Niles

Niles Berger sat alone in his cell. His foot tapped nervously against the concrete floor while his mind replayed the last 24 hours of his life. He knew he’d get caught eventually; the odds were against him especially with the FBI on the case.

Niles had killed 11 women, all blonde and all pregnant. These women meant nothing to Niles but everything to Abigail. She chose them, she despised them, and their deaths satisfied his wife’s unsatiable desire for pain and death; the women’s screams seemed to give her some sort of eerie high and the look in Abigail’s eyes sent a chill up his spine. But Niles would do anything for Abigail and so he killed the women, all of them for her.

The sound of the key turning and the door creaking open, temporarily halted the tapping of his foot. The stone-face of the guard stared at him for a few seconds before speaking. Niles saw the anger, he wasn’t moved, he wasn’t afraid either, so he returned the stare with a smirk of his own.

“You’ve got a visitor.”

It was her, it had to be Abigail! She promised to never leave him alone and it had already been twelve hours since he’d seen or spoken with her. He jumped to his feet he felt exhilarated, giddy. Abigail, his wife, the woman of his dreams and more than he knew he deserved had come to see him and to make sure that he was okay.

But it wasn’t Abigail and his smirk disappeared as he was led into the small gray room. His heart sunk as he was cuffed to the large metal ring on the table and watched the stranger on the other side occupy himself with the files in front of him.

“Where’s my wife?”

Slowly the dark-haired man closed the files and looked up with a blank stare. His face was pale and his eyes were dark and emotionless.

“I’m Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI.”

“Where’s my wife?” Niles repeated.

“I have some questions for you Niles; can I call you Niles?”

“I want to see my wife! What have you done with her?”

“What makes you think we’ve done anything with her, Niles?”

“Because I know how you people operate. You threaten me by threatening her to get me to...”

“To what, Niles?”

“To get me to say something that will incriminate myself. I didn’t kill those women!”

“Yes, you did, Niles! We know you did, and we have the proof that will put you away for the rest of your life.”

“I want to see my wife! Where is she?”

“Well, last I heard, she was at home having her morning coffee. In fact, Agent Morgan just left her about an hour ago.”

Niles pulled against his restraints. He was angry, Abigail should have come to see him by now. The agent was lying to get under his skin. Of course, that had to be it. Abigail loved him and he’d done some despicable things to prove his love for her.

Hotch opened the top file again and began to study it while Niles continued to struggle with the cuffs. The veteran agent knew that Niles was not acting alone when he committed his crimes. He didn’t have the intelligence to plan the kidnappings or dispose of the bodies. Both Hotch and the team had suspected his wife Abigail in being the brains, but they needed to prove it.

“Niles Horatio Berger, wow that’s quite a big name for someone like you.”

“Someone like me?”

“Age 37, born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi to a career Army officer; I can only imagine how disappointed your father must have been to have a son like you. Dropped out of school at 16 and spent the next five years in and out of jail and rehab for drug and alcohol abuse.”

“I know what you’re doing, agent! I’m not stupid!”

“Aren’t you? I mean to kill eleven women for a woman who hasn’t even come to see you,” Hotch checked his watch, “it’s been over twelve hours, Niles; we know you used your only phone call to call her last night. Did she answer?”

Hotch had him right where he wanted him. He had to be careful not to go too far.

“I’m not stupid!”

Hotch closed the file and looked at the man across the table.

“Niles, I know you’re not stupid and I’m sorry for saying you were. I just know you didn’t act alone.”

“I didn’t kill those women but if I did, believe me I could have, and I would have done it all by myself!”

“Okay Niles if you say so. If you want to take the wrap for this alone while your accomplice runs free, then so be it it’s your choice.”

“Where’s my wife? I want to see her now!”

Without another word Hotch stood and stared down at the man. Then shaking his head, he left the room while Niles began his struggle with his restraints once again.

Home of Niles and Abigail Berger –

Abigail slipped into her jeans, then her t-shirt. She had put off seeing Niles for too long and she knew he would be furious. She also knew it wouldn’t take much to think of a reason for her absence. He’d believe anything that came from her mouth. Her husband was easy, far too easy for his own good.

Niles had been her second husband; two marriages in her 27 years of life. After her first marriage she swore she would never love again. Reggie, her first husband was the love of her life and had promised her the world. His parents hated her because she’d come from a dirt-poor family while they ate people like her for lunch. Their marriage was out of spite, and she knew it, but it didn’t matter to Abigail, she loved helping her husband shovel shit in his uppity parents’ faces.

For three years Abigail was in heaven until she discovered that Reggie was cheating. He begged her forgiveness; she forgave him and accepted the brand-new car as his act of contrition. For the next three years, this became their ritual; he would cheat, she would find out and then she would receive an expensive gift from her husband. It was sick and she knew it, but she’d convinced herself that he would change, but he didn’t and the pregnant blonde who showed up on her doorstep on the eve of her seventh wedding anniversary was proof of that.

The pregnancy was the last straw and Abigail gladly accepted a big check from Reggie’s parents to quietly divorce him so that they could enjoy being grandparents in peace. Every year Abigail wondered how her ex and his parents were handling the sudden brutal death of his young pregnant girlfriend. Reggie always wanted a child and Abigail had failed to mention to him that she couldn’t have children.

“Poor Reggie, poor, poor Reggie...”