Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season Four

House on Fire: Part Two

The bar down the street was the target this time, and the fire department is putting the fire out when you arrive.

"This doesn't make sense. He should have been at the memorial. He shouldn't have been able to resist seeing the damage he'd done," Hotch sighs,

"Captain. Can I get a word?" Derek asks.

The captain excuses himself to explain what happened to your team.

"It started in the kitchen. It looks like he came around to the back and tossed a cocktail through the window."

"That's a different delivery system. That's a big deviance from his MO, but perfect for this location."

"I don't know. With a space this small, he shouldn't have been able to pour gasoline without being noticed. Nobody saw anything?" you ask.

"Witnesses say they heard an explosion."

"I guarantee he stuck around to watch."

This fire only claimed the lives of five victims, but because it's so fresh, their spirits still linger behind. Their sadness and anguish weigh heavily on your shoulders, but you try not to let it affect you. It's not real. I'm okay. I'm not really feeling this, myself. I'm going to be okay.

"The bar matches his previous locations. It's another local hot spot, but there were only five victims this time. Why lower the body count?"

You walk around to the back entrance and see there is a bolt and chain around the door so that people can't get out even if they tried. There is another bolt and chain on the front entrance, not allowing anyone to escape.

"This is something different. There are bolts and chains on both the front and back entrance. He really wanted to make sure nobody got out this time."

"Why bother? No one made it out of the other ones."

"Maybe he knew the fire department would show up sooner."

"Yeah, we're faster now," the fire captain says. "Practice makes perfect. What the hell difference does it make? What good are you guys doing for us? You see chains and figure he didn't want anyone to get out. I could have told you that."

"We're not criticizing anyone. Our job is to look at the same things you do but to try to see them from a different perspective," Rossi says.

"Sure," he scoffs.

"With all due respect, captain, you look at that chain and say the killer wanted to make sure nobody got out, right? We look at that chain and see a little bit more. This fire is different from the first one because he really didn't want anyone escaping, which means whoever was in this bar meant something to him. This fire matters more than the first, and this fire is going to help us catch the guy. If you're going to disrespect us, then you're not really needed here," you sass.

Hotch, Emily, and Chief Carlson make their way over to where you are as they talk.

"My father was chief here for over thirty years. In the last two weeks, I lost more folks than he did in his whole career."

"Chief, what do we know?"

"Only four of the victims have died. The bartender, Nancy, is still hanging on."

"How bad is she?"

"Pretty bad. She was unconscious when they took her."

"If we get a chance, we need to talk to her."

There is some commotion coming from the road, and you see Tina trying to make her way through the crowd. She isn't in her EMT uniform, so she must not have been on duty. The sheer panic on her face would not be there if she didn't have someone she loved in that fire.