Chapter Eight - Adventures In Babysitting
JJ phoned her parents. She had to warn them about the danger they were in, tell them to get out of there and to somewhere safe. She waited and waited but no one answered.
She took a deep breath, she had to stay calm. She'd been in worse situations than this, or maybe she hadn't. Her children were in trouble. She needed someone to help them, protect them, and that could only mean one person. She looked down at her cellphone, normally she'd be using it to play Words With Friends with Emily, but now she had more important words to say to her friend as she clicked on Emily's contact details.
Emily was in her office, talking to Penelope, when her phone started ringing.
"JJ," she said, answering it. "Your kids are in danger? Of course we can help, but the higher-ups are due any minute."
"I can handle them," said Garcia. "You go and save them. You know you want to."
"Thanks, Penelope," said Emily. "I'll need to take some of the others. We'll be back right away."
"No problemo," said Penelope.
Spencer hadn't needed asking twice. Now he, Rossi, and Emily were on their way to Jennifer Jareau's parents.
"JJ tried to phone her parents, but they didn't answer," she updated them. "They could be dead or they could be in hiding. All JJ knows is that her children are in trouble. Someone's out to get them, but we're not going to let that happen."
"Not on our watch," said Spencer. "I'm one of their godfathers, JJ knows she can count on me."
"Any idea how many people we're facing?" asked Rossi.
"JJ wasn't specific, but it sounded like just one person."
"Hardly a fair fight," said Spencer, smiling.
The bosses had arrived, and Penelope was on full-time distraction duty.
"Hello, Emily's just stepped out of the office. She needed the restroom, and asked me to greet you. I'm Penelope Garcia. You've probably heard Emily mention me."
"Hello, Penelope, you can call me Rick," said the first of the higher-ups. "Hopefully Emily won't keep us waiting too long."
"And I'm Mick," said the second boss guy, holding out his hand.
Penelope fist-bumped it. "Can I get you coffee?" she asked. "Or anything to eat. I know this great restaurant."
"No, we'll just wait here," said Rick, taking a seat.
"Great, I'll get you that coffee," said Penelope, backing away, as she felt the sweat forming at her brow.
Emily reached the house of JJ's parents. The three of them got out, walking up to the door. With alarm, she noticed that it had been kicked open. Drawing their weapons they entered, wondering what awaited.
The lights were off, as they made their way silently through the corridors. That's when they heard the man's voice ahead.
"A New Orleans accent," mused Spencer, until Emily shushed him.
"Come out, come out, wherever you're hiding," said the man's voice. "I know you're in here."
The three of them moved in the direction of the man's voice, fully alert, their trigger fingers ready.
"FBI. Freeze!" Emily said, as she rounded the corner, and saw the man, tall and muscular with a shaved head.
The man turned toward her, a gun raised and moving in her direction. A single gunshot sounded, and the man slumped to the ground, groaning.
Emily ran over to the man, lying on the floor, blood pouring from his arm.
"You're lucky Spencer's a good shot," she said. "Now tell us everything. Who are you? Who sent you?"
"You're not getting anything from me," he said.
"Maybe you'll reconsider," Spencer said, as he walked past him, looking around, checking that the man had come alone and that the place was safe. "Especially when you see how long you'll be going away for."
"I'll go and find the kids," said Emily. "You two take care of him."
She started to look around the house, saw photos on display of young JJ, and some of JJ and Will with the children. She just hoped that one day there would be more family photos, as she started climbing the stairs.
"It's okay, you can come out," she shouted, and it wasn't long before the children appeared, followed shortly by their grandparents.
"You okay?" Emily asked.
JJ's father nodded. "Thankfully it wasn't the most silent of break-ins. Gave us time to hide ourselves and the young ones."
Emily smiled. "That'll put JJ's mind at rest. Don't worry, we've got the intruder, and we'll find out why he was here and who sent him."
"What about Dad?" asked Henry.
"Don't worry about your father," Emily said, trying to reassure Henry and Michael. "Everything will be okay."
She just hoped she sounded convincing.
"And she said 'E Prentiss', and the guy thought she said 'apprentice'." Peggy laughed uproariously, and then realized she was the only one doing so. "So, either of you guys want another cup of coffee?" she asked.
The guys, tall blond Rick and short brown-haired Mick, shook their heads.
"We want to speak to Emily," said Rick. "Now."
"Of course," Peggy said. "I'll go see what's keeping her."
Emily, Reed and Rossi headed back to the BAU, with the gunman in tow.
As their car sped down the highway, Emily texted JJ, bringing her up to date. Meanwhile, Rossi pushed his foot down on the accelerator, putting his siren on and parting the traffic, and finally, as Emily checked her watch, they screeched to a halt outside the BAU.
Emily headed off for her meeting, while Reid and Rossi dragged their suspect to an interrogation room.
Emily rushed into her office.
"That was some restroom break," said Penelope.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen," said Emily. "What can I do for you?"
"We're here about Jennifer Jareau and her killer husband," said Rick.
"Uh-huh, that's right" said Mick.
"I'm sorry," said Emily, "I can't help you. We've not seen JJ recently, have we, Penelope?"
"JJ who?" responded Garcia.
"JJ who?" asked the shaven-haired man.
"You know who," said Spencer, resting against the table. "You came here, looking for JJ's parents, going after her children, and you claim you have no idea who she is?"
"I want to talk to my lawyer," said the man.
"We don't have time for lawyers," said Rossi, "so do yourself a favor. You don't want to be in prison for life, so maybe we can make a deal."
Penelope waved goodbye to her new best friends, Rick and Mick.
"Finally managed to convince them that we're not helping JJ," said Emily, just after she'd slammed the door on them.
"Good. Now we can get back to helping JJ," said Garcia.
Just then, Rossi came through the door that had just been closed.
"Did he talk?" asked Emily.
"He gave us a name. The person who sent him. John Lavigne."
"I'll start looking for him," said Garcia.
"You'll find him in New Orleans," said Rossi.
"Can't say I'm surprised," said Emily. "Looks like Will's past's come back to haunt him."
Back in New Orleans, Derek overpowered Larry. "Your plan failed. JJ's children are okay."
"We've only lost a battle," said Larry. "There's still the war. You don't know who you're messing with."
"You don't know who you're messing with either," shot back JJ, "otherwise you'd never have started."
At that moment, JJ's phone rang, with a familiar ringtone.
It took Derek a few seconds to recognize the song, but when he did, his eyes shot to JJ. "Will I Am?"
She looked back at him, her face white. "Yes, Will it is," she said, lifting the phone to her ear. "Will, is that you?"