It was in the early afternoon of the next day before Hotch's team managed to return to the Sleepaway Inn and Suites to speak with Laurel and Paige.
"Laurel Mercer?" Hotch asked the woman at the front desk.
"May I ask what this is regarding?" the woman asked formally.
"Oh," she noticed Reid and Blake standing with the group. "I remember you from yesterday. You're with the FBI. Why don't you go wait in the breakfast room and I'll page Laurel for you?"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Agents!" Laurel, wearing her housekeeping smock, walked into the breakfast room a few minutes later, with Paige following close behind her.
"Bunny!" Paige immediately ran over and tackled Rossi around the knees.
"It looks like you have a new name, Rossi," Morgan teased the older agent, who was bending over to pick the girl up.
"Young children frequently give people names based on what they remember about that person," Reid began authoritatively. "And, seeing as how you gave her that stuffed rabbit she is currently holding – "
"Well, if that is the case, I suppose I should call you 'Books'," Blake interrupted him with a smile.
"I think 'Coffee' might be more appropriate," JJ suggested with a smirk.
"Why don't we all sit down?" Hotch suggested. "I want to talk with Laurel and make sure she understands exactly what happened." He pulled out a chair at one of the small tables and held it for Laurel.
"You and Paige were very lucky," Hotch began once everyone was seated. "It appears that the shelter manager and his assistant were running an adoption ring that involved kidnapping mothers with young children and then killing the mothers and arranging for their children to be adopted – For a hefty price, of course."
"They had already killed at least six women and taken their children," Morgan took over the explanation. "And they had you and Paige picked out as their next victims."
"Apparently they had several members of the police department on their payroll," Hotch continued. "They are the ones who initially located the mothers and children and then, after making sure that they were alone and that no one would miss them, they picked them up and took them over to the homeless shelter."
"Unfortunately, there are a lot of women out there who no one would miss if they just disappeared," Blake told her sadly. "And, they figured that you were one of them."
"You mean they have been stalking us?" Laurel asked, surprised.
"We think so," Rossi replied. "We suspect they had been watching you for several weeks and, when you went on your weekly shopping trip, they saw their chance."
"What happens now?" Laurel asked in a small voice.
"Well, the shelter manager and his assistant are both under arrest and will most likely be charged with kidnapping, murder, unlawful imprisonment, and what ever else the DA can think of," Hotch told her.
"And the two officers who picked you and Paige up are also under arrest and will initially be charged with kidnapping," JJ added. "That, of course, is subject to change. Right now, they are claiming that they thought the shelter manager was just looking for a more 'desirable' group of residents that he could use to impress the governing board of the charity that operates the place.
"The detectives and the DA's office are going to be reviewing all the records at the shelter to see if they can identify any others who were involved with the kidnappings and murders," Morgan explained. "And, if they find anyone else, they will also be charged."
"Altogether, it is going to be quite an involved undertaking," Hotch concluded. "But, they are determined to identify everyone involved and to prosecute them."
"Will I have to go into court?" Laurel questioned anxiously. "Because, if I do, I don't want my name in the news. I don't want my husband to know where he can find me and Paige."
"I'm sure you can work something out with the DA," Blake assured her. "If nothing else, you can point out that Paige's privacy needs to be protected."
"Now, there is one more thing," Hotch ventured slowly.
"What?" Laurel looked at him.
"You probably have the basis for a lawsuit – at least three of them, actually," he told her. "As a lawyer, I can tell you that you can sue both the Houston City Police Department and the charity that runs the shelter, as well as the individual officers who picked you up. And, I feel that you would be successful with all the cases. "
"Sue?" Laurel questioned. "I wouldn't know where to start for something like that."
"There are groups that provide lawyers pro bono for individuals like you," JJ told her. "Let me get our computer guru on it and she should be able to tell you who to contact."
"Reid?" Blake suddenly realized that they hadn't heard from their resident genius lately. "Spencer?"
When everyone looked around the room, they saw Reid sitting on the floor with Paige in his lap, reading what appeared to be a children's book to her.
"Since when does Reid carry children's books around with him?" Morgan questioned.
"Since he started reading to Henry," JJ told him with a smile. "Although, that book does appear to be new – I don't think I have seen it before."
"He bought it yesterday while Paige and I picked out her stuffed animals," Rossi explained.
"I have to get a picture of this," Blake had her cell phone out. "Garcia is going to love it!"
