Faces
David Shelton sat at his desk, finishing up some paperwork for the case he and his team had just solved. There had been a kidnapping and the FBI had been called in. Thankfully it had ended well. A couple had been getting a divorce, and there had been an issue over custody of their four year old daughter. The father's sister had taken the little girl hoping it would make the mother seem unfit to care for her. The sister was on her way to jail to await trial, and the parents had their little girl back safe and sound. If only all of David's cases could end like that.
David was thirty-seven years old. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. He was a good deal taller than most of his coworkers and friends. He'd been with the FBI for about fifteen years now. He hadn't planned on being a government agent, but life rarely goes as planned. He knew he was good at his job. One had to be in this line of work. Peoples' lives depended on him and his team being able to do their job. It wasn't pretty work, but he liked to believe they were making a difference. When he saw someone come home to a worried family and to see that fear fade away, it made it all worth it.
David's team was like a family to him. There was Amy Peele. She was a mothering type who was very good at reading people. She was amazing with a hand gun and a rifle. There was Henry Burnett. He worked with computers. Agents with his skills were in high demand. The rate of internet crimes had gone up drastically in the last ten years. There was also Brian Stewart. He oversaw the tactical team and was always the first to go into a dangerous situation. Lastly was Kate Helm. She was the newest and youngest person on their team. She would interview family members and friends of victims. David knew she was capable of field work, but with her lack of experience, he didn't want to put her in a situation she wasn't ready for.
Amy stepped halfway into his office. "We've got a case," she said shortly. "From the sound of it, it's a weird one."
A while later David and his team walked into Gotham City's Major Crime Unit. The place was a mad house. Officers were guiding family members to interview rooms. Detectives were talking to witnesses and somehow a reporter had gotten in the station and was currently being dragged out despite loud protests. A man with a mop of messy black hair walked up to them. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he was holding a large cup of coffee in one hand.
"You with the FBI?" the man asked. His voice sounded tired and a little annoyed when he saw the reporter. How had that happened?
David nodded. "Agent David Shelton," he said, offering a hand to the other man.
"Detective Harvey Bullock," the man said, shaking the agent's hand. "Glad you're here. We've got a real mess on our hands. The Commissioner will want to see you."
Bullock led them to Commissioner James Gordon's office. Gordon was a slim man. Not very imposing with his thin rimmed glasses and red hair and mustache, but David knew what Gordon dealt with and his extensive war record. Gotham was one of the worst cities in the country. It had been named 'The Scariest Place to Live' for the past eight years. Gordon was sitting at his desk on the phone.
"Barbara, I want you to stay home. – I don't care if you and Dick planned to hang out. I said something. You're not leaving the house. – I have to go, honey. – I love you too. Bye," the Commissioner said and quickly hung up. "Sorry about that. Agent David Shelton?"
"Please call me Dave. I understand there've been four kidnappings in the last twelve hours," David said.
The Commissioner nodded. "All four of the victims were found unharmed on the outskirts of the city." He wasn't going to have his daughter running around the city while this was going on. Barbara was used to a heads up when it came to what crimes were being committed in Gotham.
"Do the victims have anything in common?" Amy asked.
"No. Tony Samuel, the first victim is seventeen. He goes to Gotham North High School and doesn't have any criminal records. He was taken from Simon Trent's gym on Twenty-third and Main. Paula Smith was the second victim. She's thirty and works at the Gotham Library, has two kids and a good relationship with her husband. She was taken from her place of work just as she was leaving. Brad Claymore, third victim. He's twenty-two and works at a café on Main Street. He was abducted as he was closing the shop. The last one is Bette Kane. She's sixteen and goes to Gotham Academy. She stayed late at school and was taken just as she left the grounds.
We've ruled out ransom, revenge, or any other motive. From what the victims have told us, the kidnappers tactics with each new abduction," Gordon explained.
"So, there's more than one kidnapper," Henry said.
"A man and a woman. They keep changing cars, and none of the victims saw their faces."
"We'd like to talk to Samuel, Smith, Claymore, and Kane," David said, taking command of the situation. They had to work fast.
"Of course," Gordon said. He got to his feet and showed David and his team to four different interview rooms. After speaking with the victims, the FBI agents met back in a conference room to discuss what they had found out. David learned that whoever these people were, they didn't seem to want to hurt any of the victims. Their methods of abducting people changed, but their pattern of behavior after that remained mostly the same.
The suspects would catch the victims, almost at random it seemed, tie them up and put them in the getaway car. The kidnappers would assure the victims they wouldn't be harmed. They would drive for anywhere from twenty to forty minutes while the female suspect would check her watch and comment about what they should have done differently. Then they would drive out of the city, drop the victims off in a field, and leave.
"Are the suspects looking for an adrenaline rush, or is there a motive?" Kate asked.
"It's not adrenaline. This doesn't seem to be a game to them," Amy told her thoughtfully.
"It's practice," David said.
"The people don't seem to matter to them, so maybe the locations could be a factor," Brian suggested. "The person they're really after could go to these places on a regular basis."
"That's a good start," David said. "The gym, the café, the library are too public to narrow down who they're trying to get, so we'll start at Gotham Academy. It's an expensive school, that means high risk targets. We could be looking at ransom after all."
