Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Criminal Minds.
Bravery
Part 10
By N. J. Borba
"Thank you for mommy, and pumpkin pie and fruit loops and Thanksgiving… and maybe someday I can have a doggie. Amen," Kacey concluded her prayer.
Emily couldn't help smile at her daughter's thankful list, even though she wasn't sure how she felt about the child attending a Catholic school and being raised in that faith. She certainly still had her issues with organized religion, but mostly Emily hated that it was another aspect of Kacey's life that she'd had no say in. "Time for bed now," Emily announced from her side of the queen-sized bed that they shared.
The girl jumped to her feet. "But I'm not tired and I wanna play with the ladybugs," Kacey said. "Please, mommy. Just for a little while."
"You're not tired because someone let you have pie and fruit loops for desert," Emily pointed out. "I'm still not very good at this mommy business."
Kacey grinned. "You're the best," she insisted.
"You only say that because you want me to let you stay up," Emily guessed.
"No," her head shook. "Because you're funny and smart, and I love you," Kacey declared.
Emily's bedtime command was further stalled as she placed a hand against her still-flat abdomen. "Do you think I'll be a good mommy to the new baby, too?"
The six-year-old backed away from the bed and made a move toward the nearby dresser. She scooped up the items that were resting on the edge and walked back to the bed, dropping them beside her mother. "I decided on names," Kacey said. She grabbed the biggest one and held it out. "This is Derek," she declared.
Emily examined the painted rocks, noting that Kacey had once again successfully avoided talking about the baby. Since their first night of captivity, when Kacey had asked about the baby, she'd gotten very good at ignoring or changing the topic whenever Emily brought up the subject. Emily wasn't sure if it was something she needed to worry about or not. But at the moment, the two of them still had plenty of other things to worry about.
It had been close to two weeks since they'd been taken by Morris and locked up. They liked to call it an apartment, but it was really a prison cell. Kacey had reluctantly resigned herself to the situation, having protested loudly at first. But even in complacent mode, she was only six years old, which led to a lot of wall climbing. Almost literally some days. Emily had done her best to keep Kacey engaged in activities, mostly school, some games, minimal television and a few attempts at art projects.
Their favorite project had been the ladybug rocks. Doris had easily complied with their wish for a paint set, but the request for rocks had taken a few days. Finally their jailors presented them with some nearly pebble-sized rocks that wouldn't do much damage against reinforced glass. They'd all been painted red with black spots. She and Kacey had even started to refer to them as a family. "And this one is Emily," the girl placed another rock beside the Derek-rock. "I think they love each other."
"In that case," Emily selected one of the four remaining rocks. "I think this one should be named Kacey," she proclaimed. "And the smallest one can be the baby, but it doesn't have a name yet. Are there any names you'd like to pick out for the baby?"
Kacey eyed the smallest rock, but she didn't say anything about it. She picked up the other two. "And these are their pets, a dog named Zebra and a kitty named Blue."
Emily grinned at her daughter's choice of names, though she was still a little unsure about the baby avoidance. "Okay, I think the family is going to sleep now. You need to put them back," she instructed. Emily watched as the girl did so. She took her time, carefully placing each rock back on the dresser. Kacey even kissed them all and told them goodnight, one by one, except for the baby ladybug rock.
The two of them were snuggled under the covers minutes later. Kacey turned to Emily. "Mommy, tomorrow is the plan day, right?"
"Well…" Emily drew her daughter closer. "It was supposed to be the plan day, but we can't go now because I still have the bracelet on." Her goal had been to win Morris' trust enough to get him to take the monitoring anklet off, but Emily didn't think that was ever going to happen.
"But I remembered everything, and I know what to do. I can do the plan," Kacey said.
"Not by yourself, baby."
"Yes, I can," Kacey insisted. "I can run fast just like you said, and I know all the numbers to tell. I know not to go to a house because it's safer to go somewhere with lots of people, like a mall or grocery store."
A contemplative sigh escaped Emily's lips. She'd been plotting an escape plan since the first day of their internment. Emily had also been watching the news. Three children's bodies had been found in the Mark Twain National Forest. Two bodies meant to be her and Kacey had supposedly been tossed into Lake Michigan, but neither had been found. And the BAU team had been recalled to Quantico after several days with no leads. The most important tidbit of news for Emily had been that Derek was alive. She knew that he'd keep looking, even if he had to resign to do so. She believed that with a faith deeper than any religion. Of course, the other day she'd also believed that a peanut butter sandwich would taste good with fruit loops. Her instincts had been correct then, too, but probably a lot skewed due to the baby making hormones coursing through her veins. All of that aside, she knew they needed to get away from Morris.
"I really could do it, mommy," Kacey said again.
Emily kissed her daughter's forehead. "I know you could, baby."
They fell asleep shortly after that, but Emily's sleep was fitful. It was plagued by horrible dreams of Morris hurting Kacey, and he and Doris running off with her baby in their arms. At 4am she finally sat up, giving up on sleep. It was still dark out and quiet. There was no rain, no wind. Emily glanced over at Kacey who was still asleep and her mind was suddenly made up. She got out of bed and bustled around the place, gathering a few things and laying them out. As she worked, Emily kept telling herself it was the perfect day because hordes of crazy people would be out trying to track down a bargain after yesterday's Thanksgiving feasts. Best of all, though, they'd be doing it earlier in the morning. And the thick fog outside would give good cover to sneak away unseen.
At a quarter to five, Emily roused her sleeping child. "Kace," she gently ran her fingers down the girl's cheek. "Kacey, wake up, sweetheart."
"Mommy?"
"You need to get up." And she needed to get up fast, because Emily was sure she'd chicken out if given half a change to slow down. "I laid out some clothes for you. Put the leggings on under the jeans, and wear both sweaters. I'm going to make you eggs for breakfast."
"I want fruit loops."
"You need eggs for protein, now get changed quickly."
By five o'clock Emily was watching as Kacey ate all of her breakfast. She was pretty sure Kacey sensed that something was going on and that it would be best to do everything as told. After the eggs had been cleaned from her plate, Emily sat her down on the bed and put a pair of cotton socks on her feet, tucking them under her leggings. Then she layered two more pairs of socks over them. "You don't have shoes and the ground will be cold."
Kacey aimed her big blue eyes up at Emily. "The plan?" she asked.
"Yes," Emily replied. She used one of her long sleeved shirts and tied it into a sling across Kacey's body. Then she tucked a package of crackers in there with a banana and a juice box. Emily tied another shirt around Kacey's head, making sure it covered her ears like a hat.
She went to the bed and pulled it away from the back wall. There was already a large hole there, from one stud to another, and just low enough to still be covered by the bed's headboard. She'd removed all the wallboard and insulation, wrapped them in a sheet and hid them under the bed. Thankfully Doris had left all the cleaning chores up to her and Kacey, so she'd never seen a thing. The hard part would be breaking through the exterior wall. Cedar shake siding wouldn't cause much of a hole, but the problem was the plywood sheathing, which would come off in a large section. It was a risk she had to take.
With pillows shoved into the hole and pressed against the exterior portion of the wall, Emily sat on her butt, braced herself, and kicked as hard as she could. The sound was muffled and she kicked again. It took several more concentrated bursts of power, but the wall finally gave way, hanging on by a thread of vapor barrier. When she looked to the other side, Emily was elated to see a fence at the rear of the structure. It would hopefully hide the damage she'd just done. Emily rushed to the large window in the living area and peeked out, seeing if any lights had come on in the house. The house looked completely still, though.
Emily returned to the room and found Kacey standing by the hole in the wall. She had one of the ladybug rocks in her hand. Emily kissed her and hugged her, holding on for a long time. "I can do it, mommy," Kacey finally said.
The words didn't instill confidence into Emily; they made her rethink the whole crazy idea for a moment. When the moment passed, she used the fear in her gut to propel her forward. "I love you, baby," she whispered, her voice cracking.
"I love you, mommy," Kacey whispered back.
When Kacey was through Emily pushed the bed back into place over the interior hole. She went to the side window and slid the curtains back, watching as Kacey took off running down the graveled alley. Due to the heavy fog, Kacey was out of sight in a matter of seconds. Emily closed her eyes. "I know I haven't done this in a really long time," she spoke aloud. "And maybe you're still upset with me over certain things I've done in my life, but Kacey is one thing I've done that turned out pretty damn perfect. So, please… please watch over her and keep her safe," Emily prayed.
xxx
The ground was cold against her feet even with the three pairs of socks on. And the air was chilly against her face. Kacey didn't dwell on those things as she ran down the alley. It was hard to see in the fog, but she turned a corner at the end of the alley and then made another turn, sure to run opposite of where she'd come from. Street lights created large puddles of light, but there were still some spots where it was a little dark. Kacey ran through those spots quicker. She also ran through a park, past play equipment and an empty pool. Tall trees whizzed past her and made her feel like she was back in that forest with Derek again. She missed Derek and hoped to see him soon, but she missed her mommy even more.
After what felt like a really long time to her, Kacey finally came to a busier street; one without houses or park. There were more lights, both on the sides of the street as well as stop lights dangling above the center of the street. She stood on one corner of an intersection. Three cars were stopped, two to her left and one to the right. Kitty-corner from her was a place that looked like a shopping center. She hit the crosswalk button and patiently waited. Kacey crossed in two directions, looking both ways even after being given the walk signal. Then she rushed toward one of the stores she could see up ahead.
People were standing in a long line in front of the store; men, women and even some children. Kacey recalled what her mother had said about finding a busy place. She approached the line cautiously and searched the crowd. She spotted a woman who was kind of short with blonde hair. The woman was holding a small child bundled up in her arms and there was a man standing beside them, his hand against the woman's back. The mother was smiling at her sleeping child, so Kacey picked her.
"Excuse me," she greeted them politely. "Do you have a cell phone I can use?"
The blonde woman looked down at Kacey, instantly curious about her appearance, especially her lack of shoes. "Are you lost, sweetie?"
"I need to call someone to pick my mommy and me up," Kacey replied.
Fog settled in all around them and they shivered on the sidewalk. "You look really familiar, kid," the man spoke up, glancing down at her. His eyes widened, as if in recognition. "Are you that missing girl, Kacey Donovan?"
Kacey's head nodded vigorously. "Yes," she'd seen some of the news programs that her mother had been watching. "Please," again she asked politely. "I need to call someone so they can find my mommy."
"We should really call the police," the woman said, passing her child to the man at her side. She pulled out a purple cell phone and flipped it open.
"No, please, I need to call someone else first," Kacey pleaded her case. "It's really, really important."
The woman looked to her husband and they both shrugged, uncertain what to do. "Do you know the number you want to call?" she finally asked.
"703-555-2111."
Numbers were pressed. "Here you go, sweetie," the woman handed her phone to Kacey.
xxx
Early morning sun shown down on them as he passed the football. It wasn't terribly warm, but Derek wasn't used to seeing any sunshine around Thanksgiving time; not in Virginia or in Chicago. But southern California was a whole different story. The football came hurdling back at him from across the small distance where his ball throwing partner was standing. The kid was taking it easy on him, given his recent injuries. The kid was James Barfield, a boy he'd befriended years ago in Chicago. Now that kid had a full ride scholarship to play ball for the University of Southern California. And James had gotten Derek and his friends into Memorial Stadium for a little game of catch before the USC team started one of their crack-of-dawn practices over the holiday break.
Morgan glanced over at the two people in the stands; Penelope and Kevin. Derek was technically still on approved medical leave, though he'd only convalesced for the first four and a half days. On the fifth day he'd attended Lucas Donovan's funeral. Garcia had been there with him, and was still at his side. When the rest of the team had been recalled she'd taken leave, too, citing a family emergency. Her time had been spent with Morgan tracking every possible lead on Emily and Kacey. In both their minds that was, indeed, family related. Checking out an FBI safe-house location in Los Angeles was how they'd ended up spending Thanksgiving in the area. When Kevin had flown in to visit his family in Pasadena, he'd been pleasantly surprised to find his girlfriend.
"You can tell me anything that's on your mind," James let his friend know. Derek had been the closest thing to a father in his life for many years. They'd also shared a huge secret that cemented a bond between them. "I only met her once, but she seemed like a good person."
"Emily is the best person I know," Derek emphasized the word, is, not liking that James had used words that reeked of past tense.
The boy wore a grin. "Damn fine body, too," he nodded.
Derek shook his head and passed the ball again. "You do know there's more to a woman than physical attributes."
"Says the old man," James playfully ribbed. "I know you used to be a player." He tossed the ball.
"Those days are long gone," Morgan insisted, lining up his fingers along the ball.
James grinned again. "Yeah, because you got yourself a seriously fine woman," the boy remarked. His face turned serious, though, as he caught another pass. "You think it's possible to have a normal life after everything we've been through?"
That was a damn fine question. One Derek really didn't have an answer for. He wanted to believe so, but it seemed things were always being thrown in his way of a happy life. Some of those things were outside forces, but some were walls he'd built all on his own. He really wanted to break them down, but he was almost certain he needed Emily's help. His phone rang just as the ball sailed out of his hands. "I've got to take this, kid. Could be important," Morgan glanced at the caller ID but didn't recognize the number. The area code wasn't east coast and it wasn't local. "Hello," he answered.
"Derek?"
The small uncertain voice had Derek perched on the edge of hope. "Kacey?" he asked in return. "Is that you sweetheart, where are you?"
"I don't know... mommy is still at the bad place. You have to come help," she begged.
"Okay, darling. But I need to know where you are, is there anyone who can tell you?" Morgan watched as James caught Garcia and Kevin's attention and waved them down. He also heard the girl talking to someone else, and then another voice greeted him.
"Hello?" the woman spoke. "My name is Helen Thompson; Kacey came up to us outside the Sears store in Medford, Oregon. She asked to use my phone and my husband recognized her from all the news reports. Should we call the police?"
"My name is Derek Morgan, ma'am, I'm with the FBI," he quickly introduced himself as Garcia and Kevin rushed to his side. "Can I trust you with Kacey's life?"
"Yes, sir," her response was confident.
He let out a breath. "Good, then I need you and your husband to take her to the nearest police station and stay with her. I'm in southern California right now, but I'm going to catch the next flight out."
"Okay, we'll get her there," Helen assured him.
"Can I talk to Kacey again?"
There was a short pause and Kacey's voice came back on the line. "Derek, I'm scared. I need to go back to mommy, but I didn't see the house number and it was really foggy and dark. I don't remember the way back to mommy."
"That's alright, sweetheart. The lady with you, Helen, she's going to take you to the police and I'll be there real soon. I need you to tell the police officers anything you can remember."
"Okay. I want to see you, Derek."
Morgan smiled. He wanted to see her, too. "You will, brave-girl. I'm going to hang up now but I'll call you back real soon. I promise."
"I love you, Derek," Kacey told him.
Her words seemed to come so easily. For a second he pretended they'd been born of her need to feel reassured about what was going on. But the truth was they'd bonded almost instantly up on that mountain. His response came nearly as easily. "I love you, too, Kacey. I'll see you soon," He hung up, not wanting to prolong the goodbye any further. He hoped he'd also get a chance to finally tell Emily he loved her.
Derek quickly bid James farewell and then he and Garcia rushed toward their rental car, leaving Kevin behind to contact Hotch.
xxx
It was nine o'clock in the morning and Emily hadn't been able to go back to sleep, nor could she eat. Her stomach was tied in knots, and not because of the baby. She hadn't thrown up in three days and was pretty much just hungry all the time anymore. But even the thought of anything with peanut butter on it, which had so far been her biggest craving, wasn't remotely enticing to her at the moment. Her worry for Kacey was all-consuming.
The front door opened and closed. Doris walked in. Neither she nor Morris ever bothered to knock. "I figured you'd be awake by now."
"Kacey's still sleeping," Emily promptly replied, hoping she didn't sound too eager to answer.
"I'm about to head out and was wondering if there's anything Kacey or you needed," Doris inquired.
"We need a lot of things you can't provide," Emily returned.
Doris frowned. "You still don't like me."
Emily scoffed at that obvious statement. "I'm never going to be your friend. I don't understand how you could do any of this." Worry and guilt was causing her temper to flare, and Doris was the perfect target.
"Wouldn't you do anything for your child?"
"Not kidnap innocent people and hold them hostage," Emily spat. "Not kill innocent children."
"I didn't kill those children, Mel did," the woman replied.
The knot in Emily's stomach twisted tighter. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time. Over the years, Emily had heard some of the worst criminals had to offer, but she was pretty sure her hormones were causing her to be more disgusted than usual over what Doris believed. "You knew, you stood by and did nothing. In my book that's the same as killing them. And for what?"
"So Katie will never be forgotten. Mel and I tried for a long time to have a child, but the tests revealed that he was never going to get me pregnant. Paul and I were in a support group together at church. We went out for coffee several times after the group and suddenly he offered to father a child for me, no strings attached. I went along and eventually we fell in love. Mel made things difficult, though. He knew about Katie not being his, he knew about the affair. He wouldn't sign the divorce papers, he was punishing me and that day when Katie was in the tree, he... it wasn't an accident what happened, Mel pushed her."
Emily shook her head. "And I'm supposed to believe this sob story?"
"You don't have to, but it's the truth. Mel felt horrible, so he tried to make it up to me by taking those other children."
"And you went along with it? You just keep proving my point," Emily sighed, exasperatedly.
Doris protested. "I had to; he threatened me."
A tiny pang of sympathy filled Emily. "But he killed them anyway."
"He felt so bad," Doris said.
Her sympathy flew out the window. "You are deluded."
"Paul said so, too, but he said he could help me. By taking Kacey, he said we'd have our Katie back."
"And he could pin the kidnapping on me while the three of you took off. Only that didn't happen, Mel decided to stop you. Maybe the only sane thing he did," Emily noted. "I'm sure Morris was plenty happy when I presented him with a way to kill Mel."
Doris' head shook. "We never wanted anyone to die."
"Oh, forget it..." Emily had never actually talked to a brick wall before, but she was fairly certain it would be similar to the conversation she'd just had. "Kacey ate all of the Fruit Loops last night, and I wouldn't mind a sweatshirt of some kind. It gets a little drafty in here." She decided to just play along, hoping to buy Kacey more time.
The other woman left, but the door opened again not five minutes later. Morris walked in. "Doris is always supposed to check on Kacey in the morning," he informed Emily. "You know that's one of the rules."
Emily nodded. "I know, but I let Kacey eat too many sweets yesterday and she has a stomach ache. She's still resting," the lies came out easily, but the look she saw on Morris' face told her he wasn't buying it.
He walked to the bedroom door and yanked it open. "She's not in bed," he spun around to face Emily.
"She must have gotten up to use the bathroom when I wasn't looking," Emily replied, her lies getting harder to digest.
Morris shook his head in a doubtful manner. "You didn't see her? Where could you possibly be in this small space that you wouldn't see her?" He stalked toward the bathroom and opened the door. He searched behind the door, behind the shower curtain and even in the small linen closet. Then he returned to the bedroom.
Emily remained silent as she watched him look inside the closet. She knew exactly where he'd search next. There was no other place to look. He went to one knee and peered under the bed. Then he pulled out the sheet, his eyes growing wide at the sight before him. Finally he pushed the bed away from the wall. Morris turned his head toward Emily. "Where is she?" he asked.
"I don't know," Emily shrugged. That was the truth. "I told her to run."
His green eyes glared at her, but he didn't raise his voice or lay a hand on her. Only calm furry snaked out with his words, "You've made a very big mistake."
xxx
Two and a half hours after Kacey's call, Derek walked through the Medford police station and scooped the six-year-old up into his arms. Morgan held on to her for a long time then he carefully peeled her away enough so she could see what Garcia had in her hands. "Emily!" she reached out for the stuffed ladybug and smashed it against her chest. Kacey then dug into the pocket of her jeans and showed Derek the painted rock she'd been carrying around with her. "This is Emily, too."
Derek smiled, kissed her on the cheek and finally turned toward the police chief who was standing to his right. "Have you found the house?" In transit, from the airport into town, he'd been informed about everything Kacey had told the police. Morgan knew they were looking for a yellow two-story house and detached garage. He also knew the city wasn't that big. It seemed they should've already had Emily.
"No, sir," chief Richards replied. "We've got every available car out canvassing neighborhood by neighborhood. A few yellow houses have turned up, but surprisingly no two-story ones, yet. And the license number Kacey gave us is for a 2007 Ford Escape; silver, registered to a woman named Samantha Neilson. Not sure who she is or how she connects to Morris."
"Have you taken Kacey with you to search for the house?" Garcia asked. "She's the only one who's actually been there."
Richards shook his head. "We didn't want to run the risk of the girl being recaptured."
"She won't be on my watch," Morgan declared. He shifted the girl to his right hip. "Come on Kacey; let's go find your mommy." Kacey was happy to help. She sat in the back of a black SUV, Derek to one side of her and Garcia on the other. "Tell me about this morning," Derek prodded her as an officer drove them around. "It was foggy and dark… where did you go first?"
"Down the alley and then left… or maybe right."
Penelope held the girl's hand, lending what little support she could. She wasn't used to being in the field, but the rest of the team wasn't due to land for another half hour. "What did you see, sweetheart?" she asked.
"Just houses."
"What else?" Derek asked.
"I saw trees in the park," Kacey's eyes widened as she spoke. "I forgot about the park, Derek. I'm sorry."
Morgan smoothed a hand over the back of her head. "It's okay. Tell me what you saw at the park."
"A pool. At the apartment, mommy let me swim in the bathtub and we pretended that we were at the beach."
Derek sat forward. "Do you know a park like that?" he asked the officer who was driving.
"Probably Hawthorne Park, we're only a few blocks away," he said, taking a hard right.
A few minutes later Garcia and Derek were standing on either side of Kacey in the middle of the park. They'd spotted the pool and just needed to jog Kacey's memories enough to get a direction. Finally the girl pointed north. "I was running that way."
"Makes sense," Officer Keller nodded. "That's the direction of the shopping center where she was found. But we've had cars all over this area. No one has reported back on a house that fits the description she gave."
"Then we need to search again," Morgan insisted. He could tell the officer wasn't convinced about Kacey's ability to remember what had happened. But Derek believed in her. They roamed the neighborhood, traveling up and down the same streets, over and over. One house kept catching Derek's eye. It was painted light green, but the trim was white and the shutters were dark green, which still matched Kacey's description. Two huge evergreen trees flanked the sides, and an eight foot fence and more trees obscured the rest of the house from being seen. "Drive around the back of this one," Morgan instructed.
The rear of the house wasn't visible until they were right up on it. Its appearance caused Derek's heart to tighten. The back and sides of the structure were yellow, exactly as Kacey had stated. She'd just never seen the front. And the police hadn't bothered to cruise the back alley of that particular street. Morgan couldn't blame them, though, he'd let it pass him by numerous times, too. Now he bolted from the SUV, instructing Garcia to stay put with Kacey. Officer Keller called for backup and then followed Morgan into the yard.
Derek approached the garage. "I've got this, check the house," he ordered the officer. His heart was pounding as he rounded the corner and neared the garage door. There was a lock and key pad near the knob. Morgan turned the knob then tried to kick it in, but the door was steel. "If anyone's in there stand clear of the door!" he shouted and waited just a few seconds before he fired at the lock. The door swung open and he stepped inside, leading with his gun.
It didn't take long to search the small space. Emily wasn't there. "Mommy!" Kacey shouted as she came barreling into the apartment.
Garcia locked eyes with Morgan. "I'm sorry, she's slippery and fast."
Kacey dashed into the bedroom and looked around. She went to the dresser where the other ladybug rocks were. Derek stood behind her. "The Kacey rock is missing, mommy must have her," she told Derek. "The ladybug family is sad without her."
Officer Keller approached them. "There's no one in the house, and no vehicle anywhere," he reported.
"Where's mommy?" Kacey finally asked.
Morgan lifted her up. "I'm going to find her, darling. We'll put the ladybug family back together again, I promise."
To Be Continued…