FF: Slow Surprise (Criminal Minds) JJ/Emily 11/14 NC-17

[muppetmanda]

The argument was in full-swing by the time they rode up. Mrs. Strauss’ voice carried over the assembled crowd despite Rossi and Hotch’s attempts to quiet her.

“-I’m telling you, it was that woman! I saw her last night. I saw them together at the edge of the dance and then they both disappeared. Mr. Hotchner, you need to arrest her instantly-”

“No one is getting arrested,” Hotch soothed, obviously having been through this conversation more than once. “As I told you, Hailey and I saw Miss Prentiss leave the party last night and Beth was not with her.”

“That means nothing,” Strauss dismissed. “She easily could have come back after she left. A lovers spat… we all know what she is. There’s no trusting her word.”

Those assembled dropped to an uneasy silence as Emily swung off her horse, Hasiba’s bridle jangling in the eerie quiet. Strauss’s sneer melted away as Emily stalked toward her silently, eyes burning with cold fury. Prentiss didn’t stop until she was directly in front of Strauss, bare inches separating their faces. To her credit, Strauss didn’t back down despite her obvious fear.

Prentiss’ voice was nothing more than growl. “I don’t murder women.”

“Considering what else you do, nothing would surprise me.”

Emily’s clenched her fist, her temper begging to be unleashed. Distantly, she heard JJ say her name, felt a soft hand touch her shoulder, easing some of the fury. “Emily… don’t.”

Through clenched teeth, Emily repeated, “I don’t murder women.”

“Where were you last night,” Strauss asked, her eyes darting between Emily and JJ.

“I was at home.”

“Alone,” Strauss challenged. Emily refused to answer even as the crowd started to murmur. “Either you were alone or you weren’t Miss Prentiss. Either you have an alibi or you do not. Can anyone say for a certainty you didn’t ride back into town last night?”

“I can.”

Emily closed her eyes. “JJ… don’t.”

The blonde ignored her, just as Emily knew she would do. “She was with me, Erin.”

Strauss sneered in partial triumph. “All night?”

There was a pause, a rush of whispers as innuendo passed amongst the crowd. JJ lifted her chin, meeting Strauss glare for glare. “All. Night. Long.”

Rossi stepped in, inching Strauss back, away from a still fuming Prentiss and a mutinous looking JJ. “There you have it, Mrs. Strauss. Mrs. Lamontagne has given Emily an alibi, and I trust we can all agree her word is above reproach. Therefore, there’s no need to push the issue,” he said firmly. “Don’t you think, Mr. Hotchner?”

“Absolutely.”

“Now, why don’t we move this discussion off the street,” Rossi urged.

Strauss pulled herself together, disengaging her arm from Rossi’s tentative grip. “I am wiring for the marshal. Immediately. Any other discussion you want to have, feel free.” She huffed away; the rest of the crowd scattered like crows to their respective nests, enough fodder and gossip to share to keep them going for years.

Emily released a gulp of breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. JJ squeezed her hand and then let go.

Rossi grinned unexpectedly. “I know I’m not supposed to promote violence against the fairer sex, but I think most the town wouldn’t have minded seeing you take a swing at her.”

Even more unexpectedly, Hotch smirked. “It’s not really the time Dave.”

The banker sighed. “No, I suppose not.”

The exchange served to lighten the tension buzzing around all of them like electricity before a thunderstorm. JJ felt like she could breathe again. “Can you tell us what happened?”

Hotch nodded and they fell into step with him as they walked toward Dr. Reid’s clinic. “Miss Letty found the body… found Beth,” he corrected, “this morning. She’s always up with the sun. Went for her usual morning constitution around town and found Beth laid out in the street in front of the saloon. Her screaming woke up the whole town.”

“Is it the same as the others?”

“Looks like. Strangled. Bruises all over her neck. There were… other bruises as well,” Hotch added delicately, mindful of the two women in his presence despite the fact neither had blanched from the information before.

“Sounds similar enough.”

Hotch knocked once on the door and then let himself into the clinic. Penelope was sitting in the waiting area, valiantly fighting tears. She stood up as they walked in, her eyes locked on Emily. “You gotta find who did this, understand? You gotta find them and you gotta make them pay. That girl never hurt anyone a day in her life. I don’t care what that Strauss woman says, I don’t care what people think about me or the life I lead. But my girls are good girls. They’re sweet and kind-hearted and I won’t let them be forgotten, you hear me? You gotta find out who’s doing this. I want justice.”

Everyone else shared concerned looks, none of them having ever seen Penelope so angry. Emily merely nodded. “So do I.”

They waited silently until Reid came out, wiping his hands on a cloth. “She was strangled, although Beth seems to have taken quite a beating before, unlike the others..”

“So, it was the same guy,” Morgan asked.

“It looks the same person, but really, there’s no way to verify that.”

“Is there any information you can give us?” Hotch pressed. “Anything that might help?”

“Her face had a jagged laceration. Her attacker likely punched her, but from the tear I’d say he was wearing a ring of some form. And I’d venture he’s left-handed.”

“That doesn’t narrow it down much,” Morgan sighed.

“But it’s a start.”

Hotch turned, addressing them as a group. “Strauss has insisted on wiring for the marshal again, and I’m sorry Emily, but it’s likely she’ll be implicating you despite JJ’s assurance of your innocence. It’ll be two, maybe three days before he gets here.”

“Which means if we don’t want Emily and JJ caught up in mess of trouble, we need to find who did this,” Rossi explained.

“It should be easier now, shouldn’t it,” JJ said. “Now that we know… since we know it was Beth and not some stranger.”

“Yeah, but think about how many people were in town yesterday and last night. It could’ve been any of them.”

“We’ll split up,” Hotch decided. “Everyone take a piece of town. Interview everyone, even the children. Ask about any strangers. Ask about men wearing rings. I doubt people will realize someone’s left-handed but they may remember a nice piece of jewelry. We’ll meet back together and discuss what we’ve found.”

“Where? The store?”

“The school,” JJ offered. “It’s empty right now. Plenty of room to meet.”

“Good. Then let’s get started.”

*

Hours later, Prentiss stared at the school blackboard.

They’d worked out a timeline of Beth’s death, incorporating as they went statements from witnesses in the saloon, in town. Jamie Hicks had stumbled from the saloon around three a.m. when Kevin cleared the bar and locked up for the night. He’d passed out on sidewalk and come to about an hour later when a one of the town’s stray dogs had decided to relieve itself on his leg. Beth’s body hadn’t been there when he woke, but it was there sometime after six when Miss Letty went for her morning walk.

They’d gotten names from people of the strangers in town and even rode out to ranches and farms to ask those on the outskirts what they’d seen.

Upon further examination, Reid had found hair fibers caught under Beth’s nails. Her attacker was brown haired.

Hailey brought dinner for them, Henry and Jack in tow. JJ had swept up her son and refused to release him despite his wriggling. Hotch and Morgan took Hailey and the boys home while the rest stayed and continued to go over the information, eliminating town citizens one by one.

There were still more than twenty men on the list. Some they knew, some they didn’t.

“What if we’re going about this the wrong way?”

Rossi, JJ, and Reid all stared at Emily in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… we’re compiling a list of names, but it will take days to narrow it down, confirm their alibis, and that’s only if we’re sure we’ve talked to everyone. What if we concentrated on the victims instead? Maybe if we knew why these particular women were killed we’d know more about who did the killing.”

Reid nodded, standing up to erase a section of the blackboard. He scrawled “Victim 1,” “Victim 2,” and “Beth” up on the board, each woman getting her own section listing out the details they knew. It didn’t take long. “This doesn’t fit,” he announced after a moment’s examination.

“What?” The others stared, not sure what to make of Reid’s declaration.

“The first two victims were found on your property, but Beth was left in the middle of town. The first two victims were hidden away in areas you normally wouldn’t traverse on your land, but Beth was left outside the saloon where someone was certain to find her. The first two victims were women no one would miss, no one has come looking for, but Beth would’ve been noticed missing within hours this morning if she hadn’t been left for us to find. Why would a killer hide away two bodies, virtually assuring that he never gets caught, and then leave a third out in plain sight?”

“A smart man hides his mistakes,” Rossi agreed. “Like the first two. Only an idiot leaves a dead body to be found. Anyone in town could’ve seen him dump her. He’s just been lucky so far no one saw him do it… or they don’t know that they saw it.”

“The man who killed the first two women didn’t leave anything up to luck,” Prentiss agreed. “He put those bodies out of the way.”

“It’s not the same man,” JJ said. “But how could there be two… who else would want to kill Beth?”

Who else would want to kill Beth? … Who else would want to kill Beth? … Who else would want… Beth… Emily felt the ice that had lodged in her veins melt into a molten rage. “Son of a bitch!”

The rest of them paused in stunned silence as she tore out of the schoolhouse, sprinting through the town like the hounds of hell were on her heels, JJ, Rossi and Reid belatedly trailing after her.

Activity in the saloon came to a grinding halt as Prentiss burst through the doors, barely pausing to scan the room before she found the face she was looking for. The face she’d seen the night before in the crowd, going into the saloon.

Harry saw her eyes narrow on him, her hand inching toward her gun.

“Emily! What the hell-” The momentary distraction of Penelope coming down the stairs was enough time for Harry to flip over the poker table and bolt, using men and women alike as a shield as he rushed for the back door. Prentiss shoved through the crowd seconds behind him. Through the backdoor, rushing between buildings, through back yards and laundry lines, Prentiss chased him down, gun in hand.

Lungs burning, heart pounding, she circled with him, cutting off one avenue of escape as he tried to double-back, narrowly missing him as she fired once, the bullet just nicking a fence post instead of his leg. And then they were out in the open, racing down the sidewalk toward the edge of town, where Emily could see a line of horses tied up and idling happily near a water trough.

A body came flying out of nowhere; Harry and Dr. Reid went tumbling to the ground. Reid cried out in pain and in the moonlight Emily saw the brief flash of a knife as the young man clenched his leg and Harry kept running. She slowed, just long enough for Reid to wave her on, yelling, “Go! Get him!”

Prentiss ran on, angling for a clear shot as Harry wove in between town folk and railings.

Ahead of them, the horses scattered. Emily’s eyes caught on a blue dress and blonde hair as the animals hustled away at JJ’s urging, cutting off Harry’s escape. Prentiss grinned menacingly, closing in, taking aim, her hand barely stilled as Harry lunged for JJ and yanked her around for protection, holding the knife to her throat.

“No!”

Emily skidded to a stop as women screamed and cleared the street.

“You move and she dies!” Harry shouted, the blade of his knife nicked into JJ’s skin. “Drop your gun!”

Lamps flickered on the street, casting shadows everywhere. Emily didn’t dare move. Didn’t dare breathe. The Peacemaker clattered to the ground. “Why, Harry? What did Beth do to you?”

“I was gonna pay her! I told her I had money! And she laughed at me!” He took a step, dragging JJ back with him toward the edge of town. Prentiss inched closer; her hand slowly edged toward her belt. “I saw her with you… I saw you kissing her… how could she want you and not me?”

“So you killed her?”

“She wouldn’t come back to the saloon… I tried to take her back but she wouldn’t listen to me… I had to make her listen to me!” In the ruckus of the party, no one would’ve heard Beth scream. No one would’ve noticed Harry drag her behind a building, into a back alley. “I didn’t mean to kill her but I ain’t gonna hang for no whore who don’t know her place!”

It was amazing what could pass in the span of a moment, what could be said with just one look. Emily’s eyes met JJ’s and even in the darkness JJ knew what Emily intended, what she had to do. In the space of a breath, trust took on tangible meaning.

Harry never felt a thing as JJ went rigid in his arms, unmoving, a perfectly still target for Prentiss to avoid as she drew her left-handed pistol and fired, the bullet piercing right between Harry’s eyes.

His body collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. JJ took a breath, and then another, and then Emily’s arms were around her, holding her tight enough to bruise. “I’ve got you… I’ve got you… I’ve got you…” Prentiss chanted roughly, pulling JJ away from Harry’s prone body.

JJ clung to her, fighting down tears. “I know.”

People ran toward them. Someone shouted out he was dead; some people cheered. Emily held onto JJ even tighter.

“Emily?”

Reluctantly, Emily eased up just enough to find Rossi staring at her, a mix of amazement and wariness in his eyes. “When I saw you take off, I went to get Hotch and Morgan, we were running all over town trying to find you once you took off after Harry.”

“How’s Reid?”

“Fine… fine… Hotch and Morgan helped move him to the clinic. I swear to god, he’s stitching himself up right now.” He paused, put a soothing hand on JJ’s shoulder. “How are you?”

“Better than I could’ve been,” JJ answered roughly. “Spence was the one… he said there was really only one way out of town that would be the easiest to escape, so we double-backed. He saw you chasing Harry and went to help and then I saw the horses… but I couldn’t get them loose fast enough and get away and I… I…”

“Shh,” Emily crooned, pulling JJ tightly to her again. “It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt you now.”

Rossi cast a disparaging glance toward Harry’s dead body. “You made damn sure of that. Nice shot.”

Prentiss didn’t acknowledge the compliment. She loosened her hold on JJ just enough to pull away and look at her. A trickle of blood dripped from the knick in JJ’s neck. Emily wiped it away with her fingers, frowning when more dribbled out, eyes growing dangerous again. JJ reached up, her hand covering Emily’s, squeezing until the brunette pulled her eyes away from the crimson stain and met JJ’s calm stare. “I’m okay.”

“But-”

“I’m okay, Emily.”

The citizens who’d seen fit to turn tail and hide while Emily pursued Harry were drawn back out to the quiet of the street. Someone shouted; Emily drew her gun, turning to put herself between JJ and crowd starting to form up in the street.

“Whoa… whoa…” Rossi cautioned, his voice neutral and pitched low, trying not to startle her. From the death grip Prentiss had on JJ’s arm, he knew she wasn’t about to let anyone near the blonde without a challenge. “Why don’t we get JJ to the clinic,” he offered lightly. “Put a bandage on that cut.”

“Right,” Emily agreed, easing the gun back into her holster. Rossi handed her the other pistol she’d willingly dropped. “Thank you.” She let her hand find JJ’s, eyes daring anyone to say a word as they walked toward the clinic together.

With a man’s body lying sprawled in the center of the street, no one even spoke as they moved through the crowd.

Part Twelve