She's All That! – Chapter 11
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Hotch hobbled to Strauss, "Erin, I can explain."
She nodded at him, "I hope so." She pointed at the mess all over the conference room; two groups of crime units were on hand combing through the entire room, inside and outside. "And thanks for giving me the heads up, Aaron." She said sarcastically. "Any word on Emily?"
He shook his head. "Rossi, Reid and Clyde Easter are on their way to Declan Jones' house."
She walked up close to him, "You let a foreign visitor into your investigation?"
Hotch returned her stare, "Erin, Clyde Easter knew Ian Doyle well."
She gave him an exasperated look, "Oh, so if Santa Claus appears, you're going to let him handle all the Christmas-themed murder cases?" She spread her hands out for emphasis.
Morgan had to bite his inner cheek to keep from laughing; he couldn't believe Strauss actually had humor within her; the Ice Queen melting?
"Not a word from you, Agent Morgan." Strauss snapped at him.
He frowned at her and nodded in defeat; she knew him well.
He peeked over to Hotch and saw that he was also trying hard not to laugh.
Hotch glanced up at him and slightly shook at him; Morgan could have swore he saw a glimmer of a smile from him.
Hotch's cell phone rang; it was Rossi.
"What do you have, Dave?"
"What?" Hotch frowned hard. "Are you sure?"
Morgan and Strauss were watching him with interest.
As soon as Hotch was off the phone, Hotch turned to Morgan and Strauss, "Declan Jones is not there. Louisa is dead and there were signs of struggle, Dave has called for the crime unit to go over the house but he and Reid are walking through the house. "
"Was it Doyle?" Morgan asked him.
Shaking his head, "They don't think so, it looks like Louisa has been dead about the same time Doyle was here."
"He might have sent another group to Declan's house while he was here?" Strauss suggested.
"It's a possibility but he didn't know where Declan lived. It had to be an enemy." Hotch said as he looked thoughtful.
"Then who could it be?" Morgan asked him.
"If someone takes Declan out of this country?" Strauss prompted.
"We can't do anything about it then." Hotch said helplessly. "It'll be up to Interpol, out of our jurisdiction."
"I'm not going to accept that, Declan Jones is now our responsibility." Strauss insisted. "There has to be a way. If this is going to be an entirely separate problem and it's now our problem, we'll have our hands full, Aaron?"
He shrugged, "I'm not sure but I think I know someone who can help. I need to make a phone call, excuse me." He turned away and hobbled to his office and shut his door.
Morgan stared confusingly at Strauss, "Er ma'am? Did you just give us the green to pursue Doyle?"
Strauss shrugged, "I think you heard me the first time, Agent Morgan." She turned away from him and was walking back to her office but she stopped and turned back to him, "I'll tell you one thing; I don't like it when some foreign douche bags come into my house and make a mess of it and take one of my agents and threaten the rest of them. Of course I'm angry and when I'm angry, I strike back. And Aaron knows what to do." She then turned around and returned to her office, side-stepping the 'clean up' crew.
"Douche bags?" Morgan repeated after her. He shook his head as he made his way to Garcia's office as he muttered, "She must be hanging around Emily too long." He began to walk on as he winced slightly, rubbing his bandage as he tried to scratch an itch; why did it always itch in the most unattainable area?
….
In Declan Jones' house; Dave Rossi and Spencer Reid were kneeling in front of Declan's late nanny, "This is definitely not the works of Doyle. Look as the several stab markings on her, a lot of rage but not Doyle."
"How so, Dr. Reid?" Clyde Easter came to stand by him.
"Doyle's M.O. is to kill quickly and move on. This kill is torture and he meant to inflict pain. These stab wounds are not fatal not until the final one here in her heart." Reid said quietly as he thought of the poor woman suffering.
"Do you think whoever did this done it out of Declan's view?" Clyde asked him.
Reid shook his head, "I don't know. Probably because this is not Declan is not his objective."
"His objective?"
"I agree," Dave nodded. "The killer is doing this not because he is angry at Declan but at Doyle."
"So," Clyde pointed at the body. "It's a revenge?"
Rossi and Reid nodded at the same time. "We have two cases now."
"Oh bloody hell…" Clyde cussed darkly.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Dave nodded as he sighed as he pulled out his cell phone and called Hotch.
They walked out of the house and Reid stepped onto something and looked down and picked it up and stared at it.
Dave turned to him, "What have you got, kid?"
As he kept his gaze at it, Reid muttered, "Do you know the story of Hansel and Gretel, Rossi?"
Dave frowned at the young doctor, "What are you talking about, Reid? I'd have to have a damn sorry childhood if I didn't know about that fairy tale but what does it have to do with that piece of paper?"
He handed Dave a white piece of paper, "Bread crumbs…a clue."
Dave began to read it as Clyde leaned over to look at it.
"It's just a piece of paper."
"Anything on it?" Clyde asked.
"Richmond, Virginia. That's all." Dave said.
"What's Richmond, Virginia?" Clyde frowned.
"It's the capital of Virginia and the population is over 208,000…" Reid began. Clyde stared at Rossi who shook his head as he rolled his eyes.
"You shouldn't have asked him in a vague question. Get ready,"
Clyde frowned at Dave then turned to Reid as the younger man continued.
"It's an industrial city as well as being independent although it is not a county. Also of interest, because it's a metropolitan, the city in itself is the 3rd largest city in the state." He then looked up at Clyde and Dave and frowned. "Er, that's not what you wanted to know, is it?"
They shook their heads as Dave said as he checked on his cell phone, "No, Reid. But thanks for the tourist info-guide wikipedia. Just get in the SUV." He pointed at the vehicle.
Clyde recovering from listening to him suddenly rush ahead of Reid, "Please let me ride in the back, you can have the passenger seat. I insist." He smiled as he opened the passenger door and waved Reid in with a flourish, Reid climbed in after he thanked the Interpol agent.
Dave grinned as he moved around to the driver's side and climbed as he chuckled.
As Dave settled in the driver's seat, Reid turned to him, "Where are we heading to now?"
Dave started the ignition and pulled out from the house, "Back to BAU. Hotch has called for a meeting. Apparently something big is about to happen."
….
Slinging Emily over his shoulder in a fireman's hold, Liam assessed the house and saw that it was mostly emptied except for the ten wooden crates in what was formerly its living room. They parked Emily's car into the garage to keep from visible view and if the FBI were to track it from the sky, it would keep it out of sight.
"Set her down on the couch in the bedroom." Ian called out as he stood by the doorway.
Liam nodded as he followed him into the room and saw the couch and plopped her down hard and left her there.
"Now go to the store and get the items I needed, Liam. And some food."
Liam frowned slightly before he nodded and walked out of the room and out of the house.
Ian looked down at her and said, "You can stop pretending and get up."
Emily sighed as she opened her eyes, "How long have you known?" She stood up and faced him.
He walked towards her and reached out to touch her bruised cheek, "I know how your body works, Lauren. I never forget."
Feeling creeped out by his words, she reared back to avoid his touch and walked towards the door, "Ian, I'm not Lauren Reynolds. I've never been her at all before and I'll never be. I'm Emily Prentiss, I work for the FBI and you're not going to get away with using these weapons."
"Where is the ring I gave you?" He asked her as he stood where he was.
Emily arched her brow, resisting the urge to wince hard; the bruise on her cheek hurt like the devil! "I got rid of it when my mission ended."
She saw the tick in his neck pulsed and knew she'd hit a nerve. "It didn't mean anything to me, Ian."
She began to reach for the door knob when she felt another blow on the back of her head.
Collapsing onto the floor, Doyle looked down at her, the butt of his gun in his hand, "You'll always be Lauren, my Lauren. Nothing can separate us."
….
End of Chapter 11