moonstruck 2 // criminal minds fanfic

ch. 5

Pima County Sheriff's Department, Green Valley, Present day.

The team congregated in the Pima County Sheriff's Department early the next day. Hotch had only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, but it was enough to look at the profile with fresh eyes. By midday, they had added enough information to the profile to make it useful and they were ready to present it to the local police and the dozen police officers from other parts of Pima County who had come to assist.

"The man we are looking for is likely to be in his mid-twenties to thirties," Hotch said, addressing the twenty or so cops who were gathered in front of him in the bullpen, some scribbling notes, others watching intently. "He has a narcissistic personality disorder which means he will be arrogant and he will be immensely proud of the murders he had committed so far," Hotch said. Morgan carried on.

"The unsub, or Unknow Subject, will be very intelligent but he will have a menial job, simply because he cannot - and will not play well with others. He will take the slightest criticism very badly, reacting with anger or violence."

"Because of this, the unsub is likely to have been fired from one or more previous jobs," Prentiss continued. "His narcissism will be a result of the unreliable parenting he received as a child. It is likely that he had a violent or negligent father figure."

"Oh!"

The entire team turned to look at Deputy Commander Watts.

"It's Robert Fox," he said.

"You think he's the unsub?" Hotch asked.

"I'm damn sure he is," Watts said. "He's about to be twenty-seven, maybe twenty-eight now. I remember my younger sister telling me about him; they were in the same grade at school. His mum died when he was seven, and after that, he got all messed up. His dad, Jacob, started drinking and beating him, or so people said."

Out of the corner of his eye, Hotch noticed Sheriff Falcon shift uncomfortably against the table he was leaning on.

"When he was nine he blew up his neighbor's rabbit. . . "

"Blew it up?" Morgan repeated.

"He was a really smart kid, he knew how to blow up all sorts of stuff. It got him in a lot of trouble too. Just about took my sister's eye out one time."

As soon as Watts had mentioned his name, Maggie called Garcia to run a search on him. After only a minute on the phone, Maggie shared Watt's conviction, so she walked behind the rest of her team to stand beside Hotch, and while everyone else was listening to the Deputy Commander, Maggie leaned in towards Hotch.

"That was Garcia on the phone," she said quietly. "She said that when Robert Fox was eight, he went to the cops and told them that his dad was beating him but they wouldn't believe him."

"That would explain why he chose to taunt the police with that note," he murmured back, keeping his head close to Maggie's to avoid anyone else hearing.

"Apparently the kid was in the hospital several times a year with scoliosis and broken bones and all of his injuries were consistent with - "

"Being forced into an enclosed space," Hotch finished. "That's why he buries his victims alive, he's recreating what happened to him when he was a child, except now he's the one in charge." Maggie nodded. He caught her eye and saw his own feelings of anxiety reflected there before she stepped back from him. Hotch turned to the Sheriff.

"Why wasn't Robert Fox's abuse allegations taken seriously?" Hotch asked, interrupting Morgan. The room fell silent. Several people turned their gaze to the Sheriff.