Eros

Chapter 6- An Old Woman's Intuition

"We should go check out some local hunting shops and try to figure out if there are any avid hunters who specialize in deer. It might not lead directly to the unsub, but they must have gotten the knowledge of gutting from somewhere," Morgan suggested to the group.

"I know there are some hunting clubs that formed in the town and the ones nearby," Lynn added.

"Are we jumping on the hunter bandwagon too quickly though?" Rossi spoke up, his fingers scratching that black and white goatee of his.

"What other than the method of torture and killing point to hunting? I'm not so sure he's a standard 'hunter' serial killer. It could just be a means to act out a certain fantasy or ritual he has the need to fulfill."

"That does make some sense," Lynn thought out loud, "If he relied on hunting for killing and finding victims, then why not kill Daniel in the same way? And we haven't other bodies to suggest that he killed during specific seasons."

"Waiting years between killing is rare, but possible," Hotch stated.

"How," the deputy asked, and before anyone else could explain, Spencer's quick voice answered.

"This unsub was able to wait before kills due to a behavior called self-initiated predation cessation. It where the unsub is able to control his need to kill his victims for a longer amount of time, which means that this unsub leans less on the psychotic path and more of that of a cold, organized killer. This unsub is patient and was able to lie dormant for years, from either self-control or more external forces like getting locked up or institutionalized."

His large exclamation took less than a minute, but everything Spencer said made sense to her.

"We should still check out the local hunting guilds," she sighed, "Morgan's right in saying this unsub had to learn somewhere on how to gut a deer. I'll get a list of the groups. They most likely won't have their memberships or relations in computer's that your tech friend could go through."

Hotch stood and the other's followed, splitting into pairs to investigate more of the hunting guilds at a time. There were two main ones in Lewey's and one in the town nearby. Spencer and Morgan left first, followed by Prentiss and Rossi. JJ stayed at the police station to contact Garcia and Hotch looked at Lynn, not sure if Prentiss had volunteered to go with the old Italian on purpose.

"I need to notify Jen's mother."

"Are you sure that's wise? You were set on keeping her identity a secret," he asked, looking down at her.

The deputy sighed, rubbing her forehead, and he could tell that the lack of sleep would hit her later in the day.

"If this unsub is ready to let Kevin know about Jen, how am I to know it won't leak it to the press himself. I don't want to risk Carol to learn about Jen from the news. Or from a broken window."

"Alright, we should head over there, it's not too early anymore. We should also interview her one more time about Jen," Hotch stated, and Lynn agreed.

She grabbed her keys and they both exited the station, entering Lynn's black hummer jeep.
The car ride was mainly silent, and he watched her as she drove, both hands on the wheel, her gun in her belt and her long hair up in a ponytail.

"How old is your son?" He suddenly asked as the trees and scenery around them no longer intrigued him.

"Three. Four in three months. What about you?"

"How do you know I have a kid?" He smiled slightly and she glanced at him, liking the way it looked.

"I just know. Maybe I profiled you."