Chapter 28

4014 18th St
San Francisco, CA

October 2011

"Okay, so I tried talking to our dear Jayje last night." Penelope said. It was Sunday morning; they were all gathered in the parlor in lazy clothes. There was a lot of coffee and the Sunday paper and no reason to really move quickly. Tess was in the kitchen doing something that smelled heavenly. "Which did not go well. I asked her what was going on and it resulted in her biting my head off. So I emailed Rossi and he said she's been acting like she's under a lot of stress even though they've cut back their case load to compensate for being short experienced people. He thinks she and Will might be having problems."

"Ouch." Spencer said. "Henry seems okay though."

"Yeah, I haven't noticed anything either, but Rossi said it's becoming a problem in the field. He was going to say something to Hotch. I did check to see whether she was at State or Pentagon, and found both listed."

"Which means she was at neither." Morgan said. "And someone did not cover their tracks well. Something might have happened, this might be PTSD." He was sitting by the window, looking out at the street, but he had looked in and now he caught sight of Spencer's face. "Reid, what are you thinking?"

"That JJ is my friend and I want to be there for her. But right now I have my own, albeit mild, case to deal with. After that my priority is Tess."

"JJ has people in her corner, sweetie. You need to worry about you and yours right now." Penelope said kindly but firmly. "That will help her by making it so she doesn't have to worry about you and can focus on herself. From what I have seen taking a break has been good for you and for Tess though."

"It has been." Time away from the mayhem had been allowing Spencer to confront his inner demons at a prodigious rate. Not that anyone ever enjoyed confronting inner demons, but at least it was getting over with.

"Break might be over." Morgan said. He'd gone back to peeking through the lace curtains. "Someone's watching the house."

Damnit. "Really?" Spencer got up and joined him. Sure enough there was someone sitting in a car out there, looking over more than he should. "He's not very good at it."

"No?"

"No. There are vacation rentals above the Laundromat across the street. He could watch us from there."

"Amateur playing TV cop then."

"So what do we do?"

"Watch them back until we figure out what they want."

"Badness is not supposed to happen in this neighborhood." Penelope said.


They were randomly followed about for the next few weeks. Spencer made a point of going with Tess wherever she went. The Zodiac codes had gone unsolved since 1974, they could sit a little longer. The important thing was her safety, nothing else mattered to him.

The funny thing was that he actually started enjoying himself.

Okay, yoga made him feel silly. He sat in the corner and politely watched the morning dance classes. And the various meetings and classes of a religious or philosophical nature brought out his inner need to debate. But the crafty things turned out to be a lot more fun and relaxing than he expected. After a few knitting lessons he broke down and bought a kit for a Dr. Who scarf for conventions, and yarn for a scarf to wear through a DC winter, one in rich, jewel tones. Embroidery was kind of fiddly, but he found the geometry of quilts kind of soothing, and appreciated how quickly you could feel like you accomplished something. And cooking and baking were both practical and a laughing good time, and you got to eat your results, which was always a positive benefit. "Okay, from now on I am packing knitting along on every case." He said one night. Then he caught the look on Morgan's face. "Laugh if you want, I have yet to come up with a faster, less invasive way to actually get to sleep."

Morgan considered this and shrugged. "Just don't do it where the local LEO's can see you." He replied. "Trust me."

"Good point."

On more than one occasion he found himself in the café/Laundromat across the street from the house with Tess, waiting on laundry, drinking tea or coffee and knitting or sewing. No one in the neighborhood gave them a second look. They also didn't give Tess a second look if she came out looking all boy in darker clothes, no makeup, flat and with her hair brushed down, or if she came out in a dress, falsies, make-up and a full wig, or anything in between. No one here cared, unless it was to admire her good looks. "This is why I'm glad I'm not going back to DC until I'm fully back to being a woman." She said one time. "I don't know of any place else so accepting of someone in transition."

Morgan went back to the local office and got some help watching the watchers. They were able to get pictures of a number of clean cut young men, none of whom came up in any database. "Why do I feel like we're doing this with one hand behind our backs?" He asked.

"Because we're short half the team." Spencer replied.

On the fifth day one of those clean cut young men came to the door. But they didn't realize until Tess answered, since they were expecting pizza. "Is Ash around?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, who?" She asked.

"Ash Pettigrew."

"No. No Ash Pettigrew here."

"Yeah, but he's supposed to live here. Is the owner here?" The young man said. "You are?"

"Tess Larson. My cousin Penelope owns the house. As I understand Ash is out of town. Who are you?"

"Just a friend. Tell him we stopped by."

"I'll do that."

She shook for a long time after that.


"What are you doing?" Spencer asked later that night.

"Sewing another pocket into your pants." Tess replied. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, the cloth draped over her lap. "I got the idea from a pattern for travel clothes I found at the quilt shop the other day."

"Why?'

"Spare phone." She looked up with a smile. "In case of harbor bridges overhead."

Spencer smiled. "Neither of us is going anywhere."

She took a deep breath. "Those men out there make me nervous. There's nothing I can do, so I'm doing this."

It was worth an extra phone in his pants to calm her nerves. "All right. Not one for yourself though?"

She smiled at him. "I did mine this morning."

"Right."


"Aha! I finally have something!" Penelope said a few days later.

"What have you got for us baby girl?" Morgan said. They were in her temporary lair at the Federal Building. Now he left the desk he was using in the corner and came to peer over her shoulder.

"So at Tess' suggestion I've been keeping an eye on the elders at her father's church. One of them just sent an e-mail to...I cannot read this, but the server is located at Pahlavi Hospital in Tehran."

"They're gonna try again." Morgan nodded. "Okay, now we follow the money."

"Let's hope it leads us somewhere good."