Chapter 25
Garcia made her way back through the familiar corridors, her hair bobbed as she walked with a purpose, the pink tints of hair flapped against the rim of her glasses, her elbow rested on the door handle as she pushed her way in slightly.
Emily looked at her slightly wide-eyed, two coffee cups balanced on top of each other, a brightly pink coloured satchel handing off her neck, a brink green purse under her arm. "I bring coffee and a breakfast bagel" she smiled brightly as she placed the cups on her table before opening the satchel which contained the bagel.
"Erm, aren't you meant to be" Emily mumbled as she watched on.
She couldn't help flinching when she came a little too close, but it didn't seem to register with Garcia. "You might want to eat that before it goes cold" she said giving a soft smile.
Emily nodded slightly still taken back with her antics. Garcia seemed to be busying herself around the room. "Why are you here?" Emily asked softly her voice slightly unsure.
"You need proper food and coffee inside you and plus JJ asked me to bring the laptop in for you" Garcia said in a slight shrug. "You never answered your phone last night." She pointed out as she plugged the very dead iPhone into the charger. "So I offered to come bring the laptop set you up on skype so she can talk to you" Garcia said as she made room on the table before plugging the device in.
"She's got a case, and" Emily mumbled slightly. Although even Emily knew once Garcia had something on her mind and something she had to do no amount of arguing would matter.
Garcia shrugged slightly. "That we have, but I don't have to be in for another hour and JJ doesn't need to be in the station for another hour or so."
"I" Emily sighed slightly as she looked at her brightly coloured friend "Thank you"
"Anytime" Garcia said with a smile as she hit the call button on skype before turning the laptop around.
It was as though JJ had been sat there waiting as her face filled up the screen "Hey you" she said softly.
Garcia took a deep breath as she watched Emily relax slightly, a slight smile graced her lips as she answered "Hey."
"You okay?" JJ smiled kindly, before taking a sip of coffee.
Emily nodded slightly. "Are you?"
JJ nodded "Of course, I spent most of yesterday arguing with reporters."
"You'll. I mean" again Emily stumbled over her words.
"I will be, did Garcia bring you the charger?" JJ asked changing the subject.
"Yeah, coffee and a breakfast"
JJ laughed slightly "That woman listens" she chuckled. "I've got to go soon, but ask Pen to leave the laptop, that's if she can and that way I can touch base with you."
Emily shook her head slightly. "You need to focus on the case"
JJ raised an eyebrow at her. "That I am doing, but it is also nice to be able to speak to my best friend at the end of the day" JJ winked slightly. Emily nodded and a slight smile graced her lips.
"JJ?" Garcia interrupted slightly as she moved towards the bed.
"Yep?" JJ replied as she watched Emily tense up slightly.
"I've got to head off, and I need to take the laptop, but I will call back with my laptop at lunch"
Emily looked at her puzzled slightly before she realised it was a department issued laptop. "Okay, I take it you got that message?" JJ asked. "Em, ill ring you once I'm at the station, okay?"
"Be safe" Emily said as she nodded slightly.
"Always." With a quick wave JJ cut the connection.
"I'll be back hopefully at lunch if not it will be later on." Garcia stated
"Thank you" Emily said as she finally met her gaze.
"A pleasure as always, if I can swing by sooner I will. Just answer your phone when she calls" Garcia said as she bundled the laptop back into the satchel. "Do you need me to bring anything later? Aside from the laptop" she asked.
Emily shook her head "No."
JJ made her way to the back of the station placing the tray of coffee cups onto the table as she rested the phone between her ear and shoulder. She gave a slight smile and nod at Reid as he looked around for his cup, before pulling the rest out of the tray.
"Where's Hotch and Morgan?" JJ asked as she pulled out a file.
"They are at the crime scene" he offered.
"Rossi?"
"Right behind you" he mused as JJ jumped slightly.
"What time was the body found?" JJ asked as she pulled out her pad drawing up yet another press release with was sure to be needed given that another body had been found. "I don't get it" JJ muttered as she frowned at the file.
"What don't you get?" Rossi asked as he took a grateful swig of coffee.
"Look at the victims, good jobs, and children, even though they are divorced they seem to all get along with their ex-wives." JJ shrugged slightly. "You'd think" she paused slightly. "Were the children pushed out?" JJ asked.
"Not that we know. Why?" Reid asked as he put the victim's picture on the board and the information they had gathered so far.
"Typically when parents split up, there is a lot of hate, children are always caught in the cross fire, most parents use them as pawns, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Although each child will deal with the situation differently there normally is a common feeling between them all. Abandonment. It's why most children end up in therapy. But these children all seem. Happy."
Rossi frowned slightly. "Did the latest victim have children?"
"Not that we know" Reid replied.
"The first three victims seemed to have a nice divorce."
"Not heard of a nice divorce" Rossi chuckled "Unless they were coming into a lot of money through it. That doesn't seem to be the case here."
"No one fought how everything should be split, it also looks like they sorted how much alimony to pay between themselves. The only one the judge got involved with was with the first victim" JJ commented.
"Was he not paying enough?" Rossi asked.
"Looking at this he had agreed to pay too much alimony so the judge reduced his payments." JJ said.
"I think we need to go and speak to Ms Scott again. I don't think she was fully honest with us the first time" Rossi said pulling up his phone.
"I'll see if we can talk to her this morning." JJ said as she pulled out the information. "Do you want me to make arrangements with Ms Jefferies, as well?" JJ asked.
"Yes, Reid you okay to stay here and wait for Hotch, while JJ and I go and speak to Ms Scott?" Reid nodded his response as JJ walked out the room making a phone call.
Morgan and Hotch arrived back at the station an hour later. "Where is everyone?" Morgan asked as he took as seat.
"Rossi and JJ went to speak to Ms Scott and Jefferies again." Morgan nodded "Anything helpful at the scene?" he asked.
"I wouldn't say helpful" Morgan mused.
Right what have we got so far?" Hotch asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Doctor Michel Scott looks like a general mugging but the beating says personal." Reid paused slightly. "Officer Andrew Jefferies beaten to death, lead on Michel's murder, Mike Jones lawyer with no connections to the first two victims. Our latest victim Richard Alderman local surgeon no connection has been found yet." Reid said softly.
The door to the conference room opened again this time revealing Rossi and JJ. "How did it go?" Hotch asked.
"Well we now know the connection between the first two victims" Rossi said softly as JJ took a seat near Morgan, seems they had both been living a double life."
"They were seeing each other?" Morgan asked.
"Oh no. But it was no secret that they did enjoy male company." JJ said softly.
"They both used an escort service"
"It never showed up on Garcia's search" Reid questioned.
"Oh no it won't, because everything was done in cash, they would use the phone at the casino to make the arrangements, discretion. That way no one got hurt, well in theory" JJ mumbled. "I've given Garcia the number to see if the two used the same escort"
"Did our latest two victims prefer male company?" Rossi asked.
"Richard Alderman was openly gay, single. No children, never married and no sing that he used an escort service" Morgan said firmly.
"As for Mike Jones, it's unclear, all his ex-wife will say that he was having an affair" JJ said just as her phone rang. "Hotch I've got to" he nodded as JJ's voice trailed slightly.
"The press are really giving her a hard time" Morgan said his voice full of concern.
Hotch nodded "I think we are ready to give the profile"
Morgan looked at him slightly wide eyed. "Seriously?" he asked.
"You don't think we are?"
Morgan shook his head. "Something just seems weird. We came with the ethos that it was all gang related, which it looked like. And now we find that the victims led double lives so to speak." Hotch nodded. "We have two clearly different profiles" he said firmly.
"Go on"
"The mugging says gang initiation, yet the beating says more"
"You're thinking two unsubs"
Morgan nodded. "Two make sense, one guy no matter how pumped up he his would struggle to do this much damage." Morgan said holding up the picture of Doctor Scott. "Yet his brother says he gave chase to one unsub." Morgan paused "It just, it doesn't match up" Morgan mumbled as JJ walked back through the door.
"Garcia might have just found out why Morgan." JJ said placing the phone on loud speaker. "Tell them what you told me Garcia." JJ said softly.
"Well my lovelies it seems Doctor Scott and Officer Jefferies knew each other. I have spoken to the escort services. Now they admitted that the two where clients up until nine months ago, this is where it gets a little icky" Garcia mused as she hit a couple of keys on her keyboard. "It seems they were more than just friends, I managed to get hold of security footage of them both going into the same hotel room. Where they stayed for the next twenty four hours. Now this went on for another six months." Garcia paused.
"What happened three months ago?" Reid asked
"That's the thing it is like they disappeared. No one saw them or spoke to them, I did find out that Doctor Scott had been spending an odd amount of time with his brother. Seems the two didn't necessarily get along." Garcia sighed slightly. "Whereas Officer Jefferies threw himself into work, clocked more overtime than before."
"I think we need to speak to the brother again" Morgan said as he stood up, his knuckles pushing down on the table as he lent over slightly, as though he was carrying all his weight on them.
"Have you heard aversion therapy?" Garcia asks as she sends the file over to them.
"Pardon?" Morgan said slightly taken aback.
"Remember the time you threw up after eating your favourite food and then never ever wanted to have that food again, even if that food didn't cause your vomiting? That's aversion therapy." Garcia paused slightly. "The way reparative therapists do it is to show you some hot gay porn, then make you drink ipecac. This might work, but it doesn't really "change" things; it just prevents behaviours, and in the end, all it may do is make you not want to watch gay porn. It should be noted that this also happened in A Clockwork Orange, and we all know how that worked out." Garcia mused slightly. "Anyway I've sent you over some information, also other therapy's they can have to 'cure the gay.' Also it seems this can be done at any age Garcia out." And with that she cut the call.
"I want to be shocked but" JJ shook her head as she read through the file Garcia had sent. "Just when you think you've read it all 'Equine Assisted Psychotherapy' can help turn gay people straight. Who dreams these things up" JJ muttered.
"People that are questioning their own feeling. Or their child is gay or lesbian and want to know if they did something wrong" Reid said softly.
"I wonder if his brother was helping him with his 'problem'" Morgan said using his fingers to make air quotes.
"This might be why you are feeling something is wrong" Rossi said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go and pay his brother a visit" Rossi offered.
The drive to Mr Scott's was quite. "Do you think she'll come back?" Morgan asked giving Rossi a quick glance as he spoke.
"Could go either way" Rossi said softly. "I hope she does but I also know it is too early to be thinking that she will or she won't" Rossi cast a quick glance over at Morgan.
They walked up the small pathway, Rossi tapped gently on the door. They seemed to be only waiting a few moments as the door opened. "Mr Scott?" Rossi said easily.
"Yeah"
"Agent Rossi and this is agent Morgan,"
"You're here about my brother?" he asked.
Morgan gave a slight nod, he couldn't help look him over. Unkempt, dirty, around 5ft8, medium built and smelled like he had bathed in beer. "We'd like to ask if there had been any changes in your brother in the past twelve months."
"He and his wife divorced." He gave a slight shrug. "We got close the past couple of months"
"Hadn't you always been close?" Rossi asked kindly.
He shrugged, "He wanted to change"
"Change how?" Morgan asked carefully.
"Get to know me, we had drifted"
"What can you tell us about the mugging?"
He swallowed hard as he looked away. "We walking home. Some dude asked him for money, when he got told we had no money he" he sighed sadly. "Beat him"
"You gave chase?" Morgan asked.
"Not at first, couldn't believe what I was seeing, but it was too late, I don't know how else I can help you"
They both said goodbye leaving their card with him in case he remembered anything else. "Hey beautiful" Morgan said lightly.
"I thought you forgotten me" Garcia said sounding hurt.
"Never, can you run a name for me" he asked as they got into the SUV.
"That's what I do best."
"Ronald Scott"
"Oh you thinking the brother had a hand in this?" Garcia asked as she loaded the search program.
"I don't know" Morgan said not wanting to fully voice what he was feeling. "Are you going and seeing Prentiss after?" Morgan asked carefully.
"I am. Dropping her my laptop off and might take her a cup of coffee" she paused slightly. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah everything's fine just wanted to check"
"The sooner she's out of hospital the better if you ask me" Garcia said louder than she meant.
"She can leave today if she was living with someone" Morgan commented
"Yeah but considering," she paused "You know how stubborn that woman is."
Morgan chuckled "That I do. Hit me back once you've done your search"
"Will do sweet cheeks."
A/N: I seriously think I lost a few brain cells looking into how to 'cure the gay' So please forgive me... But seriously, so glad my friends and family don't care as long as I'm happy. As I say... You are who you are and if people don't like it fuck em...