Chapter 19

T +58 hours

The Court of the Chaplain

Washington DC

Hotch

Rossi was too well known. And Morgan was clearly far too much of a player to fit on such short notice. That left them with one option. Thankfully he was comfortable in a suit.

Hotch had spent a little time circulating before settling by the bar. The women here were quite something, he had to admit. A few of them reminded him so much of Haley that it almost stopped his heart. I can see why they have a rule about waiting two years after the death of a spouse before joining, he thought, I am not ready to get back out there, at all. So he'd found a small group of men, insinuated himself while nursing a scotch, and had found himself going over the same bits of gossip as Emily, minus the question of sexuality, and with more emphasis on achievements. "I have to admit, they sound impressive."

"Yeah, they set the standard, and you have to run to keep up." One of the men, Brixton, said. "And the hell of it is, they're two of the most decent guys you'll ever meet. Always willing to help you out with whatever, not all stuck up and snobby like some of the European guys that come through. Nope, those two are just decent guys who have it all together."

"I'm surprised no one is jealous." Hotch almost asked.

"Of what? I don't know what the hell they're waiting for, but every woman in this place has made a play for them. They've turned every one down. So, you know, the playing field is open."

"Are any of the women True Believers? Maybe that's what they're waiting for."

"No." Brixton said. "I don't think so."

"No," his drinking buddy Hodges corrected him, "There was one for a while. Lady Sara."

"Now, see, I didn't get to know her." Brixton told him.

"That's because you don't know sign language. I decided to learn when they started mainstreaming some kids into my school." Hodges taught sixth grade. "She was amazing."

"Really?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah. She wasn't a classic beauty, I guess, but there was just something about her. She was a professor over at Gallaudet, art or history or something, and she was an artist and she could cook and she was thinking about going back for another degree of some kind. But really, she just had that something, graceful, elegant…"

"So if the other two were true knights, would she be a true lady?"

"Oh absolutely." Hodges replied. "She really believed in this sort of thing. It's too bad she stopped coming around about a year ago, I guess."

"You know who else would be, or would have been had she ever made it here." Brixton looked from Hotch to Hodges. "That friend of Spencer's we had the wake for. Remember?"

"Oh yeah." Hodges replied. "Dame Emily. Now she sounded like something."

Hotch was glad he had the scotch to hide behind.

T + 60 hours

BAU headquarters

Quantico, VA

Emily

"They had a what?"

"A wake." Hotch replied. "In your honor. Apparently the bards will be singing of your deeds for generations to come." It was hard to tell, but he was laughing somewhere in there.

"It was quite an impressive party." Ben told her, rather sheepishly. He was still sitting in, as they hoped something would jar out of his memory. And he was safer there.

Emily just groaned and put her face in her hands. I will never live this down, she thought; I will never live this down.

"So what did we get?" Rossi asked.

"It's a small social group." Morgan replied. "And they are at the top of it."

"I wouldn't go that far." Ben replied.

"Oh no, trust me." Emily replied. "Every woman there would."

"All right, that links them." Rossi said. "Maybe someone was jealous."

"Not from what we could tell." Hotch replied. "No one seemed jealous of anyone there."

"Maybe Queen Eleanor had the right idea." Garcia pointed out.

"So we still have nothing?" Rossi asked.

"I think I have something." JJ spoke up. She had been reading her way through Sara Conway's diary. "According to her diary someone she called "P" made her an Offer about two months before she disappeared."

"Made her an Offer?" Morgan asked.

"Sex." Emily told him

"It's more than that." Ben protested.

Emily looked back to him. Of course it was, she thought, if you really believed. "Not to most people."

JJ flipped to another page. "A month later "P" sent her a note at the club calling her virtue a lie and her a liar, saying he knew where she got her money, and offering her $500,000 for the night."

And that stopped the table a moment. "You know, it doesn't take a fancy club to find that offensive." Garcia pointed out. "Even for that much money."

"Would that be Conduct Unbecoming to a Gentleman?" Morgan asked.

"Suggesting a lady was really a prostitute and offering her money? Hell yes." Ben replied.

"But how would that affect Reid?" Rossi asked.

"To get him kicked out it would have to be pretty much the exact same offence." Ben told him

"So you're saying some guy offered Reid money for sex?" Morgan asked.

"It would have to be." Ben replied.

"But Reid is straight."

"Yeah, well, when you turn every girl down there's going to be some question about that." Emily told him. "The rumor in the ladies rest was that he might be lying about his sexuality due to FBI policy."

"So this guy thinks they're both closet prostitutes?" Morgan asked again. "Ben, anyone ever offer you money for it?"

Before Ben could answer Rossi spoke up. "No. He doesn't think they're both prostitutes. He thinks they're both liars." Rossi stood up and began slowly pacing. "We're not just dealing with a psychopath; we're dealing with a narcissist, one who's had a recent break. This man is in his mid 30's to early 50's, Caucasian, single. According to the club records most of the members are self employed, a greater percentage than the community around them, so he probably owns his own company. With the kind of money they were charging him he's at the top of his profession, and given that he knows someone like Mandarin he's willing to play dirty to get there. He thinks his ability to succeed no mater the cost makes him better than everyone else. He firmly believes that he is the best man in any situation, the best man for the job, the best man in the room, the best man period. That overwhelming self-esteem and confidence is what's propelled him to the top. Then something happened to damage that, something either personal or corporate. This club is international, something brought him to DC where he came into a branch and was not the best man in the room anymore. There were two men in the room who were better at the social game than he was, two he would never be able to catch. And worse than that, there was a woman there who thought she was better and rejected him because of it. That caused a psychological wound that he needed to heal."

"By calling them liars?" Morgan asked.

Rossi nodded. "By finding out that they weren't the best in the room, that they were fooling everyone. He had to come up with something. If he couldn't he invented it based on something in their behavior. That way at least in his own mind he could put himself back on top."

JJ looked up from the page. "According to this she thought he was stalking her."

"And he saw something that made him think she was lying about the source of her income. He challenged her on it, but instead of answering the charge she invoked a higher power and never answered to his satisfaction. He went to Mandarin to have her brought into a space that he alone can control to force her to answer the charges. He did the same thing with Reid. And you." He turned to Ben, "He thinks you're lying about something in your past, he thinks he has the goods on you. He came to you and he challenged you and you turned him away on a technicality. You never gave him satisfaction."

"Only he did it at the salon not at Court." Ben finished for him. "Pieter Van Rensburg. He came to the salon, he wanted to have a duel, live steel." He stuttered at their confused looks. "Sharp swords. In competition they're always blunted for safety, I told him no, I can't have live steel on the floor, I'd lose my league membership, I wouldn't be able to train at the Olympic level. He called me a cheat and a liar and stormed out."

Garcia had started typing as soon as Ben got the name. "Pieter Van Rensburg, CEO of Black Raven Security, major huge defense contractor, under Congressional investigation, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and Seattle, Washington."

"I think we have a winner." Rossi said.

"Yeah, but one thing doesn't add." Morgan said. "Reid wasn't lying about his sexuality. Someone with those kind of connections would be able to look into the FBI culture and clear up that rumor."

The Hammer of Knowing hit home and Emily felt herself die inside. "Yes, but by the time he realized that he had something else." She looked up at them. Oh god, little brother. "Doyle. He must have shared his intel with Mandarin who would have included it in the package. Doyle had been following Reid around just like we've been for the past few days." Oh you do not deserve this.

She watched the same Hammer of Knowing hit Morgan, and she watched as he turned and kicked a chair across the room.

T +58 hours

Corporate Headquarters of Black Raven Security

Seattle, WA

Spencer

He waited for some endless amount of time. They had pulled a conference table into the center of the large, unfinished room, and he sat there while Baldy and GreyHair stood behind him. Thankfully he was able to sit and take the pressure off his knee.

The hell of it was, with his soft pants and silk robe, Pieter had clearly just come from his bed. Spencer decided to believe he had been sleeping for now, the better to think clearly and not be overwhelmed with fury at the man. "Ah, Dr. Reid. So nice to see you again." Pieter said expansively. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to sit down with you earlier, I've been answering to a raft of Congressional people. They have kept me far too busy to welcome you as I had planned."

This is the true UnSub here, Spencer thought, be careful. Collect as much information as you can. Hopefully no one will hit me if I talk. "I wish I could say the same. So, why have you brought me here?"

"We never finished our last discussion at Court. You avoided the issue by having Paul toss me out on my ear. Well done, by the way, very well done."

"Our discussion?"

"Yes. About your fooling everyone into thinking you're one of the best Knights in the club, the best man there. We both know that's bullshite. And I do not like to be fooled. I don't mind watching as others are fooled, but I don't like it myself."

"I'm not entirely certain how I've been fooling everyone. I'm not homosexual and I'm not a prostitute."

"No, but you are a liar." Pieter had yet to sit down, GreyHair had brought him coffee that smelled impossibly sweet, and now Pieter was pacing a bit at the head of the table. "See, the whole sexuality thing was my mistake, I admit it. I was distracted by that little whore in there. I figured if there was one whore hiding in the ranks there might be two, and I figured since you didn't desire any of the ladies you must desire the gentlemen. But I was wrong, my mistake. A man can admit his mistakes. However, thanks to Mr. Doyle's tireless work I found out that you don't desire the ladies because you're too distracted by your desires for something else."

With that Pieter put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a small object and slid it down the table to Spencer's hand. Spencer didn't have to look, he knew exactly what Pieter was going to say, as the anger and fear turned in his gut.

"Junkie."