Lead the Way - Chapter 074 - 4x17 - Demonology
Well that was one episode we'd been waiting for for ages! Finally we got some background story to Emily Prentiss. Remember how they did it in the good old days? Completely took you by surprise and presented with this wave of understatement... mhmmm... no flashy Europeans needed, no shitty one-liners, Demonology was CM at it's best. Even if you, like me, dislike this whole blob that surrounds abortion cases and the mythical element of the Devil and evil and excorcism and all that. Especially in a show like CM.
My gf asked why it was so long. And it is. It's the longest chapter in all of Lead the Way with its 19 Word pages. But as I wrote it, I discovered an Emily we'd never seen before. Vulnerable, young, impressionable, lost and full of bad ideas. Well that last part hasn't changed all that much, if you believe me :) I decided to leave it as it was and not shorten it. Sorry if it gets boring for you.
Credit where credit is due, as always. Demonology was episode 17 of season 4 and written by Chris Mundy. And as I was looking this up I realized that the episode in which JJ returns to the BAU is called "Supply & Demand". owd.
Lead the Way - 074 - 4x17 - Demonology
This was proving to be the worst night of all times. First she had seduced some tramp in a dive in the worst part of town. She thought she might have more luck in her search if she found a girl willing to try something more devious. She wasn’t ready to pay for any experiments, not as long as there were other options.
Of course the washed up singer turned alcoholic hadn’t given her what she wanted and she had gone home unsatisfied, angry and worried. Worried, that she might never find the woman to cleanse her of her past, forever stuck in the hell that was currently her life. Which, of course, made her even angrier. Angry that her search was fruitless and that it made her so vulnerable, leaving her unsatisfied, both sexually and emotionally.
To make things worse, her best friend, Rocky had flown in from France to tell her to go chase after JJ because she was the love of her life and it was time to realize that. As always she had read her like a book, but instead of allowing her the sumptuousness of sticking with a wrong decision, Rocky had pushed her nose in it. She had been just about to break and give in when the phone rang.
Johnny. A voice she hadn’t heard in years. A voice she would recognize in a heart beat. She couldn’t tell any more who had hurt whom more. She had been his first love. He was a coward. She was a lesbian. Their relationship was doomed from the get go. He didn’t say what he wanted, but it sounded urgent.
So Emily had gotten back in her Prius, the only silver lining in tonight’s shit storm being her careful use of alcohol and met her ex-boyfriend in a pub. She was in no shape to face him, not when she still wondered how her life would have been, if a handful of things had been different. She still went in and saw him sitting at the bar.
She touched him lightly on the shoulder and he turned around.
“Hey.”
“Oh hey, look at you.” He got up and smiled at her. “Hey.” He hugged her and she immediately backed off.
“Sorry, I’m wet.” She had only taken two steps in the rain, but she didn’t want to tell him that this was a little much. After all these years, he had to pick tonight of all nights.
“I’m sorry I made you drive in this…”
“It sounded urgent.” ‘Let’s cut to the chase.’
“It’s really good to see you.” ‘Is this some kind of joke?’ “It’s been forever.”
She was not in the mood for a walk down memory lane.
“Johnny, what’s… what’s going on?” This better be good.
“It’s about Matthew.” ‘Yep. Definitely the worst night of my life.’ She nodded.
“Benton.”
“He’s dead, Emily”
What? No. This couldn’t be true. He was too young. Her oldest friend.
“I didn’t wanna tell you over the phone.” After a couple of seconds Emily sat down on a barstool next to Johnny and asked:
“How?”
“His parents said that he had a heart attack.” His parents. She shook her head. He was too young for a heart attack. He was only 40. She had known him for 25 of those.
“I’m sorry.”
“Have you seen him?”
“Yeah. A couple of times.”
“And? How was he?” To think that she hadn’t seen or spoken to him in years after all he had done for her. And now it was too late. Too late to apologize or thank him.
“He was Matthew. He was rambling, a little chaotic…” Yeah, that sounded just like him.
“He was using.” It was said like a question.
“I don’t know. Probably.”
The way he avoided looking at her…
“There’s something you’re not telling me.”
Johnny sighed. He had to come clean.
“Last time I saw him, there was something different. He was talking crazy, but the… uhm… the fear. I can’t quite explain it, but I know it was real.”
“What… What was he saying?”
“He said: Johnny, they’re gonna kill me.” What?
“Who’s they?”
“He wouldn’t say. He said they already murdered a guy from Georgetown named Tommy V. They made it look like an accident.”
“Do you know anyone named Tommy V.?”
“No. Look he’s probably just being paranoid, but with what you do for a living now…” She nodded. She understood. She would look into it.
“Yeah.” She was already thinking of a way to sneak this past Hotch. “Yeah.”
“I mean you’re one of the only people he ever trusted, Emily.” She nodded absentmindedly.
“Okay.” She got up, obviously far, far away in her mind. “Okay.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forgetting that she had driven to the pub, Emily got into a cab and asked to be dropped off at the Edgar Hoover Building. She thought about Matthew and Johnny, about Rome, about what had happened there. They had been such wonderful friends before she went and messed it all up.
She had lived with the guilt ever since. The one time - or so she had thought until three hours ago - someone had loved her albeit knowing about her faults. She thought about Matthew’s bravery, about his loyalty and love and faith. She had tried to get him sobered up, but it was useless as long as his parents kept hurting him the way they did.
Or so she had rationalized the situation. Tried to ease her guilt. And now he was gone. Forever. She didn’t even notice that she was already at the BAU until she ran into Garcia. She was talking about something but Emily didn’t hear it.
“Where you able to find anything on Tommy V?” She had texted her friend from the cab. She couldn’t remember anyone named Tommy.
“If by chance you mean Thomas Valentine, age 35, found dead in his home from dehydration, as a matter of fact…” Garcia saw how different Emily was. Something big was up. “What’s going on?”
“Is Hotch still here?”
“Oh I’m pretty sure he lives here.”
“Thanks Garcia.”
Like a zombie. Her friend was clearly in dire need of a shoulder to cry on or at least someone to talk to. She decided to call Rocky and see if she was already in town.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hotch immediately knew something was wrong. Prentiss had gone home several hours ago.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uhm… I just found out that…” She paused to steady her voice. “… an old friend of mine died.”
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head. This was not what she wanted to talk about.
“Do you need some time?” She shook her head again and breathed out. How could she tell him? She licked over her lips, tasting the rain and tried again.
“Uhm…” She was looking for the words but all she could find were flashes of Matthew. Matthew in her room, when she told him, Matthew at the hospital with her, Matthew in church. She looked up and straight at Hotch.
“There’s a chance that he could have been murdered.” The words did not come easy. “And there might be a second case.” Even harder to accept.
“What do you need?” Thankfully her boss knew that this wasn’t the time to ask many questions.
“Just some leeway to check it out.” His support had her in tears again and it took all her training not to go and hug him.
“Of course. Anything.”
“Thank you.” She turned away from him, shame already on the edges of her conscious mind. She regretted letting her unit chief see her so weak, especially knowing that he didn’t trust women as easily as men.
“Emily if you wanna take a few days…” She stopped in her tracks, biting her lip. “… and let us look into it.” She turned around, torn between gratitude and anger.
“Matthew was…” She inhaled. “…incredibly messed up. And I hadn’t seen him in a long time.” Her voice shaking she added: “But he was important to me.”
Hotch understood that to mean that she could not sit idly by and offered:
“At least, let us help.” Emily nodded and thanked him again before walking out of his office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JJ had woken up in the middle of the night. Henry was crying, but something told her that it wasn’t why she had woken up. She went to sooth him and looked at the clock. She would have to get up in an hour anyway. Breakfast, the paper, maybe even a little workout - when was the last time she had allowed herself such frivolities? First things first, she checked her cell phone.
And her plan went out of the window. Hotch had requested that the team come in early. Which was curious as they couldn’t have a new case. They usually went through her and she wasn’t in the loop. She dropped Henry off at the day care center and arrived just in time to walk into the conference room with Reid and Rossi.
“Thanks for coming in early.” Hotch said to the case files in his hands.
“Where’re Morgan and Prentiss?” It was highly unusual to start a briefing with two team members missing.
“They’re at the morgue, examining this man.” He handed them on of the case files. “Matthew Benton. A friend of Emily’s. She believes that his death may be connected to that man’s.” He handed the other file to Rossi.
So, not only was one of Emily’s friends dead, he could be the victim of a crime, the victim of someone who killed before? Leave it to Hotch to reveal such a bombshell with the excitement of an undertaker.
“Thomas Valentine.” Rossi read from the medical report he was looking at. As far as the report went, he died of… “Dehydration? Did she know him?”
“No, but Benton seemed to think that someone was after both of them.”
“One death was a heart attack the other was from dehydration. What’s the connection?” How could they be so casual about this? Emily had just lost someone and no one mentioned it.
“I don’t know if there is one.”
“Are the police investigating?” JJ was already deliberating on how to get the team involved in the case.
“No. Right now, we’re just helping a colleague.”
“So, we talk to the families. See if there’s anything suspicious.” Rossi was immediately on board. JJ didn’t want to but she had to ask:
“Is Emily okay?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I sent Morgan to go with her.”
That was not the answer she had hoped for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why was the morgue always in the basement? As if they had to hide the ugliness of death from the living upstairs. For the first time Emily walked to a morgue, knowing the person on the slab. She felt as though she was walking through water, her feet heavier than normal. When the coroner removed the cloth from the head, she couldn’t resist the urge to touch him.
His face was swollen and he didn’t look peaceful. She ran her fingers through his hair, remembering the comforting touch of his hand. He had been there for her when she needed him and she had deserted him. Rocky didn’t know everything. Matthew hadn’t known anything. And those were the people who had known her best.
This was why she couldn’t take advice from anyone. Why JJ couldn’t be allowed in. Without fail, people always left Emily Prentiss. Then again, Matthew hadn’t left. He had been taken away. It wason her to bring them to justice.
“Is it possible someone could have induced the heart attack?” Morgan asked the doctor.
“The easiest way to stop the heart is an injection of potassium. I would have found traces.”
“There is no other way?”
“I suppose it’s possible he could have been injected with epinephrine. It wouldn’t register because clinically it’s identical to the natural adrenaline in the body.” Emily pushed away more of the pall and held his hand in hers. She noticed dark bruises on his forearms.
“Was he tied?”
“The wounds are superficial.” Which was a neither here nor there kind of answer.
“Anything else out of the ordinary?”
“He bled heavily from his nose. But, with the damage to his septum, my guess is there was prolonged use of cocaine or methamphetamine.”
“Yeah.”
“What about the other autopsy? Thomas Valentine?”
“He died of dehydration. There were traces of prescription anti-psychotics in his system. I understand from his family he had a history of mental illness.” Emily rifled through the file the coroner had handed her. Again, she found bruises.
“Are these ligature marks?”
“Considering the self-inflicted wounds and the history of mental illness, the police didn’t suspect foul play.”
“So you have two bodies with ligature marks…”
“Each superficial.”
“…but you just dismiss them.”
“There is no medical reason to connect these deaths.” Emily could see why this woman wasn’t working for the FBI.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In theory it was morning. Judging by the light and the fact that the street lights were lit this morning could easily pass as an early night. Hotch and JJ had driven over to the home of Matthew Benton’s family. The car drive had been quiet and uncomfortable. Neither knew what to say about this situation.
JJ was sure that if he had known about her relationship with Emily, he must be aware of its end. She didn’t want to blur the lines and ask more about Emily and she didn’t want to admit that she had never heard of either Matthew Benton or Thomas Valentine ever before. Hotch only said that Emily had instructed him not to mention her name when speaking to the Bentons.
Hotch had rung the bell and introduced them to Mr. and Mrs. Benton.
“I don’t understand why the FBI is interested in our son’s death.”
“We are investigating another death recently, under similar circumstances. We just wanted to make sure that there is no connection.”
“He suffered a heart attack.”
“It’s just routine.”
“Well, there’s nothing routine about investigating a heart attack.”
JJ was freezing in the rain, and she didn’t understand the woman’s reluctance to let them in. She was a little too eager to believe it was a heart attack that killed her son. In her experience people grasped at straws to find someone to blame.
“Andrea, it’s okay. I assume your investigation is drug related?”
Was this a good thing? JJ looked to Hotch.
“We’re just trying to rule out foul play.” He paused. “May we come in?”
“Of course.”
They were led into a bedroom. It smelled smoky and Hotch asked:
“Do you mind my asking, have you been burning incense?”
“After Matthew died, I burned some in the room. To cleanse it.”
“So, he was living here with you?” Talk about cutting the cord.
“We were hoping he could turn his life around.”
While Hotch noticed the scuff marks under the bedpost Mr. Benton said: “We were in NY for the weekend. When we came back we found his body here.”
“My son’s soul was in the possession of evil.” Those were two words no profiler liked to hear in the same sentence: soul and evil. It usually meant a lot of work.
“Do you have any experience with drug addiction?” Mr. Benton asked in JJ’s direction.
“We see a lot of it, through our work.”
“Well it’s an impossible thing to watch to happen to someone you love.”
“Were you aware that in the days before he died Matthew thought someone was going to kill him?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“One of our team members, Agent Prentiss?” It was time to roll out the big guns, if nothing else helped.
“Emily Prentiss?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“She’s the reason you’re here?”
“We’d like you both to leave.” When they didn’t move right away, Mrs. Benton added a harsh “Now!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the BAU bullpen area Hotch and JJ ran into Emily and told her what had happened at the Bentons’ house. She looked composed and more or less in control of her emotions again. JJ admired her for her strength.
“I told you not to mention me.”
“You didn’t say it’d get us kicked out.” She tried to make her see that she could still trust her, no matter what happened in the past.
“Is there something we should know?”
“Matthew and I met in Rome, when we were fifteen. My mom was posted there. His parents didn’t like us hanging out.”
“And they still hold a grudge?” It was hard to imagine, after all these years…
“They were extremely religious. They thought I was a bad influence.”
“You?”
Emily hadn’t known that she was gay back then, had she? And how would her friend’s parents know? JJ was sure there was more to this story, but for now she didn’t press the issue.
“Yeah.”
“And that’s it?”
“That’s it.” Prentiss walked away, clearly holding back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only thing to connect Matthew and Thomas was a trip to Galicia, Spain, four months prior. They had been on a pilgrimage to a church named Santiago de Compostelo. Other than the religiousness of the surrounding family the men seemed to live completely different lives.
Rossi pointed out that schizophrenia and drug addiction were often associated with demonic possession. He believed that Emily was right and that the Unsub was ritualizing killings like exorcisms. Morgan on the other hand wasn’t even convinced that there was a crime. To defuse the situation Rossi offered to go and talk to someone who might be able to confirm his theory before they were jumping to conclusions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She came home and put her keys on the kitchen counter. It felt as if this day had happened to a different person. These two days. She hadn’t slept in 48 hours. She wasn’t tired. She was in a haze. Everything was fuzzy. Nothing was clear, no straws to hold on to.
“Hey.” The soft voice almost didn’t reach her.
“Rocky. I’m sorry. You should probably go. Skippy…”
“Can wait.” Emily didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to explain what Matthew meant to her. “I’ve made you something to eat.”
She ate in silence.
“Do you want to take a bath or go straight to bed?” She just shrugged and her best friend decided that the soup would probably warm her up enough.
After dinner Emily changed and lay down. A while later Rocky climbed into bed next to her. She pulled her into her arms without saying a word and just held her while the rain beat against the window.
Tears were running down the profiler’s cheeks as she allowed herself to accept the pain. She had lost Matthew but she still had Rocky. She knew she was lucky that someone was beside her in this trying time, but all she felt was pain. She cried harder until she had to fight to breathe. Rocky never loosened her embrace and her body shook with Emily’s through countless sobs.
Emily held on to Rocky as if she was drowning until she fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day the rain had finally stopped. So had a man’s life. Prentiss was already there when Reid and Morgan arrived.
“Garcia got a call. 38 year old, white male, found dead in his bed by his fiancée.
“What’s the connection?”
“She ran the name. Patrick Cavanaugh was in Galicia, Spain the same week as Thomas Valentine and Matthew.”
“Do you know him?”
“No.”
She flashed her badge to the uniform in front of the house.
“Hey, FBI.”
“Wow. Seriously?”
“Yeah. What can you tell us?”
“White male, been dead for hours. Medics think it was a brain aneurism.” That was consistent with their theory.
“Mind if we take a look at the scene?”
“Knock yourselves out.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bedroom had scuff marks, just like the others.
“This is starting to kinda freak me out a little bit.” Reid admitted.
“Let’s figure out if we have a crime before freaking out.”
“Obviously we have a crime.”
“Prentiss how does an Unsub induce an aneurism?”
“Could be caused by stress.”
“Yeah like if you were restrained on a bed while someone tried to banish the devil from your body.”
“All I’m saying is I think we should go easy.” He said it like a question to take the edge out of it, but the fact remained: he was not behind Emily on this and his betrayal hurt a lot.
The victim’s fiancée walked in and asked:
“Can I help you?”
“We’re with the FBI. We’re investigating a series of unexplained deaths.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Had Patrick been acting erratically lately?” Prentiss took over for Reid.
“He had a brain condition. He was getting headaches, wasn’t acting like himself.”
“Were you aware of a trip recently to Galicia, Spain?”
“Ah, there is a church there called Santiago de Compostelo, we think he may have visited.” Reid tried to help her memory along.
“My fiancé travelled a lot for work. I don’t know everywhere he went.” This woman was unbelievable! Not only did she not even try to look sad about her soon-to-be-husband’s death she came up with the worst lies Prentiss had heard in a long while.
“With all do respect, Ma’am, I don’t think you’re telling us the truth.”
“Excuse me?”
“Did you believe Patrick was possessed?”
“I’d like some privacy please.”
“Was someone trying to rid him of demons? Is that how he died?”
“No.”
“You really believe he had a brain condition.”
“Emily?” Morgan said quietly. The tone of his voice made her even angrier. Why was he trying to pull her back, why was he so adamant on believing that this was not the work of a serial killer?
“You need to go now.”
“Because if you sanctioned an exorcism and he died, I can press to make you an accessory to murder.”
“Emily, Emily, that is enough.” Morgan said as softly as possible. “Stop it. Let’s go.” She couldn’t believe him, but she left just the same.
She didn’t say a word until the three of them were back at the office.
Hotch asked: “What happened?”
“I think there may be a third victim.” Reid said.
“Is that what you think?” Hotch asked Morgan, who looked at Prentiss before responding.
“I don’t know.”
“We have ligature marks, the Spain connection and scuff marks under the bed.” The case was circumstantial sure, but they had worked with less.
“Hotch, it’s weird. Definitely. But there is no way to physically connect dehydration, a heart attack and an aneurism.” Hotch nodded and Reid said:
“What’s going on?”
“Well we’ve had a complaint. JJ’s trying to smooth it over with the DC police, but we haven’t been invited on the case.”
Hotch left and Morgan was about to do the same when Emily said:
“That’s how you have my back?”
“Prentiss, I’m trying to protect you.” ‘Always with the action hero routine!’
“I don’t need protection.”
“Hotch just said he got a complaint, he didn’t come down on you, you realize that? You just dodged a bullet. We have to approach this just like any other case.”
“Meaning what?”
“Grief can make us want to believe there’s a reason for things when there’s not.”
“That woman couldn’t even mention Patrick’s name. She could only say my fiancé, because she is convinced something else died in that room that night.” With that, she left him standing there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After JJ had brought them bad news about the lack of an investigation into these deaths Hotch and Rossi were debating if their theory had any real value. Garcia walked into Hotch’s office with the words:
“All hail the mistress of information.”
“You got something?”
“You know I do.”
“It’s a posting from a web bulletin board by Matthew Benton to create a support group for people who have felt betrayed by their faith.”
“Well that helps explain how these three men came together.”
“It gets better.”
If one was to believe the rumors the priest of Santiago de Compostela had died under mysterious circumstances while all the victims had been in Galicia. Emily’s hunch was slowly growing into a possibility and Hotch had no choice but to let his team continue with the investigation. Even if the police hadn’t connected the dots yet. He urged them to keep this as quiet as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny had shown up in the bullpen. He asked about the investigation and how much she had found out. She had to tell him, that the local authorities didn’t even think that there had been a crime.
“So the police are not investigating?”
“Exorcism is a tough theory to sell. The police don’t think the deaths are connected.” She saw Rossi walk out of Hotch’s office.
“But you do?”
“You’re gonna have to give me some time here.” She saw him pass by and took the opportunity to introduce him to Johnny. “David Rossi. This is John Cooley, he was also a friend of Matthew’s.”
“I’m sorry. You saw him recently?”
“Yeah.”
“Is there anyone he associated with out of the usual? Anyone overtly religious?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I’ve been doing my best to retrace his steps, but I still haven’t come up with anything.” Emily didn’t like the look on Rossi’s face. He looked like Johnny was some kind of extremely repulsive, gooey insect slime. She could tell that he didn’t believe a word of what Cooley said.
“Buy you a cup of coffee?” She hesitated for a moment, then agreed. To Johnny she said:
“I will call you if I hear anything.”
“Yeah.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After having stopped at a Starbucks, Rossi made her get back in the car. He drove her to an empty property, the fence around it so rusty it was about to fall apart. She had barely set foot on the premises and her shoes were already filthy. The rain from the last days had left deep puddles of mud.
“There are uhm… nicer places to take a girl for coffee.” She knew he had an ulterior motive for bringing her here, but she wanted to avoid it as long as possible.
“Did you ever see “The Exorcist”?”
“Yeah.” Was he going to take her for a movie at the city dump next?
“The real case started right here. The fire department actually burned down the house themselves. The authorities referred to the boy as Robby Doe. He’s still in the DC area today.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“A whole lot of effort went into destroying the house of a kid who probably had on set schizophrenia or Torette syndrome.”
“I’m not following you.”
“You’re sure he was murdered. So what’s the story?”
This was what she had been afraid of ever since she mentioned the name Tommy V. to Garcia. Emily looked down and sighed. She turned around and took a couple of steps away from her colleague.
“If you uhm… don’t wanna explain that’s fine...” She hit the mud with her right foot. “…but if you do, I’m all in.” She turned back around again, biting her lower lip.
She didn’t really want to say anything, but she knew that even the most trivial information could break a case. Time and time again she had seen investigations go in the wrong direction because the victim’s family tried to hide an ugly truth or were unaware of their relative’s hobbies. Maybe she could tell Rossi about Matthew without revealing too much about herself.
“Matthew knew the Bible inside and out and he started to question everything.”
“Why?”
Emily shook her head, a pleading look in her eyes. He wasn’t the person she wanted to tell about her initiation into sexuality. She didn’t want him to know how she had agreed to go out with Johnny because she didn’t want to be the only girl without a boyfriend.
She looked down, trying to figure out how to say half of it. When she had it, she nodded and said:
“We moved around a lot when I was a kid. Cause of my Mom’s postings.” She shook her head again, this time trying to get rid of the tears in her eyes. “It was hard to get accepted” She searched in his eyes to see if he knew what she was talking about. “…and when you’re fifteen that’s all you want.” She took a second to recollect her voice. She had been stupid, made mistakes. “You’ll do almost anything.”
She didn’t want David to know that she had been pressured into having sex, that he had forced himself on her or that she had allowed him to think that she had been okay with it, because he was popular. It had been over so fast that she wasn’t even sure it had happened and the only person who knew that she would have said no had she had a chance to say anything was Matthew.
“You got pregnant.” He had guessed the truth.
“Yeah.” She wanted to leave it at that and get back on the subject.
“Was Matthew the father?”
The only person whom she ever considered her friend. Kids were cruel and knowing that she would only stay with them for a couple of years wasn’t helping. Matthew hadn’t looked that far ahead until she confessed to him that she was pregnant. He understood that having a child would mean that she’d have to get married to John.
“No.” To even consider that Matthew wouldn’t have respected her wishes was unsettling, but it wasn’t Rossi’s fault. He had never met him. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t tell my Mom.” She paused again, contemplating what might have happened if the Ambassador knew. Surely, a scandal of massive proportions would have ensued. “Matthew suggested I talk with our priest.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said that if I had an abortion I wasn’t welcome in his congregation.”
“So what did you do?”
They were all friends, but Matthew knew that Emily was different, that Johnny was unreliable, they were all way too young. So he took matters into his own hands.
“Matthew found a doctor. He took me there. He stayed with me.” She saw him in that cool examination room, holding her hand. She had looked into his eyes and felt loved and cared for for the first time in her life.
“That Sunday when we got back to Rome he held my hand and walked me into the church. Father Camino actually stopped his sermon. But Matthew told me to hold my head up and we walked to the front pew.”
“What did the priest do?”
“He and Matthew just stared at each other. It was like a battle of wills and then suddenly Father Camino went back to his sermon.”
If it hadn’t been for him, Emily would have had to marry a man, never finding out about herself, never knowing love, the way she thought she’d found it with JJ, never being able to be free.
“Matthew saved my life. He made me feel like I was worthy of…” She shrugged knowing the next words would sound cheesy, but that was what she felt “…love and friendship.”
“But that’s when his anger and questioning started.”
It had come at a high price. An argument could even be made that the price was too high. Because of her poor decision making, her relentless need to fit in, Matthew had lost his faith.
“Yeah. He started doing drugs and when that melded with his religious questioning you could understand why his parents would think that he was possessed by something evil.”
If this one rule was so clearly unfair, maybe they were wrong about the others as well. And if nothing was sacrosanct who was to say that there even was a God? And if there wasn’t, what was the point of this entire existence? Procreation?
She had thought it a hundred times but she had never said it out loud. Not until today:
“It’s my fault that Matthew’s life unraveled.” She shook her shoulders and exhaled to control her voice and stop crying.
Thankfully Rossi didn’t press the issue. “Garcia uncovered some information. It’s possible Matthew and the others killed someone in Spain.”
“No. I don’t believe that.”
“I’m just saying if we keep pushing you have to be prepared for what we might discover.”
She took a second and decided that her peace of mind was a lot less important than his.
“I need Matthew to rest in peace. I owe him that.”
“Then let’s go give a profile.”
“The police haven’t invited us in.”
“The police aren’t going to do us any good on this one anyway.” He guided her off the property and back to the black SUV. Just before she got in and they returned to the others he said to her:
“You should trust people more often. They might surprise you.”
She looked at him, completely taken off guard. Who was he referring to?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prentiss, Rossi and Reid gave the profile to local catholic priests. Even though they couldn’t single out one priest that fit the profile they had one very important information. If a man performed three exorcisms in the last month he would need medical attention. He was most likely to go to a Catholic hospital.
Garcia checked and cross referenced admissions to Catholic hospital the day after each death. She got one hit: Father Paul Silvano. The three profilers went to the hospital were he currently underwent treatment. They arrived just in time to see him pack.
“Are you Father Paul Silvano?” Rossi asked while each of them showed their badge to his back.
“Yes.” He said somberly without turning around.
“Were you present at the deaths of Thomas Valentine, Matthew Benton and Patrick Cavanaugh?” Finally he turned around. Looking past Dave at Emily he said:
“I’ve been expecting you.”
Did he know her? Why was he talking to her? He made her feel insecure and nervous just by looking at her.
“He asked you a question.”
“Yes.” He turned back to face his suitcase again. “I was present.”
“You have the right to remain silent. Any…” He interrupted her and told her in Italian that she should look in the nightstand drawer.
Reid turned to Emily and asked: “What did he say?”
She hesitated. How did he know that she would understand him?
“He wants you to look in the drawer.”
“We’re both fighting the same evil.”
Reid found some papers.
“It’s diplomatic status,” he said.
‘Could this case get any worse?’
“He has immunity?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Rossi texted her that they were bringing in a suspect and that she would have to deal with a lot of beaurocracy she had made the mistake of coming out to see Emily. Before she was ready to spend the day in her office on the phone she wanted to know that she was okay. That Emily would make it through this.
It was hard enough to lose someone you cared about and Matthew had evidently been very important to her. To have this person ripped from your life and then being confronted with indifference and conceit was enough to make anyone snap.
JJ had made the mistake of looking into Emily’s eyes as they were discussing how to proceed. Emily seemed to be on fire. She was ready to attack anyone who disagreed with her, unswayed by the consequences that were sure to follow. Her eyes once warm and loving were full of hatred and spite. If someone had asked her yesterday whether Emily Prentiss was capable of violence she would have sworn that this woman would never hurt anyone. Now, she wasn’t so sure anymore.
Nevertheless she pleaded with Hotch to let Emily interview the priest. He hadn’t been taken into custody, he could leave at any time. This way Emily would be too busy interviewing the Unsub, to call in her mother and make matters even more complicated. That argument finally won Hotch over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emily had insisted that they bring the priest in in spite of his diplomatic status. She had so many questions and she hoped that he would give her at least a few answers before anyone got wind of this. To think that Matthew looked into this face as he died filled her with anger and rage. She wanted to do unto him what she had seen in hundreds of crime scene photos and she couldn’t even bring him to justice!
“Explain to me why you were the last person in the room when three men died.”
“I’m a priest. I was there for them spiritually.”
Ever since Rome Emily hadn’t been much of a believer. She would stay up with Matthew and discuss the contradictions they had been so willing to accept before. Despite everything she could still see that priests meant well, that for the most part they cared about their congregations. To hear this murderer cloak himself in the same vows to justify his crimes was unforgivable.
“They weren’t on their deathbeds.”
“Not physically.”
“Did you kill them?” If he confessed now, thinking he was protected by his diplomatic status, the federal prosecutor might be able to use it after she got his immunity revoked.
“No.” He even had the audacity to smile.
“But you’re not sad any of them are dead.”
“Physical death is always sad. But now their souls are in Heaven. For that their families have peace.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JJ had done all she could. Even Garcia hadn’t found anything overtly suspicious about Paul Silvano. It was time to deliver the bad news. Seeing how Hotch was on the phone she approached Rossi outside of the interrogation room, studying Silvano’s reactions. Or was he watching Emily?
“Up until four months ago his record’s spotless. No history of mental illness, no censures; he was even invited to say mass at the Washington National Cathedral.” Without turning away from the one-way-mirror he asked:
“What happened four months ago?”
“No details. Just says he took a sabbatical for personal reasons.”
Emily was clearly struggling in there. She had never seen her so angry before.
“Four months ago was just after the death in Spain.”
“It looks like he lobbied the Vatican for a diplomatic posting but they refused. After that he took the World Hunger Mission from the Italian government.” It was plain that he had had murder on his mind all along.
“Which brought him here with immunity. Where’s Hotch?”
“He’s on the phone with the State Department.”
“Gather the others. I’ll be there in a second.” She left with a sinking feeling in her heart that this would get worse before it got better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Did you know the priest who died in Galicia?”
“Father del Toro and I were at seminary together.”
“Did you know that Matthew Benton and the other men were in Galicia the week he died?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe they committed murder?”
“I was contacted by a family member.” The angrier she got the calmer and softer his voice was. As if he was trying to calm a child down who was upset because she wouldn’t get her favorite toy. “He was frightened. He told me his real son never returned from that trip.”
“And you suggested that he was possessed.”
Normally Emily didn’t care about other people’s beliefs. Normally she would let them have faith in the powers of the tooth fairy or fear the little green people form out of space. Normally people didn’t die for what other people believed in. Not in this country anyway.
“I said that I could help rid his child of evil.”
“What did you tell the other family members after you watched their sons die? That it’s God’s will?”
“I’ve never laid my hand on anyone with malice in my life.”
“Then explain these deaths to me.”
“You know the power of evil.” Seriously? Emily cracked the bones in her shoulder to keep herself from jumping at this scumbag’s throat. How dare he compare himself to her?
He resorted to Italian again, asking if she stilled prayed. Suddenly it made sense to Emily.
It was no coincidence that he had diplomatic status. He probably planned it that way. He checked on his victims, inserted himself in the families, gained their trust. That was how he knew of Emily, why he had been expecting her back at the hospital, how he knew that she spoke Italian and how he knew that she used to be Catholic.
She didn’t think about the fact that she had been investigated by a serial killer. That she, too, could have fallen victim to him. All she saw was an Unsub who tried to intimidate her. As if she wasn’t already angry enough. She responded in Italian to show him that he had no power over her. She told him that this wasn’t about her and she thought he understood how much more she meant by that.
“Be strong. The storm’s almost over.” ‘Almost?’
He slipped up. Wether he knew it or not he had made a mistake. Emily now knew that he wasn’t done. She decided it was best that he kept on thinking he had everything under control.
“What caused their deaths?”
“Medically?”
“Yes. Please.” Sometimes her strict upbringing came in really handy. At least no one would know from the transcript of this interview that she had been anything but polite.
“I can’t say.”
“Were they under stress?”
“We all were.
“Did you sprinkle Holy Water on them?”
“As part of the excorcism ritual.” He nodded.
“What was in the Holy Water? Saran? VX?” When he stayed quiet she added: “The smallest amount would cause respiratory failure.”
“I’m not familiar with them.”
“No? Really? Because that’s what a lot of people think killed Father del Toro in Spain.”
At that moment Hotch came in and released Father Paul Silvano. He even apologized to him! Emily was so perplexed she couldn’t even look at her boss. Silvano turned around to look at her and insulted her even more:
“I hope you find peace.”
The way Hotch looked at her, as if she had misbehaved and then he said “My office.” was like being summoned by the principal.
As soon as they were through the door and in his office, Hotch asked:
“Are you actually accusing the Italian government of authorizing this man’s assassination list?” Well, at least he didn’t deny that Silvano was guilty.
“He admits he was present at every death.” She hadn’t even heard the part about the government. She didn’t care about politics right now.
Once again someone’s political agenda was standing in her way, but this time she wouldn’t back down. This time wasn’t for her. It was the last thing she could ever do for Michael and she owed him to do her very best.
“The case is over.” Emily felt as though he’d slapped her right across the face. How could he do that?
“You said you’d give me leeway.”
“And I did. I understand your frustration. There are some things we cannot control. Take some time off.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to see you in the office for the next few days.”
Take some time off? Frustration? How could he say that? Couldn’t he see what was going here? Sure, when the victims were pretty blondes he did all he could but as soon as it got a little dicey, as soon as politics and religion or the distortion of these concepts was involved he surrendered. And to think that she had trusted him with this. She should have gone rogue all along.
She stormed out of the BAU and took the elevator down. As the doors were closing for what could be the very last time she was here she saw Rossi coming toward her. Quickly she held her hand out to keep the doors from closing so he could get in.
“You up for another drive?” He asked without mentioning the altercation in Hotch’s office. She just looked at him without understanding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He took her to the Benton residence. Instead of a greeting Mrs. Benton said to Emily:
“What are you doing here?”
“We know Matthew died during an exorcism by Father Paul Silvano.”
“He’s performed three in the last few weeks. Each subject has died. We believe he’s planning another one.” Rossi said and as soon as Mrs. Benton had someone else to focus on she calmed down.
“That’s none of our business.”
“Matthew’s gone. You’ve accepted that.”
How they could let go of their son so fast was a mystery to her, but Mrs. Benton had always had one thing in common with her mother. If something or someone didn’t live up to her expectations they were out of her life quicker than you could imagine.
“At least let us warn the last family, so they know what kind of choice they’re facing.”
She saw that Mrs. Benton wanted to help. She just didn’t want to help her. To make it easier for her Emily said:
“This isn’t about me. This is about other families and the people they love.”
Mr. Benton had walked up to them. His wife went inside and Rossi and Prentiss followed them into the living room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within seconds it had become clear that the old issues between the Bentons and Emily were still unresolved. While Emily blamed them for blindly trusting someone just because he was a priest, for not helping their son the right way, Matthew’s parents in turn blamed her for his doubts, his drug addiction and his unhappiness.
Instead of allowing the parties to argue and never find an end to it, Rossi had brought their attention back to heart of the matter. From Mrs. Benton answers he deduced that Father Silvano believed Matthew had been a conduit to evil.
Therefore everyone he had come in contact with was a possible target. Emily and Dave also found out that John Cooley had lied about how he found out that Matthew had died. He had met Matthew.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We have to stop him.”
“Calm down Emily, we don’t even know where he is.” Rossi had to yell to be heard over the pouring rain. They had just left the Benton’s residence, not wanting to alarm them.
“We need to warn Johnny.”
“What we need is a plan. There’s no point in making the same mistakes twice.” Through her grief and her anger Emily saw that the one person who had supported her through all of this was Rossi. He had earned her trust.
“All right. What do you propose?”
“I’ll go and convince Hotch that there is something he can do after all. You call Morgan and have him pick you up.”
“And then?”
“Then you pay an old friend a visit.” She nodded and started dialing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prentiss and Morgan came to find the door unlocked. Their guns drawn they walked in and heard noises from upstairs. Immediately they ran up to find John Cooley tied to his bed. Father Silvano was yelling and holding him down.
“You have no right to be here.” He now yelled at her while sprinkling John with water.
“This is my friend’s house,” she reasoned, but it was pointless. Everyone was too agitated for a reasonable solution. Morgan jumped the priest and manhandled him out of the room where he cuffed him. Prentiss untied Cooley and tried to calm him down. She insisted he get checked out by the medics waiting downstairs. Something was in that water.
She had him wrapped in a blanket and escorted him outside.
“Emily, I’m fine.” He said, much calmer.
“No. Look at you. Stress can tear your body apart. That’s what happened to Matthew.” And she wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. Just like Rossi had said.
“Em, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” He looked at her trying to see if she understood what he meant to say. When he wasn’t convinced he added: “In Italy.”
She didn’t know how to respond. He had no idea what had gone wrong in Italy. It wasn’t about the pregnancy or the abortion, although she still asked herself sometimes how different her life would be if she had kept it. He still didn’t know that she had never wanted to have sex with him, that she liked him, but that she pretended to love him, so the others would accept her. She had never told him that she was gay, that she had made a good life for herself, that she didn’t dare enjoy it too much, because Matthew had given up his life for hers.
“Okay. Just let them do their job.” He kissed her on the cheek and left.
“Goodbye.” For a few seconds her hands remained where they had been. As if by holding on to the air she could undo her past.
“I’ll check on you later.” She said, but they both knew she wouldn’t. They weren’t friends any more. They hadn’t been in touch in years. Nothing was left to say. Now that Matthew was gone, they didn’t even have anything in common any more.
Prentiss walked over to Hotch.
“If you want my gun and badge I’d understand.” It would have been worth it too. But he just shook his head. Morgan brought a hand cuffed Silvano to them.
Hotch said to him:
“There’s a plane ticket in your name to Rome. Agent Morgan and I will drive you to the airport. Any of your belongings can be shipped to you.”
“You have no right to deport me.”
“The Vatican intervened.” Rossi explained. It was time this scumbag learned that religion wasn’t simply a means to an end. “The Italian government has rescinded your diplomatic status.”
“They’ll do with you as they see fit when you’re back in their jurisdiction.”
“You’ve all just made the world a much more dangerous place.”
Emily looked at him as if he was from another planet. Maybe he was. How else could he believe that he would get out of this? Did he really believe in the ghost stories he had told the families of his victims?
Silvano turned to her and blessed her in Italian. Emily looked at him, stunned at his audacity. She responded in Italian as well, returning the blessing. To everyone around them it sounded as if they were cursing each other.
While the others discussed the difference between evil and evil acts, Emily noticed that the rain had turned into snow. Almost as if the city wanted to crawl up in a blanket and forget what happened the past couple of weeks.
Before he left she made point of thanking Morgan for having her back after all.
“Always.” He said and she knew he meant it.
She stared into the sky, lost in her thoughts when Rossi said: “What are you thinking?”
“It’s like the end of The Dead. When Greta remembers the boy she loved when she was younger and she says: I think he died for me.” Now she understood what the author had meant.
“You know James Joyce also said: There is no heresy or philosophy so abhorrent to the church as a human being.”
She nodded once and they understood each other.
“Where can I drop you?”
“I’m gonna walk for a while.” He nodded too and noticing that it had begun to snow he said:
“Almost seems unreal, doesn’t it?”
My gf asked why it was so long. And it is. It's the longest chapter in all of Lead the Way with its 19 Word pages. But as I wrote it, I discovered an Emily we'd never seen before. Vulnerable, young, impressionable, lost and full of bad ideas. Well that last part hasn't changed all that much, if you believe me :) I decided to leave it as it was and not shorten it. Sorry if it gets boring for you.
Credit where credit is due, as always. Demonology was episode 17 of season 4 and written by Chris Mundy. And as I was looking this up I realized that the episode in which JJ returns to the BAU is called "Supply & Demand". owd.
Lead the Way - 074 - 4x17 - Demonology
This was proving to be the worst night of all times. First she had seduced some tramp in a dive in the worst part of town. She thought she might have more luck in her search if she found a girl willing to try something more devious. She wasn’t ready to pay for any experiments, not as long as there were other options.
Of course the washed up singer turned alcoholic hadn’t given her what she wanted and she had gone home unsatisfied, angry and worried. Worried, that she might never find the woman to cleanse her of her past, forever stuck in the hell that was currently her life. Which, of course, made her even angrier. Angry that her search was fruitless and that it made her so vulnerable, leaving her unsatisfied, both sexually and emotionally.
To make things worse, her best friend, Rocky had flown in from France to tell her to go chase after JJ because she was the love of her life and it was time to realize that. As always she had read her like a book, but instead of allowing her the sumptuousness of sticking with a wrong decision, Rocky had pushed her nose in it. She had been just about to break and give in when the phone rang.
Johnny. A voice she hadn’t heard in years. A voice she would recognize in a heart beat. She couldn’t tell any more who had hurt whom more. She had been his first love. He was a coward. She was a lesbian. Their relationship was doomed from the get go. He didn’t say what he wanted, but it sounded urgent.
So Emily had gotten back in her Prius, the only silver lining in tonight’s shit storm being her careful use of alcohol and met her ex-boyfriend in a pub. She was in no shape to face him, not when she still wondered how her life would have been, if a handful of things had been different. She still went in and saw him sitting at the bar.
She touched him lightly on the shoulder and he turned around.
“Hey.”
“Oh hey, look at you.” He got up and smiled at her. “Hey.” He hugged her and she immediately backed off.
“Sorry, I’m wet.” She had only taken two steps in the rain, but she didn’t want to tell him that this was a little much. After all these years, he had to pick tonight of all nights.
“I’m sorry I made you drive in this…”
“It sounded urgent.” ‘Let’s cut to the chase.’
“It’s really good to see you.” ‘Is this some kind of joke?’ “It’s been forever.”
She was not in the mood for a walk down memory lane.
“Johnny, what’s… what’s going on?” This better be good.
“It’s about Matthew.” ‘Yep. Definitely the worst night of my life.’ She nodded.
“Benton.”
“He’s dead, Emily”
What? No. This couldn’t be true. He was too young. Her oldest friend.
“I didn’t wanna tell you over the phone.” After a couple of seconds Emily sat down on a barstool next to Johnny and asked:
“How?”
“His parents said that he had a heart attack.” His parents. She shook her head. He was too young for a heart attack. He was only 40. She had known him for 25 of those.
“I’m sorry.”
“Have you seen him?”
“Yeah. A couple of times.”
“And? How was he?” To think that she hadn’t seen or spoken to him in years after all he had done for her. And now it was too late. Too late to apologize or thank him.
“He was Matthew. He was rambling, a little chaotic…” Yeah, that sounded just like him.
“He was using.” It was said like a question.
“I don’t know. Probably.”
The way he avoided looking at her…
“There’s something you’re not telling me.”
Johnny sighed. He had to come clean.
“Last time I saw him, there was something different. He was talking crazy, but the… uhm… the fear. I can’t quite explain it, but I know it was real.”
“What… What was he saying?”
“He said: Johnny, they’re gonna kill me.” What?
“Who’s they?”
“He wouldn’t say. He said they already murdered a guy from Georgetown named Tommy V. They made it look like an accident.”
“Do you know anyone named Tommy V.?”
“No. Look he’s probably just being paranoid, but with what you do for a living now…” She nodded. She understood. She would look into it.
“Yeah.” She was already thinking of a way to sneak this past Hotch. “Yeah.”
“I mean you’re one of the only people he ever trusted, Emily.” She nodded absentmindedly.
“Okay.” She got up, obviously far, far away in her mind. “Okay.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forgetting that she had driven to the pub, Emily got into a cab and asked to be dropped off at the Edgar Hoover Building. She thought about Matthew and Johnny, about Rome, about what had happened there. They had been such wonderful friends before she went and messed it all up.
She had lived with the guilt ever since. The one time - or so she had thought until three hours ago - someone had loved her albeit knowing about her faults. She thought about Matthew’s bravery, about his loyalty and love and faith. She had tried to get him sobered up, but it was useless as long as his parents kept hurting him the way they did.
Or so she had rationalized the situation. Tried to ease her guilt. And now he was gone. Forever. She didn’t even notice that she was already at the BAU until she ran into Garcia. She was talking about something but Emily didn’t hear it.
“Where you able to find anything on Tommy V?” She had texted her friend from the cab. She couldn’t remember anyone named Tommy.
“If by chance you mean Thomas Valentine, age 35, found dead in his home from dehydration, as a matter of fact…” Garcia saw how different Emily was. Something big was up. “What’s going on?”
“Is Hotch still here?”
“Oh I’m pretty sure he lives here.”
“Thanks Garcia.”
Like a zombie. Her friend was clearly in dire need of a shoulder to cry on or at least someone to talk to. She decided to call Rocky and see if she was already in town.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hotch immediately knew something was wrong. Prentiss had gone home several hours ago.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uhm… I just found out that…” She paused to steady her voice. “… an old friend of mine died.”
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head. This was not what she wanted to talk about.
“Do you need some time?” She shook her head again and breathed out. How could she tell him? She licked over her lips, tasting the rain and tried again.
“Uhm…” She was looking for the words but all she could find were flashes of Matthew. Matthew in her room, when she told him, Matthew at the hospital with her, Matthew in church. She looked up and straight at Hotch.
“There’s a chance that he could have been murdered.” The words did not come easy. “And there might be a second case.” Even harder to accept.
“What do you need?” Thankfully her boss knew that this wasn’t the time to ask many questions.
“Just some leeway to check it out.” His support had her in tears again and it took all her training not to go and hug him.
“Of course. Anything.”
“Thank you.” She turned away from him, shame already on the edges of her conscious mind. She regretted letting her unit chief see her so weak, especially knowing that he didn’t trust women as easily as men.
“Emily if you wanna take a few days…” She stopped in her tracks, biting her lip. “… and let us look into it.” She turned around, torn between gratitude and anger.
“Matthew was…” She inhaled. “…incredibly messed up. And I hadn’t seen him in a long time.” Her voice shaking she added: “But he was important to me.”
Hotch understood that to mean that she could not sit idly by and offered:
“At least, let us help.” Emily nodded and thanked him again before walking out of his office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JJ had woken up in the middle of the night. Henry was crying, but something told her that it wasn’t why she had woken up. She went to sooth him and looked at the clock. She would have to get up in an hour anyway. Breakfast, the paper, maybe even a little workout - when was the last time she had allowed herself such frivolities? First things first, she checked her cell phone.
And her plan went out of the window. Hotch had requested that the team come in early. Which was curious as they couldn’t have a new case. They usually went through her and she wasn’t in the loop. She dropped Henry off at the day care center and arrived just in time to walk into the conference room with Reid and Rossi.
“Thanks for coming in early.” Hotch said to the case files in his hands.
“Where’re Morgan and Prentiss?” It was highly unusual to start a briefing with two team members missing.
“They’re at the morgue, examining this man.” He handed them on of the case files. “Matthew Benton. A friend of Emily’s. She believes that his death may be connected to that man’s.” He handed the other file to Rossi.
So, not only was one of Emily’s friends dead, he could be the victim of a crime, the victim of someone who killed before? Leave it to Hotch to reveal such a bombshell with the excitement of an undertaker.
“Thomas Valentine.” Rossi read from the medical report he was looking at. As far as the report went, he died of… “Dehydration? Did she know him?”
“No, but Benton seemed to think that someone was after both of them.”
“One death was a heart attack the other was from dehydration. What’s the connection?” How could they be so casual about this? Emily had just lost someone and no one mentioned it.
“I don’t know if there is one.”
“Are the police investigating?” JJ was already deliberating on how to get the team involved in the case.
“No. Right now, we’re just helping a colleague.”
“So, we talk to the families. See if there’s anything suspicious.” Rossi was immediately on board. JJ didn’t want to but she had to ask:
“Is Emily okay?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I sent Morgan to go with her.”
That was not the answer she had hoped for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why was the morgue always in the basement? As if they had to hide the ugliness of death from the living upstairs. For the first time Emily walked to a morgue, knowing the person on the slab. She felt as though she was walking through water, her feet heavier than normal. When the coroner removed the cloth from the head, she couldn’t resist the urge to touch him.
His face was swollen and he didn’t look peaceful. She ran her fingers through his hair, remembering the comforting touch of his hand. He had been there for her when she needed him and she had deserted him. Rocky didn’t know everything. Matthew hadn’t known anything. And those were the people who had known her best.
This was why she couldn’t take advice from anyone. Why JJ couldn’t be allowed in. Without fail, people always left Emily Prentiss. Then again, Matthew hadn’t left. He had been taken away. It wason her to bring them to justice.
“Is it possible someone could have induced the heart attack?” Morgan asked the doctor.
“The easiest way to stop the heart is an injection of potassium. I would have found traces.”
“There is no other way?”
“I suppose it’s possible he could have been injected with epinephrine. It wouldn’t register because clinically it’s identical to the natural adrenaline in the body.” Emily pushed away more of the pall and held his hand in hers. She noticed dark bruises on his forearms.
“Was he tied?”
“The wounds are superficial.” Which was a neither here nor there kind of answer.
“Anything else out of the ordinary?”
“He bled heavily from his nose. But, with the damage to his septum, my guess is there was prolonged use of cocaine or methamphetamine.”
“Yeah.”
“What about the other autopsy? Thomas Valentine?”
“He died of dehydration. There were traces of prescription anti-psychotics in his system. I understand from his family he had a history of mental illness.” Emily rifled through the file the coroner had handed her. Again, she found bruises.
“Are these ligature marks?”
“Considering the self-inflicted wounds and the history of mental illness, the police didn’t suspect foul play.”
“So you have two bodies with ligature marks…”
“Each superficial.”
“…but you just dismiss them.”
“There is no medical reason to connect these deaths.” Emily could see why this woman wasn’t working for the FBI.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In theory it was morning. Judging by the light and the fact that the street lights were lit this morning could easily pass as an early night. Hotch and JJ had driven over to the home of Matthew Benton’s family. The car drive had been quiet and uncomfortable. Neither knew what to say about this situation.
JJ was sure that if he had known about her relationship with Emily, he must be aware of its end. She didn’t want to blur the lines and ask more about Emily and she didn’t want to admit that she had never heard of either Matthew Benton or Thomas Valentine ever before. Hotch only said that Emily had instructed him not to mention her name when speaking to the Bentons.
Hotch had rung the bell and introduced them to Mr. and Mrs. Benton.
“I don’t understand why the FBI is interested in our son’s death.”
“We are investigating another death recently, under similar circumstances. We just wanted to make sure that there is no connection.”
“He suffered a heart attack.”
“It’s just routine.”
“Well, there’s nothing routine about investigating a heart attack.”
JJ was freezing in the rain, and she didn’t understand the woman’s reluctance to let them in. She was a little too eager to believe it was a heart attack that killed her son. In her experience people grasped at straws to find someone to blame.
“Andrea, it’s okay. I assume your investigation is drug related?”
Was this a good thing? JJ looked to Hotch.
“We’re just trying to rule out foul play.” He paused. “May we come in?”
“Of course.”
They were led into a bedroom. It smelled smoky and Hotch asked:
“Do you mind my asking, have you been burning incense?”
“After Matthew died, I burned some in the room. To cleanse it.”
“So, he was living here with you?” Talk about cutting the cord.
“We were hoping he could turn his life around.”
While Hotch noticed the scuff marks under the bedpost Mr. Benton said: “We were in NY for the weekend. When we came back we found his body here.”
“My son’s soul was in the possession of evil.” Those were two words no profiler liked to hear in the same sentence: soul and evil. It usually meant a lot of work.
“Do you have any experience with drug addiction?” Mr. Benton asked in JJ’s direction.
“We see a lot of it, through our work.”
“Well it’s an impossible thing to watch to happen to someone you love.”
“Were you aware that in the days before he died Matthew thought someone was going to kill him?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“One of our team members, Agent Prentiss?” It was time to roll out the big guns, if nothing else helped.
“Emily Prentiss?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“She’s the reason you’re here?”
“We’d like you both to leave.” When they didn’t move right away, Mrs. Benton added a harsh “Now!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the BAU bullpen area Hotch and JJ ran into Emily and told her what had happened at the Bentons’ house. She looked composed and more or less in control of her emotions again. JJ admired her for her strength.
“I told you not to mention me.”
“You didn’t say it’d get us kicked out.” She tried to make her see that she could still trust her, no matter what happened in the past.
“Is there something we should know?”
“Matthew and I met in Rome, when we were fifteen. My mom was posted there. His parents didn’t like us hanging out.”
“And they still hold a grudge?” It was hard to imagine, after all these years…
“They were extremely religious. They thought I was a bad influence.”
“You?”
Emily hadn’t known that she was gay back then, had she? And how would her friend’s parents know? JJ was sure there was more to this story, but for now she didn’t press the issue.
“Yeah.”
“And that’s it?”
“That’s it.” Prentiss walked away, clearly holding back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only thing to connect Matthew and Thomas was a trip to Galicia, Spain, four months prior. They had been on a pilgrimage to a church named Santiago de Compostelo. Other than the religiousness of the surrounding family the men seemed to live completely different lives.
Rossi pointed out that schizophrenia and drug addiction were often associated with demonic possession. He believed that Emily was right and that the Unsub was ritualizing killings like exorcisms. Morgan on the other hand wasn’t even convinced that there was a crime. To defuse the situation Rossi offered to go and talk to someone who might be able to confirm his theory before they were jumping to conclusions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She came home and put her keys on the kitchen counter. It felt as if this day had happened to a different person. These two days. She hadn’t slept in 48 hours. She wasn’t tired. She was in a haze. Everything was fuzzy. Nothing was clear, no straws to hold on to.
“Hey.” The soft voice almost didn’t reach her.
“Rocky. I’m sorry. You should probably go. Skippy…”
“Can wait.” Emily didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to explain what Matthew meant to her. “I’ve made you something to eat.”
She ate in silence.
“Do you want to take a bath or go straight to bed?” She just shrugged and her best friend decided that the soup would probably warm her up enough.
After dinner Emily changed and lay down. A while later Rocky climbed into bed next to her. She pulled her into her arms without saying a word and just held her while the rain beat against the window.
Tears were running down the profiler’s cheeks as she allowed herself to accept the pain. She had lost Matthew but she still had Rocky. She knew she was lucky that someone was beside her in this trying time, but all she felt was pain. She cried harder until she had to fight to breathe. Rocky never loosened her embrace and her body shook with Emily’s through countless sobs.
Emily held on to Rocky as if she was drowning until she fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day the rain had finally stopped. So had a man’s life. Prentiss was already there when Reid and Morgan arrived.
“Garcia got a call. 38 year old, white male, found dead in his bed by his fiancée.
“What’s the connection?”
“She ran the name. Patrick Cavanaugh was in Galicia, Spain the same week as Thomas Valentine and Matthew.”
“Do you know him?”
“No.”
She flashed her badge to the uniform in front of the house.
“Hey, FBI.”
“Wow. Seriously?”
“Yeah. What can you tell us?”
“White male, been dead for hours. Medics think it was a brain aneurism.” That was consistent with their theory.
“Mind if we take a look at the scene?”
“Knock yourselves out.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bedroom had scuff marks, just like the others.
“This is starting to kinda freak me out a little bit.” Reid admitted.
“Let’s figure out if we have a crime before freaking out.”
“Obviously we have a crime.”
“Prentiss how does an Unsub induce an aneurism?”
“Could be caused by stress.”
“Yeah like if you were restrained on a bed while someone tried to banish the devil from your body.”
“All I’m saying is I think we should go easy.” He said it like a question to take the edge out of it, but the fact remained: he was not behind Emily on this and his betrayal hurt a lot.
The victim’s fiancée walked in and asked:
“Can I help you?”
“We’re with the FBI. We’re investigating a series of unexplained deaths.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Had Patrick been acting erratically lately?” Prentiss took over for Reid.
“He had a brain condition. He was getting headaches, wasn’t acting like himself.”
“Were you aware of a trip recently to Galicia, Spain?”
“Ah, there is a church there called Santiago de Compostelo, we think he may have visited.” Reid tried to help her memory along.
“My fiancé travelled a lot for work. I don’t know everywhere he went.” This woman was unbelievable! Not only did she not even try to look sad about her soon-to-be-husband’s death she came up with the worst lies Prentiss had heard in a long while.
“With all do respect, Ma’am, I don’t think you’re telling us the truth.”
“Excuse me?”
“Did you believe Patrick was possessed?”
“I’d like some privacy please.”
“Was someone trying to rid him of demons? Is that how he died?”
“No.”
“You really believe he had a brain condition.”
“Emily?” Morgan said quietly. The tone of his voice made her even angrier. Why was he trying to pull her back, why was he so adamant on believing that this was not the work of a serial killer?
“You need to go now.”
“Because if you sanctioned an exorcism and he died, I can press to make you an accessory to murder.”
“Emily, Emily, that is enough.” Morgan said as softly as possible. “Stop it. Let’s go.” She couldn’t believe him, but she left just the same.
She didn’t say a word until the three of them were back at the office.
Hotch asked: “What happened?”
“I think there may be a third victim.” Reid said.
“Is that what you think?” Hotch asked Morgan, who looked at Prentiss before responding.
“I don’t know.”
“We have ligature marks, the Spain connection and scuff marks under the bed.” The case was circumstantial sure, but they had worked with less.
“Hotch, it’s weird. Definitely. But there is no way to physically connect dehydration, a heart attack and an aneurism.” Hotch nodded and Reid said:
“What’s going on?”
“Well we’ve had a complaint. JJ’s trying to smooth it over with the DC police, but we haven’t been invited on the case.”
Hotch left and Morgan was about to do the same when Emily said:
“That’s how you have my back?”
“Prentiss, I’m trying to protect you.” ‘Always with the action hero routine!’
“I don’t need protection.”
“Hotch just said he got a complaint, he didn’t come down on you, you realize that? You just dodged a bullet. We have to approach this just like any other case.”
“Meaning what?”
“Grief can make us want to believe there’s a reason for things when there’s not.”
“That woman couldn’t even mention Patrick’s name. She could only say my fiancé, because she is convinced something else died in that room that night.” With that, she left him standing there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After JJ had brought them bad news about the lack of an investigation into these deaths Hotch and Rossi were debating if their theory had any real value. Garcia walked into Hotch’s office with the words:
“All hail the mistress of information.”
“You got something?”
“You know I do.”
“It’s a posting from a web bulletin board by Matthew Benton to create a support group for people who have felt betrayed by their faith.”
“Well that helps explain how these three men came together.”
“It gets better.”
If one was to believe the rumors the priest of Santiago de Compostela had died under mysterious circumstances while all the victims had been in Galicia. Emily’s hunch was slowly growing into a possibility and Hotch had no choice but to let his team continue with the investigation. Even if the police hadn’t connected the dots yet. He urged them to keep this as quiet as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny had shown up in the bullpen. He asked about the investigation and how much she had found out. She had to tell him, that the local authorities didn’t even think that there had been a crime.
“So the police are not investigating?”
“Exorcism is a tough theory to sell. The police don’t think the deaths are connected.” She saw Rossi walk out of Hotch’s office.
“But you do?”
“You’re gonna have to give me some time here.” She saw him pass by and took the opportunity to introduce him to Johnny. “David Rossi. This is John Cooley, he was also a friend of Matthew’s.”
“I’m sorry. You saw him recently?”
“Yeah.”
“Is there anyone he associated with out of the usual? Anyone overtly religious?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I’ve been doing my best to retrace his steps, but I still haven’t come up with anything.” Emily didn’t like the look on Rossi’s face. He looked like Johnny was some kind of extremely repulsive, gooey insect slime. She could tell that he didn’t believe a word of what Cooley said.
“Buy you a cup of coffee?” She hesitated for a moment, then agreed. To Johnny she said:
“I will call you if I hear anything.”
“Yeah.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After having stopped at a Starbucks, Rossi made her get back in the car. He drove her to an empty property, the fence around it so rusty it was about to fall apart. She had barely set foot on the premises and her shoes were already filthy. The rain from the last days had left deep puddles of mud.
“There are uhm… nicer places to take a girl for coffee.” She knew he had an ulterior motive for bringing her here, but she wanted to avoid it as long as possible.
“Did you ever see “The Exorcist”?”
“Yeah.” Was he going to take her for a movie at the city dump next?
“The real case started right here. The fire department actually burned down the house themselves. The authorities referred to the boy as Robby Doe. He’s still in the DC area today.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“A whole lot of effort went into destroying the house of a kid who probably had on set schizophrenia or Torette syndrome.”
“I’m not following you.”
“You’re sure he was murdered. So what’s the story?”
This was what she had been afraid of ever since she mentioned the name Tommy V. to Garcia. Emily looked down and sighed. She turned around and took a couple of steps away from her colleague.
“If you uhm… don’t wanna explain that’s fine...” She hit the mud with her right foot. “…but if you do, I’m all in.” She turned back around again, biting her lower lip.
She didn’t really want to say anything, but she knew that even the most trivial information could break a case. Time and time again she had seen investigations go in the wrong direction because the victim’s family tried to hide an ugly truth or were unaware of their relative’s hobbies. Maybe she could tell Rossi about Matthew without revealing too much about herself.
“Matthew knew the Bible inside and out and he started to question everything.”
“Why?”
Emily shook her head, a pleading look in her eyes. He wasn’t the person she wanted to tell about her initiation into sexuality. She didn’t want him to know how she had agreed to go out with Johnny because she didn’t want to be the only girl without a boyfriend.
She looked down, trying to figure out how to say half of it. When she had it, she nodded and said:
“We moved around a lot when I was a kid. Cause of my Mom’s postings.” She shook her head again, this time trying to get rid of the tears in her eyes. “It was hard to get accepted” She searched in his eyes to see if he knew what she was talking about. “…and when you’re fifteen that’s all you want.” She took a second to recollect her voice. She had been stupid, made mistakes. “You’ll do almost anything.”
She didn’t want David to know that she had been pressured into having sex, that he had forced himself on her or that she had allowed him to think that she had been okay with it, because he was popular. It had been over so fast that she wasn’t even sure it had happened and the only person who knew that she would have said no had she had a chance to say anything was Matthew.
“You got pregnant.” He had guessed the truth.
“Yeah.” She wanted to leave it at that and get back on the subject.
“Was Matthew the father?”
The only person whom she ever considered her friend. Kids were cruel and knowing that she would only stay with them for a couple of years wasn’t helping. Matthew hadn’t looked that far ahead until she confessed to him that she was pregnant. He understood that having a child would mean that she’d have to get married to John.
“No.” To even consider that Matthew wouldn’t have respected her wishes was unsettling, but it wasn’t Rossi’s fault. He had never met him. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t tell my Mom.” She paused again, contemplating what might have happened if the Ambassador knew. Surely, a scandal of massive proportions would have ensued. “Matthew suggested I talk with our priest.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said that if I had an abortion I wasn’t welcome in his congregation.”
“So what did you do?”
They were all friends, but Matthew knew that Emily was different, that Johnny was unreliable, they were all way too young. So he took matters into his own hands.
“Matthew found a doctor. He took me there. He stayed with me.” She saw him in that cool examination room, holding her hand. She had looked into his eyes and felt loved and cared for for the first time in her life.
“That Sunday when we got back to Rome he held my hand and walked me into the church. Father Camino actually stopped his sermon. But Matthew told me to hold my head up and we walked to the front pew.”
“What did the priest do?”
“He and Matthew just stared at each other. It was like a battle of wills and then suddenly Father Camino went back to his sermon.”
If it hadn’t been for him, Emily would have had to marry a man, never finding out about herself, never knowing love, the way she thought she’d found it with JJ, never being able to be free.
“Matthew saved my life. He made me feel like I was worthy of…” She shrugged knowing the next words would sound cheesy, but that was what she felt “…love and friendship.”
“But that’s when his anger and questioning started.”
It had come at a high price. An argument could even be made that the price was too high. Because of her poor decision making, her relentless need to fit in, Matthew had lost his faith.
“Yeah. He started doing drugs and when that melded with his religious questioning you could understand why his parents would think that he was possessed by something evil.”
If this one rule was so clearly unfair, maybe they were wrong about the others as well. And if nothing was sacrosanct who was to say that there even was a God? And if there wasn’t, what was the point of this entire existence? Procreation?
She had thought it a hundred times but she had never said it out loud. Not until today:
“It’s my fault that Matthew’s life unraveled.” She shook her shoulders and exhaled to control her voice and stop crying.
Thankfully Rossi didn’t press the issue. “Garcia uncovered some information. It’s possible Matthew and the others killed someone in Spain.”
“No. I don’t believe that.”
“I’m just saying if we keep pushing you have to be prepared for what we might discover.”
She took a second and decided that her peace of mind was a lot less important than his.
“I need Matthew to rest in peace. I owe him that.”
“Then let’s go give a profile.”
“The police haven’t invited us in.”
“The police aren’t going to do us any good on this one anyway.” He guided her off the property and back to the black SUV. Just before she got in and they returned to the others he said to her:
“You should trust people more often. They might surprise you.”
She looked at him, completely taken off guard. Who was he referring to?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prentiss, Rossi and Reid gave the profile to local catholic priests. Even though they couldn’t single out one priest that fit the profile they had one very important information. If a man performed three exorcisms in the last month he would need medical attention. He was most likely to go to a Catholic hospital.
Garcia checked and cross referenced admissions to Catholic hospital the day after each death. She got one hit: Father Paul Silvano. The three profilers went to the hospital were he currently underwent treatment. They arrived just in time to see him pack.
“Are you Father Paul Silvano?” Rossi asked while each of them showed their badge to his back.
“Yes.” He said somberly without turning around.
“Were you present at the deaths of Thomas Valentine, Matthew Benton and Patrick Cavanaugh?” Finally he turned around. Looking past Dave at Emily he said:
“I’ve been expecting you.”
Did he know her? Why was he talking to her? He made her feel insecure and nervous just by looking at her.
“He asked you a question.”
“Yes.” He turned back to face his suitcase again. “I was present.”
“You have the right to remain silent. Any…” He interrupted her and told her in Italian that she should look in the nightstand drawer.
Reid turned to Emily and asked: “What did he say?”
She hesitated. How did he know that she would understand him?
“He wants you to look in the drawer.”
“We’re both fighting the same evil.”
Reid found some papers.
“It’s diplomatic status,” he said.
‘Could this case get any worse?’
“He has immunity?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Rossi texted her that they were bringing in a suspect and that she would have to deal with a lot of beaurocracy she had made the mistake of coming out to see Emily. Before she was ready to spend the day in her office on the phone she wanted to know that she was okay. That Emily would make it through this.
It was hard enough to lose someone you cared about and Matthew had evidently been very important to her. To have this person ripped from your life and then being confronted with indifference and conceit was enough to make anyone snap.
JJ had made the mistake of looking into Emily’s eyes as they were discussing how to proceed. Emily seemed to be on fire. She was ready to attack anyone who disagreed with her, unswayed by the consequences that were sure to follow. Her eyes once warm and loving were full of hatred and spite. If someone had asked her yesterday whether Emily Prentiss was capable of violence she would have sworn that this woman would never hurt anyone. Now, she wasn’t so sure anymore.
Nevertheless she pleaded with Hotch to let Emily interview the priest. He hadn’t been taken into custody, he could leave at any time. This way Emily would be too busy interviewing the Unsub, to call in her mother and make matters even more complicated. That argument finally won Hotch over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emily had insisted that they bring the priest in in spite of his diplomatic status. She had so many questions and she hoped that he would give her at least a few answers before anyone got wind of this. To think that Matthew looked into this face as he died filled her with anger and rage. She wanted to do unto him what she had seen in hundreds of crime scene photos and she couldn’t even bring him to justice!
“Explain to me why you were the last person in the room when three men died.”
“I’m a priest. I was there for them spiritually.”
Ever since Rome Emily hadn’t been much of a believer. She would stay up with Matthew and discuss the contradictions they had been so willing to accept before. Despite everything she could still see that priests meant well, that for the most part they cared about their congregations. To hear this murderer cloak himself in the same vows to justify his crimes was unforgivable.
“They weren’t on their deathbeds.”
“Not physically.”
“Did you kill them?” If he confessed now, thinking he was protected by his diplomatic status, the federal prosecutor might be able to use it after she got his immunity revoked.
“No.” He even had the audacity to smile.
“But you’re not sad any of them are dead.”
“Physical death is always sad. But now their souls are in Heaven. For that their families have peace.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JJ had done all she could. Even Garcia hadn’t found anything overtly suspicious about Paul Silvano. It was time to deliver the bad news. Seeing how Hotch was on the phone she approached Rossi outside of the interrogation room, studying Silvano’s reactions. Or was he watching Emily?
“Up until four months ago his record’s spotless. No history of mental illness, no censures; he was even invited to say mass at the Washington National Cathedral.” Without turning away from the one-way-mirror he asked:
“What happened four months ago?”
“No details. Just says he took a sabbatical for personal reasons.”
Emily was clearly struggling in there. She had never seen her so angry before.
“Four months ago was just after the death in Spain.”
“It looks like he lobbied the Vatican for a diplomatic posting but they refused. After that he took the World Hunger Mission from the Italian government.” It was plain that he had had murder on his mind all along.
“Which brought him here with immunity. Where’s Hotch?”
“He’s on the phone with the State Department.”
“Gather the others. I’ll be there in a second.” She left with a sinking feeling in her heart that this would get worse before it got better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Did you know the priest who died in Galicia?”
“Father del Toro and I were at seminary together.”
“Did you know that Matthew Benton and the other men were in Galicia the week he died?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe they committed murder?”
“I was contacted by a family member.” The angrier she got the calmer and softer his voice was. As if he was trying to calm a child down who was upset because she wouldn’t get her favorite toy. “He was frightened. He told me his real son never returned from that trip.”
“And you suggested that he was possessed.”
Normally Emily didn’t care about other people’s beliefs. Normally she would let them have faith in the powers of the tooth fairy or fear the little green people form out of space. Normally people didn’t die for what other people believed in. Not in this country anyway.
“I said that I could help rid his child of evil.”
“What did you tell the other family members after you watched their sons die? That it’s God’s will?”
“I’ve never laid my hand on anyone with malice in my life.”
“Then explain these deaths to me.”
“You know the power of evil.” Seriously? Emily cracked the bones in her shoulder to keep herself from jumping at this scumbag’s throat. How dare he compare himself to her?
He resorted to Italian again, asking if she stilled prayed. Suddenly it made sense to Emily.
It was no coincidence that he had diplomatic status. He probably planned it that way. He checked on his victims, inserted himself in the families, gained their trust. That was how he knew of Emily, why he had been expecting her back at the hospital, how he knew that she spoke Italian and how he knew that she used to be Catholic.
She didn’t think about the fact that she had been investigated by a serial killer. That she, too, could have fallen victim to him. All she saw was an Unsub who tried to intimidate her. As if she wasn’t already angry enough. She responded in Italian to show him that he had no power over her. She told him that this wasn’t about her and she thought he understood how much more she meant by that.
“Be strong. The storm’s almost over.” ‘Almost?’
He slipped up. Wether he knew it or not he had made a mistake. Emily now knew that he wasn’t done. She decided it was best that he kept on thinking he had everything under control.
“What caused their deaths?”
“Medically?”
“Yes. Please.” Sometimes her strict upbringing came in really handy. At least no one would know from the transcript of this interview that she had been anything but polite.
“I can’t say.”
“Were they under stress?”
“We all were.
“Did you sprinkle Holy Water on them?”
“As part of the excorcism ritual.” He nodded.
“What was in the Holy Water? Saran? VX?” When he stayed quiet she added: “The smallest amount would cause respiratory failure.”
“I’m not familiar with them.”
“No? Really? Because that’s what a lot of people think killed Father del Toro in Spain.”
At that moment Hotch came in and released Father Paul Silvano. He even apologized to him! Emily was so perplexed she couldn’t even look at her boss. Silvano turned around to look at her and insulted her even more:
“I hope you find peace.”
The way Hotch looked at her, as if she had misbehaved and then he said “My office.” was like being summoned by the principal.
As soon as they were through the door and in his office, Hotch asked:
“Are you actually accusing the Italian government of authorizing this man’s assassination list?” Well, at least he didn’t deny that Silvano was guilty.
“He admits he was present at every death.” She hadn’t even heard the part about the government. She didn’t care about politics right now.
Once again someone’s political agenda was standing in her way, but this time she wouldn’t back down. This time wasn’t for her. It was the last thing she could ever do for Michael and she owed him to do her very best.
“The case is over.” Emily felt as though he’d slapped her right across the face. How could he do that?
“You said you’d give me leeway.”
“And I did. I understand your frustration. There are some things we cannot control. Take some time off.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to see you in the office for the next few days.”
Take some time off? Frustration? How could he say that? Couldn’t he see what was going here? Sure, when the victims were pretty blondes he did all he could but as soon as it got a little dicey, as soon as politics and religion or the distortion of these concepts was involved he surrendered. And to think that she had trusted him with this. She should have gone rogue all along.
She stormed out of the BAU and took the elevator down. As the doors were closing for what could be the very last time she was here she saw Rossi coming toward her. Quickly she held her hand out to keep the doors from closing so he could get in.
“You up for another drive?” He asked without mentioning the altercation in Hotch’s office. She just looked at him without understanding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He took her to the Benton residence. Instead of a greeting Mrs. Benton said to Emily:
“What are you doing here?”
“We know Matthew died during an exorcism by Father Paul Silvano.”
“He’s performed three in the last few weeks. Each subject has died. We believe he’s planning another one.” Rossi said and as soon as Mrs. Benton had someone else to focus on she calmed down.
“That’s none of our business.”
“Matthew’s gone. You’ve accepted that.”
How they could let go of their son so fast was a mystery to her, but Mrs. Benton had always had one thing in common with her mother. If something or someone didn’t live up to her expectations they were out of her life quicker than you could imagine.
“At least let us warn the last family, so they know what kind of choice they’re facing.”
She saw that Mrs. Benton wanted to help. She just didn’t want to help her. To make it easier for her Emily said:
“This isn’t about me. This is about other families and the people they love.”
Mr. Benton had walked up to them. His wife went inside and Rossi and Prentiss followed them into the living room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within seconds it had become clear that the old issues between the Bentons and Emily were still unresolved. While Emily blamed them for blindly trusting someone just because he was a priest, for not helping their son the right way, Matthew’s parents in turn blamed her for his doubts, his drug addiction and his unhappiness.
Instead of allowing the parties to argue and never find an end to it, Rossi had brought their attention back to heart of the matter. From Mrs. Benton answers he deduced that Father Silvano believed Matthew had been a conduit to evil.
Therefore everyone he had come in contact with was a possible target. Emily and Dave also found out that John Cooley had lied about how he found out that Matthew had died. He had met Matthew.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We have to stop him.”
“Calm down Emily, we don’t even know where he is.” Rossi had to yell to be heard over the pouring rain. They had just left the Benton’s residence, not wanting to alarm them.
“We need to warn Johnny.”
“What we need is a plan. There’s no point in making the same mistakes twice.” Through her grief and her anger Emily saw that the one person who had supported her through all of this was Rossi. He had earned her trust.
“All right. What do you propose?”
“I’ll go and convince Hotch that there is something he can do after all. You call Morgan and have him pick you up.”
“And then?”
“Then you pay an old friend a visit.” She nodded and started dialing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prentiss and Morgan came to find the door unlocked. Their guns drawn they walked in and heard noises from upstairs. Immediately they ran up to find John Cooley tied to his bed. Father Silvano was yelling and holding him down.
“You have no right to be here.” He now yelled at her while sprinkling John with water.
“This is my friend’s house,” she reasoned, but it was pointless. Everyone was too agitated for a reasonable solution. Morgan jumped the priest and manhandled him out of the room where he cuffed him. Prentiss untied Cooley and tried to calm him down. She insisted he get checked out by the medics waiting downstairs. Something was in that water.
She had him wrapped in a blanket and escorted him outside.
“Emily, I’m fine.” He said, much calmer.
“No. Look at you. Stress can tear your body apart. That’s what happened to Matthew.” And she wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. Just like Rossi had said.
“Em, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” He looked at her trying to see if she understood what he meant to say. When he wasn’t convinced he added: “In Italy.”
She didn’t know how to respond. He had no idea what had gone wrong in Italy. It wasn’t about the pregnancy or the abortion, although she still asked herself sometimes how different her life would be if she had kept it. He still didn’t know that she had never wanted to have sex with him, that she liked him, but that she pretended to love him, so the others would accept her. She had never told him that she was gay, that she had made a good life for herself, that she didn’t dare enjoy it too much, because Matthew had given up his life for hers.
“Okay. Just let them do their job.” He kissed her on the cheek and left.
“Goodbye.” For a few seconds her hands remained where they had been. As if by holding on to the air she could undo her past.
“I’ll check on you later.” She said, but they both knew she wouldn’t. They weren’t friends any more. They hadn’t been in touch in years. Nothing was left to say. Now that Matthew was gone, they didn’t even have anything in common any more.
Prentiss walked over to Hotch.
“If you want my gun and badge I’d understand.” It would have been worth it too. But he just shook his head. Morgan brought a hand cuffed Silvano to them.
Hotch said to him:
“There’s a plane ticket in your name to Rome. Agent Morgan and I will drive you to the airport. Any of your belongings can be shipped to you.”
“You have no right to deport me.”
“The Vatican intervened.” Rossi explained. It was time this scumbag learned that religion wasn’t simply a means to an end. “The Italian government has rescinded your diplomatic status.”
“They’ll do with you as they see fit when you’re back in their jurisdiction.”
“You’ve all just made the world a much more dangerous place.”
Emily looked at him as if he was from another planet. Maybe he was. How else could he believe that he would get out of this? Did he really believe in the ghost stories he had told the families of his victims?
Silvano turned to her and blessed her in Italian. Emily looked at him, stunned at his audacity. She responded in Italian as well, returning the blessing. To everyone around them it sounded as if they were cursing each other.
While the others discussed the difference between evil and evil acts, Emily noticed that the rain had turned into snow. Almost as if the city wanted to crawl up in a blanket and forget what happened the past couple of weeks.
Before he left she made point of thanking Morgan for having her back after all.
“Always.” He said and she knew he meant it.
She stared into the sky, lost in her thoughts when Rossi said: “What are you thinking?”
“It’s like the end of The Dead. When Greta remembers the boy she loved when she was younger and she says: I think he died for me.” Now she understood what the author had meant.
“You know James Joyce also said: There is no heresy or philosophy so abhorrent to the church as a human being.”
She nodded once and they understood each other.
“Where can I drop you?”
“I’m gonna walk for a while.” He nodded too and noticing that it had begun to snow he said:
“Almost seems unreal, doesn’t it?”