Clueless

76 Degrees

"You're late." Everyone stared at Rowan as she entered the briefing room.
"Yep." She sounded exhausted. Reid could tell from looking at her that she hadn't slept.
They hadn't told the team about her brother.
"You're never late." Emily pressed.
"And I'm also never irritable. There's a first time for everything." She snapped. "I'm sorry." She immediately covered.
"We get that you're stressed, pretty girl. Just relax." Rowan nodded at Morgan's words of advise and sat down in her chair.
"There's been seven killings." JJ immediately started to brief the team.
Seven men were killed with a single gunshot through the head with no signs of a struggle.
"Execution style." Rossi commented.
They were found in varying dump sites.
"There were traces of burlap in the bullet hole?" Rowan asked curiously.
"Yes. And one more thing... all of their tongues were taken." JJ informed them.
"Tongue fetish?" Morgan guessed.
"Or he's trying to metaphorically silence his victims." Reid suggested.
Rowan asked the real question. "Was the removal post or ante mortem?"
"Ante. And there were no traces of any pain relievers in the victims systems." Hotch answered.
"So he's using it as torture." Prentiss shook her head slightly.
"Wheels up in twenty."
•
"Alright," Rowan and Reid were pacing the last dump site. "You don't have a tongue so your screams are strangled and quiet. It's not like anyone can hear you, anyway."
The dump site was several miles from a main road on a biking trail.
"You've got a burlap sack over my head. I don't run or try and fight. Why?" Reid looked quizzically at Rowan.
"You know I have a gun. Or you know there's no way you can beat me in a fight." She shrugged slightly.
"Or I don't want to fight." Reid continued.
"Why would anyone not want to fight? Survival instincts kick in and everyone fights." The police officer that escorted the two to the scene gave a snort.
"How is this going to help catch our guy? This is all guesswork."
"Guesswork that has caught hundreds." Rowan snapped.
"What if the unsub lured the victims to secluded areas with promises? That would explain why there was no evidence of the bodies being moved. What if they agreed to meet the unsub here?" Rowan continued.
"Do you think the unsub is a woman? That changes the profile completely." Reid reminded her.
"I don't know. But it makes sense." She pulled out her phone.
"Penelope, I need you to run the victim's cells. Look for texts confirming meeting someone and see if there is a common number they all called." Rowan requested.
"Alright, my girl genius. I will hit you back if I find anything." Penelope hung up.
"What I don't understand is the fact that their tongues are gone. That would hurt. And they didn't struggle at all." Spencer kicked a rock with his toe.
"Doesn't Hyaluronidase almost instantly dissolve in the blood stream?" Rowan asked. "It could be easily slipped into a drink."
"You're a genius. I could kiss you." Spencer blurted out.
"You want to kiss me when I'm not solving crimes." She reminded him. "And as for the genius," she said this to the police officer. "I have the certification."
•
"Rowan? You look sick." Prentiss sat down beside Rowan worriedly.
"I'm fine." She answered absently.
Before Emily could press her, however, Rowan's phone began to ring.
"What have you got, Penelope?" Rowan asked hopefully.
"You were right. The victims all agreed to meet at their place of demise. However, they agreed to meet very separate people. Different numbers and names, and I have picture proof that they're different people." She said sadly.
"Is it possible that these women are all murdering?" Rowan sagged in her seat.
"Three of them are out of country at the moment. Here's the thing: very skilled techies like myself can hack into cells and use their number. Or you can be classic and steal the phone. Five of the phone carriers canceled their number because of stolen phones."
"So we've got someone very skilled at pick-pocketing. Alright, thanks, Penny." Rowan started to hang up.
"Wait! How's the romance going?"
Rowan didn't answer for several seconds. "It's not. We're at work." Rowan reminded her.
"Yes, and that's all you two ever do. I want godchildren!" She exclaimed.
Rowan couldn't help but to laugh.
"Who said I would name you the godmother?" She questioned.
"No one. No pressure or anything. Penny G, out!" And Garcia hung up.
"Penelope wants the two geniuses to name their kids her godchildren?" Prentiss guessed.
"Why does everyone assume Spencer and I are going to have children?" Rowan seemed flustered.
"Spencer wants kids, you know." JJ, only hearing half the conversation, was standing in the door.
"What am I supposed to do? Would you like me to tell him I will gladly bear his children?" Rowan joked sourly.
"Whose children?" Spencer walked in and JJ and Prentiss busted out laughing as Rowan's face turned red.
"No ones. Jesus Christ, is the air conditioner broken?" She pressed a hand to her burning face.
"It's 76 degrees." Spencer answered.
"I never realized 76 degrees was so hot."