I'll Stand by you
I'll stand by you
won't let nobody hurt you
i'll stand by you
We walked into the police station, being led by JJ and Hotch.
"Agent Jareau," A man said, walking up to us, holding out his hand, "Detective John Walsh, we spoke on the phone," The man said. JJ shook his hand.
"This is our unit chief, SSA Hotchner," She said introducing Hotch, "And SSAs Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss and Dr. Reid," She said introducing the rest of the team.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice," The detective said.
"Of course," JJ said, "Do you have a place for our team to set up?"
"The conference room. Right through those doors," The detective said pointing, "All case files and evidence that we have are in there already."
"Thank you," Hotch said. JJ and Hotch led the team into the room. Det. Walsh followed.
"Reid, I want you to start on a geographical profile, Rossi and Prentiss, head to the first abduction site, Derek, Det. Walsh, and I will head to the dump site. JJ, I want you to set up a press conference with the local media for 1pm this afternoon," Hotch said.
"Will we be ready by then?" Derek asked.
"Yes," Hotch said firmly, "We'll meet back here in an hour." Everyone then went their separate ways to get the job done.
"A grocery store, on a Saturday morning," I said, reading from the file. We were inside the local grocery store.
"He must be stalking the victims. The abductions aren't random, they are all people from the counseling center, so it must be routine for Michelle Walker to go to the grocery store on Saturday morning," Emily said, "He might have waited for her here," Emily continued.
"There are a few cameras throughout the stores. If he did wait here for her, it might be on camera," I said. Emily pulled out her phone and dialed Hotch.
"Hotchner," he answered.
"Hotch, he might be stalking our vics, and there's a chance that if he was and he was waiting for them, he might be on one of the store cameras," Emily said.
"Okay, talk to the manager, see if you can get the tapes. Send them to Garcia, and bring them back. When you get back you, Rossi and JJ can start looking through them as well," Hotch said, and hung up.
We walked over to the customer service counter to see if we could speak with the manager.
"Arms folded…sign of remorse," Derek commented.
"But they're by a dumpster…" Det. Walsh said.
"That means he sees them as trash," Hotch explained.
"But after he feels bad?" Det. Walsh asked, starting to understand.
"Exactly," Hotch said nodding.
JJ walked into the room.
"How's it coming Reid?" She asked.
"Well…the abduction sites are all within 10 miles of the counseling center. They're also all within 10 miles of each other. All public shopping places: A grocery store, a Walmart, and a hardware store. There's a chance that he might work at one of these places, which is how he watches his victims," Reid explained.
"Or he stalks them," Emily said walking into the room, with me following.
"We got the tapes from the grocery store security camera. If he was waiting for Michelle Walker, our first victim, in the grocery store, he might on camera," I said.
We sat down around a laptop, and began watching the tapes. Emily's phone rang.
"Excuse me," She said quietly to the group, who acknowledged her leaving and went back to watching the tapes.
"Agent Prentiss," She answered as she stepped into the hall.
"Emily. How is the case coming?" The voice asked. Strauss. Emily rolled her eyes.
"Good, but I need to get back to work," Emily said slowly.
"Of course. I understand. But first, do you have anything to report?" Strauss said.
"No. I don't," Emily said.
"Emily. I'd like to hear about each member of your team," Strauss said. Emily was silent.
"How is Agent Rossi doing?"
"Fine. We went to the abduction site together. He was very helpful."
"Agent Reid?"
"Fine. He worked out a geographical profile."
"Agent Morgan?"
"Fine. He and Agent Hotchner are at the dump site right now."
"And how is Agent Hotchner?"
"He is fine. Ma'am is this really necessary?"
"Yes. How is Agent Jareau doing? I need a very detailed report on her to tell the State Department."
"Ma'am? The State…department?"
"Of course. Have they not told you about her transfer?"
"No. They haven't. Ma'am I need to go. Goodbye," Emily said angrily and hung up. She stormed back into the room. Hotch and Morgan were back too.
"Emily, what's wrong?" I asked.
"JJ? Can I talk to you out in the hall…privately?" Emily asked.
"Ok…" JJ said quietly and they walked out.
"What the hell is going on?" Emily asked angrily.
"What? Who was that on the phone?" JJ asked.
"Strauss. A transfer? To the State Department?" Emily asked looking right into her eyes.
"Emily…I couldn't tell everyone," JJ explain sadly.
"I…can't deal with this! Strauss wants me to report something about everyone. She's trying to get rid of this team. I know it. And…and I know the truth. I know she's getting rid of me too," Emily said sadly.
"I'm…so sorry, Emily," JJ said taking Emily's hand. She squeezed it for a moment, and then led her back in side with the team.
"She knows…" JJ said to Hotch. I looked at her sadly.
"I need…I need to resign, Hotch," Emily said.
"What's going on?" Derek asked. He and Reid were the only ones out of the loop.
"Emily…give it one more day…stay on this case with us," Hotch begged.
"I can't, Hotch," Emily said shaking her head sadly.
"Take a break…think about it," Hotch said.
"Ok," Emily said and she walked away.
"Give her a couple minutes and go talk to her…" Hotch said to me, "I'll fill them in, and then we'll get back to the case," Hotch said. I slowly walked out the door and followed her. We had to get rid of Strauss, not Emily.