With a name and a photo in hand—though no last name—it only took a few phone calls for Alice, who was working from New York, to track down the woman's address.
The team drove to Newark, but since a simple house call didn't require everyone, Jubal assigned Jack and JJ to visit the address. The rest of the team parked the command vehicle in a lot next to the FBI Newark office and continued gathering intel through various channels.
After getting in the car, JJ was still mulling over their earlier discoveries. "A helpful neighbor, a law-abiding officer, and someone who lives such a regimented life... Gabriel seems completely different from the serial killers we've encountered before—or rather, he's a completely different type."
"'Silent despair leads to explosive madness or quiet perversion,'" Jack muttered an old adage from his past life. "We just haven't found the trigger yet. But with someone as disciplined as him, I can't immediately imagine what could've pushed him over the edge."
JJ leaned closer and kissed Jack on the cheek. "As long as it's not terrorism. Between being a hero or staying safe, I'd rather everyone—including you—just stay safe."
"Everyone, not just me," Jack corrected her, pulling her seatbelt into place and stealing a quick kiss on her lips. "Some things need to be done. If not me, then it'd be someone else—Hotch, Reid, or even you.
"Honestly, I'd much rather sit at my desk writing novels or experimenting in the kitchen than rush into Central Park with a bomb-filled ambulance. That stuff is terrifying."
JJ's eyes sparkled with amusement as she teased, "Why does it seem like you secretly enjoy it?"
She wasn't entirely wrong. JJ had come to New York with a few quiet agreements in place with Hannah—some sort of "1-3-5, 2-4-6, Sundays off" arrangement. But after a sudden explosion threw the team into chaos, a certain hero's bravado shattered any pretense of her previous schedule.
Jack laughed nervously, dodging the implication, and started the engine. He mimicked the head-bobbing habit of their earlier Indian neighbor.
At the address Alice provided, the pair parked in front of a modest home. They first surveyed the surroundings. The front yard was slightly unkempt, the lawn overgrown, though not to a neglectful extent.
"Looks like the owner's been a little busy lately," Jack murmured as he pressed the doorbell.
A young blonde woman opened the door, carrying the faint smell of baby powder, diapers, and baby lotion—a scent Jack and JJ immediately recognized from their recent visits to Clay's house.
"Elisa Peña?" JJ flashed her FBI badge, catching the woman off guard. "FBI. Could we ask you a few questions about Gabriel Clark?"
Still holding a blanket in her hands, Elisa instinctively stepped aside. "Uh, sure? I'm not sure I understand... Did something happen to Gabe?"
"This is just a routine investigation. We won't take much of your time," Jack said with a reassuring smile to calm the visibly nervous new mother.
"Sorry about the mess," Elisa said, setting a baby monitor on the table where she could keep it in sight. "My daughter's sleeping, but she could wake up at any moment."
The living room was cluttered with baby items, and Elisa scrambled to tidy things up. "What happened to Gabe? I haven't spoken to him in over two years."
Jack glanced at the monitor, where a baby was peacefully asleep. He had initially assumed the child might be Gabriel's, so he probed, "Your husband?"
"He's at work," Elisa replied without looking up, still busy tidying. "As you can see, our daughter's only two months old. Things are chaotic, but someone has to earn a living."
Jack and JJ exchanged a glance. JJ smiled politely. "It seems like our information is outdated. We thought you were still Gabriel's girlfriend and even planning to start a family with him."
"Start a family? Are you kidding me?" Elisa scoffed, her tone suddenly sharp. "We broke up three years ago, back when he was still a police cadet in Newark."
"Would you mind sharing why?" Jack asked, steering clear of alarming her with details of their investigation.
"It was just... incompatibility," Elisa said, pausing her cleaning as if lost in thought.
"Could you elaborate?" JJ prompted gently.
Elisa sighed deeply. "He wasn't a bad person, but he could be... difficult. He'd get overly hung up on little things. Once, we had an argument about tipping while he was driving me home after a date.
"Then he got pulled over for speeding. He told the officer he was a police cadet, but the guy didn't care and still wrote him a ticket. Gabe was furious. He refused to admit he was speeding and blamed me for distracting him. That was the moment I'd had enough."
JJ nudged Jack with her elbow, whispering, "Funny how his partner said he became infamous in Morris Township for handing out traffic tickets. Sounds like a bit of a double standard, doesn't it?"
"Or maybe it's a twisted form of fairness. Perhaps that officer taught him what it means to be impartial," Jack joked, though he made a mental note of the incident.
Traffic tickets leave records. If the officer who issued Gabriel's ticket years ago happened to be one of the murdered troopers, it might hint at a motive—however unlikely.
"So, you've been apart for three years. Do you know why Gabriel would still claim you were his girlfriend? Has he been harassing you?" JJ asked curiously.
"Oh, God, no," Elisa said, exhaling in relief. "Gabe would never do that. He was obsessed with becoming a good cop—he wouldn't break the law. Even a speeding ticket would bother him.
"But... about six months after we broke up, he convinced me to give him another chance. That didn't even last a week.
"Then, much later, he called me out of the blue. He said he was moving to Morris Township and asked me to go with him. He wanted to start a family. I admit I was tempted, but I'd already gotten engaged to someone else.
"I told him I wasn't interested, but he begged me to reconsider. He said he had everything ready for us. But Morris Township wasn't in my plans, so I said no."
Not wanting to disturb the new mother any longer, Jack and JJ quickly wrapped up their visit, leaving when the baby monitor crackled with the sound of a crying infant.
"It's possible he broke under the weight of everything—being expelled from Newark PD, sent to a small-town police department, losing the chance to start a family. Two years later, he snaps, driven by jealousy to murder a young state trooper planning his own family," JJ speculated as they got back into the car.
"That might be part of it, but it doesn't feel like enough. He didn't harass his ex, had no criminal record, and was a stickler for rules. For someone so 'righteous' to suddenly kill his colleagues... I think there's more to it."
Just as Jack reached for the ignition, his phone buzzed. It was Jubal.
"Jack, head to Pennington Park in Paterson. I just sent JJ the coordinates. Gabriel just killed another officer there."
(End of Chapter)
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