New Beginnings

Eighteen

You walked into the hotel lobby the next morning holding hands.

"Well I see you two have made up," Derek commented. "Not that I need to see it, I'm very certain I might have heard some of it."

For once neither you or Spencer blushed.

Derek peered at your faces closely, surprised by the lack of reaction. "What no red cheeks, no stuttering? Maybe it wasn't you two then?"

"Oh no it was," Spencer replied.

"Yeah it definitely was," you agreed, remembering how loud you'd got at one stage.

Morgan eyebrows shot up, "I need to change rooms."
"Might be an idea...."

You grinned at Spencer's reply, hoping that meant there'd be a repeat performance later.

"Nice," Morgan punched his arm lightly before grabbing his bag and leading the way out to the parking lot.

...

Hotch had delivered the statement and press conference this morning, you stood by his side sandwiched between him and Morgan. Spencer had wanted to come with you but both Agents had shut his request down, flatly refusing to allow him into the room after his outburst yesterday.

The conference had gone well as far as you could tell. You'd kinda blanked most of it out. Hotch had released Cane's name and photo, not directly naming him as a suspect but as a witness that the BAU were looking for to question.
The public had been made aware that there was a serial killer on the loose and that he was targeting college aged girls. They were warned against walking alone in the area or getting into unknown cars.

A hotline had been set up, and now you just had to wait for the slew of crazies calling in, hoping to fish out the few genuine clues you might gain.

As you headed back to the BAU's floor Hotch had turned to you, "You did well Agent Y/N."

"I didn't do anything?"

"Yes you did. You remained calm and composed throughout, not flinching when that journalist had bought up Cane's previous crime."

That had thrown you slightly. A journalist, obviously familiar with Cane's name and that he was a missing parolee had questioned whether the team had thought there was a connection to his previous crime.

Hotch had replied that no you didn't, and he was simply wanted for questioning. The journalist had probed further asking if you had intelligence leading you to believe that he was definitely in the states.

Hotch had stated that yes you did, but you couldn't release anymore information and had reiterated that Cane was wanted for questioning only.

You all regrouped in Hotch's office, Spencer going immediately to your side when he saw that you'd returned.

Rossi and Emily had updated the boards with the information they'd gained from interviewing Charlotte Days friends again.

It turned out the girl was working three jobs to pay for her college tuition. Two were cash in hand so hadn't shown in her bank statements when they'd originally been reviewed. Only two of her friends knew the names and addresses of all of the places she worked, Days having tried to kept the fact that she was so low on money from some people.

As well as working weekends in a local book store, she offered babysitting duties and worked three nights a week as a night receptionist for a motel on the outskirts of town. Her friend had claimed that she used that job to complete most of her studies and homework as the motel wasn't particularly busy overnight, only having the occasional drop in.