Criminal Minds ~ DNF

18

George was wrong. 

Dream's location was pinged in Iowa after he booked a hotel under the name Clay Anderson for a night. While the movement wasn't unanticipated, it was certainly jarring. When told, George had kept his face straight. Terror has shot up his spine like lightning flowing through his veins. Something else had tinged his skin, making it prickle almost electrically.  Anticipation. He wanted Dream to come back. Why? Though he was unwilling to admit it, George knew why.

Another thing to keep an eye on: there had been a drop in kills from the Fire Killer since Dream had started again. It was strange and out of character, but maybe he was just taking a break while the focus was on Dream? 

"Hey, Davidson," someone called to him from across the room. 

"Eh?"

"He's been in Iowa for suspiciously long."

"You think?" George turned in his chair to face the woman, Heather Brown. George massaged his temple as dread pooled in his stomach. Take anything he had said about wanting Dream to find him. The very thought chilled George to the bone. Buring his face in the sleeves of his sweater, he leant back in his chair. Minx raised her eyebrow at him before telling him to "Stop moping". She moved his chair slightly so that George's body whirled as well as his mind as he too leaned over to have a look. There it was, the little red dot that signified Dream. It wasn't moving.   

"You reckon he ditched his phone?" George asked, turning to Minx and the woman.

"Looks like it," Minx drawled. Turning the monitor toward herself, she expertly tapped the keys until she had hacked into Dream's phone camera. They were right. It was pointed skyward and had a massive crack running the length of the lens. Their best guess was that Dream had caught on and stamped on the device, leaving it in an alleyway or something. Long story short, the killer could be in Russia for all they knew. 

"Fuck..." George murmured. "Keep trying to get a ping on him. Check bank cards, IP addresses, anything."

"Standard procedure. I'm already on it," Minx told them, back at her monitor and furiously tapping the keyboard. Heather too turned to her computer and began motion-tracking anything that Dream could have acquired. George watched as her fingers danced across the keys at the speed of light, going from website to website. She stopped on the official Iowan police-force site, looking at the 'stolen goods' page.  Wallets, phones, handbags and descriptions of the burglars filled the screen. Her eyes swivelled in their sockets, searching for anything that matched Dream. When they found nothing, she turned to Nebraska, anticipating his next move. 

There, underneath a stock photo of somebody's wallet, was what the pair were looking for.
"Victim described a 6' 2", blonde male with green eyes, wearing a green sweatshirt and black pants at the time." 

"That's him," George said. "It's too perfect not to be."

"Are you sure?" Minx looked skeptical.

"Yes. It's obviously not confirmed yet, but I've got a gut feeling," George told them. Heather shrugged in response, took the landline next to her desk and phoned Nebraska PD. George walked over to the map and let his fingers hover over the green drawing pin that signified Dream. He pulled it out and shoved it into the wall inside the Nebraskan borders. This was going to be a long week.

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"We've got to intercept him," Puffy commented. "Stop him somewhere. It's only a matter of time before a body pops up. We need to figure something out, and fast."

"Nebraska is awful to navigate," Minx remarked. She would know. She'd lived there before. Neither George, Heather nor Puffy had even crossed that part of the interstate. "It would be far easier to wait for him to get to Wyoming."

"Are we really willing to sacrifice somebody's life for ease, though?" George interrupted.

"We should be prepared for the situation to arise," Heather said, interlocking her fingers and resting her chin on them.

"It's a decent idea," Puffy pondered. "Someone could wait in Wyoming for Dream to pass through and apprehend him. Easy as pie, no more serial killer."

"I volunteer as tribute," George quipped.

"Knew you were gonna say that," Minx grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Haven't you risked your life around this guy enough?"

"Minx," Puffy chided, reminding the brown-haired girl of her place. "George is right. He should go."

"Captain, is that really the best idea?" Heather asked apprehensively.

"Dream obviously has some weird thing for George, why not use that to our advantage?"

"Gee, thanks."

"You know what I mean," Puffy rolled her eyes playfully. "Talk him up a little, get the ball rolling. Maybe spend a few days gaining his trust. Then, when the time is right, we step in and detain him. Simple enough."

"I gotta say, it's a solid plan," Heather agreed. Minx narrowed her eyes but nodded all the same. The interns and lowest-ranked agents that had been listening in on the conversation all nodded eagerly too, excited for action of any kind.

"I can do that, I think," George said, pseudo-confidence bubbling inside his chest.

"I reckon we've got a few days to prepare before Dream crosses state lines. We'll just have to wait and see when the body appears," Heather butted in.

"Alright. Everyone clear on the plan?" Puffy addressed. George, as well as most of the other people in the room, nodded and murmured "yep".

"Tight. You're all dismissed."

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The fifth body was said to be found in Arkansas, which made no fucking sense because the dead female was none other than Maisie Ashworth. Yes, the same Maisie Ashworth mentioned at the beginning of the story that you've probably forgotten the existence of. 

Hello, George Davidson. How is your sister Katherine doing now? Is she alive? You wouldn't know, because you ran. You little pussy, you ran. And now your darling sister will have to bear the brunt of it. Or will it be her daughter? Your Jennifer, or Jen, as you call her. Who will pay for the damage you caused? It will be someone dear to you, I can assure you that. Would it be your blonde friend, Thomas Simons, or maybe the brunette, Toby Smith? You know what, I'll get your secretary friend, Maisie. She's quite pretty, isn't she? Wouldn't it be nice to have her head mounted on my wall so that I could look at it whenever I saw fit? Of course, I could have just taken a photo. Photographs don't rot, though, and where's the fun in that? This question I ask of you; which one of your lovely, lovely friends gets to die? Oh wait! I chose for you.
You won't be George Not Found for much longer now. :)

The conclusion was drawn that George would only be shown right before his departure. That way, the brunette could focus on the task at hand. Getting Dream and getting out unscathed. That part of the brief could be tricky. The killer was lethal, dangerous. Even with his soft spot, George would be in extreme danger every second he spent with the blonde. Besides, Dream was all talk sometimes - most likely Katherine was fine.

If she wasn't, they would have heard about it, right?

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Word count: 1233

Luna xx