Cowboy Like Me: Criminal Minds

Birthright

Four days had passed since the team crashed at Sloane's apartment.  Reid had quickly become a close friend—his dry humor, sharp intellect, and quirks made their partnership easy. Then, there was Hotch. 

Sloane had been easing into her new role with the team, finding her rhythm. It was early morning when her phone buzzed with a call from Hotch. She glanced at the screen, her pulse quickening slightly.

"Barrett," she answered, already shifting into work mode.

"Morning, Sloane," Hotch's voice came through the line, formal yet familiar. "We've got a new case. A series of mutilation murders in Fredericksburg, Virginia—similar to a killing spree from over two decades ago. Meet us at the jet in an hour. We'll brief on the way."

"I'll be there," she replied, her mind already racing through possibilities.

She hung up, her thoughts spinning. A copycat killer mimicking murders from decades past? This case would be difficult, but also intriguing. Sloane grabbed her go-bag and hurried out the door.

The jet hummed steadily as the team gathered around the table. Reid, ever the academic, had already spread out several files in front of him, his brow furrowed in concentration. Sloane took her usual seat next to him, catching a glimpse of the grim crime scene photos that lay on the table. The brutality of the images struck her, but she had grown accustomed to seeing this kind of horror.

JJ stood at the head of the table, her voice calm but serious. "We're heading to Fredericksburg, where three victims have been found dead in the past month. Each victim was mutilated in ways that mimic a killing spree from over twenty years ago. The original murders stopped when the killer, Richard Franklin, was arrested. These new killings suggest someone is copying his crimes."

Hotch leaned forward, his voice steady and composed. "We're dealing with someone who has intimate knowledge of the original murders. They've studied Franklin's methods and are replicating them almost exactly. Our job is to find out if this unsub is connected to Franklin, or if we're looking at a second-generation killer."

Sloane glanced at the photos again, her mind buzzing with questions. "How similar are the crime scenes? Are there any deviations in the MO?"

Reid, already deep into the details, answered without looking up. "The victims are similar—women, aged 18 to 25, abducted while alone. They were tortured before being killed, and their bodies were displayed publicly, just like Franklin's victims. But the new unsub is even more meticulous than Franklin was."

JJ added, "We've also contacted a survivor from the original spree. She was a child at the time and might be able to help us identify any possible connections between these new murders and Franklin's crimes."

Sloane exchanged a glance with Reid. This case was going to require digging deep into Franklin's past and piecing together his twisted legacy.

"I'll pull up Franklin's family history and dig into his background," Reid said, already absorbed in his tablet. "There's a possibility this is a familial connection—someone carrying on his work, either knowingly or subconsciously."

Sloane nodded. "If this is a copycat, they've studied Franklin's methods down to the smallest details. They're trying to prove themselves."

As Hotch gave out the assignments, his gaze flicked to Sloane for a brief moment, a spark of tension passing between them. It was subtle, but there. Sloane quickly focused on the case, pushing the distraction aside. This wasn't the time for those thoughts.

This case was going to be complicated.

A short while later, Sloane and Reid sat across from a woman in her early thirties, Jane, who had survived Franklin's attack on her family when she was just a child. She sat nervously, her hands trembling slightly as she sipped water from a paper cup. Her eyes darted around the room, filled with memories she had tried to bury for years.