I'm being very cruel with this chapter ;) I was going to continue but I really liked where this ended. I thought carrying on would ruin the suspense a little. It's slow moving I know, but I love writing dialogue so can sometimes be a little caught up in that. Hope the characterisation is working for you. Next chapter will heavily feature Reid and we will find out exactly what is going on! Thank you so much for all of the lovely reviews again. Please keep R&Ring! They make me smile :) And well done to those of you who guessed the plot! You suspicious minds, you!
"Garcia." Morgan and Rossi rushed into her office, she was sat round the table. JJ and Prentiss were also sat with her, an empty tin, which had once contained cookies, sat in the middle.
"Sorry sugar, you're too late. My wonderful creations have been devoured." She smiled at Morgan teasingly. JJ and Prentiss shared an amused look. Suddenly sensing that Morgan and Rossi were not taking the joke, her face turned serious. "What's wrong?"
"We need you to check something for us. Jason Turner's background." Rossi steam-rollered in. "I want everything on him, if he took a dump when he was 7 – I wanna know about it!"
Garcia's mouth dropped open. JJ and Prentiss were suddenly very curious.
"Why?" Prentiss asked.
"I can't, sir." Garcia said quickly and quietly.
"Why not?" Rossi asked, forcefully.
"Because he's my friend – have you any idea the sort of information I can find out about people?" She looked to Morgan remembering her research into his life and the trouble it caused, he did not break her gaze. "It's an intrusion of privacy."
"Why do you want information on Jason Turner?" JJ asked, still confused.
Morgan moved and knelt down at Garcia's side, he put a hand on her arm. He spoke softly.
"Look, baby girl. I know it's hard. And I know you hate doing it."
"I do." She answered, in a child-like manner.
"But there is a chance that Reid might be in danger and Jason might be the one that's going to hurt him."
"What?" JJ and Prentiss exclaimed. Rossi gained their eye contact and shook his head. He clearly wanted to discuss the details after. They both silenced, trusting the judgement of their older more experienced colleague.
"No, no – Morgan, Jason wouldn't do that. I've told you, he's a good guy." Garcia spoke softly but quickly. "He's just a normal person. He likes gaming, he loves his job, he socialises, he's happy-"
"Please, baby girl." Morgan cut in gently. "If there's nothing suspicious then we'll know we were wrong."
"But then it'll be too late. All of his past mistakes will be etched in my memory forever." She frowned. Thinking of the few times she has had to look into one of her colleague's pasts, it rarely ended well.
Rossi looked to her now, his eyes wide and pleading. He was uncharacteristically gentle. Garcia appreciated this.
"Please."
Garcia stared up at him for a couple of moments, then let out a sigh. Her gaze resigned itself to the fact that yet again, she was going to explore a friend's personal life. She got up moodily and moved to her swivvle chair by her computer.
"Not everyone is an unsub." She muttered.
The others chose to ignore this comment. They knew it was hard for Garcia to cope with the idea that people she knew may be capable of committing crimes against others. It was part of why they loved her, she kept them grounded. Reminded them that some people can be trusted.
Morgan and Rossi paid little attention to JJ and Prentiss who were hovering behind them, trying to get a glimpse of what it was that they were looking for. Then leaned in slightly next to Garcia, ready to help her with the search.
"Right, got him. Jason Turner, 40 years old – wow, 40? He told me he was 36! The little liar." Garcia said, amused.
"See, there are some perks to this whole snooping thing." Rossi said, shooting a glance at Morgan who merely smiled.
"Right, he was employed by the FBI 10 years ago. He worked in the cyber attacks division for 8 years at headquarters in D.C. Then he was transferred over to here 2 years ago."
"Any reason given for the transfer?" Rossi asked.
"Recommendation from the cyber attacks unit and interest from him to come here it seems."
"He's been here two years? How is it I've never noticed him?" Morgan questioned in astonishment.
"Know what you mean." JJ added. It seemed that most of the team, aside from Garcia had gone those 2 years without ever even laying eyes on the man. And if they had, they didn't know it.
"He's a quiet guy. He flies under the radar a lot." Garcia said in his defense.
"How about his past Garcia? Any previous convictions?" She scrolled down the pages of information on her friend.
"No sweetie, zip." Suddenly her gaze hovered over a suspicious looking file. "Wait – this might be something." She said thoughtfully.
"What is it?" Morgan asked.
"It's sealed. Oh, I hate sealed files!" She moaned like a child.
"Well unseal it." Rossi ordered.
"But, sir – anything could be in this file. And I mean anything. Something so personal that he would never tell anyone in the whole world."
"That's generally the point of them being sealed." Rossi said sarcastically.
Morgan put a hand on her shoulder.
"Baby girl, think of Reid. If Jason is planning something bad, and we don't know about it, Reid's in big trouble. It's a small price to pay to possibly save his life."
She looked at Morgan in distress, she knew to trust her team and they were rarely wrong. This is what made this all the more hard.
"Save his life?" Her voice shook.
Now Morgan looked her in the eyes.
"Yes, baby girl. If we're right about this, then we've gotta move fast. He's in a lot of danger."
"Oh god." Prentiss sighed in the background, exasperated.
"What are you waiting for?" JJ snapped impatiently.
"Okay, okay!" Penelope started typing frantically, she sometimes cursed under her breath as various attempts were unsuccessful. After about a minute of solid typing, it looked as though she may have something. "Bingo! It's unsealed." Taking a deep breath she opened it. "I can't look." She closed her eyes.
Morgan leaned in.
"It's a criminal record." He stated. "Penelope, I need your help here."
Huffing, she opened her eyes.
"Right, what do you need?"
"Any evidence of crimes against others." Morgan stared hard at the screen. It didn't make sense to him like it made sense to Garcia.
"He has a juvie record."
"What for?" Rossi questioned.
"Pick pocketing. He has literally hundreds of cautions and one conviction. He went to juvie for a month."
Morgan and Rossi looked to each other. Sleight of hand.
"Anything else, baby girl?"
"I'm looking, I'm looking." Garcia answered, slightly impatiently. "Oh no." Her face dropped.
Morgan tensed.
"What? What is it?"
"He- he, was charged with stalking and um, sexual assault when he was 25. The charges were dropped when the evidence was found to be only circumstantial."
Quickly recovering, Rossi spoke.
"What's the betting that his victim was a man?"
Garcia typed again.
"Yeah," she spoke quietly. "Yeah, an 18 year old, Stephen Thompson. He took a restraining order out against him two months before the charges were brought. Oh my god. How do people like that even get into the FBI?"
"He wasn't convicted." Spoke Rossi plainly. "In the eyes of the FBI, he's nothing but a petty thief. Or that's how they'll argue it."
"Rossi, this all fits." Morgan was staring at the screen in shock. "The pick pocketing, the stalking."
He was almost in a trance, he couldn't take his eyes off the words 'sexual assault'. His heart was pounding in his chest.
"I'll get Hotch." Prentiss said quickly. Racing out of the room.
"Hotch sent him home. Both of them. He knows that you had your suspicions, time was ticking for him. He knew you were closing in. With Reid suspended, there's nothing standing in his way now Rossi... We've gotta get over there." Morgan was speaking quickly, he was obviously terrified for his best friend.
"What are we waiting for?" JJ's voice was laced with panic.
"What's going on?" Hotch entered the room. His face deeply serious. Prentiss had obviously given him a quick brief.
"Reid's in trouble. We believe Jason Turner is obsessed with him." Rossi spoke strongly.
"All of this has been him Hotch." Morgan spoke, his eyes glazing over slightly with tears. "He's made Reid think he's been going crazy."
"Where's your proof, Morgan?" Hotch said, slightly frustrated. Not quite believing that the whole team were also being taken in by their fears.
"Hotch, the guy's got a history of pick pocketing. Don't you think it's just a bit of a coincidence that stuff kept going missing and then being replaced as if it had just magically reappeared? A guy like him could do that."
"That doesn't prove anything and you know it, Derek." Hotch spoke firmly. He knew the team didn't want to lose Reid. They were almost as scared as the young man himself. But accusing others was not the way to go about it.
"Hotch." Morgan spoke slowly and carefully. Taking care to put the strength behind the words that he felt they required. "Jason Turner was charged with stalking and sexual assault when he was 25 years old. The charges were then dropped."
Hotch's face tensed slightly. Now this was cause for concern.
"Oh my god." Garcia gasped. The team turned in her direction. They saw a picture of a young man who looked just like Reid. Baby-faced, longish dark blonde hair, very slim. He was dressed more fashionably, but it was unmistakeable. The similarities were there. The team stared wide eyed at the picture of Turner's victim. Hotch's stomach did a little flip.
"Let's go." He commanded.