Sins of the Father {A Criminal Minds Fanfic}

Calm Before the Storm

 The next morning she got up bright and early to start surveillance from the Golden Crown, an extreme extravagant celebrity hotel that sat right across from the Desert Diamond. There was a bar, two pools, several floors, and butler service for every room, but unfortunately Alisa could not use any of that during her stay. While the hotel was obligated to give them the room—and everything else—for free, she wouldn't be having any free time to order tigers or seven thousand dollar champagne while she was waiting for a serial killer.

So two hours later, she found herself drinking luke-warm water from a plastic cup, sitting in the same position she had started in at the window. It wasn't a very hard job to watch the casino—not many people went there in the morning and there was barely any traffic out front. Agent Hotchner had told her someone would be joining her soon... maybe that would relieve some of the boredom.

Almost on cue there was a knock on the door and Alisa stood, stretching her sore legs as she did so. Sighing, she walked up to the door and leaned against it, hand resting on the handle. "Who is it?" She asked.

"Spencer Reid. I can slip my credentials under the door."

That voice was hard to mistake. "No, no," Alisa said, exhaling heavily as she unlocked the door and opened it. "Come in."

Reid slipped through the door and she closed and locked it quickly. He barely seemed to noticed the mansion-like interior of the room and went straight to the window, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked over the case files spread on the nearby coffee table. Scattered with them were a couple surveillance photos and other miscellaneous files, but he seemed to sort it all out pretty quick with one glance.

"Any developments so far?" he asked, picking up a stack of photos and inspecting them.

"I do not know," Alisa sighed, returning to her seat and taking another sip of her water. "It often happens that we will not know what is helpful until after the fact. These photos may contain the Silencer, and they may not. We will not know until we know more."
"It's doubtful that the Silencer would visit the casino so early in the day," Reid mused distractedly as he sorted through the files. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Alisa nodded. "True, but there are many reasons for the Silencer to come by early. Especially if they want everything to be perfect."

Reid sighed, sitting down in the seat opposite her and peeking through the curtain.

"This type of thing is highly unconventional for the BAU," he noted after a few moments, leaning back in his chair. Alisa watched him fidget with the edge of the file in his hands. His foot tapped the floor rapidly, almost obsessively. She had noticed that earlier.

"Do not be nervous," she said finally.

"I'm not," he insisted. "Maybe I just like to know all the outcomes of a situation and I... don't, right now. Anything could happen tonight."

"We will find them," Alisa assured him. "For now, we just need to wait."

Reid squinted at her, nodding slowly. It seemed like his mind was somewhere else. Maybe he was trying to work her out. She figured that all profilers had that reflex.

After a few moments she tilted her head a little. "Are you done?" she asked, feeling a flicker of irritation.

"You don't use contractions," Reid suddenly noted, his eyebrows knitting. "You've been in America for five years and you still don't use contractions, like someone new to a language."

"How do you know how long I've been in America?" Alisa asked, squinting with playful suspicion. Mostly to cover up the slight whiplash she was feeling from his sudden observation.