Aaron drove with Reid and Morrow to the precinct, his mind whirling. He wasn’t sure how much of this case hinged on their victimology and how much of it hinged on the place and it was starting to grate on his nerves. Logically he knew JJ, Emily and Morrow were good agents. Heck, he’d seen Emily and JJ go into dangerous situations and come out without a scratch, but it had been a long time since he’d felt like someone on his team was on the line.
And this time it was more like three members of his team. He didn’t like the unpredictability of this unsub, didn’t like that they had no idea if he was targeting Tucson police officers or if he had an issue with female law enforcement in general.
“Morrow, I’m partnering you with Morgan,” he said strongly, glancing into the rear view mirror at the younger agent.
“Yes sir.”
“Reid, stick with JJ.” That was going to be a double-edged sword, but they were going to have to work out their issues sooner or later. He’d rather it be sooner. But he also knew Reid would put himself on the line for JJ, just like he knew he’d do the same for Emily. He wanted to make sure that dedication would mean that his agents would be safe at all times, no matter the cost.
Reid simply nodded. He knew JJ had been avoiding him and he knew why. He just wasn’t sure if it was because she thought it was a mistake and didn’t have any idea how to let him down lightly, or if she was just afraid. He hoped it was the latter.
They were silent the rest of the way to the precinct and all six of them knew they made an intimidating picture with grim faces and professional demeanours as they made their way through the Tucson detectives to a back conference room. An older balding man greeted them, as well as a younger detective.
“BAU?”
“Agent Hotchner,” Aaron said, shaking hands with the man.
“Captain David O’Hare. I run the homicide detail. This is Shaw’s partner, Keith Cooper. Coop.”
The rest of the team had started to set up while Aaron talked to the captain. Shaw had stepped aside to make the calls to those they wanted to interview.
“You guys are efficient, I give you that.”
It was JJ that spoke up. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.” Her smile was still bright. “Agent Jareau, media and law enforcement liaison.”
Captain O’Hare raised an eyebrow. “No offence, dollface, but are you sure you should be working on the case?”
Aaron narrowed his eyes. “Agent Jareau is very good at her job.”
“I mean to disrespect,” O’Hare corrected himself hastily, “But lookin’ at the ladies this guy’s been focused on, I’ve been a little nervous about my women in the field. You understand, Agent Hotchner.”
He did.
So did JJ.
“Uh, excuse me, Captain O’Hare?” Reid interrupted. “I was wondering if there was something you found that linked these women. According to the files there isn’t anything.”
“Notes,” Coop spoke up. “We found a note with each of the bodies. They’re in evidence.”
“I’d like to see them,” Reid said politely. Psycholinguistics was one of his many areas of expertise.
“We couldn’t make heads or tails of the things,” Coop warned as he dug through a nearby evidence box, withdrawing three standard letter size sheets of white paper.
Reid spread them out on the conference table, looking over them, eyes scanning and re-scanning the pages. “They’re in code…” he said.
“Yeah. We have no idea what they’re trying to say.”
“But he is communicating with us,” Morgan spoke up. “Tells us something about the guy.”
“It does?”
It was slowly becoming obvious to JJ that Coop was one of the people Shaw had warned her about in the car. It didn’t look like the man put much faith in what they were there to do.
“It does,” Morrow agreed. “He’s communicating with us.”
“In code.”
“But he’s still communicating. And he’s signing his work by leaving the notes behind. He wants the attention,” Morgan explained, coming around the table to look over Reid’s shoulder.
“Reid, JJ, you stay here, work the letters and figure out how much of a clamp we can put on the media now that it’s splashed all over the place,” Aaron ordered as Shaw hung up the phone.
“Erica Raghnall’s husband and Reese Joshlynn’s partner are headed over,” he said.
“Morgan, Morrow, take the partner. Prentiss, you and I will interview the husband.” The Tucson officers left, leaving only the BAU. They all looked around at each other, almost in perfect harmony when the door closed behind their hosts.
“We go everywhere in pairs,” Aaron said softly. “JJ, I want you and Reid to stick together. Morgan, you and Morrow. Emily, you’re with me.”
Emily asked the question racing through everyone’s head. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” He’d basically paired them off in their couples and though Emily could understand his overprotective instinct, part of her seriously worried about a conflict of interest in the job with the way they were partnered.
“We can switch things around if something happens,” he said, his eyes imploring her to agree. When even Captain O’Hare had mentioned his apprehension about his female officers, Aaron’s protective instinct had jumped. “You don’t even go to the bathroom by yourselves, understood?”
“Yes sir,” Morrow answered quietly.
Emily and JJ simply nodded.
“I tried to book four conjoining rooms at the hotel,” JJ offered. “They had two.”
“You, Emily, Morgan and Reid take the conjoined ones,” Aaron ordered immediately. The more of his agents protected, the better he’d feel. “That door stays open.” He looked around at his team. “Until we know whether or not our unsub has it in for Tucson officers only, I don’t want to put anyone needlessly at risk.”
JJ sighed as she read over yet another article about their case. Spence was pouring over the notes like there was nothing else in the world, but she was acutely aware of his presence. She wanted to kill Hotch for pairing them together. She knew he’d noticed the tension between them and as much as she understood his reasoning “ especially since there was no one she’d trust more with her life anymore “ it was starting to grate on her nerves.
She looked up into the bullpen, unsurprised to see a throng of media people outside the front door. Detective Shaw had brought them through a back entrance, well aware it was a huge annoyance to have to fight your way through a throng of people.
“Excuse me.”
JJ looked up. At the door stood a man, pencil behind his ear. “Can I help you?”
“I’m Bernard Dell, a crime reporter for-“
“We have no comment for you, Mr Dell,” JJ said as politely as she could.
“The public wants to know. Especially now that they’ve brought in another agency.”
She hated reporters. She was damned good at her job, but there was always one overzealous hound that found every way to get any kind of story they could. Bernard Dell gave her the creeps. “I’m sure they do, Mr Dell, but again, there is no comment I can give you at this time.”
“A cover up won’t look good for the department.”
JJ could feel a headache starting to build in her temples. “Mr Dell, I understand that this is a huge story. I can understand that covering this is probably a coveted prize, but there is nothing we can tell you at this time. When there is something, we will be holding a press conference, you can ask your questions there.”
“Bernie! What the hell are you doing in here?”
Dell froze. “Looking for the things you’re not telling us, Detective,” he replied.
“Well do it outside the precinct. I find you in here one more time I’m arresting your for obstruction of justice and harassment,” Shaw said strongly, leading the man out with a hand clapped on his shoulder.
JJ watched both men go, a creep racing up and down her spine. She massaged her temples.
“Everything okay?”
Reid’s soft voice startled her. She looked up at him, blue eyes wide. “Sure.” She watched him start playing with the edge of one of the plastic evidence bags, a sure sign that he was nervous.
“You always tell me the truth, JJ.”
The words were matter-of-fact, but they still tore at her heart strings. Reid had to work harder than anybody to fit in and she’d known it had taken a supreme amount of courage for him to kiss her on New Years. Still, JJ didn’t know what she wanted to do about it. She sighed. “My brain is frying.”
Reid cocked his head to the side. They hadn’t even been on the case for 12 hours. “That’s not a good sign.”
“There’s just…. There’s a lot to deal with.”
Silence fell, and JJ was sure Spence had gone back to the letters. She looked up suddenly when his hand came into her vision, holding two Aspirin.
He put a bottle of water down beside her file. “I didn’t mean to confuse you,” he said softly.
She blinked. “You didn’t,” she said reflexively, though it was true. Kissing her really wasn’t something that was confusing. If anything, it clarified where he stood.
“Then I did something wrong,” Spence said, how much it was bugging him showing in his tone of voice. “You don’t come into the bullpen, you’ve barely said two words to me since.”
JJ sighed, looking down at the dark-stained wood of the conference room table. He was pulling up a lot of emotions she wasn’t sure she was prepared to deal with on a case. There was already a lot in her head, racing through her mind, and emotion was something she didn’t deal with while doing her job. Or at least something she tried not to deal with.
This is Spence, her mind scolded. The one person you’ve trusted with almost everything since Henkel. What is wrong with you woman!
Her inner voice sounded like Penelope.
But it was right. The nightmares, the pictures, the times where cases hit just a little bit too close to home for either of them… they went to each other. She knew he’d never betrayed her trust. In fact, she was sure he hadn’t even told his mother the things she confided in him.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said finally.
He waited a beat. “Then talk to me.”
“I’m scared,” she confided finally, quietly.
“Because of the case? JJ, the chances of you being a victim are-“
“Not about the case,” she interrupted. “About… I don’t want to get hurt.”
Spence sat down beside her, gathering all of his courage to put his hand on her knee. He almost jumped when hers fell on top, gripping it, but not moving it. “Neither do I.” He paused. “Sometimes I think it’s too good to be true.”
She looked up, unsurprised to find his own eyes as tumultuous as hers. “What?”
“You,” he admitted, gathering everything in him he could. “You’re… the quintessential girl next door. You deserve to be dating a football jock, someone who can shower you with everything.”
She really should have known this was the road he was going to take. She should have known he’d be insecure. She squeezed his hand. “I want someone who knows what we see,” she said softly. “I don’t want someone who thinks they’re oh-so-perfect. I don’t want to be a trophy wife.” Because that’s what he’d essentially described.
“I could develop schizophrenia,” he said quietly. “I spout off random facts all the time.” His voice dropped to a quiet whisper. “I was a drug addict.”
“And I’m still here,” she reminded him. She paused. “I don’t understand either, you know. Why you like me, I mean.”
Spence blinked. She didn’t know why he adored her? “Because you’re smart,” he blurted. “And strong, and people wouldn’t think that of you. You put on this act of someone who could be blown over by the wind but you coral media and law enforcement like they’re cattle. You know who you are and what you do and you never let that belief waver. Ever.”
That was definitely not what she’d expected. She’d expected a flowery speech on how she was beautiful and smart and funny and everything a man could want. But she should have known Spence would see past all that.
“Because you’re not perfect,” he continued softly. “Because you’re terrified of dogs. Because no matter how deep I thought I was, you never, ever doubted me. Because you have nightmares and you break down and you throw up at particularly gruesome scenes, especially if an animal has chewed flesh.”
The thought made her stomach churn. “Spencer Reid, you are one of the strongest people I know,” she started softly, ready to reciprocate. There was so much about him that she loved. “You’re quiet and you don’t expect everyone to fall all over you. You love your job, even though it tears you apart inside to do it. You see things no one else sees about crimes and about people,” she said, emphasizing the last word. “You hide behind what you know because you don’t do well in social situations and even though you don’t believe it, people are intimidated by you.”
His other hand dropped to carress hers, feeling every bone in her hand. “What do we do?”
JJ took a deep breath. This was that cliff edge Emily had been talking about, the one where you could play it safe, never risk anything, and never be rewarded or jump. “We see what happens.”
“We do?”
JJ nodded, meeting his eyes. “We work this case, we do our jobs, and we see what happens. We get back home and we go out for dinner, like a date.”
“Like a date,” Spence repeated a smile stretching across his face. “I like it.”
The blond mirrored his smile. “So do I.”