Like Strangers - Tale 2 in the Reynolds series

Chapter 3

"Lily?" Emily's voice cut through the darkness like a knife.

"Emily," I replied sheepishly. She pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. I relaxed for the first time in a long time.

"I visited your grave," She stated after she had pulled away.

"I know," I replied. "I know that Derek was the most common person to bring you, JJ and Spence usually came together, Hotch would come with Jack sometimes, Rossi dumped alcohol on my grave, specifically tequila, once, Penelope left me a stuffed octopus, your new team members only came once because you were visiting on the way to the airport," I looked at the new members of the team that had joined up with us. "When I couldn't be there, a member of my team was. You were all protected by a member of my team as well,"

"Why?" Derek asked.

"You made quite a few enemies over the years, and, there are a lot of people that are angry with you," I replied.

"You guys knew about this!" Spencer accused Hotch and Rossi.

"Yes," Hotch replied. "I helped her fake her death. She needed the world to think she was dead so she could go after someone,"

"He is out of sight even for my people," I spat.

"Who are we talking about?" One of the new team members asked.

"We can get into this later. Honos needs to trust me," I stated. "You have to arrest me,"

"How do you know about Honos?" The other new member asked.

"Spy network," I replied. "People owe me favors. I know what I'm doing, and I know that you have to arrest me otherwise Honos won't trust me,"

"Why do you need him to trust you?" Ried asked. "Clearly trust means nothing to you," He spat before turning and storming off.

"Spence," I called after him. He ignored me and continued walking.

"Lorelei Taylor you are under arrest for fraud," Hotch stated, I held out my wrists, and he clicked the cuffs closed around them. They lead me to one of the vehicles and treated me like any other suspect. I was treated by an EMT before being pushed into the back of a police car. We arrived at the precinct and I was taken to a conference room. An officer took the cuffs off my wrists and handed me my bag. I pulled out my phones, and my tablet. I pulled up all the information I had on Honos and slid the tablet to Rossi. I grabbed one of the burner phones and dialed Quinn's number. She sent me to voicemail, instead of picking up.

"Hey Q, it's me. Hold the crayons. I'm in America, I cant use them. Honos was working with Haswari for a period of time, could you look into what they did together? Thanks, K," I left a message. As I hung up, a different burner phone rang. I sent it to voicemail.

"Kissa, Honos dropped another body. There's a message for you. He knows you're in Seattle," Abel launched into the information, before hanging up.

"Taylor," Rossi called.

"Yeah?" I asked, putting my phone down.

"I want you to meet the new team members," He stated, as the new members and old members walked in.

"Dr. Tara Lewis, SSA Matt Simmons, and SSA Luke Alvez," He paused as we all exchanged pleasantries. "Former SSA Lorelei Taylor,"

"You might have heard of me. I'm kinda dead," I joked.

"You look really good for being dead," Simmons retorted. I smirked.

"Thank you," I stated. "Alright before we focus on the case full time, any questions?" I asked.

"Their questions can wait," Hotch said. "What do you know about Honos?" He asked.

"Honos took their name from the Roman god for chivalry, honor, and military justice. They run an operation that brings in funds from the cage matches. They are going after a trafficking ring, they are going after Emily because they think I did something. They are going after her for retribution," I stated. My phone went off, a text from Quinn.

'I've been waiting for you to ask, peaches' She listed a series of ops that Honos helped Ari pull off.

"Honos worked with Ari Haswari, who is now dead, in Europe, Paris mainly. They worked in arms deals, guns, and a few explosive bioweapons. They also were killing undercover operatives. Ari used his Mossad knowledge to track them and Honos killed them," I stated, putting my phone down.

"For having the namesake of a god of honor, Honos isn't very honorable," Simmons mused.

"Well, it depends on what honor means to the person. Honor can be distorted depending on what is believed to be honorable," Spencer stated coldly. I bit my lip but said nothing.

"Honos does these events, parties, really. He sends scouts to the casinos and invites the best players to play at a private event. You need at least $25,000 for your buy-in, in order to be allowed to play. If we want to take him down we have to get a way in to one of those events," I stated.

"Even if we could, the Beauru won't authorize the use of funds that way. At most the amount they would let us use is $5,000," Hotch stated.

"The money isn't the issue. Getting an in is the issue," I replied.

"How is money not an issue?" Alvez asked. "If we even want a shot, money is half the battle,"

"Call Garcia," I stated. A few raised eyebrows, but Lewis pulled her phone out anyway. She set it on the table on speaker.

"What can I do for you?" Garcia's voice rang out from the other side.

"Penelope, I need you to look at a bank account," I stated. I rattled off the account numbers and the location. She did as I asked, not recognizing that I was not one of the women she had worked with recently.

"That account has a private amount, but from what I can see right now, the account has upwards of 12 million dollars," She stated.

"Thank you, Garcia," I replied. She said a goodbye before hanging up. "Like I said. Money isn't an issue," I pulled out one of my burner phones, and started tapping out a text to Quinn. 'Seattle PD. Bring money. Let me know when you land' I sent it and placed my phone on the table.

"You have over 12 million dollars?" Simmons asked.

"Yeah, its from my parents. I don't use it, its blood money," I stated. "It just collects interest, the amount keeps growing. Sometimes, I'll have Al pull funds to support someone but,"

'Okay,' The text read. 'Bringing the Stag as well'

A/N Sorry for the super super super super super long wait, and sorry for the bad writing

<3