Present:
"You two had a relationship that I was really jealous of," She said to me.
"You…you were jealous of us?" I asked surprised.
"Yeah…I just wanted you all to myself," She admitted shyly.
"I had no idea," I confessed.
"I know…and I wanted to keep it that way," She said shrugging.
Four months earlier:
Knock. Knock. A young girl opened the door.
"Hi there. Are you Sammy?" JJ asked, bending down so she was the girls height. The girl didn't say anything, but she nodded.
"My name is Jennifer, I'm with FBI. This is my partner Spencer, and the detective, Molly. Can we come in and talk to you?" JJ asked sweetly. I felt a little nervous. If this girl hadn't talked yet, would she really talk for us?
For the first time since her mother's death, the girl spoke.
"Ok…but you have to be quite. Grampa's sleeping," The girl whispered.
"Of course. Thank you," JJ said quietly. We followed the girl inside. I admired JJ's ability to get us inside the house. I was secretly proud of her for just being so good at her job.
We walked inside the house.
"Excuse me," Molly asked the little girl, "Do you mind if I walk around a little bit and look at your house?" The girl didn't speak, but she nodded.
"C'mon, Spence, you come, too," Molly told me. Of course I followed her. That was a great opportunity to bond with her. JJ frowned from behind me. I didn't see it, but I could feel it on my back. I didn't know why she did, so I ignored it.
JJ POV
When Spence and Molly walked away, I sat down on the couch and motioned for Sammy to sit next to me.
"Do you have a crush on him?" Sammy asked quietly in a whisper.
"Huh?" I asked startled, "Oh…no..no, we're friends," I stuttered.
"Yes you do…I can tell. Before Daddy got sick…that's how he and mommy used to look at each other, and they'd say 'i love you' to each other," Sammy whispered. I didn't know what to say about that so I just smiled.
"You're not just here to look around at my house…are you…?" Sammy asked quietly, though it was more of a statement.
"No, honey…we're here-" I tried, but she cut me off.
"You're here…because I saw what he did to mommy," Sammy said with a quiver in her voice.
"Yes…can you tell me anything about the man who did this?" I asked quietly.
"I…I…I can't remember," Sammy whispered, "I mean…I don't want to."
"I know you don't. But the man is still out there and if you saw him or something we can find him by, then you would be a super big help," I explained softly.
"Ok…I'll try," Sammy whispered.
"What we're gonna do is a cognitive interview. What that is is, you're gonna close your eyes and I'm going to take you back to your house, to that night, and I'm gonna try to help you remember," I explained, "If that's ok?" I quickly added. She looked at me with fear and pain in her eyes.
"I'm gonna be right here with you the whole time. Hold my hand?" I offered.
"Ok…" The girl said quietly and took my hand.
"Ok. Close your eyes," I told her. She did, "Let's go back to that night. You were in your room. Was it dark in your room?"
"I…I …it was dark, but I saw a little bit…because…i have a nightlight," Sammy explained.
"Good, okay. So you saw a little. And then you heard foot steps?" I asked.
"Yeah…I thought it was just mommy…so I stayed in bed," Sammy said, getting a little upset.
"Ok, you're doing so great, Sammy," I whispered. The little girl nodded, "What happened next?" I asked.
"Then I heard mommy scream, but then she was really quiet," Sammy explained. I realized this was when the unsub was about to rape her. He held a knife to her a throat and told if she screamed he would slit her throat, so she complied.
"I called out her name, but she didn't answer, so I snuck into her room. And the big scary man was there," Sammy explained tearing up.
"Shh… it's ok. So he was big?" I asked, as Sammy nodded, "How big? Like my friend's size?" I asked pointing to Spence.
"Bigger. But not fat. Muscles. He was wearing a big sweatshirt and hood, and jeans…and sneakers…and then he…he made mommy get undressed, and he said if she didn't he'd kill me," Sammy whispered. She was now crying. She leaped into my lap and I held her as she cried.
"Shh…it's ok. He can't hurt you. He's gone," I whispered in her ear. I turned to Molly, who came to me. Spence was not there any more.
"He went to talk to her grandfather," Molly explained to me.
"Hey, Sammy, you did great. Can you go with Spence," Molly began as she realized Spencer wasn't there, "Actually, come with me, we have to find him. He's probably with your grandfather," Molly said. Sammy was hesitant, but she followed. Just before she turned into the kitchen she said, "Jennifer…I remembered something."
"What's that hon?" I asked.
"He wasn't wearing gloves…his hands were white. Very white. and he…he touched my door knob when he threw me back in my room…is there…a finger print?" Sammy asked me.
"Sammy, you are a very smart little girl. There might be. Thank you so much for being so good," I said softly. She smiled a little.
"Can…can you come and visit me sometime?" She asked me.
"Of course I will," I promised. She walked back to Molly.
Back to Spencer's POV (for the rest of the story)
"Hey Hotch it's JJ," I heard JJ say. I walked back into the room where JJ, Sammy and Molly were, shocked at what I had just seen.
"Uh, guys," I said slowly. They turned to me, "We have a problem…" I said slowly, "JJ, can you take Sammy outside for a sec…and can I talk to Hotch?" I asked.
"Hold on one sec Hotch, uh, I guess Spence has to tell you something," JJ said confused at me, "Ok, Sammy, I guess you're coming with me," She said still confused. Sammy, who had quickly grown close to JJ, followed.
"What's going on Spence?" Molly asked. Although the circumstances were bad, I enjoyed the attention she was paying to me.
"Sammy's grandfather is dead…" I said nervously. What would we do now?
