(Un)masked
Chapter 1. The best option
Summary: Isobel and Jubal pretend to be a couple in order to catch a dangerous serial killer.
Author's note: Post 7x05 "Pledges". Warning, contains spoilers. Huge thanks to Gogo_25 for all the ideas they gave me for this fic. And to Skater1263 for proof-reading.
"It's not crazy. It's the best option," Isobel said vehemently.
She lifted her chin and looked sideways at Jubal. She was pissed at him. Oooh, yes she was. Her idea was no spur of the moment. She thought it through very carefully before putting it into action. But not only did he not comply with her order, he escalated the matter to the ADIC, who'd summoned them to his office.
Even before this, things weren't on the best of terms between them. It wasn't even a month since Jubal returned from his suspension. Their relationship was strained at best.
And now, at the first chance, he jumped the chain of command? The nerve.
Through the windows, one could see the fog which fell over the city at dawn, did not yet dissipate despite being almost noon, giving New York's skyscrapers a sinisterly cold and ghostly appearance.
From his chair, Reynolds looked back and forth between the two of them, standing at his desk. The ADIC started to respond, but Jubal beat him to it.
"Putting yourself at risk of serving as bait for this killer isn't 'crazy'?"
He was not arguing his point of view to the ADIC, but rather addressing her, although without looking at her.
Isobel turned to him, eyes flashing. "He's interested, that's for sure."
"That proves my point!" exclaimed Jubal, turning around as well and spreading his hands.
He still felt chills recalling the collection of Isobel images they found while hacking into one of the suspect's cloud accounts. Defaced photos, eyes scratched out until there was nothing left. And the disturbing illustrations of naked bodies with her face inserted, depicting a disturbing variety of outrages and assaults.
He could not understand why Isobel was willing to act as bait like this after what David Owen did to her in her own home. She assured him then she was fine, but Jubal knew it wasn't true. Isobel moved out shortly thereafter...
"We've accessed one of his accounts," Isobel was explaining to Reynolds. "It wouldn't be surprising if he noticed. With nothing to tempt him, he'll go into hiding or run away. He'll disappear until he kills another woman or another couple somewhere else."
This was the most elusive thing about this criminal. From the beginning, they had two different MOs and thought most of the time they were dealing with two different individuals.
On the one hand, there were the four women who had been stalked with presents, calls and notes, which became increasingly disturbing, until they finally were found dead, tied up in a very elaborate way in their own bed with silk ropes. Candles and champagne glasses. Certain signs of rough sex. Death by strangulation. It could have passed for hypoxyphilia, a sex game gone wrong, if there weren't already four women killed in the same way. In addition, on all of them, a black velvet choker with a pendant in the shape of a small padlock was found around their necks. Each one had a different design, but all were delicately engraved with the word 'Mine'.
However, with the couples -only two to date- it seemed a completely different, much bloodier case. Childless couples. Both men, tied up in the marital bedroom, showed various injuries and a dozen stab wounds. The women, tied to the bed, had bruises and cuts, victims of brutal sexual assault and also stabbed, but only once, in the heart. And no padlock. The restraints were plastic zip ties.
No hair or semen was found at the crime scenes of the single women, only salivary DNA on victims' genitals and skin, with no match in the databases. At those of the couples, nothing at all.
Even the BAU did two separate profiles. Isobel gave two press conferences.
When Ian and Elise found a link, they began to think it might be the same perp, but alas, by then a new victim appeared.
The surveillance systems put them on the right track. Curiously, there were no recordings from the cameras in either house. Since they had different security companies, at first it appeared the systems were simply disconnected. Investigating how this could have been done and, more importantly, by whom, Elise spotted something extremely interesting in the log records. The recording files existed at some point but were deleted later. Ian's subsequent painstaking work revealed a very particular way of hacking, common to all the cases.
Then they began to weigh up the possible connection. They interviewed several friends and relatives of the couples. Questioned specifically, some of them recalled the wives receiving silent calls, strange messages, inappropriate gifts, and other signs of stalking shortly before the crimes.
Elise and Ian, along with the cybersecurity team, set out to find the hacker. But the guy was very good at eluding. No location they could pinpoint was reliable. The only thing they were able to get hold of was the cloud account where the missing recordings were uploaded before being deleted from the security systems.
They had the dubious privilege of witnessing all nine murders. No facial rec possible of the killer, unfortunately.
Along with the recordings, they found those manipulated images of Isobel and each female victim so far.
"This guy has been stalking me for weeks," Isobel added. "Since the second press conference. He must be ready for the big break."
Jubal put his hands akimbo and clenched his jaw. He was still exasperated -and hurt- about Isobel not telling him about the flowers, the underwear, the sex toys, and the disgustingly inappropriate notes Isobel received. Not until they decided to merge the two cases. It had been weeks since the first bouquet.
But who was he to talk about trust? Jubal was terribly aware of the extent to which he broke Isobel's with the whole Tyler's arrest thing. They cleared things up on the day of his return, but she avoided him on a personal level those first few weeks, or gave him the silent treatment, when this wasn't possible. He found it very difficult to cope with the degree of anguish coming with the thought of never getting her trust back. Part of him thought he just didn't deserve it...
"This would be the only way to bring this monster out of hiding," Isobel insisted, "wherever he is."
"If you're willing," Reynolds said, "it seems the best strategy. But it's risky, Isobel. The security perimeter must offer sufficient guarantees."
"Of course," she nodded, looking at Jubal, still annoyed but now satisfied.
Jubal growled, his middle finger tapping on his belt. He couldn't get the images of the killer sexually subduing his victims and then killing them out of his head. He had to do something.
"Okay. Then, among those guarantees, I'll pose as her romantic partner. This way I can be by her side at any moment."
Isobel looked at him with open indignation. "Excuse me?"
"So what?" Jubal replied defiantly. "This guy already thinks I'm your boyfriend anyways."
"Come again?" Reynolds asked, surprised.
Ever since Isobel confessed to him about the harassment she was being subjected to, Jubal became her shadow. Although she considered it unnecessary, Isobel allowed him to do so because she felt stupidly guilty -even though she no longer had to- for not telling him sooner what was going on.
In the last note Isobel received, just over 24 hours ago, the text spoke offended of the man who drove her home and whom she sometimes invited in. It described in flowery metaphors the pain and disappointment he felt because Isobel 'betrayed his love'.
To Isobel's frustration, Jubal remained silent, leaving it to her to explain.
"The stalker mistakenly thinks Agent Valentine and I are involved. Which wouldn't have happened if he didn't insist on escorting me home every day, and every time I go outside," she accused, feeling herself blushing, and hating being unable to control it.
Jubal glared at her displeased because Isobel made him feel like a stalker himself.
"The BAU believes jealousy seems to have been a trigger for this criminal," he clarified to Reynolds.
"That's not-" Isobel tried to argue.
"It'll certainly speed up the operation," Jubal added, and Isobel could not come up with a reply to this.
Reynolds seemed to ponder.
"Excellent," he said, surprising them both. "I'll feel more at ease if you don't undertake this mission alone, Isobel. Go ahead with the plan, then."
·~·~·
With a tense, overly controlled movement, Isobel opened the door to her house and let Jubal in. Stepping inside as well, she closed the door behind him, shutting out the leaden drizzle the mist turned into as the sun set.
She didn't say a word the whole way there. It was obvious she was angry. Leaving her coat and handbag on the coat rack in the entrance hall, Isobel disappeared down the hallway, leaving Jubal standing there.
~·~·~·~