The Stone Wall and His Weakness [A.H.]

VI

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I woke up early the next morning, wanting to get a head start on the case. There wasn't much, only some information about the first two victims. Both were caucasian, with brown eyes and hair. They were average height and in their thirties. It was relatively easy to figure out that they were surrogates, I just wasn't sure for who. The torture methods varied between both victims, varying between stabbing, cutting, choking, drowning, and more. The unsub was either unsure of what got him off or it was a team.

I called Penelope to tell her what I found, only for her to tell me that the team had just arrived at the same conclusion. She sent me some pictures from the site the victims were found at. It appeared to be a desert, the only cover around being half dead bushes and cacti. There were tire tracks heading in two directions, going to and from the bodies. Garcia relayed that they weren't sure what they were from, but I knew immediately. ATV.

The team was busy interviewing the victims families, and because there wasn't a third victim yet, Reid couldn't come up with a geographical profile. Penelope and I spent some time talking, just wasting time. We hung up moments before Jack came out, complaining about being hungry. I made him breakfast before sitting back down with the case file and my tablet, going through some of the records from the city the team was in.

It was a slow day. Jack worked on homework the school sent so he could keep up with the work in class and I helped him where I could. I hadn't realized they changed the way they taught basic math until he asked for help solving a problem and the way he worked it out was completely different than what I knew. Although, it had been nearly twenty years since I was in elementary school.

It wasn't until after lunch that I got a quick text from Penelope with a simple "i'm so sorry". I didn't get the chance to reply because my phone started ringing.

"Hey, Hotch."

"Grey, I've got Rossi and Derek here." I rolled my eyes at his formality, "You said the tire marks were from an ATV, correct?"

"Yeah... The treads don't match any tire from a car or truck that I know of, why?"

"There was only one set. We profiled that this has to be a team, so is it possible to fit two grown adults and a body onto one ATV?" Rossi asked.

"I highly doubt it. Having one full grown adult plus a body would be difficult enough." I sat my phone on the table as I spread out the file and set up my tablet.

"So either we were wrong in this being a team or they trust each other more than we thought."

"I think it's both. Most teams are usually made up of a dominant and a submissive personality, right? So, what if we're dealing with the same thing, but they're related. Bothers, most likely."

"Hey JJ!"

"Hey Alex! How's the arm?"

"Getting better everyday."