Yeah so you guys are an awesome crowd. Glad you find my story interesting. It makes writing these just that more fun.
A Lack of Color
Chapter 3: Following the Brother's Shadow
"Is that the one who found Jack's body?" Rossi asked.
"Yes," Bennett confirmed. "That's Sam Hatcher, claims he was out for a drink and stumbled onto the body on his way out. His father is on his way to pick him up."
"I'll go talk to him." Rossi said and he made his way into the interrogation room.
"I'm not a suspect right?" Sam quickly asked once Rossi entered. He was clearly still shook out about his unfortunate turn of events. The young man was about twenty-four years old.
"Calm down son, I just want to ask you a few questions."
"Wha-Whaddaya wanna know?"
"Chief Bennett tells me that you were out for a drink when you found the body, correct?"
"Yeah, I was just leaving when I saw..." Sam paused to close his eyes; his hand reaching to his mouth as the events came rushing back.
Rossi, quickly picking up on the discomfort, decided to ask the next question. "Did you regularly go to that bar?"
"Yeah I did, I don't live far from it so I'd always go after a hard day or just when I want to have fun. Although I think I won't be going back there any time soon."
"Did you happen to see anything suspicious while you were out? Any out of the ordinary behavior or a customer who stood out?" Rossi said as he jotted a few notes onto the paper.
"No, I don't think so. Truth was I was a bit hammered." Sam confessed.
"What about on your way out, did you see anyone; did you see anyone by the area where you found the body?"
"It was quiet at that time, it was pretty late. Not many stores were open around there so usually there's only people inside the bar. I didn't see— wait..."
"What is it? Do you remember something Sam?"
"I remember seeing a car..." He paused as he collected his thoughts. "Yeah I definitely saw a car."
"Did you get a make out of the vehicle?"
"It was a van, a black one. While I was walking, before I found the... person, I saw a car driving away from the area. I didn't think much of it then. I'm sure the rest you know by now." Sam said.
"Any plates?"
"No, sorry, it was too dark."
Rossi nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation Sam." He then made his way out and back to the others.
"So do you think he did it?" Reid asked once he was close.
"No, he seemed genuinely appalled by his discovery. I don't think this kid has what it takes to kill a cop." Rossi answered. "He did tell me he was able to see a black van just before he found the body, unfortunately he wasn't able to get any plate numbers."
JJ groaned. "Of course he wasn't. They never do."
"Yet we still ask don't we?" Rossi joked lightly.
"There could be like a thousand vans here." Garcia said.
Hotch was about to speak but stopped and turned when he noticed the doors opening. A wave of relief washed over him as he noticed Emily entering with Morgan. He could still see the hurt in his eyes, but Morgan seemed to be getting back on track.
Emily had told him about how they'd had a chance encounter with Jack Cardoza before his untimely death. She had explained to the team how he had been a close friend to Morgan; that Morgan had planned on making sure their brotherhood stayed strong.
He realized that was why the blow had been extremely difficult for Morgan to stomach.
Hotch understood that it was personal for Morgan now. He knew that he would still hold bitter feelings towards Bennett for the time being. But Hotch was just relieved to know Morgan had returned.
"Derek!" Garcia was the first to speak. She ran towards Morgan and gave him a hug. "Good to have you back."
Morgan stared at the woman embracing him and then to his team. They each wore relieved faces. He winced at the fact that he'd made them worry. He gave Garcia a soft pat on the arm.
Morgan broke the hug to turn to his team members. "So I'm sure you guys know already, Jack was my friend. That's why... I didn't mean to storm out on you guys."
"No harm no foul." Rossi assured him with a smile.
Reid nodded in agreement. "It's alright."
JJ responded by give him a light embrace. "I'm glad you're back Derek."
Morgan smiled softly into the hug. These people were irreplaceable to him. He didn't want to lose any of them.
Hotch came around and placed a hand to his shoulder. "Are you ready Morgan?"
"Yeah..." Morgan murmured.
"Garcia, stay here and look into the previous victims, see if they had any connection whatsoever." Hotch ordered.
"Will do sir."
... ... …. …. ... ... ... …. …. ... ... ... ….
This was what he'd been dreading. His stomach burned through the entire ride. Morgan knew that this was inevitable.
The crime scene.
"We're here." Hotch announced as he parked the car.
Morgan took a deep breath before stepping onto the pavement. Apparently he had been found by an alleyway. Several officers were already there. The yellow police tape was already placed. Only a few bystanders were there being nosey as usual.
Didn't these people understand how disrespectful they were being?
His breath hitched when he noticed the body laying limp on the ground. Further proving that this was reality. His friend was dead. No more would he able to joke with him or talk to him about the good old days.
He felt a hand gently tug his. Shifting his gaze from the painful sight to his partner next to him he saw the reassurance written on her face. It was silently telling him that she was here for him. That he wasn't alone in this.
Morgan slowly made his way towards the body. His heart speeding up as he neared it. Sweat already building up in his hands. His head was spinning. He felt like he was going to pass out. It all began moving in slow motion.
Then he reached him.
He stood over him; it felt as if time had stopped. The noises around him seemed to blur out. The body was bruised. There were scars around his arms and his right hand was drenched in blood. But what made his blood boil was the mark on his left arm.
It was a scorpion. They had branded him.
His eyes drifted over to the pool of blood by his midsection. A gunshot wound. It was clear that he had died due to loss of blood. Finally he managed to raise his gaze higher and his eyes widened at what he saw.
Jack's face didn't express the pained look he'd been anticipating. It had bruises and signs that he'd taken a beating, but there was something about his expression. His face looked serene, peaceful almost.
That just made Morgan's heart clench even tighter, to the point where he placed his hand over his shirt. He squeezed hard and shut his eyes, as if to repress it. It hurt. It really hurt.
"Hey Morgan? Morgan? Derek!"
His eyes shot open and he turned to Emily. She was staring at him with a worried look. They were all staring at him. All wearing the same look.
He realized that he didn't like it at all. He didn't want to be pitied. He didn't deserve any comfort. It was his fault. The signs had been telling him that something was going to happen. Yet he did nothing, and his treasured friend had paid the price for it.
Then something in him snapped, like a chord breaking from an old guitar.
Emily had been studying her partner's expression closely. In the car he'd looked nervous, scared almost; when he exited the car he looked guilty; witnessing the scene changed his features into a broken boy; but it was the final one that made her flinch. She saw his hand twitch and his eyes flicker with a new emotion. They turned darker, she could see— no, feel, the hatred radiating from his eyes.
It truly unnerved her.
"Agent Morgan? Which one of you is agent Morgan?" An officer asked.
"I am." Morgan answered.
The officer walked over to him. "My name is Thomas Lowe, I was the one who recognized..." he trailed off before holding the note up. "This was found in Jack's hand."
Morgan grabbed the slightly crumpled paper. It was a small note that was most likely teared from a notepad. It was folded in half and was smeared with dirt. His heart further clenched in pain when he saw it was written in blood. This explained why his hand was bloodied. He had used his own blood as a substitute for ink.
But as he read the top letters he could almost feel a warmth emit from it. It read:
'Morgan BAU VA'
"We were able to use that info to quickly find you." Officer Lowe said. "I can guarantee you that none of the officers here read beyond that point, we didn't need to. We all knew the VA meant Virginia and we're all familiar with the Behavioral Analysis Unit back in Quantico."
"Yeah..." Morgan muttered weakly.
The officer patted his arm before walking off.
"What does it say?" JJ asked.
Morgan was snapped out of his thoughts by his colleague's voice. A part of him felt bitter and uncomfortable sharing this information with them. He was the one who should take care of this. But he knew he couldn't just withhold important information like this from them.
He suddenly realized that he hadn't even read it himself.
"Morgan?" Hotch called.
"Oh yeah..." Morgan replied before turning to the note. The writing was messy and hard to make out, but he was able to read it. His brows furrowed with confusion once he did. Written in the note was a set of numbers, that read:
7 11 23
6 14 2 5
16 9 21 8
20 43 30 36
7 11 23 30 36
R
3
"They're a list of numbers?" Morgan stated with confusion. "With the word 'R' and a '3' under at the bottom."
"Huh? What does that mean?" JJ questioned.
"It's a code." Reid clarified as it sunk in.
"A code?" Emily repeated.
"Yeah," he responded. "Judging from the way it was written I think Jack knew he was on the brink of death."
"So he acted fast." Rossi added, understanding what Reid was trying to say. "And he wrote down a specific code that he knew Morgan would be able to somehow crack."
"But what I don't understand is why not dispose of the body?" Emily said. "Why leave it here where he'd eventually be found? The unsub must've known Jack was a cop."
"Or... maybe they didn't?" JJ replied.
"What do you mean?" Morgan asked.
"He was found ID-less." JJ replied as she recalled the particular detail. "That means he didn't have his credentials with him either. I don't think that our unsub took it from him, otherwise they would've been more discreet with where they placed him since they'd of known he was a cop."
"He dropped them himself." Morgan added.
"Exactly, it makes sense." JJ further backed her theory up.
"Yes, yes that makes perfect sense." Reid said as he pieced it together. "Our unsub didn't put effort because they thought they were just disposing of some unlucky person who'd stumbled onto them. They had no idea Jack was a detective."
"And he knew they'd react that way, so he strategically played the pedestrian card and posed as any typical person." Rossi said.
"So our unsub wasn't trying to strip him of his ranking, it was Cardoza's doing all along." Hotch stated.
"He risked absolutely everything to make sure Morgan got that note, it was more important to him then retaliating." Emily exclaimed.
"He planned this very thoroughly." Rossi said.
"We need to search for his wallet, it may have more information on the unsub." Hotch added.
"Good idea, I'll let the police here know that." JJ said.
"But there's something that doesn't add up." Morgan exclaimed. "Why would Jack run from a single unsub when he had his gun? There is no way that one unsub was able to take Jacky out by himself or cause him to choose to run."
"Morgan is right," Emily agreed. "I think we're dealing with more than one unsub here."
"But just how many are we talking here? And what's their connection?" Rossi questioned aloud.
"One thing is clear, we have to crack that code as soon as possible." Hotch said.
Morgan stared at the note in his hand. This was what Jack had done in his final moments. This last bit of information he had entrusted to Morgan. He would not let Jack's efforts go to waste. No matter what it takes Morgan was determined to find the Scorpion Killer and finish what his friend had staked his life for.
He would carry his friend's legacy.
Author's Notes
And so Jack entrusts Derek his legacy with a smile. It seems a big mystery was left for him to solve, but just how far would he go to stop this band of unsubs?
