Dopamine || Reid

CHAPTER NINE

WE BOARDED THE JET IMMEDIATELY. Hotch had instructed us to be flight ready first thing this morning, practically dragging us out the door with rantings of a time sensitive case. Which is quite the change of pace from the few other cases I've help on. Normally there is some structure. Normally we meet at the bureau, sit at the round table and listen to Hotch, JJ or Penelope present the case to the group. We can gather our thoughts, brainstorm theories, and prepare ourselves both mentally and physically before heading off.

But today is different.

"We have a unique one." Hotch announces after we all gathered around one side of the jet as soon as it reached cruising altitude. He hands us each a case file and sets his phone on the table. "Garcia, why don't you take it from here?"

"Yes sir-ie." Penelope's voice comes through his phone. "Portland Oregon police department has called for our help after the fifth incident. Over the past two years- five graves have been defiled. At first they had chalked it up to teenagers, pranksters, really anyone wanting attention. Each targeted grave had the headstone etched with the name of a missing person and date. A few days later the missing person would die in the same way as the original represente of the grave... safe to say they didn't hold onto the prankster theory long after the second body."

I begin flipping through the case file. The photographs inside show the residents of fhe defiled graves, each with a written cause of death. Next there are the unsubs victims— their crime scene photos eerily similar to the others. There are also pictures of the five graves, the etching scraggly yet still readable.

"Claudia Fredsten cause of death was an accidental drowning, Brett Nicolsons's name was written on her grave and later he was killed the exact same way." Hotch elaborates.

"Besides the accidental part." I mutter.

"Hm?" Eyes are on me.

"The accidental part. The unsub chose the inspiration from a woman who drowned accidentally. And so they drown a man in turn." I clear my throat. "Not truly on par— I mean how do you accidentally intentionally drown someone. It's a contradiction. Can't happen."

"That's not really the point..."

"I know. But you asked." I shrug, turning to focus back on the photos.

"Why are we just being called on this?" Rossi asks, voicing the same question we all were thinking. "This has been happening for two years, and it's high profile."

"The lead detective refused our help when the murders first began, but he has since retired." JJ huffs as she crosses her legs. "The new detective reached out to us once a grounds-keeper for the Springs Field Cemetery discovered another vandalized grave. If this unsub sticks to his normalities we will have a body within the next twelve hours or so."

Two were drowned, one died of internal injuries after a staged motorcycle accident, another was shot, and finally the earliest one died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

"The locals believe this is the work of multiple people." Hotch begins. "Perhaps a local gang trying to cause devision because all of the grave stones belonged to white citizens and the abducted and murdered victims were all of African-American decent."

"Maybe this person has ties to the African-American community." Derek says after a few moments of flipping through his case file. "It's rare for unsubs to kill outside of their racial lines."

"Rare but not impossible, especially if they are trying to make a political, racial, or communal statement." I glance at Spencer on the other side of the couch as he speaks.