CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: CAUTION !

5x15
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      THE TEAM HAD ALL BEEN SEATED AT THE ROUNDTABLE AS JJ HAD EXPLAINED TO THEM THEIR NEW CASE. The victims were found in open spaces, all found with their necks sliced open and the blade two feet away from them.

     "This is Captain Paul Collins. He's the third victim in two weeks in Providence, Rhode Island." JJ introduced, passing the picture over to Rossi. "Captain?" Reid asks. "Yeah, he just returned home two weeks ago from his fourth tour in Iraq. He's a decorated war hero." JJ explained.

      "Was he targeted because he's in the military?" Morgan asks. "No, just like the first two victims, he was targeted because he was convenient. He was killed at a church during an early service." JJ tells.

       "Neck was cut open, severed the carotid artery. Bled out in a matter of moments." Reid told. "Right in front of his daughter, too. That's not right." Casey added, looking over the file.

      "Murder in a church is highly symbolic. Is there a religious agenda involved?" Emily questions. "The detective on the case, Jake Moreland, ruled that out because of the first two victims. The first victim, Mike O'Donnell, was found under a sink in the men's room at a restaurant." JJ says.
      "What kind of restaurant?"
      "Local place, white tablecloths and jug wine. The second victim, Karen Lagrassa, was killed at the laundromat. All three had their throats slashed."

      "Aside from MO, the victimology's all over the place. It's like this guy doesn't care who he's killing, just how." Morgan tells. "And he's doing it in public without compunction for who sees him." Rossi added.
      "Do we have a sketch?" Hotch asks. "All anyone can agree on Is that it's a white male between 25 and 40." JJ tells. "Well, that narrows it down to all of Providence." Emily comments. "Hard to fault the witnesses given how bloody these murders must be."

      Casey looks down at the photo in front of her of the recent victim, Paul Collins. "What bothers me is the cooling-off period is getting shorter and shorter, but no attempt to hide who he is or what he's doing. I mean, an unsub this bold could be suffering from a major psychotic break." Morgan explains.

      "I already asked Detective Moreland to pull recent releases on prisons and mental hospitals." JJ tells. "We need to get to providence ASAP. Whether he's suffering a psychotic break or not, this could be the start of a spree." Hotch tells. "And anyone is a potential target."

      As usual, the team was settled onto the jet. Emily walked into the room as the team had been debriefing over the case. "Why is he using a knife? Guns assure the highest number of fatalities. If all he's interested in is quantity, he could be doing this more efficiently." Emily tells, taking the spot next to Casey on the jet. "A knife could be his weapon of choice. Knives point that he has more of the power. And he assumes he does." Casey told.

     "He could be training," JJ tells. "Spree killers often to dry runs before they start their rampage." Hotch continues, "Most spree killers have lost control by the time they begin."
     "They're always male," Morgan adds on. "If they don't fall into the school shooter category, they're older, 40s and 50s, socially isolated."
      "The stressor's usually the dissolution of their last social outlet." Emily says.

"George Hennard was inspired by James Huberty. Between the two of them, they shot forty-three people at fast food restaurants." Reid explained. "Well, if he's practicing for his mass murder, he's definitely getting bolder about it." Casey says. "And bloodier." Morgan adds.

       "Right now, the shock and awe of the bloodletting seems to be what he's going for. But soon, that won't be enough." Rossi tells. "That makes sense with regards to his fantasy life. If he is planning something big, he'll spend his day dreaming of it, getting back at slights both real and imagined." Reid tells.

      "Without a specific target victim, we need to concentrate on the crime scenes and see what they tell us." Hotch begins the pairing. "Prentiss, Willows, you two take the laundromat." Casey nods to Emily. "I'll have Detective Moreland meet you there."

      "I'd like to take a look at the church if you don't mind." Rossi speaks as Hotch nods, "Good, JJ, you and Morgan interview Captain Collins' wife. She got the best look at the unsub. See what she remembers. Reid and I will run point from the police station."

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Emily and Casey had arrived at the laundromat and began to go over the crime scene in their heads. Prentiss stood in front of one of the dryers and Casey spoke: "Alright, Em. I'm the unsub, how did I do it?"

Casey watched as Emily opened the dryer up and pretended as if she were taking clothes out and closed the dryer again. "Get the stuff out... alright, I'm folding... I don't hear you approaching. You come in through the back door, slash my throat, walk out. There's no cameras inside or outside of the building." Emily tells.
     "It's the same for all of the crime scenes." Casey nods. "Which means you're smart enough to plan for that in your attacks." Emily nods. "But, careless enough to drop a knife 10 feet after I cut you." Casey stated. "But you didn't leave any fingerprints." Emily tells.

      "No, he did that at all three crime scenes." The women jump and turn their attention to the detective that Hotch wanted them to meet. "Jake Moreland, detective." He introduced, holding his hand out as Emily shook it. "Emily Prentiss." Casey introduced herself next.

     "Mass murderers and spree killers, they often fetishize their weapons, but this guy discards his. Why?" Emily continues on. "Well, he can get a new knife anytime he wants. They carry these at army-navy stores." The detective tells, showing them the pictures.

      "It could be a scare tactic." Emily tells. "How so?" asks the detective. "Americans typically are more terrified by the presence of a knife than a gun. And most rape victims, for instance, they're more likely to scream out for help if they see a gun, whereas they'll comply if they see a blade." Casey explains.

     "So, victimology and murder weapon aren't important to this guy. What does that leave? What is he attacking?" Emily thinks. "The crime scene itself." Casey jumps up once more as Rossi speaks. He had just arrived through the doors. "Geez, does everyone just show up unannounced now?" Casey questions.

      "Did you see the sign outside when this place was established?" Rossi asks. "1967." The detective answers. "The same as the restaurant. Second generation Italian. Everyone in the neighborhood eats there." Rossi explains.

      "St. Alvina's was built at the beginning of the last century. So, each location has a history in this community." Emily branches off from what he's saying. "So, he wants to destroy landmarks." She says. "Pieces of Providence's history." Casey adds.

      "That's why the random victims. He's making a point." Rossi pieces together. "Probably the manifestation of a deep hatred for the city. He wants to scar the places everybody knows and goes to." Emily tells.
       "Not quite," Rossi tells. "Take a ride with me. We're gonna have a look at the other crime scenes."
       "Why?"
       "Indulge me."

     With that, the three follow Rossi and drive to the first crime scene. Yellow crime scene tape had been up at the doors, everyone there for the captain's memorial. "Attack an institution, everybody responds. Neighbors come out, the mayor assigns extra cops. A place of worship turns into a crimme scene, you feel personally assaulted." Rossi explains.

     "That's what gets him off. The response, public outcry. He wants the big show." Emily tells. "You think he's revisiting the crime scenes?" Detective Moreland asks. "Not just revisiting." Rossi says. "Reliving," Casey says. "He's found a way to keep the murders he's committed fresh because they're always on the city's mind and he gets off on his power.

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After delivering the profile, the team had been met with another attack and a man down at a festival had died due to being slashed in the throat. The team didn't allow anyone to leave the scene since the slasher could've been anyone.

       Casey stood over with the crowd near caution tape and kept her eye out. She offered to go and double check the perimeter but one of the officers had beaten her to it. She had looked around and once she turned, she saw the same officer with blood coming out of his neck and the unsub with a knife standing right next to him.

       "Hey!" Casey yelled and the unsub looked right at her. "Hey!" The unsub noticed her coming towards him and he began to run as Casey rushed towards the officer, who was bleeding on the ground.

        Casey put pressure on his neck to stop the bleeding. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. You're gonna... you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay." Casey looked around. "Help! Somebody, help!" She yelled and looked over at the area the unsub ran to.

        Unfortunately, the officer passed away minutes after help showed up. The next day, everyone had been in the room and Reid and Casey were putting pictures up from what happened to Officer Liddy.

      "Those gotta be on the board, too?" A officer spoke up as Reid was getting the last picture on. Casey bit her tongue as the man continued. "What's the next great bit of advice from the FBI, huh?"

     "Take it easy, Gardella," Detective Moreland advised. "This ain't the time or the place." But the officer kept going. "If we hadn't listened to them, Liddy and I would be having our morning cup of coffee."

      Casey smacked the rest of the pictures down on a nearby table in front of her. Everyone stopped and looked at the girl and she kept her head down as she muttered: "Twenty-three seconds."

      "Excuse me?" The officer questioned.

      Casey spun around and looked straight at the officer. "Twenty-three seconds," It was obvious that she was getting irritated. "That's how long he was alive before he died in my arms. We were doing our job like he was doing his. He died doing his job. So, before you complain about your morning coffee and how your buddy isn't here, remember, he was doing his job like you should've been doing yours. Because in the middle of those twenty-three seconds, you could've been doing something instead of sitting on your ass, drinking your morning coffee." She snapped.

        "Casey—" Hotch spoke.
        "Excuse me." Casey walked out of the room.

      It was obvious that she was struggling with the loss. Casey could've saved him and she didn't. The officer could've lived if she just did that perimeter check herself. The girl took a deep breath and tried to preoccupy herself as everyone had been going over the new profile and how they needed to get the attention back on the unsub and not on Officer Liddy or he would lash out again.

     Casey had stayed outside of the office near the coffee machine and watched as the officers had come out. She kept to herself, avoiding confrontation and moments later, Reid had come out. "Hey." He greeted with a tight-lipped smile.

     "I know, I overreacted." Casey told, circling a finger inside of her coffee cup. "It's understandable. I mean, you watched someone die." Reid told as he was getting himself a cup of coffee.

     Casey thought and zoned out as Reid was getting his coffee together but stopped once Casey spoke again: "It could've been me, Reid." He stopped in his tracks. "I volunteered to go check the perimeter but he wanted to so he did. And I let him. It could've been me. It probably should've been."

    "Casey, you can't think like that—" Reid tells.

    "I can't?" Casey interrupts. "A man died in my arms last night, Reid. If I had gone to check the damn perimeter myself, if I knew better... that wouldn't have happened. You're gonna tell me that's not my fault?"

     Casey took a deep breath and took another sip from her coffee. Reid looked at the girl. There was a time where he felt like that. The blame, the fact he could've done something. Casey witnessed him at that state and she helped him get through it. Now, it was time for him to do the same. He wasn't good at the pep talks but he would try his best, whatever necessary.

     "It's not your fault because it was his decision. He knew what he was doing and that's not on you. And I know, you may blame yourself right now but... you just need to realize that you did everything you could. And even if you failed to save him... that's not your fault either." Reid assured as Casey took another deep breath.

"You know, only two US states produce coffee? Kona coffee is the United States' gift to the coffee world. Because coffee traditionally grows best in climates along the equator, Hawaii's weather is optimal for harvesting beans. California also recently got into the coffee game with dozens of farms now churning out pricey premium bags." Reid explained to the girl.

Casey looks at the man and smirks a bit. He definitely had a way of making her feel better with those little facts of his. "Thank you, Reid. But next time, talk about something other than coffee. Can't be the only thing we talk about." She jokes as she walks back into the room. Reid had smiled, content that he could make her feel better.

Garcia had called the team after Hotch had instructed her to look for the unsub through police hangouts after coming up with an epiphany. Casey's sketch hadn't been enough, but it was something to start. "Comrades, I have amassed employment records for police hangouts. What do you want me to look for?"

"White males 25 to 30." Hotch says. "I'm gonna need more than that." Garcia tells. "Arsonists typically have a stronger relationship with their mothers than their fathers, so let's look for single-mother households with a history of abuse, bad divorce, or paternal violence." Reid tells.
"Manifestations in the son, too, Garcia, like juvenile arrests, petty crimes, a significant drop in grades." Morgan lists.

"Thank you, boys. That will do." Garcia paused for a moment. "Oh, this looks like something."
"What do you have?" Rossi asks.
"Connor O'Brien. Sending his picture now." Casey gets a good look as the picture pops up on screen. "Yup, that's him. To a T." Casey nods.

"His dad went to prison for... oh, lordy...not only setting mom's apartment on fire but making it look like it was an accident so he could collect on the insurance." Garcia explained. "Burned his kid's mother for a few bucks?" Moreland asked.

"Yeah and then Connor testified against his father at the trial. He was ten." Garcia informs. "Where's O'Brien now?" Hotch asks and Garcia skims through and finds: "He works at the Quality Café."

"Guys, it's across the street." Moreland immediately stands up and the team heads over there.

Unfortunately, he wasn't found at his workplace or his apartment and another person was found dead at a library. Moreland had gotten the call and his reaction told the team. "Where?" Hotch asked.

"Library about a mile from here," Moreland informed. "Mother was found next to her crying baby." Casey's eyes widen. "Is the baby okay?" Rossi asked. "Not a scratch, but they haven't found the knife yet." Moreland tells.

     "It's his memento now," Reid says. "He won't stop until he's killed as many people as possible." Rossi continued on, "We have to go to our original plan... create an event he can't resist coming to. He has to believe he was unsuccessful."

"If he won't go back to his apartment, I don't think he's gonna revisit the crime scenes." Hotch tells. "The mother from the library, she's already gone?" JJ asks. "She bled out at the scene. The EMTs stopped working on her." Moreland tells.

"Tell them to keep trying to resuscitate her." Rossi says. "But she's dead." Casey stated. "Yeah, but the unsub doesn't know that. Tell the press she made it, she's hanging on for dear life. And we organize a candlelight vigil for her tonight." Rossi explains.
"If he's mission oriented and he thinks she's still alive, he'll have to come back for her." Reid adds on. "And we'll be there." Rossi says.

They had decided to go through with the plan. "Let the husband know what's going on so he's aware. Have the press there. Tell them to go live and to keep the focus on us as much as they can."

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With their plan, the team had successfully attracted the unsub and caught him. Now, the team had been on their way home. JJ had been passing a card around for Mrs. Collin's daughter, who was having her first communion in the upcoming week. Everyone had been sitting together but Casey was sitting by herself in the back.

"It's hard to believe that guy was so starved for attention that he murdered all those people just to one-up his father." Emily told. "I spoke with Detective Moreland about Connor's father, Billy Os. He said the older police knew to give him a wide berth. He didn't say much, but when he did... people listened."

"The adult version of a bully." Morgan commented. "There are lots of ways that sons defeat their fathers." Hotch says. "I just keep getting PhDs." Reid added.

"Does the son of a sociopath ever really have a chance?" JJ asks. "You know, O'Brien committed his crimes in the same jurisdiction as his father. It's only a matter of time before he's put in the same prison."

After their conversation, Rossi took notice of Casey who was sitting by herself and looking outside at the frail sky. The older man took the card and walked over to Casey, since it had been her turn to sign it.

He sat in front of her and Casey kept her eyes to the window but then paid attention to the man in front of her.

"You know, back when I was working with your uncle, we had a case down in Mississippi. We were at a stakeout and I was paired with a police officer. We had gotten a signal to go in and the first chance the unsub got, he fired his gun. Thing is: he was aiming at me but the police officer had jumped in front of me. He saved my life and he died doing his job."

Casey exhales and looks down in her lap. "It never gets any easier, does it?" She asks.

"This job comes with a lot of baggage. You knew that. Hell, you saw it." Rossi said and it reminded of what happened with Casey's uncle and the Boston Shrapnel Bomber. She remembered the nights she would have to wake her uncle up from a night terror. He didn't even allow her to go to school for a month because he was afraid of something happening to her.

"I know the risks. It's just hard when you say you know what you're doing and you'll get through it — but then, everything... just springs back." Casey told.

"What happened to Officer Liddy... that's not your fault. And you need to believe that." Rossi told and Casey sighs.
"But—"
"No. I need to believe that you're gonna be okay to do your job. Gideon did, you still your chance to live up to his expectations. Now, are you gonna be okay?"

Rossi placed the card in front of her and Casey sits for a minute before grabbing the pen and signing the card for the girl. Casey looked up at Rossi and spoke: "I'm not going anywhere."

hey, lovelies!
thank you for reading, i hope you enjoyed!
i'm actually kinda proud of this cuz casey finally had some dialogue lol also casey really said: acab✨
LMAOOOO
anyways
the next chapter is an original chapter!!
and i'm so excited for this one and for the other ones coming up... y'all are really in for a treat lol
-mya <3