Chapter 9

Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in.
-Shannon L. Alder

July 10, 2014

"Ok," said Garcia. "I think I finally have something here, or at least some connections.

Jack Finch was the alias used when JJ's alarm was serviced, and was also the alias used for the person who installed your original alarm in DC, Emily. I had to spend an excruciating amount of time listening to your old apartment manager yammer on about her cats before she finally pulled that file for me. Just so you all know, Chester is finally using the litter box.

Jamie Kincaid installed Hotch's alarm. A Jamie Kincaid also flew to London about a week before you did, Emily, and installed the alarm at your flat.

One Charles Murry installed my alarm. It's a relatively common name, but it's spelled without an "A". That makes it slightly less common. And a man by the same name flew to Scotland two days before your conference last October.

So there you have it. I'm reasonably certain our unsub is the same man who used those three aliases: Jack Finch, Jamie Kincaid and Charles Murry."

Garcia looked up and saw Emily sitting there, stunned and pale. "Oh my God, Em," said Derek.

"What?" asked JJ.

"Those are characters in Emily's three favorite childhood books. To Kill a Mockingbird, A Wrinkle in Time, and From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."

Derek stood up and walked to squat in front of Emily. "Em, who knew about those books besides me?"

Emily stared at Derek for a few seconds, then whispered, "Jacob."

"Who's Jacob?" asked Hotch.

Emily shook her head, trying to clear it. "Jacob Hawthorne. He was my cousin. His mother was killed in a car accident and he came to live with us when we were in Pakistan. I was about five, and Jacob was fourteen. He was a genius who had been homeschooled all of his life and didn't have much of a childhood. He was already massive and muscular when I met him. He was part playmate for me, part tutor, part bodyguard and part brother. We were inseparable until I was twelve, when one morning I woke up and he was gone. He introduced me to those books. He called me Scout and I called him Jem, from To Kill a Mockingbird. He was the one warm part in my otherwise very cold upbringing, Derek. Jacob Hawthorne would never do this."

"Emily," said Hotch softly, "There's a strong possibility that he did do this. The aliases are too convenient. How would this unsub know about characters from your favorite books when you were a child?"

Garcia had been typing while they were talking. These alias passports have been used since the mid-80s and he got around to some pretty questionable places. South Korea, a lot of trips to Mexico, South Africa, Cuba, Columbia…He's got to have many more aliases out there. You don't just use the same three for that long."

"Garcia, can you pull a passport photo?" asked Rossi.

"I've already broken eleventy-billion laws today, so what's one more? Passport photos are going to be hard. I can get in for maybe a minute without the big guns descending upon us. Let me see."

"Emily, how come you never told me about Jacob?" asked Derek.

Emily reached out and grabbed his hand. "My childhood is a field of land mines. I've been working through it in therapy, but I've never talked details about it with anyone until just this past year. I'm just used to not talking about it. I told you it was very unpleasant with little affection, and that is an understatement, but sharing details is hard for me."

They waited quietly while Garcia typed. "No you don't, you little bastard," she mumbled. "Come to Mama, Mr. Hawthorne. Ok got one, now hang on while I get out of here and cover my tracks," Garcia murmured.

"Sometimes I think she's more deadly than all of us put together," said Rossi.

"You got that right," Garcia said. "OK. This one was taken five years ago and I'm pretty certain he's the man who installed my alarm." She turned her laptop around.

Morgan stood up and took a look. "I'm pretty sure this is the man who worked on my alarm, too." He unplugged the laptop and carried it to Emily. "Em," he said softly, "is this Jacob?"

Emily looked at the computer and touched the face she saw there. "He's obviously much older than when I last saw him," she whispered, "but that's him."

"Why did he leave, Emily?" Asked JJ. Then more quietly, "Did he ever do anything that would cause you to question his behavior? Was he ever inappropriate with you?"

"No," she hissed vehemently.

"Emily," said Rossi, "You know how the mind works sometimes, and what it can bury to protect itself."

"No," said Emily again. "All I can think of when I think of him is an immense amount of love and trust. One morning he was just gone, and I never heard from him again. I tried searching for him several times, but could never find him."

"Can you go back, Em? Can you go back to the last time you saw him?"

Emily thought for a few moments and nodded. "Ok." She looked around the room and caught JJ's eye. She trusted JJ to do this, and her voice would calm her. "JJ? Can you do this?"

JJ stood up and pulled a chair over in front of Emily. She sat down and gave Emily's knee a gentle squeeze. "You know how this works. Relax and close your eyes and go back to that day."

Emily closed her eyes and conjured up the memories she buried so long ago.

"Where are you Emily?" asked JJ.

"I'm in my bedroom at our new apartment in Italy. It's my first day at my new school."

"That's good. What do you hear?"

"Bells from a church. It's five o'clock." Emily tilts her head to the left. "My window is open. It's hot outside."

"What do you smell?"

"Food, from the kitchen. The cook is making dinner downstairs. I run to the window and think about climbing out. Dinner is in thirty minutes and I'm not supposed to be crying."

Emily touched her cheeks while sitting in the recliner at Rossi's. "How did it get so late? My uniform is a mess and I know Mother will be mad. I look out the open window, trying to see if there is a way for me to climb down. I want to run away. If mother sees that I've been crying, she'll paddle me."

Emily turned her head to the right. "My door opens. It's Jacob."

Oh, Jacob. It was awful. The kids teased me all day. One girl kept trying to put her hand down my blouse to see if I was stuffing my bra. They threw their lunch at me. The boys tripped me. It's almost dinnertime and Mother will be furious about my blouse and about me crying.

"Jacob came and sat next me and hugged me."

I'm so sorry, Scout. Let's get you cleaned up. There's plenty of time before dinner.

"Jacob brought me to the bathroom. He washed my bloody knees and gave me a wet cloth for my face. He went back in my room and brought me a clean blouse, then left while I changed. When I came out of the bathroom, Jacob bent down in front of me.

Remember this, Scout: You are spectacular. When people see you, they know that. People who know they can't hold a candle to you are going to say and do harmful things. It will get better when you're older and you can get away from this place. This is just your journey right now, and you have to go through it. In a few years, you'll have a lifetime of happiness in front of you, I promise.

Emily gasped and looked to the side again. "My mother is in the doorway."

Jacob, the girl doesn't need you to coddle her.

She had a hard day, Mrs. Prentiss.

"My mother is furious. You don't talk back to her. Her lips are in a thin line and her eyes are narrow. She rushes in and grabs me by my hair, throwing me to the ground and away from Jacob."

No girl ever rode to the top on a mountain of tears, Jacob! She needs to get over it. Stop crying, Emily! No one is worth your tears. People are cruel and the sooner you learn to accept that, the better off you'll be!

"My mother grabs Jacob by his collar while she yells at me. Jacob is angry. He's had enough with my mother."

Emily's special. She'll never be cold like you!

"Jacob is reaching out his hand to me. My mother yells for the house staff. Two security men show up and help her drag Jacob from the room. Jacob shouts, Remember what I said, Scout. I hear my door close and the outside lock click. I hear them struggle, and then there is silence. A few minutes later, I hear footsteps. My mother is back. She unlocks the door. She has the paddle in her hand."

You have 10 minutes to get yourself together, Emily.

"She waves the paddle at me, then closes the door again. Jacob isn't at dinner, and I never see him again."

JJ inhaled, realizing she'd been holding her breath. "Ok, Emily," she said softly, "We're can stop now." The BAU team sat in shock. JJ, Penelope, Reid and Morgan had tears in their eyes; Rossi and Hotch didn't look that far behind. Emily sat in her chair with tears falling down her face. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. "I told you. Jacob was the only good thing about my childhood," said Emily sadly. "He would never do this."

Derek stood up and put his hand on Emily's cheek. "The facts, though, Em, point to him."

Emily brushed the tears from her cheek, stood up and went to the kitchen. She started laying out the pictures in date order again. The others followed and reached in to help. "These tell a story. They could ruin my career, but the story isn't heinous; the pictures could have been much worse."

Emily turned and looked at the group. "Once you get over the shock of these pictures, what's the first thing you notice?"

"Your expressions," said JJ quietly. "No one could doubt how you feel about each other."

"Right," said Emily. "You don't see the sex, you see the expressions. And like Garcia said, it sounds like he must have dozens more aliases, so why use these three only for me. He wants me to find him, but what's he trying to say?"

"One scenario is of an unsub who is a sexual sadist who is obsessed with you, Emily, and that he's not trying to say anything. He held back the more graphic pictures for himself, and maybe that just is the way you and Morgan always look at each other." said Hotch.

"And the other scenario is a total fucking mystery," said Rossi. "There are too any inconsistencies to come up with a possible second scenario. If he's not sadistically obsessed with Emily, then what?"

"We need an address, Garcia," said Hotch.

"I'm trying. He's really, really good."