CHAPTER ELEVEN: COPYCAT !

8x16

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CASEY HAD TAKEN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS OFF BEFORE SHE COULD BE CLEARED FOR WORK. She had been back for a couple of days now. Things were normal, well, as normal as they were.

       Sometimes, it felt like Spencer was walking on eggshells around Casey. He didn't want to get on her bad side now and didn't want to do anything to irritate her but by doing this, it only made Casey even more irritated. She loved Spencer, but she didn't want to be coddled like a child and she wasn't a child. She figured that maybe the coddling would end soon so she didn't worry too much. Especially since they were moved in together by now.

Currently, she was over at her desk, on the wheelchair she was required to use for when she came back. She, JJ and Spencer had noticed the convo between Blake and Strauss and knew about the history between the two. It wasn't pretty from where they were standing. Respectful but still very odd, the way they were standing.

"Uh-oh. I think Blake could take her. What do you think?" JJ says as she watched them. "Mm, their body language hardly seems adversarial. Blake's making direct eye contact, and the tilt of her head suggests she's willingly engaged in conversation." Spencer points out.

Casey wheeled her way over to the two. "Didn't Strauss throw her under the bus back in the day?" She asked. "It was on the Amerithrax case about ten years ago. Evidently, they apprehended the wrong suspect and she let Blake take the fall." Spencer explained.

"Well, I heard they even demoted her a couple grades." JJ added. "Man, if Strauss ever did that to me... hell to pay." Casey told.

The three had noticed Garcia come in with a bouquet of flowers. "What happened to you? You run by True Florist?" Casey asked. "Guess what just came to the reception desk for an Agent Jennifer Jareau." Garcia spoke.

"From who?" JJ asked. "They must be from Will. Or someone's got some 'splainin' to do." Garcia said and Casey pointed a finger at JJ in accusation, jokingly.

"Open it. Open it. Open it." Garcia pried and JJ grabbed the card on the bouquet. "Just... Will's not really a flower bouquet type guy." JJ stated. "Wonder what the occasion is." Casey shrugged.

"'Zugzwang'." JJ read aloud.

This peaked both Casey and Spencer's interest. It reminded them of the message that they figured Diane had sent to Spencer before Casey was taken.

"What? Let me see that." Spencer examined the note. "That's the same thing Diane Turner said to you..." JJ paused as Casey finished, "Before she almost killed me and I ended up like this." Casey motioned to her wheelchair.

"But Diane, Bay and that Seb kid are dead. So who sent it?" Garcia questioned. "No idea." Spencer muttered under his breath. "Wait... didn't you say the voice on the other end of the payphone was computer generated?" JJ asked. "That means it could be from anybody." Garcia spoke.

"That means that it maybe doesn't have anything to do with Casey." Garcia told. "Whoever it was... they knew you would be at her apartment that day." JJ stated. "Which means they were stalking you. Or all of us." Casey told and then Reid had an epiphany. "What if this is the Replicator?"

The four had then informed of the flowers and the note and Hotch informed Strauss. Everyone met at the roundtable room. "I just came from the Director's office. He doesn't like the idea that his agents are being taunted and he wants me to keep him personally in the loop. Catch me up, please." Strauss informed the team.

"Okay, so, uh, the flowers cleared all of our security checkpoints. Which means there's no explosives, no chemical residue. Nothing. They were ordered from a local florist-- Wendy's Bloomers. I checked Wendy, her bloomers, the employees, the delivery service. They all came out clean. I managed to track down the credit card. It's a stolen card number, and it was ordered from a prepaid cell phone in Philadelphia." Garcia explained.

"But it's all about the message he's trying to send." Blake told. "But they were sent to JJ. Why her?" Morgan asked. "Yeah, the original zugzwang taunt was directed at me." Spencer stated and Casey nodded in response.

"If it's directed at one of us, it's directed at all of us." Rossi told. "It's only a matter of time before his taunts turn to threats." Morgan says. "I'm posting security details at each of our homes." Hotch informed.

"Well, he's communicating directly. What exactly is he trying to say?" Blake told. "That the game has changed, his motives, his choices of people that he was taunting. First, he was chasing us, copying the cases that we'd solved, and now it's our turn to chase him." Casey explained.

"Tag, we're it." Rossi commented.

"What do we know about the Replicator?" Strauss asked.

"So far he's committed three murders in three different states." Hotch told. "The first was Maxwell Holmes, 28-year-old contractor, husband, and father of two, from Dallas." Garcia told. "He was found with his mouth sewn shut four weeks after we closed The Silencer case." JJ added.

"Next is an unidentified John Doe. He was found in New Mexico near the Mexican border." Garcia told. "His leg was severed and someone else's was transplanted on." JJ added. "Do we have any idea where the limb comes from?" Strauss asked. "None." Morgan answers.

"Finally, Megan Lewinbuck, 31-year-old paralegal, single mother. She was found in Phoenix. She was found last week." Garcia told and Blake added, "All her joints were dislocated and she'd been turned into a human marionette."

"And that's everything so far," Hotch told. "Local police and Bureau field offices are going to keep us apprised of any developments."

"I want this case closed quickly. Copycat murder, flowers sent. I see this as an assault on the entire Bureau." Strauss stated and Casey nodded.

"Uh, sir, Philadelphia PD just uploaded a homicide to ViCAP. An unidentified woman was found this morning exsanguinated with her eyelids removed." Garcia informed Hotch.

"It's just like our blood artist, Bryan Hughes." Morgan told. "You guys were just on that case a month ago." Casey said. "Philadelphia, the same city the flowers were ordered from." Spencer told. "Jet's standing by. Wheels up in 20." Hotch informed the team.

           The team had now been on the jet, going over what seemed to be their case. "The Replicator sent those flowers today knowing that that body would be discovered." JJ told. "And he's taken the time to track our cases." Blake told. "It's not too much trouble to track news headlines with a Google search." Morgan told.

        "Yeah, but the original zugzwang message was delivered to me at Casey's old apartment, which means he's not just tracking our cases, he's tracking everything we do."  Spencer stated.

        "Why would someone do that?" JJ asked. Casey looked down at response to what JJ said. She had been through this multiple times and the team never experienced a stalker like this before.

        "We've been taunted before," Rossi stated. "Guys like Randall Garner. Usually malignant narcissists who feel the need to show off." Morgan nods, "So maybe he wants us to see how smart he is."

         "But why? What's the point? Is it a warning? Is he mocking us?" Blake questioned. "Maybe all of the above." Morgan said and this was when Spencer had noticed Casey's switch in behavior. "He's not attempting to hide his killed, so it's probably his way of bragging." Rossi stated. "He's probably trying to lure us out. He certainly wants our attention." Hotch told.

         "Excuse me." Casey told, getting into her wheelchair with no help and rolling herself towards the coffee machine. The team knew how on-edge she had been with the Replicator and what events that happened nearly a month ago. They knew she was dealing with her own thing and thought that by giving her space, she'd slowly get better over time.

          Spencer got out of his seat and followed the girl as Casey struggled to get a cup from the cabinet. "You need help?" Spencer asked. "Nope, I got this." Casey tried to reach. "You sure—?" He asked. "I said, I got it." Casey almost snapped and then looked at Spencer and stopped reaching, indicating that she had given in.

           Spencer had made the coffee and the two were in silence and Casey sighed. "You okay? What's wrong?" Spencer asked.

        Casey took a deep breath and spoke. "I've been stalked not once, not twice but three times now," She told. "First one, I was drugged and drank alcohol to cope. Second one made me shoot myself in the leg. How many more times? How many more until I can say I'm done and can't do it again?"

       Spencer didn't know what to say. "I understand—"

       "No, you don't, Spencer," Casey told. "You really don't. I'm spending every moment of every day afraid... that what happened to me before will happen to me again."

        Spencer crouched towards the girl to get to her level. "I know that I may not understand... but... I do want you to know that what happened to you... I will never ever let that happen again. I promise, I won't." He assured and Casey took a breath, his words helped and she understood that Spencer was only trying to help her.

        The two joined the team again as Garcia had come on call. "Greetings, crime-fighters. We just got an ID on the first exsanguinated, eyelidless body. Her name is Molly Patton, 27. She was a nurse at a local hospital."

       "Garcia, what do you mean by first?" Spencer asked, getting back to his seat. "I mean that a second exsanguinated, eyelidless body was just discovered." Garcia stated. "Why a double murder on the same case?" Casey asked.

        "He's moving fast." Rossi told.

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      By the time they had arrived, they already had problems. One of them being that one of the deceives was being a total jackass. Casey had been in the room as Hotch and Rossi discussed things with the chief and the said detective in the room.

      "I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. You have our full cooperation. Isn't that right, Detective?" The chief told. The detective stood, arms crossed and had that jackass look on his face. Casey already grown to dislike him.

      "I thought you needed three murders to have federal jurisdiction." Detective Rizzo spoke. "We have probable cause to believe that the unsub is responsible for three other murders in different states." Rossi explained. "Probable cause. But you don't know for sure." Rizzo stated.

      "That's what we're here to determine." Hotch told. "Look, we're wasting our time here. We should be out there looking for this guy. We're only here to help." Rossi stated.

      "A bunch of pencil pushers and accountants. How you gonna help?" Casey was taken aback by the man's comment. "Rizzo!" The chief scolded. "I'm sorry?" Rizzo spoke sarcastically.

     "Hey, what's with you? You need a hug or something?" Rossi questioned.

      "Yeah, seriously. Isn't pencil pushing usually your job?" Casey questioned. "Willows." Hotch scolded and gave her a look, causing her to roll her eyes.

      "Do I need to take you off this case?" The chief asked Rizzo and Rizzo sighed, "No." The chief looked at the man. "Then cut the crap."

       The chief's cell phone rang and he answered. "Jackson... where? Okay, thanks." He hung up. "Another body just turned up. That makes three. She's at Fairmont Park. Get out there. And take them with you."

      As the man took Rossi and Hotch to the latest sight, Casey had stayed at the PD. At the crime scene, a picture of Hotch was found on the body. Indicating that this unsub had sent another message. They had found out the woman was a nurse and Hotch came to the conclusion that this man had been after nurses.

      Strauss had wanted to talk to the team about this case so she wanted to have a video call with them. "This psychopath's message is clearly personal and it's making us look bad. Someone profiling our profilers undermines the efficacy of everything you do, and I'm going to be frank with you-- both the Director and the Attorney General want to take you off this case, and I can't say I totally disagree." Strauss explained.

      "Why?" Rossi asked.

      "Because you're victims now, and I'm concerned your ability to investigate may be compromised." Strauss stated. "Yeah, well, I assure you our abilities are just fine." Hotch told. "Is that true, Aaron?" Hotch nodded, "Yes, it is, ma'am, absolutely." Rossi added, "We know this case better than anyone."

Casey had rolled towards them front of the screen. "Erin, you do see I'm in a wheelchair, right? It'll only be a matter of time before this son of a bitch puts another one of us in one. Now, I admire why you want us to stop—"
"Casey—" Spencer tried.
"Don't," Casey gave him a look before turning back to Strauss. "But I will not rest until we find this bastard and find the reason why he's stalking us."

Strauss took into consideration what the team was saying. "All right. Well, I'll tell the Director if he takes you off the case, it's either with my resignation or over my dead body." Casey nodded, content that Strauss was on their side.

"Ma'am, we're starting the briefing now."
"I'll be right there," Strauss looked at the screen again. "You catch this son of a bitch, Aaron."

"Understood." Hotch told and with that, she had left. "Do you really think they'd replace us?" JJ asked. "With who? We're better than anyone." Casey told. "Sounds like you'd have to kill Strauss first, and I doubt if that's as easy as it sounds." Rossi says.

"All right, so what do we know?" Hotch asked. "This photo isn't digital. It was printed on real chromogenic photo paper." Spencer stated, motioning towards the picture of Hotch that was found on the victim. "So he's old school." JJ said. "We're still trying to ascertain when the photo was taken." Blake spoke as Hotch's cell phone rang and he answered.

"Garcia, I'm putting you on speaker." Hotch told. "You guys, there are a shocking number of weirdoes out there who have a thing for nurses. But I got a gigantenormous hit. Fifteen years ago, the BAU had a case in Pittsburgh involving the stabbing murder of four nurses." Garcia explained.

"Pittsburgh? That's close enough to be related." JJ stated. "That rings a bell. But I didn't work that case, Gideon did." Rossi told and Casey nodded. "Yeah, yeah. It ended relatively well. The killer Jack Lee Kemper was caught, and we managed to save one of his would-be victims."

"Garcia, what happened to Kemper?"
"He died 5 months ago from lethal injection."
"What if that was the trigger?" Spencer asked. "The Silencer copycat murder happened about 5 months ago."

With that, they had delivered their profile. Casey had been in the case room with Rossi, Blake and Morgan as JJ, Spencer and Hotch walked in. "Well, we've ruled out every name on the list. Our guy's not connected to Jack Lee Kemper's victims." JJ stated.

"You know, if they were just friends or lovers, there might not be an official record of their relationship." Spencer told, placing a cup of coffee down on the table for Casey. That was another thing that was secretly starting to annoy her. Normally, Spencer would hand her her coffee, not place it in front of her. It was the small things that were beginning to agitate her.

"The only living relative Kemper has is a third cousin who lives in Alaska." Morgan told. "Well, it wasn't one of his friends. Kemper didn't have any." Blake told. "He was a recluse with no social skills."

"Well, who else would have a vendetta against us?" Spencer asked. "It could be a fan of Kemper's. These guys always seem to have followers." Casey began to go through the files in front of her. "What about somebody we put into prison?" JJ suggests. "It's a little hard to orchestrate all of this from behind bars." Morgan stated. "But it's possible." Casey told. "What if somebody from the outside's helping him?" Spencer asked.

"And how about other suspects in the case?" JJ asked. "That's it." Rossi spoke and everyone turned his way "What?" Morgan asked. "Bidwell," Rossi spoke. "Donnie Bidwell. Of course. He was the primary suspect before we caught Kemper. We had a strong circumstantial case, but DNA eventually cleared him. His name got leaked to the press the second we grabbed him." Rossi explained.

"Why so fast?" JJ asked.

"We thought it was probably someone in the local PD." Rossi told. "How long did we hold him for?" Spencer asked. "Couple of weeks." Rossi stated. "Wrongfully accused. That could be trigger." Casey told.

Hotch had called Garcia up. "Give me stuff to do!" Garcia sang out. "Garcia, I need everything you've got on Donnie Bidwell. He was a suspect in the Jack Lee Kemper case." Hotch told. "Righty-o. Okay, he was picked up a couple of times for assault and lewd behavior. He got off with time served and probation. He is a recently divorced father of two. He cannot hold down a job. I count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... twelve jobs in the last ten years, everything from fry cook to used car salesman." Garcia explained.

"Yeah, but before all that he was in construction or something, right?" Rossi asked. "Affirmative," Garcia stated. "He owned his own hot mop shower, pan company, whatever that is. That business went south after the arrest. His legal fees wiped him out, and then a year later-- oh, dear, he had himself a nervous breakdown."

"No wonder he wants payback." Blake told. "That accusation ruined his life." Casey nodded. "Have you got an address?" Hotch asked. "Yeah, I got home and work and I'm sending both." Garcia told.

"Thanks," Hotch hung up. "We better make sure we get this right before we arrest this guy again." JJ told.

"Rossi, Blake, and Reid take the work address. The rest of us will take the house." Hotch stated and everyone began to leave. "I'll stay here... sitting around." Casey told, now being alone in the room.

After arresting the man and interrogating him for the longest time, things were a bit off about the guy. He had no idea about the other copycat murders. He lawyered up right after that. Hotch and Reid were going over his house and pictures of the team had been found in his bedroom and the eyelids of the victims were found and they had found out from the rest of the team that the man had a seizure and was now on his way to the hospital.

"I just talked to Strauss. She wants an update. What happened?" Hotch asked as he walked in. "Bidwell died en route to the hospital." Morgan told. "This guy did not profile as suicidal." JJ told. "It's bizarre. If he wanted payback, why would he kill himself?" Blake asked.

"Maybe this is his version of payback. If he takes his own life, we can't put him in prison." Reid told. "Like the ultimate escape plan." Blake assumes. "But his body language-- you should have seen it. When JJ mentioned the copycat murders, he had no idea what she was talking about." Rossi told. "Something went wrong and he called an audible." Morgan added.

"So what would've made him change the plan?" Casey asked. "Well, he did it after his phone call, so I'm guess that had something to do with it." JJ told. "That's a dead end. Local police traced the number to a prepaid cell phone. Garcia said it went dead right after Bidwell's call."

"We didn't profile a partner." Casey told.
"Well, if he really didn't know about the other copycat murders, he wouldn't be somebody's partner, he would be their pawn." Rossi stated.

"So what if all the evidence in Bidwell's house was put there just so that we'd find it?" Spencer told and Hotch called Garcia. "Jazz hands at the ready." Garcia started. "Garcia, I need you to go over all of Donnie Bidwell's phone records again. And any emails, social media, whatever you can find." Hotch ordered.

"But why do I have to check it again? His emails were squeaky clean and he wasn't into social media." Garcia told. "The key is in the phone calls. They had to have communication somehow." Blake told.

"Okay, most of his cell phone conversations were to his ex-wife in New York. He called his mom in Tampa once a week. The rest are just random. He called local businesses, he checked movie times." Garcia explained.

"Come on, baby girl, it isn't random. The answer's in there somewhere. You just gotta find it." Morgan told.

"All right, if you say so. I will re-get this party started. Hit you back." Garcia hung up.

"If the Replicator's still out there, then this whole thing's part of a much bigger manipulation." Spencer said. "I wonder what he's planning for an encore." Rossi stated.

Almost immediately, Garcia called right back. "Go ahead, Garcia." Hotch started. "I want to preface this by saying I did not break any rules by getting this info so fast. I may have scraped, scratched, massaged, but no breaks. Not a one."

"Pen, no offense, but go a little faster please." Casey told. "Right, sorry," Garcia started again. "Okay, I checked the incoming phone records and there was a call that caught my eye, 'cause for the last six months, that call came in at the same time at the same day, except for once. It's from an unknown phone number, so I did what I do and I made the number known, and it was from a prepaid cell phone. Here's the kicker. Oh, get ready. It was paid for with the same stolen credit card used to buy JJ's flowers. What? Bam!" Garcia explained.

"Can you triangulate the number?" Spencer asked. "Why ask me that question? Triangulation is just about my favorite thing to do. That phone is in Pittsburgh." Garcia stated.

"That's a 5-hour drive." Morgan told. "Or about 45 minutes on the jet." Hotch told. So, with that, the entire team headed onto the jet to Pittsburgh.

Hotch had been finishing up a phone call with Strauss. "Strauss isn't altogether comfortable with us going on this takedown, but I told her that Pittsburgh PD would take the lead." Hotch informed.

"You know, if the Replicator used Bidwell, then somehow he had to convince him to exsanguinate those women." Rossi stated. "And cut off their eyelids." Blake added.

"You know, with all of this, I started thinking about Cooper..." Everyone looked Casey's way as she spoke. "Bidwell was broken and-made vulnerable. Easy to manipulate, just like Cooper was when Adam did." Casey explained.

"The Replicator must have counted on that manipulation. That's probably why he chose Bidwell in the first place." Spencer told. "Well, he must be on persuasive guy." JJ told. "Persuasive enough to turn Bidwell into a killer." Hotch added.

Casey had ridden with the team on the way to the location of the phone. She was with Morgan, JJ and Spencer. "Talk to me, mama." Morgan said to Garcia on the phone. "You're on the right track. That phone hasn't been used and hasn't moved. Make the next left." Garcia told.

"I got it. Guys, I don't like this. It feels like we're going exactly where he wants us to." Morgan tells and Casey's gut feeling had been telling her the same thing. This plan felt off.

The team had arrived at the play. As everyone had gotten their FBI vests on, SWAT had been ready to go in. Casey had been in her wheelchair, on standby, while a lot of SWAT members stayed with her as well.

"All right, the signal from the cell phone's coming from this room. We'll enter in two teams. You from this side, we'll come from this side, we'll meet in the middle." Hotch informed. "All right, guys, I need you to keep it tight and stay alert. This guy's got a vendetta against us. It could be an ambush."

Casey grabbed Spencer's hand before he left and said: "Be careful." She told and he nodded and kissed her hand before he left.

It had been over fifteen minutes and Casey had grabbed the walkie-talkie and spoke to the team. "You guys okay? You find anything? Over?" Casey asked.

"Casey..." Spencer started.

"What?"

"There's pictures... of all of us... everywhere. We all have walls. And the message is everywhere. Zugzwang." Spencer stated.

Casey heard the music in the background. It had to have more sinister and it was because she had the opportunity to check the room out. It was, they were watching everything they do. They didn't catch this copycat and the team was more on the edge of their seats than usual.

lol guess who had heat exhaustion and got sick at the same time 😍
it was me😁😁😁
currently in bed and sick butttt i have a three-day weekend to get better and i'm not going to practice on monday
i hate cali weather😐
buttttt i updated so that's a plus lol
there wasn't much but there will be more
can't believe we're almost done w s8 lol
thank you for reading!!!
-mya </3