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New Job and life(Me & solitaryman)

Rossi had a tablet similar to Eva's, and he started to do his own 'narrowing', which for him meant engaging in a game he loaded on his table called 'Scene of the Crime.' He paused from his game, then got on his cellphone to Garcia, "You did well, now for the fun part, take that shovel's part number, and start narrowing down sales of that in the stores around here, hardware, department stores, etc....it's a shot in the dark, but see what you come up with." He hung up and continued to work on his tablet for a bit. He then looked over at Eva, "How are you coming with narrowing down that list?"

About that time he saw a short statured man in a ruffled trench coat, crew cut, his shirt collar and tie undone, walk into the coffee shop. "Oh brother," were Rossi's words as the man approached. "Hey Rossi, what brings you to town?" He extended his hand and Rossi shook it, "Business Stubby, business." He paused and looked at Eva, Special Agent Jarvinson, this is Joe Maslak of the Star, he'll tell you he's own, publisher, beat reporter, social editor, and even sweeps out the office. Joe Maslak, Special Agent Jarvinson."
 
Eva began checking. "Ten down so far, two hundred more to go." She said. Garcia had her work cut out for her and Eva was working hard too. The moment he mentioned the words oh brother she know it couldn't be good.

Eva shook the hand of the reporter, but the got back to work, reporters, she was so lad the team had their own social media liason. Since he seemed to know Rossi she figured he'd come to meet him and just went back to work.
 
Rossi heard the score Eva uttered, before Maslak showed up. He had showed up for a different reason, not necessarily as a reporter, but as a kind of informant to Rossi. He was quite aware that Rossi was not going to give him a scoop on what he was working on, that would come from the local FBI office. Maslak whispered, "Scott is still in town, down the same alley in that cardboard box." Rossi nodded, and then looked at Eva, "Got to take care of something personal, I'll meet you back here, stay put."

Rossi laid a 20 on the table in case Eva wanted to get a refill, then waved to Maslak as he was at the counter getting his coffee and Bavarian donut. The alley the reporter referred do was about two blocks away. Rossi knew the place well, then turned right down the alley. He approached two large appliance boxes that had been made into a shelter. The man was Rossi's first squad leader from his days in Vietnam. He looked down at the shell of a man, his face gaunt, unshaven, his hair long, clothes in tatters, shoes barely on his feet. "Scott, you that damn stubborn that you're back out here than at the homeless shelter. He sighed and a look of concern was over his face.
 
Eva overheard them, she wasn't sure who Scott was, but it was none of her business. She decided to keep working and indeed ordered a refill and a donut after about ten minutes. This was boring work, but it had to be done and she continued, the coffee here at least was great and the donut wasn't too bad either. He'd be back at some point after all in the mean time she made herself usefull. Her first case was a big one.
 
Rossi talked to Scott a bit, then handed him an envelope of money, "Chomp money for you, stay safe." He patted him on the left shoulder, he saw that Scott was quite out of it from alcohol. He shook his head as he headed back to the coffee shop. He stopped at the table where Eva was sitting, "Back," then got a refill of coffee and came back to the table.

"His name's Harrison Scott, Sergeant, US Marine Corps, my first squad leader in Vietnam," he paused and sipped on his coffee, "he saved my life twice, once when I froze under fire, another time when I blundered into a minefield. Nothing now but a homeless alcoholic, and the inspiration for me joining the Bureau," he sighed as he took another sip of coffee. "Maslak keeps me up to date on him, and I keep him in chomp money, guess it goes for booze, but I owe the man for what he did for me."

He sighed, and then looked over at Eva, "Back to the countdown, how are we doing?"
 
Well it didn't take that long for him to get back actually. She didn't ask, but he told her anyway. "That's sad." Alana said when she heard how it ended. But at least he had someone watching out for him. She sipped her latte machiato and looked at the screen. "42 down, 169 to go." She said. "Wanna give me a hand?" She asked him. It was a long shot, but they had to take it.
 
Rossi looked over at Eva, "I know I wasn't required to tell you that, yet I want you to know I'm not quite the abrasive, and other names that maybe used of me person you may end up hearing about me in your time with the BAU." He sipped his coffee, then nodded, "I'll do that." He closed down the game on his tablet, brought up the list, and saw where Eva was in the process. He then started to do the same to help speed things up.
 
"Makes sense." Eva said. It took about four more hours before there were only ten left who could be it. "Well so far so good, let's go back to the station." Eva said. With ten leads it was somethin that could be tracked down in the field if need be. She was hoping they'd be doing something other than this.
 
Rossi nodded, "Let's make tracks," then finished up his coffee, and headed out of the coffee shop, after putting away his tablet. Back at the station, Rossi walked into Rhodes' office. "How goes it," he said after he sat down in a chair in front of his desk. "Garcia sent us a list of possibles, Eva and I narrowed it down to ten. He took out his tablet, and brought up the list. Rhodes hooked the tablet into his printer, and printed out the list. "Unless you need us to do anything else, the footwork can be done by your people, once you run the names on this list."
 
Eva put her tablet away and grabbed her latte machiatto then followed. "Quite well forensics just gave me the official report. A whole lot of nothing." Rhodes said, but Eva noticed something odd, when Rhodes saw the list it was as if he knew one of the men on the list, he got nervous, but why? The visit was brief and once outside they had to talk. "Did you see it too?" She asked.
 
Rossi took the copy of the forensics report, "Thanks Rhodes, we'll doing some checking of our own on the shovel." Rossi kept a copy of the list of ten names, that Rhodes had given him. "Run those names and keep us posted if you need anything." Rossi shook his hand and then left his office. At the elevator, while waiting, he looked at Eva, "Yeah, I kind of noticed a little reaction, as if, 'hey I know one of these guys' type. Question is, which name was it?"

The ride to the plane from the Federal Building was uneventful. Rossi was back in one of those 'thinking' zones again on the ride. Once on the plane and in the air, he looked at Eva, "Looks like we are going to run those names on our end through the Crime Center, Interpol, the whole works. I get the feeling a trip, outside proper channels, may be in the making, depending what we find." Rossi then decided to grab a quick nap on the plane so that he'd be rested up for their dinner date.
 
Eva shook his hand too and left. "Indeed, of course just knowing one of them isn't a crime, he seemed a bit too nervous for my liking after seeing the list." She said, she couldn't quite put her finger on it yet.

She too was thinking as Morgan was engaging in friendly bantering with Reid. "I'll call Garcia." She said and dialled the number of their computer whizz.
"Good afternoon." Alana said.
"Right back at you. What can I do for you, it may take a while since I already have a crazy assignment." Garcia said.
"I heard. The ten names that we have left, both Rossi and I think Agent Rhodes knows one of them, see if you can find a link please." Eva said. "I'll get right on that and see if one of them bought a shovel lately." Garcia said, her search had just gotten a lot shorter.
"Thank you and good luck." Eva replied.
"Thanks, but I don't need luck, some good coffee would help though, think you could bring me some once you get back?" Garcia said.
"Sure. Cya soon." Eva replied.
"Cya, Garcia out." Garcia said and hung up.
 
Rossi smirked, "I heard that," when he heard Garcia and Eva talking..."you'll have some good coffee when we get back." Rossi was still in his zone of thinking while on the plane ride home. He started playing 'Scene of the Crime' again on his tablet. Video games for him were a method of relaxation and, in this case, a way of thinking out certain scenarios.

Back at their home station, Rossi was true to his word, he went into the coffee shop that he 'invested' in, got Garcia her favorite coffee, as well as one for him to go. He went back to the office, and put the coffees on his desk, while he stored his P15 bag in the closet. He started to sip on his coffee, and headed to Garcia's work station with the coffee he got for her. "One nice travel mug of good coffee, just for you...NOW....what do you have for me?" he smiled slightly as he sat the coffee mug on her work station.
 
Eva didn't yet know what coffee Garcia liked, but she went with Rossi for a refill, trying out the double roasted blend with cacao in it this time. Adding just a bit of sugar it tasted sweet, but bitter and she liked it. She put her go bag in the trunk of her car and went to find Garcia, deciding it was time to meet the analist. "May I join you?" Eva asked.

"You must be Eva, nice to meet you." Garcia said and Eva shook Garcia's hand. "Well I tried finding a link like suggested. The closest I came was that Mr. Parker at some point was the tutor of Rhode's mother and he was fired six months before Rhodes was born. A week ago both Rhodes and Mr. Parker both payed for coffee at the same restaurant fifteen minutes apart. And I found an old photo of Mr. Parker from his tutoring days." Garcia said and put in on her screen. It looked like a younger version of Rhodes.
 
Rossi nodded when Eva came to Garia's workstation. "You're lucky Jarvinson, she shakes your hand, usually she just flips me a finger or two," then sipped his coffee as he looked at the photo of Mr. Parker. "Yeah he does resemble Rhodes," as his left hand stroked his chin. "If they bought coffee fifteen minutes apart, could have been a meeting." He went into his thinking mode again, and then glanced down at Garcia.

"Run a check on Parker, bring his information, and Rhode's up side by side, I never could master this crap," he smirked, as he took another sip of coffee.

"Rhodes' mother still living? And what about the shovel?" His questions came out in a staccato fashion, in between sips of coffee.
 
Eva chuckled. "A lot. He got fired six months before Rhodes was born? That's looking a lot like getting fired for knocking Rhodes' mother up." Eva said, it seemed to be too much of a co-incedence combined with how much they looked alike.
"She's alive in a nursinghome and has been there for five years, alzheimers. As for the shovel four people on the list and Rhodes bought a shovel like that within the last six months." Garcia said and kept typing. Then she pulled up the personal histories side by side.
 
Rossi looked over at Eva, "It does, doesn't it? How'd you like to check out your bedside manor? Pay a visit to Rhodes' mother at the nursing home."

He sipped again on his coffee as he listened to Garcia, his right eyebrow rose when she said Rhodes bought a shovel similar to the one used by the Undertaker within the last six months. "Oh yeah? wonder if he took up gardening, or looking for buried treasure? Let's check the whereabouts of the four on the list against the latest rise of the Undertaker, and toss Rhodes in the mix."

He looked over at Eva, then patted Garcia on her left shoulder as he looked at the side by side personal histories, "You're good " he whispered.
 
Oh joy, visiting a nursinghome and talk to a woman who probably can't even remember her own name at this point. Eva thought to herself. "It's going to take a while, it's a five hour drive alone and there's a good chance she can't even remember her own name it's been five years since she got there, so don't hold your breath." Eva said and grabbed her coffee and headed out. She wasn't particularly fond of the trip, but it would have to be done. She'd get a supply of coffee and food for on the road at that nice little coffeeshop.

"I know, but thank you." Garcia said with a smile. The photos were most catching as it looked to be more and more certain that they were related. "This is interesting. Parker has been convicted of rape ten years go and there's a DNA sample and analysis in his file." Garcia said, she could pull of Rhodes' DNA too since all FBI agents had to give a sample and it was confirmed.
 
Rossi nodded, "Yes it is, more and more. The original Undertaker played a cat and mouse kind of game with us, this hybrid is more of the 'in your face, I'm better than you are type.' Pull that DNA and do the comparison. And by the way, this is off the books, it never happened, you know, 'the secretary will disavow all knowledge...type crap.' He patted her on the shoulder again and whispered, "Shhhhhh,' before he headed away from the workstation.

He headed down the hallway and caught up with Eva, "Hey, I know it's not glamorous, but it's a lead, and you might be surprised what Alzheimer's patients do remember on a good day. You can leave tomorrow, we got that date at Turillo's tonight." He smiled slightly, "Things always look better after a good dinner and good nights' sleep."
 
Garcia did just that. "Father and son alright." Garcia said and began erasing the search when he said it never happened or at least the DNA part since that had included some hacking. "No wonder since he's like in charge of the case. OK goodnight." Garcia said and turned off the computers for a good night's rest, hopefully.

Honestly she'd almost forgotten about their date. "Maybe we get lucky." Eva said and locked at her watch. 19:30. "Then we better get going." She said and now that he mentioned food she realized how hungry she was. The drive there was uneventful, which was a good thing, Eva looked some things up on how to handle and talk to someone with alzheimers, it wasn't exactly standard protocol.
 
Rossi opened the front passenger door to his dark blue BMW for Eva, then got behind the wheel. He pulled out of the parking lot at the Federal Building and headed for Turillo's at normal speed. He had already called ahead to have his usual table ready, he knew Higgins, the maitre 'd quite well. He glanced over at Eva, and saw her on her tablet. His right hand moved her red hair back, slightly, while he was stopped at a red light. "Garcia confirmed Parker and Rhodes are father and son via DNA match, which makes this lead even more intriguing." He figured she was brushing up on her 'how to talk to an Alzheimer's patient' protocol. "This is getting interesting more and more. As I told Garcia, it's off the normal channels from now on, as in 'the secretary will disavow all knowledge...' we could be opening a large bucket of worms."

He pulled into the parking lot at Turillos and parked the car. He got out and opened the passenger door for Eva, "Let's put business aside for a bit." then used his remote to lock the car as he walked towards the main entrance. "Mr. Rossi, your table is ready, " Higgins smiled as he got two menus and led him to his table, in quite a cozy corner of the restaurant. Business was steady, and soft music could be heard from the overhead speakers.
 
He'd been a real gentleman so far and charming. Eva wasn't sure if this was merely the get to know the people you work with routine or him coming on to her. "More like Pandorra's box." Eva replied. She knew this was off the books, at least for the time being. The dinner was great, nice food and small talk, though she wasn't very good at it. "Alright I should get home soon, then I can get on the road early for our lead." Eva said.
 
Rossi enjoyed the evening, had his usual rib eye steak, Caesar's salad, bourbon, and after dinner coffee. He and Eva engaged in some small talk during dinner, then he paid the bill and left Higgins a nice tip, as always. He drove her back to the Federal Building to get her car in the parking lot. He handed her an envelope with money in it, a nice sum. "This should cover your 'off the book' expenses for this trip. No sense asking you to chase down a lead, and not help you out, since you can't actually file a voucher, not even take out a government car for this one."

"Good hunting and safe trip tomorrow," he then waved at Eva and headed out of the parking lot, back to his condo in the Mountain Terrace section of the city.
 
Once back at the garage things were back to business, but she'd had a great time at the restaurant. "Thanks." Eva replied when he handed her the enveloppe. She put it in her pocket. "Good night." She said and went to her car.

The next morning she drove by the coffeeshop for an extra large breakfast blend to go and some sandwiches for on the way and then took off, Rossi would square things with Hotch. The music on the radio was alright and this early there was hardly any traffic so the ride might not take as long as normally. She still doubted she'd make it there before the morning traffic jam, at least she was well supplied.

After four instead of five hours she reached her destination, by now it was 10:00 AM. She had planned her arrival an hour later to co-incide with the morning visiting hour. Alzheimer patients usually were more clear headed in the morning according to her little research. She decided to stretch her legs in the mean time.

The conversation had been an hour long and hard, at times the poor woman didn't recall where or who she was, which had to be scary.
 
Rossi was in at the office, as usual before anybody else reported. He had stopped by the coffee shop, talked to Charlie, and got his usual breakfast blend in his Cubs travel mug, as well as two bacon, sausage, and egg sandwiches, to go. He came into his office, quite immaculate, everything in its place. and sat down behind his desk. He sat his travel mug on the coaster, and then ate down both of the sandwiches, their wrappers and the napkin he wiped his mouth with the first things in his trash can. He sighed and began to look over files that had been left on his desk, in their neat order, as usual.

As the morning progressed, he looked at the clock in his office, and figured Eva was at or close to the Meadowood Nursing Home where Rhodes' mother was admitted. He dialed Garcia's number on the phone, "Morning, anything new on the Undertaker case?" He then hung up, and dreaded what he had to do next. Gathering, the information he had, so far, he headed for Aaron Hotchner's office. He had to at least let him know, off the record, what was going on, and to get a feel on the response. He tapped on the door, and saw Hotch in his office, "You got a second, need to brief you on something that needs to stay a bit off the record for now."

The nursing home was in the country, and the complex's buildings sprung out like spokes on a wheel from the main part of the home. One of the workers in the nursing, home, a male nurse, paid particular discreet attention to Eva as he saw her head for Rhodes' mother's room.
 
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