Peace Of Mind (Spencer Reid)

Chapter 1 - The Case

Spencer's POV

     The team was up in Greensville, Iowa, and we were all getting frustrated. There were a string of murdered children; all found tied upside down in trees around the town, hanging by their ankles.

     "Okay, so there were rope marks around the ankles and wrists, as well as around the chest. Kept them from struggling much since the engravings were made pre-mortem." Morgan lists off.

     "The words engraved were 'Don't', 'Me', and 'I'm'. Along with the words, there were the messages left behind at each site." I say. "At the first, there was the picture of the clown with black oil that had run down it."

     "At the second site," JJ starts, "The word 'GREEN' spelled out in sticks with a black X over it."

     "And at the third," Rossi says, "The victim's heart had been taken out and covered in gold glitter." We look down at the pictures in the file. How were these messages connected? And why were these common words carved into these kid's stomachs?

     "There seems to be no apparent links between these children. One girl and two boys. The girl was a red head with green eyes named Carmen. The first boy was blond with blue eyes named Kaleb, and the second boy was brown haired with blue eyes named Nick." Garcia says from the video call on the computer sitting in the middle of the table in the conference room. "They were between the ages of 7 and 10."

     "The time between when the kids were kidnapped and when the bodies were found was about three days, and the length of time between the first and second children was three weeks, between the second and third was two weeks." Hotch says.

     "The places where he hung the bodies were done very carefully. Artfully." I say. "This Unsub had to have this all planned out, even before he kidnapped the kids."

     "But on the third victim," Prentiss says. "Why did he cut out the heart? It's not consistent with the other two victims. And where he cut into the chest, it was stitched up tightly."

     "You're asking why he cut out the heart. I want to know why he covered it in glitter." Morgan says. He looks at Garcia on the screen, and she looks confused.

     "Why are you looking at me?"

     "Well Baby Girl, you are the queen of all things loud and colorful." Morgan replies. Garcia glares at him, and he chuckles.

     "You know, what we need is someone who knows the town. There's what? Three hundred people that live here?" Prentiss asks, and I nod.

     "Well, Three hundred and thirty two." I correct.

     "Right. Anyway, this is such a small town, everyone knows who everyone is. The cops, the schoolteachers, the students." Prentiss continues. "We need someone who knows the people in the town."

     "Someone who isn't a cop. Someone people trust." Hotch says. "If we can find someone who can work with us, it would make this investigation go a lot quicker."

     "And we can't ask a cop?" Morgan asks.

     "In a town like this, the Unsub would know immediately that the person was a cop. An Unsub as prepared as this would have what he would say to a police officer already planned out. If it was just someone he knew from town, he would feel safer. He wouldn't think that they would find anything suspicious." I explain. "It's obvious that the killer is confidant in this town. He feels as if he can't be caught."

     "What are we going to do? Go around and knock on people's doors and ask them to help find one of their own guilty of the murders of these children? They would slam the doors in our faces." Rossi says with a wave of his hand. As the team continued to talk, the thoughts in my head were spinning around. Would she help us? Probably not, but I needed to give this a shot.

     "Garcia," I say, interrupting Morgan. "Can you check if she still lives here?" The team looked at me questioningly, but Garcia knew instantly who I was talking about. I had asked her to check in on her a few times before.

     "Just give me a second to check my boy wonder." She responds, turning to another one of her computers, her fingers flying across the keyboard. "That she does my friend. The address is-"

     "That's okay Garcia. I remember it." I start to stand up.

     "Reid." Hotch says. "Who exactly are you thinking about seeing? I wasn't aware you knew anyone here."

     "She's an old...." I hesitate. I couldn't say friend. She doesn't think about me like that. Not anymore.

     "Friend?" JJ offers. I shake my head.

     "No." I say. "She's just... it's complicated." I sigh. "But she's also the best chance we have at the moment as someone who might help us."

     "She?" Morgan asks.

     "Might?" Hotch asks, raising an eyebrow.

     "Like I said. It's really, really complicated." There is silence while everyone thinks.

     "Might as well give it a shot." Rossi says. "Like Reid says, it's the best we can get at the moment." After a few seconds, Hotch agrees.

     "Fine. We'll head to Reid's.... Person's house." He says, and the team heads out to the cars. As we walk through the parking lot, Morgan tosses me the keys.

     "I'm driving?" I ask, surprised. He looks at me strangely.

     "You are the only one who knows the address." He says.

     "Oh. Right." I say. He rolls his eyes and laughs.

     "C'mon pretty boy. Get in the car." He says. "We have an Unsub to catch."

This idea has been on my mind for a while, and I LOVE Reid. The updates for this may not come as often as the ones for my other stories, but I promise not to forget about it.