Paranoia - s.reid

A Lot A Lot

Liz was officially back in the office, happily chatting with JJ and Spencer over the latest event that occurred over the weekend, Lyle's second birthday party hosted by the one and only David Rossi and how Lyle had started preschool.

Garcia approached the group, a large bouquet of flowers covering her from the torso up. "Guess what just came to the reception desk for an Agent Jennifer Jareau." She sang. Liz snorted.

"Your husband actually buys you flowers? Mine tells me the entire history." The agent boasted jokingly, pecking Spencer's cheek. JJ laughed loudly before taking the card with a furrowed brow.

"Will's not really a flower bouquet type guy." She slipped the card out of it's envelope, horror and confusion instantly clouding her features. "Zugzwang."

"What? Let me see that." The card was snatched away.

"That's the same thing Diane Turner said to you-"

"Before she killed Maeve." Spencer finished.

"But Diane's dead, so who sent it? Hold on, the voice on the other end of the phone was computer generated." Liz pinched the bridge of her nose. "That means it could be from anyone. That means that it maybe doesn't have anything to do with Maeve. Whoever it was knew you would be at that phone booth, which means they were stalking you. Or us. What if this is the replicator?"

Everyone situated themselves in the conference room. Blake dropped a gift bag in Liz's lap, whispering a quick "This is the birthday gift I didn't get to give you." Before sitting down. Liz nodded gratefully, putting the tiny bag in her purse.

"I just came from the Director's office. He doesn't like the idea that his agents are being taunted and he wants me to keep him personally in the loop. Catch me up, please." Strauss sighed.

"All of our security checkpoints are cleared for the flowers.  Which means there's no explosives, no chemical residue. Nothing. They were ordered from a local florist, Wendy's Bloomers. I checked Wendy, her bloomers, the employees, the delivery service. They all came out clean. I managed to track down the credit card. It's a stolen card number, and it was ordered from a prepaid cell phone in Philadelphia."

"But it's all about the message he's trying to send. Why send them to JJ?"

"The original zugzwang taunt was directed at me."

"If it's directed at one of us, it's directed at all of us. It's only a matter of time before his taunts turn to threats. I'm posting security details at each of our homes."

"Well, he's communicating directly. What exactly is he trying to say?"

"That the game has changed. First he was chasing us, copying the cases that we'd solved, and now it's our turn to chase him. Tag, we're it."

"What do we know about the Replicator?" Strauss asked, almost impatiently.

"So far he's committed 3 murders in 3 different states. The first was Maxwell Holmes, 28-year-old contractor, husband, and father of two, from Dallas. He was found with his mouth sewn shut 4 weeks after we closed the Silencer case. Next is an unidentified John Doe. He was found in New Mexico near the Mexican border. His leg was severed and someone else's was transplanted on."

"Do we have any idea where the limb comes from?"

"None. Finally, Megan Lewinbuck, 31-year-old paralegal, single mother. She was found in Phoenix. She was found last week. All her joints were dislocated and she'd been turned into a human marionette. And that's everything so far. Local police and Bureau field offices are going to keep us apprised of any developments."