We Found Love In A Darker Place

Chapter 8 - Adapting

"Do you want to take a break?" Hotch asked. We had been at the diner where Nichole worked, which was the crime scene, for an hour.

"What?" I asked, off in my own dimension. "No. I want to stay." I stated.

"Clarity Michelle." The owner of the diner said from behind me. I knew the voice in an instant and turned around.

"Alex James. I haven't heard your voice in years." I said hugging the old man. He was a good friend of my grandparents.

"How are you honey bee?" He asked, stepping back. "You haven't grown an inch since high school graduation." He laughed.

I tucked my hair behind my ear. "I think Papa was the only tall one in the family." I laughed, avoiding the question.

"Yeah. You always were the runt of the litter." He laughed. "If you need anything while you're in town. I'm here. Still living in the same old house. I'll tell Tommy and Jessie you're in town. They miss you like crazy." He said, his Okie accent heavy in his words.

"Thanks Alex. But I'll have to think on it" I smiled weakly.

"Well, you know it's Friday." He reminded me.

"You don't mean?" My smile becoming more real.

"Homemade barbeque chicken and all the dressings at the house." He answered.

"Maybe I could stop by for a little piece." I said. "It might help to be around familiar faces. And I haven't really eaten anything in the past few days." I admitted with shame.

"Starts at six. Bring the team with you. I'm sure everyone is excited to see what you've become. Ms. Clarity Jones, FBI agent. Nobody around here ever do anything that big." He said walking to his truck.

I turned around to see Hotch smile at me smiling. "Can we go?" I asked with high hopes.

"We can finish up here early and head over. I think it would be a good idea." He smiled.

I smiled and went back to work. Being around people who reminded me of Nichole was hard but I think it would be better to grieve with family.

I looked at the spot where she was left. The chalk outline was still there. I looked at the pictures of the crime scene. There wasn't a lot of blood around where she was supposedly killed. "I think this is a secondary location." I yelled.

Reid walked over to me and took the pictures from me. "I think you're right. For the amount of blood loss she had, there isn't enough here to justify that this be the primary location. Plus, there are no gravitational droplets and not as much splatter as what would be if there was a blitz attack. Even with them cleaning up after forensics, there would be more blood stains."

"So we're looking for another location." J.J. said. Noting the break we just uncovered.

"It's possible. The time she got off, it was around dinner time. Tho place was packed. But, why would the police not put two and two together?" Reid questioned.

"The place only has inside camera's near the register. Most Mom and Pop shops don't have many, let alone anything outside." I added.

"Has anyone been to her house to see if there as anything there?" Derek asked the officer who was assisting us.

"We never thought it was a possibility because she lives in a gated apartment community. You need a pin number to get in." He said

"I'm going to go check it out. There might be something there to give us a clue to where she was." I said, starting toward the SUV.

"I'm going with you." Reid and J.J. said, simultaneously.

"Both of you go. We got it covered here. Call us if you need anything." Hotch yelled from beside one of the cop cars.

I got in the driver's seat and took a deep breathe. "I haven't been to her apartment since the day before I left for training camp for the FBI." I noted to myself outloud. It was easy to get there. I remembered where she lived because we both had looked for apartments there. She was the one to get an apartment. I was deadset on a house with a big yard. We were there in ten minutes flat. "A quick drive from home to work." I added.

"How long did she work at the diner?" Reid asked from the backseat.

"Since we were freshman in high school. Should was saving up all of her tips so we could go on a vacation to California." I said pulling up to the pin pad, pushing in her code. I drove forward, parking spot.

We got up and went to the service elevator. When the door opened, I seen a spot of blood on the carpet of the elevator. "Do you see that?" Reid asked, seeing what I saw.

"I do. Do you think it's Nichole's?" I asked, kneeling down.

"This is a pretty upscale apartment complex. The odds of it not being her's are pretty low. But there was a camera outside the elevator. We can probably get a picture of him at the least." Reid said, standing.

We reached Nichole's floor and stepped out. Walking to her door I prepared myself for what could be the worst crime scene of my career. I opened the door with a lock picking kick I got a few years back. J.J. giggled and pushed open the door.

What we saw was not what I could of expected. The coffee table was broke, pictures broken, blood on her carpet and couch. J.J. yanked me backwards and dragged me down the hall. Calling Hotch. "We have the original crime seen at Nichole's apartment. It's pretty bad Hotch." She said.

I was all cried out that I didn't have any tears left to cry. I was shocked. This was personal. He had a purpose for killing her. With the little glimpse I did see, I seen the jar of money with her tips in it was untouched. It was him. I knew it was.