Chapter III
"Remember that stress doesn't come from what's going on in your life. It comes from your thoughts about what's going on in your life." ~ Andrew Bernstein
The next morning in Quantico was rather busy. Emily had a meeting with the Director that advised that the best they could was to have the BAU evaluate the situation with Strauss supervising and representing him. So another meeting was set up with the team and Strauss.
"So it's not a serial killer case.", Morgan said looking quickly through the file in front of him.
"The possibilities of a serial killer acting internationally are quite slim.", Reid commented.
"Not that we haven't seen that as well.", JJ popped into the conversation referring to Silvano's case some months ago.
"I can't see any obvious connection here...", Blake mentioned reading the file.
"Hello, my super heroes!", Garcia greeted them entering the room carrying a laptop.
"What happened to the paperless office, baby girl?", Morgan teased showing her the old-fashioned file in front of him.
"No time! Interpol is feeding me with information like crazy!", Penelope replied scrawling down the screen in front of her.
"No problem with the paper.", Reid murmured scanning the pages.
"It's meditative, isn't it?", JJ joked, looking at the younger agent with sympathy. In the meeting room when he was reading, he looked tlike the sweet genius that they all knew and not like a grieving man.
Emily was walking towards the conference room with Hotch behind her, talking on the phone.
"The facts look so serious that it's better to treat them like a proper case. And since you changed your mind we are agreeing on that. Finally.", she said sternly and she hang up.
Hotch knew that she was talking with Gloria. He had started finding Emily's way of speaking to her friend quite strange and unsettling. Till one week ago, everything was more than fine. Probably it was just the stress.
"Where's Rossi, anyway?", Morgan asked looking around.
"He's picking up Agent Paterson from the airport.", Hotch informed him.
"Ooh…", Morgan smiled with meaning.
"Let's focus on the briefing, please.", Strauss said strictly marching into the room, as well.
Hotch shook slightly his head. The case, this whole co-operation and many of the things that they didn't know about didn't look good at all...
In the meantime, Rossi and Gloria where driving to the FBI building. She had given him a quick summary of what they have to deal with. Gloria put the phone in the pocket of her jacket lying on her lap.
"So what made you change your mind and call it a case?", Dave said.
"Let's name it a politically correct move.", she answered raising her eyebrows.
It was the best. The big heads were considering it a case. Emily wanted to consider it like that and it was the best for her considering the whole situation. Gloria should influence her towards that direction, as well.
Dave looked at her and Gloria rubbed her forehead nervously under his gaze. Was she talking about politics? As far as he knew it was the very last thing that ever bothered her. She looked exhausted, too. Rossi had started worrying for that woman way too much.
"Everything alright, stella mia?", he asked concerned, his hand leaving the wheel and going to hers.
"Yeah… I'm just tired. I hate flights.", she replied casually, lying, trying unsuccessfully to hide that she flinched at his touch.
Gloria didn't even know why she flinched. Was she just hyper vigilant because of the stress? Was she shaken by what she was reading on the files in the plane? Was she feeling guilty for hiding what Clyde had told her? Or something else? Or all of them? The third one was sure. Hiding those other parts of the story was going to be difficult. She wasn't around people that she didn't trust. She was around people that offered her a second chance. And David's hand on hers was making it harder. She hated lying, mainly to him, but she had no choice. The last thing she wanted was to have her actions scrutinised, again. She reached in her other pocket for a cigarette, slipping her hand out of his instantly.
However, these little things were the ones that confused David. One day she was leaning into his touch and the other she was avoiding him. One day she was opening up, the other she was shutting down. He was getting hot and cold messages from her, thing that, even with his rather long experience with women, he couldn't explain clearly. On top of it, he didn't even know where he was standing himself. Putting the past in the equation and they had a mess. He let out a breath. Probably he was getting too old to deal with the other sex, after all.
"You know it's illegal to smoke in an FBI car.", he said half joking, half serious.
"Then don't tell anyone.", she replied, winking and lighting it.
David smiled. He was thinking that she was smoking when she picked her up. She was smoking again. She was stressed. But who wouldn't be with what was going on?
In the BAU, Hotch was informing the team and Strauss about what was going on locally.
"As some of you have probably heard there has been a rise in crime in Washington area that last couple of weeks. Four high rated gang members have been shot in the street far away from their regular areas of action, along with three protected by them low members and two prostitutes.", he explained displaying the case photos behind him on the screen.
"Different calibres and there is no information about the connection between the prostitutes and the gangs.", JJ commented stealing a glance at the sheets of paper in front of her.
"Yes. Also, a young couple of immigrants and high-dem couple of lawyers have also been murdered in their homes without apparent motive and no signs of burglary. All shot to the head, same calibre and silencer was used.", Hotch continued.
"What types of cases the lawyers were dealing with?", Blake asked.
"They were divorce lawyers mainly.", Hotch answered.
"Murders because of organised crime mainly occur in the street and not in the victims' home.", Reid gave the statistics.
"This looks like execution style to me, though.", Morgan mentioned.
"It is.", Emily started, "What alerted us was that according to a lawyers' friend, the couple was meeting regularly this man."
A picture of blonde man that looked like northern European appeared on the screen.
"There is a blue notice for him for about ten year time."
"Blue notice?", Morgan asked.
"It means that he is a person of interest for Interpol", Reid replied and Morgan wandered if there was a question that the young genius didn't have the answer to.
"Exactly.", Emily agreed.
"Who is this guy?", Blake asked.
"Not someone that a girl would like to marry.", Gloria's voice came from the door, as she got in and Rossi followed her, "Nice to see you, guys, Chief Strauss.", she greeted quickly and everybody, apart from Emily, smiled back.
Seeing her Hotch realised that, if she had appeared like that the first time he met her, he would have never gotten that bad idea, he had gotten for her mistakenly at the start. In a strict, black, pencil skirt, dark purple, silk shirt under a black suit jacket, black high heels, her red hair straitened and caught in long ponytail, she didn't look like a woman that had spent the most of her career playing the criminal with whatever this had involved. Who he was to speak, he thought. Only God knew what he was hiding under his suits and that tight tie.
"Yeah, I know, I look like a proper agent this time.", Gloria said as she passed him, guessing his thoughts.
Honestly, that was something that he hadn't missed.
"The man is Roger Peters. He had a connection with the Paradise Demons.", she carried on, putting her bag on the table to get her laptop out.
"Paradise Demons was a criminal organisation involved with gun and drug trafficking in the 90's. They were acting internationally but their base was in Northern Ireland. They were taken down by Scotland Yard in 2004.", Reid popped up.
"Who needs us since you have him?", Gloria teased him still busy with her bag, even if she was silently thanking him for giving the basic facts. She didn't want to go into details herself about that particular story. No, they had already enough. She shouldn't go down that road.
"In reality it was a co-operation between Scotland Yard and Interpol. Peters wasn't caught and he fell out of the grid till now.", Emily carried on ignoring her colleague.
"And which was his part in the organisation?", Strauss asked looking at Gloria.
The truth was that Strauss had received a rather interesting call about her a day ago. She wanted to discover more things about what exactly that woman knew and what she was doing in the international agency and not only out of professional curiosity.
"He was practically a nobody. Back then it looked like he was one of those people that do legal activities to cover the illegal ones of the organisation. He was exporting sweets, running his father's business. Even if he had been caught, I doubt that they would have been able to charge him.", Gloria answered.
"Disappearing doesn't look too innocent.", Blake mentioned.
"That's why the blue notice.", Emily said, "And after Paradise Demons were taken apart, another organisation started to get formed."
"Like in every business world, competitors found place to grow.", Rossi commented.
"And ex-Demons new 'employers'.", Gloria sat down, having her laptop finally connected.
"There are liable sources that say that Peters has connections with the new organisation.", Emily clarified. "And he is not a 'nobody' now."
"Wait a moment. This all is OK. But which is our place in all of this and what about the gang members here and the couple of immigrants?", Morgan got impatient.
"According to the current information, that Penelope, you are receiving now more detailed, the new organisation named by Interpol as NPD, New Paradise Demons, have increased the amount of 'goods' importing to the UK while they are not circulating them in the country.", Gloria gave a summary of the information she had learnt the last two days in Britain.
"And Peters here means that they probably try to make a bridge in the States.", JJ thought out loud.
"And the murders are probably connections that failed.", Hotch explained.
"And why the big alert?", Blake asked.
"The NPD deals mainly with weapons and the particular types are not just for normal use...", Gloria said. Oh yeah, they weren't at all...
"So if this all is real...", Rossi started.
"We are dealing with a criminal organisation trying to bring guns to terrorists that plan something big.", Emily finished.
"Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind." ~ John F. Kennedy
New chapter not after too long! The team and Strauss, a short glimpse on Rossi and Gloria and the facts about the case. How they are going to deal with it coming on the next chapter!
Spoiler: Clyde was right about those 'details' but they have nothing to do with the case itself. They are just going to increase the tension between the two women while they are going to solve the case unconventionally...
Any guesses are welcomed! Leave a word and tell me your opinion! ;)