Viper Strikes Again – Chapter 3
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"Paul?" Emily tapped on Viper's shoulder looking annoyed. "A moment?"
He turned to face her, "Of course, Emily. Excuse us, ladies." He nodded at a group of Red Hatters who stared at Emily with avid curiosity.
When they were in a corner, Emily launched into him, "You need to stop telling those biddies I'm not your body guard because I'm not."
He grinned at her nonchalantly, "Oh come on, Emily," he waved at them playfully as he turned back to Emily, "I'm just having a bit of fun, you should lighten up a bit."
Emily pursed her lips as she folded her arms across her chest angrily, "First of all, it's Agent Prentiss to you, Paul. Secondly, I'm not here to have a fun, your life is in danger, in case you don't realize it and I'm reminding you again; four women dead because of you and unless you start acting serious, you will wind up in the metal table next to those dead women."
He arched his brow and stopped smiling, "You're right, Agent Prentiss. I apologize. I'll try to behave and be responsible."
Studying his expression and seeing that he looked somewhat contrite and sincere in his apologies, she nodded, "Fine, just start acting your….position as the mayor's chief of staff." She muttered.
"Oh, but I am," he nodded. "Acting my position."
"Whatever, Paul. Finish your stupid tea and stale scones, come with me to the precinct, we need to talk properly."
He chuckled, "Now, you sound maternal."
She rolled her eyes as they walked back to the gathering, "Heaven forbid."
"Why can't we talk in my office?" He inquired.
"Because we need to record your interviews. And your office might not be safe."
He thought for a moment and shrugged, "As long as you'll be there, I'll go."
"Paul, I'm not your nanny."
He grinned as he picked up a dainty china cup and a freshly baked scone and bit into it, "Oh but you are, Agent Prentiss."
"You wish." She shook her head.
….
Hotch was at the Decatur precinct, looking over the police reports of the dead women, while Reid was charting the women's homes on the local map, co-relating it against the mayor's city hall office.
JJ was standing beside Hotch, "…and how did Emily take it?" she was grinning.
"Not too well, I have a feeling I'm going to get the brunt of it after this is over." He looked up from the file.
"You're not afraid of her, are you Hotch?" JJ's brows were arched high.
Reid had stopped what he was doing and turned to listen.
"Only if she challenges me in the gym."
"Why is that?" Reid had come to stand on the other side of Hotch.
Hotch stared at the young doctor, "Have you been in the gym with Prentiss lately?"
He frowned and shook his head, "No...no, I'm not exactly a gym type person but why?"
JJ snickered as Hotch shook his head, "Then you're missing one heck of a beat-down." She said.
"Beat-down?"
"Oh yeah, Emily picked up some bad habits when she was in Paris and showed them to Morgan and me, and a couple of the guys from Cyber fraud department."
Reid frowned deeply, "What bad habits? Drugs? Excessive drinking? What does it have to do with the gym?"
Hotch shook his head, "Kick-boxing."
"Kick-boxing? Isn't that illegal?" He asked.
"Only if you're betting against her." Hotch grinned.
JJ was laughing hard. "That's funny, Hotch…betting…"
"I don't get it?" Reid blinked as he turned to JJ. "Betting is gambling and it's against bureau's policy to gamble."
JJ stopped and stared at him, "Uh, Spence, Hotch just said it's not ….never mind…You're hopeless." she shook her head.
"…I'm not spending the night at your nasty snake's nest, Paul!"
JJ, Hotch, and Reid turned upon hearing Emily's irate voice as she walked into the room.
"But you're supposed to keep a watch over me in case that UnSub tries to kill me." Paul was following her to the team.
"Then it'll be a blessing." Emily muttered under her breath as she gave Hotch the death glare.
Hotch pretended not to notice her ire.
"How's it going?" He asked her.
"Brought him in for questioning." She glared at him as she folded her arms across her chest.
Hotch nodded, "I'll do it."
"He insists that I be in on this."
Hotch arched his brow, "Where else would you be?"
"Being sick in the ladies." She groused.
"Prentiss, I need his full co-operation." Hotch closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them.
"Agent Hotchner, Agent Prentiss," Paul walked to sit beside Emily much to her ire as she glared at him which he ignored. "Should we talk here?"
"JJ, will you show Mr. Thomas the interview room please?"
JJ nodded, "Sure Hotch, come with me Mr. Thomas." She stood by the door.
Paul watched JJ with interest and smiled, "Hello, I'm Paul Thomas…."
"I know who you are, Mr. Thomas and I've been fully briefed, so don't bother." She warned him.
Paul shook his head as he grinned, "You did, didn't you? Well, your friend," he glanced over to Emily. "Is wrong. I'm actually a really nice guy." JJ snorted as well as Emily as she and Hotch watched her led him away.
Emily turned to Hotch, "Look, I know this case is important but is it necessary to be baby sit 24/7?"
"We don't know the UnSub's movements, Emily. Just be patient…and with him. I know he is impossible…."
"Impossible?" Emily cut him. "That's describing breaking a dam! Paul is a walking giant ego billboard!" Emily exclaimed as she spread her hand to emphasize the size.
"Emily?" Reid frowned, "you can't really personified ego."
Emily rolled her eyes, "Reid, …oh look!" She pointed at the map. "This house should be to the right of Central Avenue, you've marked it across 1st St North….I think you've got these houses on the wrong streets."
Reid came at once to stand by her and was immersed in checking his work and soon he was off in his own world.
"You and I are not finished, Hotch." Emily and Hotch stood up as they made their way to the interview room.
"Yeah, I know. I wish you'd give up in this revenge plot. You're not going to beat me, at all." He grinned.
Emily shook her head, "See, I'm going to bring you down a few notches, Hotch."
He returned her looks. "Prentiss, you won't have the time to do this, your time will be spent keeping him in check and alive."
"Oh no, Hotch. I'm not talking about now. There's always a later…" she grinned as they entered the room where JJ was having a heated exchange with Paul.
"…She is in no way currently involved or will be in the future… not that it's any of my business or yours, Mr. Thomas." JJ pointed heatedly.
"I see you're making friends with the serpent, Jayje." Emily mumbled to JJ.
"Oh my god, I see what you went through, he's impossible!"
Hotch cleared his throat as he stared at his two agents.
JJ blushed slightly, "I'll be outside." She scooted out immediately.
Emily took a seat across from Paul as Hotch next to her.
"Before we begin, Paul," Hotch said. "This is just an interview and questionings about our current case. Do you understand?"
Paul smiled as he nodded, "Yes, I understand, Agent Hotchner."
Hotch nodded as he laid out a picture of the first victim, "Annie Ranns, what is your relationship with her Paul?"
Paul thought for a moment before he sighed, "Annie, she was a beautiful young woman and aspired to be an actress, had her heart set to make it big. She wanted to move to Hollywood. She thinks she'll meet some rich and famous somebody." He shook his head. "But it never panned out, as you saw that. She was a sweet thing."
"Paul, your relation with her. Not your assessment of her." Emily pointed it out.
He turned to looked at her and smiled as he leaned forward, placing his hands under his chins, "Agent Prentiss, when I first met Annie, she was a nobody, working in a supermarket in a dead-end job, dating some dead beat boyfriend who was her high-school sweetheart." He chuckled. "But since she met me, since I took her out and show her the world, and opened her eyes, she wanted more of that world. I couldn't provide that anymore. I couldn't satisfy her craving. She lost interest in me and moved on but so did I." He added.
"Paul, why did you change?" Emily frowned. "I mean you gave up your slimy lifestyle of hanging out with those ska…I mean ladies at the bar." She quickly glanced over to Hotch hoping he'd did not catch her slip; she had almost said skanks.
Paul arched his brows, "Oh, we came into our inheritance when our grandmother died a year ago."
"We?" Emily asked.
He nodded, "me and Grant… the mayor, you met him." He said. "Granny Weyland had left her inheritance to us. Grant's family had been mayors for several generations."
"So, you were the black sheep of the family," Emily grinned.
Paul chuckled, "Well, I'd prefer it as bad boy of the family." He smiled flirtatiously at her which Emily ignored. But Hotch saw him eyeing Emily intently and he felt an intense surge of anger and jealousy for that serpent.
"How did you come to serve as the Chief of Staff?" Hotch asked as he tried to distract him in the process.
Paul gave him a nonchalant shrug and look, "His Chief of Staff quit, and he called me. Convinced me to do it in keeping it in the family."
"I take it your predecessor was related?" Emily inquired.
He nodded, "Yup! She is our cousin's cousin, twice remove…or was it once?" His brow furrowed in thoughts. "Maybe she was directly our cousin but I think she is Aunt Betsy's oldest girl or was it the middle child?" He then gave them another shrug, "Anyways, she was a kin."
"Did she resigned voluntarily or was she forced?" Hotch wanted to know.
"Hmmm…if I remember correctly, Cousin Irene was asked to resign because she was caught cheating on her husband." He grinned. "Twice, and on the Mayor's mahogany desk."
Hotch and Emily winced as he nodded, "We need to bring her in for questioning."
"Oh?" Paul leaned forward. "You think she's the one?"
"It's too early to tell." Hotch pointed.
He began to laugh.
Hotch and Emily exchanged confused looks.
"I'm sorry but I don't think Cousin Irene is capable of such crimes."
"Why not, Paul?"
"Because she's not the type." He pulled out his cell phone and began to search for a picture of her and showed it to them.
The two agents were in shock!
Irene Dunham was a knockout! She was 5'11" and a blonde with a statuesque-built like a model; Paul told them that she was Miss Atlanta in 2010 and 2012, as well as Miss Decatur since she had turned 17. She was now 35.
Emily felt almost envious of her built and natural beauty, and her teeth was perfect and gleaming white!
"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Paul smiled proudly. "As you can see, she probably isn't capable of committing murder herself unless she hired someone."
"We still need to bring in Cousin Irene, Paul." Hotch nodded. "But in the meantime, second victim." He slid a picture of her. "Mandy Grandville, what can you tell us about her?"
Paul studied her photo. "To be honest, Agent Hotchner, I don't know her very well. We met only a few times at Grant's mayoral campaign. She was quite eager to pitch in to help us."
"Eager?" Emily asked.
Paul nodded, "Oh yeah, she was as eager as any beaver in a dam building project! She drove some of the volunteers crazy with her overly gung-ho enthusiasm."
"Anyone specific that found her annoying?"
"Oh, there was Natalie Potts," Paul nodded to Emily. "You saw a picture of her at the city Hall." Emily nodded.
"We'll bring her in for questioning too."
Paul nodded, then frowned for a moment. "Just please do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"Don't bring Irene and Natalie in at the same time, er…they are not …well, they don't play nice together."
"Oh?" Emily smiled. "Really?"
Paul nodded solemnly, "It's really ridiculous but it's something about some female rivalry." He waved his hands about.
Just as he said it, they heard some loud commotion outside the interview room.
There was a knock on the door as JJ came in, "Er, sorry to interrupt, Hotch. But there's a Natalie Potts and Irene Dunham, insisting…I mean strenuously insisting on seeing Paul Thomas. I told them he's in a meeting at the moment but they did not believe me and…and…"JJ stared at Emily. "Er…they think he's er…well, word's out that his body guard is a hot chick and Paul is alone with her."
Emily stood up, "I'm not his body guard!"
Paul began to laugh as Hotch and Emily stood up and rushed out of the room.
As they reached the bullpen of the precinct, Hotch and Emily saw two women; one looked like a model and just like the picture Paul had shown them and she was now wearing a designer dress that showed off her svelte figure and expertly made up face, the other woman was dressed modestly but stylishly in a dress and similarly, she was well made up. They looked as if they were about to step onto a runway instead of the police station and arguing heatedly.
"If you think you can get your grubby hands on Paul, you've got another thing coming, you cow!" Irene spat out.
"Cow! How dare you call me a cow? You pig farmer! If it weren't for marrying that pig farm husband of yours, you wouldn't have gotten where you're at now, bitch!"
"Oh yeah, slut! You were caught screwing Bill Vaughn!"Natalie Potts screamed at her loudly.
There was an instant hush all around the precinct as the LEOs were standing around them, eyes wide, jaws dropped.
"Jumping Jehosephat! What in heaven's name is goin' on here?" A portly man in a sheriff's uniform came rushing in from the men's restroom. "Irene? Is that you?"
The woman in question was blushing deeply in the shade of crimson as the other woman, Natalie Potts, was similarly blushing but she was smiling maliciously.
"You bitch!" Irene spat angrily at her. "You whore!"
"Speak for yourself, slut." Natalie chuckled. "So, it's true."
Raising her hands out, Irene launched herself towards Natalie as she screamed and soon both women began to pull onto each other's perfectly coiffered hair and their necks.
The sheriff looked about him and began to yell at his deputies, "Don't just stand there like a load of logs! Separate them!" The deputies were unsure where to begin as all they could see were panty-hosed legs flailing out and manicure hands flying about as the women tried to punch each other but in vain as neither wanted to ruin their nails.
Finally, JJ and Emily reached in and risked being scratched and clawed managed to separate the fighting women and straightening them up, wrenching their ups so they couldn't move.
"Be still!" Emily exclaimed angrily.
"What in devil's name is going on?" The sheriff was scratching his head. "Why are you doing here, Irene? Natalie?"
"I want to talk to Paul!" Both women said at the same time. And stared at each other angrily.
"I was here first, bitch!"
"No, I was here first, slut!"
They tried to get at each other but JJ and Emily held onto them firmly.
"Oh no you don't!" Emily said. "You're coming with me!" She began to push Natalie Potts towards one of the interview rooms.
"Sit in there!" Emily gave her a nudge before she shut the door.
JJ was taking Irene Dunham into the other room and shutting the door as soon as she was inside, JJ shook her head, "I'm glad I'm not like that!"
"Me too." Emily said."
One of the deputies was staring at his boss, "Uh, boss?" He was still in shock. "Did you really…? You know…with her?"
The sheriff, Bill Vaughn, glared at the deputy said angrily, "Get out of my sight, Jeff! I'm not saying anything! Patrol duty for you for two weeks! Anyone wants to join him?" He looked around his deputies with a fierce glare. They shook their heads as they dispersed quickly. "I thought so." As he approached the FBI agents, he looked embarrassed. "I know it didn't sound really good but …."
"Sheriff," Hotch cut in. "We're not here to judge. We're here to solve these murders, that's all."
The sheriff nodded, "Okay, well, you have my full co-operation and whatever you need, just name it."
Hotch nodded, "Thank you , Sheriff Vaughn but right now, we're trying to finish with the interview with Paul Thomas. Leave the ladies in there for a while and let them go, we'll interview them tomorrow."
He nodded, "Will do, Agent Hotchner." Hotch returned to the room where Paul was in, Emily joined him as well.
"Everything okay?" Paul asked.
"Yes, just a little disturbance. But let's continue, shall we?"
Hotch placed the third victim, "Mary Shells, teacher."
Paul frowned, "I've never seen her. I don't know who she is."
"Are you sure?"Emily asked.
Paul nodded, "Oh yes, I know all my ….friends." He grinned at the meaning.
Emily rolled her eyes.
Hotch put the picture away and pulled the fourth victim's picture and showed him. "This is Eileen …."
Paul frowned as he said sadly, "Eileen Gurley, she was my ex-fiancé."
"You were engaged?" Emily exclaimed.
…
End of Chapter 3