"I feel fine" Annie blandly mumbled. She was particularly bored in this her final session. The lack of sleep and heat wave had gotten to her and she was in a bad mood. She needed another cup of coffee.
The therapist rose signaling Annie's release from the room. Annie stood, smoothed down her jeans and walked out . . . right into a waiting Jimmy. "Jimmy, what are you doi . . ." but she didn't finish her sentence. Jimmy held his finger up for her to wait. He had that serious look on his face as he was reading his emails on his phone. As soon as he finished, he looked up at Annie with a smirk on his face. "Are you feeling therapized yet?"
"Yes, I am feeling completely stable now" she grumpily retorted as she stomped down the hall toward the bullpen. This was a complete waste of her time and she did not need Jimmy rubbing it in.
Jimmy had to trot to keep up with her. "Boots, I was just kidding! Hey, wait a second!" He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "Look, Annie, we have a case that just came in. I wanted to catch you before we got to the bullpen so we could talk about it first."
"What is it?" Annie couldn't help but be grouchy. Jimmy chuckled quietly. "You are really in a mood today!"
Annie turned on her heel and stomped toward the bullpen again. Jimmy had the nerve to look happy to see her! He was making it very hard. "Wait! Boots! Just stop, please."
"Is there really a case you want to discuss or is this your plan to continue to annoy me about my mandatory therapy?" Annie had stopped in the middle of the hallway.
Jimmy approached seriously and began "a report just came in of a mother/daughter murder near Huntsville. The husband has a history of violence and jealousy. He is on the run. Chief wants us to head out there and look into this as a possible top 15 addition."
Annie saw his serious demeanor and reflected it. "When did it happen? What history does the husband have?"
"I have that information at my desk. I thought you might want the whole team to see the murder scene." Jimmy hoped that putting Annie in the lead would put her in a better mood. He missed the smiling Annie who had disappeared when he brought her back from Mexico. He was worried about her. The deep circles under her eyes had not improved and all he wanted to do was hold her close and make whatever nightmares that were preventing her sleep go away.
"I'll look over the file at my desk and then we can all go" Annie mumbled as she wandered off to the bullpen. Jimmy sighed. This was going to be another long day.
-/-
Jimmy pulled up to the Houston suburban home that was roped off with police tape. It had been a quiet ride out to Hunstville. The rest of the team pulled up next to Annie's Escalade. As the marshals rambled out of their air conditioned SUVs into the blazing heat they took in the details of the murder scene in front of them.
The bodies had been taken to the morgue hours before but the clothes were still scattered throughout the yard. The amount of blood made it clear that anger was involved. Annie wandered through the mess looking them over. This woman was either really spoiled or these were apology gifts.
Annie could feel her anger bubble hotter at the idea that this woman was beaten by her husband. There were no children's clothes in the any of the piles. The daughter's body had fallen closer to the front door. Had the little girl stumbled upon this horrific act of violence and become an innocent victim or had the husband targeted her, also? Had the father assumed that his daughter was becoming like her mother?
Annie was concentrating so deeply she did not hear Jimmy calling her name. He was standing with Bill Russell, the neighbor who had called the murder into 911. Jimmy approached Annie cautiously. He didn't want to startle her while she was this deep in thought but she needed to talk to Bill. They needed to hear what the neighbor had to say together.
When he tapped her on the shoulder she turned and glared at him briefly until she realized it was Jimmy. She immediately regretted her look and tried to appear less angry. "Annie, Bill Russell, the neighbor, is here. He has some information about this family that I think you should hear." Annie let Jimmy lead her to the witness. Once they were introduced, Annie started on the questions immediately. "Mr. Russell, have you had any experience with the Jacksons? Did you know them well?"
"Honestly they were very private. Mrs. Jackson was very nice but I was always concerned because it seemed like Ryan was jealously protective of her. And I barely knew they had a daughter. They moved in about 3 years ago. Their daughter is the same age as our daughter, I think, but they must have home schooled her because she did not go to the same school as our kids. It is the only school in the area." Bill Russell seemed to just ramble on.
Annie distractedly thanked him for the information he provided as she wandered off aimlessly. She just kept going to the outline of the daughter's body. Something was grabbing her interest but she wasn't sure if it involved the case or just the oppressive heat. Jimmy watched Annie a bit concerned. He had to remember to ask her what was up later when they were alone. He finished up with Bill handing him his card to contact if he remembered any more details about the Jacksons.
Daisy and Luke were taking photos of every detail of the scene that they could. Marco was in the house taking even more photos and notes of the Jackson's habits and lifestyle. Annie felt her team was on auto-pilot and she was glad. She had chased down her share of wife murderers but she had limited experience when children were involved and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
Jimmy noticed that Annie had been standing over the outline of the little girl for a while. It grabbed his attention but he shook it off as the heat. Annie was a Texan, there was no denying that. But long heat spells did not bring out Annie's best side. And whatever had happened to her in Mexico had left a lasting impression. Jimmy had known her for years. She seemed different lately and he was really getting concerned. He decided to see if she was ready to head back to headquarters to start researching the husband and get moving on the chase. The ride back would be a good opportunity for him to find out what was bothering her.
Jimmy approached the distracted Annie, "you ready to head back?" "Yea. . ." she mumbled and followed him to the SUV. Jimmy opened the door for her, an act he rarely did but she was so engrossed in thought he was concerned she might forget and just keep standing there. Annie did not even notice as she just piled into the passenger seat. Jimmy shut the door and called up to Daisy as he rounded to the driver side. "We will see you guys back at headquarters! Get as much info as you can!" Daisy just nodded in acknowledgment and continued taking photos.
Jimmy started up the SUV and pulled away. He had the AC on high and the noise prevented the two Marshalls from talking. But after the car cooled down and Annie was still staring silently out the window, Jimmy had had enough.
He switched the fan to low and turned to his partner. "Boots, talk to me. What is going on in that head of yours?" Annie shrugged continuing to stare out the window quietly. Jimmy was not going to let this continue. Annie had been out of sorts for what seemed like weeks and Jimmy wanted to know what was going on. He pulled the car over to the shoulder. The sudden change startled Annie out of her pout, "Jimmy, what are you doing!" He put the car in park and turned in his chair to face his partner. "Annie, enough is enough. What is going on? You clearly haven't been sleeping. You are barely eating. What is upsetting you?"
