Chapter 13

Dave, carrying a file folder of his own, follows Emily into the interrogation room, it smells of sweat and something he'd rather not think about at the moment. Thomas Randle's eyes light up when he spots Emily. He sits up in his chair and leers at her.

"Well, now this is an improvement," Thomas says smugly. His eyes follow her around the room. He watches as she settles onto one of the chairs. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Rossi, David Rossi," Dave answers as he closes the door. "You can call me Agent."

Thomas swivels quickly to look at Dave, all his bravado falls away. He pales, swallows hard and begins to sweat.

Dave takes a moment to settle into the chair next to Emily, setting a file on the table before looking up and meeting Thomas's gaze. "It's nice to meet you – finally."

Thomas slumps into his seat and crosses his arms protectively over his chest. His eyes drop to the table.

"Remember me?" Dave asks. "Because I sure as hell remember you."

The man sniffles and rubs the end of his nose as looks away and doesn't reply.

"What's the matter? Forget how to talk?" Emily presses. "Fun time is over. We know that the four-hundred thousand dollars in your cousin's bank account belongs to you. Your cousin told us that and we checked your bank records."

Dave leans on his elbows resting on the table. "What we don't know, is why former FBI Agent Hank Rollins sent you that money in the first place. Care to tell us?"

Thomas kind of shrugs. He still doesn't speak.

Dave opens the file in front of him and picks up the top piece of paper. He grabs his glasses with one hand and puts them on then looks closely at the paper. "Let's see here… four counts of attempted murder, two counts of destruction of private property, no make that three counts, four counts of assault on a Federal Agent, that's just the first page. You're in a lot of trouble, my friend."

"You gonna cut me a deal," Thomas mumbles without looking up.

Dave and Emily sit silently, waiting for Thomas to finally look up. It takes almost a full minute before he finally does.

"Well?" Thomas asks.

"Make it worth our time to try," Dave tells him.

"What do you want to know?"

"Let's start with how you met Hank Rollins," Emily tells him.

Thomas squirms in his chair. "Do we have to?"

Dave and Emily both raise an eyebrow at him. A knock at the door startles Thomas. It opens and Penelope steps inside. She glares at Thomas who gives her a quick glance then looks away. Penelope hands a file to Emily.

"Here's that information you asked for," she says as Emily takes the file.

"Thank you," Emily replies. She opens the file and begins to read. Penelope gives Thomas one last glare as she steps backwards out of the room and closes the door.

"Wow," Emily says. "This is very impressive. You've been committing crimes since you were eleven. Petty theft, shoplifting, oh breaking and entering… and my favorites, arson and grand theft auto."

"Imagine that," Dave says his voice full of curiosity. "Is that what the four-hundred thousand dollars was for? Arson?"

Thomas laughs nervously and shakes his head. "I told the other agents, I ain't never had that much money."

Dave looks at Emily. "Another lie."

Thomas shifts again.

Dave flips through his folder and pulls out another piece of paper. "According to your bank statement, you have had that much money. And since the dates happen to correspond closely to the time I saw you in Ms. Garcia's backyard and when her house was set on fire, I'm thinking that's what the money was given to you for. Am I right?"

"Listen," Emily cuts in. "Whatever you did, we will find out about it. And if we have to dig for it, the consequences will be worse for you."

"We know that you aren't the mastermind here," Dave reassures him. "We know Hank Rollins is involved, but we don't know how. So, how is it that you know Hank Rollins?"

The man sinks back in his chair and lowers his head. "He's my father-in-law."

Dave and Emily share a look.

"Well, there's a twist I didn't expect," Emily shares. "Was this a family bonding moment?"

Thomas laughs. "Not by a long shot. Hank hates me. I'm lucky he didn't fucking kill me years ago."

"Go on," Dave prompts.

"Hank caught me cheating on my wife," the man mumbles.

"I can imagine that didn't go over very well," Dave says.

Thomas shrugs. "Like I said, I'm lucky he didn't kill me."

"So, why didn't he tell your wife, his daughter, that he caught you cheating," Dave wondered.

"Because he knew that she would leave me," Thomas says sadly. "And knowing that, he uses it to make me do his dirty work."

"She must be some woman," Dave points out.

Thomas scoffs. "Not really, but we got a kid. A little girl. Her name is Jenny. If my wife knew I cheated on her, she'd take Jenny and I would never see her again."

Dave nods. "That's a great motivator. Unfortunately, at this point for you, Jenny is not going to have her father for a long time."

This seems to hit Thomas hard. He stares at Dave in silence for a long time, his face a myriad of emotions. His eyes water. He sniffles and wipes haphazardly at his eyes. "What do I gotta do? What do you wanna know?"

"Everything," Dave replies. "Leave nothing out."

Thomas takes a deep breath and lets it out with a woosh. "Here's what I know – about three years ago, Hank met this woman…"

He looks at Dave again and bites his lip. "You're not going to hurt me, are you?"

Dave raises an eyebrow and holds his hands out palms up. "I'm only here to find out the truth."

The younger man takes another breath. "Okay. So, Hank hooked up with this woman, Krystall, who I believe was your wife at the time?"

Dave nods and purses his lips.

"They were kinda seeing each other on the side, you know?"

"I do now," Dave snarks.

"He was giving her everything," Thomas continues. "Cars, jewelry, trips to Cancun and shit like that. But it never seemed to please her, and he started running out of money. Then like a month or so ago, they were in Mexico, and they got stuck because he didn't have any money and hers suddenly disappeared."

"That's when she called me," Dave interjects.

Thomas nods. "Yeah and old Hank – he did not like that. No matter what he did, he couldn't compare to you in her eyes. He was mad that she called you. And then, when she found out you were with that other lady, Ms. Garcia? She went ballistic."

Dave chuckles. "I can imagine. What happened next?"

"Fucking Hank," Thomas says shaking his head. "He thought he could get on Krystall's good side by eliminating your new girl. He called me and told me to find someone who could make it look like an accident."

"So, you called your cousin?"

Thomas sighs. "Yeah. I knew the garage was in trouble and I thought this might be a easy way for him to get a few bucks. I mean... even though we ain't close, I do care about him."

"Oh, I can see that. Keep going," Dave says, not trying to hide the sarcasm.

"Hank was pissed when that didn't work. Called me a bunch of names and threatened to talk to his daughter – though to tell you the truth, I haven't slept with anyone but my wife since he caught me, that's got to count for something, don't it?"

"Sure," Dave plays along.

Encouraged by Dave's seeming acceptance, Thomas presses on. "After that, Hank decided it was time to get rid of both of you. We were staking out Ms. Garcia's place to see if you were there, and you were there, just not inside and you had that vicious dog with you."

Emily laughs causing both men to look at her. "Sorry," she says waving a hand. "Pretend I'm not here."

Thomas leers at her. "Kinda hard to forget a woman as good looking as you."

Dave raps his knuckles on the table. "Concentrate on the story, Romeo."

"Sorry," the man says contritely. "Where was I? Oh yeah, so we left and then when we came back her place was empty. Like, everything was gone. And that made Hank even madder and he said we needed to blow up her house and yours."

Dave gives him a murderous look, making Thomas swallow hard and slink back a little in his seat.

"By the time Hank came up with a plan, you were both long gone," Thomas explained.

"And still you blew up our houses?" Dave questions.

The man shrugs. "It made Hank feel better, I guess. At least until we figured out where you were. Then he decided we needed to go after you."

"How did he figure out where we were?" Dave asks.

"He found someone to track Ms. Garcia's phone."

"Do you know who?" Dave presses.

Thomas frowns. "Some guy named Brian."

"Brian," Emily repeats. She looks at Dave. "Fuck!"

Emily gets up and races out the door. "Penelope! Stop!" she yells as she hits the hallway.

Dave looks at Thomas who had turned to watch Emily race out of the room. Thomas slowly turns back to face Dave. "Someone she knows?"

Dave purses his lips and squints slightly. "You could say that."

Thomas nods slowly and settles in his seat again. "You wanna wait til she comes back?"

"I think we have enough for now," Dave tells him. Dave straightens both folders and stands.

"So, we gonna make a deal now," Thomas asks.

Dave looks down at him. "What do you think?"

Dave closes the door to the interrogation room and takes a moment to breathe. He knew Krystall wasn't the type to murder anyone. Yeah, she had wanted Penelope out of the way, however, she didn't tell anyone to kill Penelope. That was on Hank.

Right now, though, Penelope was about to kill someone based on the yelling she was doing in the bullpen. Dave saunters down the hallway into the bullpen. Brian, the red-headed technical analyst sat in a chair, head down and cowering in his chair as Penelope stood over him yelling.

"How could you do this?!" she yelled. "I trusted you. I taught you how to hack. I gave you the best hours and recommended you to be the head of the team while I was gone. I baked you cookies!"

"I'm sorry," Brian wails. "I'm so, so sorry! I didn't know he was trying to hurt you! He told me you were close, and he wanted to watch over you – to keep you safe."

"Matt, Luke…" Emily cuts in. "Escort him to his desk and then out of the building."

"You're firing me?" Brian sobs.

"Currently, you're suspended," Emily tells him. "It will be up to Internal Affairs whether or not you will still have a job."

Dave steps next to Penelope and casually puts an arm around her to keep her from following the three men out of the bullpen.

"What's next?" he queries Emily.

She waits until Brian is out of earshot. "I think we have enough to bring Hank Rollins in for questioning."

"Oh, I can't wait to see him," Dave growls.

Emily grimaces. "I can imagine. Normally, I'd tell you both to stay here, but right now I'm not trusting anyone outside of our team. If Brian could be persuaded to give up information and hack Penelope's phone, who knows who else may be involved."

Dave bristles. His voice lowers in pitch and volume. "You think we might be in danger here?"

Penelope moves closer to Dave.

"I'm just saying I don't like the odds," Emily replies just as quietly.

The team, including Dave and Penelope, arrive at Hank Rollins' house. It's a modest two-story, with an attached garage and a fenced yard. A decent looking newer model truck sits in the driveway. The SWAT mobile command unit and troop carrier pull up. Dave and Penelope are ushered to the bullet-proof troop carrier.

A shot rings out from inside the house.

"Get inside the truck," Dave orders Penelope. He grasps her elbow. She hastily climbs up the steps and into the back of the metal monstrosity.

Dave climbs in after her and closes the door with a clang.

Penelope stands in the middle of the truck and looks around. A metal bench lines one side, with a set of open cupboards above it. A couple of helmets and vests sit in the cupboard. The other side of the truck is lined with gun racks and various ropes and other equipment Penelope didn't recognize.

"Oh my God, oh my God," she cries.

"Take it easy, Kitten," Dave says calmly. "We're safe in here."

"Are we?" Penelope questions. "I hate this, we should have stayed at the BAU. Why didn't we stay there?"

"Come on, sweetheart, let's sit down," he suggests. He sits on the bench and smiles up at her.

"I don't want to sit down," she replies angrily. She paces back and forth in the small interior. Two steps, spin, two steps, spin. Her heels echo off the steel floor.

Dave sighs and watches Penelope as a sadness envelopes his heart. 'She wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for me,' he thinks.

Penelope stops and stares at the back door. "Why are there no windows in here," she wonders aloud.

Dave sighs and shakes his head. "We never should have gotten involved," he mutters lowly.

"What was that?" she asks. She looks over her shoulder at him and frowns.

"None of this would have happened if we hadn't gotten together. Your car wouldn't have been tampered with, our houses wouldn't have been blown up, we wouldn't have been run off the road," he sighs and rubs his face.

She stares at him, mouth agape. "Are you saying that you wish we hadn't gotten together?"

He looks up at her taking in her body posture, rigid, and facial expressions, shock and disbelief. Her heart is breaking and he knows it. He could save this situation. He could tell her that he loves her and that they are going to get through this together. He knows exactly what he should say. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

He stands up and turns away from her. He grabs one of the vests and puts it on.

"What are you doing?" Penelope questions. She eyes him as he adjusts the straps on the vest. "David?"

She reaches out a shaky hand toward him.

He grabs another vest and holds it out to her. "Put this on," he says gruffly.

She recoils, pulling her hand back to her chest.

"No. I don't want to," she replies. "We need to talk, David."

Tears well in her eyes, until they spill over and down her cheeks.

Using all of his skills, he forces his face to remain neutral. 'She doesn't deserve this,' he thinks. 'She doesn't deserve any of this.'

The words tumble from his mouth, "There's nothing else to say."

She gasps audibly and he braces himself for the verbal assault he knows he deserves. But nothing comes. He can see her breaking from the inside out. His heart screams at him – 'Fix this. Fix this now!'

He drops the vest on the bench. "You should put that on as a safety precaution. Stay in here, I'm going to see what's happening."

He brushes past her, ignoring the jolt of electricity her nearness sparks in him. He opens the door and jumps out before gently closing the door behind him. He keeps his palm flat against the door for a few seconds. "I hope someday you will forgive me," he says lowly.

He crouches and runs over to the command vehicle.

"What just happened?" she asks herself. "I don't… how can he…"

She cries in earnest. Wrapping her arms around herself she stumbles to the bench and sits down half on the vest. She pulls it out from under her leg and hugs it to her chest.

"This can't be over," she cries. The metal interior of the truck makes her feel uncomfortable. It's cold and lifeless, making her feel even more alone. She needs warmth and sunshine and David to make the world right again.

"What's happening?" Dave asks.

"Nothing," Emily answers. "We've tried calling into the house and he's not answering the landline or his cell."

"Where did the shot come from?" Dave continues to question.

"No idea," the SWAT Commander answers this time. "The bullet didn't seem to exit the building."

Dave looks at him harshly. "You know what that means, right?"

The Commander frowns. "You think so?"

"I could almost guarantee it," Dave replies.

"What are you guys talking about?" Emily cuts in.

Dave tips his head towards the house. "Rollins most likely shot himself."

"I'm sending my guys in," the Commander says to no one in particular. He keys his mic. "Alpha, Beta, Gamma - breach the house and secure."

Affirmative replies fill the radio. Within seconds the front and rear doors and kicked in, smoke bombs explode and the house is filled with noxious gas and orange smoke.

After a few seconds, the radio crackles. "Alpha to command, building secure, suspect contained. All units can stand down."

"Affirmative," the Commander says in his microphone. "All units stand down and exit the house."

Dave begins to remove his flak jacket.

"Leave that on," Emily orders.

Dave gives her a look, one eyebrow raised. "Hank is dead. I think I'm okay."

"I'll decide on that," she retorts. "Don't make me lock you in the SWAT truck."

"Fine," Dave submits. "Can I go in the house?"

She snorts. "Like I could stop you."

She turns to head for the house, Dave grasps her elbow. "You should have someone take Penelope back to the BAU," he tells her. "She's not going to want to hang out in that truck or in the house."

Emily nods. "You're right. I'll have Spence and JJ take her."

She turns in a different direction. Dave watches her for a moment then heads for the house.

Penelope sits curled in the corner of the floor; the flak jacket wrapped haphazardly around her when JJ finds her. Arms wrapped around her knees, Penelope keens as she sobs.

"Penelope?" JJ calls out as she stands in the doorway. Her eyes scan the interior of the SWAT vehicle. She startles as she sees Penelope in the corner. "Honey? Are you okay?"

JJ climbs into the SWAT truck and crouches next to her friend. "PG? What happened? Are you okay?"

"JJ! Sweet, beautiful, caring JJ," Penelope manages through the tears.

JJ reaches out and touches Penelope's face. "What happened?"

"He left me!" Penelope wails. She begins to sob.

JJ wraps her arms around her friend and pulls her close. She looks over her shoulder at Spencer who stands in the open doorway with a look of concern creasing his face. "Spence, give a us a moment, please."

The younger agent nods as he steps back and closes the door.

JJ shifts so that she is on her knees and still holding on to Penelope. Penelope, for her part, wraps her arms around JJ and holds her tight as she continues to cry. After several minutes, her cries begin to lessen and she takes a few shuddery breaths as she pulls back.

"I'm sorry," she stutters. She wipes haphazardly at the wetness on JJ's shirt.

"Don't worry about that," JJ tells her soothingly. "I want to know why you are so upset."

Penelope's eyes flit around the truck as she processes what is going on. She finally settles on her friend. "He said he doesn't want to be with me. Why would he do that? He was so cold and he… he… he just left me in here. Alone."

JJ looks at her empathetically. "You know how Dave gets, maybe he was in work mode."

"This wasn't work mode. I know work mode," Penelope replies. "When he is deep in work mode he gets snarky and sarcastic – this was neither of those. This was… cold. It was like he was shutting me out. And I just felt – feel so cold."

She shivers again.

"Why don't we get out of here?" JJ suggests.

"Is it over?" Penelope asks.

"For Rollins - yes."

Penelope gasps. "He's dead?!"

JJ nods. "Killed himself when we arrived."

The technical analyst gasps again. "Why would he…"

"I don't know," JJ shrugs. "But Emily wants me and Spence to take you back to the BAU."

"Oh, okay," Penelope agrees absently. She shifts to stand up, lowering her hand to the floor for leverage, the cast on her arm clunks on the floor. JJ stands quickly, grabs Penelope's good arm and helps her up. Penelope stands unsteadily on her feet.

"Leave the jacket," JJ says quietly and the head to the door.

"Do I have to? It's keeping me warm."

JJ smiles. "You can leave it on, I'll return it later."

They exit the truck to find Reid waiting anxiously. "Garcia?" he says questioningly.

She looks at him and the tears well in her eyes again. "Can we hurry up and go? I don't want anyone to see me like this."

"Of course," JJ replies. She and Spencer hold Penelope between them and walk her to a nearby SUV. JJ hands Spencer the keys. "I'm going to sit in the back with PG."

Inside the house, Dave stands in the middle of the living room and slowly surveys his surroundings. The room is sparsely furnished; a couch dominates the center facing a television sitting on a table. In the corner sits a gun cabinet that is wide open. Several rifles sit nestled in their stocks. On the table next to the television is a box of 9mm shells.

Dave glances towards the kitchen where Hank's body lay. Dave pities the man. It was obvious as he looked around that even though Hank had money at one time, he really didn't know how to manage it, either that or Krystall had wiped him clean.

"What are you thinking," Morgan asks, startling Dave out of his reverie.

"I'm thinking I was pretty damned lucky," Dave replies.

Both men glance around the room.

"He left a note," Emily announces as she walks into the room from the kitchen.

"What does it say?" Dave asks.

"He's sorry for what he did, and it was all Krystall's fault," Emily sums up.

"Isn't that convenient?" Morgan asks.

The trio are joined by Matt, Luke and Tara. Luke has his arms full of loose pictures.

"What do you have?" Emily asks.

"Lots of pictures of Hank and Krystall," Luke says as he dumps the photos on the couch. "Looks like vacation pictures from Mexico."

"It appears Krystall is as deeply involved as we suspected," Tara informs them.

Dave gives her a pointed look. "How so?"

"We got into Hank's computer and found a ton of emails and private messages between the two of them plotting and planning each attack on you and Penelope," Tara explains.

"Do we have enough to go get her now?" Morgan asks. "I'd like to know that Baby Girl is truly safe."

Dave turns away to keep the team from reading his sorrow. They are going to kill him when they discover what he has done to Penelope. And he will deserve it.

"I think so," Emily says as she pulls out her phone. "I'll get confirmation on her address. Let's head for the airport. Dave, you want to join us?"

He turns back and plasters a fake smile on his face. "Can I have the pleasure of putting the cuffs on her?"

"Absolutely," Emily smiles.

"What did I do wrong, JJ?! Why doesn't he love me?" Penelope asks. She lays on the couch in Emily office with JJ the dog, sprawled over her.

"He does love you," JJ replies reassuringly from her place behind Emily's desk. "He's just scared."

"What would Dave be scared of," Spencer interjects.

Both women look over to where Spencer sat in a chair, BeeGee stretched over his lap and purring loudly.

"Spence," JJ scoffs. He looks at her. "He's obviously scared of losing Penelope."

Spencer looks over at Penelope and frowns as he looks back to JJ. "Then why did he break up with her?"

"Because men are stupid," JJ replies.

His frown deepens. "I have an IQ of 187…"

"Not that kind of intelligence, Boy Wonder," Penelope interjects.

"What other kind of intelligence is there?" he asks himself.

"You ponder that for a bit," JJ tells him as she stands. "Come on, PG, we need to take the dog out. Want to go for a walk?"

At that, JJ the dog jumps to her feet and begins bouncing around the room.

"I think you said the magic word," Penelope laughs sadly. She sits up and puts her shoes on. "You coming, Boy Wonder?"

"You guys go ahead," Reid tells them. "I'm going to stay here."

Both women smile as they watch Reid gently stroke the tabby cat's ears.

"We'll be back in a little bit," JJ replies.

Penelope snaps the leash on the dog's collar and opens the door. She jerks as the dog bounds out of the room.

"I've got the door," JJ assures her from behind.

The trio heads for the elevator.

"I can't wait for all of this to be over," Penelope laments. "I just want Dave and I to have a chance. Do you think he'll give me another chance?"

"He should be the one begging you for another chance," JJ says testily. "He's lucky that I haven't said anything to Morgan."

Penelope gasps and grabs JJ's arm. "Don't you dare. Morgan would throw him out of the plane."

"No worries. I won't say anything to anyone," JJ promises. "But you know Spence can't keep a secret. Especially from Morgan."

Penelope squeaks as they step into the elevator and the doors close.

"Thank you for staying with me," Penelope says softly. "I know that both you and Spence would rather be in the field."

JJ laughs without humor. "Spence and I would do anything for you, you know that."

"I know," Penelope says. The doors of the elevator open and JJ the dog bounds forward again dragging Penelope out into the garage and towards the opening.

JJ laughs at the two of them while following a few paces behind. Her phone rings. She pulls it out and looks at the caller I.D. It's Will. "Hello?"

Static fills the line. JJ stops moving to concentrate on the phone. "Hello? Will?"

"You coming Jayje?" Penelope calls out as the dog continues to pull towards the opening where grass can be seen on the other side of the road.

"Be right there," JJ yells out. She hangs up the phone and then dials her husbands' number. The phone rings once then the line goes dead. She takes a couple steps in Penelope's direction.

A noise behind her catches her attention. She starts to swivel around when a large metal object impacts the side of her head. The phone flies out of her hand as she crumples to the floor of the garage.

Penelope and JJ the dog, meander through the grassy knoll outside the FBI parking garage. She glances back into the garage for JJ, but the other woman is nowhere in sight.

A black sedan pulls up next to her, the passenger window rolls down.

"Get in," a voice orders.

"I don't need a ride," Penelope responds. She's watching the dog, not really paying attention. She hears a sharp click.

"That wasn't a request," the voice growls. "Get in or I will shoot the dog."

Penelope stops and slowly turns. She takes in the black car and the gun pointed in her direction.

"Oh my," she whispers. Her eyes land on the driver. "What are you doing here?"

"Get in. Leave the dog."

Penelope looks at JJ who sniffs heartily at a bush.

"Now!"

Penelope drops the leash. She stumbles to the car, opens the door and flops onto the front seat. She presses back into the seat as the car jumps forward quickly tires squealing. With a quick look out the side window she sees JJ, lying on the cement floor of the parking garage. She looks into the side view mirror and watches as JJ the dog, trots across the street and back into the garage.

End Chapter 13