Chapter 3
Washington D.C.
Even when JJ was away, Will slept on the edge of the bed. It felt odd to spread onto her side.
There were two things that he missed about Louisiana: the police had a later start, and he didn’t have to take the metro. JJ needed their car to get to Quantico as naturally you couldn’t get there on public transport, and with their mortgage, they couldn’t afford a second one.
So Will got up at the crack of dawn for an hour long metro traverse that would be a 15 minute drive. He was not naturally an early riser, unlike his wife, and had to set two different alarm clocks to wake himself up. But hey, it was a small sacrifice to make.
He missed her. Well, he missed her especially so today. Work was really starting to take it out of him. There was a promotion that he and a few others were up for, and the selection process was not subtle. As a result the guys were now always trying to get bitter one-ups on each other.
It was a pattern that Will had noticed that Washington police tended to be baselessly full of themselves. Despite being a relatively small city, less than a 10th of the size of New York, they had it through their heads that this was the Capital City of the United States and so in protecting it they were next to holy.
The detectives were in the break room later that morning waiting for the coffee pot to brew. There were a lot of people in there that Will didn’t like, but he wasn’t going to be shying away from places. He wanted coffee.
A guy who was known by his surname, Coleman, was speaking. He proudly told a story about his birthday party as a young child, which had happened to be on the day that Reagan got shot. Because all the parents had government jobs, his friends had all had to leave his party as soon as it started. ‘Never even had my birthday cake! Guess that’s what you get in the greatest city in the world.’
Will was standing just outside the circle, listening, and muttered to himself, ‘ Washington DC ain’t even the best city in America.’
He must’ve said it louder than he meant to, because Coleman swivelled round and shot back, ‘Yeah, and where is, New Orleans?’
Someone else spoke, to the group rather than Will, ‘I’m surprised they even let him transfer from that police department.’
‘Oh yeah? And why is that?’
The other guy retreated. Coleman looked around. ‘Do we have to explain? The foundation of America is here-’
Will cut him off. ‘Just saying, I still have more arrests than you.’
They burst into singing House of the Rising Sun. They had had a habit of doing that ever since he joined. It first started as a friendly taunt.
Will walked off with his mug, keeping a bored look on his face as he sat down at his desk. He stared at the photo he kept of him and JJ. It was a selfie of them smiling on the beach.
Sure, DC was the capital, but it was because of a historical technicality. He hadn’t even meant New Orleans. He was just sick of some of his colleagues.
None of it mattered anyway. ‘Okay,’ he muttered to himself, clicking his tongue and logging back onto his computer.
Will hated writing case reports. They were so tedious and took ages to get right. He remembered his daddy complaining about how all this box-checking keeps good police work from ever gettin’ done, and generally he agreed, but at the moment he had to be extra careful. He really wanted that promotion, not only to get one over on his colleagues, but because it came with a raise. He and JJ were comfortable enough just the two of them, but they had to start planning.
He peered over at his colleagues, still standing around, probably swapping stories about how great they were.
After a few hours of solid work, it was becoming time for lunch. Rebecca, a uniformed officer, came up to his desk. She’d been kind to Will when he’d first arrived as she wasn’t originally from DC either, and they had remained friends. He glanced up and smiled at her.
She asked, ‘I was going to go out and grab lunch. You wanna join?’
‘I would love to, but I’m up to my neck right now.’ He gestured to the papers spread across his desk.
‘Come on, it’s good to step out once in a while,’ she said, grinning, but Will noticed the tiredness around her eyes. She had two young children at home and had only come back from maternity leave a few months ago. Normally uniformed officers jumped to do their detective’s exam as soon as they could, but Rebecca was holding off until her kids were a bit older.
‘Whatever, why not?’ He shut the file he was working on and grabbed his coat.
Rebecca was chatty as they went to the elevator. She thought the posturing over the promotion was ridiculous. ‘Silly boys!’ she said in a mum voice.
Will changed the subject. ‘How’s the little one? You look like you haven’t slept in days.’
‘Yeah well, it’s definitely been a rough couple of weeks. Noah’s starting to teethe so he’s up all night crying, which wakes Lily up, and on it goes.’
‘Ain’t you supposed to massage their gums or something?’
She chuckled and said indignantly, ‘Do you honestly think I haven’t tried that?’
He put his hands up. ‘Sorry, sorry.’
Will had a couple of parenting books that he kept. They weren’t hidden, exactly, but they were out of JJ’s way. A neighbour had left them outside their front door. Will had walked past them twice before he took them tentatively. It did sound silly to be concealing parenting books from your wife, and he wasn’t sure why he felt the need to.
Rebecca had her phone out and was scrolling through her extensive album of photos. ‘But, honestly, it’s all so worth it. He’s already got such a lovely personality.’
‘Yeah, I can see that.’ Will said, smiling at a video of Lily playing peekaboo with Noah. He had always known he wanted kids someday. That dream of having his own family with JJ was a big part of why he moved here.
They walked out of the precinct and down the street to a cafe. It wasn’t too busy for lunchtime. They ordered two sandwiches and two coffees at the counter.
As they sat down, Will started, ‘You know, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about… kids, family.’
‘Oh yeah?’
‘Yeah, I know we’re gonna have kids sometime, for sure, but.. I don’t know, just, what’s it gonna take for us to be in the right position?’
Rebecca’s expression was understanding, and she waited for him to continue. He was strangely comfortable talking about this. They weren’t that close, but she was kind, and he didn’t have that many friends of his own in Washington.
‘I guess I’ve always imagined it a certain way.’ He glanced out the window for a moment. ‘We want a family, me and JJ, we do, but her job gets in the way. She’s always having to travel around the country and sometimes it seems like...’ He trailed off.
Rebecca nodded. ‘Sounds like a really tough situation.’
A waiter placed their coffees in front of them. Will poured some extra milk in and stirred it. He wasn’t sure why he was opening up to her, considering that her way of life didn’t exactly align with the one he wanted. Not that people couldn’t be single mothers, of course.
‘She’s always been sworn to her job. It’s half a battle to get her to stop working when she s’posed to be off.’
‘And what’s the issue with that, do you think?’
‘I’m sorry for wanting my wife to be around when we have the baby!’ In his bitterness he realised he was verging on shouting. He continued quieter, ‘Maybe I’m old fashioned, I don’t know, but that’s just how it is where I’m from at least. Kid needs his mother and father at home together.’
He felt guilty having said that. He quickly added, ‘Sorry, you know I didn’t mean that-’
‘No, it’s fine, I get it.’ She smiled, but it was the polite kind that was holding something back.
That killed the conversation. They both took bites of their sandwiches. He hadn’t meant to sound judgemental, but then again, that was the truth of it. A kid needed a stable home, which meant both his parents. Anything else was never going to be the same. You didn’t start a family with a job that took you away for weeks at a time.
Rebecca was the first one to speak again. ‘I get where you’re coming from, but there are ways to make it work.’ She put her sandwich down. ‘What did your parents do?’
‘My daddy was a cop, and my mom stayed at home with us.’
‘Yeah, you know, Will, a lot of parents can’t afford to do that.’
He felt a wave of annoyance. ‘I know that, come on. I just don’t want my kid growing up in a dingy daycare and not knowing who his parents are.’ He was aware he was sounding like a jerk, and softened it with, ‘We don’t work nine-to-fives like most parents.’
He was right. The wives of cops with children that he knew mostly worked part time or not at all. With the exception of Rebecca, of course. ‘There are definitely ways of doing it is all I’ll say. You need to sit down with your wife, what’s her name again?’
‘Jennifer.’
‘With Jenny, and-’
‘Not Jenny, it’s Jennifer or JJ.’
‘Okay, sorry.’ She nodded. ‘You need to sit down with her when you both have time, and have a serious discussion. Make sure you’re seeing eye-to-eye on this. When does she get back?’
‘Could be two days, could be a week. Never know how long their case’ll be.’
‘Well, when she does, maybe go and actually see a few daycares. You get some really nice, outdoorsy ones. I can give you the number of the one Lily goes to. It’s run by this lovely couple in their house, and the kids are always running around in their garden.’
‘You know, that’s actually not a bad idea.’
JJ got a bit skittish when he brought up kids, and Will knew it was for the same reason as him, that making their family work would involve some hard decisions. So more hypothetical discussion wouldn’t do anything, but going to actually start planning might help.
Later that afternoon, he had some extra time. He checked around the bullpen that no one would see his screen, and then looked up the place Rebecca had recommended.
When he imagined city daycares, he imagined bored women on their phones in an airless basement somewhere, with a couple of soft play mats strewn on the floor. But Rebecca was right, there were nice ones, and for not as much money as he thought. Apparently they taught the older kids to read, which normally they didn’t learn until elementary school. He and JJ would feel a lot better about dropping their child off knowing that he or she would be doing all sorts of activities in a large, leafy garden.
He got his phone out. Her contact was pinned to the top of his messages.
Will: Hope everythings going as well as it can. Do you want to call later? Miss you.
Oklahoma
JJ was standing in an alley littered with broken tents and the smell of urine. She, Rossi, and a local detective were looking down at the body of another young, blonde woman. They hadn’t been able to identify her yet.
This unsub’s disgusting signature was burning his victims with sulfuric acid. The last two women were found having been blinded with it. He was taking away their senses, leaving them helpless before killing them.
Emily had gloves on and was using a stick to open the woman’s mouth. ‘He burned her tongue with the chemical this time.’
JJ shuddered. The inside of the poor girl’s mouth was burnt and twisted. It must’ve been excruciating.
JJ’s phone chimed. Her eyes were grateful to be pulled away from the body. She thought it would be Spencer with the girl’s ID. But it was from Will. He hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary but still her stomach churned.
She took a deep breath, imagining walking through the front door in only a few days’ time.
Maybe she could tell him that she needed to go somewhere and put off going home for a bit. It would need to be something he wouldn’t offer to accompany her to. The only reason she would go on a sudden visit to her mom was if Sandy was sick, and then Will would insist on taking off work.
She could have to travel somewhere to give testimony in court. He wouldn’t question it, even if the BAU’s evidence was usually just their profile and arrest reports. It was a believable excuse, and not out of the ordinary enough for him to offer to join her. It would give her a couple of days to clear her head.
Emily directed a question towards her which brought her back into reality. ‘Why would he remove her ability to taste?’
‘Uh- historically, this kind of torture was used to..’ JJ started distractedly, ‘prevent someone from revealing a secret.’
‘Maybe she offended him.’
‘Wonder what that’s like.’
Even the police detective gave her a weird look. She was trying to avoid Emily’s glances, but she could see she was trying to look confused.
JJ moved the discussion along and crouched down to examine the woman’s body. She noticed the ligature scuffs on her sleeves and the stains on her skirt. ‘This is different from his other kills. He tortured her in these clothes.’
Previously he had changed them after killing them. Initially it seemed like a sign of remorse, but now they thought that the clothes were a part of his fantasy. They were all very classic eighties, the kind of thing a sixteen year old girl would’ve worn on a night out. The time period was essential to the unsub’s delusion.
Rossi suggested, ‘The eighties are probably when his rejection occurred and now he’s attacking girls who remind him of that time.’
‘But why start now?’ The detective asked.
‘We call it a stressor.’ Emily explained. ‘Finding it is key to the profile. Something triggered him, and instead of dealing with it, he’s acting out.’
JJ rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll call Hotch, suggest we get the profile to thrift stores, church collections…’ She walked off with her phone.
Emily didn’t understand. And JJ couldn’t really blame her for that. It was different for her. Maybe she had one boyfriend as a teenager but, essentially, she had come out of the closet before she’d gone in.
If there was one thing about Emily that really drew JJ to her, it was her unshakeable belief that she could achieve anything, be anything. This had probably come from growing up never being told any different.
Emily was usually guarded about her childhood. Children of ambassadors were sent safely to private schools and the fees being covered was a job benefit. While most stayed in US boarding schools, Elizabeth Prentiss had wanted Emily to see the world firsthand, and so she attended a string of private day schools in whichever city she was living in.
The idea of pursuing higher education had never come up at JJ’s high school. Emily, on the other hand, had been pushed and prepped to go for the best universities in the world. It was drummed into students that hard work would open any door, and with that came the mindset that there was no reason they couldn’t succeed at whatever they wished to do. And so Emily had ended up going to Yale.
As an adult it was clear that Emily still carried an intense need to prove herself. Take her first case at the BAU, for one. She had a bold start: using her fluent Arabic almost immediately. She had then used it to stop an anthrax attack. A terrorist was at Guantanamo Bay for two months without the CIA getting a word out of him, but they did it all within 48 hours. To finish off she had beaten Gideon at chess twice on the jet back.
Strauss would have her as unit chief if Hotch ever retired. JJ had also heard that Emily was top of the list to run the London interpol office next. Even though Emily wasn’t likely to move to England, the idea still weighed heavy on JJ. She could never do something like that now. She had rooted herself to DC.
The team had gone back to the hotel once they were comfortable they’d done everything they could that evening. They were always grateful when they finished before 10pm.
Emily had pushed the two single beds together once she was sure that JJ wouldn’t be coming back to the room. She was watching some TV when there was a knock at the door. She opened it to Hotch, still wearing his suit.
‘Is everything okay?’ she asked.
‘Yes, there’s no need to worry.’ He peered over her shoulder. ‘I just need to talk to JJ.’
‘Oh, she’s, uh- in the shower.’ Emily said quickly.
She was aware now of the absence of running water.
‘Is she about to come out?’
‘No, I think she just went in.’ Emily fiddled with the bolt on the door. She added, ‘She might be a while. It’s hair wash night.’
He agreed to come back in a bit.
As soon as she heard the door latch, Emily ran the shower. She wouldn’t put it past Hotch to listen behind the door.
She debated whether to call or text. JJ might see a call from Emily and choose to ignore it. It was unlikely to be something urgent with the case this late in the evening, after the local police had gone home.
She typed out a message quickly and sent it.
Meanwhile, JJ was gearing up to talk to Will. He had insisted on calling her this evening, and she supposed she had put it off as long as she could.
When she and Will had first met, every evening they’d be on the phone as if they weren’t texting whenever they could during the day. She had felt like a giddy teenager.
Will was leaning on a police car. ‘How will I survive a woman like you going so far away?’
‘Well, despite what you may have heard…’ She slid her hand into her back pocket and pulled out her business card. She held it just out of his reach. ‘Cell phones can be very good for your health.’
She pressed the card into his hand and knew he was watching her walk away.
On the jet heading back that evening, the first thing she did was connect her phone to the jet’s wifi. You had to do it manually every time and she usually didn’t bother.
Rationally she knew that the rest of the team weren’t watching her. They had headphones on or were dozing off. But she still felt embarrassed to be seen checking her phone. She set it to vibrate and put it under her thigh.
Her phone didn’t buzz until she got back to her flat.
Unknown number: You made it home yet?
Unknown number: Internet says its a 3 hour flight NOLA to Virginia but dont you guys have a private jet?
Leaning on her kitchen counter, staring at her phone, she let out a little noise of excitement and saved his contact.
Now, lying in bed with the phone on her chest, she picked up after a couple of rings.
Will answered, ‘Hi, JJ, I’m just calling to check in.’
‘Yeah, everything’s fine.’ JJ said quickly.
‘Whatcha up to?’
‘Nothing. I mean, just stuff for the case.’ She paused and then said, ‘Shouldn’t be more than a couple days.’
‘Do I wanna know what the case is?’
‘No, you really don’t.’
He laughed, even though she didn’t say it jokingly. ‘Okay, well, how are you then?’
‘I’m fine.’ Her tone came out exasperated.
‘Okay, jeez, sorry, just tryin’ to chat.’
JJ did feel a bit guilty but let a second of silence pass anyway. She couldn’t think of anything to say.
Will spoke again, ‘What’s up, are you okay?’
She rubbed her forehead and, softening her tone, said, ‘I’m fine, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap, I’m just stressed.’ Before he could push her to talk about it, she asked, ‘Just, tell me about your day. How are you? How’s the promotion?’
Will began to talk. JJ’s phone chimed and she took it away from her ear. Emily’s contact photo popped up. JJ loved that picture. She had taken it when they’d been out somewhere after work.
Emily: Hotch is looking for you
Emily. Come to this room ASAP
She reasoned it was probably a media issue if he needed her specifically. They had been trying to reason with the press to not run wild with the story, but it was getting harder to keep them down with each murder.
She interrupted him talking on the call. ‘I’m sorry, Will, I’m really sorry but I’ve got to go.’
‘Duty calls. Okay well, see you soon. I love you, be safe.’
‘Love you too. Bye.’
She hung up and got in the elevator. She scooped her hair into a ponytail, checking it in the mirror.
She stopped outside the door before knocking, taking a deep breath. It suddenly opened. ‘Hi,’ Emily said.
‘Hi.’ JJ said back.
‘You saw my text. I was about to call.’
‘Yeah,’ JJ clicked her tongue. ‘It’s why I’m here.’
‘Okay, well, come in then.’
There was intense silence as JJ walked in the room. She rubbed her hands on the back of her jeans. Emily picked her fingernails. Their eyes darted around the room.
‘Oh, have you showered yet?’ Emily asked abruptly.
‘What?’
‘Yeah, I realise that was weird out of context.’ She laughed. JJ didn’t. ‘When Hotch came to the door I told him you were in the shower.’
‘...So?’
‘So, you need to look like you just showered. Come on, it’s Hotch, you know he’ll notice.’
Emily had a fair point. And he’d probably also noticed the two beds pushed together, however he interpreted that.
JJ went into the bathroom and was surprised when Emily followed her in and shut the door. ‘What are you doing?’
‘You’ll need some help wetting your hair in that tiny sink.’
‘Wetting my hair? No, I’m just gonna actually have a quick shower.’
‘Oh, right.’ Emily chuckled as JJ looked at her incredulously. She opened the door to leave and then turned around, ‘Do you need soap or anything? Mine’s just there on the side,’ she pointed, ‘You can use whatever you want.’
‘I got it, thanks.’
‘Okay, I’ll leave you to it.’ Emily laughed again and finally left.
She locked the door and stripped down. Emily’s body wash smelled nicer than the hotel-provided mini and she took it out of her washbag.
She had washed her hair earlier, so she just let water run through it. She washed her body over quickly and stepped out of the shower, using Emily’s towel.
Once she was dressed she stepped back into the room. She asked, ‘When is he coming back?’
‘Should be soon. I texted him after I heard the shower turn off.’
JJ nodded. Sure enough, a moment later he knocked on the door. JJ didn’t invite him into the room, instead stepping out into the hallway. She looked at him and waited for him to talk.
Thankfully, it was work as she’d guessed. They hadn’t hired another media liaison since she had become a profiler and Hotch still defaulted to her. Given that another body had been found today, he had decided it was best to call a press conference. He wanted JJ to organise it and speak. ‘Make it as early tomorrow as you can. Don’t give them any details about the mutilations, but get across as much of the profile as you can. And set up a tip line. Someone will know this guy.’
‘I think we should recommend girls travelling in pairs, especially ones that fit his type.’
‘Yes, I agree. We know that he uses a ruse, so we should recommend being wary of any strange men asking for help.’
‘Okay, I’ll have a statement ready for you to approve in the morning. Goodnight.’ She turned to walk towards the elevator to go back to her own room.
‘Where are you going?’
She stuttered, panicking. She couldn’t say the bathroom. There was one in their rooms. ‘I left something in Reid and Morgan’s room.’
‘They’re that way.’ Hotch said, narrowing his eyes and pointing down the corridor.
‘Right,’ She turned around. ‘Do you know what number? I haven’t actually been to their room, I just lent Reid something and he hasn’t given it back.’
He cut off her rambling. ‘They’re right at the end on the left.’
‘Oh, okay, thanks.’ As she walked down the corridor she resisted the urge to look back. Hotch didn’t seem to be leaving.
What could she ask Morgan and Reid for that wouldn’t be weird? She left her laptop at the station and did they pick it up?
She was agonisingly close to the end when she finally heard doors closing from the elevator.
Her jaw didn’t unclench until she had half-walked, half-jogged to the stairwell and was back in the safety of her own room.