Chapter Text
Peter Hale was unnaturally composed in the face of FBI agents hauling him in for questioning at his place of work. The only reaction he had shown was an incredulous raised eyebrow before his face smoothed into smug blankness.
They had intended to rattle him by embarrassing him in front of his colleagues and subordinates. An unsub they had profiled became enraged at the smallest of slights, would most certainly be rattled and unable to fully mask it. Rossi had the distinct impression that Peter Hale had never been rattled or embarrassed a day in his life.
Glancing back at the employees rubbernecking across the open plan office, Hale easily placated them in smooth authoritative tones, “not to worry, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding. Get back to work, and cancel my afternoon meetings.”
On the drive back to Quantico, Hale maintained a stony silence in the back of the car. Making eye contact with Morgan in the passenger seat, Rossi could see that he was feeling equally frustrated and off-kilter. Either they were missing something big, or their profile was completely off the mark. Rossi sighed internally, this was already shaping up to be a total catastrophe. He didn't know their new team member Agent Lydia Martin very well yet. So far she had been guarded, fiercely competent, and professional, but he couldn't imagine she would appreciate them questioning her boyfriend? partner? sugar daddy? without her knowledge.
3 hours earlier
It wasn't exactly pleasant to have a serial killer hunting in his own city, but Rossi couldn't deny that he enjoyed being close to home with easy access to his favourite dark roast coffee beans. Not to mention, not having to deal with the occasional ruffled feathers and bruised egos of the local cops. DC police were accustomed to deferring to the FBI on serial cases and didn't make a fuss about jurisdiction.
So far there had been three bodies, dumped seemingly carelessly in alleyways. The victims were all low-risk, fit young men in their 20s who worked well-paying jobs. They were all brutally beaten to death and their throats slit for good measure.
Facing a dozen uniformed officers and detectives in the police station's bullpen, Hotch stepped forward to give the profile, “we're looking for a physically fit white male in his late thirties to early forties.”
“The unsub most likely presents as a power-assertive alpha male type. He probably works a white collar job” continued JJ, picking up the thread.
“We believe the unsub suffered some traumatic event or rejection which resulted in a significant loss of dignity and self-esteem. He most likely regards his victims as threats to his dominance and reacts with excessive rage to perceived slights as a way to relieve his insecurities” Reid explained.
“Canvass friends, and coworkers, and retrace the victims last steps to see if they had an altercation with anyone, no matter how minor, thank you” Hotch instructed, dispersing the milling crowd of cops to their respective assignments.
Rossi leaned on a nearby desk as the team drew closer, awaiting further instructions.
“Alright” Hotch started, “Prentiss and Martin, you go speak to the victims’ families again, with the new profile in mind.”
“You got it Hotch”
“Yes sir”
They responded in unison.
Rossi groaned theatrically, “don't call him sir, Lydia, or Mr. Unit Chief's ego won't fit in the room with us” he teased.
The corner of Hotch's mouth twitched in what counted as a broad grin on anyone else, while the rest of the team chuckled, and he earned a shoulder slap from Morgan.
“You can call me Hotch,” he reassured Lydia.
“Alright, Hotch,” she gave a tiny smile.
Rossi congratulated himself on breaking through her stoic facade, as she and Prentiss turned to leave. Martin got on like a house on fire with Reid when they got to talking about mathematical proofs and theorems, but otherwise maintained a serious and professional persona at all times. Rossi understood why, since she had to overcome the obstacles of being an extremely young, extremely pretty rookie agent who got a coveted spot in the BAU. Still, he hoped she would soon start to let her guard down and bond with the team.
“The rest of you, into the conference room, we've got a lot of files and video surveillance to get through” Hotch instructed.
“Ah, I do so love reading files,” Rossi commented drily as they filed into the room they had been allocated by DC police.
“Don't worry old man, the kid will have done 80% of the work in the time it takes you to crack one file,” Morgan retorted, grinning.
Rossi puffed up in offense and was getting ready to formulate a blistering comeback, when Morgan's phone rang.
“It's Garcia,” said Morgan in response to the team's questioning looks, putting the phone on speaker.
“Hey baby girl, what have you got for me?”
“Well my chocolate adonis, I've got exactly what you asked for” she replied in sultry tones.
“Garcia, you're on speaker” interjected JJ, rolling her eyes fondly.
“Oops sorry, sorry, that was totally cool and normal,” Garcia rambled, flustered.
“Garcia, what did you find?” Hotch interrupted impatiently.
“Right so, I've been trying to narrow down the suspect list based on the profile, but I'm sure you'll be flabbergasted to hear that white men in their forties with high-powered jobs aren't exactly thin on the ground in DC. Luckily, you are in the presence of the queen of the interwebs, long may she reign, so I cross referenced with the victims’ work places, and regular haunts, and I came up with a name.”
Garcia paused, potentially to build suspense, Rossi mused fondly.
“Peter Hale, 42 years old. He's a senior partner at Stanley and Lieberman law firm, where the first victim worked, real shark in the courtroom apparently. He is also a regular at the Daily Bean coffee shop, and was there on the days the second and third victims were last seen.”
“That could be our unsub,” said Reid, intrigued. “What about a traumatic event in his past? Was he ever the victim of a violent crime or a debilitating accident?” he asked eagerly, leaning towards the phone.
“Hmm I'm not seeing anything recent,” Garcia mused, the sound of rapid typing filtering through the phone's speaker. “Wait…oh-oh no, that poor man.”
“What is it?” Rossi frowned.
“Ok” Garcia continued, “so fifteen years ago, the Hale family home in Beacon Hills, California burned down in a suspected case of arson. The entire extended family was killed in the blaze except for Peter's teenage niece and nephew, Laura and Derek who weren't in the house. Peter was badly injured and was left comatose for six years.”
“Well that's a hell of a stressor,” JJ acknowledged sympathetically, “but -”
“Why start killing now, after so long?” Morgan interrupted.
“There must have been a recent trigger that brought all this to the surface. It does seem likely he's our unsub though. Can you send us Hale's home and work addresses, please Garcia?” Hotch asked brusquely.
“Sure thing boss. But, oop wait, that's a tad bit awkward..erm..” Garcia trailed off uncomfortably before blurting in one breath “Peter Hale's home address is the same one listed in Agent Lydia Martin's official file.”
There was a deafening silence, as the team all stared at each other, unsure how to process this revelation.
“Garcia, dig deeper, how are Hale and Martin connected? How long have they known each other?” Hotch asked tensely.
“Wait a second” JJ burst out indignantly, “we're not thinking Lydia had something to do with this are we?”
“No JJ, I don't think that” Hotch replied, “we just need to have all the information before we make any decisions.”
Rossi eyed Hotch out of the corner of his eye, trying to discern if he was placating JJ, but his face was as sincere and stoic as ever.
“Okaaay well I hope you know how icky it makes me feel to dig into a team member's past like this,” Garcia began, sighing dramatically “It looks like Peter Hale bought the apartment in DC two years ago but both their names are on the deed.”
“Go back further,” Rossi prompted.
“Right, so Hale also owns a house near Stanford which happens to be where Lydia attended college. Annddd what the heck I'm going all the way back, Lydia was born and raised in Beacon Hills, California, same as Hale. Other than that, I'm not seeing direct interaction between them.”
“Check the Beacon Hills sheriff’s department files” Reid suggested, “I remember there being a string of strange deaths and disappearances around the time Lydia was in high school, there might be a connection there.”
Rossi nodded in eternal appreciation of Reid's infallible memory, as Garcia continued tapping away at an impressive pace.
“Oh my god, wow ok, that is a whole can of worms, many cans even, enough worms to last the winter,” Garcia rambled on, “remember how I said the Hale fire was a suspected arson? Well there was a suspect, one Kate Argent, who was never charged for lack of evidence. But- it was rumored she seduced the teenage Hale boy to get the inside track on the Hale house's security.”
“So a psychopath, and a sexual abuser, charming,” Morgan gritted out in disgust.
“Yep, but getting back to Peter Hale, just as he was coming out of a years long coma, his niece was brutally murdered, and Kate Argent came swanning back into town,” Garcia replied.
“I would be pretty enraged, myself” Rossi commented, leaning back in his chair in disbelief.
“Mmhmm, there's more,” Garcia continued, “a few months after that, Kate Argent also died, brutal and bloody.”
“Good riddance,” Morgan muttered.
“I'm with you there my beloved, and so is Peter Hale, who was initially listed as a suspect in her death until it was ruled an animal attack.”
“An animal attack?” Reid repeated, baffled, “in a California town?”
“Mmhmm, and the photos are yuck-why did I look at those, I regret everything. It seems her throat was completely ripped out by what the ME identified as a wolf,” Garcia's voice got higher in pitch the longer she spoke, as though she couldn't believe it herself.
“I suppose it's theoretically possible,” Reid mused, “gray wolves are endangered in California, but they did start a natural recolonization process in 2011. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife keep track of the wolf packs though, so I really think they would have known -”
“Ok” Rossi interrupted, “statistics on wolf populations aside, I think it far more likely that Hale killed Kate Argent, and then covered it up by making it look like an animal attack.”
“So he got his revenge, and got away with it” JJ continued, picking up his train of thought “but was left with a taste for killing, and no target for his rage.”
The team fell silent as they mulled over the probability of this theory, all the pieces certainly seemed to fit.
“Uh guys” Garcia said tentatively, “I did find one more thing in the police files. The year Lydia graduated high school, her father tried to have Peter Hale arrested for statutory rape. The charges were dropped because there was no evidence they'd been together before she was eighteen and she was extremely disinclined to testify against him.”
An icy silence fell over the team as they were once again forced to process an unpleasant shock. Then they all started talking at once:
“He had to have been grooming her since he woke up from the coma right?”
“So they've been together for at least seven years?”
“But there's no sexual component to the current murders”
“Why change victim type if he prefers teen girls?”
“Maybe he completely separated his sexual urges from his murderous compulsions?”
“Enough!” Hotch shouted, “Garcia, is there any other record that Hale is a preferential offender towards teen girls?”
“Not a whisper of a complaint,” Garcia replied “it seems like it may have just been Lydia specifically since they're still together now…” she trailed off hesitantly.
An uneasy silence fell, and Rossi wondered if it was possible to have a non-abusive relationship with a man as apparently filled with rage as Peter Hale. Lydia didn't seem at all beaten down or afraid, but Rossi had been a profiler long enough to know the signs weren't always obvious. On the other hand, Lydia might simply not provoke his wrath in the same way as the victims.
His musings were interrupted by Morgan, “we can't let Martin in on this. It would be a conflict of interest and could make the case fall apart in court.”
Hotch seemed to be of the same mind if his clenched jaw was anything to go by, “JJ, loop in Prentiss and have her keep Martin distracted for now, they can interview the Daily Bean manager once they're done with the families.”
JJ looked reluctant and uncomfortable but signalled her agreement by taking out her phone to make the call.
“Rossi, Morgan, go to his law office and pick up Peter Hale for questioning. Take him to Quantico, we'll do the interview there.”
Rossi and Morgan both nodded sharply.
“Oh and one more thing,” Hotch added, “make a big production of it in front of the other employees, I want him angry and rattled.”