Won't Get Fooled Again- 1:3
Harita's POV
"Cancelled." I replied, opening the file. A few seconds ago, just as I got settled, Morgan asked how my date with my girlfriend went.
"Wait, really. Why?" I sighed.
"Her flight got delayed from yesterday to today morning, so we planned brunch. Now instead of brunch, I'm here, examining the bomb. Shouldn't you be doing that?"
"What do you think I was doing before? I'm just waiting for Hotch and Gideon."
"Mom and dad are always late. Pipe bomb?" Morgan nodded confirming my theory. Well, now it's a fact.
...
"Pipe bombs." Gideon said as Morgan and I handed the pictures to him
"Packed in cardboard boxes." Morgan added.
"Package bombs sent through the mail?" Gideon asked.
"Nope. That picture is of the switch that atf found. Both bombs were mercury-activated." I said, pointing to the picture in his hand.
"What does that mean?" Elle asked.
"There are contacts to a detonator on either end of a bent tube full of mercury."
"What it means is all you have to do is to tilt the package to detonate it." Morgan added to Reid's statement.
"So they couldn't have been sent through the mail. The bomber had to deliver them himself." "Exactly." Morgan confirmed.
"Strange way to commit an act of terrorism. Why go to all this trouble to kill just a few people?" Hotch asked
"Let's recommend not raising the terror alert level for now. No reason to spread panic." Gideon suggested.
"We got news." JJ said as she walked into the room. She grabbed the TV remote and turned the channel to some random news station. "This is just a local channel, but the coverage is everywhere now- cnn, fox, msnbc, al-jazeera, you name it."
"Everyone is totally not going to panic now." I said sarcastically
"According to doctors, he's badly injured, but in stable condition in the I. C. U." The news reporter said "Now, neighbors say that they heard a blast at about 10:30 this morning, and police arrived"
"If DHS doesn't raise the terror alert now, they'll look weak." Gideon said.
"Make sure homeland security knows that this is everywhere." Hotch told JJ. We all turned around for a split second so we could grab the files, when we all heard a blast. I turned back to the TV and saw a bomb explosion.
"I just felt that! Are you alright? Is everyone alright?" The TV said.
"Let's meet at the airstrip in 20." Hotch said as I gathered the files.
...
Morgan was and is a pussy. He's such a pussy that he didn't come onto the jet. Pussy Morgan. But then at the same time, he's reason isn't bad. But, he is still a pussy.
"Bombings occurred within 3 miles of each other. First victim was a 74-year-old widow, Barbara Keller. 2 hours after that, Clurman got hit in his driveway, and 45 minutes later... Well, we all saw that. Jill Swenson, 34-year-old housewife who lived across the street from Clurman. Of the 3, only Clurman survived." Hotch said as he walked to his seat on the jet.
"Was there any connection between the victims?" Reid asked.
"One. Clurman was a partner in a $10-million condo development deal in which Keller was an investor, and a few weeks ago, the whole deal went bust." Aaron explained.
"Went bust how?" Elle asked.
"Geologists discovered that the land was on methane, the condos never got built, the land became worthless, and Clurman lost a lot of people and a lot of money."
"So, what if one of them was pissed off the balls, they decided to take out Clurman." I suggested, chewing on some almonds.
"No, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's a little too early to theorize about motive." Gideon said.
"Then where do we start?" Greenaway asked.
"From the beginning. What do we know about bombers?" Jason asked.
"Mostly male, loners, history of criminal activity. About 50% of all bombings are actually a product of vandalism."
"And more often than not, bombers end up accidentally blowing themselves up, so the first suspects you always look for in the bombing case are the victims." Hotch added to Gideon's statistics.
"Clurman was the only male. Losing a large business deal like that could be a powerful stressor." Elle proposed.
"Well, then there's the crime scene. Clurman was the only victim who didn't get hit at his door. Why? What was different about this one?" Gideon asked.
"Well go to the crime scene of Clurman when we land." Hotch said.
...
"Before Clurman passed out, all he told cops at the time was that he saw the package sitting on the stoop outside his kitchen door." Hotch said, while we all walked around Clurman's car. "Why didn't he take it in?" Elle asked.
"Why didn't it go off until he got to his car? It's like 50 feet away." Reid added
"Joe Reese, one of Clurman's investors, was here before the bomb went off. The cops have ruled him out as a suspect, but he said he saw Clurman get in the car with the package." Hotch stated.
"So maybe Clurman wasn't receiving a bomb at all. Maybe he was on his way to delivering one." Elle suggested.
"If he drops it or tilts it, and it goes off by accident." Reid added.
"I'd like to talk to Clurman. In the meantime, let's get a warrant to search his house. Reid, come with me." Gideon said as he and Spencer left.
...
Elle was on the phone, getting a warrant from the judge, while Aaron and I were standing outside of the house, waiting. I was eating a Cliff bar, my new addiction, while everyone was looking at me weird. If I could, I would point the middle finger at them. Hotch seemed to notice, and like the dad he is, he stood in front of me, shielding me from the outsiders. I quietly thanked him and quickly finished my bar.
"Agent hotchner?" A voice said.
"Yes, sir?" Aaron replied, turning around to the voice. It was a man who was around the same height as Aaron. He was wearing a yellow shirt and white pants, which did not look good. "Detective Morrison, Palm Beach P. D. I'm the lead on the case."
"Nice to meet you. This is agents Greenaway and Harita. Agents Reid and Gideon are at the hospital. I think you met agent Jareau at the station house."
"Oh, yeah, she's taken over the place."
"She does that." Elle remarked.
"ATF hasn't found any hard evidence yet, just some kitchen timers, tape recorders, and electrical switches." Hotch said.
"Yeah It is amazing how many household items count as potential bomb-making materials." Detective Morrison replied.
"Hello? Excuse me!" A lady with red hair and a pink shirt appeared.
"Mrs. Clurman." Detective Morrison muttered.
"What's going on here?"
"Mrs. Clurman, my name is special agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI. What are you doing in my house? There's a copy of the warrant on the table. I know that this is hard to believe, but we just need to cover all of our bases. We need to make sure that your husband was not involved in any way." Aaron answered.
"Involved? My husband's in the hospital with his leg blown off. What are you talking about?!" Mrs. Clurman exclaimed.
"Mrs. Clurman, there are some questions that your husband needs to answer, and the sooner that we talk to him and clear him, then the sooner we can find whoever's responsible." Elle reassured.
"Agent Hotchner?" A guy from the ATF called out. "We've got something." We followed him into a room, and it was a box filled with wires, metal stuff, and a booklet called 'The Anarchist's Companion'. "We found this buried on the back of that shelf."
"Mrs. Clurman, do you know anything about this?" Hotch asked.
...
"Hey Morgs, what you got?" We were back at the police station, after finding out that Mr. Clumerman is innocent, their 12 year old nephew may have some involvement, and Mrs. Clumerman had no idea that the stuff was in the box. Morgan called me right as I entered the station.
"Hey Harots, I might know who built the bombs." He said solemnly.
"Well, you don't sound too happy. Name?" Morgan sighed.
"Adrian Bale."
"Holy fuck sticks."
"Yeah. I sent you an email of the bombs". I sighed.
"I'll go tell the team." I hung up and gathered the others. I grabbed another Clif bar and took a bite. I opened my laptop and popped up the picture of the bombs.
"So, Morgan e-mailed these over. The three on the left are the bombs from yesterday. The one on the right's from the evidence room at Quantico." I explained.
"They are all identical. They are made with steel reinforcement rods." Reid said.
"Adrian bale." Gideon said as I nodded.
"Who?" Detective Morrison asked.
"He held our agents in a standoff in Boston last year. He took out 6 agents and a hostage with one of his bombs." Hotch explained.
"So you're thinking he's behind this?" Greenaway asked.
"Possibly, but he's in prison. He's got kind of a cult following, almost like manson. It could just be a copycat." Spencer suggested.
"There's one way to find out. Let's put the screws to this guy." Detective Morrison said.
"No, no, no." Gideon protested. "Bale's too smart. If we want information from him, we have to handle him carefully. Even then you have to assume that road will lead nowhere."
"You're saying the connection to Bale doesn't help us at all?" Detective Morrison intertwined. "No. I'm just saying let us handle Bale."
"Look, we just heard from local texas P. D. You were right about Clurman's nephew. He admitted the bomb stuff was his, which is great for the Clurmans, but it leaves us with zero suspects. So what do you suggest my men do now?"
"Proceed from the profile." Gideon said.
"I didn't know we had a profile."
"We do now." I say, as we all walked out of the room and gathered all of the other police officers.
"We're dealing with a bomber. We're talking about someone who's non-confrontational. If you bumped into him in a cafe, he'd apologize. Even if it wasn't his fault." Gideon delivered.
"We would classify this bomber as highly organized, based on the meticulous design of his bombs. It means above average intelligence. He probably has a skilled job, a trade, one that allows him to work alone. That's how he was able to make a sophisticated device without raising suspicion. Furniture maker, jeweler, et cetera." Hotch added, as Reid, Elle, and I watched with the other officers.
"Background in explosives?" Detective Morrison questioned.
"No, not necessarily. You're thinking about a type who likes to blow things up. Gives them an emotional or sexual release. That's secondary." Gideon replied.
"Then what's this guy doing?" A police officer asked.
"Murdering. Bombs-just weapons. And these attacks, they are not random." Gideon answered. "Well, how do you know that?" ANother officer asked.
"The process of elimination. We know bombers fall into a discreet number of categories according to motive. There's the terrorist whose aim is to spread fear. We'd expect him to strike in a populous area like a subway. There's the politically motivated bomber. He makes a statement by choosing a symbolic target like an abortion clinic. Then there's our unsub. He made bombs designed to kill and he chose his victims specifically by placing the bombs at their stoops. That tells us he has a direct motive. Statistically he bombs for profit or to conceal a crime. And it tells us how we're going to find him, through the people he killed." Hotch added.
"Somewhere among the three victims there is a direct motive. Keep digging." Gideon stated.
"Thanks. Any questions, we'll be around." Hotch said.
"You'll be around. I'll be in prison. Somebody's got to talk to Bale. Harita, come with me, he seemed to have a liking for you last time." Gideon said as he walked off. I groaned.
"Seriously, men really don't get what 'I have a girlfriend' means. Idiots." I mutter.
...
Atlanta, Georgia. What a nice place. The weather was also nice, sunny with a little breeze. The breeze slightly blew my hair, which was in a high ponytail. It complimented my usual black framed glasses, magenta shirt, black pants, and magenta low-cut Converse. Along with my Clif bar addiction, I guess you could say I have a Converse addiction too. I do have the whole rainbow of all kinds of Converses. Like I have said before, me and fancy don't go together. Reid came with us too, he just waited outside of the room.
"You know why we're here?" Gideon asked Bale a few minutes after we got into the room.
"Well, I was going to assume that pretty lady over there was going to tell me she wants me."
"Never in a million years." I snarled.
"But this is a different circumstance. This guy in Palm Beach, right? The palm beach bomber. Somebody's got to give him a better name."
"He uses your bombs, your designs." Gideon stated.
"Well, he should be careful. Those things are dangerous."
"Adrian, you can't fool us. If you're involved in this in any way and you do not help us, I will make your life even worse than it is now."
"Oh, but no, actually, I can fool you because I fooled you before. And now there's another me out there, watching, waiting." Adrian taunted.
"You were more ruthless than I expected. If you hadn't pushed that button, you might've had a chance at parole someday." Gideon said as he sat down in the chair. I walked over and stood behind him.
"Yeah. You know, I've thought a lot about that day, and there's one thing I still can't understand. You trusted me. Why?" Bale asked.
"I never trusted you." Gideon replied.
"You listened to me."
"I made an error. I calculated you wouldn't do it, and you did. Whatever you think, I'm gonna walk outta here, and you never will."
"Here's what I think." Bale remarked. "Sending those agents into that warehouse, it just doesn't make sense. I mean, I've read your books. I had all those things, what did you call it? Um... a homicidal triad. I even came from a broken family, classic sociopath, so when I had the chance to kill 6 agents plus a hostage, I mean, just because I gave myself up doesn't mean that I was finished with those people. I still had the remote. You, both of you should've known that. And the emotional release I would feel by pressing that button, well, that was just a little too overwhelming to pass up. Why didn't you search me before sending those agents in? Why didn't you do your job, agent Gideon?" For once, I had nothing to say. I'm surprised that Gideon was still calm. Gideon stood from his chair and we walked out of the room.
"Bale might be part of this, but he's not in control. If he were, he would've taunted me with specifics." Gideon said to Hotch on the phone. Reid handed me another Clif bar and I thanked him.
"So what's our next move?" Hotch asked.
"I let Bale know the unsub's using his designs. If Bale wasn't part of it before, he'll sure want to be part of it now."
"I'm gonna stay behind and monitor his mail, calls, visitors, any contact that he has with the outside world." Reid said.
"I'll help you." I said.
"Good. Even if he doesn't know the unsub, he may want to try to contact him." GIdeon said as he went through the door.
...
"Office of supreme genius puzzle solver. Do you have a riddle for me?" Garcia said through the phone.
"Harita and I found out Bale has been accessing the internet by getting around a fire wall that's set up on a prison library computer." Reid said.
"The guy even has an e-mail address." I added.
"Wow. Sneaky bastard." Garica replied.
"Yeah. He's headed for the library right now, maybe to contact the unsub. Is there a way to possibly monitor his keystrokes while he's online?" Reid asked.
"I can send him a virus, but he'll have to open the email for it to work." Garcia answered.
"Let's do it."
"What do you want in the subject line?"
"Let's think. Something that'll make him open it."
"Yeah. He's impotent. Something that'll make him feel in control." I added.
"I got something." Garica said. "Now this guy's number. He's visited 6 p0rn sites in the past half hour."
"Anything else?" Reid questioned.
"Hold on, he's posting to a message board. ' .' Looks like some sort of site for bomb enthusiasts. 'To all my friends out there, beware. They are onto you.'"
"Garcia, pile up the names of everyone who's been on that message board in the past month." I said.
…
"David Walker was a forger not a bomber." Reid said. We were still in Georgia.
"Was?" I asked.
"Yeah, he died. He put a bomb on a person, Elle and Hotch found out it was Walker, found him, got him surrounded, realized he had a bomb and they ran."
"Great. Wait, please don't tell me it is what I'm thinking."
"If it is that I got you another iced coffee and Clif bar, yes, if it is that we have to take Bale with us, also yes." I groaned.
"Thanks for the food anyway." I took the coffee and Clif bar from him as I prepared myself for a long flight.
...
"How about we start with a transfer." I said, a bit seductively, just to get answers. We move Bale, temporarily, to the police station. We were in one of the interrogation rooms, Hotch Gideon, and I were trying to negotiate him. "You're obviously in a high security facility now. We can get you medium.
"No. I want out of prison. A mental facility." Bale responded.
"You're asking for something we wouldn't give a bank robber. There are minimum security prisons-"
"I don't care. I want to be able to talk to people who aren't prisoners. I want to have access to people, things, the world. I want to connect again." Bale said, interrupting Hotch.
"All right."
One more thing, without which there is no deal."
"What is it?" Gideon asked.
"I want you to confess. I want you to admit that I beat you in Boston and I outsmarted you." I shook my head. "I want you to apologize to the families of those 6 victims you got killed. And I want it all in writing."
"Jason. That's enough." Hotch said.
"If I do this, you'll tell me how to defuse the bomb?" Jason confirmed.
"Only if you do this."
"How do I know you won't lie to me?"
"It's all in writing, Agent Gideon. If my client refuses to give you the information or if he gives you information he knows to be untruthful, the deal is void." Bale's attorney said.
"Paper, pen." Gideon asked as I got them for him. I sighed. 2 minutes it took for him to write it.
"I wanna hear it." Bale said.
"It was a hostage situation-"
"No. Don't read it. Say it." I looked at Hotch and gave him my 'When-can-I-beat-him-up' face. He responded with a 'I-would-join-you-if-I-could' face, which is his normal, stern face.
"It was a hostage situation." Jason started. "I negotiated with Bale. He agreed to give himself up. He came out of the warehouse peacefully. I gave the ok to send 6 of my agents in, and they never came out. It was a mistake. It was my mistake. I was... I was outfoxed by Mr. Bale. By you. I sincerely regret having made the decision to send those agents in that day. And I sincerely regret and apologize to the families of all those who died that day."
"4 more minutes." Hotch warned.
We got out, and stood around the man who had the bomb on him, who was put in some sort of cage. It was Hotch, Elle, Bale, his attorney, Gideon, the bomb expert man, the man with the bomb, and I inside of the station.
"Ok. I've isolated the wires connected to the actual device. We've got one shot at this. It's either the blue wire or the red wire."
"Which do we cut, Bale? Red or blue?" Gideon asked.
"Red."
"You know if you're lying, this thing goes boom, you get nothing, right?"
"Yes."
"If we cut the red, it's over. You get to spend your time in a cushy asylum, bushes, trees, visits, nurses and we get this man out of here alive." I said.
"I don't see how I could be any clearer."
"17 seconds." Bomb expert replied.
"Red wire, right?" Gideon asked.
"Yes."
"Cut the blue." Jason said into the walkie-talkie
"Are you sure?" Bomb expert asked.
"It is definitely blue." I confirmed.
"All right." Bomb expert cut the blue wire, with 3 seconds left, the bomb timer stopped. I let out a sigh of relief and took deep breaths to slow down my racing heart. Hotch grabbed Bale and took him away. I would have done it, which I normally do, but I don't wanna touch a guy who has an obsession with me, more over a criminal.
"How'd you know?" Elle asked.
"He told us. He said given the opportunity of pressing that button, he'd have no choice. All I did was take his word for it." Gideon replied.
…
"Hey, how was your flight?" I said into my phone as we boarded the jet.
"It was great. How was the case and what was it?" My girlfriend asked, on the other side of the line.
"This guy was killing people with bombs. He was a coin trader, but he sold fake coins. Once the clients found out, bam dead. We got the guy in the end." I said as I put my stuff away and sat down on my seat that I usually sat it. My seat was in the back, and usually Derek would sit in front of me, but he wasn't here. So instead, Reid sat in front to accompany me. He got out a deck of cards and started shuffling them.
"There is something else you're not telling me." My girlfriend said. I sighed.
"You're so smart. Sometimes I think you could be a profiler."
"I don't think my fans would like that."
"Yeah, your fans might kill you before you even try to." We both laughed.
"Okay, now tell me."
"Well, the bombs were the same bombs used by Bale." I whispered into my phone.
"Isn't he the same guy who-"
"Yeah." I said as I shook my head.
"Hey, I have an idea, let's go out for dinner. You pick."
"Really." I exclaimed.
"Yeah, you had a tough case."
"Alright, but you know I'm bad at picking."
"Well, you do have 3 hours."
"Right yeah. I got to go, but I love you."
"Love you back. Bye!"
"Bye!" I hung up and put my phone in my bag. I grabbed my bag of grapes and started eating a few as Reid delt out the cards.
"Who was that." Spencer asked.
"My girlfriend."
"Cool. So poker."
"Oh, you're on."
I feel like the whole fandom forgot about Bale. I mean, he was only talked about for a few episodes, but still.
Toodles,
HernameisBurrito