KNOWING WE DIDN'T HAVE TO SEARCH FOR SCRATCH ANYMORE WAS LIKE A GOD SENT. I felt like I could actually breathe again.
Rosie was so happy to be home. We filled her in on everything she's missed on Scratch and Spencer. Seeing those two reunite was like a breath of fresh air.
Spencer was doing okay. It is going to take a lot of time for him to be back to normal, if he ever feels normal again. What he went through was so traumatic. Let's just say, I wouldn't be surprised if a part of him changes permanently. I still hate he had to go through all of this. It breaks my heart all over again.
I was doing okay after the whole incident. I've had to go to a few doctors' appointments since Scratch stopped my heart and started it again. I also went to trauma counseling. This unfortunately wasn't the first time I've been kidnapped by a serial killer so I guess I know how to handle the aftermath.
It did take Emily a little longer to recover which I get. I remember how I was when she went in that cult ten years back and with Ian Doyle. I was a wreck.
Today was our first day back in the office since our little vacation. Let's just say, Emily and I had a lifetimes' worth of paperwork. We were in our office when Tara came in.
"It's like the first day back at school." I muttered.
"And what did you do on your summer vacation, Delia Parks?" Tara asked sarcastically.
"Boob tube." I giggled.
"We've heard about some shows people are binge-watching so we tried some with Rosie." Emily added. It was so peaceful and relaxing.
"There's nothing wrong with that! They told us to unplug. You were just following orders." Tara said.
Then, Matt came in with a stack of boxes. He is now an official member of the BAU.
"Where do you want these, boss?" He asked us.
"What are they?" I asked.
Please tell me they're not all cases.
"Backlog of cases I assisted on while the rest of you were off." He replied. At least someone did some work. I went days without thinking of this place.
"Right there will be fine." I sighed.
"That's a bad sign when you need a forklift to move around the serial killer files." Emily muttered. There were literally five tall boxes with case files in them.
"How was it? I mean talk about being dropped into the deep end of the pool." Tara asked Matt. Poor Matt was thrown into this. Luckily he's had plenty of experience with the I.R.T.
"Oh, it's just nice to be swimming in the stateside pool. Family loves having dad around a little more, and for the first time in a decade, my internal clock is normalizing." Matt told us.
In the middle of that, Emily and I's phone rang. I groaned. That was awfully quick.
"Speaking of getting back to normal, we might need a new box. We've got a case." I spoke. With that, we all headed to the conference room. The rest of the team was waiting for us.
"It is so great to see all of your faces again. We have a couple of announcements so please hold your applause until I'm done.." Emily started.
"As you have probably heard, Dr. Spencer Reid has been fully reinstated. Welcome back, Spence." I announced. I am so happy he was back.
Garcia started to cheer but she stopped herself.
"We would also like to thank the newest member of our team, Matt Simmons, for holding down the fort while we were on the sidelines. I.R.T.'s loss is our gain. So welcome aboard, Matt." Emily added. I liked Matt a lot. I'm happy we have him. He's a good man.
"Thank you. It is great to be here, guys." Matt smiled.
"Is that the end?" Penelope asked eagerly.
"That was the end." I replied.
Everyone started clapping and cheering. As much as I enjoyed my time away, I was glad to be back in my element.
"Okay, let's get things started." I spoke. Everyone took their seats and Penelope started right away.
"Ah, allow me to provide the unhappy transition to the sad part of our day jobs. Okay, uh, yesterday afternoon in Naples, Florida. Two bicyclists stumbled upon 26 year old Ann Baker. She had been put into a suitcase and left by the side of the road." Penelope said and pulled up the pictures. What a bang to come back with.
"Disarticulated?" JJ asked.
"I hate that I know what that word means. No. She was in one piece. Police found this in Ann Baker's apartment." She replied and pulled up more pictures. Her apartment showed her preparing a dinner.
"She was getting ready for dinner. Food was chopped and pans were ready." Spencer pointed out.
"A special dinner. It looks like wine, candles, flowers, the works." Luke added.
"Table for two." Matt spoke.
"Maybe her dining partner suddenly acquired an appetite for something else." Rossi spoke.
"Police report says no sign of forced entry or struggle." Tara read.
"Yes, however some of the victim's blood was found in the apartment so that means she was probably killed there and then moved." I replied.
"If the unsub simply wanted her dead, why not just leave her there?" JJ asked.
"The obvious answer is it wasn't that simple." Rossi replied.
"It's not easy to fold somebody up like a road map. Our unsub is strong." Luke spoke.
"He's had practice." Emily said.
"Uh-huh. Two weeks ago, police found this." Penelope started and pulled up another picture. "She has not been identified yet besides the fact that she's a she."
"Similar suitcases." Rossi pointed out.
"Yeah, and they look old. Almost vintage." JJ added.
"We have suitcases of our own to pack. Wheels up in 30." Emily replied.
Here we go again.
—
On the jet, we went over this more.
"Till we get an I.D. on our Jane Doe, our victimology is limited to Ann Baker. So what do we know?" I started.
"Uh, Florida native. Worked as an RN for a local hospital, volunteered at a Palliative care facility on the weekends. Well liked by friends and co-workers." Matt answered.
"What about her love life? The plus one missing from that dinner bothers me." Rossi asked. The plus one is probably the unsub.
"It says here she was single never married." Tara replied.
"Boyfriends, Garcia?" Luke asked.
"None currently, although Ann did have an active social media presence. Including dating apps." She answered through the phone.
"Do we know when the luggage was purchased?" Spencer asked.
"Not at any retail outlet in the greater Naples area, I can tell you that much."
"Symbolism 101 will tell you he sends his victims packing. Hit the road Jack, and don't come back." Rossi spoke.
"Or revenge on a woman who once sent him packing." JJ suggested.
"Jilted lover. That's how Ted Bundy got started." Tara added.
"Oh, no, no, no, no. You guys, another woman's body has been found in a suitcase by a bus stop. She's been identified as Laura Weston."
Man, we haven't even landed.
"Okay, Alvez, when we land, we'll go to the new bus stop crime scene. A place this public, there have got to be witnesses or surveillance cameras. Dave, JJ, you'll go talk to the M.E. Matt, Tara, you'll go to Laura Weston's home. Delia and Reid will set up at the local PD." Emily instructed.
—
At the station, we didn't waste any time.
"They're comparing dental records to our Jane Doe. Hopefully, we'll get an I.D. soon." I said and turned around to Spencer. He was just sitting there thinking. "You okay?"
"Mhm."
I just turned back around to the board and didn't push it further.
"No. Actually, no." He let out.
I turned to him with worry. "What's going on?"
"There was a condition to my reinstatement. For every hundred days that I spend in the field, I'm required to take 30 days off." He revealed. I let out a sigh.
"I know. They told me." I replied sincerely.
"So it's not even a full reinstatement." He replied.
I sat down across from him. "Of course it is. The 30 day clause is just a temporary safety valve. We all need one now and then. Hell, I just finished watching 119 episodes of The Amazing Race for that reason. Besides, it's not like you'll be put in mothballs for those 30 days. Emily and I have arranged for you to teach a series of seminars to other agents." I told him. We knew this was coming so we had a safety plan for him. He can't sit still for 30 days.
"Seminars about what?" He asked.
"That's up to you. The world according to Spencer Reid." I smiled. I figured he'd love it.
"Are you worried?" He then asked.
"About what?"
"About me being in the field. That I might freak out or overreact?"
"Why would you even-" I started but he stopped me.
"Because I wanted to kill Scratch." He replied.
Trust me. We all did.
"Standing room only on that bus." I spoke.
"No, I mean, literally. After what he did to you, what you had to do with Rosie, if I had found him, I would have killed them. And I would have slept well." He replied.
"Spencer, if you didn't kill him, he would kill you. Trust me, when I woke up in that bed after he induced a heart attack, I wanted nothing more than to wrap my hands around his throat and do it myself, but I wasn't strong enough." I paused. "The review board asked me to weigh in and I told them that you are rock solid."
"Thank you for putting yourself out on a limb for me." He said sincerely. It's not on a limb.
"I know you, Spencer. The limb isn't gonna break." I spoke softly. He nodded with a soft smile.
In the window, I saw Emily and Luke gesture their head for me to step out. I set my hand on his shoulder before proceeding out the door. I checked my phone as I met them.
"Laura Weston's parents are waiting for us in the interview room. Anything from the bus stop?" I asked them.
"Zero. No witnesses, no video. Bus line didn't go anywhere special so either this guy is really lucky or he's really good." Luke said. I sighed.
"They did pull some blood off the handle of the suitcase that might belong to the unsub." Emily said. That's something.
"So maybe he injured himself this time?" I suggested.
"I'll call local E.R. and check to see if anyone that fits the unsub's profile might have been stitched up last night." Luke said.
"Good, keep us posted." I replied.
Emily and I walked to the interview room.
—
Talking with Laura's parents was awful. We walked back into the conference room where Matt and JJ were.
"How was Laura's parents?" Matt asked.
I sighed. "Worst part of the job. Always has been always will be."
"Do they have any idea who might have done this?" JJ asked.
"No. They said their daughter was warm and generous. The type who always befriended the unpopular kid in school. She never saw a stray dog she didn't want to adopt. She was working as a yacht broker down at the marina." Emily replied.
"She have any men in her life?" Matt asked.
"Nobody special. Like Ann Baker, she was using dating apps." Emily replied.
"Her parents did say that she had been depressed recently. Her best friend died in a drowning incident in California. She was struggling with it." I added.
"These are sexualized environments, but no sexual activity. You think impotence was fueling his rage?" Matt asked.
"Except that typically happens in the moment. This unsub comes to the scene with a suitcase ready, it is premeditated." Emily replied.
"Okay, so both victims gravitated toward those in need. Lewis mentioned Ted Bundy on the jet. What if it's that? Just with a twist." JJ suggested.
"How do you twist what's already twisted?" Matt asked.
"Bundy's ruse was to pretend to be injured, right? Hobble around on crutches, ask women for help. But, would-be victims are savvier today. The crutch would need to be more subtle." JJ went on.
"Like?" I urged. She's on to something here.
"Something internal. Not a broken bone. Maybe broken heart." She continued.
I think we have something here.
—
After some more evaluating, we were able to conclude that the unsub was searching for a surrogate of some sort. Perhaps, a mother. He's trying to recreate a woman from his past. He was putting a very specific color of lipstick on his victims.
The thing is, his victimology is all over the map. No two victims are alike.
It was time for the profile.
"We're looking for a male in his early to mid 20s. He's strong enough to strangle his victims, stuff them into oversized luggage and then transport the bodies to secondary disposal sites." Emily started.
"He's most likely handsome and non-threatening. He's able to insinuate himself into his victims' lives romantically before murdering them." Tara added.
"But this person differs from the usual charm and harm killer in that he does not actively seduce his victims." JJ continued.
"Rather, they come to him. He hunts by making himself the hunted." Rossi said.
"In psychoanalysis, this is known as the Florence Nightingale effect, a term given to caregivers who develop strong sexual or romantic relationships with their patients." Spencer explained.
"We believe the stressor has been in place since childhood and involves abandonment by a maternal figure. Most likely his actual mother." Matt said.
"But this goes far beyond the mere seeking out of lost motherly love. For some reason his need is entangled with intense and ritualistic homicidal impulses." I said.
"Something or someone else could be in play." Luke added.
"Up until now, he's been able to easily compartmentalize his life, separating the psychopath who kills from the part of him who easily blends into normal society." Spencer continued.
"However, something recently triggered a breakdown in these walls and his ability to separate the sane from the psychopath is rapidly eroding." Tara said.
"We therefore expect this killer will become more reckless and more violent. Time is of the essence." I finished.
We moved this conversation to the conference room we were set up in and stared at the board of information.
"Florence Nightingale. Why does that type of women flip his switch?" Emily pondered out loud.
"I could make a joke about uniforms and sponge baths." Luke chuckled from his seat at the table. Emily, JJ and I looked at him with faces of disgust. "But that would be beneath me...." He trailed off.
We ignored the comment and just went back to this.
"No witnesses. Geo profile has been a dead end. We can at least narrow down the timeframe. Did the M.E. have an estimate on when Jane Doe was killed?" I asked JJ.
"Ballpark, month and a half ago." JJ replied.
"End of August roughly." Luke added.
With that we called Penelope.
"Garcia?" I asked.
"Welcome to the request line at noon with Penny. What's your pleasure?"
"I need you to check and see if anything unusual happened in the Naples area during the last two weeks of August." Emily said.
"Unusual. Can you narrow that down a skosh?"
"Not yet, unfortunately." Emily replied.
"Then I'll seek out unusual." She replied and typed away.
"Garcia, did you look for any overlap between Laura's support group and the palliative facility Ann volunteered with?" JJ asked.
"Yeah, I did but there wasn't any."
"Okay, expand it to include friends and extended family." JJ suggested.
"Expansion commencing. Request line is closed, mwah!" She replied and hung up.
I huffed. "Given the high profile dumpsites, I am amazed this guy's remained so elusive."
"He's passive. Back when I was on the fugitive Taskforce, those were the hardest ones to catch." Luke spoke. That's not surprising.
"Both victims were level-headed women. Measured, pragmatic, not the type for impulsive whirlwind romance." JJ said.
"It allows the courtship period to proceed slowly." Luke added.
"But we have taken that luxury away from him." JJ replied.
"Now, without the time to select and groom, odds are he'll just get less selective." Emily added.
—
Some time passed and we did some more digging. Tara walked in.
"Alright, we caught a break. Dental records I.D.ed Jane Doe, our first victim as Patty Dunlop- single, originally from Philadelphia. We're digging now for a local address." Tara told us. Thank god.
"Work history?" I asked.
"It's sketchy. She bounced around a lot. Taos, Key West, Sedona." Tara replied.
"I smell a trust fund kid in patchouli oil." Rossi spoke.
"Who didn't have a whole lost of friends. No one reported her missing." Emily added.
—
And then we were notified of another body being found. She was married, blitz attacked, and not shoved in a suitcase. The only identifier of it being our guy was the lipstick smeared over her lips.
Tara and Matt went to Patty Dunlop's house to see a very similar set up as Ann Baker when she was killed in her home.
Penelope called us with some useful information.
"Throw us a bone, Penelope." Rossi spoke as he answered. Him, Matt, Emily and I were walking through the halls of the station.
"Chew on this, Fido." She stopped herself. "Sir, you need to know in my mind's eye that was a sleuthing dog, with a little houndstooth cap and a pipe-"
"Penelope, the bone, please?" Rossi asked. I chuckled to myself.
"Uh, it turns out that Patty Dunlops' last catering gig was a small memorial service for an elderly woman named Edith Lynch."
"When did she die?" Matt asked.
"August 27 of emphysema."
There's a trigger.
"That's right around the time we think Patty was murdered." Matt replied.
"That falls squarely into the grief and loss basket." I added.
"Oh, and I am about to sweep that pot. I mean basket. Okay. In the weeks that led up to Edith's death, she received palliative care from- anybody?"
"Ann Baker." Emily replied.
"We got a winner."
"Did Edith have family in the area?" Rossi asked.
"She's got a grandson and he's a doozy- William Lynch aka Billy. I don't want to prejudge but his unsub credententials are like stellar- long list of psychiatric problems, multiple trips to the E.R. as a child for self inflicted cutting wounds."
"Where are his parents?" I asked.
"Dad was never around, mom- Ruth, lots of drug problems, and she bailed on him when she was 6."
"So his grandparents raised him." Matt spoke.
"That's partially true. Grandpa, Joseph Lynch, he's been missing in action from way back. He ran off with another woman shortly after he married Edith."
"Leaving Edith to raise their daughter Ruth alone." Emily said.
"And then Billy alone 25 years later. Get out your insulin cause this is where the basket gets the sweetest. Back in August after Edith died, Billy sought counseling. Where, you ask? At the community center where Laura had her support group, I answer."
"He may not have been part of her group, but they could have easily crossed paths there." Rossi let out.
"So Edith was probably the one that kept a lid on Billy's destructive behavior. Then she dies and the murders start." Matt spoke.
"I am sending you Billy's work and home address now." Garcia told us.
"Matt, you and Lewis go to his workplace. We'll send JJ and Alves to check out his apartment." I told them.
—
Billy wasn't at his work or apartment. Spencer ended up going to the grandmother's house where Luke and JJ met them. He had taken a girl hostage. They got the girl and Billy alive.
We found out Billy's mother is not alive. His grandmother killed her when she tried to leave.
We were on the jet back home.
"Naples PD might have found Ruth Lynch. Cadaver dogs were alerted to something buried in the grandmothers' backyard." Emily spoke and sat down next to me. I rested my head on her shoulder and she rested her head on mine.
"Her husband leaving with the other woman must have sent Edith Lynch over the edge." Matt muttered.
"It wasn't just another woman. Edith's husband got seriously ill after they had Ruth. When he got better, he ran off with pretty young nurse that looked after him." JJ revealed. Ugh, I hate men.
"Solves the Florence Nightingale of it." I let out.
"Now, what do you suppose the odds are that nurse's lipstick was midnight surprise?" Rossi said. I laughed.
"So, first official BAU case with the gang, Matt. How's it feel?" Emily smiled.
"Well, it's like riding a bicycle, a sick aberrant bicycle." He paused and we laughed. "I am used to a slightly larger plane, though, so..." he trailed off. I smiled.
"I'll put in a requisition for an upgrade." I replied sarcastically.
"Speaking of upgrade, I need to upgrade this drink." Rossi said and stood up with his glass.
It felt good to be home.
BYE I HAD THIS POSTED IN THE OTHER BOOK LMFKSNDNE