𝙰𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙾𝚍𝚍𝚜 | 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚍

What Goes on Behind Closed Doors

"What do you say to that, Dr. Reid?"

————-««»»————

"I'm not trying to say I don't like her, but..." Aitana's whispers had both Penelope and JJ snickering behind her, "I feel like we would do a whole lot better if Strauss wasn't coming with us."

The three women stood in the bullpen huddled beside JJ's desk.

"Because you don't like her," Penelope patted Aitana's shoulder comfortingly.

"No!" Aitana flushed miserably. "I—"

"It's alright," JJ said, patting Aitana's other shoulder. "We all go through it."

"So when do I get past it?"

JJ's smile widened, giving the impression that there was no getting past it.

"Oh great," Aitana muttered. She trudged glumly towards the elevators, prompting the other two women to follow.

Strauss had helped deliver a new case for the BAU, a local one, that she was going to oversee herself. The cause involved a prestigious military school where she was good friends with the head. Somerville Military Academy was their destination in the sunny lands of Florida. The bodies of five boys were found hanging in the middle of a forest outside the school.

"There's still no sign of Josh Redding," Penelope informed the group on the jet. She was constantly vigilant on her laptop until they would land. As of now, Josh Redding was the only survivor of the mass suicide and yet was also their prime suspect.

"We'll join the search when we land," said Hotch, putting it as their top priority for the meantime.

"So, the Somerville Academy was founded during World War II?" said Morgan more as a question since it was one of the very few things the team knew about the school so far.

Penelope nodded her head from her seat. "It is hard-core old school. They don't even have a website. Socioeconomic breakdown's all over the map."

"Yeah, so are the ages," said JJ with a concerned face, "Students are 12 to 18 years old, on the same campus, in the same dorms." That, to her, was a huge mistake given the decent gap.

"Same personnel has worked there for a lifetime," Aitana added from her case file, albeit with a tone of reluctance. If the entire workforce at the school had been there for decades it meant there was a high chance of their loyalty being tied to the school and not the actual students.

"Ron Massey has been superintendent for 30 years," Strauss said, "He's an alum, as is the majority of the staff there. Lieutenant Tawes has been his second in command this whole time."

"These type of places have their own infrastructure. If it ain't broken, they ain't gonna fix it," Morgan said and saw Aitana agreeing with him.

"That's probably why they banned modern technology," Spencer concluded, "They didn't need it back then, they don't need it now."

Rossi had been reading more on the file and was startled towards the ends.. "Aggressive motto — "vivere est vincere."" He looked up at the others. "To live is to conquer. The school raises soldiers. Suicide is not part of that mantra."

"Bailey Shelton was only 13 years old. He was one of the youngest students there," remarked Spencer. If he was right, there were only a handful more students around that age in the entire school. "His death is probably the key to the others."

~ 0 ~

Despite the grim atmosphere of the school, the weather was perfectly sunny outside. Massey was already waiting for the team when they pulled up to the school.