Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Author's Note(s): Carla-Leigh, rogueandkurt, didi2909, smokeylove, RavennaNightwind, SLITH, tearbos, need-courage-to-write, Dr. Cameron and TV Hottie, I cannot thank you enough. Thank you also to everyone else who is reading this still :)
Easier to Lie
Chapter 7
Hotch had decided it best that the entire team go on this jaunt into the centre of Staten Island. By the sounds of it, Emily's friend really had met the unsub, which would therefore mean that there was probably new victims around that they would need look for. He thought about this with a heavy heart, they were at a dead end and needed new victims to aid the profile, but it didn't stop the guilt Hotch felt when they actually got them.
They had taken two cars and Hotch was currently sat in his with Emily as she directed them to the address.
"Who is this friend of yours?" said Hotch after a while.
"Charlotte…Charlie…Winters. She was my roommate at Yale. She's a psychiatrist," Emily replied. There was a certain warmth in her voice as she spoke, something that Hotch had noticed had been rather absent of late. Even if this turned out not to be information on their unsub, it would probably be good for Emily to see a friend anyway.
"It's just around this corner," Emily directed, pointing right.
Following her directions, Hotch finally pulled up outside a block of houses that seemed to have been converted into offices. The rest of the team drove in behind them and they all got out the car.
Emily led them into one of the buildings through the open door and then up a carpeted flight of stairs. Hotch kept a close watch around him for any signs of blood or anything they could use to identify their unsub. He spotted nothing though.
The stairs led to an open room that was obviously used as a waiting room of sorts. There were then several doors around it that presumably led into peoples offices.
In the middle of the room lay a comfortable looking sofa, where there currently sat a young looking blonde woman who was shaking profusely and having what appeared to be a hot cup of tea pressed into her hands by a dark haired woman, who Hotch assumed was Charlie.
"Calm down, Rosemary," said Charlie soothingly, "He has been gone for more than an hour now. I doubt he is coming back."
Rosemary sniffed rather disgustingly and nodded. She then looked up and for the first time noticed the team of profilers that where now stood just inside the door. Her eyes widened at the sight, causing Charlie to look over her shoulder. Her eyes immediately sought out Emily and she smiled.
"That was fast," she remarked.
"Would you expect any less?" Emily replied with a crooked smile.
"I guess not," said Charlie, standing up to face them.
Then much to Hotch's surprise, Emily strode forward and pulled Charlie into a tight hug. Even the woman she was hugging look rather startled by this public display of emotion that they all knew Emily was not usually one to engage in. They broke away.
"It's good to see you," said Emily, sounding oddly emotional.
"You too," replied Chairlie, surprise evident in her voice.
Beginning to feel rather uncomfortable, Hotch cleared his throat loudly. Emily spun back around, her cheeks flushing ever so slightly in obvious embarrassment.
"Charlie, this Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau and Spencer Reid. Everyone this is Charlie Winters," said Emily, nodding towards each person as she said their name.
"And this is Rosemary Hobb," Charlie added, gesturing to the weeping woman on the couch behind her.
"I believe you have some information for us?" said Hotch, getting down to business. The sooner they could get this case solved, the better.
"Ah yes, why don't you come in my office," said Charlie, standing up and moving to the door with 'Dr Charlotte Winters' written on the front.
Hotch nodded and turned to Morgan, "You, Reid and JJ stay here and interview Miss Hobb."
Rosemary heard this and looked up in horror. The deer caught in headlights look on her face told Hotch that the woman would much rather be a million miles away than answering questions. But nodded slowly though and Morgan sat on the chair opposite her while Hotch and Emily followed Charlie into her office. Before Hotch closed the door behind him, he noticed a little glance that Reid and JJ shared. They had been doing it all day. Something had obviously happened while they were out in the barn, but as of yet Hotch couldn't decide if it was a good or a bad thing.
After closing the door, Hotch had a quick scan of the office. It was a comfortable looking place. The walls were lined with leather bound books except in one corner where an expensive looking chess set sat. In the middle of the room were comfortable looking chairs, which were now occupied by Emily and her friend. Hotch took a seat next to Emily and looked expectantly at Charlie.
"Could you please explain in detail exactly what happened?" said Hotch.
It took a moment for the woman to answer, she seemed to be gathering her thoughts together.
"Well as I have said, it happened just over an hour ago. A man in his mid-thirties came barging into my office with blood all over his hands, face and clothes. At first he just paced around the room and would not answer any of my questions, he almost gave poor Rosemary a heart attack. Then all of a sudden he threw himself on his knees in front of me, grabbed hold of my jacket and started raving about how he could not stop himself, that they deserved it and that I had to help him," Charlie said slowly.
"Rosemary, who had been cowering behind her desk, tried to call the police while he was doing this but he saw her and ran away before I could stop him. He had a backpack with him," she then added as an afterthought.
"Could you give us a physical description of the man?" asked Emily, looking at her friend curiously.
"He was about 5'11, short brown hair, brown eyes and he isn't from New York. I could not place his accent though," replied the woman thoughtfully.
Making a mental note of all these details, Hotch decided to call Garcia as soon as he was sure there was no other information.
"Is there anything else you can remember?" he asked imploringly.
She looked down at her hands that where folded carefully on her knee in front of her and then frowned before looking back up again, "No. But if you take that jacket over the arm of that chair it has the blood from his hands on it. It is black so you can't tell, but it is definitely there."
A search for the origin of this blood would need to be organised, Hotch thought. Unfortunately the only number he had on his phone was Sheriff Regal's though and he was loath to speak to that man. He would do what was necessary though if it mean catching the unsub. He would need to take that jacket to forensics as well.
"Thank you, Dr Winters," said Hotch, standing up to see how Morgan, JJ and Reid were doing, "You have been a great help."
Back in the main room, Rosemary was now sobbing into a handkerchief and occasionally spouting seemingly random and incomprehensible words. Poor Reid looked at a loss and clearly had no idea what to do while JJ sat next to the woman and tried to calm her down. Morgan was looking around the room, trying to find some blood stains no doubt.
"Rosemary!" Charlie snapped from behind Hotch, almost making him jump in surprise, "Stop that crying at once."
The younger woman looked up in shock and stopped sobbing immediately. She hiccupped and looked up at Charlie with tear filled eyes. Then Charlie carried on in a much kinder voice, "I called your boyfriend and he will be here any moment to take you home. All right?"
"Yes, Dr Winters," said Rosemary, taking a deep and calming breath. She then turned to JJ, "Did you have any more questions?"
"No, that's all for now."
Then almost simultaneously, everyone turned to look at Hotch. It was something that happened at least once during almost every case. The team wouldn't be quite sure what to do next and would look to him for guidance. Not that Hotch didn't like the responsibility, but sometimes it could be an awful lot of pressure. As always though, he kept his face and voice neutral as he began to issue orders.
"Reid, go down to the car and fetch a large plastic bag. JJ, call Garcia and ask her to run a search on everyone who lives in this area but was not born here, I'll give you more details when she has a list. Morgan, call Regal and tell him to pass on the message that we need man power to search for these bodies."
Noticing the look of distaste on Morgan's face Hotch almost smirked. What would be the point in being leader if he were not allowed to delegate less enjoyable tasks?
After a remarkably short amount of time, Reid was back with the bag and had already put the jacket in to be taken to the labs for testing.
"That is an Armani," he heard Charlie say mournfully.
"Well you can have it back when we're done," said Emily, with the faintest trace of exasperation in her voice.
"With some poor dead person's blood on it? I don't think so, Emily. You can throw it in the bin when you are finished with it," replied Charlie disdainfully.
"It must be nice to have that much money," remarked Emily.
"Ha! What was that Miss Emily 'I live opposite the Washington Monument and Capital Building' Prentiss? Something about having too much money?"
Hotch resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the two women bickering like children at the other end of the room. Oh well, he thought, it was preferable to the depressed silence that Emily seemed to spend most of her time in. He wasn't quite sure who he worried more about when he thought about it, JJ or Prentiss. They had both been through a remarkable trauma, and the fact that there seemed to be no obvious side effects other than them both seeming rather more tired than usual and a tad more nervous was a bit of a worry. If they weren't dealing with their problems later on down the line it could become a serious issue. But maybe seeing a friend would help Emily revert back to her usual self. It was a shame he was going to have to drag her back down to reality as they searched for their serial killer.
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Author's Note(s): It is at this point that I wish I had planned further ahead than this chapter. As it is I no longer have any plot line and will have to make it up as I go along. Excellent. Any suggestions or a particular scene you would like to read would be greatly appreciated.
I realise that once again not much happened in this chapter but I needed them to get some clues from somewhere! Also, it's late here so if there are any mistakes, I blame my tiredness! If you see any I would be grateful if you could let me know so I can fix them. Thanks :)
On a slightly unrelated note, due to my incessant need to update my stories as soon as possible, I haven't actually read anything in what feels like several years. I'm rather fussy about what fanfics I read so is there anything good anyone can recommend to me?
Next chapter from…I don't know's…point of view :)
Thank you again for reading!
