With Hotch driving, he and JJ followed Detective Addams to the command center the state police had set up at the local recreation center.
"We though it best to be close to the case," Detective Addams explained as he led the way into the building. "This has a conference room for our officers' use, as well as a room for your team to set up in."
"Detective Addams," a sheriff's deputy walked over and greeted him.
"Deputy Kelly," the detective replied. "These are the people from the FBI I told you about."
"Glad you could make it," Deputy Kelly told Hotch and JJ, shaking hands. "We've never dealt with anything like this before and really don't know where to start looking. Do you people see a lot of this type of thing?"
"Much more than we would like," JJ told him.
"We'll start with concentrating on locating Ms. Harris and getting her back alive," Hotch explained. "After that, everything else should fall into place."
"You have a place for us to set up?" JJ inquired.
"Right this way," Deputy Kelly said. "We have a room reserved for your use. Your Ms. Garcia told us what you would need. If you need anything else, just let us know."
He led the way into a small conference room, which had been equipped with some whiteboards, library tables, and chairs. A detailed map of the area had been posted on one of the boards, and office supplies were sitting on the table.
"The coffee pot is just outside," the deputy told them, pointing at the doorway. "Also, tea bags and hot water. I suspect you are going to need a lot of that."
Hotch turned to him. "You've been to the abduction sites?" he asked.
"And the dumpsites," the deputy affirmed. "It's just plain weird."
"How's that?"
"It seems like he's trying to show off," was the reply. "I can't put my finger on anything specific, but there is definitely a 'look at me' feel to the dumpsites."
"Interesting," JJ said as she exchanged a glance with Hotch. "Why don't you review the dumpsite pictures with me later? Maybe I can help you put your feeling into perspective."
"In the meantime," Hotch told Detective Addams, "I'd like to review with you what you and your officers have already done and who they
have spoken with. It is very likely you have already seen or spoken with this unsub and just didn't realize it."
Hotch noticed that the detective's focus had been diverted to the doorway. He turned to see what was had attracted his attention.
A young lady had walked into the room. She had long medium brown hair and, although she was conservatively dressed in tailored trousers and fitted shirt, there was no doubt that she had a curvaceous figure accentuated by extremely long legs.
She smiled at the group. "Detective Addams," she singled him out as she walked over.
"Ms. Greenberg," he greeted her. "You know you aren't supposed to be in here."
"I know," she replied. "I just thought I should let you know that your officer outside let me walk in just now with no questions asked. You may want to talk to him. You know the students will be arriving here shortly and if I could get in that easily I hate to think of what they could do."
"Thanks," Detective Addams told her. He turned to Hotch. "This is Ms. Amy Greenberg. She organized and runs an after-school tutoring program that uses several rooms at the other end of this building. She actually teaches Biology at our local consolidated high school."
"Did you know Miss Harris?" Hotch asked.
"No," Amy told him. "I teach Biology 1 and only started three years ago. She had already passed that class when I got here. I did, however, know who she was and I can tell you for certain that she wasn't a trouble maker. Those are the students a teacher very quickly gets acquainted with!"
"Who would have known her?" Hotch wanted to know.
"You might want to try her Government teacher or, better yet, her Senior English teacher. The English class involves a lot of free discussion. If she was going to open up about a problem, it would have been in that class."
"Do you know who she was friends with?" JJ asked.
"Not really, sorry," Amy replied. "You will probably need to speak with her parents about that."
"Her parents are on their way in," Deputy Kelly told them. "I've made arrangements for them to be put in the Building Manager's office when they arrive."
"Well, I had best be on my way," Amy told them. "The students should be arriving shortly. Before I go, though, is there any standard response you would like me to give the parents when they drop their kids off? You know they are going to be asking."
Detective Addams looked at Hotch. "What ? ?"
"Tell them that the local authorities are on the case and that everything is under control. If they think they know anything that might be of value, have them call the 800 tip hotline," JJ told her.
"Sounds good to me," the detective agreed.
"You've got it!" Amy turned to go and collided with Morgan who, followed by Reid, had just walked into the room.
"Oh my gosh! Did I hurt you?" she exclaimed.
"Ma'ma, I doubt if you could hurt me if you ran into me with battering ram," Morgan smiled at her discomfort.
"Well, the next time I have a battering ram in my possession, I'll have to check that out," Amy replied flirtatiously.
Morgan held out his hand. "SSA Derek Morgan, FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit," he introduced himself. "And, this is – " He turned and noticed that Reid was missing.
"Your serious-looking friend went over to help with the board," Amy told him, turning to look. "The one with all the icky pictures that I would rather not see on it."
"You know, you sound just like a friend of mine," Morgan told her, thinking of Penelope.
"Well, as I always say, just because I teach about the human body doesn't mean I want to actually mess around inside one," Amy smiled at him as she shook his hand.
"If you're a teacher, I just might want to go back to school. What do you teach?" Morgan was getting warmed up.
"Biology 1, which I think you probably already know all about. Tell me, SSA Derek Morgan, are you always so shy around girls?"
"Only the pretty ones," Morgan gave her his patented megawatt smile.
"I'll keep that in mind," Amy replied. "But, duty calls and I have to be going." She headed for the door.
"Your name? Just in case I want to enroll in your class," Morgan called after her.
"Amy Greenberg," she called over her shoulder.
