Hi everyone, welcome back. I want to thank those few who reviewed. Thanks for the taking the time to letting me know what you thought. Much appreciated. Here is the next installment so go read and hopefully enjoy.
The morning got off to a depressing start when Rossi, JJ and Reid learned from the ranger on duty at the station that the search teams had been unsuccessful locating Agent Prentiss. With hearts heavy with worry, the three resumed going over what they had, which was pretty much nothing. It was to their surprise when Hotch walked in and joined them at the table.
"What do we have?" he asked.
"Shouldn't you be on the mountain helping with the search?" JJ asked, her voice ringing with disapproval.
"Head Ranger Daly has everything well under control that I feel useless and I can't abide with standing around doing nothing, so I thought I would check in here first. See what you may have found and fill you in on what we have learned," he said reasonably.
JJ wasn't totally convinced. "And Morgan? Where is he?"
"On his way back up as we speak."
Dave arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure that is wise? Without you there reining him in, Morgan could go off on his own to search for Prentiss."
"Ranger Wood has agreed to partner up with Morgan. He promised not to let him out of his sight or go off half cocked."
"Guess that will have to do," Dave said, also not completely happy with Hotch's choice. But then he wasn't the boss and he shouldn't second-guess his decisions. After all, Hotch knew this team better than he did. He was still working out the team's dynamics.
"So what do we have?" Hotch repeated.
Dave became all business. "Reid has been going through the missing reports looking for commonalities that they might share with Prentiss."
"Did you?" Hotch asked, directing his question at the young agent.
"Nothing really. As we determined before Emily went missing, there wasn't a particular type that was prevalent among them. They are a mixture of young and old, different hair colors, single or married." He paused and held up a finger. "But there was something that was bothering me last night so I want to go back through them."
"Okay."
JJ picked up the commentary. "Rossi and I went over to the diner where Emily and Morgan had lunch. We were hoping the wait staff might have noticed someone paying too much attention to them."
"And?"
She consulted her notebook before tossing it on the table in disgust. "Two of the servers called in sick that day, leaving one to handle the whole crowd. She had been so busy, she couldn't remember waiting on them, even when we showed her their pictures."
"Was she able to tell you who some of the other customers were?"
"No," Dave injected. "She said she was, quote, 'running around like a chicken with its head cut off'. She also said she was damn lucky if she got the orders right."
"We need to make a public appeal, asking those who were at the diner during the time Morgan and Prentiss were there, to contact us."
"Will do," JJ said.
Dave's phone went off and he glanced at the screen. "It's Garcia," he informed everyone. "What did you find?" he asked her when she came on the line.
"A whole lot of nothing. I fully vetted the ranger staff and there's not a bad apple among them."
"And the other?"
"Too astronomically long. I need more to whittle it down."
"We're looking for a man who is physically fit. Probably around six foot, muscularly built."
"How did you come up with that?"
"The dogs were only able to follow Prentiss' scent from the car to where Morgan found her phone. We couldn't find any tracks of an ATV so the only way he could have gotten her out was to carry her."
Dave nodded. "It would still be tough to do. Television and books make it sound like it is an easy to carry an adult, especially with a woman of Prentiss' stature."
"At some point he would have to put her down and force her to walk," JJ pointed out.
"That's what I'm hoping for. It would give the dogs another chance to pick up her scent."
"Okay. I can weed out all the ninety-eight pounds weaklings who get sand kicked in their faces," Garcia said. Over the line they could hear her pounding away at her keyboard. "Well, that narrowed it down a bit," she finally said. "But its is still an uber long list. Any other suggestions to help narrow this puppy down?"
"Guys, I think I got something," Reid suddenly announced, sitting straighter in his chair. Everyone looked at him in surprise, having forgotten that he was even there since he had been overly quiet which was unusual for him.
"What did you find?" Hotch was the first to ask.
Reid eagerly spread four files across the table's surface. He gestured to each as he spoke. "Over the past four years, these four women have gone missing in the month of September: Samantha Harris, Hannah Stromberg, Evelyn Franks and Roberta Tomzak."
JJ's eyes widened. "And this is September."
"Yup," Reid said with a grin.
"That's one commonality," Dave observed.
Reid looked around the table. "I have another one," he stated, still grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Dave repressed a sigh. "Spit it out, Reid."
"They were all mothers."
JJ frowned at his revelation. "That might link the four women but not Emily; she's not a mother."
Hotch spoke up. "He must have assumed she was. Morgan told me that on the way back to the station, he and Prentiss literally ran into a little girl who was lost. Prentiss was the one who interacted with the child. Our UnSub probably witnessed it and jumped to the wrong conclusion."
"And when he realizes he is wrong, he could kill her," JJ said with a shudder.
The room fell silent at the sobering thought. Then Dave shook his head. "I don't think so, at least, not right away. There's a reason why he is abducting women in September."
"Oh," Garcia exclaimed. "The body that was recovered at the site where Emily was taken was that of Samantha Harris' husband, Michael."
"Another piece of the puzzle," Dave mused, drumming his fingers thoughtfully on the table. "But why?"
"Motherhood," Reid reiterated.
Hotch picked up his line of thought. "He wants to start a family and targeted women he thinks would make the perfect wife, ones who are already mothers. And he takes them in the fall when tourism slows down and there is less of chance of someone stumbling over his hiding place."
Dave's eyebrows shot up. "He's hibernating with them."
Emily's experience with children outside of work was zero. When she was a kid, she had no desire to baby-sit, preferring books over screaming babies. And the time she spent with Declan didn't add up to much. They had played together only while she let Louise handle the taking care of part. But the short amount of time they spent together was enough for him burrow into her heart. So she was totally unprepared for Allie refusing to take a bath even though she knew her father had ordered it. The girl happily helped Emily find everything she needed to prepare the bath: towels, soap, shampoo and the small metal portable tub. It was actually getting in that was the sticking point.
Emily pinched the bridge of her sore nose and did something she never thought she would do. She channeled her mother. She turned and leveled a steely gaze on the little girl. "Young lady! You heard your father, so stop stalling and get in that tub this instance," she said in a voice that brooked no discussion.
Allie blinked in surprise and then nodded. "Okay, Mommy." She sat Edgar on the table and started to strip off her clothes, but not before making Emily turn her back so that she wouldn't see her naked. Emily wasn't sure if it meant she had bruises on her body from being manhandled by her father or if she was simply shy. Within minutes the minor tantrum was forgotten and the child was happily splashing in the water. Eventually she would learn that getting Allie out of the tub would prove to be just as difficult as getting her in.
With the little girl suitably entertained, Emily used the time to test the limits of her bonds and poke around the cabin. She quickly learned she could reach the far corners of the room on her hands and knees and open the door but not be able to step outside. With her access denied, Emily focused her attention on the kitchenette. She limped over and started rooting through the cabinets and drawers that were unlocked and tugging at the ones that were, hoping to break the locks.
"Mommy, what you looking for?"
Emily turned and couldn't help smile. Allie had slicked all the hair on the top of her head into a tall, very lopsided Mohawk. "Anything I can use to get the shackles off," she explained.
"Oh…okay," Allie said and went back to her splashing.
Much to Emily's disappointment, all she found was pots, dishes and glasses. Anything that could be used as a weapon or a tool had been locked away. All she needed was one damn paperclip that she could use to pick the padlock. Once free, she could make her way to the storage shed and find the tools she needed to remove the pin that held the shackles together, but there wasn't one to be found.
Emily blew out a breath of frustration and turned to look at the closed curtain separating the sleeping area from the rest of the cabin. She hobbled over and pushed it to one side. Inside the small space were two narrow, single beds, neatly made up and at the end of both, two military footlockers that he had probably gotten at an army surplus store. Emily was relieved to see that the father and daughter were not sharing a bed so that reduced the odds that he was molesting her but there still was the possibility that it was happening. She wouldn't know for certain until she got the little girl checked by a doctor.
Between the two beds was a nightstand with a kerosene lamp on top and books, that looked like they belonged to Allie, she doubted he even know how to open one, stocked on the shelf below. But what really captured her attention was the gun safe, where he kept his hunting rifles, and probably her Glock, along one wall. She hurried over to see if it was lock even though she knew it would be a wasted effort. And it was. Idly she chewed on a nail as she debated on what to do next and she had to do it quickly, for she wasn't sure when he would be back. There would be hell to pay if he found her not doing her chores.
She settled on a fast but neat toss of the bedroom on the off chance he might have written down the combination and hidden it. If she could get her hands on her weapon, the status quo would shift and she would have the advantage. Sadly Emily's search turned up nothing of interest. She silently cursed her kidnapper for efficiently captive proofing the cabin. She did find under Allie's bed, a box of women's clothing and grabbed a couple of items to change into later, trying to ignore the fact that the previous owner was dead. She also snatched up a clean outfit for Allie and returned to the main room.
"I think its time for you to get out, Allie-gator," Emily said, setting the clothes on the table and picked up the towel.
Allie crossed her arms and pouted. "I want to stay."
"You're turning into a wrinkly prune," Emily observed with a patient smile.
"No!"
Emily's smiled faded and gave the little girl the same look she had used earlier to get her into the tub. "Out." She unfolded the towel and held it out.
"Fine," Allie whined, but refused to get out until Emily turned her head and looked away.
Emily heard the water slosh about as she climbed out. But what surprised her was that Allie didn't take the towel away from her. Instead, she let Emily wrap it around her and dry her off.
"I hope you don't mind that I picked out an outfit for you while I was in the bedroom," Emily said as she ran the towel over the girl's wet hair.
Allie glanced over and grinned. "My horsies."
Emily chuckled. "Guess it was the right choice." She gave Allie's head one more vigorous rub before wrapping the towel snugly around her thin frame. "Now get dressed and if you want, I can comb you hair for her."
The littler girl nodded, scooped up the outfit and disappeared into the bedroom. Within minutes she was back, dressed in jeans and a light green tee shirt with two horses galloping across the front. Shyly she held a comb out to Emily. "Can you do my hair like yours?"
"Sure."
Emily took the comb, pulled out a chair to sit on and gestured for Allie to stand between her knees. The girl grabbed Edgar and did as she was asked. "Do you like horses?" she asked, hoping to distract the girl from what was to come. She wondered as she started combing, when Allie had combed her hair last for it was a mass of snarls.
Allie nodded vigorously and happily launched into a detailed and, at times, convoluted monologue of the horse picture books she had looked through at the library when her father condescended to take her there. Her favorites by far were the ones that were painted or covered in spots.
"Pintos and appaloosas," Emily corrected absently as she worked her fingers and the comb through a particularly nasty snarl.
"Yeah, those. Mommy, do you like horsies?" she asked, biting her lip when Emily accidentally tugged too hard on her hair.
"I do. I use to ride when I was a kid. He was a handsome bay by the name of Bogart," Emily said, smiling fondly at the childhood memory. She had loved the feeling of freedom and flying whenever she had climbed onto his back. It was like they were in their own world.
"Do you still do it?"
"No. Not in a long time." She had stopped when she was fifteen. It had been a bad year for her. When she decided to resume riding at sixteen, she learned her parents had sold Bogart, saying it was getting too expensive to feed and stable a horse that was not being ridden, even though the stable was using him to teach other riders. It was just another example of her parents not caring how their actions affected her. Somewhere in the back of her closet was a box full of ribbons and trophies that her parents didn't see her win because they hadn't bothered to show up.
"When we leave, will you take me riding?"
Emily hesitated briefly then resumed combing. "We'll have to see, Sweetie," she hedged, not wanting to make any promises she couldn't keep.
"Okay," the little girl said with a shrug, apparently satisfied with the answer.
"There," Emily said, sitting back in the chair and admiring the red highlights Allie had in her blonde hair that the washing had brought out. "You're all done and let me say you have beautiful hair."
Allie smiled shyly and stepped from between Emily's knees, taking care not to trip over the shackle's chain. "Can you give Edgar at bath? He's awfully dirty too."
Emily smiled. "Sure, but he'll have to wait a little bit. I have to finish my chores first. Okay?" The girl nodded. "Good. Now why don't you two go out and play."
The little girl didn't have to be asked twice. With Edgar secure in her arms, she dashed to the door and disappeared outside, but not before waving goodbye.
Emily held up her hand. "Bye."
She kept the smile on her face until she was positive Allie was gone. She let it slip as she looked around her prison with despondent eyes. It has been only two days since she was kidnapped, but it felt like a month and she shuddered to think what a week would feel like. Probably like a death sentence, she mused. She sighed and shuffled back to dump out the tub so that she could start scrubbing the floor. Emily hated what he was forcing her to do, but until the right opportunity came up, she would have to continue playing along and stay alive.
Seems like the team is starting to make some progress in finding her. But will they be in time? That is the million dollar question. So please remember to let know what you think. Otherwise, see you next week.