City Limits (Spencer Reid Fanfic)

Chapter Three: Too Close for Comfort

"I thought we'd never get out of there! Oh my God, I don't know how you do it. I mean, do you guys actually sit there, and... and wait around for an epiphany, or something? Like, 'oh, I bet some guy named Doug is the killer,'" I huffed sarcastically as I followed Reid and JJ out of the D.A.'s.

I couldn't believe it! When I pictured a career in criminal law, I definitely didn't imagine being stuck in a cell-of-a-room with a reincarnated Einstein for hours on end. By hour four I had counted the ceiling tiles (there were four hundred and seventy-eight, if you're wondering), and by hour nine, I had considered sniffing the bottle of glue from the supplies cabinet. Key word, 'considered.'

Okay, to be fair, it wasn't that bad. At first.

Reid let me turn on the radio to the local pop station while I helped him place pins on a giant map of the U.S. Well, truthfully, I think he zoned me out, because he seemed to be lost in his own little world. Despite accidentally pricking myself twice, it was interesting to participate in the whole process of creating a geographic profile.

Blue pins stood for each of the twenty-six known Babysitter victims' abduction sites-- Kylie Wu's was in green since the team still wasn't sure it was, in fact, the notorious killer. Red pins represented the dumping spots, which ranged from as far north as Bangor and ended along the coast of Philadelphia. This guy, whoever he was, certainly had an efficient mode of transport.

"It looks like... nothing," I had concluded as Reid and I stood back to examine the finished product. How was a bunch of dots placed on some interstate roads going to help us determine any type of pattern? How could you possibly find the correlation between such random factors?

Maybe I just wasn't qualified for the job after all.

"No... there's a structure to it. See the abduction sites? They're scattered everywhere, as we know the Babysitter frequented playgrounds, fairs and even schoolyards," Reid had explained.

"The dumping spots are much more organized. Each body was left along a major highway adjacent to the Atlantic. Route 116... that's where Kylie Wu was found... Route 116 turns into the Connecticut turnpike if you travel far west enough."

Still, after contemplating it for what felt like forever, it was the only observation either of us had made. Tomorrow, Reid wanted to 'triangulate the radius of the pinned locations,' so that he could try and find where the Babysitter actually murdered his victims. Technically, he wanted to calculate it that evening, but I convinced him to pack it in for the day and head back to the hotel. Thank God.

From the comfort of our SUV, I ranted to Reid and JJ about the boredom I'd endured.

"Look, I'm sorry, I know you guys are all-mighty and way smarter than I'll ever be, but I honestly don't see how idly arranging pictures of dead kids on a white board and sipping coffee is going to help us catch a killer. Shouldn't we be... I don't know, doing something?" I finished with a final hand-rake through my curls. I was still basically an intern and I was already getting gray hairs from work.

"Depends what your definition of 'something' is, Gideon."

I almost jumped out of the moving vehicle when I heard Hotch's stern voice crackle through the stereo. What was the possibility of a sink hole opening up in the middle of Rhode Island and dragging me to the bottom of the ocean? Yeah, because I was kind of digging that concept right then.

"Sir... oh my God, sir, I had no idea you were on speaker. I am so sorry, sir. I had no idea, I-I didn't mean--" I started to stutter.

"Save it. Have you called your uncle yet? I want those files in by the morning."