Hey all, here is the next chapter for this fic. I'm still in a bit of a rut with this story, but don't worry, we have plenty of updates ahead of us. Also, I'd like to give a quick thank you to everyone who has followed and/or favorited this story. Your support means so much and I'm grateful to each one of you. I hope you enjoy and please remember to review! Happy reading. x
All rights go to the owners of Criminal Minds, except for my original character.
Not Like This
Chapter Twelve: Trust Your Gut
Going over the files and notes that the precinct had already collects, Jamie sat and wondered just how many officers they had working on the case. There were several notes that were the same and accounted for a similar event, but there were also notes that referred to the same event, but those notes were different. There was a mix up of perspectives and Jamie was feeling nauseous from the different handwritings.
As if things, couldn't get any worse, Vicky came back into the conference room, Giving Jamie an eager grin. "How are things going, agent?"
Jamie looked up from her papers, offering Vicky a fake smile in return. "It's going…"
"If I can help at all, and I mean with anything, just give me a call."
"I'll do that." Jamie gave another smile, holding her papers in the air. "I should really get back to this."
"Oh, of course, sorry." Vicky left Jamie, walking confidently away from the area.
Jamie couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something wrong about the way Vicky held herself. Then, Jamie saw JJ enter the room, strolling in with her papers from the interview.
"Hey, is Hotch around?" JJ asked.
"Yeah, he's speaking with some of the other officers. He should be back any second. How did the interview go?"
JJ tilted her head, giving a sympathetic look. "There's definitely something there, but I'll wait for Hotch to tell you guys everything she told me."
"Hey, what do you think of Vicky?" Jamie questioned, standing up from her seat.
"She's something else, that's for sure."
"I just-I don't know, JJ. I have a really strange vibe right now and it won't go away."
"I'm sure it's just the profiler in you. It happens to all of us." JJ tried to reassure.
"Has it ever been wrong?"
JJ opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Hotch came back into the room. "JJ, did you get anything from the interview with Carrie?"
"Yeah, actually." JJ laid down the papers she had on the table in front of all three of them. "Carrie told me that Abigail said she had one chance left to set things right…and that they were coming to get her."
"They?" Jamie questioned, clearly confused. Here, she thought they were looking for one unsub. "Are you thinking that this could be a team that's doing the killing?"
"Carrie insist that Abigail said "they" when they last spoke to each other."
"The signature of the cutting on the body is too specific." Hotch pointed out, looking down at the pictures of the victims. "And nothing about the crime scene indicated that there was a partner or multiple partners."
"There's a fear in this community." A deep voice sounded from behind the three agents. They all turned back to look, seeing Vicky walking with an older man. "It's seeping into their souls, making them submissive."
"Aren't the submissive ones inheriting the earth, preacher?" Vicky asked, clearly indulged in the words coming from the preacher.
Jamie watched as they approached her and her teammates. She eyed the papers and pictures on the table, quickly moving to close the file. That information wasn't for civilian eyes. Hotch nodded approval to Jamie, then going back to watching the strange man.
"Yes, but not until it's their time." he insisted.
"Agent Jareau, Agent Carter, SSA Hotchner, I'd like you all to meet Preacher Mills." Vicky introduced. "He runs the local ministry."
Mills shook hands with each BAU member, looking each of them intently in their eyes. "If you're all in town long enough, you should stop by and hear my word." he recommended. He pulled out a flyer from his jacket pocket, handing it to Jamie.
She reached out for it slowly, glancing at Mills. "Um, thanks." Jamie looked at the paper, front and back, her strange feeling not shying away.
"Preacher has some information he thinks might help the case." Vicky mentioned.
"It's regarding Lucas Wagner, the male victim." Mills noted.
"Okay." Hotch acknowledged. "Carter, will you interview preacher Mills here, then report back?"
"Son of a bitch." Jamie though. Never in her time at the BAU had she felt this uncomfortable during a job. This was a new feeling for her. "Right away, sir. Preacher Mills, if you'll follow me…" Jamie left her teammates behind, leading Mills back into the interview room.
They both entered the chilly room, Mills sitting down in the chair in front of Jamie. She didn't sit down, because she thought it would make her feel vulnerable.
"Okay, just begin with what you have." Jamie instructed.
Mills smiled at her, folding his hands on the table. "Do you want to know how my congregation got started, agent?"
"No, not really." Jamie told him, crossing her arms over herself as she stood in from of Mils. "That's not why we're here."
"What? Are you supposed to be the bad cop?"
Jamie shook her head. "No, but I don't take this case lightly, and you shouldn't either. So, please tell me what you know."
"Well, my congregation started as a single thought-or, actually it was more like a dream." Mills began, making Jamie refrain from rolling her eyes. "I imagined a place where people could go and hear the truth without the fear of being judged, and I didn't care whether you subscribed to the old testament or the new one. My one requirement was that there be love in their hearts."
"How noble of you…"
Mills caught onto Jamie's sarcastic tone, which he didn't seem to appreciate. "Look, I don't judge or devalue, I embrace. And when I hug my flock…they whisper.
"And what exactly do they whisper?"
"Their secrets." Mills answered, shrugging his shoulder as if this was no big deal. "They tell me about…things. The things that are killing their souls. They tell me about the affairs they've taken action in, the money they've stolen, the lascivious thought that permeate their disgusting minds."
Jamie nodded, listening to Mills in full. "Okay, so did Wagner have secrets?"
"Of course, he did. Everyone does…and let me tell you, his secrets weigh heavy on my heart." Mills' face became harder, and he seemed to become a little more defensive with his explanations. "His daddy lost his job, his mother became gravely ill. So, in order to help them out, the boy took to the streets…with the other girls, so to speak."
Jamie looked at Mills with narrowed and confused eyes. "Wait, so you're saying that Lucas was a male prostitute?"
Mills nodded his head, looking Jamie right in her eyes. "And the boy didn't discriminate with the clientele."
"But why was he arrested for soliciting?"
"Oh, because the judge for his cases liked his parent. He wanted to save their family the embarrassment." Mills let out a small, breathy laugh. "You see, agent, we all walk through life pretending to be one thing, but we're really something else entirely."
"And what does that mean?" Jamie questioned.
"It means be honest with yourself when you look into the mirror. And like the opposing sides of any fight, the truth is a magnet for all. There's no avoiding His truth or His law."
"I'll keep that in mind." Jamie told him. She moved forward, laying her hands down on the table. "So, has a little birdy told you anything about someone named Mack the Knife?"
"Nope, that name means nothing to me."
"Really? Because you seem a little…too sure. What happened to not being able to avoid His truth, Mills?"
The preacher gave no response, he just glared at Jamie, then offered her a grin.
"Well, thank you for your information. It's very helpful."
"I had to counsel Lucas' mother before. She felt terribly guilty about his death, said his wounds ran fairly deep." Mills continued.
"She's right…"
"So, can you tell me what they look like?"
Jamie tiled her head in wonder. "I can tell you that the wounds were deep, nothing more. So, please, if you hear anything else, please don't hesitate to come by."
"Of course," Mills said, standing from his seat. "If we're unable to find the answers, believe me when I tell you…He will." Mills insisted, pointing to the ceiling.
Jamie let Mills show himself out, not moving from her spot in the interview room. The girl, for the life of her, could not shake her feeling that something was wrong in that town. Shady preachers, excited police officers, what else should she expect?
Jamie composed herself, straightening her blazer. She walked out of the room, making her way back to the conference area. JJ and Hotch were still there, going over more of the files.
"How did it go?" JJ asked her.
"Hotch, I know you sad that things would be fine, but I really can't shake this feeling."
Hotch gave her a stern look. "It's part of the job, Carter. I can tell you that there's nothing to worry about."
"…but?"
"There is no 'but'. We came here to help with this job and we're taking all the help they can give us."
Jamie didn't say anything further, she just received a sympathetic smile from JJ. She walked away, retreating to another area of the station. In an empty room, she sat herself down in a chair, laying her head in her hands. Jamie was sulking, and she didn't necessarily know why. She was there to do a job and sometimes that job required you to deal with uncomfortable situations.
"Hey, what's wrong?" a familiar voice sounded from the doorway.
Jamie looked up, seeing Spencer watching her. "When did you get here?" she asked him.
"Not too long ago. You alright?"
Jamie sighed, standing from sitting. "Yeah, just…being paranoid, I guess."
"Anything I can help with?" Spencer questioned.
Jamie offered him a small smile. "I don't think so, but thank you. We should, uh, probably go back with the others." Jamie made it past Spencer, with him following behind her. As they entered the middle of the precinct, she stopped in her tracks when she spotted Mills speaking to Carrie.
"If you ever need to talk, you know my door is always open." she heard him say. Carrie was crying, Mills was softly touching her hair. It sent a chill through Jamie. "God bless, Carrie."
The team was gathered in place within the precinct. They had been going over the information they had collected, along with what they already knew from their reports.
"So, even though we've ruled out rape for the victims, the M.E. still didn't run a rape kit?" Morgan questioned.
"He claims that just because she was a hooker, it was obvious." Rossi lightly explained. "We asked him about it being torture, and he thought nothing about the clean cuts on the victims."
"And he accounts for those clean cuts as being the result of drug use." Prentiss added.
"They found drugs in the toxicology screening and autopsy?" Jamie wondered.
"Here's the thing, the M.E. didn't order any of those reports due to the fact that the cause of death was the gunshot wound to the head." Rossi told them.
"What the hell is this guy thinking?" Jamie thought out loud.
"Now that we know of Lucas Wagner being a male prostitute, the M.O. makes more sense now." Spencer spoke up. "This more than likely wasn't torture…more like consensual S&M-"
"That ended with a gunshot wound to the head." JJ finished.
"Now we have to do the work that the M.E. neglected to do." Hotch noted.
"Yep. And it's going to take up more time." Morgan threw in, tone noticeably irritated.
The whole team was clearly exhausted, from being all over the city to going back and forth from place to place. They knew it was their job, but that didn't mean they weren't allowed to be tired.
"Okay, we've all had a long day. We can all head back to the hotel, get some rest and be up early to continue this tomorrow." Hotch instructed.
The whole team complied, gathering up their files and belongings, ready to leave the precinct.
When Jamie was on her way out, she was met with Vicky standing in front of her. "Oh, excuse me."
"Everything alright, agent?" Vicky asked her.
Jamie couldn't help the small shiver that ran through her body. No matter what she did and no matter what she was told, her mind wouldn't let go of that bad feeling. There's a saying out there and it goes: "When something feels off, it is."
"Yeah, we're just headed out for the night. But we'll be back bright and early."
Vicky gave Jamie a wide smile, not helping the skeevy feeling up and down her skin. "Good to know. Goodnight, Agent Carter."
Jamie nodded her goodbye, walking a little faster than normal to get out of the precinct. She was the last one to meet the team outside, who were waiting to split up in the SUV. There were three vehicles, seven agents.
"I'll take one." Morgan stated.
"Me, too." JJ called.
"I'll get the last one. We're all going to the same place anyway." Jamie spoke out. She parted ways with her teammates. When she thought she would be the only one to ride in the SUV, she was met with the sight of Spencer approaching the passenger side.
She gave him a slightly, but playful addled look. "Not riding with the boys, Dr. Reid?"
"Do you mind?"
Jamie grinned. "Not at all. Hop in."
Both agents got into the vehicle, buckling their belts. Jamie started the car, the radio automatically playing. She reached out, turning it off, which usually wasn't like her.
When she began driving, she could see Spencer look at her from the corner of her eye. "Something catch your eye or…?"
"Are you doing okay?" he asked her.
Jamie spared a glance at the passenger, quickly looking back to the road. "Why do you ask?"
"You usually never turn the radio off and you've been kind of, I don't know, tense today."
Jamie sighed, turning on her blinker to make a right turn. "I know. Earlier today, when me, Hotch and JJ arrived to the station, we met with the Sheriff and one of his officers, right? So, we're discussing what they have on the case and the officer, her name is Vicky and she gave me a really strange feeling. I don't even know if 'strange' is the right word for it."
"I thought it was because of Mills…"
Jamie shook her head, a little dramatically. "Him, too. Especially when I had to interview him alone. Just the way he looked at me…something is not right in this town."
"I'm sure everything's going to be okay." Spencer tried to reassure.
Jamie scoffed, finally pulling into the hotel parking lot behind her other team's vehicles. "As if I haven't heard that one before…"
The SUV came to a stop next to the others and the team exited their vehicles. When they got into the building, the team had split into two groups to take different elevators. The ride to the third floor was quick and Jamie was ready to crash for the night.
She said goodnight to her teammates and made her walk down the hall to room three-o-seven. Taking out her key-card, she held it to the door, waiting for it to open. Instead of clicking and turning green for entry, it buzzed and turned red. Jamie frowned and attempted to try it again, but it buzzed and went red.
"You're holding it backwards." a voice said from behind.
Jamie looked up slightly, seeing Spencer laughing a little at her misfortune. "Well, that would explain it." She took the key-card, holding it the other way around. When it still didn't work, she looked at Spencer, slightly embarrassed.
He chuckled lightly, holding out his hand. "Here, let me try."
Jamie handed him the card and stepped aside to give him some room. When he opened it on the first try, she shook her head in amusement. "I guess you just have the magic touch." she joked.
Spencer gave her a grin, handing back her key-card. "Goodnight, Jamie."
"Goodnight, Spencer." she said back, disappearing behind the door.
Thanks for reading and please remember to review. I would really appreciate it.
If you like Supernatural, check out my other work(s): The Unforeseeable Life of Alexandra Winchester & Alexandra Winchester: One-Shots
