TITLE: Criminal Minds – "Darkest Days" (A sequel to Behind the Mask)

AUTHOR: D M Harper

SUMMARY: Agent Prentiss is forced to face her secretive past when it threatens the safety of her BAU colleagues and her beloved family.

RATING: For Mature Readers.

DISCLAIMER: This story was conjured up for reading entertainment only. No money has exchanged hands or bank accounts. There is no profit gained, just fancy flights of imagination. There is no intention to infringe on the copyright of CBS Television Studios or creator Jeff Davis. This writing does feature consensual sexual interaction between two females, so if you are underage or unable to view due to restrictions in your part of the world, be gone and take my sympathy with you. If you find such material offensive, too bad, so sad, you chose to enter this web site of your own free will; hence you have no one to whine to except yourself or a parent if you are caught, so bugger off!

A/N: Please find them time to review and feed the Muse … she is a little cranky!


Chapter 18

Friday 29th April, 2011

With no communication from McCall after eleven days; Jillian took a flight out of Israel and boarded four separate planes under assumed identities before arriving in Titusville. The twins were pleased to see her as they squealed with delight and her mother gave her a strange look while scrutinising her appearance.

"Since when have you been straightening your hair and what's with the dark eyebrows?" Maureen asked as Jillian lowered herself onto the play rug spread out on the living room floor.

"I'm working an undercover case."

"Oh I see what you are up to. You are deliberately placing yourself in harm's way, aren't you?" inquired Maureen crossly.

"No, that's not it mom."

Jarrod crawled over to Jillian and cuddled into her leg. Her eyes filled with tears and she gently ran her fingers through his soft strands of fair hair.

Maureen wiped away her own tears then continued to chastise her daughter, "You're not taking care of yourself. You've lost too much weight, it's not healthy Jill."

"I'm fine and no, I am not trying to slowly starve myself to death. My children and family give me every reason to live and I've lost muscle condition simply because I stopped working out daily."

Apparently appeased by the explanation, Maureen's voice softened, "Okay, I'm glad to hear that and your father and brother can stop worrying too."

Reluctant to lie to her mother, Jillian admitted, "I've taken an unspecified amount of leave from the FBI and am working with the State Department."

Maureen had no time to respond as Grace walked into the room and offered, "I'll take the children up to bed."

"I'll help," suggested Jillian as she stood. Bundling up a near asleep Jarrod, she went to the room that had been converted into a nursery and tenderly laid her son in his crib. She pecked him on the forehead and whispered, "Rest well Little Man." She repeated the action with Samantha and when her daughter smiled up at her, an overwhelming sense of guilt washed over her.

Teardrops flowed freely when Samantha muttered, "Ma-ma."

"You've very cleaver Little Miss and I miss her too."

Clapping her tiny hands, the baby giggled then closed her eyes.

Grace rubbed Jillian's right shoulder and disclosed, "They've both been saying Gra-gra since yesterday."

"They're amazing and I detest having to leave them so often," replied Jillian while picking up a baby monitor.

"I think they understand that," sympathised Grace as the two women exited the room. "Last week Samantha was being carried past a photo of your wedding and she wailed pitifully. Jarrod joined in and it took over an hour for them to settle down."

"I'm a crap mother," bemoaned Jillian as she descended the stairs.

"I don't agree."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence and I'll try to call more often for bedtime stories."

"The children certainly do enjoy hearing your voice."

"I may not be able to phone every night, but I'll do my best."

"I'll continue to text you just before I begin reading."

"Thank you for the brilliant job you are doing Grace."

"It's a pleasure Jillian and I'm off to brew a pot of tea."

Entering the living room, Jillian joined her mother on the couch and dried her eyes.

Reaching out, Maureen gripped Jillian's left hand, "You're trying to find that despicable man, aren't you?"

"Yes I am mom and after I do; I won't be returning to Quantico."

Shock registered on the older blonde's face, "But you love working there."

Jillian took her time to tell her mother about her breakdowns then added, "Once Doyle is in custody I'll apply for a transfer to another office."

"All right honey and your family will be right here for you no matter where you go."

"I appreciate everything you and dad are doing for the twins."

"We know and I'm thoroughly enjoying playing Grandma to them."

A broad smile preceded Jillian's words "The babies are really ahead of their development stages."

"Yes I've noticed and they are so similar to you and your brother in many ways."

Jillian was comforted by that statement, "Yeah."

"Are you in danger with this assignment?"

"No, not at this stage and if something happens to me, I want you and dad to legally adopt the children. I've made the necessary amendments to my will."

"Please don't talk like that; I couldn't bear to lose you too."

"Mom, I have to take all the possibilities into consideration. All my money, investments and possessions will be endowed to Jarrod and Samantha with a provision for their care for you and dad."

"Promise me you'll do everything you can to stay alive."

"I will mom and I have excellent backup when I'm out in the field."

"Good, but that's little comfort for a concerned mother."

"Sorry, but that's just the way it is."

Jillian stayed for two weeks before receiving a call from Jennifer advising her Doyle had made contact with McCall and the call had been traced to a hotel in South Africa.

-o-

Jillian's rapid journey to Pretoria met with disappointment when she made discrete inquiries at the Sheraton Hotel. A man matching Doyle's description, but with the name of Michael Dunn had checked out the day before and left in a taxi.

Tracking down the cab driver took Jillian a further two days and she was informed the Irishman had been dropped off at a privately run airfield in Midrand.

Racing to her rented Land Rover, Jillian made the trip in less than twenty five minutes and paid the owner four thousand Rand for information pertaining to Doyle's destination. After handing over more cash, she was airborne in minutes and the Cessna Citation CJ3 was three hours out from Guinea Airport when Grace sent a coded message.

Jillian deleted the missive then called her, "Hey, how have they been?"

"Hello and extremely busy. You are on speaker and they are ready to say hello."

"Hey there my Little Ones, which book are we on?"

The twins both cried out, "Book," and Grace answered, "Baby Star."

Jillian grinned wildly then proceeded to recite several pages of Jennifer's son's favourite story before Grace stopped her, "They are asleep Jillian."

"Thank you and goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Pocketing her phone, Jillian stemmed her tears and waited for touchdown.

-o-

Jillian hit the ground running and after speaking to a group of local cab drivers parked outside the main building; she learnt Doyle had been driven to a small airfield in Conakry.

After the eight hour trip, Jillian parted with more money and was bound for Boke. She took the opportunity to sleep and re-energise before submitting a field report and e-mailing it to Shawl, Jennifer and Erin.

Once she arrived at the small airport, Jillian discovered Doyle had boarded a bus for Dakar three days earlier. She made up twenty four hours by renting an SUV off a company mechanic and driving directly to Dakar without having to make the bus stops along the way. The thirteen hour journey was hard on her physically, but she kept alert with thoughts of her family and friends.

When Jillian approached Dakar downtown, she booked into Hotel Faidherbe, took a long shower then called Jennifer with an update. Afterwards she called her parents followed by Adrian then Grace. The children were chatty and Jillian stayed on the phone for over an hour before dressing in fresh clothes and continuing her pursuit of Doyle.

After speaking with the hotel receptionist, Jillian drove to several other hotels and made inquiries. Michael Dunn had stayed two nights at the Novotel Hotel forty eight hours earlier and had only checked out that very morning. Jillian was now only ten hours behind her subject and she allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction.

Unfortunately, the celebration was short lived as the leads on Doyle's next movements went cold. Frustrated, Jillian travelled back to Titusville and spent four days with her family before attending a debriefing with Jennifer, Chief Strauss and Director Shawl.

-o-

Jillian stood in front of a map and pointed to Morocco, "If I was Doyle that would have been my next destination."

Sixty year old Shawl nodded his grey haired head, "I agree. The bastard kept to secluded airfields until Boke and my guess is that's when his available funds started to decrease. Hence the reason he switched to cheaper transportation."

Jennifer was on the same track, "I think so too and he had the option of bus or train out of Dakar."

"Precisely," chimed in Jillian. "The man didn't require extra identification for either when purchasing a ticket and if I was on the run, I'd opt for the train. It would have been easier for him to blend into a crowd and sneak past security cameras. All he needed was a hat of some description to go undetected by Facial Recognition programs. By now he has probably grown a full beard and he is smart enough not to have been out in the open on his own or look directly into a camera."

"We need to look at the footage from the train station again," suggested Erin. "And this time focus on his height and body structure rather than facial features."

Jillian flicked through several files on the SMARTboard before bringing up the recording from the fourteenth of May. The foursome scrutinised the camera views of six platforms for over two hours before Jillian froze the images.

"There, behind the two dark guys. Doyle has a grey beard, wearing a black Fedora and carrying a dark blue travel bag." She ran the Facial Recognition program and received a sixty five percent possible match. "The height and body shape are correct." She pressed play then added, "He is definitely avoiding the cameras."

Shawl stood and approached the screen, "Everything fits, so let's see were the monster went."

Four sets of eyes watched as Doyle veered off and purchased a ticket using his fake passport then walk to platform three.

Jillian stepped to the side and brought up a smaller inner screen, "He went to Portugal. We need to hack into the Lisbon station's security cameras."

Four minutes later, they were observing Doyle board a train for Paris.

"Crap, he can't be onto Emily's whereabouts, can he?" asked Jillian in a broken voice.

Jennifer gripped her forearm, "No, she moved to another location in April."

"Phew, okay then. Let's see where his next stop was."

From the Metro, Doyle exited the station and was followed to the Paris France Hotel on Rue de Turbigo. Jillian quickly found her way into the hotel's registration database and located Doyle under the Dunn name.

"He is booked in until the twenty third."

"Obviously he is meeting someone there or a cohort is sending him money," pointed out Shawl gruffly.

"Either way, I'm headed there," announced Jillian.

"I'll drive you to the airport," offered Erin as the two women exited the room hastily.

-o-

A/N: The hunt is on!