Under Control

Penelope was connecting the dots. Maybe it wasn’t as quickly as she would have liked, but she was getting there. Well, on most of the dots anyway. How Isabeau Marcure was connected to the other girls, she still wasn’t sure. Just the same, she called Derek with the information she had found, and he relayed it to the rest of the team.

“Garcia thinks she may have found an UnSub,” he began. “Cooper Hoffman was dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps eighteen months ago for beating a female Marine so bad that he nearly killed her. Just weeks before that, his wife left him for another man – one she had met while he was deployed overseas.”

“Mental history?” Emily asked.

“Was treated for anger management and bipolar issues up until the age of seventeen when he joined the Delayed Enlistment Program.”

“Trigger and history,” Hotch nodded. “Where is he at now?”

“Penelope is sending over his work and home addresses.”

“Great. Get suited up, everyone. We’re headed in that direction,” Hotch announced.

“You’re hesitating,” Rossi commented, stopping everyone in their tracks.

Derek nodded, already understanding where Hotch’s head was. “All of the dead girls had husbands stationed on Quantico and cheated on them while they were deployed. Isabeau dated a guy stationed here but they broke up before he ever deployed. We can’t find any connection between Isabeau Marcure and Cooper Hoffman.”

“Not even Ronnie Griffith?” Hotch frowned.

“There’s no evidence of communication between the two of them.”

“Someone else kidnapped her,” Emily surmised. “And he’s still out there.”

“We need to go after this Cooper Hoffman,” Derek said. “It’s a very strong chance that he killed those other girls. It just means we have no leads on Isabeau’s case.”

“We’ll take care of that when we get back,” Hotch decided out loud. “Let’s go.”



Cooper Hoffman’s cell phone allowed the team to track him to an abandoned apartment where he was holding another girl hostage. She hadn’t even been reported missing yet.

He gave up without much of a fuss; the best the team could figure, he was spiraling out of control and just wanted someone to stop him. The girl’s injuries were minimal since she was so early in her capture. They sent her off with an ambulance and warned her they would be around for questioning later.

Back in a dim interrogation room, Derek was getting as much information as he could from Cooper Hoffman. He gave up everything he knew about Shanna, Lisa, Taryn, and Janice, the fourth girl they had found dead. How he had found them, why he picked them – everything they already knew.

“What about her?” Derek pressed, laying pictures of Isabeau, beaten and bloody on the table. “Same MO, Cooper, only she wasn’t cheating on anyone.”

Cooper frowned. “I don’t know anything about her, I swear.”

“You’re lying,” Derek told him. “The DNA we took from the four dead girls matches the DNA on this girl’s rape kit. Tell me why you took her, man. Let’s do this the easy way.”

“Give me a deal, and I’ll tell you everything.”

Derek glared at the man sitting across from him. “You’ve killed at least four women and had every intention of killing two others – you want a deal? You’re out of your damn mind.”

Cooper’s countenance went from sniveling and scared to cold and superior; he understood now that he had the upper-hand. He had something these agents wanted – without him, there were no answers. That girl would live in fear for the rest of her life that the man who took her was still at large. She would never know the betrayal that had brought Cooper into her life.

“Tell me what you know,” Derek demanded, teeth clenched. “Did you hurt this girl or not?”

Licking his lips, Cooper gave a devilish smile and spoke the last four words Derek wanted to hear. “I want my lawyer.”



The day they tracked down Cooper Hoffman was three days after Isabeau had gotten out of the hospital. She didn’t get out of the bed except to go to the bathroom and wash herself up. Depression was setting in, and Spencer didn’t have to ask why. If the trauma of what she had gone through wasn’t enough, to know the people she called family didn’t care that she had seemingly disappeared put the nail in the coffin.

He tried his best to get her to eat, but she refused anything more than chicken broth. Isabeau claimed to not have much of an appetite, and Spencer had to bite his tongue so as not to start spouting off facts about how her lack of appetite was tied to her trauma. More than likely, her own area of expertise was coming back on her: Isabeau was suffering from PTSD.

When Reid got the news that Cooper Hoffman was in custody, he was torn once again. Hotch asked him to bring Isabeau down to identify him as her attacker, but Spencer wasn’t so sure she was stable enough for that. There was nothing he could do anymore but try to help her move on with life.

“Isabeau,” he said quietly, sitting next to her on the bed. He could smell the shampoo in her still-wet hair and the scent of the lotion that wafted off her skin. Her eyes, blank and empty, moved to his.

“They found him.”

He knew she wasn’t a mind-reader; she was an observer. She had observed all of his mannerisms and quirks over the last few days and she knew what the look on his face and his hesitant tone meant.

“Yes, we did,” Spencer confirmed. “He confessed to the four murders and can’t escape the attempt charges on the girl we found him with. When it comes to you though, he’s refusing to say anything. He asked for a lawyer as soon as Morgan asked him for information about you.”

Derek Morgan. She knew who he was only because Reid had told her about the various members of the BAU team. She imagined Derek to be kind but firm. Tall, athletic. Nothing like the man sitting at her side right now. Except for maybe the kindness part …

“Isabeau?”

She shook her head. Her mind had been doing a lot of wandering lately, and this was just another episode of that. “Sorry. I can’t seem to focus very well.”

“It’s all right,” Spencer assured, squeezing her hand. “Do you think you’re up for identifying him?”

“Maybe,” she whispered as her eyes traveled back over to the television. “You filed a missing persons report on me, didn’t you?”

Spencer sighed. He knew that all the hours of watching TV would lead to this. “We did send one out to the media. We were hoping it would lead to more information about your case – maybe even draw the guy out.”

“So now that you found him, you’ll let it out that I’ve been found.”

“Yes, we can do that, but we have to know it was Cooper who kidnapped you.”

“You said the DNA matched.”

“It isn’t enough,” Spencer told her. “I wish it was. I wish you didn’t have to go through this, but I know you’re strong enough to finish it out. The decision is yours though.”

Isabeau didn’t feel strong. “How do you know? How do you know I’m strong enough?”

Spencer took a deep breath and helped her sit up. He pushed her hair behind her ear, letting his hand linger just a little bit too long on her cheek. “Do you know how many cases I’ve analyzed and profiled? Of all those cases, Isabeau, there aren’t many victims who escape. Either they die or we find them before they can be killed. You escaped. When you showed up at my door, there’s no way in your condition you should have been able to get out of that other apartment and make it to my door, but you did. That’s how I know you’re going to see the end of this.”

She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. “All right. I’ll do it.”

Spencer mouth twitched with the hint of a smile and he ventured to kiss her forehead. “This is for the best. I promise.”

He got up from the bed to call the office. Once he was out of the room with the door shut behind him, Isabeau scooted out of the bed, carefully hopping around on her good leg and reached for clean clothes. She braided her hair so that it wouldn’t be too wild then took one last look in the mirror.
She looked sick. Her eyes had dark rings around them, and her skin was pale and cold. She hadn’t given much thought to the weight loss she would suffer through those weeks of not having much to eat but she could see now, through the bruises and injuries, just how boney she really looked.

“The team is on their way back to the office,” Spencer announced quietly from the bedroom door. “They’ll be ready for us whenever we get there. No rush.”

She turned to him. “How many people are going to see me?”

Spencer may not have been a genius when it came to women, but this time he was grateful to quickly catch on to her hidden question. “Isabeau, you don’t need to worry about that. You’ve been through hell and back – you escaped and survived. You’ve just got to keep reminding yourself of that.”

“I know I’m a mess,” she told him quietly. “Thing is, I don’t want anyone’s pity. I don’t want them to look at me and think, ‘That poor girl.’ It’ll only make things worse.”

Spencer took a deep breath and pushed the wheelchair over to her. He helped her carefully sit down in it and get comfortable. Then, he kneeled down in front of her.

“I won’t let anyone look at you like that,” he promised. “And we won’t stay long. You’ll identify Cooper and we’ll come right back here. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

“You’ve done this before.”

“Done what?” Spencer frowned. He’d of course seen plenty of suspects be identified, but he had a feeling that wasn’t what Isabeau meant.

“Dealt with a head-case. You spoke to my specific fears and you gave me assurance about them. You offered extra security in the form of your presence – you’re someone I’m relatively comfortable with because you’ve been there since I showed up at your door. Your tone though – that’s more than any degree talking.”

“This is the problem with having a woman as smart as you with the psychological knowledge and career experience that you have as my charge,” Spencer smirked. “You analyze everything I say.”

“Have I been wrong yet?” Isabeau questioned.

Spencer stood and shook his head. “Not yet.”



Five men of similar characteristics all filed into a lineup in front of her. Isabeau watched carefully from her wheelchair; Spencer watched her carefully, anticipating any shock-related reactions. All he saw, though, was her eyes moving rapidly back and forth, surveying each of the men.

“Number four is Cooper Hoffman,” Isabeau said after a minute or so.

The team breathed a sigh of relief. Now they could begin pressing Cooper to get to the bottom of the story and everything that he had to tell about Isabeau’s case.

“Thank you for coming in, Isabeau. I know it wasn’t easy –” Hotch began.

“Hotch, could I talk to you for a moment before we leave?” Spencer asked, trying to head off the impending piteous comment.

“He’s not the guy who kidnapped me,” Isabeau spoke up. She turned the chair so that she was facing the group. “He looks a lot like the guy who kidnapped me. A lot. But it isn’t the guy.”

The team all exchanged glances. Derek stepped forward. “Would it be all right if I stayed with you while Reid and Hotch talk?”

Isabeau nodded. Emily and JJ followed Spencer and Hotch out of the room. Derek asked Isabeau if there was anything she needed.

“Fresh coffee, if you’re interested.”

“No, thanks.” Isabeau looked down at her hands. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you? Everything matches with Cooper – I get that. But it wasn’t Cooper.”

“Well,” Derek began, “I hear from Spencer that you’re a very intelligent woman. If you say it wasn’t Cooper, then it wasn’t Cooper.”

“Did Spencer also tell you that I’m a psychologist? Quite analytic, too. You think you’re humoring me right now, but you’re actually being condescending without realizing it. You don’t have to apologize – like I said, you did it without realizing, and a lot of people do. They think that when someone is losing it, they can just tell them what they want to hear and everything will be fine.”

Derek smirked. “I’m sure it works on people who aren’t disgustingly smart.”

Isabeau smiled for the first time since being kidnapped. “I’m more observant than anything. Some people miss the details; not me. They jump out at me like snakes in the grass.”

“No wonder you and Reid get along so well.”

Isabeau shook her head. “Spencer Reid and I get along because I have a hero-complex about him. When that guy took me into the apartment complex, Spencer was trying to unlock the door of his apartment. My kidnapper told me that Spencer was a fed and to keep my mouth shut. In the interest of not being shot, I did what he told me to. Then, as soon as I was able, I crawled out of that apartment and made way for Spencer’s door. He called nine-one-one and – well, I’m sure you know the rest. In processing everything that’s happened to me, my mind sees Spencer as some sort of savior.”

“Then you’re not seeing the right details,” Derek replied.

“What do you mean?” Isabeau frowned.

The rest of the team came back into the room then, so Derek didn’t have a chance to reply. Spencer asked Isabeau if she was ready to go back to the safe house, and she agreed. Once in the car, Spencer waited before starting the ignition.

“Hotch wants to go ahead and announce that you’ve been found. He thinks it might bring out some more details – from Cooper, from your kidnapper. From anybody.”

“I guess it’s worth a shot.”

Spencer raised his brow. “You’re sure?”

Isabeau shrugged. Her mind was still on Derek Morgan’s comment that she wasn’t seeing the right details about Spencer. How could she be wrong? It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time, but it wasn’t something she was accustomed to experiencing.

“We’ll get you back to the house and you can take a nap. Maybe after some rest you’ll be more sure.”
“Maybe.”

Isabeau watched out the window as they drove, sincerely hoping that after a good rest, she would be able to decipher Derek’s meaning.