Enjoying Your Company //

chapter fifty two

Hotch's POV:

Reid and Prentiss returned, looking stiff.

"God, why did it have to be Wisconsin." Emily scoffed, fluffing her jacket and walking to the coffee.

"What did you guys find out?" I ask from my chair, looking up from the reports.

"Myra Bell was being stalked for quite some time."

"How long?"

"About two months." My phone rang.

"Hotchner."

"Hello sir, I come baring gifts." I set Garcia on speaker.

"Go ahead, Garcia."

"I found our mystery person connected to all three victims through the 'NAPP' support group. He's operating under the account name "Gunther Chavez". And his real name, is Tom Kane."

"T.K." Prentiss exhaled.

"He's thirty four, originally from Madison Wisconsin, and comes from a grizzly background. And when I say grizzly, I mean GRIZZLY." She began, just as Morgan and JJ entered. "His mother, Gina Potter, was a serious addict, in and out of rehabs since she was seventeen. Where, she met a man by the name Rich. AKA, Richard Kane, who was also working the steps."

"You're not supposed to date others in the program. It's one of the biggest rules." Prentiss declared in a low tone.

"Right. So, immediately their love was not welcome. Eventually, Gina's mom found out and was very vocal about her distaste for Richard. Flash word they have Tommy, and a girl, Chelsea, they're working the steps. Boom, both parents are killed in a drug deal gone wrong."

"What happened?"

"They were shot, point blank in an ally. Amara then takes full custody of Tom, and his sister Chelsea, when they were nine and seven. She ran a seriously, religious, household. Guess where she worked? The church. Yup, that's right. This woman eat, slept, breathed, and lived the lord. And she put them Tom and Chelsea through years of constant abuse 'in the name of the lord'." She said the last phrase stilted to quote from her findings.

"Was she an alcoholic?"

"Correctomundo. And she was a mean drunk, one of those nasty, beat the dog for barking kind of drunks. The two repeatedly come to the hospital with bruises and unexplained broken bones until in 2001 when it just stopped. Amara dead, in her rocking chair on Christmas morning."

"Who's gonna vote and say she was Tom's first victim?" Prentiss inquired.

"Trying to protect himself and his sister, more likely." Reid countered.

"After that Tom was given all of Amara's assets from her will and has basically just. Seamlessly blended back into society. Until the stalking and the, crazy, murdering."

"What about Chelsea?"

"Six feet. Died, three years ago. Anyone care to guess?" Her voice was sympathetic, drained with sorrow.

"Drug overdose?"

"Yeah."

"There's your trigger."

"Did Amara have a stalker?" Rossi asked.

"No, not that I can tell."

"Wait, Betty Alice had a stalker," JJ informed the room.

"Her son Garry saw him. Didn't get a good look, but said he was wearing a hood over a hat, and that the guy told his mother he was looking for a Bell." Morgan added.