Somebody's Watching, Somebody's Waiting - Chapter 2

[liberty_stewart]

Title: Somebody’s Watching, Somebody’s Waiting

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Pairing: Jennifer Jareau/Maggie Lowe

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is property of CBS and I don’t own anything.

Rating: PG

Summary/Spoilers: This is a retelling of the episode ‘Somebody’s Watching’. The BAU team is on the hunt for a killer stalking an actress. Meanwhile Jennifer Jareau begins dating the actress’s best friend, unaware she’s the stalker they’re searching for. Yeah that’s right I just revealed the ending of the episode, but it’s not possible to write this story without revealing it anyway. Numerous story revelations are revealed.

A/N: This episode not only had two women I really like (A.J. Cook and Katheryn Winnick) together, but the first portrayal of gay characters on Criminal Minds, with Katheryn being one of them. It had so many things going for it, but instead it was disappointing. A.J. and Katheryn’s screen time was minimal, they never appeared onscreen together, and the gay portrayals were terrible. Ironically Maggie Lowe is probably still the best portrayed gay character on the series. So I decided to write this episode the way it should’ve gone. Oh and that “lesbian” crushing on Gideon earlier in the episode because he reminded her of her dad? That scene alone warrants her getting erased from the story.

Chapter Two


The police examine Michael Ryer’s office. One of them steps out while another takes crime scene photos.

Gideon paces around the office as he’s having a conversation with Reid on his cell, “Get Lila to a safe house.”

“She’s still on set working. Did you meet up with her manager?”

“Reid, take her home. Have her pack some things,” Gideon responds in a low tone.

“What’s going on?”

Gideon stops pacing, “We were too late.”

Reid stares at Lila as the make-up people brush the actress’s hair, “She’s going to be devastated.”

“I know,” Gideon acknowledges. “We’ll get JJ to keep an eye on the press for now. Let’s not tell her yet.”

“Not tell her?”

“No not yet. We need her to cooperate with us, in order to protect her,” answers Gideon. “Is JJ still with you on set?”

“Yeah she’s still here.”

“When you break the news to her, tell her what I just told you about informing Lila. Talk to you later.”

“We’re going to take her off the street?” questions Hotch.

“We’re going to completely deny him access,” responds Gideon. “We won’t even give him a glimpse of her.”

“Hopefully that will bring him out of the woodwork,” Hotch leaves the room.

“Hopefully,” Gideon remarks as he walks back to Michael’s desk.  He slowly flips through the pages of Michael’s day planner. The senior agent doesn’t notice one of the pages is missing.

 

*****

Jennifer spots her gangly co-worker approaching her. Spencer has a look on his face and she knows it can’t be good news.

“Uh JJ, I just got off the phone with Gideon and...” he pauses.

“What is it Spence?”

“They found Lila’s manager dead in his office,” he states in a low voice to make sure she’s the only who can hear him. “He wants you to deal with the press about this after we get back. However Gideon doesn’t want us to tell Lila about it.”

“Why not?”

“He believes Lila won’t cooperate if she finds out.”

Jennifer tilts her head to look past Reid and stares over at Lila. She focuses back at him. “Okay,” she answers softly.

Spencer gives Jennifer a nod then walks off. Jennifer then gets off the box she’s sitting on and begins walking.

 

*****

Elle is gazing through Joe’s shots of Lila. She confronts Gideon with them, “Gideon you better take a look at these.”

She hands the photos to him then pulls out her cell and dials Derek’s number, “Morgan, it’s Elle.”

Derek and Owen are walking on the lot, outside the sound stages as they receive the call. Derek puts the phone on speaker, “Yeah.”

“We found a manila envelope in Michael Ryer’s desk. It’s full of photos.”

The two men move past an assortment of people, vehicles and tents, “Okay.”

“Well they’re candid shots of Lila Archer nude. I’m guessing he was probably paying someone off to keep them out of the press.”

Owen and Derek step into their SUV, “Do we know who?”

“Um the name on the envelope was Joe Martinez.”

“Paparazzo?” Owen comments.

“You know him?” Derek asks.

“Yeah I’ve dealt with him a lot,” he answers.
 

“Elle, we’re on it,” Derek finishes.

*****

Jennifer’s standing at the front of the set, Maggie’s just a few feet away from her. They’re both watching Lila.

“And cut,” the director calls out.

Lila steps off the sandy set. She slips on a pair of sandals just off the set and walks onto the concrete floor. She meets up with Maggie who hands the actress her robe. She looks over at the crafts table.

“Just one more take and we can get out of here,” Maggie tells her.

“You said it Mags,” Lila remarks. “Ugh they only have coffee. I wonder if they have any drinks over at the truck. My mouth’s as dry as a beach.”

Maggie has a bottle of fruit punch in her hand. “Here you go,” she hands it to Lila.

Lila smiles at her, “Thanks dear.” She twists open the cap and takes a gulp. She notices the way the blond agent is gazing at them, and can’t help it but smirk.

Lila taps Maggie on the arm, “Hey Mags, I want you to meet Jennifer Jareau. She’s pretty cool.”

“If Lila says you’re alright, I’ll take her word for it.” Maggie extends her hand to agent, “I’m Maggie.”

They shake hands. “Thanks. Jennifer, though people tend to call me JJ.”

“Well I like the name Jennifer, so I’m going to call you that if you don’t mind?” responds Maggie.

Jennifer giggles a bit, “Not a problem.”

“So you’re with the FBI. You must have some fancy methods to solve this case,” Maggie asserts

“Actually I wouldn’t be the right person to talk to,” Jennifer answers. “I’m mostly here to handle the press.”

“What about your skinny friend over there?” Maggie looks in the distance at Spencer.

“Reid? He’s a profiler. He is one of the brains trying to solve this case.”

“A profiler? They’re the people who try to understand the killer, right?”

“Yeah that’s right,” Jennifer confirms to Maggie.

“So what about the gun?” Maggie continues. “He looks like he might trip over his own shoes and hurt himself if he attempts any heroics.”

Jennifer gives a slight giggle at Maggie’s remark. “You’re more right than you think.”

“I am?” Maggie raises an eyebrow. “Well don’t keep us in suspense, let’s hear the story.”

“I’m not sure if I should be telling you guys this kind of stuff about us”

“Oh come on,” Maggie pleas. “If we’re going to trust each other, we got to be willing to open up about ourselves. We’ll keep it between us.”

The blond agent knew what Maggie had just said was right. No one likes strangers they know nothing about probing through their life. Especially ones that are going to be following her 24/7.

“Okay I heard when Reid did attempt to go all hero-like, he tripped and sprained his ankle. It’s the reason why he never wears matching socks.”

“That’s funny,” Lila turns her head to looks at Spencer. “Hmm I never noticed he doesn’t wear matching socks.”

“Well it’s obvious the only reason the FBI gave him the gun is to protect himself since he’s so valuable to the bureau,” Jennifer adds.

“Is he at least qualified to use a gun?” Maggie goes on.

Jennifer’s expression turns to a partial frown, “He actually failed the tests repeatedly.” She goes on in a more positive tone, “But they allowed him to keep it because someone with a rifle took him and a hospital full of people hostage one time. Spencer managed to shoot and kill the guy.”

“I guess that’s good enough.”

“Yeah about that,” the agent says in a less enthusiastic tone. “Spence wasn’t trying to kill the guy. He was actually aiming for his leg.”

Maggie gives Jennifer a surprised stare. “I’ll remind myself to stand behind him if he ever pulls out his gun,” Lila comments.

“Or you can just do the shooting for him Lila,” Maggie jokes. She looks back at Jennifer, “And how about you? I notice you’re carrying a gun too.”

“Other than being their media liaison, I’m also a qualified field agent,” she answers. “So no need to take cover if I ever pull out my gun. Though the team actually use me the least in the field.”

“Over qualified and under-appreciated. That’s a common feeling around here.” There’s a brief silence before Maggie speaks up again. “So how do you compare to Reid?”

“You mean competitively?” Jennifer asks. Maggie answers with a nod. “We mostly play recreational activities, but we did compete one time to see who is the better agent.”

“Lila and I want to hear all about it,” Maggie states.

“I really do,” confirms Lila.

“I think I might have embarrassed Reid enough,” Jennifer responds

“You know it might be better if I know now so I don’t end up laughing in front of him if he ever tries anymore heroics,” suggest Lila.

“Plus I don’t think anyone would be the slightest bit surprised if they found out he’s the wimp of the FBI,” Maggie adds.

Jennifer pauses a bit to think about this. She has to admit, she is kind of flattered that Lila and Maggie are taking this much interest in  her life. And telling them how many things she’s beaten Spencer in can’t be any more embarrassing than the jokes Morgan has made about him.

“A number of agents wanted to compete against one another, you know for bragging rights. So we used one of the FBI’s training facilities one weekend and paired people off, I got Reid.” Maggie and Lila give Jennifer a look telling her to go on. “So we went at it. I blew Reid’s score away, literally, at the shooting range. Then came the physicals. I beat him again in sit-ups, push-ups, the arm hang and finally the obstacle race.”

“What kind of obstacles would be at a FBI training facility?” Lila wonders.

“Things like rope swings, wall climbs, crouching,” Jennifer answers. “Pretty much the kind of stuff you would find in a military obstacle course, just minus the mud and screaming drill sergeant.”

“So how badly did you beat Reid’s time?” Lila asks.

“We wouldn’t know. By the time he was half way through, I was already finished, so he requested to quit the course.”

“Wow. Did he even beat you once that day?”

“No,” the agent answers trying not to sound like she’s bragging.

“Was there a competition to see who is the better trained fighter?” asks Maggie.

“Oh, no. We figured our bosses wouldn’t like it if someone ended up getting seriously hurt in a friendly competition, so we left the fighting out.”

“Probably for the best. A lot of men wouldn’t be able to handle getting beaten up by a woman,” Maggie remarks. “What were some of the other things you faced him at?”

These are the activities Jennifer didn’t mind sharing because she knew none of her coworkers took them too seriously, and that they’ll be bragging about beating one another in if the topic ever came up. “Oh pool, darts, a company game of soccer, though I was the star player for that one, so no shame in losing that. Arm wrestling, he challenged me to a game of gin since he knew he would have a natural advantage in that one. Ended with him passed out on the floor while I was still up.”

“I’m not surprised you beat him in arm wrestling,” says Lila as she’s about to take another gulp of the fruit punch.

“Well I even allowed him to use both of his arms against one of mine before,” Jennifer adds. “Still ended up pinning him.”

Lila chokes as she’s drinking the fruit punch after hearing what Jennifer just said. She managed to keep her mouth closed to prevent spewing the drink on the floor. She swallows then begins a mix of choking and laughing.

Maggie pats her friend on the back, “You okay there Lila?” The actress nods.

“Okay that’s probably worse than getting beaten up by a woman. Going to have to challenge you to arm wrestling one day to find out if either you’re really strong or he’s really weak,” Maggie tells Jennifer. “It sounds like you’ve beaten him in everything you guys competed in.”

“Not everything,” the blonde agent replies. “He’s from Vegas, so he’s had both mine and another colleague named Morgan’s numbers in cards. Though I’ve very recently starting to figure him out and have begun beating him in a number of card games. But I’m certain things like this are not too big a deal for him. Reid prides himself on his brains rather than brawn.”

“Wouldn’t cards be considered a brain game though?” Maggie remarks.

“Well when that happens he’ll either say he’s letting me win or suspects me of cheating,” answers Jennifer.

Maggie giggles, “By the way the FBI flew you here right?”

“That’s correct. I just arrived on Friday,” she answers.

“Any plans to do anything while you’re in L.A. or are you just here for the case, then plan on getting out of this town as soon as you’re done?”

“Definitely intend on checking the place out in my free time,” the blond agent answers. “First time in the city.”

“I could show you around the place when I have the free time if you want,” Maggie tells her.

“Thanks for the offer. I would really love that.”

“It never hurts to make new friends, especially if they’re with the FBI.” There’s a slight pause then Maggie gives Jennifer a look, “I think I’m going to need your number in order to contact you.”

“Right,” Jennifer nods then searches her pockets. “Ah would any of you ladies have a pen and paper on you?”

“Actually,” Maggie goes into her jeans pocket to retrieve a notepad of post-its. Then reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a pen. “Here you go.”

Jennifer takes the things and writes down her number. She leans in closer to the two women then gives them a smirk. “Don’t tell any of my colleagues I just did this,” she whispers as she hands the notepad and pen back to the production assistant.

“Did what?” Maggie replies with a straight face. Jennifer smiles at her.

“We need everyone to return back to set now,” the film crew announce.

Lila removes her robe and hands it to back to Maggie. “Ladies,” she looks at the two of them as she walks back to the artificial beach.

 

*****

Lila, Jennifer and Spencer leave the sound stage and start heading back to their vehicles.

The blonde agent taps her colleague on the shoulder, “Hey Reid since Lila’s pick up is a two passenger, you mind if I ride with her and we’ll meet you at her place?”

“I don’t know where Lila lives though,” he replies.

Jennifer looks around and spots two police officers nearby, “Ask those officers over there. They’ll know. They could probably give you a ride there as well.”

Spencer turns around to look at the officers, “Okay I’ll meet you there JJ.”

“See ya Spence,” she waves bye to him as he walks over to the officers.

The two blondes move to the parking lot. Jennifer wasn’t one to disobey an order unless it was necessary. And right now it was necessary. She knows the goal with Lila is to get her to cooperate, and if she finds out the team withheld the knowledge that Michael is dead from her, Jennifer’s fully aware the relationship is going to get very sour.

Once inside Lila’s vehicle, Jennifer stops Lila from starting the car. “Wait, don’t drive off yet Lila.”

“What is it JJ?”

Jennifer looks Lila in the eyes, not sure how to tell her. “Gideon called us a while ago. He didn’t want us to tell you because he thought you would be uncooperative, but I figure it’s better you hear it from us than someone else.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Your manager Michael was found dead in his office.” 

Lila’s eyes widen as she hears the news. She wants to say something, but is speechless.

“I’m sorry Lila,” Jennifer leans in to comfort Lila.

“Michael? Why would the stalker go after him?” she finally manages to get out.

“I don’t know,” the blond agent answers. She moves back a bit to look at Lila, “Do you want me to drive?”

“Yeah,” she responds. 

Jennifer gets out of the vehicle and moves around to the driver’s seat as Lila takes the passenger seat. Jennifer takes the wheel then stares back at Lila. She sees that Lila is hesitating a bit with her safety belt.

Reaching over, the FBI agent buckles Lila’s seat belt the rest of the way. “You ready to go home now?” she asks softly.

Lila simply nods.

 

*****

The pickup truck rolls through the open gates and up Lila’s driveway. Jennifer didn’t try to start a conversation with Lila along the way, she just allowed the actress to be left with her thoughts. A police car is already parked at the top with Spencer and the two police officers awaiting their arrival.

Spencer is on the phone, “Yeah they’re pulling up right now. Ah huh... there’s a parked car out front. Yeah... got it, we’ll check it out.”

Lila and Jennifer step out of the pickup. “Okay Reid I have to sort out some press, so I’m going to leave now with these fine officers right here.”

“Oh wait JJ,” Spencer halts his colleague. “Before you leave do you mind running some security measures with us?”

“Sure thing,” she affirms to him.

A few minutes later Spencer and Lila step foot into the home. Lila heads straight for the living room while the profiler looks around the place in amazement. “Wow,” he comments.

Lila tosses her bag on the couch as Spencer takes off his sunglasses. “I like your house,” he finishes.

“I rent,” she takes a seat on the armrest of her couch.

“Nice,” he turns sharply to Lila. “You should also change all your phone numbers.”

“Unlisted,” she nods to him.

“Anytime you call an 800 number or 888 number your phone number is put into a databank. That is then sold to telemarketers,” Spencer informs her. “Somebody gets your cell phone number, they can go online and research all your records.”

Lila looks at Spencer. She lets out a sigh then starts walking, “Hanging out with you can be really depressing.”

Spencer follows her, “Ah you should also carry a piece of paper and a pen with you where ever you go in case you see any suspicious license plates that often reappear.” The profiler leans his head forward to a portrait on the wall.

Lila turns her head to see what he’s looking at, “Photographic collage.”

“Mags gave it to me. Told me I could see my entire career in it,” she tells him. “I like it because it’s like life. You know, obscure, typical.”

“You should also get a dog,” Spencer continues advising. “A guard dog of some sort.”

“Allergic,” she answers. “Um herbal rare camomile?”

“What?” Spencer wonders.

Lila walks off, “Would you like some tea?”

“Yes yes, ah sure,” he turns away from the collage.

 

*****

Maggie arrives home. She tosses the towel-wrapped revolver, her gloves, keys and wallet onto the coffee table. The blonde crashes on her couch and takes a breather. After a short while she sits up and opens up her wallet. The post-it with Jennifer’s number is attached inside. Maggie takes out the folded page with Martinez’s address as well as the post-it. She attaches the post-it onto her coffee table then opens up the page. She heads upstairs.

Once inside her bedroom, Maggie begins stripping down to her underwear. She goes into her drawer to pull out a loose white T-shirt and dark jeans. After getting dressed, the blonde heads into her closet. She reaches for a biker helmet with a visor from the top shelf then grabs a leather jacket and pair of boots.

Maggie heads back down stairs. She retrieves her things from the coffee table. First the boots go on. Next the blonde tucks the revolver in the back of her pants. Next the jacket goes on. She makes sure her hair is tucked inside the jacket before zipping it up. The blonde slips her gloves on, grabs the black helmet and heads back to the rear entrance.

She flicks the switch for the garage door then gets on the dark motorcycle parked next to her car. Maggie tops the ensemble off by finally putting on the biker helmet and starts the ignition. She pulls the visor down as the garage gate begins to open. Maggie rides out of her apartment complex and the black motorcycle takes off onto the road.

 

*****

Maggie strides the halls of the building Joe is supposed to be occupying. She takes a look at the address in her pocket and stops in front of the door with the loft number. The blonde pulls out the handgun from behind and knocks on the door. After no answer Maggie then takes out some slender pieces of metal from her jacket pocket and begins picking the lock. After successfully opening the door, she storms inside.
 

With her gun drawn out, she looks around the place. No one seems to be home. Maggie peeks into one of the rooms and doesn’t see anyone. She approaches the other room across from her. The room has photos pinned all over the walls and a batch scattered on the table in the middle of the room. Maggie examines the place. There’s a call sheet for the show she and Lila are working on pinned to the wall. She takes a look at the photos on the table. They are photos of Lila when she was leaving the police station. Joe has pictures of Lila and Natalie Ryan all over the place. Maggie lets out a laugh from within. This was too perfect. She’ll let Joe Martinez live so he can become the number one suspect in the murder case.


*****

Maggie exits the building through the side door. She looks to her rear and spots Derek and Owen getting out of their car parked from across the street. The cops are already here. Doesn’t appear as if they recognize or even notice her. She turns the other way and casually strides to the building’s back parking lot.

As she hops onto her bike, a thought occurs. ‘What if I attack Derek and Owen outside Joe Martinez’s place? Would they think I’m him?’

Maggie leaves the parking lot and circles the building to the front. She then stops her motorcycle on the side of the busy street and waits.

Several minutes later she sees Derek and Owen leaving the building. They cross the street as Derek’s on the phone, “Reid, it’s Morgan. Listen to me. You got to watch your back over there. We just found a bunch of photos at this guy Joseph Martinez’s studio.”

Maggie starts up the bike and rides up to the intersection. “It looks like he could be the unsub,” Derek and Owen walk to the other side of the street where their car is parked. “He has a ton of photos of Lila and Natalie, plus a call sheet for Lila’s show. We’re on our way right now, but we need you to be real careful until we get there alright?”

Once Derek finishes his call, the light turns green. Maggie turns right and opens fire. She purposely misses them and hits their car. One of the bullets bounces off the roof of the vehicle, keeps on going and nails Owen in the shoulder. Derek pulls out his gun as Maggie streaks away. He fires a shot but misses. The black motorcycle disappears into the night. Derek rushes to the other side of the car to attend to his injured comrade.

“Argh,” Owen moans as he slouches against the vehicle.

“You hit?” Derek places his gun back in its holster.

“Yeah it’s just my shoulder,” the detective answers.

“Alright I’m calling for help.” Derek pulls out his cell, “Officer down. We need an ambulance at Lebray and Wilshire.”

 

*****

Blue and red lights surround the area. Derek looks at Owen inside the ambulance. The paramedics have the detective lie down on a stretcher as they treat him.

Gideon, Elle and Jennifer arrive on the site. “How are we doing?” Gideon asks as he approaches the ambulance.

Owen gives them the thumbs up, “I’ll make it. Caught one in the shoulder. Didn’t go in too deep, but will have to spend the night in the hospital however.”

Jennifer looks at Derek, “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he responds.

“Any sign of this Martinez the photographer?” Gideon asks.

“No,” answers Derek.

“Whoever took a shot at you followed you from the set,” Gideon suggests.

“Martinez has a bunch of paper work in his studio that says where Lila’s going to be everyday,” Derek abruptly informs Gideon.

Gideon cell rings, “Gideon... that’s what I thought thanks.” He hangs up, “Garcia has gone through every article written about Lila. She never says anything about red Anemones being her favourite flower.”

“Well we’re looking for someone pretty close to her,” Elle states.

“This list gets shorter every day,” Derek remarks.

“Let’s circle him,” Gideon advises. “We need to get to her house.” The two profilers dart off.

“I’ll make sure the press doesn’t get out of hand with this mess,” Jennifer tells Derek before leaving.

Owen flashes Derek the two finger peace sign and bids him farewell.

 

*****

Maggie steps inside her bedroom clad in her biker outfit. She places the motorcycle helmet, gun and all the accessories in her pockets like her keys and lock pick material on top of the drawer, then falls back onto her bed. She looks up at the ceiling as she rests for a bit. After the blonde gets back up she opens her drawer to pull out a new set of clothes. After getting changed, she then stuffs the handgun into the drawer underneath all the clothing.

Maggie’s outside in a courtyard of the apartment complex. There’s a small empty metal trashcan in front of her. She takes out the page with Martinez’s address as well as a lighter and begins to burn it. She drops it into the metal pail and watches as it slowly turns into ash. The orange glow of the flames light up Maggie’s silhouette against the dark night.

It’s late into the night and Maggie is going off to bed. She flicks on the night lamp and turns off the bedroom lights. She removes her clothes and slips into something more comfortable.

She snuggles in to her blanket. Maggie then takes a look at a photo on the head board. It’s of her and Lila on their college graduation day. She smiles at how happy they look together. She turns off the lamp and goes to sleep.

 

*****

The next morning Lila is talking on the phone with Maggie. “So Lila how much longer before you move out of your home and into this safe house?” Maggie asks her friend.

“They had me pack my things last night,” she answers. “By the looks of it I’ll be out of here in an hour or two.”

“I’m amazed they were able to convince the studio to put production on hold for the rest of the week. So I won’t be seeing you till the end of the week?”

Lila leans back on her couch, “Sure looks like it.”

“We’ll just have to learn to survive the week without each other’s company then. Talk to you later sweetie.”

“Bye hon.”

“Were you talking to a friend?” Gideon asks from the hallway.

“Yes I was,” Lila says in a sarcastic tone.

“Well you won’t be allowed to do that anymore when you’re staying in the safe house,” the senior agent tells her.

“You can’t be serious,” Lila responds.

“Oh he’s very serious,” Spencer confirms to her. “We can’t risk the stalker tracing any of your calls and figuring out your location.”

“Who will I talk to in the meantime?” the actress wonders.

“You can talk to us,” answers Spencer.

Lila looks at them and isn’t thrilled by that answer. “Okay I can understand you guys trying to get this lunatic, but do you guys even care about me?”

“Of course we care about you Lila,” Gideon answers.

“If that’s true, then when were you guys planning to tell me that my manager was killed yesterday?” Lila replies back. The two profilers are stunned at what Lila just said to them. “Oh you guys surprised that I know?”

Now Spencer is speechless. “Don’t blame Reid Lila,” Gideon tells her. “I was the one that ordered him to keep quiet about this. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”

“Oh I am,” Lila tells Gideon.

A shot from outside peeking at Lila through her patio door is snapped.

“May I ask when you found out?” he asks.

“Yesterday before I even got back home,” Lila gets off the couch. “JJ told me about it, and said you thought I wouldn’t cooperate if I knew. So I’m going to prove you wrong and go along with this plan of yours.”

“I guess there’s nothing more I can ask for,” says Gideon.

The actress gives the senior agent a look, “But don’t think I’m not going to be calling my friends.”

More pictures spying on Lila from outside are taken. Joe Martinez continues to snap his camera while remaining hidden behind the bushes. “Give me a reason,” Derek tells him as he has a gun pointed at Joe.

“What did I tell you? Wait long enough and eventually they’ll show up,” remarks Elle.

 

*****

Elle paces towards Spencer and Gideon who are standing near the pool, just outside the patio door. “Well we found him in the bushes,” she explains to them.

“I told her she should cut those,” Spencer comments.

Derek pushes a handcuffed Joe towards them as he holds the camera in his other hand. “Stop shoving man,” Joe tells Derek.

Derek states the claims against him, “You’re a suspect in the murder of Wally Melman, Natalie Ryan and Michael Ryer.”

“Murder what?” Realization then hits Joe. “Whoa, whoa, whoa...”

“Hey shut up with the whoa,” Derek orders him. “We know for a fact that you have hundreds of photographs of Lila Archer and Natalie Ryan on the walls of your studio. You have Miss Archer’s daily schedule on your desk. You’ve been stalking her.”

“Look, I, look, hold up. Every paparazzo is a celebrity stalker,” Joe tries to explain himself. “If you don’t stalk them, you don’t get the shot, if you don’t make the shot, you don’t sell no pictures.”

“Well this one is going to cost you,” Elle yanks out the film reel.

“Whoa loo... that’s just wrong,” he reacts.

“Tell it to your lawyer,” Derek says to him.

“I’m still being locked up?” asks Joe.

“That’s right. At the very least you’re trespassing.” Derek grabs Joe by the arm and marches him off the premise, “Lets go.”

“At least now he won’t be able to follow Lila to the safe house,” Gideon remarks.

 

*****

Maggie relaxes on her living room couch. She’s watching the news about the case on TV. Jennifer Jareau is outside the police station informing the large amount of cameras and reporters surrounding her.

“Are the rumours that there’s a connection between this killer and actress Lila Archer true?” one of the reporters ask.

“That’s true,” the liaison answers. “It seems apparent this stalker is murdering people to try and impress Miss Archer.”

“Is it also true there was another victim yesterday?” another reporter blurts out.

“Again also true. However the victim this time was someone close to Miss Archer.” The sounds rises a bit as Jennifer goes on, “At the moment we have possible lead suspects in the case, but we can’t disclose any names yet.”

“What can you tell us about this stalker, you know, in case he’s still out there?” asks another reporter.

Maggie pays close attention. Jennifer goes on, “We believe we’re most likely looking for a single male in his late 20s to early 40s.”

Maggie giggles a bit after hearing that. “A loner type,” Jennifer continues.

“Hey I get along perfectly fine with people on set,” Maggie responds.

“Very intelligent, with ample time to follow his victims and study their habits,” the liaison adds.

“Try working on a film set,” Maggie comments. “See how much free time you can muster.”

“Like many celebrity stalkers, this person is very delusional and is having a fantasy love affair with Lila Archer.” Maggie looks upset at what she just heard. Jennifer goes on, “There’s also a possibility this stalker is pretty close to Miss Archer.” Maggie raises an eyebrow. “Someone who has been close to her on a number of occasions. This stalker in some way feels like they’ve been betrayed by their love object, something that leads to violence against the target. As of yet, the stalker has not directed any violence towards Miss Archer, but he has shifted his focus to those around her. This means anyone with the vaguest association with Miss Archer is a potential target. That’s all I can tell you for now.” Jennifer walks away from the crowd of news personnel.

Maggie just stares at the TV then smiles. “Wow they don’t know anything about me. I’m not even in my late 20s which is the youngest they thought I can be. They were right about me being close to Lila. Though the description they gave was an understatement.” Maggie gets off her couch and heads towards her kitchen.

 

*****

Jennifer meets up with Gideon and Hotchner just away from the cameras. “You think he was watching?” she asks them.

“If so let’s hope it’s enough to intimidate him so he starts getting sloppy once he tries to find Lila,” Gideon answers.

 

*****

Maggie is quietly enjoying her breakfast in the kitchen. She takes a bite of her pancakes. As she hacks up another piece, the blonde thinks about what she’ll be doing now that Lila is MIA for the rest of the week. One thing that comes to mind was how she was telling Jennifer she might show her around the place if she ever had time. Now she has plenty of time. It really starts to become a good idea when it’s apparent to Maggie that she can keep updated on the case once she becomes really close to the FBI agent.

She takes one more bite before marching to the living room to pick up the post-it from the coffee table. She walks over to the phone and dials the number.

Jennifer is still outside the police station with other colleagues and other news crews around the area when her cell rings. She doesn’t recognize the number, “Hello?”

“Jennifer.”

“Maggie?” she responds.

“Yeah it’s me. Say, want to take me up on my offer to show you around the place later today?”

Jennifer smiles, “What did you have in mind?”

“How about we start off by simply watching a movie?”

“Unless something develops in this case, I’ll probably be able to meet up with you. What time?”

“How about you pick me up at six?”

“Sounds great. I’ll call you later either if I have to cancel or simply get your address.”

“I’ll be waiting. Bye Jennifer.”



Chapter 1