One Last Name

Playing Chess

       Unclipping my gun, I stick it and my badge in my bag between my clothing pulling out my NYPD-issued weapon and shield. Putting it on I throw the badge on around my neck. Sitting in the seat I pull my legs up to my chest leaning my head on them. It's not that I'm anxious to fly it's just comfortable. Watching out the window I fall into my own world. One I so desperately want to escape.

"Mommy?" Walking out of the room of people I look for Mom.

She comes around the corner with an angry look on her face. I stop walking as she comes up to me grabbing my arms. "What have I told you about calling me that? I have guests over you call me Ambassador. Do you understand?" I nod my head and she lets go returning to the room.

Instead of following her, I run to the room I stay in when I stay with her shutting the door behind me. Crying I slide down against the wood grasping at the yellow flower dress she put me in.

       Feeling someone grab my arm I pull away getting grounded hard. "We're going to start the preliminary profile you okay?" I shake my head up and down and move to join the rest of the agents. "Alright, so there's eight bodies four females and each of their male partners. Each woman was tied up, raped, then dumped among the trash. According to the bank statements of the husbands, all funds were drained from their accounts in the days following the murders. Their bodies were found across stateliness in more abandoned areas shot execution style." He finishes looking at the team.

       "We know we're looking for at least a team possibly a group as the couples are taken at the same time. The running theory Is that after they take them, they separate them telling the men that their partners will be returned if he gives them what they want. Once they have it, they kill him and dispose of both bodies." Hotch makes note of the team or possibly group dynamic.

       "It sounds like the women are just colleterial and the husbands are the real targets. All of them are wealthy with high-ranking job positions. They drain their accounts and then ditch them as soon as possible as they see them as trash." That explanation does fit.

       "If it is a group like I believe it is, they'll start devolving soon. In that type of dynamic, there's an alpha who leads, their right hand who is close to the alpha or believes they owe them their lives in some way, and then there are the followers. They usually are the newer member of the group and at some point, will begin to question their role in the group if they haven't already. If we find the weakest link, he'll lead us straight to the others." We go over the case a bit more before he dismisses us, and we return to our seats.

       Trying not to drown in my own head I soon get back up moving to the seat across from Doctor Reid at the table. Watching him move the pieces of the chess board he pauses after spinning it to the other side. "You could have checkmate in two." He looks up at me obviously unaware I was there.

       He looks back at the board crinkling his face. "There's no way." I gesture towards the board, and he moves a piece on his side. Within two moves I do indeed have him in checkmate. "Wait how'd you do that?" He inspects the board trying to figure it out.

       "You're thinking about this too squarely. Stop trying to use the original basic move sets. Times have progressed since you probably started. The number of move sequences has become in the thousands as new prodigies move up. It's been a few years since I did completive chess so there's probably even more now." We fix the board starting a new game.

       "You were a chess prodigy?" He moves first and I watch him delicately move the pawn.

       Taking my turn, I see him trying to work out my strategy. Jokes on him I don't predetermine my moves I base them off my opponent's. "Yeah, before I started working full time at thirteen I did quite a few extracurriculars. The last time I competed in chess though was the world championships which was held in Shizuoka, Japan. I placed second but I mean I guess there's always someone out there who's better." Shrugging we go back and forth taking turns.