Profile // A Spencer Reid Love Story

Chapter 38 // Bruises

Chloe's POV.

8:10 AM || BAU

New day, same routine. It was around 8:10 AM when everyone finally arrived and we all filed into the briefing room, all a bit groggy and annoyed by the fact that we should've been at home sleeping and relaxing.

"Lauren Walters, twenty-one, was taken less than a week ago from her college campus in New York City." Garcia began as she circled around the round table and handed each of us folders with the case files inside. Once she made her way back to the screen, she clicked a button on her remote, revealing images of Lauren Walters.

"She was found just yesterday on the side of the street only three miles from the campus."

"There are bruises all around her neck which suggests that she was strangled." I observed as I flipped through the crime scene photos in my file.

"The bruises are different colors which show different stages of healing. Whoever strangled her did it more than once." Reid replied.

"Do we know how she was killed? Was it because of the strangling?" I asked, looking at Hotch, who had already acquired information on the case earlier.

"The autopsy showed that her neck was sprained. She was most likely killed due to the strangling." He answered, not taking an eye off of the case file.

"Just before Lauren was taken," Garcia continued as she pressed another button, revealing another woman who looked about the same age.

"Dana Kennedy, twenty-four was abducted two weeks ago from her apartment, also in New York City. She was found two days later with the same marks on her neck."

"So the unsub is going after women in their twenties." JJ concluded, looking up at the rest of the team.

I nodded in agreement, but it also didn't make any sense as to why he chose the two of them. "Lauren Walters was a blonde and still in college, Dana Kennedy was a brunette and out of college. They also live in different areas of the city. Dana lived in the more wealthy area, Tribeca. It doesn't seem like they had any connection."

"We will have get more info once we get to New York. Campbell and Morgan, go talk to the ME. Reid and Rossi, go to the crime scene where Lauren Walters was found, JJ and I will talk to the families of the victims. Wheels up in thirty." Hotch assigned us our roles before leaving the room.

10:55 AM || Medical Examiner

After arriving in NYC, Morgan and I parted with the team so we could meet with the ME. Luckily, he didn't mention anything about Spencer and I. We spent the whole car ride coming up with theories and discussing what we already knew. Lauren Walters' body was still at the crime scene, but Dana Kennedy's was at the morgue being examined.

"Whoever did this to her wanted her to suffer." The ME told us after we were all situated in the examining room. "The purple and black marks at the very bottom of her neck indicate that she was strangled most likely the day she was taken or within the first three days of her abduction. The blue marks in the middle show that she was strangled again the day after, and the red marks towards the top of her neck are the most recent."

Although I continued listening to the ME very closely, I already knew the different stages of bruising. I had been through it in the past. That was Adam's specialty, catch my sarcasm. Throughout my relationship with him, I became an expert at covering up my bruises. When they were red, I would just tell people that I had gotten burned or scratched, but once they turned blue and black, I tried my hardest to conceal them with makeup. It was painful looking at Dana's body, knowing that it could've been me lying there if Adam had just squeezed a little bit harder.

However, it was not me lying there, it was Dana, and Lauren Walters would soon be in here too. Focus, focus, focus.

"Agent Campbell,"

I looked up, immediately snapping out of my train of thought. The ME was looking at me impatiently and so was Morgan. "Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked if you had any other questions." She replied as she took off her gloves and trashed them.

"Oh, no. We've got everything that we need to know from here. Thank you for your help." I said before shaking her hand and following Morgan back out of the car.

Once we were seated, I picked up my phone to dial Hotch, but Morgan grabbed my phone out of my hands before I had the opportunity to do so.

"What happened to you in there?" He asked, cocking a brow.

"What are you talking about? Nothing happened to me."

"Something did. You completely zoned out for almost five minutes. Did you even hear the other info that the ME gave us?" His tone was stern, but I could tell that he was also concerned.

"I just- I don't know. I blanked out for a moment. It's not a big deal. What else did she say?"

"She said that whoever killed Dana was a man, because the length and width of the bruising around her neck were too big to be a woman's hands. Also, a woman could not have strangled Dana unless she was heavily sedated or medicated because then she wouldn't have had the strength to fight back."

"Unless the woman was very strong." I replied. It wasn't right to immediately rule out a woman as the unsub just because of the belief that men are stronger than women.

"Well, yes. But Dana was an athlete, and very strong according to her parents. The ME talked to them yesterday."

"We'll see what Rossi and Spencer have to say before we can rule out a woman unsub." I replied.

"Alright, fair enough. Are you sure that you're okay?" He asked, concern filling his voice once again.

"Yeah, I'm fine."