victim from the club. Emily, Spencer and I will go to the Palm Springs P.D. and talk to the chief. He's got his hands full." I instructed. They all nodded.
Let's get to work.
—
Emily, Spencer and I arrived at the station where Bailor met us outside. He lost members of the department in this mess.
"We're very sorry about the officers you lost." Emily said sincerely.
"Worst thing in the department's history. But right now we have to focus on this case. I've got a conference room set up for you right over with everything we've got so far." He replied.
"Any I.D. on the second victim yet?" I asked.
"No. But I've got 50,000 residents worried we have a serial killer on our hands." He replied and showed us a paper. Yeah, this is rough.
Emily peered over to the room next to us. "Is that the first victim's ex-wife and daughter?"
He nodded slowly. "Madison was supposed to see her dad yesterday."
"Do you mind if we talk to them?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"Thank you." I replied.
The three of us walked into the room. I smiled and waved at Madison.
"Oh, if you're from social services, I haven't told her yet." The mother gritted. Oh, lovely.
"Are you gonna take me to my daddy now?" Madison asked.
"No, not yet, sweetheart." Emily said to her and then turned back to the mother. "Actually, we are from the FBI."
"What's FBI?" Madison asked.
Spencer knew what to do. "Whoa! That's a cool doll. What's her name?" He asked and bent down to her level.
"Sally. She has the same hair as you." She told her. He kinda did aside from Sally's hair being red.
"Do you mind if my colleague, Dr. Reid, takes Madison to get a snack so we can talk?" I asked the mother. She nodded and turned to the child.
"Maddie, you be a good girl and you get something nice and you come right back, okay?" She said and stroked her little girls' head.
"Yes, mommy." She said and stood up.
Spencer and her walked out and Emily and I sat down. The woman handed us a framed picture.
"That's what he looked like. Paul and I were happy then." She choked out.
"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Mastriano." Emily said sincerely.
The woman was crying. "Thank you. I mean, I always thought Paul's drinking would kill him, but I didn't think it would be like this."
"Did he typically go drinking with anyone in particular?" I asked.
"No. He always drank alone. I mean, that's how bad it was." She let out and took a deep breath. "How am I gonna tell Maddie?" She sobbed.
It was heartbreaking to see.
—
We got an I.D. on the other victim. Spencer was telling us and Bailor now.
"The second victim is Brent Miller, date of birth, May 15, 1982. I asked Garcia to find out what she can about him."
"How'd they make the I.D.?" Bailor asked.
"Oh, he had an ICM. Internal Cardiac Monitor with a transmitter linked to the patient's medical file." Spencer explained. That was convenient for us.
"Our agents are headed over to the coroner's to see if he's determined an official cause of death." I added.
Just then, Spencer got a call from Garcia.
"Okay, there's no connection between the victims, and there doesn't seem to be anything on Brent Miller. He managed Downtown Bagels. He has no criminal record. He has no DMV infractions."
"Any family in the area?" Emily asked.
"Mm. Never married, no kids. Uh, he did go through a recent breakup, so his credit card receipts have quite the bar tabs."
Spencer looked like he realized something. "The first victim, Paul Mastriano, went though a divorce a few months ago. Garcia, do you have any information on Brent's relationship?"
"Uh, according to social media- ouch. His girlfriend of 3 years just moved to Alaska with her new beau last month."
"You think that's significant?" Bailor asked. Yeah, id say.
"Both out our victims had relationship issues and were apparently drowning their sorrows. It's the best lead we have right now. It'd be a good idea to canvass all the bars in town." I replied. He nodded
What's really going on here?
—
And then, we saw the true motive.
The next body was found in an area with a significant gay community. Smack dab in the middle, actually. There was a pride flag in view. Emily and I literally groaned out loud at this. This is a hate crime. Great.
This unsub has no idea that the people in charge of finding him are gay and married. I think he's messing with the wrong crowd.
Emily and I sat down with the latest victim's family.
"I know this is difficult, Ms. Ericson, but we may have found your brother. You said Dale had a unique Y-shaped abdominal scar?" Emily asked her and gave her the least graphic picture we had of the torso.
She cried instantly when she made the realization.
"We're so sorry for your loss." I said sincerely.
"I can't stop imagining what Dale went through." She sobbed. "What they did to my brother is inhumane."
"And we are doing everything we can to make sure whoever is responsible is brought to justice." Emily spoke. You bet your ass we are.
"This unsub seems to be targeting men who were having relationship troubles. Do you know if Dale was going through a breakup or anything?" I asked.
"Yes, but he said it was just a fling. He's really careful, though, about dating. He'd never just go off with some guy he didn't know and trust from the local gay community." She choked out. A target on a gay man's back is a target on the entire LGBTQ+ community. Cases involving homosexuals have always hit closer to home to me. That's why I will not rest until this man is behind bars.
"Did his sexuality cause any issues between you two?" Emily asked.
"No. I encouraged him to be himself and live his life. And now he's dead because of it." She cried.
Emily and I shared a look. We walked out of the room. It was time for the profile. Before we gave it, we talked for a moment.
"Are you okay?" She asked me.
"I'm fine. I just...hate cases like these."
"Me too, baby." She let out softly. We gave each other a quick but loving kiss before proceeding to the profile.
Whenever cases involve issues like these, the team knows it's touchier for Emily and I. Especially with everything we've gone through.
"We're looking for a local male in his 30s with control issues. He may be gay or bisexual, and he has been harboring a kill fantasy." I started.
"Serial killers exist along a continuum just like anyone else. This one happens to be gay." Rossi continued.
"Until now, he's been able to sublimate his homicidal urges by controlling either his work environment or his relationships." Tara said.
"He may not be physically imposing himself, so he drugs his victims to paralyze them and control them." Stephen added.
"He then chops of their limbs as a method of torture before he removes their heads because this gives him the ultimate feeling of power." Emily said.
"It's also an act of depersonalization, meaning he's intentionally negating the characteristics that make them uniquely human." Spencer continued.
"We haven't found any other body parts in dumpsters. Do you still think that's his disposal method?" Bailor asked us.
"It's either that or he digs shallow graves in the desert. It's easier to dig five one-foot holes than it is to dig one 5-foot hole." Luke replied.
"The torso he displayed are his trophies. He wanted them to be found." Stephen added.
"He targets victims of opportunity, but they've all been blond, healthy and slim. So he has a type." Luke said.
"Which means his victims are most likely surrogates for a current or ex-partner, even a spouse who he controlled through non-violent manipulation." JJ added.
"We believe he may have been rejected recently, causing the unsub to escalate to murder in order to regain a sense of control." Tara continued.
"You should increase your nightly patrols of alleys and lots near bars and clubs. We will keep the community apprised of any new developments. Thank you, all." I finished the profile.
Let's catch this son of a bitch.
—
We went into the conference room to go over this. We needed a strategy.
I feel a little better knowing this isn't the doing of a homophobe. Those are the ones that really get to me.
"All the media attention should be working in our favor." Luke said.
"Well, he knows we're here and we're after him. It'll cause him to make mistakes." Emily replied.
"He'll get cocky, push the envelope, try to prove he's superior. " Rossi added.
"And he'll take it out on the next victim. We can't let that happen." JJ muttered.
"No, we don't have to. This kind of narcissism would play out in his personal relationships as well." Tara spoke.
"He could be married. Like with any relationship, he started out charming and eventually..." Luke trailed off.
"Gay marriage leads to gay divorce. There'd be a record of that." I said and pulled out my phone. I'm calling Garcia.
"Give me what you've got, Wonder Woman."
"Garcia, search Palm Springs and the surrounding areas for male same sex couples that filed for divorce within the last few months."
"Marital bliss, followed by marital diss. Of course. Why didn't I think of that? Okay, there were three recent gay divorces in Palm Springs, but they all moved out of town after that."
"You know, actually that small number isn't all that shocking, taking into account the brief time frame and the fact that gay couples divorce about hall the rate straight couples do." Spencer said. Emily held up her hand for a high-five. I chuckled and reciprocated.
"Maybe they aren't divorced yet. If they just separated, it would still enrage the unsub, and it could have led to this." Stephen said.
—
There was another murder last night.
I take back what I said earlier about how I was feeling better that it wasn't a homophobe. I don't know what this motive is but it's got out of hand. One thing is for sure, this is definitely personal.
There's a memorial for all of the victims. A bunch of people from the gay community came to leave flowers. Tara and Spencer were taking pictures of anyone here.
The rest of us regrouped where the body was found. It was right in public.
"It can't get any more public than this." I muttered.
"Can't get any angrier than this, either." Luke added.
"No question this is meant to shock and terrorize the gay community." Rossi spoke.
"But he keeps coming back to the same area despite increased patrols here." JJ added.
"To justify that risk, he must have a very personal target in mind." Emily spoke.
"Someone who's connected to this neighborhood and this victim, and that's why he deviated from his preferred physical type." Stephen added.
Underneath the torso was dog tags.
"Dog tags. So he's not even trying to hide his victims' identities anymore. He wants the target to know who he killed." I said.
"Yeah. Wesley Parham." Luke read.
JJ called Garcia and she already had some information for us.
"Sergeant Wesley Parham, honorably discharged two years ago, 45 Balm Canyon Drive."
"What else do you have on him?" Emily asked.
"31 years old. Did 3 tours in Afghanistan. Super secret security clearance. And he was an Army Intelligence Officer. I'm sending pic and bio now."
"Moved here 18 months ago. No relatives in the area." Rossi let out.
"No, but his partner, Nick Goode, works out of town. Comes home on the weekends. He will be landing at Palm Springs International Airport in 30 minutes."
Emily sighed. "Dave, you and Stephen bring him in for an interview. In the meantime, we need to build Wesley's timeline through the community." Emily said.
"I'll pull together a press conference and have it set up near the memorial. We'll keep Spencer and Tara photographing the crowd. This is exactly what he was looking for- attention and fear. Unless he's already started stalking his next victim." I let out.
With the press conference, we got it all set up. I was the one who spoke and JJ, Emily, and Bailor stood up with me.
"Thank you everyone for gathering here today. I am Agent Delia Parks, Co Unit Chief for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Next to me I have Chief Bailor of Palm Springs PD, Agent Jennifer Jareau, and my wife and other Co-Chief, Agent Emily Prentiss. I am saddened to announce the most recent victim is Wesley Parham. We need the help of everyone here and everyone watching. The body placement shows calculated targeting. That's why we believe the person responsible for these crimes may be involved in coercive control or domestic abuse with his partner. Anyone in the viewing audience who knew Wesley Parham or saw him in the last 48 hours, please call the number on your screen. Or if you are here today, please let one of my colleagues know immediately. The attacks on your community are not being taken lightly and we will have justice served for all of the victims. Thank you." I spoke.
We had a few people speak to us about possibly seeing a man with Wesley. A lot of them thanked me for being the one to speak since I am married to a woman.
Rossi was able to talk to Wesley's partner and said he was comforting an old friend, Bill Seavers, who just got out of a toxic relationship with someone who was very controlling. Spencer and Tara got a picture of Bill leaving with a man that matched the description we got today of Wesley in the parking lot with.
The toxic man in the relationship sounds like our guy. Garcia got us a name. Mark Tolson.
Bill was renting a room but Bill and Mark shared a condo. Emily, JJ, Spencer and I went to the condo while Rossi, Tara, Luke and Stephen went to the rented room.
On our way there, Penelope called us with all the information she had on Mark.
"Mark's parents broken up when he was six. According to family court records, his dad would take him to the butcher shop, where Mark had to chop carcasses while dad drank. Mom retained full custody, and dad didn't bother to see him after that."
"Well, that makes sense, and Marks' behavior reeks of abandonment issues combined with a psycho-sexual thrill derived from butchering. He's a mix of Gacy and Dahmer." Tara spoke on the phone.
"Mark must have had a long-simmering desire to kill that he sublimated by controlling Bill." Spencer said.
"Till Bill was out the door, threatening filing for divorce. That had to be the trigger for the first murder." Rossi replied.
"The discovery of the torso must have scared Bill back into Mark's arms." JJ said.
"But it was only temporary. No matter how frightened Bill was, he knew Mark would never change." Stephen said.
"That's why Mark escalated to overkill and started displaying bodies in more public ways." Luke added.
"The more indecisive Bill was about getting back together, the more Mark tried to force him back home with fear." I let out.
"They started out as rage kills but evolved into a more extreme form of coercive control." Emily added.
"A final rejection highly increases the risk of death to the partner in cases like this." Tara spoke.
We had to move quickly. I was driving so I stepped on it.
JJ, Spencer, Emily and I went to the condo and saw Mark tying Bill up.
"FBI!" JJ yelled.
"Drop it and show me your hands!" Spencer yelled.
Mark dropped the knife and held up his hands. Why was that so easy?
The police went and cuffed him while I went down to Bill.
I sat him up and pulled off the tape. "It's okay. It's over. You're okay." I kept telling him.
He tried to speak but he couldn't get a sentence out.
"Is there someone we can call for you?" I asked softly.
He nodded.
"We're still married. You can't say a word to them. They'll never prove anything!" Mark said exiting the building.
Wrong. Bill actually can testify against him.
I went to go tell him. "Your husband's wrong. Marital privilege only applies to words spoken between spouses."
"So I can testify against him?" He asked hopefully.
"Legally, you can describe every detail of what Mark did to you. You just can't say what he confessed about other victims." I explained. Bill visibly eased.
"Thank you. I want to make sure that he never hurts another person. I knew something was wrong, but I-I never suspected anything like this." Bill stammered. Poor guy.
"You shouldn't have." I replied.
"But I thought that I had found true love. I was so happy to get married. Now this. I'm such a fool." He muttered.
"Bill, we see in others what we want to see, and you trusted him, because you're a trustworthy person." I told him. He was beating himself up.
"I tried to hard to be a better person, to make it work with Mark." He cried.
"That's the insidious nature of coercive control. Victims don't realize they're even being manipulated and they blame themselves. What Mark did was not your fault." I told him honestly.
"I'll never feel safe in there again." He let out.
Then, two women came out to see him. They both hugged him. It was sweet.
Emily came up behind me and stood next to me.
"How are you doing?" She asked me and rubbed my back for a moment.
"Bill thought he found true love but he didn't even know the person he was married to." I let out.
It's times like these where I'm really happy I know Emily.
Spencer was over in the corner watching it all go down. He was lost in thought. Emily and I shared a look before going to talk to him.
"You okay?" I asked him.
He didn't say anything. I hate to see him like this.
"Spence, I know you've been under a lot of stress with your mom living at the apartment, but I've known you long enough to know there's something more going on." I said sincerely.
"I really thought that bringing her home with me was the best plan, but I don't know. I feel like now I- I made a mistake. It's not really working." Spencer let out. He was ashamed. He has nothing to be ashamed for. I've never seen anyone so dedicated to helping their mother like him.
"People and circumstances change unexpectedly. We need to learn how to adapt and regroup and go on." Emily spoke.
He let out a sigh. "I might need to take a few days. I'm gonna fly to Houston and talk to Dr. Stanfield."
"Sure. Take as much time as you need." Emily nodded.
"Thanks." He smiled before starting to walk away. He's come such a long way. I'm so happy I've seen him people into this man.
Before he got far, I called him back over. "Spencer. I couldn't be more proud of you."
"Why?" He asked curiously.
"Because it's difficult caring for family. But it takes tremendous strength to ask for help." I said sincerely.
He nodded before walking off.
We didn't know just how much help he'd need.