After the USPS creates a penpal pairing program, Elizabeth Mills is encouraged by her friends to sign up and talk to someone new. Spencer Reid, bored with only getting bills and advertisements in his mailbox signs up for a penpal.
The two get paire...
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It was rare that the BAU knew about a potential target before landing, however Spencer knowing someone who had been harassed in the area up until the murders started was likely not co-incidental, and so Hotch had called the police, telling them to send a detail to Elizabeth's house as they believe her to be a potential target of the killer, and though they were sceptical, they sent a unit.
The ride on the jet was a tense three hours of the team reading through the brief and Spencer trying to distract himself from the possibilities that could be happening in Oregon, that could be happening to Elizabeth. It was disturbing really, the ideas ones brain can come up when there's a distinct lack of information; the paranoia it can cause astounded him, and it was the first time he understood what the people he interviewed felt. But he still had a job to do, and so, when they landed, that was what he intended on doing, his job. Work the case, find the killer, and go home knowing that lives had been saved.
When they landed, Spencer grabbed his bag and Aaron answered his phone which had began to ring out the annoying bleating tone that every FBI issued phone made as no one could change them (except Penelope, who had bypassed the security features and made hers whatever song was trending at the time). Spencer stood, waiting for Hotch to finish his call, the changes between yes and no's ended in a 'I'll have some of my team head there as soon as possible', which was rather standard for a case.
Standing on the runway, they waited to be assigned their groups. "Derek, Spencer, JJ, you'll be heading to the Cannon Beach Police Department. Rossi, Emily, you'll be with me heading to the new crime scene."
New crime scene? Spencer frowned, he didn't think that there would be a new body so soon. "They've killed again?" He said, confused.
It was clear to everyone that Hotch didn't know how to quite answer the question Spencer was asking, which made Spencer's stomach tie in knots.
"Hotch, has he killed again?"
"They don't know." He replied, the strange sound of uncertainty in his voice that the team were unfamiliar with filling them with dread. "Reid, they've cordoned off Elizabeth's house as a crime scene. She's missing, Spencer."
His heart sank. He knew the odds weren't good, she was likely already at a secondary location. But he also knew if she was the intended target it was good, especially if it was the guy from the letters. If it was the guy from the letters, all Elizabeth had to do was play along with his fantasy to extend her chances of getting out alive.
"I have to go there."
"Everyone else go ahead." Hotch said to the team, before turning back to Spencer. "I can't allow you to. You're close with a victim, which means you're more likely to make mistakes in the field you wouldn't normally make. You'll be at your best in the department, where you can focus on a profile. You know this situation better than anyone, you can get the profile down quicker and we can get a name as soon as possible."
