The Agent and The School Teacher

Chapter Seven: More Of A Victim

They dropped me back at the hotel and I walked up to the front desk.

"I have a reservation for Bartlett." I stated. The receptionist typed something into the computer.

"Yes, room 205." She handed me a room key.

"Also, could you tell me what room Chelsea Grant is in?" She nodded, typing again.

"Um...oh, right next door, 206." I nodded.

"Great, thank you." I walked over to the elevator and hit the button for the second floor. I couldn't help but feel extremely nervous being alone. Especially knowing that I was on Randy's list. So why didn't he kill me then? He had the opportunity. He had a gun to my head. Why did he change his mind?

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, and I just went straight to 206. I just wanted to talk to somebody who could relate to what I was feeling. I raised my fist to knock on the door when it opened abruptly and I was shoved into the wall at full force. My head collided with the edge of a light fixture and I fell to my knees as the room began to spin and the impact rattled around in my skull. I reached a hand up to my head, feeling the warm, red liquid that could only be described as blood. I squeezed my eyes shut, wincing. I opened them, looking directly across from me through the open door of Chelsea's hotel room. What I saw caused a scream to tear from my throat.

~~~

I couldn't move. I just stayed there, sitting on the floor as the crime scene photographers surrounded Chelsea's body.  No matter how tightly I closed my eyes, I couldn't get the image of her dead body out of my mind. The green eyes that she was once praised for stared forward, unblinkingly...lifeless.

Two more FBI agents had showed up that I hadn't met yet, Agent Jareau, and Dr. Reid, and I could here the woman talking on the phone.

"So, we might have another one." She said.

"Might?"

"One of the North Valley Alumni was killed in her hotel room. No bomb or gun this time, looks like he used his bare hands."

"You got a name?"

"Chelsea Grant." I spoke up. They all paused and I looked up at the agents with tear filled eyes. "Her name was Chelsea Grant."

"Elizabeth Bartlett says its Chelsea Grant." Agent Jareau repeated.

"Elizabeth is there?" I now realized that the person on the other end of the line was Aaron.

"She found her. I guess the unsub ran out the door just as she was going to knock on it, knocked her into a light fixture."

"JJ, can you give her the phone please?" She did so, taking it off of speaker. I pressed it to the ear on the non-injured side of my head. "Elizabeth...I think maybe it's time for you to go home."

"No."

"Two people have died. It isn't safe for you to stay-"

"That's exactly why I have to stay!" I cried. "I have spent so much of my life being scared and feeling guilty because of what happened. I'm done with that. I'm not leaving until we find whoever is doing this."

"Think of your daughters." He reasoned. "Think of Sadie and Charlotte."

"I'm not leaving." I said simply, handing the phone back to JJ. I stood up, shoving the shock blanket off of my shoulders and folding it up.

~~~

JJ and the crime scene people left, and Dr. Reid waiting for Aaron to show up so that he could walk him through the crime scene.

"So you and Hotch know each other?" He asked. I leaned against the wall outside of the room, nodding.

"His son Jack is in my class back in Virginia." I explained, thankful to be talking about anything else than our current situation.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you choose a career in a public school setting after the trauma that you endured in adolescence?" He asked. I raised my eyebrows. "I'm sorry, is that a rude question to ask?"

"No, you're fine, " I assured him, "That was always the plan. I loved all of my teachers and admired what they did. Plus, I've always had a soft spot for kids. I wasn't going to become more of a victim than I already was by letting Randy throw off my plan for my life."

"For the record, I think that's very brave of you." I smiled.

"Thank you, Dr. Reid."

"You're welcome." Hotch came walking out of the elevator and I stood up straight.

"Elizabeth...are you alright?" He asked. I nodded.

"Just a shallow cut on my head. Nothing serious."

"That's not quite what I meant." He said. I nodded again.

"I'm fine. I just want to catch this guy."

"Well, we're going to do everything we can." He turned to Dr. Reid. "Reid, walk me through it." They ducked under the crime scene tape and I waited outside. I had no interest in going in there. I had just talked to Chelsea a week or so ago...now she's dead.

"The unsub crushed Chelsea's throat so she couldn't scream and then he pulverized her ribs sending fragments of bone into her heart." I squeezed my eyes closed, wrapping my arms around myself and leaning against the wall again.

"Principal Givens was high-profile. Chelsea wasn't. Right now the only thing connecting them is they're both on the kill list."

"A list that Brandon kept secret for ten years, but he was in custody when this happened. The question is, how did the unsub get the exact same list?" I stood up, standing in front of the tape.

"I know you ruled out a partner back then," I stated, "But is it possible you were wrong?"

"We did rule out a partner, but not conclusively." Aaron replied.

"Slade made every part of his plan public, it doesn't make sense that he would hide a partner."

"He didn't want to share the credit. And this weekend is the partner's best chance to claim it."

"Oh my gosh." I said, putting a hand over my mouth. "You make it sound like an accomplishment."

"Well...to him it is." Dr. Reid told me.

"Reid-" Aaron started.

"No, Aaron, it's ok." I said. "He's just being honest. If I'm gonna stick around, I'm going to have to hear things that I don't want to hear. Keep going, ignore me." Aaron gave me one last look before nodding.