thank you to all the really great comments i've been getting on this book ♡

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[5.10]

"i'm gonna have to make more cupcakes"

There was something so despairingly sad about getting to put on a pretty black dress just to wear it to a funeral. Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time JJ and Will had picked Florence up to go to the cemetery. She stayed tucked under Garcia's arm for most of the service, which had been lovely.

Hotch's speech had been the thing that moved almost each of them to tears. It was moving and beautiful, and Florence had no idea how he got through it without breaking down. At the end of the service, they each placed a white rose on top of the casket, before moving inside.

Florence hadn't been to a funeral since the death of her parents. They had died in a car crash on the way to pick her up from school, and she didn't remember much about the actual funeral. The social worker in charge of her had attended with her, and then she had to go back to the orphanage. While she couldn't remember the details, she was almost positive that they hadn't served nice food after.

She didn't complain though as she sat around a table with Morgan, Prentiss, Garcia, Kevin, JJ, and Will. Rossi had gotten up to pull Hotch outside for a break. He had been shaking people's hands and thanking them for coming for the entire time, and they were sure it was getting tiring.

"What do we do?" Prentiss asked as Rossi and Hotch walked outside.

"There's nothing we can do," Morgan said. "We just gotta wait him out."

"You think he'll ever come back?" Reid asked.

"Would you?" JJ asked.

"Hotch is coming back," Florence said, frowning. She didn't want to think of the alternative. "H - he has to come back."

"He'll come back," Morgan agreed with her. "I just don't know what he's gonna look like when he does."

"We just need to be there for him when he's ready," JJ added.

The table was silent for several moments. Florence filled the time looking around the nice dining room they were seated in. "You know, this is a very fancy funeral," she noted. "Mine won't be this swanky."

Garcia gave her a sappy look. "Oh, Ren, you think about what your funeral would be like?"

"Yeah. Back in Seattle, my old roommate and I decided on making it a Mamma Mia sing-along double feature. All those present will be required to participate," she said, leaning her head on her hand.

Prentis covered her mouth and fought off a laugh. "Ren, you cannot make me laugh at a funeral."

"I wasn't trying to make you laugh," she insisted. "We worked in a fifteen intermission where they just play the frog band cover of Live and Let Die from Shrek Three when the Frog King dies in that time."

Will put his head in JJ's shoulder, and to those far away, it looked like he was crying, when in fact, he was laughing as quietly as he could. JJ smiled softly and tried to shush him.

"You sure know how to brighten everyone's day, Sunshine," Morgan told her, slinging his arm over the back of his chair.

Florence sat back, not knowing how to convince them that she was being completely honest. She and Jess had even written it all down. For Jess' funeral, they would play a game of Kahoot! to see who knew her the best — the pair came up with the idea after a heated game in their history class senior year. Even though they weren't the closest friends anymore, they promised the other that whichever died first would make sure the plans were followed through. Given that Florence's line of work was a touch more dangerous than Jess's job as a museum tour guide, hers would probably come first.

Once Will calmed down, they discussed the logistics of Florence's funeral a little more, which kept the mood lighthearted, something they all had needed. Then came the dreaded ringing of Morgan's cell phone.

"They can't be calling us in, not tonight," he said, scoffing.

"I'm on it," JJ murmured, beginning to make a call.

"We can't go," Prentiss said, shaking her head.

"We have to," Morgan said, throwing his napkin down and standing up. "I'll get Rossi."

Florence jumped up to follow him. "I wanna say goodbye to Hotch."

Morgan led her outside, where Hotch and Rossi were talking on the patio. When they saw Morgan walk up, the looks on their faces said they knew what it was about.

"Guys. I'm sorry, but we just got called in," he told them. "We have to go."

"Call me if you need anything," Hotch said, shaking his hand.

"Take care of your son," he told him before rejoining the rest of the team, who were getting up to leave.

"You gonna be ok?" Rossi asked him.

"I'll see you when you get back," Hotch said, not answering the question.

Once Rossi left, Florence quickly gave Hotch a hug, which he was glad to return. "No matter what you decide to do, it'll be the right choice. Also, I'm incredibly jealous that you don't have to wear one of those ugly monster splints for your broken nose."

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Once Florence and Garcia got to their office, Florence immediately found her go-bag. She pulled one of the pairs of sweatpants out and slipped them on under her funeral dress. If she was going to be working late at night on a weekend, then she would be comfy and warm.

"Two women dead in two weeks, both killed in their own homes, and no sign of forced entry," JJ read off the file once they were on the plane and had video-called Garcia and Florence. "Floors were covered in rose petals."

"Quite the romantic," Rossi muttered. "Evidence of sexual assault?"

"None," she answered. "Both women were last seen leaving their offices on a Friday And never showed up to work on a Monday."

"It's Thursday. Why are we only being called in now?" Morgan asked, frowning.

"The second body was only found yesterday."

"There may be a socio-economic pattern emerging. The first victim, Bethany Heminger, Lived in Belle Meade, Melissa Johnson in Brentwood. Both are affluent neighborhoods," Reid said.

"Yet there was nothing missing from either home," Rossi said.

"What did these women do for a living?" Morgan asked.

"Bethany was a defense attorney, Melissa a corporate executive," JJ replied.

"Two brunettes with similar features in high-powered professions? That's not a coincidence," Prentiss stated.

"These women most likely represent someone he knows," Rossi said.

"All right, so we need to figure out where this unsub is meeting his victims and how he's gaining access to their homes, and if he's staying on pattern. Most likely this guy has picked out his next target," Morgan said.

"We should check gardeners, housekeeping staff, pool attendants, floral shops," Rossi listed. "See if anyone worked both homes."

"Start working up a paper trail, Garcia, Ren. Find out where these women were in the days leading up to each murder," Morgan ordered.

"Gotcha," Florence said, spinning to face her keyboard.

"Like a genie in a bottle — poof!" Garcia said before leaving the call.

The pair did just as they were instructed, doing the thorough background checks. Because of the victims' social statuses, there was a lengthy list of workers that had access to their homes and with their own keys. However, there was no crossover between the employees, and they each had solid alibis for the timelines of the murders. Despite this, the two women were incredibly similar. It'd wouldn't have been unusual if they'd have been friends.

When the team got back from viewing the crime scenes and bodies, they returned to the precinct to see what they had found.

"Find anything?" Rossi asked.

"Several people had access to each home. Housekeeper, gardener, pool cleaner, dog walker," JJ listed. "Each with their own key and an alibi to match."

"Any crossover?"

"None. We even vetted delivery people and utility workers," she replied.

"Garcia, do you and Ren have anything?" Reid asked, taking a seat.

"There's no hits on the prints at all, but I did what Sir Derek there asked and I created a paper trail. There's no crossover between the two victims themselves in the weeks leading up to their murders, but they did run in similar circles," she told them.

"How do you mean?" Rossi asked.

"Country clubs, but different ones. Fancy restaurants, private concerts, five-star hotels," Florence listed off. "Like Fergie, they were living the glamorous life. A very high-class and expensive lifestyle."

"A lifestyle he'd fit right into," Prentiss said as she and Morgan entered the room. "This guy is educated, intelligent, proper. He's a downright gentleman."

"The rose petals sent a pretty specific message. He's romancing them whether they want it or not," Morgan told them. "He's got the social skills to back it up."

"Hey, Garcia, take a look at dating services and social networking sites," Reid asked. "Look for working professionals and privileged elites."

"Check, check, and checkers. Back in a smidge."

Unfortunately, before they found any solid leads, another body turned up, well, two bodies. The unsub had stuck again, this time killing a woman named Erika Silverman and her boyfriend. He must have shown up and the unsub had no choice but to kill them both and move on to someone else. Once they had names, Garcia and Florence could look into the new victims, but it wasn't very helpful. Erika had used her credit card very little in the past week, making it impossible to know where she had been to help the geographical profile.

But Reid did think to look at the GPS systems in each of their cars. Once the data was sent to them, they could begin to sort through it. By linking up all the places that the victims had been, Garcia and Florence managed to find something that stood out.

"Garcia's got something," JJ said as she received the files they sent.

"I'm a girl genius cause this is what I did," she said, which made Florence grin. "I took the travel logs from the GPS systems, overlaid their routes against the geographical profile to reveal what the paper trail could not."

"Which was?" JJ asked.

"While Erika Silverman is the only victim who didn't visit a private club, a concert, or go to a fancy restaurant in the days leading up to her death, she did spend a couple of hours at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens on Tuesday," she explained.

"Garcia, did either of the other victims go to the park?" Reid asked.

"No."

"I don't know if it's relevant, then," he said, frowning.

"It is when her navigation system reads in a straight line. To work, back home, to work, back home. I don't think she ever left her house. She even had her groceries delivered."

"What was she doing on Tuesday?" Reid asked, turning to JJ.

"Let's find out," she responded.

While JJ and Reid went to the Botanical Gardens to chase that lead, Rossi and Morgan found another potential one. They called Garcia and Florence to immediately have them check it.

"Ren here," she said, answering the phone while Garcia kept going through data.

"Florence, check employee records at each of the venues the victims visited in the week prior to their death. Look for men spending beyond their means," Rossi told her and she got to searching.

"A guy who's racked up a lot of debt, Garcia. Look at cars, wardrobes, something that does not fit their current income level. A scholarship-funded private school education maybe," Morgan added.

With new search parameters, it didn't take long at all to find the connection. It was a valet company, and one of its employees was the unsub.

"Culpepper Valet Company handled the fund-raiser on Tuesday, and the same company had contracts with the hotel lounge that Bethany Heminger frequented, and the country club Melissa Johnson was a member at," Garcia told the team.

"That's our connection," Reid said.

"JJ, get Rossi and Prentiss to pick up the owner," Morgan said.

"Right away." JJ left to call Prentiss and Rossi.

"All right, Baby Girl, talk to me," Morgan said, taking JJ's previous seat. "I need employee records and a list of venues that Culpepper contracted out to this weekend."

"Do you think she's some kind of amateur, Der-Bear? She put it in your inbox sixty seconds ago," Florence said, spinning in her chair.

Morgan grinned. "Thanks, Penelope and Florence."

WIth the employee list and talking to the owner, it wasn't long before they figured out which employee of the valet company was the unsub. His name was Joe Belser, and he had just broken up with his fiance who cheated on him with the best man. The team headed to his apartment, hoping he was there instead of with another victim.

"Garcia, did you guys find anything else on Belser?" JJ asked over the phone.

"Ok, he attended Southern Charleston Preparatory Academy on scholarship. His parents died in a boating accident six years ago. Belser lost his inheritance in the stock market, and since then, he has been racking up debt faster than he can pay it off. He was engaged to Society Magazine editor Rose Smith until six weeks ago. When it was called off, and the chapel was already paid for," Garcia told them.

"So he spent his entire savings trying to live in the world of his fiancee," Morgan said. "She was his lifeline to the society he'd grown up in."

"Only to have her leave him and wind up penniless," Detective Kaminski added.

"Hey, Garcia, I don't suppose Belser's car has a lo-jack system on it, does it?" Reid asked.

"No. No such luck, boy wonder," she said, frowning. "I need potential victims' names."

"We'll get back to you."

And get back to them, they did. After Belsar's apartment came up empty, they went to the club where he was working that night. He wasn't there, but they asked around potential victims. Reid called back with a list of six different women, and after running them with the geographical profile and victimology, they narrowed it down to Ann Herron.

They rushed to her house and they managed to get there in time. They saved Ann and apprehended Belser. Despite its earlier challenges, they had solved the case and got to head home.

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"This is a very funny tan line," Reggie said, grinning. He was holding up Florence's arm, which was no longer in a cast. The skin that had been under it was a completely different shade than the rest of her and would take some time to even out. She was at her apartment with her friends to celebrate her freed limb. "Also, I can't believe you had two of my guitar picks stuck in there."

"I'm just glad I have my drum stick back," Alex stated, twirling said stick between his fingers.

Julie made a disgusted face. "You did wash that thing, right? It was her itch stick for like a month and a half. You saw the pics of the inside of that cast she sent. It was disgusting."

Alex scoffed. "Of course, I cleaned it."

Florence laughed before her phone rang. "Hewwo?"

Rossi sighed over the line. "Do not ever answer the phone with hewwo ever again. I hate that as much as the time you barked at me."

"Bark, bark," she replied, laughing and ignoring the funny look Reggie gave her. Rossi grumbled and was likely rolling his eyes. "Do we have a case or something I need to come in for?"

"No, not yet. I just thought I'd let you know that Hotch is officially coming back to the BAU. He turned down the retirement offer that the Bureau offered him."

"Really?" Florence asked, sitting up straighter and grinning. Reggie pouted a little when he lost his grip on her hand, but she was far too excited. "I knew it. I'm gonna have to make more cupcakes."

"Just don't eat half of them before they even make it to the building this time," he joked.

"I'll try — Luke! Stop trying to stir the pot with my itching stick!" Florence shouted all of the sudden.

Rossi heard a lot of commotion in the background and frowned. "W - what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm teaching Reggie and the band how to make good homemade pasta," she said.

"First off, the four of your friends seem like they share two collective brain cells, so I can only imagine how well this must be going," Rossi muttered. "And you can't teach others how to make good homemade pasta when what you make when I'm not there to help is still barely passable as pasta."

"Damn, Ro-Ro," she muttered. Though, he wasn't that wrong. "Some confidence would be nice. We haven't set anything on fire yet."

"What was the consistency of the dough when you put it in the water?"

Florence chewed on her lip. "I mean, the noodles were really sticky."

"Sticky! Why didn't you add more flour?"

"It just felt like a lot of work and we're really hungry."

Rossi scoffed. "I'm coming over. I am not letting you feed them sticky spaghetti that was stirred with the drumstick you've had shoved in your sweaty cast for eight weeks."

Once Rossi turned up, Florence turned to her friends with a big grin on her face. "Rossi is coming and he's gonna make us good pasta."

"That's probably for the best," Luke muttered. He was holding up the drumstick, which had the pasta stuck on the end over the pot. The noodles had all fused together when cooking.

"We should probably just... throw that batch out," Julie muttered, sighing heavily.

Reggie shrugged. "I mean, I'll take a bite out of it."

Florence jumped on his back to stop him from going over to Luke. Luke, however, thought it sounded like a good idea and walked over with the glob of noodles. "No!"