Glorified G // Eddie Vedder

Chapter 8

A few days passed and the whole team working the case grew increasingly restless, waiting for the DNA results left the team feeling vulnerable there was nothing more they could do, they were waiting for more bodies to be found- it seemed the only obvious thing he would do in a moment panic. Joanne felt a wave of relief wash over her when the lab called to confirm that it was Cutter's DNA found at the crime scenes. The team attempted to locate him at work again, however he had left on a long haul journey,

"We should issue a bulletin for him, in Oregon and Washington." Eleanor suggested, the bulletin was issued and within a few hours a pair of Newberg detectives recognised Cutter, however the name they knew him as was Scott William Cox. With the new information the team began calling motels in the area of Newberg where he had last been seen asking if anyone under either of the names had checked in, Cox was found and arrested for forgery.

Cox was transported to the Seattle field office to be interviewed about the murders, from what the arresting officers had reported he was a classic narcissist- William suggested that Joanne interview him as she turned him down, if she went in and stroked his ego he would be more likely to slip up or confess. The thought of being in a room alone with the man made Joanne's stomach turn, however there would be William and Eleanor on the other side of the one way mirror.

Joanne hesitantly entered the interview room and took a seat opposite Cox, who was handcuffed to the table.

"Good afternoon Mr Cutter, or do you prefer Mr Cox? I must admit when I realised that you are the guy from the bar I was a little shocked," she began speaking and wanting to throw up at what she was saying, Cox stared at her although she was a piece of meat, his eyes were dark and he licked his lips, "If I knew how smart you are I definitely would've let you buy me a drink. I am amazed that you managed to get away with it for so long, it takes a real smart person to fool us." As she spoke, a smirk grew on his face, it was working he was loving every second of it, "So what I wanna know is how did you do it Mr Cox?" Joanne was shocked when he began bragging about the three murders and the attempted murder, she simply sat there, her face was expressionless- once he had finished explaining how he planned to kill the fourth victim Joanne stood up and made her way to the door, "Thank you for your time Mr Cox, I hope you enjoy prison."

After completing the paperwork Joanne was exhausted, but she felt the need for a drink or two. She invited Eleanor to join her at the off ramp for a celebratory drink, but Eleanor had a husband waiting for her at home so she couldn't make it. That didn't stop Joanne though, she rushed home and threw on some jeans with her doc martens and an old Beatles t-shirt, she drove to the off ramp once again forgetting that she wouldn't be able to buy alcohol for a few more weeks, this caused her to hesitate slightly- she needed a drink, after that case. So she made her way in and pushed her way to the bar, she ordered a beer, the bartender asked for some ID,

"C'mon man, I turn twenty one in like two weeks. Please let me buy a beer-" The bartender shook his head,

"Sorry miss, but you'll have to have something non-alcoholic or I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Joanne rolled her eyes,

"Fine, I'll have a lemonade please." She got her drink and sat at the bar drinking it miserably, she just wanted a fucking drink, she could've been murdered this week and this asshole won't let her have a fucking drink. Stupid fucking drinking age act.

Alice in Chains were playing and Joanne was able to sit and watch the set as she wasn't running off interviewing bands, she sat and watched as the group performed Man in the Box, suddenly her attention was drawn to somewhere within the crowd where she could hear someone yelling her name, she ignored it- she isn't the only Joanne in the world. The voice continued to call her and eventually it got closer, a few moments later Eddie emerged from the crowd,

"Hey Jo!" He called waving at her, she laughed and made her way over to him,

"Hey Eddie, how are you? If you're wanting to take me up on the beers you're gonna have to wait two weeks." Eddie chuckled at her,

"Come and join us, we've got a table, and I can go and buy you a beer now- you can make it up to me in two weeks." He grinned at her and she returned a shy smile,

"Thank you, you have no idea how much I need beer after this week."  She said with a small sigh, Eddie lead her through the crowd to a round booth where Pearl Jam were sitting there were a few extra chairs pulled alongside the table for the Soundgarden guys.

"Guys I'm sure you remember Jo here, she's gonna join us tonight," Eddie paused and looked at Joanne for a moment, "If you want to that is," He added in a mumble, Joanne nodded at him,

"Yeah I'd like to." Eddie nodded at her before disappearing into the crowd again, Joanne took a seat next to Stone opposite Mike, there was a brief awkward silence before Mike spoke up,

"So Joanne, did you get the guy?" He asked quietly, this question seemed to grab everyone's interest,

"You can call me Jo, Joanne makes me feel old-" She laughed nervously, "Yeah we got him, I actually came here straight from interviewing him- He actually tried to buy me a drink when I was here the other day, what a creep!" She shuddered thinking about Cox, and the way he looked at her in the interview room and at the bar.

"Well on behalf of the entire male population of Seattle, I'd like to apologise- it's not a good first impression of the city." Chris said, shaking his head. Eddie reappeared with a tray of beers, Joanne was quick to grab one and take a swig.

The night flew by, Joanne found herself feeling incredibly comfortable around the guys, she bonded with Stone the most over their shared love of sarcasm. She felt at ease knowing that now she knew more people than the ones she works with, Chris and Eddie seemed genuinely interested in her work and asked how she ended up working with the FBI when she isn't a US citizen. Joanne stopped drinking after one beer as she was driving home, although the more she thought about it she was tempted to carry on drinking because she could walk home it'd only take her ten minutes if it takes five in the car. She decided to drink more, and walk home. Everyone gradually grew more and more intoxicated and Joanne found herself laughing as Stone stole Jeff's hat and placed it on her head, Joanne looked at her watch and gasped,

"Oh fuck! It's nearly three- I've got to be at work at seven. Sorry to cut this wonderful night short lads but I've got to go." She said as she slid out of the booth, Stone smirked before repeating the word 'lads' to himself, "I'll see you all around?" There was a chorus of 'bye's and Joanne began pushing her way to the door, she made it out and headed to her car to get her keys and her jacket when she heard a familiar voice calling her, she spun around on her heel to see Eddie jogging over to her,

"Can I walk you home?" He offered and Joanne nodded, "Okay good because I wouldn't take no for an answer." He gave her a small smirk.

The two walked side by side to Joanne's apartment talking about everything and nothing, the conversation wasn't particularly meaningful as the two were both pretty drunk,

"Oh Eddie, you wanna see something cool?" She asked and Eddie nodded eagerly, "Okay so this is my best party trick, hold my bag." She giggled handing Eddie her handbag, she took a few steps forward and within the blink of an eye she did a forward roll- along the side of the road, then she walked back to Eddie and took her bag back as if it was the most normal thing to do,

"What the fuck Jo?" Eddie chuckled, she simply shrugged at him with a snicker. They made it back to Joanne's apartment in once piece and without any more forward rolls, at the door Joanne thanked Eddie for the beers and company, before thanking him again for intervening with Cox,

"Jo, you don't need to keep thanking me." She grinned at him once more,

"Goodnight Eddie."

"Goodnight Jo."