Cold Hands ✔️

fourteen

chapter 14;  it was a normal day, as long as you ignore that fact that it wasn't.

"You weren't very easy to find, Vincent." Morgan stood near the investigation table. The man didn't say a word, eyes trained on the table. I don't suspect it will be easy to break him.

"Je ne parle pas anglais, désolé." Vincent's eyes didn't move from their spot on the table. Although he spoke French, his accent was obviously midwestern.

"Tu ne parles pas français, mais..." I spoke, coming from the door. "we can do this in either language." He didn't regard me, but was obviously upset that I could speak French.

"We have you leaving Carter Stuart's home right after he was killed. You and another man. This footage is enough to convince a jury that you were there at the time of the murder, I'm sure they won't need any coaxing from us to connect the dots." Morgan told Vincent, the latter not making eye contact.

"What you have is a grainy image, you cannot prove that that is me." He said, his voice coming out loud and clear. I love when Morgan does this.

"Oh I'm sorry, you mean this?" He slid the traffic cam picture across the table and tapped it twice. "Actually we can connect it to you. Same van, same two people. We just need to find this other person."

The man didn't budge, not letting anything slide. It was hard to read him, I had to admit. Nothing in his file said he had any siblings, so it couldn't be a brother helping him. That would have made our job too easy I guess, this opens it up to anyone.

After a few more tries Morgan and I left the room to talk to Hotch and JJ from behind the glass.

"What do you think? He's not talking, even if we leave him in there for a while his composure won't change. We need to switch things up." Morgan sounding a little defeated.

"Has anything come back for-" I was cut off by the sound of the sheriff coming in quickly.

"Officers spotted the van 2 miles east from here." Well that answers my question. Hotch motioned for us to follow the sheriff, who directed Morgan and I to the location.

When we got there, it didn't look like anyone was in the front seats. I stood directly behind the van with my gun pointed, nodding at Morgan to open the door. He took a breath and opened the door, swiveling around to point into the car as well. The breath quickly left my body, my gag reflex kicking in at the stench.

~~~

Within 5 minutes the rest of the team was there, huddling around the back. We had a limited view of the inside since we couldn't step in without risking the integrity of the crime scene. Inside lay the body of a Jane Doe, who's throat had been slashed open and lay on her back. I had a feeling that this could be connected to the Raven, but it was unlikely given that this was the van of our unsubs.

I looked out at our surrounding area. It was a quiet side street next to a big concrete building. This van wouldn't look out of place in this area, and I doubt that without the APB out we wouldn't have found it. Many people crossed the crosswalk slightly down the hill, but no one came up towards us. It was a deserted street for the most part.

"They've cleared the vans, we can go in now. Just stay near the doors." Hotch warned. The group nodded as we neared. 

"It looks like just her throat was cut." Rossi said, being careful to stay just outside the van. I sighed, knowing I'd have to go inside. I plucked up my courage and gently pulled myself up, staying silent for a moment. The woman looked respectable, her clothes appropriate for an office job. Her makeup and hair could prove that she worked in an office, helping us deduce who this woman was. I noticed something in her hand, puzzled at the shape. Pulling a glove from my pocket, I gently plucked it out of her hands. "Sorry"  I muttered, replacing her fingers in the position she was in.