Work Relations || Aaron Hotchner

Chapter 58

Aaron opens his eyes and but everything was still spinning. Despite that he manages to stand up and he looks around. He was still in the same spot he fell unconscious but he was alone. "Jessie?" he yells but there was no answer. He looks down and he sees my phone and gun on the floor. He takes them and runs back inside.
"Where were you for so long? Where is Jessie?" David asks
"He... Cohen, it's him" he says but he started getting dizzy again probably from the influence of the drug.
"Woah, sit down" David says helping him take a seat
"He took her. He drugged us and I tried to fight him but I couldn't" he says
"Oh my God..." James says running his hands over his face but it was clear that he was furious.
"I'll call the team" David says and leaves the conference room.

I start to gain consciousness and the first thing I realized is that my head is killing me. I try to touch it but something was stopping me. I open my eyes and I see that I'm tied down to a chair. That's when I remembered what happened in the parking lot. "Great..." I whisper to myself. "I know who you are and I know that you're listening so come out you son of a bitch!" I yell. A couple of minutes later I hear a door behind me
"Need another therapy session... agent?" he says as he walks in front of me
"Why?" I ask
"What? Why did I kill the people I killed? Why did I kill your dad? Why did I take you?" he asks
"You're sick" I say and he chuckles.

"No, Jess. I'm not sick. I just have good taste" he says putting his hand on my shoulder. "Such a good taste..." he says as he moves his hand downwards. "I thought that you were amazing when you were little but you're so much better now. That's why I stuck around after all. And when your dad tried to take you away from me, I took care of him" he says
"He saw the monster that you were" I say
"I'm not a monster Jess. I'm just a lover" he says rubbing my cheek. I bite his fingers and he groans. "You stupid bitch!" he yells and punches me.

Back to the conference room, they pulled out all the old files of the case including every note there was ever written about it. "But where are Jessie's notes?" Spencer asks
"She probably hid everything she wrote somewhere only she knew so whoever took and checked those files, wouldn't think that she is getting close" David says
"That's exactly what she would have done" Aaron says
"But where would she hide them?" JJ asks Aaron
"I don't know" he answers
"Somewhere that she would have access to immediately in case she came up with something" Spencer says and everyone looks at Aaron
"I have no idea!" he answers. He was so angry even at himself because he promised that he isn't gonna let him get near me again and now this is happening. He couldn't focus on thinking about me or even working the case.

His phone starts ringing and he sees that it's an unknown number. He answers and puts it on speaker. "Hello Aaron. Not all good news, right?" he hears
"Where is Jessie?" he asks immediately
"Don't worry. She's just taking a nap" he says with a chuckle
"You son of a bitch, you let her go" James says
"Oh, I figured that the whole squad will be there. I'm flattered" he says.

I groan as I start gaining consciousness again. "Oh the princess is waking up. Actually it was magic fairy princess, right? That dress fitted her so much... I can still see it" he says
"Let me talk to her" Aaron says. Cohen walks to me and pulls my hair back causing me to groan.
"Talk" he says
"Aaron?" I ask
"Jessie, are you ok?" he asks
"Mostly" I say
"We are gonna find you, ok? You just hang on there" he says
"I know" I say
"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep Aaron. You promised her to keep her away from me but you didn't. And remember when was the last time you promised to be there in time? George Foyet, right? Aww, the story is being replayed" he says
"Jessie, I need the notes" James says but Cohen gets ready to hung up.
"In the toys. Aaron, in the toys!" I yell but I wasn't sure if he heard it.
"The what?" Cohen asks me
"He knows" I say
"Oh yeah? Honey, I love you but sometimes you talk too much" he says and drugs me again.

"The toys? Melissa's toys?" JJ suggests
"No" Aaron says and starts running. He rushes back home and opens the last drawer in my nightstand. He takes out the books I had in front of the box with the toys. There was a piece of paper stuck underneath with a 16-digit code. The books need to be somewhere that she would have fast and easy access. He knocks the nightstand to the side and he sees the hidden safe. He puts the code in and it opens. He takes the several diaries and leaves again.

There were many notes and ideas written about the case. "She has mentions multiple times that the unsub X will be reliving the crime. And she was right. He was reliving it through her" James says
"But why take her now and leave me alive? If he cared about his cover he would have killed all of us" Aaron says
"Because he didn't stop killing so he wouldn't get caught but because he found what he wanted in Jessie. If she was his preference and if Thomas Grey knew that Cohen was treating her like that, he probably took her away from him, so he killed him to get him out of the way. Then somehow managed to stay close to Jessie like he wanted which also gave him the opportunity to relive the kill and the grief he created. Garcia?" he says
"I'm listening" she answers immediately
"Who did assign Jessie to Cohen after the miscarriage?" he asks and she starts typing
"It was... Oh" she says
"What?" Aaron asks
"No one. She wasn't officially assigned to anyone" she answers
"He probably took her voluntarily" JJ says
"The perfect opportunity to get close to her and learn information about her personal life" James says
"That means that he probably kept an eye on her in the past too but if he probably used different names" Spencer says
"We need to look at everyone who came in and out of her life. Everyone. Friends, teachers, old co-workers" Aaron says and Penelope goes back in her office.

A few hours later she runs in the conference room carrying her laptop. "I think I got something. There was a teacher in her high school, Richard Colman, who pops up in her life more than once" she says
"I remember him. He seemed liks a good guy. He helped her through high school, stuck around to help her through college and the academy. They used to talk on the phone mostly about how they are doing. But she hadn't heard from him since she got in the BAU" James says
"That's because he hang himself two weeks before Jessie started working here but there was no history of depression or suicidal attempts" Penelope says
"Something tells me that it was staged to look like a suicide" Derek says
"Is there any connection between Cohen and Colman?" Aaron asks
"They seemed like they were good friends the two of them" she says
"Until he didn't need him anymore" he says.

"But between the time she came here and the miscarriage, he had to watch her somehow" JJ says
"Calvert. The cameras in her apartment wasn't Calvert's idea" Aaron says
"We all agreed when Jessie said that Calvert isn't criminally sophisticated enough to pull that off" Derek says
"Exactly. He was just a disposable for Cohen" David says
"Garcia, is there any--" Aaron starts to say
"Property in Colman's name? I'm already ahead of you sir and I'm looking right now. There is a house about an hour away from here, the information are on your phones already" she says
"Let's go" he says and they leave immediately.