141 | | ash

➳ eight

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At the same time as the last chapter ...

➳

When I get back to the station, Hotch is waiting for me in the interview room. I walk into the room after being greeted by some other members of my team. However, my face is still flushed from the threat Morgan told me, and I can't calm myself down. I don't want to loose my job over this, but I have to admit, it's not like I don't feel anything for Ashton. God, I'm acting like such a teenage girl right now.

"Hey, Hotch," I say closing the door behind me. "I saw the note, and I just wanted to let you know nothing is going on between me and the victims."

Hotch looks up at me and nods. His placid expression is normal, but it doesn't make the situation any better. "I know. We have some work to do before we deliver the profile, though. Rossi and I think it's a good idea to get it out by the end of the day."

I bite my lip and shift my position nervously. "Won't that just anger the unsub, though?"

Hotch looks back down at the stack of papers on the table in front of him and shakes his head. "It may, but we can't take any chances. The unsub has killed four consecutive people. They're not random, but they're not pre-meditated, either. We need to warn the fans of this band as soon as possible. If this upsets the unsub, so be it. We just have to be one step ahead of them."

I nod and walk out of the room. My mind is full, but the one thing I know I need to focus on the most is this case. I begin to feel myself go into full agent mode. I sit at the nearest desk and pull a case file towards me examining its contents. Strangulation, mutilation of the wrists, random dump sites, wording of the letters. The evidence doesn't seem normal to me. I bite my lip and try to investigate further.

I look up as Rossi walks towards me. He gives me a smile and sits down across from me. He gently rubs his graying goatee and nods. "How's it going, Hart?"

I breathe out and shake my head. "I don't know. Something seems off. Hotch wants to deliever the profile by this evening, but I don't think we have enough evidence to give one."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "How so?"

I push the case file forward so he can see what I'm seeing. I point to pictures of the bruising around the necks of the victim. "The strangulation is a huge indicator the unsub is male." I shuffle through some papers and pull out one of the letters sent to the most recent victim. "But the letters are clear indicators the unsub is female. The way she doesn't address herself and how it's mostly directed at us besides the location of the body." Rossi looks up at me. "But I know there's no a team," I continue. "Because that doesn't make any sense due to the single M.O."

I sigh and Rossi leans back in his chair. He pushes the file towards me again and folds his arms across his chest. I always admired Rossi's willingness to help me think for myself and help me with this job, but his inability to help me right now, specifically, is getting on my nerves. I know he knows the gender of the unsub, but he won't tell me. I know he wants me to give the information to the team.

"Do you know how much each of the victims weighed? Sure, strangulation is generally a male unsub's go-to when it comes to M.O., but if the victims were light weight, surely a female unsub could strangle the victims to death."

I lick my lips and nod. Getting out my phone, I call our technical analysis, Penelope Garcia, and wait anxiously for her to pick up the phone. She picks up on the third ring.

"Hey Hannah! How's the case going?" I hear her chirpy voice from the other end of the line say. I smile at the sound of the happiness in her voice.