𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐐𝐔𝐘 | 𝘼𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝙃𝙤𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙚𝙧

𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦

"𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 feds in on this?" Detective Cadence Wilkinson questioned her boss, spinning around so fast that she had to brush her bangs from her eyes. "Are you insane?"

Captain Peter Browne ran a hand through his thinning sandy hair, sighing. "Cady, this is way over our heads. You know as well as I do that we can't crack this without help."

Cady's preened brows frowned. "That's bullshit, Pete." She pointed to the large whiteboard across from her, littered with photos and handwritten notes in her telltale red marker. "The FBI would've done the exact same thing I did except they would've taken five times as many people and five times as long to get there. I did this alone."

"You had Luth," he reminded her, taking a sip of his coffee.

The woman scoffed. "Luth did nothing. The most he got was the cashier's phone number and he lost it."

"It's already done, Cady," Captain Browne reiterated. "They're on their way. Play nice."

Cady muttered under her breath. "I will if they do."

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𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑 whiteboard with her tongue tucked in her cheek, Cadence exhaled deeply. She pressed her lips together in thought before her attention was caught by a group of suits entering her precinct. She glanced them over before she caught sight of her partner reclining in his desk chair and raised her brows to him.

Detective Liam Luther shrugged in a way that neither surprised nor amused Cady, who rolled her eyes in return. "Cady, Luth," she heard her Captain announce and she turned around again, her arms folded over her chest.

Peter gestured to his detectives in turn. "Agents, these are detectives Cadence Wilkinson and Liam Luther."

"Luth," he corrected, standing from his seat and shaking hands first with the male agents, then the females, but not without a wink.

"Aaron Hotchner," the dark-haired man in front spoke. Leader, Cady noted. "Agents David Rossi, Derek Morgan," he introduced, "Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, and in the back, Dr Spencer Reid."

The thinner male gave a polite yet awkward wave before attention was turned to Cady.

Cady took half a step back, her body language clear in the fact she was not prepared to shake their hands. Peter narrowed his eyes before directing the agents towards Cady's board, pointing to the vague composite sketches. "As you can see, three victims have each corroborated on the assailant, but details are..." he pondered for the word, "iffy. Some say he's white, some say Hispanic. He spoke perfect English, he had a thick accent, they're all over the place."

"How do you know it's the same guy?" Agent Derek Morgan asked.

"Statistics," Liam shrugged. "It's rare enough for one guy to be doing this, but two? Highly unlikely. Besides, the detail they all share is that they were flagged down on the same stretch of road by a car flashing its headlights behind them. When they pull over, they're abducted and raped in the back of said car by a single male. We're lucky these girls even still alive to tell the tale."

"So no bodies?" Agent Rossi looked to his team.

Cady finally spoke up. "Yet."

Agent Hotchner eyed her for a moment before looking to Captain Browne. "Let's hope it doesn't get to that."