CHAPTER 6

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."
-Roald Dahl

I looked at the dozens of case files on my desk. It was Friday evening and I would get to go home in only half an hour. But I couldn't stop looking at the pictures. Every Saturday at noon, the Neosho PD in Missouri found another woman's body in some trashcan. I wanted to go home, get my head free and wait for Will to arrive. I really did. But what if it was me? I'd want someone tracking down that son of a bitch who did this.
I knocked on Hotch's office door. "Do you have a minute?" I asked shyly, he still intimidated me even after I had worked here for more than two years. "Sure, come in JJ" he put away whatever he was working on and focused on me.
I showed him the file, the pictures, the names the fingerprints the police had found. He knew that cases about woman my age always made me uncomfortable and I may even tend to take those more often than cases about dead men, but since I was still in the job, he didn't seem to mind it too much.
His face was serious as always, I looked at the pictures on his desk, his son was no older than two. I immediately wished I had never come through this door. If Hotch approved and I could see that he was about to, he would have to call his wife and tell her he wouldn't be home for dinner. He wouldn't be home for breakfast either and given the danger of this job, he may never be home again.
"We have 15 hours until he kills again. I'll call the team; we'll brief them on the plane". Happy we took the case, I had to face the sad consequence: I had to call Will and tell him to stay at home.
On our way to the airport, I texted him quickly. 'We have a case, it's pretty bad and couldn't wait until Monday. So, so sorry.' my fingers trembled as I pressed the send button. He'd be fine, I told myself, in comparison to those women.
'You think you'll be home by tomorrow?' he replied.
'Don't know, hope we catch him before he kills again tomorrow morning at 10'
'I'm sure you will. I believe in you. Talk to you later'. I closed my phone and leaned back in the seat. "Who are you texting?" Emily asked in a creepy voice. Damn, who could I possibly be texting, when all of my friends sat in the same car with me. "Penelope" was the first thing to come to my mind, praying she wouldn't ask her about it later.
Without saying anything else, she leaned back in her seat as well and stared out the window.
Keeping this a secret seemed much tougher than I had expected.

The detective in Neosho, Missouri, looked exactly the way I had pictured her, after speaking to her on the phone about our arrival. She was thin, her long brown hair was in two thick braids, her body wasn't very feminine.
We worked through almost the entire night, Garcia faithfully by our side until Reid's geographical profile helped us discover the missing clue; the man killed at places where the prostitutes used to go. He did all this because his mother, who he felt had ruined his childhood with her job, was one herself. It was almost boring, the case could have jumped right out of one of the books.
We found him in his mother's house. Elizabeth, the victim was unconscious but stable. She would need years to recover. Physically, of course, but especially mentally. How will she ever let her husband touch her again, after going through hell for 6 entire days? All she wanted was to drop her son off at school and get some water at the next 7-eleven. How is one supposed to feel safe, when you're not even protected from things like this in every day situations?
With a sigh, I packed up our stuff and emptied my cup of coffee.
When I was sure everyone was out of the office, I snapped my phone open and dialed his number. "JJ" he picked up after the first ring.
"Hey, sorry I didn't call last night, we only got a few hours of sleep."
"Don't worry. So I'm guessing you caught that guy?"
"We did" I confirmed, not wanting to tell any details about the way it ended. Suicide by cop is not a pretty thing. "I'm so sorry I cancelled our weekend. Hope you're free next weekend."
"I'll just make time. Are you heading home now?"
"Yeah, the flight's just gonna take a little more than two hours." I was so busy thinking of my soft bed and fluffy pillow that I almost didn't realize it when Emily entered the office.
"Gotta go, call you when I land" I said hastily and hung up on him. It was rude and I felt bad instantly. What was my problem with people knowing about him?
"Are you ok?" Emily worried.
"I'm fine. Seriously. Stop stalking me." I snapped at her.
She apologized but I left for the airport without another comment.