“Everything okay?”
Emily looked up at Hotch, not realizing everyone had already left. They’d just finished breakfast at a diner near the Seattle field office, Bob Spring and his partner in tow. They’d been lucky enough to not have a new family of victims while they were off duty, but it almost made Emily more nervous. It had been four days now since he’d killed. “Fine.”
Hotch knew better, but he also knew better than to push her. “Talk to Leah this morning?”
“Yeah. She says Pen’s going to take her into the office again today.”
“Her office?”
“I guess so,” Emily said. “I have a feeling she all but bullied Pen into it. When Leah has her mind set on something it can be difficult to say no.”
Hotch nodded struck with the idea that Emily would make a fantastic mother to some lucky kid. Then he shook himself. These stray thoughts about her were coming more and more frequently as were his observations of her. He’d noticed how nicely red complimented her complexion that morning when she’d come into the hotel lobby to meet the team. He was also very aware of how quiet she’d been. Still, he wasn’t exactly sure how far he could push her before she exploded. “Do you have the list of names?”
Emily pulled the small sheet of notepaper from her back pocket. On it, were the names Leah had given her the night before, the names of all of her friends at school. Emily was sure that from her friends they could figure out who her enemies were.
Hotch took the list, scanning the short list of names. “She doesn’t have many friends.”
“Many close friends,” Emily corrected subtly as she gulped down the last little bit of coffee. “She was always paranoid that if he found her, he would have leverage.” She stood, following him out of the diner. He held the door for her as she pulled out her ringing phone. Her forehead wrinkled as she placed the caller ID. “Leah.”
“Irony of ironies, guess what Miss Garcia just found?”
“Good Lord, Leah, don’t scare me like that.”
“Sorry.” She didn’t sound apologetic. Maybe worried and a little confused, but definitely not apologetic. “My school called the police today.”
“Oh?” That certainly had Emily’s eyebrows raising. She pulled open the passenger’s side of the SUV at the same time Hotch pulled open the driver’s side. “And?”
“Well, they’ve filed a missing persons.”
“I’m sorry?” Emily asked.
“My English teacher filed a missing persons. This is the fourth day I’ve been gone, you know.”
Emily blew out a breath. “Okay. Thanks Le.”
“That’s it? My picture is going to be all over the news.”
“No it won’t, honey. Let us handle this. JJ’s the best at what she does.”
“Miss Jareau, the nice blond one, right?”
“Right. That’s her job, okay? Plus, maybe it’s better you’re listed as a missing person.”
“Why? He’ll just leave Seattle and try and find me again.”
“That is a possibility,” Emily allowed. “Or he’ll get angry that you know.”
“He wants me to know. Isn’t that the whole point of the e-mails?”
“Leah Scott what kind of books have you been reading?”
“I told you. I’ve read all of Mr Rossi’s books. Right now he still thinks I’m in Seattle. Hopefully.”
Emily didn’t echo the ‘hopefully’. They had to rely on the fact that he still thought she was in Seattle. Leah could be very right. Knowing she was missing could set him off, make him move cities. “There’s nothing to say you haven’t left Seattle, honey. I’m sure he still thinks you’re here.”
“Still.”
“I’ll get JJ on it,” Emily promised. She paused. “How did Pen find out?”
“Uh… well… she um… I’ve never Googled my name… Um…”
Emily laughed as she said goodbye and hung up. She turned to Hotch, shaking her head.
“Everything okay?” he asked, glancing over at her. He took comfort in the smile that flashed across her face.
“The school filed a missing persons for Annabelle White.”
“Leah’s WPP name.”
“Exactly.”
“And she’s worried.”
“You know, this statement-not-question thing gets a little irritating,” she groused. It spoke to the comfort both agents had developed with each other. “Just ask.”
A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “What does Leah think?”
“She thinks it puts our investigation in jeopardy,” Emily answered with a sigh. It had been amusing to talk about with Leah, but now that she took the time to analyze and think about it all, Leah made an excellent point. “What if our unsub catches wind of it and moves again to hunt her down?”
“Call JJ, get her on it. Tell her we need the missing persons before it even gets filed,” Hotch suggested. It wouldn’t be his normal course of protocol, but Emily did seem disturbed by the thought.
Emily was already flipping open her phone.
Danielle Hunter was tall but slight with long blond curly hair that cascaded down over her shoulders. She looked concerned as she took a seat in front of Emily and Hotch in the principal’s office of Franklin High School. “Is this about Bella?”
“You were the one that told Mrs Long Bella was missing, right?” Emily asked gently.
“Bella doesn’t miss school, ma’am,” Danielle said. “Ever. I’ve known her since she moved here. She came to eighth grade with the flu once.”
“So you got worried.”
Danielle nodded at Hotch earnestly. “Of course I did.”
“Has anyone been bothering Bella recently? Anything you thought was weird?” Emily asked.
“No more than usual,” Danielle replied. “I guess the boys have been paying more attention.”
Emily nodded encouragingly. “Anyone in particular?”
“No one that Bella didn’t flirt with too,” the sixteen-year-old answered. “Jamie’s been hanging around. He plays on the boys soccer team and they practice when Bella and the girls’ team does.”
“Bella plays soccer?” Hotch asked, glancing at Emily.
“Really well,” Danielle replied enthusiastically. “I don’t know why she didn’t try out earlier.”
Because she was afraid of the crazy murderer potentially stalking her, Emily thought to herself.
“Anyone else?” Hotch inquired, making a mental note to make sure they talked to the soccer coach.
“Boys you mean? Bella talked about another guy in her English class, but she wouldn’t tell me his name or anything like that.”
“Why not?” Emily asked, more out of curiosity than for the case. Leah hadn’t seemed all that averse to sharing Geoffery Losh’s name over the phone.
“I don’t know,” Danielle admitted. “She was just very tight lipped about him.”
“So you don’t know his name?”
Danielle shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
--
“She didn’t talk about him and Dani, Cait and I were her best friends.” Justin Farr was a tall, skinny brunette with wire-rimmed glasses and a pimply face, the quintessential teenager. He seemed nice enough from what Emily had seen. She could how Leah had found a friend in the young man.
“It was one thing that she never talked about. Well, not the only thing. Bella didn’t talk about her life before she moved to Seattle.”
That didn’t surprise either agent. It was policy.
“There was an aunt she talked about all the time,” Justin offered. “She wouldn’t tell us much about her either though, just that they didn’t see each other. Actually, the aunt was the only family member she still talked to from her life before Seattle.”
Emily knew her cheeks were growing red and she kept her head down to make sure Justin didn’t see it.
“Was there anything that seemed ‘off’ about Annabelle in the days leading up to her disappearance?” Hotch asked, glancing at Emily’s pink cheeks. It was a rather attractive blush.
“She seemed normal to me,” Justin offered regretfully. “She did her homework, went to practice…”
--
“She was “ is “ a really nice girl,” Cait Short said. “She didn’t make enemies.”
“None?” Emily asked.
“Not at school. She kept her head down, though she was really really nice. She was the one who introduced me to Dani and Justin. The only time she wasn’t ‘nice’ was when she was on the soccer field. And I really appreciated it. I’m shy…”
And you ramble when you’re nervous, Emily thought. A lot of kids did, especially ones that walked in without being able to look at the agents. Emily would bet her pay check that the call down to the principal’s office had absolutely terrified the girl.
“Justin and Danielle said there was another guy…”
“Oh, she just said he was in her English class, but I’m not sure Bella would have gone for that. She’s too busy for a guy.”
“What about her teachers and her coach? Any of them show a keen interest in her?” Hotch asked. They’d agreed to treat the case like a missing persons when they’d entered the school.
“Uh… She never had any problems with any teachers and I don’t think anyone paid any closer attention to her than anyone else.”
“What about her coach?”
“He’s a new transfer,” Cait offered. “I think Bella likes him. She seemed to recognize him, actually.” The girl’s brow knit in confusion. “The first time he saw her, he called her Leah.”