Blood Ties In Trouble
By: Emma-lee (Ewriter)
Chapter 1: The Intro to the Nightmare!
Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case, Without a Trace, or Criminal Minds. As much as I would like to I don't.
"Mo-om, Da-ad we're home!" Twelve-year old Lacy Valens yelled, flinging open the front door with a loud bang, her long blond hair flying out of its ponytail to fall into her chocolate brown eyes.
Isabella, already twenty-one, called from the front door, "Mom? I have to go drop off Aunt Kat and Uncle Nick's kids, okay?" She shifted three-year old Andy Valens into a more comfortable position on her hip. "I'm going to take Andy with me."
"Izzy, can I come to please?" asked her sixteen-year old sister, Gretchen. Izzy irately swept a stray lock of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear, her sapphire eyes direct. She smiled as she thought of how her dad, Scotty Valens always laughed at that look: when Izzy and her mom, Lilly Valens, were fighting, he joked that he couldn't tell who was who.
"Mommy, I home too," Andy said, wanting to let his parents know as well.
"Izzy, can I come, too?" Gretch snapped, pulling Izzy out of her reverie.
"Sure, Gretch; you can come. Mom, I'll see you in ten, okay?" When no answered, Izzy's detective instincts told her that something wasn't right. Why was the house so cold and silent; like a tomb? "Mom…? Dad…? Are you here?"
"Iz, why momma an' dada no home? An' why gram-gram no get up from the ground?" Andy asked. He didn't realize the gravity of the situation, but Izzy did.
Izzy stroked his soft brown hair and kissed his forehead, "Lacy, you and Gretch go out to the car with Andy and lock the doors."
"But, Izzy—" Lacy whined, grabbing Andy.
"No buts, Lacy. Get out of here!" She sighed, trying to push back the terror, "Gretch?"
"Yeah?" She asked, her brown eyes questioning.
Izzy threw her cell to Gretch, "Call 911." Gretch nodded and flipped open the phone, pushing aside her unruly blond hair to hear.
"Is everything going to be okay?" Lacy asked softly.
"Maybe…Now go!" Gretch and Lacy ran out the door with Andy in tow.
Izzy held the phone tightly in her hand, pacing. "Philadelphia Homicide. How may I help you," an annoyingly cheerful female voice asked.
"Hello, is Lilly Valens there?" Please be there, please be there, please—
"No, she isn't. Sorry." She didn't sound sorry.
"How about Scotty Valens?" She asked quickly.
"No again, ma'am." Where were they? Izzy's heart raced.
"Kat Vera?"
"No."
"Nick Vera?"
"No." Every no, was like a knife driven into her heart. No, no, no: they're gone.
"Will Jefferies?" Izzy asked desperately, hoping that at least one part of her world was still where it was supposed to be.
"No, he just left." Izzy sighed; he was fine.
"Supervisor Stillman?"
"N-, actually he is here. Would you like to talk to him?"
"Yes, please. Now!"
"Okay, ma'am. And whom do I tell him is calling?"
Izzy snapped, tired of waiting on an irritatingly slow, insipid woman, "His granddaughter, Isabella!"
"Okay, I'll connect you. Have a nice day!" Izzy growled at the woman.
"Hello?" answered Stillman.
"Grandpa, it's me: Izzy. Mom and Dad aren't home, neither are Uncle Nick or Aunt Kat. They aren't answering their cell phones or pagers. I have everyone, and Andy just saw Grandma Valens lying unconscious on the floor. Grandpa…I'm worried. Where is everyone?"
"Shit. Izzy, can you lift your grandma?"
"Yes…why?"
"Get her out of there, take your gun, and protect those kids at all costs. I give you full permission." Stillman's blood boiled, "Listen, after you get your grandma out, I want you to go back to clear the house. I assume you know where the extra guns and vests are?"
"Yes, Grandpa. Gretch called 911, but we need you here. Please hurry!"
"Okay, Izzy. I'll be right there." Hearing the click on the other line made the terror start to work its way into Izzy's heart again.
•••
"Isabella? Are you in there?" John Stillman asked as he knocked on the window to the seemingly empty van.
"Grandpa!" Gretchen jumped into her grandfather's arms. "Izzy gave us vests. Lacy and I have guns. So do Katy and V." Gretch's gaze snapped onto Kat and Vera's oldest children. "She went back into the house to clear it."
"How long has she been in there?"
"Twenty minutes. Where could she have gone" The girl asked, her voice muffled against her grandfather's now tear-stained jacket.
Jeffries arrived on the scene. "Will, thank God. All of you go look for Isabella! With your weapons ready!" He warned. They obeyed with the swiftness and crushing efficiency of a deadly hurricane; their parents had taught them well.
Stillman held little Andy Valens and Nicky Vera close; he wasn't going to lose them too.
•••
"Izzy," Will called as he walked into the house, gun ready. He walked upstairs and froze: there was a note on her desk.
He picked it up carefully and read it, his stomach churning with anger and disgust as he read each and every line.
Philly Cold Case unit,
Where are your precious detectives? I know you're wondering where they are. You're searching for them, fraught with worry. Little do you know that you won't see Lilly, Scotty, Kat, or Nick ever again.
And your new detective? Izzy Valens? Forget about her pretty face ever seeing the light of day again. I have them all hidden in a place where you can't find them. Too bad you won't hear them scream. You won't be able to taste their coppery blood as they bleed to death.
I've killed before, so don't underestimate me. But you weren't going to, were you? I have blood on my hands: you're supposed to bring me in, Detectives. Preferably before I go on a killing spree.
Be warned, I will only talk to the FBI. I suggest you talk to the FBI's BAU and New York City's Missing Persons' unit. They both know me from...previous endeavors. You could say we're like…family.
You have one week from tomorrow to find your detectives before I kill them.
Good Luck,
Your Worst Nightmare
Will Jeffries re-read it three times before making three phone calls; the first was to John Stillman, telling him to come up; the other two were to the BAU and Missing Persons' units of the FBI. Missing Persons' unit said that they would send their best team already familiar with the case.
The BAU said that they would send their number one team; they had been looking to find this killer before he moved to the next area, but they had lost track of him.
Both teams were bringing their children, just to be safe. And more people meant more power; they would scour the streets to find them. Jeffries was sure of that.
The last thing Jeffries said to the each person on the phone was, "Thank you." And he meant it with every cell in his body.
•••
After Stillman finished reading the note, he went into shock; his family was in the hands of a maniacal serial killer…but most importantly, his adoptive daughter, Lilly, was going to get hurt. Again.
•••
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