𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨

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𝟭𝟬:𝟰𝟬 𝗮𝗺
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀

"𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 place," JJ almost scoffed as she closed the car door, assessing the perfect street, lined by contemporary houses, most of them with lavish pools and immaculate gardens, and of those whose cars were visible in the driveways, luxury sedans and expensive convertibles. "HOA must keep a keen eye."

"Actually, there's no HOA in this neighbourhood," Reid rebutted as he too got out, circling the SUV to meet her on the sidewalk. "I checked."

JJ frowned. "Just attentive owners?"

He shrugged, heading towards the sleek, modern mansion across from them. Even from the outside, the two agents could see the late morning sun streaming in through the full-length windows that seemed to line the western side of the property. JJ reached the door first, knocking thrice. They then saw a woman walking towards them, the glass door giving complete view of the entryway of the house from the street. Both of them recognised the woman from her photo on Detective Wilkinson's board, even if she did seem a bit pale, like the sunlight had been drained from her to instead bounce off the polished marble tiles that stretched the length of her house.

The door opened, but the woman kept her hand on the doorknob. "Can I help you?"

"Dani Miller?" JJ sought confirmation.

Dani nodded.

"Mrs Miller, I'm Agent Jareau, this is Dr Reid," JJ greeted before pulling her badge from the left pocket of her trousers. "We work for the FBI, we'd like to ask you a few questions."

Dani swallowed hard at the lump in her throat. "Have you caught him?"

Reid looked to JJ as she answered. "No ma'am," she shook her head. "But with your help, we hope to."

"I've already spoken to the police." Dani began to close the door again.

"With all due respect, Mrs Miller," JJ countered, "we see things a little differently to the police. We'd like to serve as a fresh set of eyes, please."

With a sigh and a moments apprehension, Dani stepped aside, widened the gap to allow the agents in. "Can I, um," she hesitated, "can I get you anything?"

JJ smiled kindly. "No. Thank you."

They were interrupted by a toddler running into the room, her blonde ringlets in two ponytails, one either side of her head. "Mommy!" she squealed, latching onto Dani's leg with a giggle.

Dani was immediately protective, kneeling down to the girl's level. "Lily, baby, go play in your room." She began to turn the girl towards the way she came.

Lily giggled again, waving to JJ and Reid as she ran off. JJ returned the wave, her nose crinkling as she smiled. "How old?"

"Uh," Dani glanced to the hallway Lily had disappeared down, "she's two. Look, neither of my kids know what's happened, nor would they understand, so can we please just... make this quick and discreet?"

"Of course," JJ conceded before gesturing to the sitting area to the left of the foyer. "May we sit?"

Dani waved a hand to the beige couch tucked against the bay window. "I don't know what else you want to hear," she folded her arms to pull her grey cardigan tighter across her body, the black collar of her turtleneck peeking above the woven knit, "I told the police everything I could."

"There might be details you missed," Reid explained as he and JJ sat, "things the police might not know to look for."

JJ's face softened in an attempt to make Dani feel more comfortable in their presence. "We'd like to conduct what's called a cognitive interview."

As she dropped into the armchair across from them, Dani frowned. "A what?"

"It's, uh, a method of recalling your surroundings," Reid said, fidgeting with his fingertips. "Your subconscious collects more data than you realise. Minor details that can be looked over are usually key in piecing together a profile."

She was apprehensive, but Dani soon gave a curt nod, looking to JJ. "Will it hurt?"

JJ's smile gathered slightly, shaking her head. "No. We'll be right here with you. It's important to remember that you're safe, okay?" She reached over, taking hold of Dani's hands. "It's easier if you close your eyes."

Exhaling sharply through her nose, Dani reluctantly obliged, closing her eyes as her grip instinctively tightened against JJ's.

"You're driving," JJ started, knowing the basics of the timeline already from the report she had read on the plane. "It's dark, you're on your way home."

Dani swallowed, her throat tightening.

"He's flagged you down?"

Dani nodded quickly.

"What colour is his car?"

"Uh," Dani stammered, squeezing her eyes shut. "Tan... It's a four-door sedan, I think..."

JJ moved closer. "What is he doing?"

"He's... he's standing with the hood up," Dani walked herself through her memory. "The lights are so bright, I almost can't see his face. He's waving me over, something about the engine, it, it struggles to make it up to the Hills."

"So you get out to help him," JJ continued, "then what?"

"It was so fast... he had his hand over my mouth and, and he forced me into the back seat. God, please don't let this happen..."

"Dani, stay with it," JJ instructed. "What do you see in the car?"

"N-Nothing, just... just him."

"Do you smell anything? Hear anything?"

"It's... clean. It, it smells like a car wash. The radio is on." Her head turned to her left; she could hear the crackle from the speakers and the presenters voice still in her mind. "98.2. I can hear him," she whimpered. "He's gonna hurt me. God, no... He..." She was squeezed hard at JJ's hands, latched on like a serpent. "He, he's whispering... No, don't... Don't touch me!" She was locked in the memory.

"Dani," JJ's voice was firm, conscious not to shout as Lily was still down the hall. "Dani, open your eyes."

Dani's green eyes shot open and her fingers instinctively touched her throat, bruised beneath her turtleneck, making sure his hands weren't still there. She swallowed, instead feeling her silver locket, and rubbed at the smooth exterior for comfort.

"Mrs Miller," JJ warmed, returning to her professionalism as she leaned forward, her thumbs still soothing over Dani's hands, "did he say something to you?"

Her brows contorted as she recalled the words she'd previously blocked out. "He called me a whore," she resigned. "He..." She looked up again. "He asked me, 'who's worthless now?'."

JJ exchanged a glance with Reid. They'd both seen their fair share of offenders, but this was a first.

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𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 door of Luther's car, Cady stepped out, her black boots dropping to the russet dust that lined the side of Fortitude Road. She shook at her foot, sighing as she quickly met with Agent Prentiss and Agent Hotchner, who were now stood with two other members of their team. Morgan and Rossi? She questioned her memory before not minding whether she had their names wrong.

She recognised a few other members of the Greentree Valley Police; Officer Dutton and Officer Limhurst, both attending to taking crime scene photos and collecting evidence, and the medical examiner, Doctor Melanie Scott. Mel had her dark hair pinned up against the top of her head in a twisted knot, stuck taut with a red hairpin, as she too exited her own vehicle. She was already snapping a pair of blue latex gloves upon her slim hands as Cady and Luth approached.

"Cady," Mel greeted with a smile, before it faded with contempt. "Luther."

With Pete staying back at the station, Cady had tasked herself with being in charge, not that Luth or the FBI would realise. "Hey, Mel," she reciprocated before hitching her thumb towards the slew of black suits. "FBI."

Mel nodded slowly in recognition. "Right, of course. Mel Scott, Greentree's resident corpse-looter."

Cady leaned over. "That's not funny," she muttered, lying. She always enjoyed crossing paths with Mel, even under unfortunate circumstances.

But Agent Hotchner either took no notice or simply didn't care for Mel's sense of humour. "Agent Hotchner," he introduced himself, but didn't extend his hand, conscious of Mel's still sterile gloves. "Agents Prentiss, Rossi, and Morgan."

Cady pulled a face only to herself, impressed by actually remembering the two males' names. She joined Mel as they crouched by the newly discovered body, tucked behind a collection of dry bushes, the arms by either side. Cady reached up to Luth, who reluctantly handed his partner a pair of gloves.

"Damn," Mel murmured, peeling back the brush that shaded the corpse and using two fingers to turn its head to either side. "This is Louise Turner."

"You know her?" Agent Morgan questioned.

Mel nodded, sighing. "In passing, no pun intended. Her sister and I attended medical school together," she explained. "Louise finished her residency a few years ago. She's a nurse." She indicated to the hospital ID badge that was wrapped around the neck by its purple lanyard.

"Not anymore," Luth scoffed, his arms folded over his chest, and Cady had the urge to push him down the mountainside.

The group all easily ignored him, and Mel continued her initial pass of the body. She pressed a finger to the woman's neck, unsure if the visible markings were from dirt or bruises. "Bruising, fresh," she acknowledged, primarily to herself. She pursed her lips, poking and prodding, adjusting the body as necessary. "Oh, hello," she commented. "Cady, help me lift."

Cady grimaced but obliged, tucking her hands beneath the shoulders before prying the body from the earth. It gave some resistance, with rigor mortis having already set in.

Mel hovered a finger over the back of the head, the golden hair matted by dried blood and caked dirt. "See this?" The group leaned in as she continued. "Blunt force, probably an inch in diameter?" she guessed, but her guesses were usually better than most calculated conclusions. "Metal, most definitely, with a hell of a lot of strength, and overkill."

"Can I put her back now?" Cady whispered.

Nodding, Mel sat back on her heels. "Yeah, thanks, hun." She looked up to the agents, all towering above her. "Considering it averages about 35 Fahrenheit at night up here, I can't give you an exact timeline yet, but you're looking at time of death anywhere between 8 and 12 hours ago."

"Exactly in the UnSub's comfort zone," Agent Rossi said to Agent Hotchner, who was still watching Cady as she replaced the body on the ground with complete care.

"Anything else you can tell us?" Agent Hotchner pressed.

"I'll let you know as soon as I finish the autopsy," Dr Scott assured them.

"Thanks, Mel," Cady gave a practiced smile, remaining crouched as Mel stood to instruct her assistant in lugging over a body bag and stretcher.

"So," Luth was leaning into Agent Prentiss as she stood a few steps away from the group, his sunglasses trying to hide his intent as he stared at the neckline of her top, "FBI, huh?"

Emily's response was fixed, as was her gaze elsewhere. "Mhm."

Liam Luther may have been a detective, but he was horrible at taking a hint, letting his blood-rush always get the better of him. "Female FBI agent, that's rare."

Purposefully overhearing, Cady frowned to herself, her nose wrinkling. No, it wasn't.

"Bet you're met a few psychos, huh?" Luth continued.

"Some sleazier than others," Emily tutted, her focus still on the body that was being carefully manoeuvred into its black body bag.

Cady pursed her lips together tightly, holding back her grin in hearing Luth get shut down. He'd tried to get in her pants multiple times over the years that they had worked together, and she found great pleasure in seeing others reject his advances too. She snuck a glance to Agent Prentiss. Maybe the FBI weren't as bad as she had thought.

The group was interrupted by Agent Hotchner's phone ringing, and he lifted it to his ear to answer. "Yeah, Reid?"

"We just met with Dani Miller, she was the only victim at home currently," Reid explained. "The UnSub said something to her. Uh, 'Who's worthless now?' and she said he called her a whore."

Agent Hotchner's usually frowning expression grew worse. "He said worthless?"

Still in her position of kneeling by the deposit site, Cady looked up, listening at least to his side of the conversation he was having.

"Apparently," Reid replied.

"They've just discovered a body," Hotch divulged, glancing at the now occupied body bag as Dr Scott and her assistant lifted the stretcher into the Coroner's Van. "Meet with the other victims, he might have said something to them too."

"You got it."