Chapter 19... I would've updated earlier (really... I would have), but for some reason I couldn't log into the site. I owe some people a review... :P
Thanks, everyone for the reviews! I'm happy people are still reading this. I think I would've dropped out way sooner. I can't believe this is chapter 19 already... This is by far the longest story I've ever written. And there are more chapters to come! in awe
Oh, and little me and ash, I couldn't reply to your reviews but thanks :)
Now, without further ado... Read!
And I don't own it. Too bad. I would've started it again much earlier than September!
When they had parked the cars, they all walked to the entrance to the police station, where a single man stood.
"Aaron!" He said as soon as he caught sight of him. "Boy, you have not changed at all."
Hotch gave one of his rare smiles as he returned the hand shake. "I would hope not," he retorted, before turning serious.
"This is my team. SSA Prentiss, SSA Morgan, Doctor Reid, SSA Jareau and TA Garcia."
The man nodded, unfazed by all the abbreviations.
"This is John Newman, leading detective on the case and a fellow college graduate."
So that's how they know each other, JJ thought, eyeing the two men. She could see that the men had been good friends at one point, but were now a little uncomfortable around each other.
Her thoughts surprised her. When had she become an unofficial profiler? She guessed it was logical: she picked up some of the things she heard, but it still amazed her at times.
"Please call me John, I'm not so much into formalities," John Newman said, addressing the rest of the team. "I've got everything set up inside," he continued, and everyone followed him inside.
They actually had a large room to themselves, larger than usual. It had a coffee machine, air conditioning and a large table with chairs around it. Apparently, John Newman had wanted to give his old friend and his team nothing but the best.
He walked in as well, talking softly with Hotch as he did. JJ hadn't listened to their conversation, but she did notice how much younger Hotch looked, probably remembering the good old days.
"Well," John eventually started, pacing up and down in front of the board. "So far, twelve women have been assaulted and/or raped. We didn't connect the dots before, because they were assaults once or maybe twice a week, different targets and different times."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "However, one week ago he raped three women, and this week five. He's quickly escalating and we have no idea how, or why."
"Why did you suddenly connect all these assaults to one man?" Prentiss asked.
"The last eight victims all have one thing in common with a victim before them," John replied. "He cut off a strand of hair and he kept muttering a word… no, more a sentence while he was raping them."
"What sentence?" Reid asked quickly.
"The victims couldn't really understand… It didn't sound like English at all. It was something like 'nanpaly vangirayn'. They couldn't make any sense out of it."
Everyone looked at Emily, who was the closest they had to a linguist.
"I don't recognize it," she said, frowning. "It sounds like an Asian language, maybe Dravidian…"
"Dravidian?" Morgan asked. Emily nodded. "It's a family of languages mainly spoken in and around India," Emily clarified.
"India…" Reid said thoughtfully. He turned to John. "What do the victims say of his physical appearance?"
"That's the problem; most of them don't talk. All the information we have got from one woman, the others are keeping quiet. We know that he is white, around forty. She could remember that his eyes were brown."
"Where would a white male pick up a Dravidian language?" Reid muttered to himself.
"How did he attack them?" Hotch asked, drawing the attention away from Reid.
"He came up from behind," John answered, clenching his fists. JJ understood. Attacking from behind was cowardly. "He's strong, holds them as he drags her to wherever he's going to do it."
"Where is that?" Hotch continued the questions.
"Quiet places. Mostly parks, two were attacked in their own back yard."
Hotch nodded. "We're going to have to go over all the victims as well as talk to some of them," he told John, who nodded and pointed at the table, where a stack of papers lay. "Those are the victims that have reported."
"You suspect there are women who haven't reported this, then?" JJ asked. This was in her field. John Newman turned his attention to her, for the first time it seemed. "Maybe I could draw them forward with a press conference," she elaborated, and his face somewhat relaxed.
"In my experience, there are always women who don't go to the police because they are ashamed," he told her, and JJ nodded. She could relate perfectly to those women.
"Alright. Morgan, you and Reid go over the files. Prentiss, I want you with me to interview the latest victim. JJ, you prepare for a press conference, and Garcia, try to find-"
"- similarities between the victims," she finished for him. "Got it." She turned to John. "Is there any place I can work?"
"We have a room available," he said to her, and then he turned to JJ. "You could also work there."
Before he could continue, his cell phone rang. He picked up, listened for a moment and his face fell. "Thanks," he said eventually and broke the connection.
"We've got a new victim," he said directly to Hotch, who was thinking quickly.
"Alright, chance of plan. Morgan, you and I go to the crime scene. Emily and Reid will bring the victim here and talk to her. JJ, you can start with the press conference and Garcia, we still need similarities." He looked at John. "You coming with us?"
"Yeah, I'll just show you ladies the room," John replied, leading them out of the room.
JJ and Garcia followed him. Whenever Garcia was out in the field with them,
JJ and she stayed together quite often, being the only two agents who were no profilers. Garcia was good company, so JJ never complained.
She sat down on the chair and thought about how exactly she could convince the unknown victims to step forward. She'd done it many times before, but it required a lot of thought, using the right words and the right expressions.
Sighing, she directed her thoughts away from the press conference for the moment. Turning to Garcia, she asked: "Got anything yet?"
Garcia laughed. "I've hardly started up, so you gotta wait for now. Impatient, aren't you?" it was a rhetorical question, because she immediately turned around and continued. "Speaking of you, what have you done to my dear Derek?"
JJ flushed. "What do you mean?"
"You pretty much upset him," Garcia answered, watching her friend closely. "What did you say to him?"
"Nothing," JJ dismissed.
"That's not what he told me," Garcia said smoothly.
JJ stared at her. "He told you about it?"
"Face it girl, he and I are very close."
"Yeah, speaking about being very close. Isn't it time you make your move?" she said, desperately trying to change the subject. Now it was Garcia's turn to stare at her.
"Friends, JJ. We're just friends."
JJ grinned, even though she knew it was the truth. "Sure…"
"And don't change the subject, anyway." Garcia wheeled closer to JJ, more serious than usual. "You know that whatever it is, you can tell me, right?"
"Yeah, I know," JJ said, sensing it was useless to deny. She should've known, Morgan and Garcia were closer than anyone in their own special way.
"Should I worry, kitten?"
JJ winced at the use of the nickname. Garcia had called her that before, but in light of recent events it wasn't a pleasant word to hear.
Garcia looked at JJ, not missing the shiver. "JJ, what happened?"
"Look, it's just…" JJ trailed off. She just couldn't say it like that. "…things…" She finished lamely.
Garcia rolled her eyes. "Well, that is very clear." JJ almost grinned at Garcia's sarcasm, but didn't because she knew it would only make matters worse.
"Care to elaborate?"
Why did Garcia say the things that reminded her of everything in her past? She'd heard that sentence so often in group…
Before she could get lost in her thoughts, JJ sat up straight and answered Garcia's gaze. "It's just some things I've been thinking about lately," she told her friend brusquely. "Don't worry about it."
"I do," Garcia replied, "because-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the computer beeped. Both sets of eyes were immediately drawn to it, one relieved, one angry at the interruption.
"Seven out of twelve victims' names have popped up in cases involving prostitution," Garcia said, scanning the screen. "Them being…" she scanned the screen, "… the prostitutes."
Great, even closer to home, JJ thought sarcastically, but she didn't voice the thought. "So they were also prostitutes? Forced or for extra money?"
"Don't know, but we'd better call Hotch," Garcia replied, already busy looking into the details.
--
JJ called Hotch as Garcia's phone rang. Picking it up, she heard Morgan's sweet voice. "Hey baby, we need you to find some info on the new victim," Morgan told her, cutting to the chase.
"Give me a name," Garcia replied, ready to type.
"Kathleen McAdams," Morgan said through the phone.
"Got it," Garcia said after a short moment. "Twenty-three, single, lives with her parents, works at a supermarket." She gasped as new information popped up on the screen.
"What is it?" Morgan asked, concerned. JJ also looked at her, having hung up after Hotch didn't reply to his cell.
"We found a connection between seven, now eight, of the victims, sugar face. They were all reported in cases as prostitutes."
"What?" Morgan said sharply, taking in this new information.
"Yeah, I know," Garcia said quickly. She typed for a moment. It went too fast for JJ to understand.
"Can't find a connection for the other victims," she told Morgan.
"I need specifics about the cases," Morgan said, his voice sounding ever so impatient.
"Three women were caught as an escort, the others as street walkers," Garcia read. "They all came off with paying a fine and the promise to stop prostituting."
"Were these women poor?" Morgan asked, going into a different direction. "Did they need the money?"
"Let me see… Five women had a husband with a regular income, one had a husband confided in a wheelchair –must've been hard– and the other two weren't married," Garcia rattled off. "Looks like most of them didn't need money."
"Why would you choose to do this?" JJ muttered, thinking. Why would anyone go on the streets voluntarily, humiliating themselves like that?
Garcia threw her a strange look before turning her attention back to the screen. "That's all I've got for now, studmuffin."
"Thanks, doll," Morgan said on the other side. "Talk to you later." He hung up.
Garcia stared at the screen for a moment, absorbed in her thoughts. Then she turned back to JJ. "You're right, who would choose to do this? Maybe they were forced or something."
"I don't think anyone would do this voluntarily," JJ said, disgusted. She shook her head. "I'm going to the, uh, toilet," she told Garcia and she walked away without waiting for a reply. She needed to clear her head.
Those two strange words do mean something. I'm just not telling what. Yet.