Scars

Chapter Seven

*Sara's POV*

I got into the suburban with Hotch and we headed to the local police department. He had on his black sunglasses and had scruff like he forgot to shave that morning. It was a good look on him. He looked at me and smiled.

"What, Mikey?" he asked with a chuckle. I smiled and looked at the road.

"Nothing. I'm just happy to be on my first case," I said to him. And I honestly was. We drove in silence until we reached the police station.

"You ready?" he asked me. I nodded and opened my door. Hotch did the same and we headed inside. We walked into the small town P.D. and were greeted by the secretary.

"Hi. Can I help you?" she said. She had short brown hair and warm brown eyes. Hotch got out his badge and nodded for me to do the same. I reached into my blue blazer pocket and pulled out my ID.

"Good morning. I'm Special Agent Sara Michaels and this is SSA Aaron Hotchner. We're from the Behavioral Analysis Unit in the FBI. Sherriff Miller should be expecting us," I said to her. I hoped I wasn't stepping on Hotch's toes, but I am so used to being in charge of my terrorist unit. I looked at Hotch and he was just stone face.

"Of course. If you'll follow me, we have the conference room set up for you," the secretary replied. She stood up and we followed her to a big room. There was a bulletin board on one wall and a round table in the middle. A tall, plump man walked in and introduced himself as the sheriff.

"Good to meet you. Can you bring us up to speed?" Hotch said. The sheriff filled us in on the victims and what they know. The rest of the team got back, and we all sat down in the conference room.

"Alright, what do we know?" Hotch asked. I was standing at the bulletin board looking at all the victims.

"When we talked to Mr. Williams, he mentioned that his wife had talked about joining a workout class for months but never followed through. I know one of our connections was them being physically fit so does that fit in?" Rossi said.

"About 38% of women say they want to join a workout class but never do. Did Mrs. Frink want to join a workout class? That could be our other connection," Reid piped up.

"I'll go call Mr. Frink and find out," Prentiss said. She got up and walked out of the room.

"What if the unsub wanted to teach one of said classes but couldn't. Could that be the trigger?" I said. Morgan stood up and walked over to the board.

"Do we know where these women worked out. I know most of them ran in the local park, but did they ever take a class at a center?" Morgan said. Rossi took out his phone and called Garcia. She picked up on the first ring.

"What do you need my loves?" she said. I could hear typing in the background.

"Garcia, we need to know if any of the victims belonged to any workout classes or clubs," Rossi said. There was some clacking and a ding.

"Got it. The victims all took a class at the local BodyShop fitness center. They were all on different nights but were all during the month of March through May," Garcia said.

"Guys what if he wasn't trying to be a teacher. What if he was a trainer?" Reid said. An idea sparked in my head.

"Actually, that makes sense. Think about it. All the victims were dehydrated and at a certain weight. A trainer would know exactly how to do that and how long it would take from the victims' weights to get down to the weight they died at," I said.

"Garcia," Hotch said.

"Yes, sir. I heard Michaels. I'm looking into it now. Will call you in a bit with results," she said and hung up. Sheriff Miller burst in the room.

"He's got another one. Julie Grine never got her son from school yesterday. Her husband figured she was staying late at the office but when she didn't come home to see her son off to school, he got worried. She's 5'4'' and brunette," he said. I took her picture from the sheriff and posted it on the board. She looked like the other victims but this was the first one with a kid. The unsub's never strayed this far.

"I think we're ready to give the profile," Hotch said. We all stood up and gathered the officers.

"We're looking for a white male, aged 30-35 who has a connection to the BodyShop in town. He's been targeting victims that have either attended classes there or have inquired about classes there. It could be a disgruntled employee or a member's husband," Hotch said.

"We have reason to believe he's a trainer. From the way he's starving and dehydrating his victims, he has to have some sort of medical knowledge along those lines," Rossi said.

"If you know of anyone like this or hear anything, please let us know. Thank you," Prentiss said. The officers dispersed and went back to work. Morgan's phone rang.

"Hey mama. Tell me something good," he said.

"I found someone who might fit the profile. Andrew Rittz was a trainer at BodyShop who got fired two months ago for complaints from clients about him bullying them about their weight. The final straw for the owner was when he tried to start an overweight woman on a diet and she was hospitalized because she was starving herself so bad," Garcia said.

"Rittz was fired the next day. As far as we can find, he's been unemployed for the last two months," JJ chimed in.

"I just sent home address to your phones," Garcia said and hung up.

"Sheriff, what can you tell us about Andrew Rittz?" I asked.

"Well, Rittz is a hell of a guy. Was a few years younger than me in school. Now that you mention it, I think he did work at BodyShop for a while. Made Barbra Lon real sick with that crazy diet of his," the sheriff replied. I nodded and looked at Hotch.

"I think we should pay Andrew a visit," he said. I nodded and grabbed my gear. I tucked my gun into my holster and walked out to the SUV. Hotch, Prentiss, and I all rode in one while Morgan, Reid, and Rossi rode in the other. While we were in the car, Hotch started a conference call with Garcia.

"I am at the ready. What do you need?" she answered. I couldn't help but smile. I knew we would be good friends but right now my head was in the case.