Stronger in the Storm (Sequel to We Found Love In A Darker Place)

Chapter 7 - With Friends Like These

"We know how he is doing this, and we know most of the reason why. Now all that's left is to figure out where, and who the man behind the mask is." Derek said, pacing back and forth in front of the whiteboard.

It had pictures of the victims, before and after the murders, the bag, and note, and a question mark under the word 'UnSub'. "If he knows that we're here, he knows we are watching. He will know what are are going to do, even before we do. So have to make sure we move quick and think on our feet. We can't let him get to anyone else." Rossi said. He was sitting in front of me, looking at the whiteboard as well.

"How do we warn the people without having a good profile on him?" I asked.

"We have a good idea of what we are looking at. This man is not small. They have muscle and and wouldn't be easy to carry and set up like they did." Hotch said.

"So it's definitely a man, probably between the age of 25 and 40, he probably works out, but he is not a muscle man." I said, being able to pick up on the clues that Hotch had before.

"Right. There was also some skin under the nails of the second woman. Which means there are probably scratch marks on his arms, maybe even his face." Hotch stated. "He also kept there people for exactly seven days, and they were all together." He continued.

"So a team? Or at the most a few people." Derek questioned.

"Not necessarily. If he is strong, he might be working solo. Also he likes power, being in charge gives him a high. He probably has a high level job where he has a level of authority." Hotch said.

"But either way, we shouldn't rule out a team. He had five people held hostage at once. That is a lot of control to have. And with another person dead, he might be unraveling." Spencer said, speaking up.

"He didn't have so many this time. Maybe he got hurt, or learned he couldn't handle so many at once." Derek said, pointing at the girl with Garica's name on her.

"Or he got rid of the team." Rossi said.

"What if the people he killed the first time, was his team?" I asked. "If he went from five people to one person, there has to be a reason behind it. Right?"

"If he did that, he would of have to have them in separate rooms at different times. Once one team member kills another, all bets are off. It's unlikely they all were part of his team, but that doesn't mean one of them couldn't be." Spencer said, sitting down in the hair next to me.

"Spence, can you get a geographic location of where he might be with where the abducted where?" I asked. "Maybe we can find out an idea of where to look for him that way."

"Already did." He said, walking to the whiteboard again. "They all were taking around the same time with this district."

"What's so special about that location?" Derek asked.

"Just a few law firms, light shopping, and a parking garage." Spencer replied.

"A law firm. That would make since considering he likes power. He could be a lawyer there. What's the name of the firm?" I questioned, curious about what kind of cases they might work with.

"Jason and Co." J.J. said, looking at a town map.

I dialed Penelope and she quickly answered, as usual. "You've reached the international house of awesome how can I be of assistance?" She sang, causing me to giggle.

"Jason and Company. What you got on them?" I ask, knowing her fingers where at the ready to type away and find the answer.

"They handle high level clientele who work with and for big companies, mostly CEO. Pretty high price tag too, even with a lose, the starting charge is about a $150,000 ball park range." She said, sounding almost disbelieving.

"Can you see if any of the lawyers have had a run in with any uniforms?" Derek said into the speaker phone.

"Already did it baby. Check your iPads." She said, I could tell she was smiling by her voice.

"This Victor McConnell has a sealed record." Hotch mumbled. "Penelope." He said.

"Already did that too. His rap sheet is like a million pages long. Ok, maybe not a million, but it's pretty long. Some petty charges, DUI, but a few for assault and battery. That didn't start until about 2 years ago though." She said.

"So what could if been the trigger?" I questioned, more to myself than the team.

"He got into a drunk bar fight," Penelope said, "His friend went to back him up and they guy pulled a knife, killing the friend. Needless to say, the guy is doing 15 years for murder and McConnell nearly lost his job." She said.

"Found our trigger." Hotch said.