Advanced Warning: Part of this chapter seems a little…soap opera-y. (To me, anyway.)
Eleven
"Please forgive me!" he cried, throwing himself into her arms.
"What must I forgive you for?" Ananke asked, clearly startled.
When Tom didn't answer, she helped him over to his bed; carefully avoiding the fallen rosary. He curled up instinctively, seemingly uncaring that his head was in his captor's lap.
"I killed him," Tom whispered after a lengthy silence. "I killed him when he never did anything to me!"
"Mijn liefje, mijn liefje, mijn liefde!" Ananke crooned, stroking a lock of hair away from his eyes. You did what was required of you…there's no shame in that!"
He swallowed a sob. "Why did I kill him?"
"You had a psychotic break," she said gently. "All the rage you've held against me, the heartbreak of being apart from your wife…any negativity that you've held inside your heart…finally came pouring out."
"I'm going to hell."
"Your god will forgive you."
"You know nothing of my god!" Tom roared, nearly bolting off Ananke's lap. "You act like you know so much about Christianity, yet you forget that 'thou shalt not kill' is one of the Ten Commandments!"
"Calm down," she snarled. "Listen well, because I am only going to tell you once."
He gave her a hard look, then nestled somewhat uncomfortably in her lap.
"If I had any thought for your sensitivity, I would have sent you in there with a dagger, so that you could make clean work of Kassmeyer's death. Instead, I thought for myself. I decided that if I left the dagger in an obvious location, Kassmeyer would find it and you'd be dead in a heartbeat. Furthermore, I didn't think you'd kill him if I ask you outright, so I drugged you and threw you in there."
This time, Tom sat up so fast that he nearly rammed his head on her chin.
"You wanted me to kill the deputy marshal?"
"Would I have wasted my time caressing your cheek and calling you 'darling' if I was angry?"
He hesitated, recalling that she had said something else after 'darling'.
"What else did you say?"
Ananke met Tom's gaze for a moment, then looked away.
"I called you 'my love'."
Tom grabbed her chin and turned Ananke's head so that she was facing him.
"You're in love with me?!"
"Unfortunate as it may be."
"You would marry me if I asked?"
"You would never ask!" she snapped. "Even if you did, how would I know if it was out of love or because you suffered from Stockholm syndrome?"
"I believe in marrying the woman carrying my baby," he said quietly.
Ananke slapped him, stunned.
"What fool of a servant would risk their life to tell you that I'm pregnant?"
"None," Tom replied. "One man told the other than a woman called Stella had ordered all non-essential staff to stay out of the west wing. It devolved into a discussion of the order and what it meant that Dr. Schuler had been called in."
"All this happened within your hearing?"
"They stood outside my door."
Ananke rose. "I will call a meeting at once."
Tom's voice stopped her halfway to the door.
"You will abort it, then?"
"Temair Maolíosa Benton is my daughter," Ananke said coolly. "I will raise her myself."
"Have you heard from Samuel Kassmeyer?"
Morgan glanced up from his work. "The deputy marshal?"
Hotchner nodded.
"Not since the incident with Jack and Haley."
"You need to keep better track of your associates," a familiar voice boomed.
Assistant Director Graveolens strolled into the bullpen and slapped an open jacket on Morgan's desk.
"Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel D. Kassmeyer was found facedown in the reflecting pool on the Washington Mall earlier this morning."
Her strident tone attracted the rest of the team.
"The head of Samuel Kassmeyer was found floating in the reflecting pool," Rue corrected herself. "The captain of the dive team told her supervisor that Kassmeyer's head was the biggest part they could find."
The BAU team shot each other anxious looks, but Hotch was busy staring at the wall.
"Our visitor logs show that Deputy Kassmeyer paid you a visit a few days ago, Agent Hotchner. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"He was here about Ananke," Hotch said quietly.
"The one you like for the Benton case?" demanded Rue.
He nodded. "Kassmeyer didn't know that her name is Ananke. Said he wanted more information about Claire Williams and her associations with Frank Brietkopf."
Rue's eyebrow headed toward her hairline. "The one who drove Dr. Gideon over the edge?"
"The very same," Emily replied.
Hotchner shot her a Look.
"Was Ananke ever associated with Brietkopf?" Rue asked.
"We haven't pursued that lead," said Hotch. "It concerns a dead unsub and is not relevant to our case."
"If you're sure that Ananke and Williams are one and the same, it is certainly relevant to your investigation!" the assistant director cried. "If you follow every tip concerning Williams, you will be able to examine Ananke's habits, look for patterns. You might even catch a break that will lead you to Benton!"
Hotchner maintained a sullen silence, causing Rue to glower.
"Get this squared away, Agent Hotchner, or Agent Rossi will be in charge!"
Translation note: I wasn't able to find "darling" in online English/Dutch dictionaries, so I settled for "sweetheart". Mijn liefde is the correct translation of "my love", however…I used "my love" in the original version and a Dutch reader gave me the proper words.
Pronunciation: Temair Maolíosa = Tah-wair May-lisa (the Anglicized version of Temair's name will appear in the epilogue)
