Author's Notes: Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Here's Chapter Three! Enjoy! Shout out to the lovely Quilter1993 for giving me an idea in particular that I managed to squeeze in at the last minute.
Chapter Three: Pleasure Is My Business Remastered
For the next few days, Annette settled in comfortably in the new house she now shared with Spencer, and with the help of Rossi, the realtor added her name to the house. She also had a new driver's license for DC and new plates for the Cadillac. They also set her up with a new desk in the bullpen at her new workplace, sitting right across from him and giving her a good view of him whenever she got a moment to gawk at him.
When they weren't sorting paperwork at their desks, they were in each other's arms, either on the couch or on their bed. Since Annette had arrived, Spencer had found himself unable to stay away from her and keep his hands off her. Not that she minded; in fact, she relished the attention whenever he had the chance to give it to her. Having never known what it was truly like to be loved by a man until reuniting with Spencer that day, it was a feeling she happily welcomed.
She slowly opened her eyes when the sun shined through the sheer fabric of the curtain one morning. Turning her head to the side, she saw Spencer sleeping soundly next to her, lying on his side with one arm underneath his pillow and the other splayed across her. She smiled at the sight, watching him sleep for a moment before he stirred, and his hazel eyes greeted her eyes as he opened them, along with a smile.
"Hey. You're finally awake," she greeted, her smile widening.
"As are you, beautiful," he greeted back, leaning forward to brush the tip of his nose against hers, making her giggle.
"There will come a day when I don't want to leave this bed and just spend the whole day in it with you," Annette said, reaching out to touch his hand that held her at her waist.
"Then how about we do that today?"
Annette's smile widened even more.
"You won't get sick of me?"
He leaned forward to give her a brief kiss on the lips.
"Never. I told you this the night you called and confided in me, and I'll say it again. I will never tire of you. Knowing I get to sleep next to you every night and wake up to your sweet face every morning is the definition of perfection to me."
Annette buried her face into her pillow, unable to help a chuckle as she felt the heat in her cheeks.
"How is it you always know what to say to me?"
"I guess I've developed an understanding of you and the way you think in the year we've been together," Spencer replied.
"How did your mom take the news of my transfer?" Annette asked.
"She's happy for you, for us, and she understands the visits not being as frequent now that you're living with me permanently," Spencer replied. "However, we should make plans to visit our respective families on a weekend. Maybe visit for a weekend every couple of weeks, like how I was visiting you on weekends when we were still in the long distance aspect of our relationship."
"Sure. I'd like that," Annette said with a nod. "At the very least, I would like time to settle in and adapt to my new surroundings and schedule first."
"Of course."
The hand on her waist moved up to caress her cheek, and when she smiled at him, he leaned forward to kiss her again. Their lips just barely touched when Spencer's phone vibrated off the side table, causing Annette to let out a small, frustrated groan of a woman who had the rug pulled out from beneath her.
"I'll find out what it is," he said, rubbing the tip of his nose against hers before rolling over and reaching for his phone. The blinking light showed he had a new text message, and he saw it was from JJ.
You and Annette need to pack a go-bag and come meet us at the airport. Looks like we'll be traveling to Dallas, Texas for a case. Hotch has already flown there for a closer look, and he'll brief us through a conference call when we get on the plane.
When Annette saw his expression fall, she knew what it meant as he turned to look at her.
"Is it a case?"
"Yeah. We're heading to Dallas," Spencer replied.
"So much for our plan of staying in bed all day," Annette said, stretching her arms up over her head.
"We'll get the chance soon enough. Let's get our go-bags together and head for the airport."
Annette hovered over the seats Spencer and Prentiss were sitting in, looking over the open case files and crime scene pictures of the case in question. Michael Stanton and Hoyt Ashford, two executives in their fifties, murdered in luxury hotels by a high-priced call girl that had to be the same age as her. She spiked the wine offered with tetramine (the shortened term for tetramethylenedisulfotetramine), a type of rat poison easily dissolved in alcohol, and their lawyers were doing everything in their power to conceal the truth from the media and public.
With the knowledge of Hoyt Ashford withdrawing ten thousand dollars every Wednesday, Annette also concluded that this call girl was listening to some kind of pillow talk with the men she's sleeping with.
"It could be possible that the victims share the same fetish," Prentiss said.
"If they were kinky in the same way, they'd go to great lengths to hide it," Morgan said. "What do you think, Annette?"
Annette did her tilt of the head as she pieced together her thoughts.
"I don't think the sex has anything to do with it, but rather than the men themselves and what they represent to her, which I think could relate to the pillow talk aspect when these men confide their secrets in her," she replied. "If there is one thing going against us, it's the living executives and their lawyers. They won't make it easy for us to sort this out if a call girl is in the mix."
When Spencer and Annette got out of the SUV, Annette was in awe of the two-story mansion they pulled up to. Per Hotch's orders, they were to meet a madam here, per the source of lawyer Ellen Daniels. After taking a moment to gaze at the yard and the exterior, Annette couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips.
"What is it?" Spencer asked.
"I suspected there was an overlap between the real estate business and the escort services," Annette replied. "Properties offer a safe and inspection-free investment involving colossal sums of cash."
"Did you know a gigolo once ran Your Brownstone?" Spencer asked, causing Annette to give him a surprised look.
"I did not know that. I'm sure that cougar was happy with her riches and her little boy toy."
"Well, hello, you two!"
The couple looked to see an older woman approaching them with a warm smile, and Annette smiled back at her, knowing this was the madam in question hiding behind a facade she was putting on for the public.
"Hi!"
"Isn't this neighborhood just fabulous, and you're gonna love this house!"
"Oh, I'm sure we will. This property had my attention the second I saw it," Annette said as she took Spencer by the hand and followed the woman inside.
"You caught on, dear. I'm impressed," the madam said, glancing over her shoulder at Annette.
"I know when someone is faking it," Annette explained. "Let's just say I learned a few tricks during my FBI career."
She escorted them to the kitchen and dining area, helping themselves to some coffee, and Annette also helped herself to a blueberry scone.
"So, you've heard about the call girl that murdered two of her clients?" Annette asked.
"Oh, yes. We have heard, and I will say this. She's terrible for business," the madam replied.
"I guess there's only so many men that can afford the service you provide," Spencer said.
"That's certainly true, but the way she's behaving, she's only hurting herself."
"Because she's killing off her clients, her most important investment?" Annette asked.
The fact she figured it out surprised the madam.
"What all do you know, honey?"
"I know enough to have an understanding," Annette replied. "The client list of an escort acts as both her income and retirement plan when she sells the list. If she was working with a service, she would have been out of a job a long time ago, as no madam would have allowed an escort to kill off the money."
She didn't miss the surprised looks Spencer and the madam gave her.
"You really know your stuff. If you weren't working with the feds, you would have been one of my favorites," the madam announced.
"The only difference is I have plenty of self-respect not to go down that path," Annette said. "I will never be promiscuous to make a living."
"Umm…"
Spencer chiming into the mix cut the conversation short.
"What about the type of work your employees do? We think this escort is killing men that make her perform a sp-specific… sexual act?"
Annette had to stifle a giggle at how tongue twisted Spencer got at the mention of sex.
"What do you have in mind, sweetie?" the madam asked.
"I-I don't know," Spencer replied.
"Want to be set up with one of my girls so you can learn?"
"Excuse me. That's my boyfriend you're talking to, ma'am," Annette said, intervening. "If you don't want to go back to work with a black eye and a broken nose, I suggest you back off."
The madam put her hands up in mock surrender, not taking the threat lightly.
"Moving on, I believe you're looking at this all wrong. Start with this question. Why would a man pay a woman five figures?"
"It's not just for sex. It's also for discretion," Annette replied. "She takes in their fears and insecurities as they talk to her, and you teach your girls how to talk and listen to these men."
"While deviancy does come with the territory, I can tell you if the sex was the reason she was killing these men, she would have snapped a long time ago and not be charging ten thousand dollars per session."
"So, it isn't how these men act in bed," Spencer said as he and Annette turned to look at each other.
"It's how they act out of it," Annette said.
"Yeah, Hotch? Great. Okay. We'll be at the station first thing in the morning."
Annette breathed out a heavy sigh as Spencer got off the phone, and she propped herself up on her elbow as he laid down next to her.
"That didn't sound good," she said.
"Another body just turned up. Joseph Fielding, an executive at Webster Industries," Spencer replied. "The UnSub killed him in his office and then rolled out in an elevator to be found."
"She wants to be noticed," Annette said. "Things are only going to get more complicated if she's trying to validate herself, and I have a bad feeling about all of this."
Spencer wrapped an arm around her shoulders, allowing her to rest on his chest.
"Try to get some sleep. We have to be fresh for tomorrow."
Annette was about ready to gag upon the knowledge of the three victims refusing to pay for alimony and child support, despite making more than enough money to do so. If it were up to her, she would have brought these men back from the dead and made them answer to their neglect before killing them again herself. A man who is cold-hearted and cold-blooded to his ex-wives and children may as well be dead.
"What are you thinking, Annette?" Prentiss asked, her voice breaking through Annette's sea of thoughts.
"I think my theory regarding the pillow talk aspect was right," Annette replied. "These men talk to her after sleeping with her, and I think when they confide about how their exes and kids are nagging them, she snaps."
"Should we summon the police for a profile?" JJ asked.
"It won't help," Hotch replied. "She lives in a completely different world than they do."
"Same goes for the public," Spencer said.
"The men who sleep with her won't admit to it," Prentiss said.
"And I can't get past the team of lawyers protecting them," JJ said.
At that, a light bulb lit up in Annette's mind.
"How about giving the profile to the lawyers? They clean up the dirty laundry. They've seen her, even if they don't realize it."
"How is this going to be different when they circle the wagons every time?" Prentiss asked.
"She knows all of their clients' secrets, putting them at risk as well," Annette replied. "Maybe one of them will spill something that will give us a clue so that we can catch her."
"I agree with Annette," Hotch said. "If we give the profile to the lawyers, we might have a better chance of catching her. JJ, call the lawyers and tell them we want to set up a meeting."
As she gave the profile alongside the team, Annette felt like she was standing on trial as an important witness being in the same room as so many powerful lawyers. Regardless, she held her own as they emphasized the goal of stopping the UnSub from killing again. The knowledge of her compromising privileged information (thanks to the men talking to her per the release they got in seeing her) could not just put their clients at risk, but their firms as well.
"Excuse me?"
One lawyer spoke up, raising her hand.
"I'm Allison Barnes. I'm a lawyer at Webster Industries, where Joseph Fielding worked."
"This is really not the time," another lawyer said.
"We'd like to hear what she has to say. Go ahead, Ms. Barnes," Hotch said.
"A while back, I looked at some paperwork Mr. Fielding filed about a penthouse downtown. I asked him what he had been using it for. He chuckled and said it was for a friend.
"Is that the kind of information you're looking for?"
"Please tell me you have an address on hand," Annette said.
Annette could hear the anger in the UnSub's voice before she fired the gun that killed Trent Rabner. Based on the evidence they found at the penthouse, Rossi theorized she's punishing men like her father, who was just like these executives and walked out on the family. Her stomach churned at the thought; men who walked out on their families like these victims didn't deserve the success they found.
"You okay there, kiddo?" Rossi asked.
His voice snapped her out of her thoughts, bringing her back to reality.
"There was something I remembered with the madam. An escort's client list acts as both her income and retirement plan. If it's a particular list, our UnSub had to have bought that list from another call girl."
"I think Annette's right. It makes sense. Only someone with money could afford it."
"I don't think the lawyers will hand it over that easily," Annette said before turning to Hotch. "Arrange a meeting with Ellen Daniels, and I'll make a couple of phone calls. We'll find the UnSub."
"The discovery of a list of men allegedly associated with the escort who killed her clients has caused a stir among Dallas companies. One man, Andrew Kane, has resigned from his position, and according to sources, was the father of the escort in question, Megan Kane, who died by suicide."
Annette chuckled as she leaned back against her seat. She and Hotch leaked the list right after Megan took her life, and they served justice as shame. The men's reputation and the reputation of the lawyers were both destroyed.
She glanced to her left at Spencer, who was sleeping in the seat next to her and holding her hand. She enjoyed the sight for a moment before Hotch and Rossi took the empty seats across from her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Dave and I wanted to say you were exceptional in your first case as a permanent member of this team," Hotch replied. "You were sharp and thought well on your feet."
Annette smiled, nodding while staring down at the table in front of her.
"What's on your mind, kiddo?" Rossi asked, his gentle tone making her look up.
"A lot has been on my mind that I haven't had time to process it all these past several months," Annette replied. "The case in Vegas I helped consult on, my temporary stay in DC during JJ's maternity leave, returning to Albuquerque for Michael Boudreaux's execution, accompanying Anya to Cleveland that led to us solving an active BAU case, and now, her official transfer to the team and move to DC.
"How does a girl take all of that in such a brief span of time?"
Hotch and Rossi exchanged a look before Rossi spoke up.
"One day at a time. The most important thing is the journey you took to get here. It wasn't easy, but you got here, and I'm looking forward to seeing your skills now that you're with us.
"Give it time. You'll have it sorted out before you know it."
Annette nodded, giving him a small smile.
"Get some sleep. You've earned it," Hotch said before he and Rossi left her alone with a sleeping Spencer. Looking at him one last time, she smiled, giving his hand a small squeeze before getting comfortable and drifting off to a much-needed slumber.
End Notes: Check back in a few days for the next chapter!
