CHAPTER SEVEN
Damnit!
He’d almost had her. He’d had her beneath him, had branded her already. She was his!
Then they’d come in, the same men that had been at the diner with her. And he had been one of them. The dark haired bastard that sat so close to her, that watched her thought every meal she’d eaten at his diner.
He slowed now, panting. The other one had been a fast bugger. And fit too. But he didn’t know the city as well. He’d lost the damn agent who knew how long ago, probably not far from the hotel. He’d want to go and check on that dark-haired whore.
“Oh! I’m sorry!”
He looked up into dark eyes.
Maybe the night wasn’t such a wash after all.
Hotch approached the ambulance slowly and carefully, Emily’s ready bag in hand. He’d managed to get it from CSU knowing she would want it and knowing she was going to need a change of clothes. Her head was down, hands folded on her knees. She looked vulnerable in blue and white plaid pajama pants and a thin blue t-shirt. She’d pulled her hair back in a ponytail. The agent in him hoped CSU had already spoken with her. The man in him wanted nothing more than to whisk her away and keep her safe from any other attacks. He stopped in front of her, setting the bag on the back of the ambulance.
“Emily?”
Her head fell forward just a little bit more, keeping her face from view.
He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Torn was an understatement. He wasn’t sure how to deal with her. He turned when he felt a hand clapped on his shoulder.
“Em? Hey girl.”
Hotch envied Derek’s easy-going relationship with the brunette agent. He seemed to relate so easily to Emily in every situation. Still, she didn’t say anything.
“CSU is still going through your room, but Detective Nenych wants to talk to you.”
Hotch had missed the woman’s presence. He found himself moving to stand on Emily’s other side, automatically protective. He had to admit to surprise when she inched slightly closer subconsciously. He had no idea what to do, but she seemed to know what she wanted or needed.
“Agent Prentiss, I’m Campbell.”
Emily grasped Derek’s hand and moved her knee so that it just brushed the sweatpants on Hotch’s legs. She had known Hotch was there, standing over her. She knew he’d placed her ready bag beside her in the ambulance. She hadn’t been sure what he was going to do. She wasn’t sure what she wanted him to do. She’d had time to think about what had occurred after the attack and though she knew that it was a reaction on her part, it still disturbed her. She cried. Outright sobbed. And in front of Hotch no less. She’d spent so long being strong that it was too difficult to reconcile the tears that had soaked the collar of his t-shirt. A t-shirt he was still wearing as he stood next to her.
“I don’t remember much,” she said, her voice holding a hard edge. “I woke up with him on top of me.”
“Well what do you remember?”
Emily took a deep breath, tucking wisps of hair behind her ear as a nervous tick. She was almost thankful when Hotch sat down beside her, his shoulder pressing the back of hers. She took comfort in that, in the way Derek’s hand was clenched tightly around her own. She blinked as the tears came again.
“I woke up to burning.” Her free hand reached across to put her hand over the bandage. “He had my arms pinned over my head.” She had to take another deep breath.
“Take your time,” Detective Nenych encouraged.
“I fought back, surprised him I think. He had a knife. Then there was shouting, you guys,” she said, voice still surprisingly strong as her head swung between her colleagues. She had no idea how she was managing to keep her voice level. “He got in through the sliding glass door. I know I locked it before I went to bed.”
“Do you remember anything about him?” the detective asked, a gentle note to her voice.
Emily hated being treated like a victim, but she couldn’t fault the woman for doing her job. This was the normal reaction any law enforcement agent had for a victim. “He didn’t say anything and I couldn’t see any of his face.”
“What about height,” Derek asked quietly, inadvertently interrupting.
Emily closed her eyes, squeezing his hand and leaning into Hotch slightly. She could analyze this in the morning, for now, all she needed was the comfort and support. The feeling of safety. “Yours,” she said, turning to Derek. “Not much taller if at all.”
“Anything particular you can remember, Miss…?”
“Agent. Agent Prentiss.”
Emily felt herself stiffen at her name and rank. It only served to remind her of what she should have been able to do, the precautions she should have been smart enough to take, and the training that had failed to kick in. Hadn’t she done herself a disservice by not telling anyone about the waiter who was watching her in the diner?
“Agent? Wait, you guys are here because of those other women?” The detective sounded truly surprised.
Emily sighed heavily, her head falling backwards and to the side to rest on Hotch’s shoulder. “Yeah.”
Hotch woke to his ringing cell phone. JJ’s number was on the screen. “JJ.”
“Hey, sorry it’s so early.”
Hotch glanced over at his alarm clock. It would be ringing in less than five minutes anyway. He’d allowed the team an extra hour’s sleep after the events of the early morning. Still, it was much too early for the pregnant liaison to be up. “Are you in the office?”
Her light chuckle floated over the line. “No, boss. Caught the morning news over breakfast. We have another victim.”
It hadn’t even crossed his mind to make sure JJ and Garcia knew as soon as they woke up. “We know.”
“You know? Locals already told you? They woke you up?”
They usually would, but this time, he didn’t think it would be necessary to point it out.
“You’ve already seen her too, been to the crime scene.”
He didn’t want to tell her, he really didn’t. Still, she not only deserved to know, but needed to know. Regardless of the most likely violent reaction, Emily would want her to know.
“Hotch? Who was it?” JJ asked. “Garcia’s going to need the name to add to the cross-reference. I can give it to her when I get in.”
“There’s no need to cross-reference our newest victim,” he said. “We know she has no connection to any of the other women.”
“You do? So you know the woman.”
“JJ, it was Emily.”
There was silence on the phone. “What?”
“Our victim was Emily,” he repeated. “Physically she’s fine except for the brand.”
“Oh my God. He… Emily?”
He knew the question wasn’t really a question and hoped Will was nearby.
“I’ll um…. I have to go. I’ll… see what Garcia has. And I’ll book you guys a new hotel.”
He hated it when his team was upset, but the mask stayed in place. She was his family as much as the rest of the team and he knew this would hit her hard. Not as hard as it would affect Emily, but hard nonetheless.
“Don’t worry about the hotel JJ.”
“They found her a new room?”
“She stayed with Morgan.”
He heard JJ blow out a breath that almost sounded like a chuckle. “Of course she did.”
He really wanted to ask. Especially knowing that the tone of JJ’s voice implied that she’d stayed with Derek before. He wondered how often Emily had been struggling since joining the BAU and how often she’d turned to the other man. “Make sure-“
“She’ll call Em,” JJ promised without him having to finish his sentence. “Should I…? Never mind. Bye Hotch.”
The knock came in perfect time with him hanging up the phone. He stood, pulling back the chain and opening the door. Derek stood on the other side.
“I have seven minutes, literally. She’s in the shower.”
“You left her alone?” He winced at the harsh tone of his voice,
“For five minutes, she’ll be fine,” Derek answered, a suspicious note in his voice. “Hotch, I don’t think she should go out in the field today.”
“How bad?”
“She wouldn’t want me to say.”
He knew that. Of course he knew that. Emily was strength through and through. He already knew it would through Reid for a loop much like it had thrown JJ and Reid would see the haunted look in her eyes. They hadn’t bothered to wake him the previous night. He and Rossi had both been assigned a room on a different floor. “How bad?”
“Bad,” Derek conceded. “I wish she’d stay here.”
They both knew better than that. That, quite simply, wasn’t who Emily was at all. There was no way she would sit in the hotel all day. There was no way either of them would let her. No matter how much they wanted to.