"Mark Hanson?" Detective Williams questioned once we told him who the UnSub was.
"Do you know him?" Brinson asked.
"I arrested his father," the detective explained. "His father was an officer here years ago. I was just starting. Got a 911 call from Mark's mother saying that his father had beaten him so badly he was unconscious. Ended up having a concussion. We arrested his father, but there wasn't much we could do. Our only witness to all the assaults was in hospital."
"Does he have a sister?" I questioned.
"He does. Kelly Hanson. She testified against her brother while he was in hospital. She said it was the first time their father ever abused him and it was only because Mark talked back to him. She said he deserved it. Unfortunately, the jury believed little Kelly more than they believed her mother and since Mark couldn't testify, his father got off with nothing more than a slap on the wrists and was fired."
"Where does Kelly live now?" I grabbed my notebook and began to write all this down. It was all making sense now. Mark never got the justice he deserved because of his little sister. All these other little girls were surrogates for Kelly and what he wished he could do to her.
"I'm not sure," Detective Williams shrugged. "Haven't see her in years. The father, however, died a few weeks back."
"What happened to him?" asked Jake.
"Heart attack. Died in his sleep."
"Too peaceful," I commented. "He died just before the murders began. Maybe Hanson seen it as more injustice. His father gets a peaceful death in his sleep and his sister is off living a good, happy life, while his life is ruined because of her. Concussions can lead to serious, life altering consequences, anything could've happened to him."
"We'll have to find him," Brinson said. "I'll call Scott and see if he can get a location on Hanson and if he can find Kelly's address."
"If anyone can do it, it's Martin," I joked. This earned me a few chuckles.
It had been a long couple of days. With the long plane ride from Virginia to England and this case, on top of whatever was going on with Henry. I was just drained. I just wanted to sleep. I couldn't wait to catch this UnSub and be back on the plane. I was going to nap the whole ride home.
Jake came over and stood next to me. "You okay?"
"Tired," I replied. "Can't wait till we catch Hanson. I hope he didn't hurt any other girls."
"I don't think so," Jake said. "Since we have Grant, he doesn't have anyone to help him kidnap the girls and set the fires. He's not going to kill until he can get another victim. I think our biggest worry right now might be Kelly."
"I can't believe she'd do that," I said, shaking my head. "If dad ever hit Sammy, or Olivia for that matter, to the point where they were in the hospital with a concussion, I'd never testify in his favor. I'd throw him in jail myself."
"He had her wrapped around his finger so if he ever did need her, she'd take his side."
I shook my head again. I still couldn't believe it. No matter what, she shouldn't have stuck up for her father. Her father pretty well ruined her brother's life. How could she stand up for a man who so violently beat her brother? Even if he treated her like a princess.
Scott finally called us and gave us the address for Kelly and the last known address for Mark. We split up. Myself, Jake, and Crew went to the address for Mark while Brinson, Henry and McBride went to Kelly's house. I managed to convince Jake not to put the sirens on. Mark must've known by now that we were looking for the killer. If he heard sirens, he might've panicked and killed the other girls.
We pulled up in front of the house. It was a small house with a shed in the back. We agreed that Jake and I would take the front while Crew went around back. Jake and I approached the front door, our guns drawn. Jake stood beside the door while I stood in front of it. He nodded at me and I returned it.
I knocked. "Mark Hanson?" I called. "This is Dr. Haley Reid from the FBI. I wanted to ask you a few questions."
There was no reply. I looked at Jake and nodded. I stepped aside and allowed him to kick the door in. Both our guns shot up and we entered. We began looking everywhere. There was only one floor with a kitchen that led into the living room, one bedroom and one bathroom. Crew met us in the kitchen after coming through the backdoor.
"All clear out here," she said.
"He's not here," I sighed. "He must've fled already. No telling where he is now."
"We'll call Scott, see if he can find any other places he could possibly be," Jake said. He pulled his phone from his pocket. Just as he did, began to ring. He answered and put it on speaker. "You're on speaker, boss."
"Kelly's not here," came Brinson's voice. "We checked the whole premises, she's no where to be seen. She lives alone, no significant other or roommate so there's no one here to tell us where she might've gone. LaMontagne is talking to the neighbors to see if they noticed anyone coming or going. How are you guys doing?"
"Terribly," Jake replied. "He's not here and there's no signs of the girls anywhere."
I tried to think of where Mark could've gone that quickly. We had only been there for about a day. We hadn't had our press conference yet. He couldn't possibly know we were there. But where could he be? And where were the girls?
That's when my mind wandered to the shed out back.
"Crew," I said. "Did you check the shed before you came in?"
Jake and Crew looked at me with wide eyes. Crew and I hurried out the back door while Jake gave our address to Brinson and the others. We came to the door of the shed and stopped.
"FBI, open up!" Crew called. There was no reply. We both kicked the door in together and drew our guns.
Sitting in the middle of the small, cramped shed was an unconscious girl who looked like she was in her early twenties. She was tied to a chair with her mouth duct taped shut. Behind her were three girls huddled in a corner, terrified.
Crew raced to Kelly, checking her pulse and calling for Jake to call 911. I hurried to the girls and knelt next to them, making sure they were okay.
"Hey," I said. "Don't be scared. We're the good guys. We're here to help you. Are you guys hurt?"
I untied their restraints and checked their wounds. A few bruises, but nothing too bad. They'd still have to be checked to make sure there was no internal damages. I was glad we managed to find the three girls before Mark killed another one.
I helped the girls to their feet and led them out the door. Crew put one of Kelly's arms around her shoulder and slightly dragged her out of the shed. We were both startled by the sounds of the three girls screaming.
Outside, Jake had his knee down on a man's back and was struggling to get the cuffs on him. I could only imagine this was Mark Hanson.
"He tried to lock you guys in the shed," Jake explained. "He came out of nowhere. Stop struggling!"
"This isn't my fault!" Mark exclaimed. Although I couldn't see his face, I could tell he was crying. "This is hers! She did this to me! She stood up for that asshole! She's the reason I'm like this! You should be arresting her!"
I had to tune him out.
•
By that evening, we were on a plane back to Virginia. I was sat by myself, reading the only book I had packed to take with me. It was one of dad's books that I had read a hundred times, but I didn't mind reading it again.
The girls were fine. Kelly, however, had serious internal wounds. She would recover, but she'd never be the same. Just like Mark.
And Mark. Poor Mark. I know I shouldn't be feeling bad for him, but he was the victim first. Sometimes, all these unsubs are victims first.
I was brought out of my thought when Jake sat across from me. I closed my book and smiled at him. He put his hand out on the table. I hesitated before I took it.
"You okay?" he asked. "You've been staring at that one page for almost a minute now."
I chuckled. "Just thinking."
"Ah. That's what you do best." Another chuckle. "Are you thinking about the case?"
I nodded. "I feel bad for Mark. Kelly is the reason he's like this. It doesn't give him any right to kidnap and kill those other girls, or to do what he did to Kelly, but still. He was the victim before she was."
"Cases like this happen a lot," Jake sighed. "Something happens to someone that makes them snap. They were abused, they were bullied. There's any number of things. And then the victim turns into the killer and the abuser turns into the victim. And in the end, the original victim ends up behind bars or dead. It's sad, but it's our job."
I sighed. I knew that. I knew this job had it's sad moments, mom warned me of that. I'd have to learn to get used to it if I wanted to be a part of the BAU.
Jake let go of my hand to brush some loose hair behind my ear. I couldn't help but smile and my cheeks burned at his touch. He kept his hand on my cheek for another moment before leaning forward and giving me a light kiss on the lips. I smiled and kissed him back. But deep down inside, I didn't really feel anything. I was happy to actually have a boyfriend (even though Jake and I weren't technically official), but I didn't feel the way I thought I was supposed to when Jake kissed me. Was that wrong?
Jake dropped his hand and took mine in his again.
"When we get back," he said. "I'm taking the team on a night out drinking. You wanna come? Or are you gonna stay home and read?"
I playfully glared at Jake before replying, "You know what? I will come."