XXIX



"We just arrived at Tammy's," Reid's tone was short and sweet. As we made our way up the driveway he grabbed my hand, flashing me a warm smile as kissed the back of it and smiled. As cute as it was I just rolled my eyes, holding back a smile as I retracted my hand and shook my head.


When we got to the door I gave it a couple of knocks, rapping my knuckles against the white surface before taking a step back and pocketing my hands.


"What do you mean she's already at the station?" He furrowed his brow as he craned his neck towards the window near the door. After a couple of seconds of inspection he looked over at me and licked his lips. "Okay, we'll be there soon." When he hung up the phone he tightened his grip on my hand before pulling me back towards the SUV.


"What's happening?" I glanced over at the house before looking back at Reid who led us towards the passenger's side of the vehicle.


"Tammy's at the station," he responded, "she just confessed."


"Confessed?" I raised my brow, watching as he opened the door and helped me inside. Like usual, he closed it before I could say another word and hopped in on the other side, letting out a frustrated sigh as threw on his seatbelt. "What do you mean confessed?"


He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in disbelief. While both of us had a hunch that Tammy was a potential unsub neither of us assumed it would be this easy. Cases like this didn't just end and as nice as it would to think like that, we definitely knew otherwise.


I blinked in surprised and buckled up too, watching as Reid started the vehicle and glanced at his mirrors. "Who'd you talk to?"


"Morgan," he responded. Slowly, he pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. "They think she's having a psychotic break."


"Do they think she killed him?"


"It's hard to tell," he sighed.


I rested my head on the back of the chair and took a deep breath. Based on the profile, it seemed odd that our unsub would go to such great lengths to kill a person only to just confess a day later. Power killers weren't the type to just stand down; they wanted total control, which was something they'd be giving up if they turned themselves in.


"Given the fact that she's a recovering alcoholic it'd make sense if she had substance abuse problems as well. Statistically the two often go hand in hand and if she's having a psychotic break the drugs might be the reason," Reid added.


"You think she got high and killed him?" I asked.


"It's possible. Stimulating drugs such as meth and cocaine often cause the user to become aggressive and belligerent. Not to mention show signs of paranoia."


"Even if she did feel threatened by him there's no way she could've orchestrated an MO like that while under the influence." Reid knew I was right. Burning someone alive took poise and control and with drugs in the mix there was no way one woman could accomplish that.


We bounced ideas off of each other during the rest of the drive. While both of us were sure Tammy didn't directly do it, it still begged the question of who did? For a while we thought maybe Tammy had a partner, someone she trusted, just like Regan and Audrey. Out of everything it made the most sense. Often times when killers formed partnerships there was always a dominant one, someone calling the shots. Based on assumptions we figured Tammy was the other one; the beta looking for a way out.


When we arrived at the station we made our way to the interrogation room, joining the rest of the team as they watched Rossi sit across from Tammy who couldn't stop crying. Her small frame shook profusely as she sobbed, her elbows resting against the table as she gripped the roots of her hair and closed her eyes.


"What the hell happened?" I glanced over at Hotch who merely sighed.


"She says she was there when he died," he responded.


"But she didn't kill him?" I raised my brow.


Hotch shook his head.


"But she knows who did it," Reid concluded.


"Yeah, but she's not talking," Morgan chimed in. He gave his head a quick shake and crossed his arms over his chest. "Rossi's trying to cut a deal with her right now, but she's too distraught to even listen."


"What was her relationship with Leeman?" Reid questioned.


"Lovers," Hotch responded simply.


Reid and I shared a quick look, feeling slightly out of the loop. While we figured something was going on between the two of them we somehow ignored the most obvious fact that maybe they were just together.


"According to her he was planning on leaving his wife," Alex sighed.


I rubbed my temples in frustration as I closed my eyes and tried to focus. It'd been a while since I tried to properly use my brain for something other than bodily science and while I knew deep down the tricks I'd learned were still in there, I unfortunately had to work a little harder to get them going. "Do you think Tammy's being targeted somehow?" I eventually asked.


"Maybe. Garcia's working through her contact list as well as her socials to try and find a potential candidate," JJ said.


I opened my eyes and glanced over at Hotch. "I'm gonna go to the other room and give her a call. Maybe I can help."


Hotch gave me a subtle nod before turning his attention back to Rossi who leaned back in his seat. Sitting in front of him was Leeman's file, complete with all the gruesome photos. I frowned at the thought of her having to look at them again, knowing she'd already seen it in person.


I gave Reid's shoulder a quick squeeze as I passed, watching his gaze remain solely on Rossi who's tone of voice was beginning to rise in frustration. I swallowed hard at the sound. While Rossi was definitely one of the nicest people I knew his interrogation methods were definitely terrifying. As I rounded the corner of the hallway I pulled out my phone and called Garcia.


"Here for round two I see," she chuckled.


"Indeed I am. What do you got for me?"


"Not sure yet. I went through most of Tammy's call logs and aside from Leeman she barely talked to anyone."


"Who did she talk to?" I brushed past a group of officers, giving them an awkward smile as I darted into our makeshift office and closed the door.


"Work mostly," she responded. I could hear the sound of her keyboard loud and clear as she took a couple of moments to input some information. "She also called her mom a couple of times, as well as her brother who she often texted with."


"What's the relationship there?" I moved towards the other side of the room and sat in one of the chairs. As I leaned back I let out a quiet groan, feeling a sudden cramp form at the base of my back.


"With her brother?"


"Yeah."


"Uh, good, I think? They talked a lot, like pretty much every day."


"Did she ever mention Leeman?"


"All the time. Basically every other conversation was about him."


"I know it's kind of hard to convey emotion over text, but did he seem hostile in any way? Like maybe he didn't approve of the relationship?" Even though I felt like I was reaching for straws I asked anyway.


Garcia took a couple of moments to type again, letting out a couple of curious sounds as she let her ideas run their coarse. As she thought, I leaned forward and massaged my back, scrunching up my face in pain as I pushed at the base.


"Okay, yes, definitely. I just took a look at Sam Bradshaw's socials and while pretty much all of them checked out on the normalcy scale he did have a privatized twitter where he spent a lot of time posting suspicious subtweets."


"Sub what?" I narrowed my eyes.


Garcia scoffed. "God, you and Reid are so old. Subtweets. It's when you make a post about someone without mentioning them directly by name. Kind of like a call out post, but without the outing."


I blinked in confusion, trying to follow her words.


"Basically he was shit talking her," Garcia concluded.


"Ah, okay," I nodded.


She let out a small chuckle, the taps of her keyboard sounding off in the background. "I'll send you a manuscript of his twitter so you guys can check it out."


"Thanks Garcia. I'm sure I'll call for round three soon enough."


"Can't wait, my love."


The second she hung up I groaned in pain and stood up, feeling the cramp in my back increase as I made my way to the door. Before opening it I did a quick stretch, reaching my hands to the roof. When I heard a crack I let out a sigh and opened the door, making my way back to the rest of the team.


"I think we found something." I walked over to Hotch, giving the sleeve of his jacket a light tug as I shoved my phone in his direction. "Tammy's brother Sam often subtweeted about his sister and Leeman's relationship."


"What's a subtweet?" Reid asked.


I scrunched up my face and shrugged. Honestly, I still wasn't sure.


Morgan glanced over Hotch's shoulder, narrowing his eyes at the screen. "It's obvious he doesn't approve of the relationship."


"Garcia said they were really close," I pointed out.


"People who are close don't say things like this," Morgan raised his brow and leaned forward. "Sometimes I wish I could just get rid of him so that she was no longer in pain," he read.


"He obviously cares about her," JJ responded.


"If he is our unsub something probably triggered him," Alex added.


"Blake, you and Morgan get his address and head to the house." Hotch handed my phone back before walking towards the interrogation room door and opening it up. He peeked his head in, mumbling something to Rossi who closed the file in front of him and stood up.


I bumped my elbow against Reid's, giving him a curious look. "Did she say anything while I was gone?"


He shook his head.


Hotch and Rossi returned to the rest of the group, both of them looking visibly frustrated as they shoved their hands into the pockets of their slacks. Rossi let out a heavy sigh and gave us a small shrug. It was obvious he was out of ideas, which unfortunately just happened sometimes.


"Hey, you mind if I go in there?" I pointed to the window, raising my brow at Hotch who merely nodded.


As I made my way to the door I tried to hold back a smile. During the few months I worked in the BAU I never got to question anyone so I was slightly surprised at the sudden allowance.


When I entered the room I saw Tammy jump, her eyes widening in my direction as I slowly closed the door behind me. "Hi Tammy," I gave her a warm smile, "my name is Isla."


She remained silent, but nodded her head.


"You mind if I sit?" I motioned to the chair.


"O-okay." She wiped her eyes with the back of her palms, adjusting herself in her seat as she watched me cautiously move across the room and sit across from her.


I leaned forward, inching myself to the front edge of the seat as I tried to ignore the pain in my lower back. "I'm sorry about your loss, Tammy. I can't imagine what you're going through right now." I tried to be as sympathetic as possible knowing how distressed she was.


She sniffed and nodded her head, holding back a sob as she clamped her hand across her lips.


I swallowed hard, awkwardly glancing at the window where the rest of the team stood. Even though I knew they'd be nothing, but supportive I couldn't help, but wonder if they were judging me right now. I wasn't exactly trained in interrogation so the thought of them watching made me nervous.


When I turned back around I noticed Tammy seemed more calm. No longer was she shaking nervously and her tears had slowly begun to settle. I gave her another supportive smile, reaching my hand across the table to grab her's. "Would you mind answering a couple of questions for me?"


She nodded her head again.


"Okay." I let out a heavy breath, nodding back to her. "Tammy, can you tell me a little bit about your relationship with Morrison Leeman?" I moved my hand from her's and leaned back in my seat.


For a while she sat there silently, staring at various sections of the room as she tapped her nails against the table. As she did I stared back at her, watching as she eventually moved her gaze to mine and let out a sigh. "Morrison was my sponsor. We met last year when I joined AA."


"What was your first impression of him?" I asked.


She shrugged her shoulders. "He seemed nice. A little clingy. He texted me a lot. At first it was just like, uh, sponsor stuff. Like, he'd remind me of when my meetings were and check up on me and stuff."


"When did that change?"


She swallowed hard, her eyes darting toward the window for a quick second before eventually falling back on me. "Two months ago."


"Why?" I raised my brow.


She opened her mouth to say something and shook her head.


"Tammy," I leaned forward, "I know you're going through a lot right now, but whatever information you can tell us could really help, okay?"


"Okay, uh, y-yeah." She blinked a couple of times in order to get rid of the tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Him and his wife they, uh fought a lot. During one of my meetings he came by to check in and I noticed he wasn't doing so good so I reached out to him."


"Why?"


"I don't... I don't know. He just seemed so lonely, like..." She stared down at the table, sinking into her seat slightly.


"When did the relationship between you and Leeman start?" Even though I knew she was hurting I couldn't help, but feel slightly impatient. We were in the middle of a murder case and as sympathetic as I wanted to be I also knew I needed answers more than anything.


"That night."


"How?"


"We went for dinner and talked. He was nice and both of us were lonely." She blinked again, this time holding her eyes tightly shut as her chest started to shake.


Instead of reaching out to support her I leaned back in my chair and clutched my stomach. The pain from my back had somehow moved forward, pulsating near the side of my abdomen. I screwed up my face and rubbed it gently, watching as Tammy sobbed out of the corner of my eye. "I didn't m-mean to it just... it just happened and when I figured out I was pregnant I-"


"Pregnant?" I cut her off immediately, still clutching my stomach.


She nodded her head, looking slightly embarrassed.


"Does Sam know?" 


Her hands shot up to her face as she let out a loud wail, pressing her forehead against the table. I jumped at the sound, feeling somewhat guilty for just throwing the question out there. Something in my gut told me to do it though. I wasn't sure why, but something about the tactic felt right. 


"Did Sam kill Leeman?"


Without hesitation she moved her head upwards, giving me a slight nod. At that moment I felt my heart pound against my chest, a small smile creeping across my lips, which I immediately covered by awkwardly clearing my throat into my hand.


"I told him not too," she sobbed, "I begged him, but he wouldn't listen."


"I know," I reached over and grabbed her hand again, giving it a tight squeeze. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay, alright?"


After that I just sat with her, holding her hand as she cried. As time passed I couldn't help, but feel sorry for her. After everything her brother put her through she was still the one that came forward.


At one point she pulled her hand away from mine, giving her face one final wipe before letting out a sigh and giving me a sad smile. 


"You need anything?" I asked.


She shook her head.


The pain in my stomach erupted again, this time more extreme than the last. I let out a long groan and scrunched up my face, doubling over slightly. Tammy looked at me confused, pushing her body towards the edge of the seat. "Are you okay?" She asked.


I gave her a confused look, not entirely sure how to answer. I looked over at the window again, biting my lip as I tried to rack my brain for something to say.


"Isla?"


"Hm?" I turned back to face her, raising my brow.


"How far along are you?" She pointed to my stomach.


Her question caused me to instantly panic. I swallowed hard and stood from my seat, feeling my stomach twist anxiously. Instead of responding I left the room, ripping open the door as I quickly tried to distance myself away from her. I prayed somehow the team hadn't heard anything; that maybe after I got the confession they sort of zoned out. The second I saw their faces though, I knew that wasn't the case. Almost immediately I made eye contact with Reid, giving him a desperate look as JJ and Hotch glanced between us.


"We need to talk," Hotch said sternly.


I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded my head. Almost immediately Hotch stormed down the hallway, giving Reid a serious look as he passed.


"Shit," I whispered, closing my eyes.

Comment