𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

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𝟭:𝟮𝟰 𝗽𝗺
𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲'𝘀 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲
𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁


𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 tracing circles over her left temple and inner cheek fixed between her teeth, Cady let her eyes skim the file she had open on Pete's desk. It was the same information she had read over for days. Eleanor Trevas, Dani Miller, Eliza Woodstaff; three women, three reports, one assailant.

Sighing, she turned her attention to Pete's silver laptop, an electronic file open on the screen. She didn't bother printing Louise Turner's information, not yet. Especially since the FBI had more details than the Greentree Police could pull. She scrunched her nose at the thought. "Fucking FBI," she murmured, scrolling her fingers on the touchpad to read further.

Her phone buzzing across the polished teakwood of Pete's desk made her curse, interrupting her thoughts. She sighed, grabbing it to lodge between her ear and her shoulder. "What?"

"Hello to you too," came the response.

"Sorry, Mel," Cady exhaled, slumping as she leaned back in Pete's leather chair. "Wound up."

Her friend chuckled. "Yeah, what else is new?" Mel toyed, but Cady ignored it.

"Got something for me?"

Mel grinned. "Always. So, short version, honey, is Louise was definitely hit with a hammer. Unfortunately it's of pretty standard size," there was a shuffling on the line as Mel lifted the sheet that covered the corpse, examining the wound again as she spoke, "dime a dozen at the hardware store. Most of your contractors would have this kind."

"Contractors?" Cady echoed, the word rolling over in her mind.

"Mhm," Mel reiterated. "Now, what's really interesting is what I found when I looked closer at the bruising on her neck."

"What's that?"

"They were made with cording," she explained. "A rope, a wire, something thin but firm enough that it didn't snap under the pressure of when he choked her."

Cady's brows knitted into a frown. "He didn't use his hands?"

"Oh, no, believe me, he tried," Mel clarified, "but he couldn't get a grip. She has scrapes from his nails all over the back of her neck. This essentially makeshift-tourniquet did little to help him though, that's why he knocked her out with the hammer, which ultimately killed her. One whack would've been enough, but this guy went ham. Like, I've counted at least six hits after his initial blow."

"He's both evolving and devolving." Through the slivers of light that cracked through the blinds shading the internal windows, Cady was able to see the shadow of a dark-haired woman that passed the door to Pete's office. "Can I call you back?" She was already scrambling to her feet.

"Sure thing, honey."

Cady needed little else in way of confirmation, ending her call to tuck her phone into her back pocket and poke her head out of the door. "Agent Prentiss?"

Emily halted, looking over.

"Your magic mirror girl," Cady started, "what kind of databases does she have access to?"

Emily shrugged. "All of them."

"Could you ask her to look into something for me?"

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𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 in the middle of Captain Browne's office, her phone held out in front of her as she spoke into the speaker. "Garcia, we need you to chase something for us."

"Like a dog with a bone, honey," Garcia answered. "Lay it on me."

Emily nodded to Cady, sat in Pete's chair, who finally spoke. "Construction job cuts in Fortitude Hills. There was a developer that was going bust a few months back, but I can't remember the name. He fired a bunch of his workers to cut costs and then managed to stay in business."

"Calico Constructions," Garcia answered, almost before Cady had finished talking.

"Damn, she's good," Cady admitted before steering herself back to her train of thought. "Uh, this guy is probably still operating, but, maybe under his own name?"

"Subcontractors, ex-employees," Garcia mused, "let's see."

"Garcia, cross-reference with recent transactions for car rentals," Emily instructed. "We think he's using a hired car."

"Checking, checking," she hummed. "A lot of these guys are using hire cars, it's cheaper when you're getting yourself back off the ground. I'm gonna need more."

"Worthless," Cady muttered, "rape escalating to murder." She looked up, latched onto a thought. "Um, what about medications, for uh, uh, sexual impotence?"

"Oh, good one," Garcia praised, typing away. "Let me work it, I'll have it to you in a jiffy."

"Thanks, PG." The call ended and Emily's hand was on Cady's shoulder. "Good thinking," she remarked, reaching for the door before Cady spoke again.

"Uh, Agent Prentiss," she swallowed, spinning in the chair to face her. "Dr Scott just called me. She's tentatively finished the autopsy." Cady's right thumb and forefinger were rubbing firmly at the first knuckle of the middle finger on her opposite hand. "Would you come with me?"

Cady's apprehension was eased when Emily showed her a kind smile. "Sure," she hitched her thumb over her shoulder, "I'll let Hotch know."

Hotch. That must be what his team calls him. Easier than 'Agent Hotchner'. Cady nodded, following Emily out of the room, but didn't step closer to where the FBI had clustered. She watched in silence as the two agents conversed, then Agent Hotchner's eyes were on her as he nodded to his team member. He was studying Cady, assessing her.

But Cady was assessing him in return, figuring out what made him tick, what pissed him off. The nerves she had struck earlier seemed to be enough, for now.

She looked away, noticing Luther thumbing his mobile phone only a few steps away, his eyes glued to the screen. Seizing the arm of her partner, Cady then dragged Luth by the crook of his elbow to the kitchenette. She positioned herself between him and the doorway, her back facing the rest of the precinct, shielded from the chance of anyone being able to read her lips.

"Dude," he objected, shaking out his sleeve, "not the suit."

"Shut up," she ordered, her voice low. "I need you to check out Calico Constructions, LLC."

He scoffed, crossing his arms, ironically creasing his precious suit. "And I need a two-week vacation in Cancún with bottomless beer and topless women, both on tap. But that's not gonna happen, is it, buttercup?"

Cady's eyes narrowed. "The sooner you realise that you and I need to stick together on this, Luth, the sooner these fucking Feds can get out of our hair. Have you considered that?"

"Have you considered that I don't care?"

"Bullshit, you want them gone too," she countered. "You can't score with either of their female agents, so they no longer serve a purpose for you." She pushed her finger into his chest. "Calico, find something. I want to know everything, down to what shampoo their fucking CEO uses."

He swiped her hand away. "You want shampoo, make Dutton do it," Luth joked, making reference to their colleague's receding hairline. "Lord knows he doesn't have use for his own."

"Luther."

"Fine!" he conceded, throwing his hands up before mirroring her previous action with his own index finger pointed towards her. "But you fucking owe me."

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𝟮:𝟭𝟵 𝗽𝗺
𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗺


𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 bright and cold, with the fluorescent lights blinding against the mopped linoleum floor. Agent Prentiss had her black overcoat on, tied tight at her waist, with her hands in the pockets. Cady was the one to push open the door to the examination room, letting Emily take the first step inside.

Dr Melanie Scott was at her desk, making a few final notes on an unrelated report. Noticing the two guests, she beamed. "Hi! Hi, hi!" She slid from her stool, hurrying over. "Agent Prentiss, right?"

Emily nodded, and Mel noticed her hesitance in extending her hand.

"Don't worry," she joked, lifting her hands and wriggling her fingers. "All clean." She exchanged a handshake with Emily. "Welcome to the lair. Now!" She held up a finger before leading the two to the exam table behind her, revealing the corpse of Louise Turner. The skin was as white as the sheet that covered her, and the blonde hair had been washed of any excess blood before being neatly brushed. The eyes were closed, as if she were sleeping, dreaming of a life that didn't end the way hers did.

Dr Scott took great care with her work.

"See here," Mel had pulled on a pair of gloves and was pointing to the wound on the skull as Emily and Cady leaned in. "As I was telling Cady, it's most certainly a hammer that caused this, which I've determined was her cause of death, and I finally counted eight different blows."

Cady grimaced at the thought.

"Is that what led you to think of contractors?" Emily asked, momentarily looking to Cady, who nodded.

Mel continued. "She was also choked," she hovered her finger over the purple bruising across the neck. "First by his hands," she turned the head to reveal the marks that clawed and stretched across the nape of the neck, "then by some kind of cording. I didn't find any fibres, so it's unlikely rope or natural material, and it didn't actually cut into her skin, so it's not metal either. Thin, but apparently entirely dangerous."

"Electrical wire?" Cady finally spoke.

Shrugging, Mel nodded. "Highly likely, it's about that size."

"Gives credit to your contractor theory," Emily noted, straightening as her phone rang. She retrieved it from her pocket, answering and holding it in front of her again. "Hey Garcia, I'm with Detective Wilkinson and Dr Scott, you're on speaker."

"Alright pussycats, here's what I have on your Calico conundrum." Penelope Garcia stretched out her fingers before wriggling them over her keyboard. "Beau Felix started his company, Calico Constructions, in '93, and surprisingly, but not actually that surprising, he primarily hired subcontractors, and his employment records for those he did keep on the books are just as bad." Her words were almost tripping over one another as they fought to leave her lips. "He never has an employee for longer than 12 months, except, of course, for his brother Brandon, and his nephew Tommy."

"The probationary period is 12 months for a full-time employee in Michigan," Cady noted. "He's firing them before that point to avoid severance pay clauses in their contracts and golden handshakes."

"Precisely," Garcia agreed. "He is not a very cool cat, let me tell you."

Emily jerked her head to swipe her hair to over her shoulder. "Is he our UnSub?" she asked.

"Sadly, no, I don't think so," Garcia replied, reading through one of the files on her screen. "He's 49, some would say happily married, and no history of sexual impotence; lucky Mrs Felix."

"What about employees?" Emily suggested.

"Way ahead of you, kitten!" Garcia was revelling in the amount of cat puns she could draw from. "In the past six months, count 'em, thirty-nine different male workers had their employment terminated. Twelve of those are married, six in a serious relationship where their emergency contacts are their significant others, seven are single, and a grand total of fourteen of these not-so-gentlemen are divorced. Seems they can build homes, but happy marriages are not part of their skillsets."

"Garcia..."

"I know, I know, check out the divorcees, already done!" The sound of keys tapping and her mouse clicking was heard over the call. "Of those fourteen, only four have medical histories that suggest use of those little blue pills, but that's not to say they're not getting them over the counter."

"Send us the fourteen anyway," Emily ordered.

"On it, kitty cat!"

Cady interjected. "Send us the married and serious relationship ones as well."

Emily looked quizzically at her.

"Well, there's a chance a divorce hasn't been finalised, or that they weren't legally married, or the breakup happened after they were fired," she explained. "There'd be no reason to change employment records after termination."

Garcia grinned. "Oh, you are smart. Back to you in a minute!"

The call ended and Cady noticed a look of pleasant impress from Agent Prentiss.

"She sounds like a hoot!" Mel noted, gesturing her gloved finger towards Emily's phone as it was tucked back into her pocket. "I want whatever she's on."

"Trust me," Emily chuckled, "we only just switched her to decaf."

Thoughts were running circles in Cady's mind as she chewed at the inside of her cheek again, recounting what Garcia had said. "Over the counter," she murmured. "They weren't working. Who's worthless now?" she paused, almost hearing the pin drop. "He didn't finish." Her eyes were fixed on the corpse in front of her, the notes of the files she read earlier still fresh in her mind. "Mel, were there any traces of semen?"

Mel nodded. "Oh yeah, inside, outside, you name it. I've tried to run it, but nothing's come up yet."

Cady turned to Emily. "The rape kits of the other women; there was no evidence of protection, he never managed to ejaculate. The rape gave him nothing, no gratification, no release. This graduation to killing," she pointed to the corpse, "this is his climax." She stared back at the closed eyes of Louise Turner. "He's gonna do it again."

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𝟯:𝟭𝟮 𝗽𝗺
𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁


𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 precinct, Reid had plotted the points of interest on a birds-eye printout of Fortitude Road, pinned to Cady's case board. All of the locations sat in a radius of a thousand feet or less from one another. While the UnSub didn't have a preference for women, he seemed to have a preference on location. With Luther, Cady, and Emily all still in the field, the remaining agents, along with Captain Browne, were circled around the table, conferring on the best method, and least amount of paperwork, to find and arrest their perpetrator.

"We could set up more roadblocks," Captain Browne suggested, his fingers scratching at the stubble growing along his chin as he eyed the agents.

"You're not going to catch him with a roadblock."

The team turned to the doorway in which Detective Wilkinson had appeared, her arms folded over her chest. She glanced at Agent Hotchner before back to the rest of the group. "If Fortitude Road is his hunting ground, a roadblock is gonna do jack-shit," she reiterated.

"She's right," Morgan relinquished, leaning back in his chair and tossing his pen onto the table. "If we've cut off his source, we don't know where or if he'd even strike again."

JJ looked to the board, gesturing to the map. "If we open the road back up, he'd likely be compelled to come back. I can coordinate a press conference in time for the 6 o'clock news, say that we think these are standalone, maybe draw him out if he thinks it's safe."

There was a knock on the open door, revealing Officer Dutton, who directed himself to his Captain. "Sir, your wife is on line one."

Pete stood, apologising as he left the room to take the call, but the team didn't heed the intrusion.

"He might not know we're onto him yet," JJ finished her thought.

Agent Hotchner nodded, stoic. "Set up the press conference," he ordered to JJ. "We need to make him and the public believe that we think these are unrelated."

JJ was already reaching for her phone, dialling one of her numerous contacts before she had even passed through the vacant doorway.

"Garcia said there's up to a hundred and fifty people on that road at night," Rossi argued. "It'd be like finding a needle in a haystack."

Cady almost snorted. "Do you know how to find a needle in a haystack?" She cocked her head as the room looked to her again. "Big-ass magnet."

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 Captain Browne's office were now all pulled up and the afternoon light was streaming through the windows, illuminating the files on his desk and gleaming upon his numerous accolades that lined the far wall. "No," he shook his head, his hand still on his phone as he clicked the handset into the receiver on his desk, "absolutely not."

She knew it would be his reaction. "Pete," Cady started but he overtook her.

"Not a chance, Cady!" He stood, looking her in the eye. "I swore to your father when you entered the force that I would do everything to keep you safe. You can forget it, he'd kill me if I let you offer yourself as bait to some serial rapist turned murderer. I am not putting you in the line of danger here."

Cady took a step further into the room. "I won't be in danger, Pete," she argued. "There's gonna be agents and officers all staking it out. As soon as I make the call, they'll fall in."

"What if you can't make that call, Cades?" He was trying to pull her back by the use of the nickname given to her only by her father. "What if he kills you before you get the chance?"

She groaned, throwing her head back, her forehead rippled with frustration. "Pete, I'm not twelve years old anymore. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself. Give me a chance to prove that to you." She had one final shot left in her arsenal, ready to be aimed and fired from the barrel. "You told me to catch this son of a bitch, for the sake of these women and their families. Let me do this for them."

Taking a moment, Pete finally sighed. "You're as stubborn as your dad, you know that?"

She grinned, nodding. "I know."