FOUND: A Hannigram Devil AU

10

     Will's phone had been buzzing nonstop since the beginning of the crowd's circle, but he had known better than to check it. Now, as he stepped away, he paled as he saw five missed calls from Jack. He brought the phone up to his ear, bracing himself for a lecture.
     "Can anyone hear me?" Jack asked, voice urgent. It created a cloud of dread over Will's shoulders.
     "No, just me. What's wrong?"
     "Katz and company just gave us the DNA results. Nick Boyle's fingerprints and hairs were all over Cassie's body, as well as the antlers she was impaled on."
     Will felt the blood drain from his face. Next to him, Hannibal raised his eyebrows. Of course he could hear— he found out everything he wanted to know.
     "That means—"
     "I've got a team on the way to the Hobbs home," Jack interrupted. "I need you to keep him there. Cuff him, whatever you need to do. Don't let him get away, Will. Should be fifteen to twenty minutes."
     "Can the officer here do it?"
     "It's not county business. If you want to make him aware, you can, but he can't do anything about it."
     "I'll keep him," Will assured him. "He'll be here when your guys get here."
     "Be careful." Jack, as always, hung up before goodbyes could be exchanged.
     "We were right, Will," Hannibal remarked. "Two killers. Cassie was obviously an amateur job."
     "Ridiculous." Will curled his upper lip, feeling sick. Nick Boyle had everything Will had ever wanted, a loving sister, and he took her for granted. Ripped her life away like she was nothing. And now, he was sharing ground with a killer who wanted to take advantage of a mourning crowd.
     "I'm gonna cuff him," he said. "Get him away from here, then cuff him. We have reason for arrest." He tore off, jogging over to the officer standing by the front door. He pulled out his badge, watching to make sure Nick was distracted. Sure enough, he had his back turned.
     "I'm with the FBI," Will said in a hushed voice. "We have evidence pointing to a criminal here at the vigil. We have a team on the way, but I need to borrow your cuffs."
     The officer cleared his throat, showing disdain at the FBI badge. County officers never wanted to cooperate. "Can't just hand them over," he said. "County property. I'm supposed to take care of the equipment."
     "Sir, this is extremely important—"
     "Officer." Will nearly jumped out of his skin, as he hadn't heard Hannibal approach. Hannibal nodded his head in Will's direction, raising an expectant eyebrow. "Give him the handcuffs, please."
     The officer's guarded expression fell, replaced by a blank, glazed over stare. Wordlessly, he reached into his pocket and handed the cuffs over to Will. Will took them, trying to hide how much his hands were trembling. He slowly turned to face Hannibal, who smirked and winked at him; the casual gesture surprised Will so much that he couldn't help but smile along with him.
     "..Thanks."
     "I'll take care of more interviews," Hannibal said. "Go get Boyle."
     Will took off, tucking the handcuffs into his back pocket. Scouting out Boyle, he suppressed his initial rage and attempted to look concerned. He gently placed his hand on Nick's shoulder, who turned around from his conversation.
     "Nicholas Boyle?" He asked, holding up his badge. "Sorry to interrupt. I'm Will Graham— I'm with the FBI." He lowered his voice. "We..we have some new information on the case regarding your sister. We have a suspect in custody now. I wanted to update you on some things."
     Nick was a surprisingly good actor— his face contorted into an expression of grief, shoulders falling. "Oh, my God..of course. You really found the guy? Oh, this is great news."
     "I'd like to have some privacy, for your sake. If you don't mind?" He nodded towards the front door of the house, which had been propped open for guests to enter if they needed. Nick agreed and, with Will following behind, entered the house. Quietly, Will closed the front door behind them.
     They walked over to the living room farther back, away from any windows. Will shot a text to Jack updating him on his location. Nick stood there expectantly, wringing his hands.
     "We found DNA evidence covering Cassie's body that matches with someone in our database," Will said. "Previous criminal. We're looking to find his alibis for the other Shrike cases— we might finally have this guy down." He was surprised at how easily the lies came, how easily he was able to hide his hatred for the killer in front of him. There was concrete proof; this man was a monster.
     "Who was it? Can you share his name?"
     "It was your DNA that we found." Will slowly reached into his back pocket, pulling out the cuffs. "Nicholas Boyle, you are under arrest for the murder of Cassie Boyle. Put your hands up, please."
     Nicholas stood there for a moment, baffled. "I..no. I saw her pretty often— of course my DNA would be there!"
     "As of right now, you need to be telling that to the people at the station. Your prints were on the antlers, too." Will held up the cuffs. "Hands behind your back, or I'll have to have my team subdue you."
     Still, Nicholas didn't move. He stared at the floor, a fire igniting in his eyes. He clenched his hands into fists. Will would have to force him to move.
     "Nicholas—"
     Nicholas charged towards Will, letting out a cry of frustration. Will didn't have time to dodge, as he'd been standing pretty close, so Nicholas elbowed him in the chest and pushed him against the wall. He leaned close, placing both of his hands around Will's neck and squeezing.
     Will dropped the cuffs, clawing at his throat. The grip on his neck was too tight— he was choking. He coughed and gasped fruitlessly for air.
     "I shouldn't have come here," Nicholas said through clenched teeth. "I was just trying to pay my respects before I left, try to establish some kind of reputation. No one would notice one more girl being killed, what with all this Shrike bullshit."
     Will kicked, trying to draw attention away from the direction his hands were traveling. His vision was slowly beginning to tunnel.
     "The best place to hide is in plain sight." He smiled. "If I'm gonna go down, if your dumbass 'team' is gonna cart me off, I'm at least taking one police pig out with me."
     Will gripped his pistol, flicking off the safety. Nicholas heard the clicking noise, but there was nothing he could do— Will brought the barrel to his stomach and pulled the trigger.
     He'd put a silencer on the pistol a few months ago, which he was endlessly grateful for now. Without much sound or flair, Nicholas stumbled backwards, clutching his new wound. His mouth gaped open and closed. Blood began to trickle down onto the hardwood.
     Will gasped, shocked by what he'd done and desperate to regain his breath. He was so fucked. Oh, man, he was screwed. What was he thinking? Why didn't he just kick him or something, why didn't he wait for Jack to come, why hadn't he done things differently— and now he was headed for a jail cell because for all Jack knew, Nicholas hadn't attacked him at all, and he had no witnesses and Nicholas was  turning his head towards the front door and opening his mouth to scream, shit shit shit he was going to scream!
     Will raised the gun and shot, striking Nicholas Boyle right in the temple. Blood and brains spattered onto the couch as the young man flopped to the ground.
     Will fell to his knees.