The Beauty of Knowing

Chapter 6

     The BAU is filled with good people, with good hearts. "Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice." Woodrow Wilson. It's because of their loyalty for one another that in a few short days my loyalty for the team had become the same I felt for my own co-workers. They didn't know me. I was a part of the press, a new face, someone foreign. Yet, they welcomed me into their group as easily as if I was one of them. It almost felt like coming home after a long journey. These people already seemed so familiar to me. It was this along with the possibility of more girls being injured that prompted me to put my life on the line to stop the serial killer that roamed the streets of Las Vegas looking for prey like a lion.

     "We just got reports of another bombing." JJ said as the team regrouped in the conference room. "They haven't identified the victim yet."

     Hotch sighed heavily. "Morgan go with Rossi to see what they found." He ordered.

     The two of them quickly left the room.

     Ashley wandered over to the evidence board. She looked at the pictures of all the girls wondering what it was that they had in common.

     "His last victim was only a few days ago." Emily said. 

     "He's devolving." Spencer added.

     Back at Quantico Penelope looked at her screens in awe. "Oh my."

     The technical analyst had split her time between helping work the case and finding Ashley's real parents. The names listed on her screen, however, wasn't what she had expected.

     The birth records Spencer had asked her to dig up from his mother matched.

     They matched to the adoption records Ashley had been after for years.

     Ashley's mother was Diana Reid. Her father was William Reid.

     With a start Penelope jumped out of her trance and texted Reid the information while she opted to call Ashley.

     Ashley turned away from the evidence board when she heard Spencer's phone beep with a text alert.

     He took out the device, read through the information quickly, before sliding his phone back into his pocket. His face remained impassive, giving nothing away.

     Ashley's phone began to ring a few seconds later with a call. She stepped out of the office, standing above a nearby vacant desk before accepting. 

     Spencer watched her go but returned his attention back to the case.

     "This is Ashley Williams with The Washington Post. How may I help you?"

     "Hey, pumpkin. I have some mind blowing news!" Garcia chirped from the other end of the line.

     "Did you find them?" Ashley asked eagerly.

     "You know I did, sugar." Garcia replied. "I already sent all the information to you via e-mail."

     Ashley cleared her throat nervously. "Thank you." She managed, opting to not ask questions about how the technical analyst had gotten her phone number and e-mail.

     "Sure thing! Good luck, darling." Garcia hung up.

     Ashley pulled the phone away from her ear and noticed she had an e-mail notification. Her hands shook with nerves as she opened it. She glanced over the information taking the words in. There was a copy of her birth certificate and her adoption records.