The Chase (Criminal Minds)

UNLV

"Hello, My sweets," Garcia greeted the team from her fabulous cubicle in Quantico, Virginia.

"Garcia," Hotch said, getting straight to business.

"Did our latest victim, Lloyd Finnow, have any records we should know about?"

Garcia put down her bright, yellow mug and let her fingers dance along the computer keyboard.

"Hm...Lets see here..." She spoke, letting her words trail off as she dug up medical records, school report cards, driver license, and anything else that would lead them one step closer to their mystery killer.

"You know how I hate to disappoint, my lovelies, but his records are squeaky clean."

Prentiss walked over to the telephone. She had hoped that Garcia had found a prison record, so they could see if the unsub had been a former inmate.

"There's nothing peculiar about this guy, Garcia? Nothing at all?" Prentiss asked, desperate for information.

Garcia scanned the screen again.

"It says here that his mother died of breast cancer back in '08, but other than that there's zilch."

Prentiss walked to the back of the room to take notes, while Morgan took her place next to the phone.

"Hey, Baby Girl," Morgan said, flirtation as usual.

Garcia bit her lip and leaned forward on her desk.

"Well, Hello there my Chocolate Thunder," She replied, always in love with the dreamy voice of Derek Morgan.

"Can you tell us what happened to Finnow after his mom died?"

Garcia began to type again. The team could hear the melody of keyboard clicks from over the phone.

A navy blue box popped onto Garcia's screen.

"Apparently he began to write poetry...not the most common way to mourn, but it's better than nothing, right?" She asked, hoping she was correct.

"Yeah, that's definitely better than nothing. Thanks, PG." Morgan ended and left the room to get some air.

Reid sat in one of the conference chairs, reading a book. For some reason, he always found it easier to concentrate when he wasn't trying to. Not really in the mood to engage in any kind of conversation, he leaned his chair back, relaxing, and let JJ talk to Garcia next.

"Hey, Garcia," She said, smiling.

"My blonde sister from another mister!" Garcia exclaimed, a grin spreading widely across her face.

JJ laughed, even though they were in a serious situation. She just couldn't help herself when it came to Garcia.

"Where did Lloyd Finnow work before he died?"

"He worked at home. He was an author."

JJ contemplated this new bit of information for a moment before asking any further questions.

"Can you pull up the most recent occupations for our first two victims, also?"

Garcia raised a hand to her forehead and did a military salute to her computer screen.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

She quickly, but efficiently opened two different search engine tabs, searching the names of their first victims. Venae Turner and Gail McClellan.

"Get ready for a coincidence in 3...2...1..." Garcia childishly counted off as she compared all three of the victims' occupations side-by-side on her screen.

"What is it?" Hotch interrupted.

"We already knew that Gail McClellan was an Elementary school teacher, but her whole life basically revolved around English Literature," She stated, looking through Venae's file,

"She was a poet."

JJ flicked her eyebrows.

"I guess we've found our point of interest," JJ noted, hopeful they could find enough information to save the next targets before the unsub got to them.

Rossi soon joined them. He always loved finding new case information, and literature.

"We should cross reference our three victims with anything involving literature." Rossi interjected, no greeting needed.

"On it, Ross Boss!" Garcia chimed, happily.

As soon as Garcia typed the word, "Literature" in the search engine, she got a hit.

"Damn... We're good." Garcia awed.

"Did you find anything helpful, Garcia?" Rossi asked, a bit nervous.

"You betcha! We only had one hit and it's a good one," She answered.

"Apparently they all worked together as Literature Professors in the same college."

The team was shocked, yet excited about the luck they were having with connecting these victims. It's not everyday you connect three random victims with information so specific.

JJ looked behind her at the rest of her team-mates and then back at the black, diamond-shaped speaker in front of her. There was only one more question she could think of that still remained unanswered.

"What college did they work at, Garcia?" She asked, intrigued, along with the rest of the team.

Garcia scrolled down the screen and clicked her mouse.

"The University of Nevada, Las Vegas."

Boom.

Reid's book dropped from his hands and fell on the concrete floor. Pages flew disarray in the air due to the age of the old novel. Everyone went silent as they all turned in sync to face Reid. He remained in his seat.

Pale. Still. Silent.

He didn't even seem to notice the book that was laying, destroyed on the floor in front of him. JJ and Morgan went over to help him. Spencer looked so ill and scared they didn't exactly know what was going to happen next. They decided to take him by the arms and help him to his feet. Reid, who was in his own world, came back to reality when he felt the warm hands of JJ and Morgan touching his cold skin. He didn't know what he was feeling, but he was sure that he was not in the mood for people or talking. He forcefully pushed himself away from Morgan and JJ, who lost their balance from the sudden wave of anger that filled Reid's body.

Hotch didn't know what was happening. Neither did anyone else.

"Reid, What the hell?!" Hotch shouted as Spencer walked viciously out the doors, leaving the team with nothing but a cold shoulder.