Beauty and the Genius

Chapter 7

Gwen woke up to someone shaking her awake. She opened her eyes and saw her father standing there. "Dad?"

"Get up. Garcia's been shot."

Gwen shot up in bed. "What?" She hurriedly got ready and got in her father's car.

They arrived at the hospital and found JJ, Hotch, Prentiss, and Spencer.

Gwen immediately hugged Spencer, knowing he must be taking it hard since he was closer to Penelope than she was.

"What do we know?" Rossi asked Hotch.

"Police think it was a botched robbery."

"Where's Morgan?" Prentiss asked.

"He's not answering his cell," JJ said.

Spencer pulled out his phone. "I'll call him again."

Gwen squeezed his hand before letting him go.

"What aren't you saying?" Rossi asked Hotch.

"I spoke to one of the paramedics who brought her in. It doesn't look good."

Gwen sat down in one of the chairs and pulled out her pendant and started praying in Italian.

Spencer sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of it.

She hissed when she opened her hand. She'd been squeezing the pendant so tight, it imprinted into her palm.

Spencer examined her palm, lightly running his fingers across it.

The action sent a shiver down Gwen's spine.

"You're Wiccan, aren't you?" Spencer asked. Spencer had some suspicions following their conversation in the coffee shop.

"I prefer Pagan, but yes."

JJ walked up, halting their awkward conversation. "They can't give me an update."

"Morgan's phone just keeps going straight to voicemail," Spencer told the group.

"Where the hell is he?" Prentiss asked.

Gwen had a pretty good idea.

They soon lapsed into silence.

Gwen set her head on Spencer's shoulder and entwined his fingers with hers.

Finally, Morgan walked in.

JJ stood up. "She's been in surgery a couple hours."

"I was at church. My phone was off," he explained.

"There's nothing you could have been doing here," Spencer told him.

"The police got any leads?"

"I spoke to the lead detective. He doesn't think we'll get anything from the scene," Hotch said.

A surgeon walked up. "Penelope Garcia?"

Both Hotch and Emily answered, "Yes."

"The bullet went in her chest and ricocheted into her abdomen. She lost a lot of blood. It was touch-and-go for a while, but we were able to repair her injuries."

"So what are you saying?" JJ asked.

"One centimeter over and it would have torn right through her heart. Instead, she could actually walk out of here in a couple of days. And I'd say that's a minor miracle. She needs her rest. You can see her in the morning."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," Hotch and JJ said.

"David and I will go to the scene. I think the rest of you should be here when she wakes up. I don't care about protocol. I don't care whether we're working this officially or not. We don't touch any new cases until we find out who did this," Hotch said. He and Rossi left.

Penelope eventually came to and they were allowed to see her.

JJ kissed her on the cheek. "Hi. No tears. I'm afraid if I start crying, I'll come unstapled," Penelope told them.

"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked.

"Oh, confused, stupid, and in pain."

"Are you up for some questions?" JJ asked.

"I never saw it coming. He seemed deliciously normal."

"You know him?" Spencer asked.

Penelope turned to Morgan. "You were right. I should have trusted it."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's that guy I told you about. The one I met at the coffee shop. I wanted to believe he was interest in me."

"Forget that."

"I let my guard down."

"Do you have any idea why he would have done this?" Emily asked.

"Did he threaten you? Did he want something?" Spencer asked.

"I just thought he liked me." Penelope breathed through the pain she was feeling.

"Okay. We're gonna come back in a little while," JJ said.

"We need a name," Emily told her.

"James Colby Baylor," Penelope answered.

They left the room, JJ staying behind.

Morgan rubbed his head and then slammed his hand into a white board.

"We need to stay calm," Spencer told him.

"Don't. Tell me what to be," Morgan snapped.

"Do you remember anything she said about him?"

"No." Emily walked up to them.

"I just talked to Hotch. They think he used a revolver."

"A revolver?" Gwen asked. That was an odd firearm to use in a robbery.

"Who the hell uses a revolver?" Morgan asked, voicing Gwen's thoughts.

"Someone who doesn't want to leave behind evidence," she said.

"Gwen's right," Spencer said.

Gwen smiled. She loved it when Spencer or her father backed her conclusions.

"Any witnesses?" Morgan asked.

"None so far. And he staged it to look like a robbery," Emily said.

"Which means he's smart enough to use forensic countermeasures. Odds are the name he gave Garcia is probably bogus," Spencer elaborated.

JJ came out of Penelope's room and walked up to them.

"What did she say?"

"She made me promise not to talk about her like a victim."

JJ and Emily left leaving Spencer, Morgan, and Gwen to watch over Garcia.

"I asked her to go out last night. But she was pissed at me," Morgan said, watching Penelope sleep, "She blew me off."

"So you ended up in church?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah. What does it mean? On one hand, if she'd gone out with me, she would have never got shot. On the other hand...what are the odds that the first time I pray in 20 years, she's on the table?"

"Sometimes things happen and it's not our place to question the universe," Gwen told him.

A nurse walked up. "She's asking for you."