Monsters & Men • A Spencer Reid Fanfiction •

CHAPTER SIX

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor Hell a fury like a woman scorned.

William Congreve

"Hey, Garcia has something."

Phoebe looked up from her phone to see Reid making his way towards her. She flashed him a smile, even though the last thing she felt at the moment was happy. She still had to suck it up because they had a case to finish. "Great. I hope it's something good," she said out loud, heading for the conference room.

She stopped when Reid didn't move. He was looking towards the Sheriff's Office, where Hotch was still pacing. "Am I the only one who doesn't know what's going on?" he asked all of a sudden. He turned to Phoebe, and she could see hurt in his hazel eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked in return, genuinely confused. Am I the only one who doesn't know what's going on? Did that mean-

"Well, the rest of the team looked like they knew what you guys were talking about, but they wouldn't tell me what it was," he murmured, casting his gaze to the ground. Phoebe didn't need to see his expression to know the hurt he had been feeling had doubled. Because it was one thing for her- a complete stranger- to keep something from him. But it was another for his family to withhold information.

Phoebe opened her mouth to reply, even though she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to say, but Hotch was suddenly there. "We're needed in the conference room," he announced as he brushed past them, not even glancing at Phoebe. It was like she was invisible, and she had a feeling she would stay that way until he got her off the team or she admitted the circumstances of her transfer.

Reid didn't say another word. He just marched after Hotch, and Phoebe was left to sigh before going after them. She felt even more exhausted than when she woke up.

"So I wasn't able to find any males who fit the description you guys gave, but there was a woman engaged to marry a Joshua Sullivan five years ago. The wedding didn't push through, and Julia Marshal, 27, was heartbroken. It says here she was even admitted to a psychiatric facility for self-harm due to severe depression, but before that, she had been working as a teacher's assistant. Five weeks ago, Joshua Sullivan got married to his fiancée, Ashley Walters. Hell really hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Garcia was already explaining her findings to the team when Phoebe pushed the door open, and she lingered in the background. If what Reid said was true, then almost everyone had known of Hotch's suspicion and the background check on her. And that meant they also probably didn't trust her. The best thing she could do was stay quiet, and let them do their thing.

"Well, there's the significance of the number five," Morgan said, his dark eyes landing on Phoebe. "Great work, baby girl."

"You are welcome, my darling. I have sent her information to your phones," Garcia bid before ending the call.

"But why kill the women and not the men?" JJ wondered out loud. "I mean, if she was engaged to this Joshua person, wouldn't the victims be surrogates for him?"

"Maybe she loves him too much that she channeled all her hate towards the woman who she perceives stole him away," Reid suggested.

Rossi nodded, "And because she couldn't get to Ashley without hurting Joshua, she found surrogates for her."

"Garcia sent her home and work address. There's a chance we can get to her before the party tonight. JJ, you and Reid take her house. Morgan, you and Rossi take her work address," Hotch said.

Great. I'm on time out, Phoebe thought. With a disgruntled expression that she didn't bother to hide, she moved towards the end of the table while the rest of the team moved to follow their orders. Reid's eyes lingered on her as they exited the room, but he didn't say another word.