Chapter Six - Finding Larry

JJ and the rest of the BAU were sitting in front of a screen, watching the recording of the man on the news. A caption on the bottom of the screen announced his name as Larry Walton, while above it, he unleashed his vitriol against Will.

"Sally, she… she…" he struggled to say the words, clearly distraught, "she was having an affair with Will LaMontagne, a policeman here. I thought law enforcement were supposed to be good, to uphold the law, but Will…" he paused, his anger subsiding, as he tried to regain his composure. "She used to know him, back when she was a cadet, before she met me. Who knows how long it had been going on? Anyway, I'd only just found out about it, when she'd ditched me, saying she was off to Quantico to see him."

The picture switched to the reporter, listening intently, part trying to console the man and part digging for a big scoop. "So, what happened then?" she asked.

"I haven't heard from her since. No one has. Maybe this Will has run away with her, I just hope she's safe. Sally, if you're out there, please let me know you're okay." Tears were forming as he stared into the camera.

"And you're not thinking there's more to it?," asked the reporter, attempting to reignite the story in a desperate quest for viewers.

"I'm not sure what to think," Larry said, losing his composure once more. "But no one's heard from Will or Sally, and she would never just ghost me like this, even with her cheating. I hate to even contemplate it, but I think something else happened. Darker even. People don't just disappear like that. There's some kind of police cover-up; I went to the cops and was sure the guy there, Bobo, was hiding something."

The camera returned to the reporter. "And so the mystery deepens. Can we trust the people put in power to protect us, when innocent citizens like Larry Walton here seemingly cannot. We asked the police for a statement, but are still awaiting a reply. This is-"

Garcia stopped the recording, cutting off the reporter mid-sentence.

"Could any of this be true?" Spencer asked JJ.

"I don't buy it," said a skeptical Rossi.

"There's no way Will was having an affair," JJ replied with certainty, though recently she'd begun to question everything she knew about Will.

Derek got up from the table. It was time for action. "Let's go and talk to this Larry guy," he said to JJ, getting up from the table. "He's our best lead at the moment."

JJ got up and followed Derek out, hoping that she might finally find some answers.

Emily's phone zapped her out of her thoughts and back into the room. She glanced at the caller ID, it was the director. She hoped that it wasn't about Will. But really, how could it not be? She was trying to help JJ while still dealing with all the other BAU work stacking up, but they might not see it that way.

She reluctantly picked up the phone, knowing that she'd undoubtedly receive an earful from the other end. "Hello, Prentiss," she said, and that was the last thing she managed to say as the voice on the other end of the phone put her in her place.

"We've seen the news about Will LaMontagne," said the voice on the other end, "and it hasn't escaped our attention that he's married to one of your agents. We don't want the reputation of the BAU tarnished."

"It's purely a personal matter for Agent Jareau, we're not involved in any way," lied Prentiss, wondering whether she'd done the right thing getting involved in the first place, even if it was to help her friend.

"I very much doubt that but in any case, you won't mind if we pay you a visit," said the voice, "help get things sorted out."

"No, of course not," said Prentiss, lying once again.

"Tomorrow, at 2pm," the voice said, hanging up before Emily could respond.

Derek Morgan hopped into the driver's seat of the SUV; he wasn't sure JJ was in any condition to keep her mind on the road.

"So, let's find this guy, wherever he is." His hand moved towards the phone. "We can have Garcia look into his credit card details, or cam footage, see if she can track him down. In the meantime, we can go check out the news crew, see if he left his details." He looked over at JJ. "Are you listening?"

JJ was staring intensely at her phone. "Yes, I'm listening, Derek. There's no need to call Penelope. I know where this guy is."

"You do? How?"

"Just got an email from Bobo. He's already met Larry, sent me an address for him, here in Quantico, though a pretty rundown part of it."

"Good job we left him our details," said Derek.

"Just hope this Larry can help us make sense of things."

Back at the BAU, Reid and Rossi were mulling over the case, looking at the blackmail note that JJ and Derek had found in Will's locker.

Rossi read the letter aloud, what little there was of it, "Will, I know what you did, and now I'll make you pay, you and your family!"

"This is obviously tied to Will's disappearance. We just need to figure out who wrote it." mused Reid. "Forensics didn't reveal anything."

"Who knows? Could be anyone with a vendetta against Will, or just a red herring to throw us off the trail. It's a shame they didn't sign it."

"Or tell us what Will did," added Spencer.

Rossi put the note down. "Hopefully we'll figure that out soon. Let's check with Garcia, see if she's found anything."

Ten minutes later and the SUV was pulling up in front of a rundown motel. JJ knew the place; she'd been there before. There'd been an Unsub there who'd been killing people in the telephone book starting at the As. He'd never made it to the Bs. She now looked back at that time as the good old days. She was more nervous now as they approached Larry's room, than she had been that day with the Yellow Pages Killer.

"We sure this ain't the Bates Motel, JJ?" Derek asked. JJ had missed that sense of humor.

A seconds later they were walking to the motel room Bobo had given them the address to.

"You know that we've got no confirmation that this guy is legit," Derek said.

"I know," said JJ. "Normally we'd research this a lot more thoroughly. Thanks for cutting corners, we need to do this separate from the BAU as much as possible. I already feel bad about Prentiss going out on a limb for me. We could all lose our jobs."

"I understand totally," replied Derek. "This guy's the only lead we've got, so we have to stick close to him no matter what."

"Even if he turns out to be the bad guy?" asked JJ.

Derek smiled and offered her a fistbump. "Especially then."

"Thanks," said JJ. "Looks like this is the address." She looked at the curtain, closed, as she wondered what waited within.

Derek knocked on the door, and the silence was deafening, as JJ held her breath, waiting for an answer. Finally, the tall red-haired man she'd previously seen on the television opened it.

"Yes?" said the man, staring at them.

"SSA Derek Morgan," said Derek, flashing his card.

"And I'm SSA Jennifer Jareau," added JJ. "We need to talk."

"I guess this is about my wife," Larry said. "Do you know...Can you help me find her? The guy at the police station wasn't any help."

"I hope you can appreciate that we'll need to see some ID first," said Derek. "Just to be sure you're who you say you are."

"Yeah, I understand." The man promptly pulled out his license. JJ checked, not the greatest of photos, but it looked like a match. She pulled out her phone and took photos of his ID, and sent it to Garcia to check out.

As she waited for a reply, Larry pulled out another photo. "This is my wife, Sally." JJ felt a queasy feeling in her stomach as she recognized the face, though when she'd last seen it the eyes hadn't been open and there definitely was no smile present.

JJ's thoughts of that terrible night were punctured by her phone beeping. It was Penelope, verifying the ID was genuine.

Turning back to Larry, she realized that this must be worse for him than it was for her. At least Will was still alive, he had to be. JJ didn't know where Larry's wife was, but even if they found her body, it wouldn't be the reunion Larry was hoping for. She wanted to remain detached and professional, in the same way that she'd not managed so far, but she also knew she needed his help. Best to be honest. "You should know something about me… My husband, he's Will LaMontagne."

Larry blinked, taken aback. "He… he is? So you know where Sally is?" His eyes held out such hope, and JJ wondered what to say. Should she let him know about his wife, always assuming that was her. Sometimes she thought this whole day was just a crazy nightmare.

"Please come in, tell me what you know. I'm sick with worry," begged Larry.

The three of them sat down, JJ looking at Larry, wondering how much she trusted him, how much she could trust anyone after what had happened. Still, if he was wondering about his missing wife half as much as she was worrying about her missing husband, then he deserved some answers.

"I saw your wife with my husband last night," began JJ. She'd been in the BAU a long time, and had delivered bad news before, but she never got used to it. "They both disappeared," she said, refusing to tell him about Sally's death. She still couldn't prove that was the case, and some instinct she couldn't explain held her back. Maybe she just didn't want to admit it.

Derek looked at her, and she could have sworn she saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes.

Larry didn't say anything, but also looked at JJ. There was no way to tell what he was thinking. Finally he spoke, just one word, "Where?"

JJ was about to tell him that she didn't know, but her phone rang, interrupting her. It was Prentiss. She apologized to Larry as she took the call.

She stepped out of the motel room. "Hey, what's up?" she said to Emily.

"It's the director. We're going to have to drop the case. Or at least make it look that way."

"Not so much under the radar as completely off it," JJ replied. "That's okay, I may have an idea of where to go next."

"You have?" said Emily.

"It's best you don't know," said JJ.

"Probably right. Just be careful, we could be in enough trouble as it is."

"Bye, Emily."

Derek briefly joined JJ outside as her conversation came to an end.

. "That was Emily. Looks like we're on our own, but at least I've figured out the next move."

"Where are you going?" asked Derek. "I mean, where are we going?"

"Back to where it all started," JJ said. "Time to get some answers, and get out of here."

Larry appeared at the door, "I want to know what happened too."

"That's fine, Larry. You can come with us. We'll need your local knowledge."

Derek looked at JJ, trying to read her expression. Taking Larry, with what little they knew about him, sounded like a dumb thing to do, but he was their only lead and risking losing him might be even dumber. At least this way they could keep an eye on him. That left only one thing he didn't understand. "New Orleans?" he asked.

"I've got a hunch," said JJ. "New Orleans was where Will met Sally, and if there's something that connects them, explains things, that's where we'll find it. Plus, if Will had the same idea, is trying to piece things together, that's where he'll be."

"I hope so, JJ," said Derek. "No private jet this time though. Better not use the BAU one, time to keep to our word and actually be discreet."

"Looks like it's wheel's up," said JJ. "Albeit slowly."

Derek Morgan pulled out his phone, and pulled up a website. "This time tomorrow, meet at Quantico Airport?"

JJ and Larry nodded.

JJ had a steely look in her eye. "Then we'll find some answers!"