Blood and Battle | Criminal Minds (gxg)

Chapter 15

TW: bombings mentioned

Our SUVs pull up to the crime scene, Hotch and Reid in one, me and Elle in the other. We rode in comfortable silence, the radio on low and the quiet broken every so often as we discussed case details. Now, I step outside the passenger seat and close the door behind me, swinging it by the empty window frame.

I groan as a wave of hot air hits me.

"What, can't handle the heat?" Elle asks with a smirk.

I smile. "I'm from New Hampshire, which I'm sure you discovered when you stalked our team." 

She raises an eyebrow while her mouth curves into a slight smile.

"I'm not very fond of the heat, no," I say with a shrug.

We join the boys as we enter the scene, Elle holding the police tape up for me as I duck under. Shrapnel and twisted pieces of metal litter the ground, mostly from the destruction. The bomb was collected and sent to Morgan back at Quantico. He's working with it now.

Three bombs went off in the neighborhood. One inside a house, another at a doorstep, and the third inside someone's car. All three were wrapped up like a shipped package. The victims simply assumed their delivery had arrived.

Hotch goes to speak with the press as the rest of us stand around what's left of the car. The man inside was taken to the hospital shortly after the explosion. Blood and ash splatters the seat and I lean forward to get a closer look.

Talking just loud enough for the others to hear, I replay the scene in my head. "He enters the car, puts the package next to him. Turns the engine over and before he knows it, boom. The explosion knocks him against the window, smashing his head against it as it shatters from the force of the bomb." I gesture towards the broken, bloody window.

Bloody hand prints cover the right side of the steering wheel and seat belt. He tried to get out as quickly as he could, probably because the car was on fire.

Elle picks up a piece of the wrapping. It's brown cardboard, standard shipping. "We should tell the public to look out for strange packages."

Reid says, "People order things online all the time, it's part of the reason so many small businesses are shutting down. Most people wouldn't think twice about a package at the door."

"What set them off?" Elle asks.

"Remote trigger?" I say, looking back at them. "The unsub would have to be close enough."

"Hopefully Morgan can tell us," Elle says, handing the evidence to CSI.

Hotch comes back to the group. "Anything?"

"We need to work on victimology," I say to him. "The woman that was killed was a middle-class librarian. One guy was a mailman and the third victim a successful CEO," I say, recalling details from the case.

"So it has nothing to do with social class," Reid says.

"Okay. Reid and I will head back to the station and call Morgan. Carli and Elle, go into the woman's house, see why she may have been targeted. Gideon is still at the hospital talking to the two victims that survived."

Elle nods. "We'll call you when we have something."

---

We duck under the police tape and walk into the house together, heading to the kitchen first.

Elle talks to me as she looks around the destroyed room. "She gets a package, picks it up and brings it in here. Sets it on the counter, turns away for a second, and then–"

"Boom," I say again.

Elle sighs. "She never saw it coming."

The kitchen is mostly in fragments, so I step into the adjacent living room. On the coffee table rests some magazines, a coaster and coffee mug, and a tv remote. Next I look to the desk against the far wall, just below a window. I walk over, seeing a computer resting on the table, and take out my phone.

"The best place for all things badass and brilliant, it's a go for Garcia."

I can't help the smile that creeps onto my face. "Hey, PG, I need you."

"Ah, my favorite words. What can I do for you sugar?"

I reach forward to turn on the computer. "I need a password. No special protection, just need the right code."

"What kind of computer and where are you?"

I tell her as she clicks away at her keyboard. Within seconds the monitor is unlocked.

"There!" she shouts triumphantly. "And for my next trick..."

"That's all for now, Garcia. Thank you," I say grinning.

"Anything for you darling! Until next time," she says before hanging up.

I shake my head and chuckle, extensions popping up on the computer. There's two windows open.

I glance over my shoulder to see Elle standing next to the couch. "Elle? Come look at this."

She puts down two of the three magazines that were on the coffee table and walks up behind me. She puts one hand on the back of the chair and the other on the desk next to me, leaning forward. Her hair brushes against my shoulder and the side of my neck, sending my nerves spiraling.

I blink, hard, pulling my attention back to the monitor in front of me. 

The first window is a web browser, some website selling antique coins. The chat on the side is full of messages back and forth between the seller and the victim. The next window is an email box. The email in the CC is the Palm Springs Police Department. The subject line reads "Reporting Counterfeit Coins".

"She was about to expose this guy's business," I say to Elle without looking up. "Is that enough to kill over?"

"I don't know. But she was really into antiques." Elle says as she places the catalogue in front of me. It's the latest edition of Antiques Magazine.

"The dresser in the foyer is vintage, same with the piano in the corner," I say as I nod my head in the direction of the grand piano.

Her hair tickles my skin as she turns to look at me.

"What?" I ask, finally looking at her. Her brown eyes are close to mine, her freckles standing out on her sun kissed skin.

"I didn't know you noticed." She's looking at me with amusement in her eyes.

I push the chair back and stand up, ending the moment. "Remember, you're not the only profiler here, Greenaway," I say with a smirk. It quickly turns into a smile.

I feel her eyes on my back as I turn and leave the house.

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A/n
over 350 reads!! tysm for all the love <3
:)