Lead the Way - Chapter 009 - Walk down Memory Lane
First Monday of the year! Hope you guys had a great weekend, celebrating 2011! Our favorite FBI agents are still stuck in 2009 however, JJ's still pregos and Emily has no effin clue what's going on. Well, at least in this chapter.
Lead the Way - 009 - Walk down Memory Lane
The next morning Emily woke up at the sound of her vibrating phone. Quickly she shut it off and looked to her side. The blonde woman in her bed was still sound asleep and breathed evenly. She had her back turned toward her friend, unaware that the new day had already started.
As she saw JJ shift slightly, Emily jumped out of bed as though caught committing a crime. She leapt into the bathroom and spent an hour under the shower trying to calm herself down. The first night sleeping in a bed with the woman she couldn’t stop thinking about had gone by without incident. She just needed to figure out whether this was good or bad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Detective Saunders had requested to meet them in a diner instead of at the department. As soon as they entered, JJ immediately sprinted toward the brunette in the far right corner.
“You must be Detective Saunders.”
“I am. And you must be Agent…”
“JJ. We spoke on the phone. And these are SSA Prentiss and Dr. Reid.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
As Emily shook the woman’s hand she noticed the grey eyes, long nose and full red lips. She looked older than Emily although they were the same age. As they sat down, Saunders explained:
“I thought it best to meet out here. I have only started to lose the reputation of the whack job who thinks like a serial killer. If my colleagues knew that I was on this case again…”
“We understand. It’s no problem.” JJ reassured her.
“Quite the opposite actually. We haven’t had breakfast yet.” Reid said while looking for the waitress.
“I recommend the scrambled eggs. Anne mixes them with some ‘secret’ ingredient which everyone knows is cinnamon. It’s an acquired taste but you should try it.” Reid looked slightly disgusted at the thought but Emily was eager to try them out.
After ordering breakfast, the detective looked expectantly at her guests.
“How is this interview going to help you?”
“There are still a lot of unanswered questions, as you know. We hope Cooper will give us some answers.”
“But he hasn’t talked about the case since his arrest.”
“Which is why we feel we have a good chance of getting at least a motive out of him.” Emily explained.
“How so?”
“He is scheduled to be executed Friday night. Perhaps it is dawning on him that this might be the last chance to tell his side of the story.”
“He has no side.” For a second Emily had forgotten that Barbara Saunders was not only the detective responsible for the arrest but also a victim.
“We don’t know what drove him to develop such an unusual MO, or why he started killing. We now know that the answers to these questions help us catch more serial killers. By treating him like a monster we have no chance of growing our database. We won’t be able to comprehend the behavior of the next killer.” As usual, JJ had managed to sum up their job so that people could easily relate to it.
Anne brought them their eggs and for a moment silence spread over the table.
“What can I do to help?”
Reid pointed to a map at the table and said:
“We’d like for you to show us as many of the abduction sights as possible and walk us through any changes since the time of the abductions. Also it would help if we could stop and speak to some of the survivors.”
“I doubt that they’d be willing to relive this again.”
JJ tried not to appear too proud with herself when she said:
“I spoke with some of them yesterday. You are right, most of them hung up on me, but Beverly Patterson, Tina Jacobs, Andrea Thaxton and Shirley Stowers agreed to talk to us.” Saunders looked stunned but Reid went on.
“It would be helpful if we could then visit the farm. It says in the file that Cooper still owns it, so I think it should look a lot like it did back then.”
“And then there is you of course.”
“What do you mean?” She looked at Emily.
“We’d like to do a cognitive interview with you. We would take you back to that day. Maybe you can remember a smell or a sound that you didn’t write in your report.”
“Alright, but let’s do that somewhere more private if you don’t mind.”
“Of course.” JJ said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The team had chosen to visit the abduction sites in chronological order, even if it meant more travel, to get a feeling for the Unsub’s devolution. Karen McPherson’s abduction sight had remained unknown. Andrea Thaxton, Cooper’s eighth victim, had been abducted in New Harmony and was the first being interviewed by the profilers.
She didn’t have much to add to her report from 1989. If anything she remembered less than ever before. Her drug addiction was advanced and her memory loss significant.
They were now standing in Tyler, in front of the house Barbara Saunders used to live in.
“I remember it like it was yesterday.” Barbara's voice was quiet, almost toneless. “I’ve been going over it in my head for years, until we finally caught the son of a bitch.” She swallowed before continuing.
“I left the window open every night. Made it easy for him I guess. I was a light sleeper and heard him bump against a table. I thought he was a burglar or a rapist and I wanted to catch him by surprise. Before I knew it I felt a stab in my neck. I got very dizzy.” She rubbed the back of her neck as though remembering the pain.
“When I woke up I had trouble getting things into focus. I couldn’t get a sharp view of what was going on but I understood that I was bound to a chair. On a table in front of me lay my grandfather.” Tears were now running down her cheeks, her voice still strong.
“He was bound and tried to tell me something, but I couldn’t focus enough to understand what he was saying. Cooper came in and threw some water in my face. I felt less dizzy and realized that my grandfather tried to tell me over and over again that he loved me and that everything was going to be okay.” She paused for a moment.
“Cooper leaned down and whispered in my ear that if I could convince him, if I begged him enough he would spare my grandfather and kill me instead. During the entire time I cried, begged, screamed, and yelled at him. I tried to reason, to plead, to threaten him. Finally I begged him to kill my grandfather.” Deeply ashamed Barbara looked down. She was trembling from head to toe, but her voice was still firm.
“I couldn’t take it anymore; the screams, the smell, the sounds and Cooper’s laughter. As soon as I said it, he complied. With a clean cut my grandfather’s life ended. He hit me again and I woke up in my bed the next day.” Looking up again she said:
“I knew immediately that what had happened was real. I swore I would find the bastard who did this and see to it that he never comes out of prison.”
“You did the right thing, telling him to kill your grandfather.” She looked at Reid with bloodshot eyes.
“He would have gone on torturing him for hours. As soon as he abducted you, neither of you had a chance of making him change his MO.”
Saunders didn’t seem at all convinced but she agreed to take them to the other sights.
Lead the Way - 009 - Walk down Memory Lane
The next morning Emily woke up at the sound of her vibrating phone. Quickly she shut it off and looked to her side. The blonde woman in her bed was still sound asleep and breathed evenly. She had her back turned toward her friend, unaware that the new day had already started.
As she saw JJ shift slightly, Emily jumped out of bed as though caught committing a crime. She leapt into the bathroom and spent an hour under the shower trying to calm herself down. The first night sleeping in a bed with the woman she couldn’t stop thinking about had gone by without incident. She just needed to figure out whether this was good or bad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Detective Saunders had requested to meet them in a diner instead of at the department. As soon as they entered, JJ immediately sprinted toward the brunette in the far right corner.
“You must be Detective Saunders.”
“I am. And you must be Agent…”
“JJ. We spoke on the phone. And these are SSA Prentiss and Dr. Reid.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
As Emily shook the woman’s hand she noticed the grey eyes, long nose and full red lips. She looked older than Emily although they were the same age. As they sat down, Saunders explained:
“I thought it best to meet out here. I have only started to lose the reputation of the whack job who thinks like a serial killer. If my colleagues knew that I was on this case again…”
“We understand. It’s no problem.” JJ reassured her.
“Quite the opposite actually. We haven’t had breakfast yet.” Reid said while looking for the waitress.
“I recommend the scrambled eggs. Anne mixes them with some ‘secret’ ingredient which everyone knows is cinnamon. It’s an acquired taste but you should try it.” Reid looked slightly disgusted at the thought but Emily was eager to try them out.
After ordering breakfast, the detective looked expectantly at her guests.
“How is this interview going to help you?”
“There are still a lot of unanswered questions, as you know. We hope Cooper will give us some answers.”
“But he hasn’t talked about the case since his arrest.”
“Which is why we feel we have a good chance of getting at least a motive out of him.” Emily explained.
“How so?”
“He is scheduled to be executed Friday night. Perhaps it is dawning on him that this might be the last chance to tell his side of the story.”
“He has no side.” For a second Emily had forgotten that Barbara Saunders was not only the detective responsible for the arrest but also a victim.
“We don’t know what drove him to develop such an unusual MO, or why he started killing. We now know that the answers to these questions help us catch more serial killers. By treating him like a monster we have no chance of growing our database. We won’t be able to comprehend the behavior of the next killer.” As usual, JJ had managed to sum up their job so that people could easily relate to it.
Anne brought them their eggs and for a moment silence spread over the table.
“What can I do to help?”
Reid pointed to a map at the table and said:
“We’d like for you to show us as many of the abduction sights as possible and walk us through any changes since the time of the abductions. Also it would help if we could stop and speak to some of the survivors.”
“I doubt that they’d be willing to relive this again.”
JJ tried not to appear too proud with herself when she said:
“I spoke with some of them yesterday. You are right, most of them hung up on me, but Beverly Patterson, Tina Jacobs, Andrea Thaxton and Shirley Stowers agreed to talk to us.” Saunders looked stunned but Reid went on.
“It would be helpful if we could then visit the farm. It says in the file that Cooper still owns it, so I think it should look a lot like it did back then.”
“And then there is you of course.”
“What do you mean?” She looked at Emily.
“We’d like to do a cognitive interview with you. We would take you back to that day. Maybe you can remember a smell or a sound that you didn’t write in your report.”
“Alright, but let’s do that somewhere more private if you don’t mind.”
“Of course.” JJ said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The team had chosen to visit the abduction sites in chronological order, even if it meant more travel, to get a feeling for the Unsub’s devolution. Karen McPherson’s abduction sight had remained unknown. Andrea Thaxton, Cooper’s eighth victim, had been abducted in New Harmony and was the first being interviewed by the profilers.
She didn’t have much to add to her report from 1989. If anything she remembered less than ever before. Her drug addiction was advanced and her memory loss significant.
They were now standing in Tyler, in front of the house Barbara Saunders used to live in.
“I remember it like it was yesterday.” Barbara's voice was quiet, almost toneless. “I’ve been going over it in my head for years, until we finally caught the son of a bitch.” She swallowed before continuing.
“I left the window open every night. Made it easy for him I guess. I was a light sleeper and heard him bump against a table. I thought he was a burglar or a rapist and I wanted to catch him by surprise. Before I knew it I felt a stab in my neck. I got very dizzy.” She rubbed the back of her neck as though remembering the pain.
“When I woke up I had trouble getting things into focus. I couldn’t get a sharp view of what was going on but I understood that I was bound to a chair. On a table in front of me lay my grandfather.” Tears were now running down her cheeks, her voice still strong.
“He was bound and tried to tell me something, but I couldn’t focus enough to understand what he was saying. Cooper came in and threw some water in my face. I felt less dizzy and realized that my grandfather tried to tell me over and over again that he loved me and that everything was going to be okay.” She paused for a moment.
“Cooper leaned down and whispered in my ear that if I could convince him, if I begged him enough he would spare my grandfather and kill me instead. During the entire time I cried, begged, screamed, and yelled at him. I tried to reason, to plead, to threaten him. Finally I begged him to kill my grandfather.” Deeply ashamed Barbara looked down. She was trembling from head to toe, but her voice was still firm.
“I couldn’t take it anymore; the screams, the smell, the sounds and Cooper’s laughter. As soon as I said it, he complied. With a clean cut my grandfather’s life ended. He hit me again and I woke up in my bed the next day.” Looking up again she said:
“I knew immediately that what had happened was real. I swore I would find the bastard who did this and see to it that he never comes out of prison.”
“You did the right thing, telling him to kill your grandfather.” She looked at Reid with bloodshot eyes.
“He would have gone on torturing him for hours. As soon as he abducted you, neither of you had a chance of making him change his MO.”
Saunders didn’t seem at all convinced but she agreed to take them to the other sights.