Bughead Oneshots

||Why did you marry him?||

• Bughead cracking a case more or less on purpose
• FBI!Bughead
• violence, sexual assault, etc.
• referenced murder
• perhaps inspired by criminal minds s4e4

The sheriff's office smelled like old coffee and dust baked in by the desert sun. A single oscillating fan rattled in the corner, doing little to cut the heat near Nevada during summer.

Charles stood at the center of the cramped room, jacket off, sleeves rolled, hands braced on the edge of a scarred wooden table. Jughead leaned beside him, flipping through a thin case file that looked far too small for the weight of the crime. Betty hovered near the bulletin board, taking in the pictures once more.

The sheriff — Calvin Rhodes, late fifties, weathered — cleared his throat.

"Like I said, we thought they were accidents. Highway's unforgiving out here. Folks take a wrong turn, drive too fast. You know, just happens"

Jughead glanced up.

"Three couples in six weeks?" He asked, though Rhodes just shrugged, uneasy.

"It's a tourist route. Couples come through all the time. Some drive by at night, lights are bad, signal's gone often"

"Maybe, but they don't all burn alive after showing clear signs of abuse" Betty protested, eyeing one of the pictures. On it was one of the car racks. The body of a woman in the driver's seat, skin burned and charred. However, there were small cuts over her body, and two fingernails were pulled.

Not signs of a simple car crash.

Rhodes exhaled through his nose, rubbing his jaw.

"ME mentioned something like that, yes. I didn't want to believe it" Jughead sighed softly, closing the file before turning to face the sheriff.

"Each couple disappears after exiting the highway around this area" He said, tapping a stretch of road on the map "There's nothing around it except scrubland, though"

"Nothing but small, regional businesses" Rhodes said "Small motels. Cabin rentals. One RV park with bungalows" He tapped the map as he spoke "Nothing fancy. All privately owned. All off the highway but perhaps places where the couples were before they died"

"So places you stop when you're tired, lost, or trying to save money" He concluded.

"Or looking for privacy" Betty added.

"Yes. And most of those places are remote. Family-run. Minimal staff. Easy access to guests without witnesses" Jughead sighed softly, letting his eyes roam over the map and retracing the car wrecks found over the last six weeks — three little dots in the middle of nowhere.

"How many of these places are within a fifty-mile radius?" He asked after a moment.

"Depends on how strict you wanna be"

"Realistic. Every one of those businesses who could have something to do with the murders"

"Okay, twenty. Maybe twenty-five"

Silence crept in.

Charles broke it gently.

"Sheriff, how many missing person reports involve couples traveling together in the last few years?" Rhodes looked away.

"More than I'd like"

"How many were staying in places like these?" He pressed.

Rhodes didn't answer immediately.

"This doesn't start with three victims. There are probably more. Experiments. Trial runs. Near misses. Someone needs to look for those. Also, we'll need a list of every motel, cabin rental, and roadside lodge operating within range — open or closed" Jughead ordered and the sheriff nodded.