The Stone Wall and His Weakness [A.H.]

XXII

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I snuck into her office easily, the tapping of her keyboard loud enough to hide the click of the door.

"Boo!" I  grabbed her shoulders, whispering in her ear.

She jumped slightly, "Alex! Why?!" She spun around, glaring at me, "Why are you here? Didn't the team leave?"

"Yeah, but I thought I'd hang out with you this time. You cool with that?"

"Yes! Of course!" I laughed at her enthusiasm, pulling over a spare chair to sit beside her, "You're sure that you're okay?"

"Yes, PG, I promise I'm fine. You'd be the first to know otherwise."

"Liar, you'd totally tell the Boss Man first!"

"Okay, you've got me there. Now c'mon, lets get to work!"

She pulled up the video conference, a view of the team taking over the screen.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

"We were just reviewing the case. You settled in okay?"

"Aaron, my love, stop worrying. Did you talk about the victims ages?"

"I just mentioned that," JJ spoke, "They're all young, but the girls are all the same age- seventeen, while the men are older, in their twenties."

"Twenty-five, twenty-nine, and twenty, respectively. That's not even legal, why are these men dating girls ten years younger than themselves? Better yet, how do the parents allow it? If Jack tries to date a minor when he's twenty, I'll throw him in a cave." I shrugged off the looks the team gave me.

Rossi chuckled at my comment, "Maybe we're not looking at a scorned lover, but an angry parent."

"Maybe, but that doesn't explain why both the girls and men are being killed. If it were a parent, you'd think they'd want to protect the girls, right?" Aaron asked, "Look at the statements Hollis and Larey gave- he was knocked unconscious, but she was hit with a blunt object, told to run, then assaulted before being let go. He escalated just three weeks later, shooting Griffin twice and Moore once, then again with Martin, who was shot four times, and Booker, who was shot twice. The victims are getting younger and violence is increasing. Why?"

"He's losing patience. Maybe he's trying to discourage couples going to that lovers lane, but they keep going, so he's getting angrier." JJ offered, "But to that point, how do we even know it's a guy? Look at the assault on Larey, it was with a gun."