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Disclaimer: See my profile.

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'Ninety Seconds'

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Reid, Morgan and Prentiss sat at their desks at the BAU working on files and reports. Reid yawned as he moved a completed file into his 'Out' Box and then leaned back in his chair and stretched. Morgan laughed. "I get it. In fact, I feel like laying down in a corner somewhere and taking a nap."

"Paperwork is so boring," Prentiss added.

"This is what I went to school and obtained all those degrees for; so I could do paperwork and type up reports," Reid quipped.

"Reid, did you just make a joke?" Prentiss teased.

"A slight and not particularly amusing joke. However, it was the best I could come up with regarding the situation at hand."

"Oookay…"

Morgan grinned. "At least you made the attempt, kid."

"I can't believe I'm actually hoping for some kind of a case to come up soon," Prentiss sighed. "Not that I'm wishing for more victims, I'm just looking for something else to do besides paperwork." She looked at Reid. "Hey, Reid…"

"No Prentiss, I will not do some of your work for you."

"But, you can read through it all so much faster, Reid."

"No. You always try to get me to do your work for you, Emily."

Prentiss pouted and turned back to her computer just as JJ came into view carrying a stack of files. "Guys, we have a case. Conference room in ten minutes," she said as she walked by on her way to Rossi's office.

'Saved by the bell, hunh Emily?" Morgan remarked.

Once inside the conference room each member of the team took their seats around the round table and flipped open their copy of the case file as JJ handed it to them. "This case is in Arizona?" Reid asked, looking up from the file.

"Yes," JJ answered. "It's in Mesa, which is located in Maricopa County, approximately twenty miles east of Phoenix."

"Mesa has over 460,000 residents, and is the third largest city in Arizona behind Phoenix and Tucson. The city is over 133 square miles; and for those of you who are baseball fans, it's the Spring Training home of the Chicago Cubs.* The police department is generally well regarded in the law enforcement community."

"Mesa is where Jimmy Eat World comes from," Garcia added. **

"Who?" Rossi asked.

"They're an alternative rock group," Reid explained. "They were all students and friends at Poston Junior High School in Mesa when they decided to form a band. They've had a lot of success the last few years in Europe and the United States." He looked around the table as the other team members stared back at him. "They had a song in a movie Garcia and I watched, so she told me who they were and I looked them up," he explained.

"Can we get back to the case, please?" Hotch asked. "Why must we go off on so many tangents?" He looked directly at Garcia and Reid, both of whom looked uncomfortable under his gaze.

"The Mesa Police Department has asked for our help with a possible serial killer. They have a total of four victims, two male and two female. The most recent victim was female."

"Two male and two female? Were there any signs of sexual assault?" Morgan asked.

JJ shook her head. "No signs of sexual assault on any of the four victims."

"What makes Mesa think these four murders are connected?" Rossi asked.

JJ clicked her remote and pictures of all four victims appeared on the screen. "Kimberly Johnson, twenty-four, was the first victim. She was shot to death six months ago; Alejandro Jimenez, twenty-five, was shot to death four months ago; Jerry landers, twenty-six, was shot to death two months ago; and Lynda Lakes, twenty-three, was shot to death the day before yesterday." She turned toward the team and continued, "All four victims were shot with the same weapon, a .22 caliber handgun. Ballistics matched all of the bullets."

"That's a definite connection," Rossi commented.

"The victims were spaced almost exactly two months apart," Reid said. "They were all in their mid-twenties. Were the victims found in the same location?"

JJ shook her head. "Each of the four was found in a different location; Johnson in an area near the Salt River Pima Indian Reservation just south of East McKellips Road and Alma School Road; Jimenez further south not too far from the end of the Light Rail line at Main and Sycamore Street; Landers in East Mesa near Apache Trail and Crismon Road; and Lakes across from the Mesa Convention Center at the Northeast corner of University Drive and Center Street. That last location is less than a mile from the main police station and the Mesa City Courthouse."

"Whoa…" Prentiss said. "Taunting the police, maybe?"

"Could be. Have the police found any other connection between the victims?" Hotch asked.

JJ shook her head. "Not yet. However, as we all know, that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't a connection to be found."

"Okay everyone, we're going to Arizona. Grab your go bags, wheels up in one hour."

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"It's damn humid here," Morgan griped as they stepped off the plane at Falcon Field in Mesa a few hours later. "I thought Arizona heat was a dry heat."

"Not during monsoon season," Reid informed him as he flipped a few pages of the spiral bound map book he was carrying.

"Monsoon season? Great, just what I needed to hear!"

"Why didn't we fly into Sky Harbor Airport?" Rossi asked.

"The Phoenix Field Office felt it would be easier to deal with traffic if we flew into one of the smaller local airports," JJ answered. "They still have our vehicles waiting for us."

"How far is it to the police station from here?" Hotch asked.

"I think it's around eight or nine miles," Reid said.

"That's not too bad," Rossi said. He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "Geez Hotch, you're wearing a suit jacket, aren't you hot?"

"Of course I am," Hotch replied. "It's over ninety degrees today."

"It looks like it's going to rain," Emily commented, looking up at the sky.

"Rain is in the weather forecast," Garcia added.

"So much for being in the desert," Morgan said.

"The main qualification for an area to be considered a desert is for the evaporation rate to be higher than the precipitation rate. It doesn't really matter what the precipitation rate is as long as the evaporation rate is higher," Reid said, looking up at the sky.

"Thank you Reid," Rossi commented.

"We'll be staying at the Phoenix Marriott Mesa which is next door to the Convention Center and down the street from the police station," JJ informed the group.

"According to this map the hotel is only a few hundred yards from where the fourth victim was found," Reid added.

"Good," Prentiss commented. "We won't have to walk too far away from the hotel's air conditioning." She looked at Hotch before adding, "That is if we are able to be assigned to look at that particular crime scene."

Within a few minutes the group was seated inside their two SUV's and on their way to the hotel. An hour later they had checked into their hotel and were walking into the main police station on Robson Road. JJ announced their identity to the police officer at the front desk who had clearly been expecting them. She buzzed them through one door and checked all of their identification before buzzing them through a second door and into the main section of the police station. She directed them down a hall and to a room where they could find Lewis Dongan, the Detective in charge of the case. A few minutes later the team was standing outside a small conference room.

"You must be the agents from the BAU," Detective Dongan said, rising from a chair he had been sitting in.

"I'm SSA Jennifer Jareau. We spoke on the phone. This is our Team Leader SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA David Rossi, SSA Derek Morgan, SSA Emily Prentiss, SSA Spencer Reid, and our technical analyst Penelope Garcia."

"Detective Lewis Dongan," he said, shaking hands with all seven members of the team. "Thank you for coming so quickly. Hopefully this room that we're in here will work out for your team. We have the white boards that you requested, and there is wireless Internet access available as well. I'll be happy to have someone take you anywhere you need to go or help you with anything you need."

"Thank you Detective," Hotch said.

Detective Dongan nodded. "I'm sure you've run into this before, but a few members of the department are not exactly happy about our having asked your team to come here."

"Yes, we have run into that a few times in the past," Rossi commented.

"When I went to Lieutenant Alvarez and suggested we ask for your help there was some initial resistance. Not from him," Detective Dongan added quickly. "There were a few others who thought we should handle the case internally."

"We're used to it," Hotch told him. "We'll be able to handle it." He looked at the other members of his team. "JJ, you and Garcia stay behind to get set up. Detective, the rest of us would like to visit each crime scene."

"Of course. Are all five of you going to all four crime scenes?"

"No, what we'll do is have myself and Agent Morgan visit the locations where Ms. Johnson and Ms. Lakes were found, and Agents Rossi and Prentiss will visit the locations where Mr. Jimenez and Mr. Landers were found. I'd like Agent Reid to visit all four locations, however separate from the rest of us. We'd like to speak with the victims' families after we visit the crime scenes."

Detective Dongan looked a little puzzled at Hotch's plans, but he nodded. "I'll show you and Agent Morgan around; I'll have Detective Lukas show Agents Rossi and Prentiss around, and I'll have Officer Montebello show Agent Reid around. Montebello was on the scene at McKellips and Alma School, and he knows that area fairly well."

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Reid stepped out of the police cruiser at the corner of Main Street and Sycamore and looked around. "Jimenez was found on the Northeast corner behind the repair shop?" he asked his companion.

Officer Montebello folded his arms in front of his chest and sighed. "Yes," he answered shortly.

Reid looked at him. Montebello had been hostile from the moment Detective Dongan had informed him he would be escorting one of the BAU agents around town. They had started with the corner of University and Center, the most recent dump site. The crime scene tape was still present, though the detectives had finished collecting evidence at the site. Officer Montebello hadn't even left his patrol car while Reid got out and looked at the scene from several vantage points and then walked around the northeast corner, which was empty except for a bus stop facing University Drive. After leaving that location they had headed for the East Mesa location at Crismon Road and Apache Trail. That location was only a few yards from a canal, and Reid had walked for several yards up and down the canal in both directions. He hadn't expected to find any evidence after two months, he was simply trying to get a feel for the location and why the UnSub might have chosen it.

During the over twenty minutes it had taken to drive from the first to the second point Montebello had said less than a dozen words to Reid, and in the slightly longer ride to this location from the East Mesa one he had said barely anything to him. Reid shook his head and walked across Sycamore to the unevenly paved lot where the victim had been found. It had been four months since the body had been found so there was no longer any evidence there had ever been an investigation conducted there. He turned around and looked over to where two light rail cars sat parallel to each other on two tracks waiting for their time to depart the station. "The light rail is less than one hundred yards away," he commented.

"No kidding."

Reid walked over to where the officer was standing and stood next to him while continuing to look at the rail cars. "Would you like some cream and sugar with that sarcasm, Officer Montebello?" Montebello's facial muscles twitched but he said nothing. "The last train arrives around midnight, and none of the businesses close by stay open any later than that; therefore if the victim was dumped after midnight the killer knew there was a possibility he wouldn't be found until dawn. Hmm..." Reid walked across the street to where the trains sat and looked back at the dump site; and then he walked to several other vantage points to look at the scene before walking back to the patrol car and informing the officer he was read to head to the next scene.

After putting his seat belt on Reid looked at Montebello. "I think it is fairly obvious you are one of the officers who aren't happy the BAU is here in Mesa."

After a few tense moments of silence as he drove north on Sycamore and then turned right onto University Drive the officer answered. "We don't need any help from the Feds. We can handle these crimes ourselves."

"I see. So it doesn't matter if Detective Dongan and Lieutenant Alvarez are interested in obtaining our insight on these crimes. You simply think you don't 'need any help from the Feds'. I will be sure and take that into consideration."

Montebello looked over at him briefly but said nothing further until they were stopped at the light at Alma School Road and University. "There's a Jack in the Box over there. Do you mind if I grab something?"

"No, of course not," Reid answered. Once the light had changed the officer drove across the intersection, through the parking lot and up to the restaurant's drive-thru speaker. He placed his order and then turned and asked Reid if he wanted something. A surprised Reid ordered a sourdough burger, curly fries and a coke, and a few minutes later they were headed north on Alma School Road.

After several moment of silence Montebello said, "I apologize if I was rude. But no one likes the Feds walking into their jurisdiction and taking over…"

"We're not taking over. We look over the evidence, and the crime scenes; and we offer our insight and then we create a profile. If at all possible the local jurisdictions solve the cases and make the arrests. That's how we operate at the BAU. If we did our job any other way no one would ever call us for assistance."

Montebello nodded and a few minutes later he slowed down and parked on the right shoulder of the road. Both men climbed out of the patrol car. The officer led Reid a few feet away from the vehicle and stopped in front of a small wooden cross with some flowers in front of it. "This is where Ms. Johnson was found. Some of her friends and family members put up the cross and left the flowers."

"What are those barricades blocking McKellips?" Reid asked.

"The road is closed from just east of Alma School to just west of the ramp to the 202 over there because of flooding from a controlled run off."

"Was it closed when she was found?"

He nodded. "Yes, it's been closed since January. They did open it for a few days near the end of May, but then we had a storm that caused some flooding and it was closed again."

Reid looked up as it started to rain. "I heard about Arizona's Stupid Motorist Law. Has anyone ever tried to go past these barricades and cross the flooded area?"

Montebello chuckled. "Not lately that I'm aware of. But in the past, hell yeah. This barricade has been placed here on and off for several years. Some of these dry river beds and small creeks become raging torrents after only a little rain. It's unbelievable how ignorant some people really are. We get at least a few idiots every single year in Arizona driving around barricades or trying to cross areas that tell them not to enter when flooded."

Reid nodded. "I'm from Las Vegas. You see it around there also. It only takes six inches of water to wash a vehicle away. So that big sign over there slightly to the north marks the beginning of the Salt River Pima Indian Reservation?"

Officer Montebello nodded. "That's right. Listen, it's raining harder. I suggest we get out of here. You can always come back later. I'll even drive you if you like." Reid nodded and the two men walked back to the patrol car. While not completely friendly, the atmosphere in the car on the ride back to the police station was decidedly more pleasant than it had been earlier in the day.

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Reid drove the Bureau SUV toward McKellips and Alma School Road. He felt he hadn't spent enough time at the location the previous afternoon with Officer Montebello; and despite the man's offer he had decided to come back on his own. It had begun to rain heavily and Reid hadn't had the chance to look the location over the way he wanted to. Unfortunately it was cloudy again today and threatening to rain; however the rain had held off so far. He drove across a small bridge over a usually dry creek bed that now looked like a swiftly moving river; and a few minutes later parked the SUV in the same location where the patrol car had been the previous day and climbed out. He walked to where the cross stood and looked around. He turned in a full circle and looked carefully at what he could see. The location was somewhat isolated, especially to the north; but there was a gravel quarry not far away to the south, and a couple of other industrial buildings within sight, including a propane tank distribution company. However, Officer Montebello had informed him there wasn't much traffic through this area at night, and it seemed likely the victim was left after dark.

The wind started picking up and Reid coughed slightly due to the blowing dust coming from the area of the quarry and the empty acreage to the north. He was intrigued by the idea the location was so close to the southern boundary of the Salt River Pima Indian Reservation, but he wasn't sure if it meant anything or not. The wind started picking up even more and now the rain was starting. Reid decided to head back toward the SUV as his hair started to whip around his face and the rain was driven at him. He pulled the vehicle on to the road, drove a few yards north and then turned around and headed back in the other direction. Reid noticed a car coming up behind him at a high rate of speed. The car pulled to within inches of his back bumper and then suddenly pulled around him to his left and then lurched back into his lane only a few feet from his front bumper. Reid cursed and slowed down a little so he could back off. The offending car sped up a little and pulled away from him, and then slowed down once more forcing Reid to slow down as well. He backed off a couple of car lengths and reached for his cell phone to call the police and report a possibly impaired driver. "Shit!" he exclaimed as the driver of the car in front of him suddenly slammed on her brakes, coming to a complete stop. With no time to think Reid tried to avoid hitting the stopped car by swerving to the right and on to the shoulder of the road. Seeing there was very little shoulder between the pavement and an embankment that led down to the creek bed, he tried to quickly compensate by swerving back to the left, however the other car was in his way and he had no room to properly correct himself back on to the road. The SUV skidded to the right again, connecting violently with the guard rail of the small bridge he had passed over earlier. After skidding along the guard rail for a few yards the SUV hit an area damaged from a previous collision. The guard rail broke and the SUV flew through the gap and over the side of the bridge. It landed with a violent thud front end first in the swiftly moving water and was almost immediately swept away under the bridge as it started to slowly sink.

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*I am not a Cubs fan! Give me the Arizona Diamondbacks any day! Mesa is, however, the Spring Training home for the Cubs.

**Jimmy Eat World really is from Mesa, Arizona. Tom Linton, the lead guitarist for the band, taught my oldest nephew to play guitar, and his family owns and runs a business renting and selling musical instruments and providing music lessons, etc., in downtown Mesa called Linton-Milano Music.

A/N: Chapter One of this story was my entry in the-vampire-act's contest for How will season Five of Criminal Minds end? .net/u/1648586/the-vampire-act. I came in second! Woohoo!

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