Jo looked at herself through the mirror. Her face was still swollen, but her bruises were hidden under makeup. Her other bruises were hidden under her long sleeve shirt. She had to leave in half an hour to get to the lab on time. She walked into Ellie's room to wake her up for school, but she wasn't there. She was walking through the kitchen when she saw a piece of paper taped to the coffee maker.
Mom,
I went to school early. They are posting the list up today. I'll call you at lunch to let you know if I made the team. Love you, Ellie.
Jo started to smile from reading her daughter's note, until her cheek hurt her. She thought about last night with Scott, how he yelled at her, how he hit her. Her phone ringing brought her out of her thoughts. She grabbed her phone from her room and checked to see the caller id, Mac Taylor. She didn't know what to say to him, but she answered anyway. "Hey, Mac."
"Jo, are you coming into the lab today?"
"I'm on my way. See you in ten." She hung up on him, not wanting to answer any more questions he could ask. She rushed to the door, grabbed her coat, and left.
Ashley woke up again, this time on the small bed in the corner of the room. There was a cupcake on the desk with a note. She walked over to the desk and grabbed the note.
Shelby,
We went to run some errands. We will be back for your birthday dinner. Happy 17th Birthday, Sweetheart!
Love, Mom and Dad
Ashley ran to the door and tried to open it. It was stuck. She was looking around the room and found a window. She was going to open it, but when she tried to open it, she realized it was painted on the wall. She ran back to the door and started pounding her fists on it. "I'm not your daughter! Someone help me! Please help me!" She kept pounding her fists on the door, but nothing happened. She tried screaming, and her screams turned to whimpers as she started crying against the door.
Jo walked out of the elevators and found Lindsey and Adam in the lab. Meanwhile, Danny and Sheldon were at the abduction site to see if anyone missed anything. Jo had no intention of speaking with Mac this morning, so she tried to get to her office as fast as she could. "Jo, can you step into my office, please?" Mac was behind her, so she ducked into the lab to see what Lindsey and Adam had found.
Lindsey looked up from the monitors to see Jo walking in. "Lindsey, did you get anywhere with the paint?"
"The results came back and..."
"Jo, were you listening to me? I asked you to come into my office."
"Mac, I'm a little busy talking to Lindsey about the case."
"Can it wait?"
"No, Mac, it can't. We're searching for a young girl who's been missing for over seventy-two hours. Unless it's about the case, it can wait."
Mac stared at her with disbelief. She had never talked back to him before.
Jo turned back to Lindsey, purposely ignoring Mac. "I found that the paint transfer is matte black. There are fifteen auto body shops that use that specific color in Manhattan."
"Thanks, Lindsey." Jo took the list from Lindsey before walking to her office. Mac and Jo never fought, so why were they fighting today? Lindsey thought. She kept going through the evidence, but she could sense that something was off, and it wasn't just about the case.
Danny and Sheldon were standing on Ashley's street. A pale grey sky soared above them as they walked door to door. "Hello, I'm Detective Messer, NYPD. Can I ask you a few questions about your neighbor, Ashley Wilson?"
"Hi, I'm Sheldon Hawkes. I work for the police department. Do you know anything about Ashley's disappearance?"
All of the neighbors gave them similar responses. Either it was, "I'm sorry, I don't know anything," or, "I don't know who you're talking about."
All, except one.
Danny approached a light blue house with a white painted door, and knocked lightly. A young girl with pale, ivory skin and blonde hair opened the door slightly. Half of her face was hidden by the partially-open door.
"Can I help you?" Her sky blue eyes looked directly at the detective.
"I'm Detective Messer. I wanted to ask you a few questions about Ashley." Her eyes went from the detective to the ground.
"I'm sorry, I don't, um, I don't know what you're talking about." Sheldon and Danny looked at each other before speaking to her again. Sheldon stepped towards the girl, trying to meet her gaze.
"It's very important for us to find out what happened to Ashley before she disappeared. Are you Emily?"
Her eyes shot up.
"It's okay. You're not in trouble. There were pictures of you and Ashley in her room. Can you talk to us, please?" She looked inside before speaking again. "Not here." She stepped inside and called further into the house. "Mom, I'm meeting Savannah at the library. I'll see you later." There was a clink from inside, and she came back out with a set of keys and shut the door.
"Can we talk somewhere else?"
Danny approached her. "Wanna go to the station?" Emily nodded before following the detectives to the hummer.