Chatting with the other mothers, Lisa Fine wasn't paying any attention to her six year old little boy wondering around the playground. When they first arrived at the park she had plunked him down in the sandbox and expected him to stay there but he was a curious young boy and had crawled out of the red wooden box as soon as her attention was elsewhere. As Lisa complained about her new next door neighbors dog keeping her and her husband up all night she didn't notice as her son wondered past the swing set to a normal looking man with a small puppy.
"Oh and you wouldn't believe how rude the wife is." Lisa said throwing her hands up in the air for emphasis. "When they first moved in I brought over a dozen roses and all that woman did was look me up and down like I was trash and say 'didn't I meet you before.' How unbelievably rude is that!"
The rest of the women shook their heads in agreement. A tiny little girl in big braided pigtails came wobbling over to her mother and pulled on her skirt. "Mommy I wanna juice box."
"I should probably give Timmy his snack no too." Lisa said reaching into her big bag. She pulled out a plastic bag full of crackers and a small juice box. "Timmy!" She called out turning to the sandbox but finding it empty as all the other children ran over to their mothers for a snack. "Where did that boy go? Timmy!" Lisa stood up and looked around the small park not seeing her son anywhere. "Timmy!" She yelled out with panic in her voice.
"He went with the man who had the puppy." The tiny girl with big braided pig tails said as she took a sip of juice."
"He what?" Lisa asked, her face turning a ghostly shade of white.
"There was a man with a puppy and Timmy went with him." The little girl explained. "It was a real cute puppy."
Lisa jumped up off of the bench dumping the food onto the ground and frantically began looking around the park. "Timmy! Timmy!" She yelled out for her son but it was no use he was already gone.
Emily Prentiss flipped the page in her book and curled up into the sofa. She was so engrossed in the novel she didn't even hear the knock at the door. After a few more pounds she was startled out of her own mind and dropped the book. "Coming!"
She looked through the peephole and saw it was Hotch. Ever since he divorced Haley she and Hotch had become closer. They actually hung out together and treated each other as friends and equals. She figured that Hotch needed somebody and the truth was she needed somebody too. She unlocked the door and let him in. He was still wearing his suit so he must have come straight from work.
"Hey what are you doing here so late?" Emily asked as she closed the door behind him.
"I was at the office I figured I'd stop by and see if everything was ok."
Emily smiled at this. Lately Hotch had been looking out for her more than he usually would. He'd call her up to see how she was doing and to make sure that she was fine. It was sweet and she didn't mind.
"Everything's fine but it's kind of late I sort of pegged you as the early to bed early to rise type of guy."
"Well I was but ever since the…"
"Divorce." She finished for him and felt bad saw the depressed look on his face. "Sorry." She apologized.
"Don't worry about it." He waved it off
"What were you up to before I intruded?" He asked.
"Just reading and I was about to watch the news."
"The news?" Hotch smiled. He thought it was cute. He only read the newspaper once in a while. He got enough information about what was going on in the world at work.
"Yeah except for my work I'm a pretty boring person."
"You're not boring." He corrected her.
"You're free to come in and watch with me." She offered.
Hotch though about it for a moment. "Sure." He took off his suit coat and Emily hung it on the back of one of her kitchen chairs. For the first time in a long time Hotch actually felt welcome and comfortable.
Emily sat next to him on the couch and flicked on the TV. The first 20 minutes was the usual doom and gloom and then a male reporter standing in the middle of a park came on. "This is Bret Rayne reporting live from Jefferson Park. Early this afternoon a young boy was abducted. All that it known is that it was a man who looked to be in his mid thirties who was walking a small puppy. This is the third abduction in the last three months parents beware…."
Hotch flicked off the television and looked at Emily sadly. "It looks like we have a new case on our hands."