Forgetful

Chapter 1

"Rowan?" Derek Morgan snapped his fingers in front of the young blond's face. She immediately snapped back into her head.
"Yes, I am present." She nodded once, clearing her throat and looking down at her cup of coffee that had gone cold.
"What's wrong?" Derek pressed.
She started to deny his accusation of anything being wrong when he cut her off. "I know you, Rowan Reid. I've known you for three years."
She hesitated. "I'm nervous, Morgan. This unsub's type happens to be somewhat similar to me and if anything happens to me or Spence-"
"Pretty girl, don't you dare. First off: nothing is going to happen to either of you. Secondly: if anything does, do you know who gets Elizabeth?" Morgan questioned.
"Social services."
"Wrong. Me and Penelope will get her. Quit worrying." He nudged her on the shoulder.
"If he's abducting young, successful blonds, what kind of ruse would he have to use?" JJ questioned, oblivious to Morgan and Rowan's conversation.
"What makes you think he uses a ruse?" Penelope asked.
"There's no sign of blitz attacks." Rossi filled in.
"Whatever he's using, he's skilled. He's abducted three girls in two weeks. Wheels up in twenty."
•

"This is SSA Reid and Reid." Morgan introduced the couple to the sheriff.
Rowan rolled her eyes. "You can call me Rowan. Everyone else does." She suggested, holding out her hand for him to shake.
"Thank you all for coming down here so quickly." Sheriff Swanson shook their hands.
"Another day on the field. I'm going to meet up with Rossi at the crime scenes." Morgan told them.
The sheriff showed Spencer and Rowan into their conference room.
"Four victims. Three days apart. All young blonds. Throats slit. Found in public areas." The sheriff repeated, telling them what they already knew.
"Can you tell anything from that?"
"More than you think." Rowan said while Spencer began to explain.
"There were no hesitation marks so our unsub- or unknown subject- has either done this before or has sociopathic tendencies. The public display of the body shows us they are strong enough to move the bodies and since there isn't enough blood at the crime scene, there is somewhere else they are killed. The unsub is mobile. The time stamping is this unsub's cooling off period, which isn't long. The blonds could be a surrogate for someone who the unsub is resentful towards." Spencer told him.
The sheriff said nothing for several seconds, just stood there gawking.
"He's a certified genius." Rowan explained.
"Don't do that." Spencer told her.
She looked at him, slightly confused. "Don't do what?"
"Rowan knew all of that, as well. She's a certified genius just like me. Rowan, show him what you've got on the geographical profile." Spencer and Rowan shared eye contact for several seconds.
She took the map off the table and pinned it to the blackboard behind her. She took a marker and began drawing, connecting points.
"Our unsub lives in this area." She pointed in a 25 mile radius area. "And this-" more lines, about 50 miles in radius, "is our unsub's hunting ground." She put the cap on the marker.
Knock, knock.
All eyes turned towards a new person. "Sheriff Swanson, I think I've got this." The new man waved the sheriff out. "Nathan Prince. Police chief." They shook hands.
Spencer noted the way his eyes clung to Rowan. Just then, her phone rang.
"Rowan Reid." She answered.
"Pretty mama, you're a voice for sore ears. I just made that a thing."
Rowan smiled fondly at the ramblings of Penelope Garcia.
"Is Elizabeth acting up?" Rowan acted up.
"You know that I love this baby like she was my own, but the terrible twos are indeed terrible." Penelope vented. "She wants to talk to her dad."
Rowan passed the phone to Spencer, who lit up like a Christmas tree when Elizabeth started talking to him.
"First kid of his?" The chief asked her.
She nodded. "Our friend is taking care of her back at Quantico." She was paying attention to her husband and the way his brown eyes were alight with joy as he spoke back to their daughter. She didn't notice his pointed questions or the way he was looking at her.
"Lizzie, daddy's gotta go back to work, okay? I love you, too." Reid hung up and passed the phone back to Rowan.
"Was she okay?" Rowan asked.
"She wanted to know when we were going to be back." He said sadly. "But she's fine. Penelope had given her peanut butter."
Rowan smiled. She loved peanut butter.
"There's been another murder." An officer called into the room.
"The unsub stuck to a certain time schedule. Why change that?" She demanded.
"They could be devolving."