Even as she relaxed on the plane, Emily knew, in theory, she had no place there. Technically, she wasn’t cleared for duty, and she had to admit, on the inside, it almost felt a little bit like a test for Agent Morrow. The team would let her give opinions and help with the profile, but even she wasn’t going to risk going out into the field to talk to witnesses or families until she got the go-ahead. The question would be how much the team let her do, and how much that was going to be governed by their latest addition.
“Alright, let’s go over the case before we land,” Aaron said from across from her. They’d both been looking over various documentation that they had spread across the table, Reid to Aaron’s left. She was tapping an erratic rhythm on his foot while she worked. Derek took the seat beside her while JJ and Morrow leaned against nearby chairs.
“He hunts women, but that’s the only discernable pattern in victimology,” Emily started, spreading out the pictures of the six missing women they were heading to Sacramento to find. “Redhead, brunette, blond… he doesn’t seem that picky.”
“He’s probably attractive,” Derek added, looking over the pictures. At the confused looks of his colleagues he shrugged. “If I was these girls? I’d be picky. The guy would have to be as hot as me at least, especially at their ages.”
Emily hit Derek for his slightly sexist comment, but voiced her agreement. “At 22 to 25 I doubt they’re in any hurry to find Mr Right.”
“Especially looking at their jobs,” JJ agreed, shuffling through papers she’d snatched out of the files before boarding the plane. “Interns at high power companies, four out of six had degrees from prestigious schools… three of them modeled to pay their ways through school.”
“Brains and beauty,” Derek said with a grin. “A deadly combination, no matter which way you look at it.”
“They went missing in the middle of the day,” Morrow offered tentatively. “He’s got confidence that he can lure them without anyone really noticing.”
“Charming,” Derek subtly agreed. “Though I retract my attractive comment. He could be luring them with a ruse.”
The computer between Emily and Aaron beeped as Garcia’s face popped up on the screen. “Alright, Crime Fighters, here’s the latest and greatest. None of your girls attended the same college, lived in the same neighbourhood, none of them have so much as a sibling that attends or attended the same school at any point. But here’s the kicker, four of your girls, Katrina Stark, Stephanie Lite, Chloe Floam and Madeline Ray show calls to the same number for about a week before they went missing.”
“Address is-“
Garcia interrupted Derek before he could finish. “Sent to all appropriate cell phones. Owner should be coming through on the jet’s fax in 4, 3, 2!”
Sure enough, the offending device started to beep. Morrow picked up the page as Derek grinned at their technical guru. “You are brilliant, Gorgeous.”
Garcia preened. “Oh please, like I didn’t know that.”
“Number is registered to Tim Woodson. Land line,” Morrow volunteered, handing the page to Derek.
“Nothing on this guy. Not even so much as a speeding ticket.”
Emily took the page and raised an eyebrow before displaying it to her other teammates. “I don’t think this is our guy anyway.” The man was about sixty in age, old enough to have a son that would be of age to kidnap six women.
Aaron nodded. “Garcia, look into his family, see if he has any sons, cousins, nieces or nephews with connections to our victims.”
“On it,” her voice chimed.
“And employees that may have worked with all of our victims,” Emily suggested without thinking twice. “Down to the custodial staff.” It really didn’t feel like she’d been on medical leave at all. Her mind felt sharp as she looked through the files, the gears of her mind linking back together like she’d never left.
“That is going to take forever,” Garcia lamented.
“And we wouldn’t trust it to anyone but the best,” Derek replied with a charming grin.
Emily watched Garcia’s eyes light up with the praise and had to resist the urge to laugh. They did pair off, and it was almost painfully obvious between Garcia and Derek. Really, Emily thought, She’s bugging me to take a chance.
“When we land, Morgan, take Morrow and go talk to Mr Woodson, see what his connection is to our victims. Reid, Prentiss, and I will head to the station with JJ. I want to see how much they know.”
Emily had almost jumped two feet in the air when he’d used her last name. It was smart. He hadn’t used anything but while on the job so it made sense to keep using it. She made a mental note to watch that herself. It was still a shock. She looked down at the file in front of her, crossing her legs. She almost jumped when she felt a foot tap hers and tried to hide her smile. Footsies was so junior high. Emily hoped she wasn’t blushing.
The first thing Emily did upon stepping off the BAU jet was remove her jacket. She loved the put together professional look, but it was warm enough to go without and she’d developed an aversion to suffocating clothing. She, Reid, JJ and Aaron loaded their bags into the back of a Sacramento-provided standard issue SUV before climbing in. Emily had kept one of the files with her. Something about Madeline Ray’s disappearance wasn’t sitting right. So she spent the ride trying to dig into what on earth could be wrong about Madeline’s disappearance.
They made an interesting picture as they walked into the Sacramento police station, just across the I-80 from the Sacramento FBI office. Between JJ, Aaron and herself, there was a distinct air of professionalism. All three of them were in business suits “ except, naturally, Reid, who looked like a grad student instead of an FBI agent, if grad students carried a holstered gun on his right hip “ and knew they made an impressive display.
“BAU?”
JJ was the one that smiled and extended her hand to the Oriental officer that greeted them. “I’m Supervisory Special Agent Jareau. You must be Officer Kian.”
The other woman smiled at the blond. “Jill. Thanks so much for coming.”
JJ nodded. “SSA Prentiss and SSA Dr. Reid,” she introduced. “And Special Agent In Charge Hotchner.”
She nodded to all of the agents in turn. “Thanks for coming,” she said again.
Aaron reached out to shake her hand. “Do you have somewhere we could set up? The faster we can get started, the faster we can find him.”
Jill nodded. “We’ve got one conference room that’s all yours. This way.”
Emily sighed in the passenger seat of Officer Jill Kian’s unmarked. She knew Aaron was reluctant to let her actually work the field and if she was him, she would be too. But she and Reid were the only two agents left in the precinct when the call had come in.
--
“So I did some digging. Turns out all six of our women are actually from the same area, but there’s nothing that says they so much as crossed paths, let alone met.”
Emily sighed at Garcia’s face as she jotted down the information. “We’ll have to canvass the neighbourhood.”
Garcia cocked her head to the side, considering her friend. “You okay?”
“Sometimes I forget that this is hard work,” Emily responded candidly, knowing no one else was in the room. Aaron and JJ had gone off to interview the family of the last missing girl and Reid was off in his own little world. Even if Reid was listening, she knew he respected her enough not to say anything.
“It’s your first day back, let alone your first case. It’s natural that you’re a little out of it.”
“I never thought I’d wish for paperwork,” Emily grinned to the blond.
Garcia laughed. “You said it yourself, we’re all gluttons for punishment.”
Emily knew Garcia had been working away while she was chatting. “What else?”
“I’ve looked through everything sugar, I can’t find so much as a dry cleaner these women shared.”
“There’s got to be something.” Exasperation was obvious in her voice.
“Honey, we’ve been on this a day. My babies haven’t come back with results on that search of their jobs. I’m still looking.”
Garcia’s optimism made her relax a little bit. Jill’s frown sent that relaxation packing.
“They found a body.”
Emily’s eyebrow rose. Kidnapping to murder?
“It’s Stephanie Lite’s.”
--
She opened her eyes as the car rolled to a stop, pulling her cell out of pocket as she did so. She’d been holding off on calling Aaron, not because she wanted to be in the field “ she was grateful for Jill and Reid’s company “ but because she didn’t want to interrupt his meeting with the latest victim’s family. Even as she looked at the device, she debated between a phone call and a text. Then changed her mind completely.
“Morgan.”
“Emily. Stephanie Lite’s body showed up.” She heard Derek blow out a breath.
“Hotch?”
“Went with JJ to interview the Rays.”
“You?”
Emily winced. “At the scene with Reid and Officer Kian.”
He chuckled, though the sound was slightly forced. “We’re on our way.”
Emily rattled off directions before turning back to the body. They hadn’t covered Stephanie up yet and Emily shivered as she scanned her eyes over her.
“Overkill,” Reid murmured.
Emily nodded absently, her eyes meeting that of the ME.
“I count thirteen stab wounds so far, but I’ll have a more accurate count once we get her back to the morgue. Your cause of death is most definitely exsanguination.”
Emily and Reid exchanged a look. “If we could get that report as soon as possible?”
“Officer Kian will have it as soon as I’m done,” the man responded. “This is one of the missing girls?”
Emily tried for a smile. “Yeah.”
This was going to stay with her.