Keep up those awesome reviews! By the way, I have another (completed) CM fic up in case anyone is interested. Enjoy the chapter loves.
XXI
Stepping out of the most satisfying shower she had ever taken, JJ started combing through the knots in her hair as she took a seat on her bed. Glancing to her right, she saw Emily's bags lying untouched and couldn't help but feel another pang of guilt. She should have never gone alone. Shaking the thought immediately, JJ dried herself and dressed in a light blue blazer and black dress pants before applying some desperately needed make-up to hide the black circles and noticeably paler complexion. Just as she was finishing up, her cell phone buzzed as she received a text from Morgan.
Garcia found something.
DM
Rushing to Hotch's door, she knocked and waited for the unit chief to open.
"JJ, it's only seven-thirty." He frowned, clearly annoyed that she hadn't taken time to rest.
"Garcia's got something." She showed him the message. "We should be at the station working with the rest of the team." Hotch sighed and nodded.
"Alright." He reached over and grabbed his wallet and keys. "Let's go."
"Hit us with it Baby Girl." Morgan spoke to the techie on speaker as Hotch and JJ got settled in the conference room.
"Crime fighters," Garcia's voice rang out. "Remember how I found Mackenzie's apartment by tracking the power source needed to hack into your oh-so-wonderful devices?"
"Yea." Morgan drew on the word and waited for a response.
"Well, call me old school but I tried that again and guess what?" she left a dramatic pause which the agents were accustomed to. "That's right, it worked."
"What'd you find Garcia?" Hotch asked.
"Greetings my liege. Well, I decided to recheck the signal along the road Emily and Mackenzie were and found something pretty weird." Typing could be heard through the phone and a map appeared on the screen in front of everyone. It displayed a twenty mile radius with hundreds of little dots, presumably signals needing cell towers to function. "This is two minutes before I turned your phones back on, which by the way, you're welcome." Nothing changed on the map. "Now watch the left corner as two minutes pass and your phones are reactivated." A single dot appeared that hadn't been there before.
"What exactly does that mean?" Rossi folded his arms and waited for an explanation.
"Well my Italian Stallion, that new dot is Emily's cell phone." Garcia informed them.
"The other dot that's moving with hers;" Reid pointed out. "What is it?"
"Excellent question Boy Genius and I'm glad you asked!" Garcia zoomed in on the area and the team watched as she tracked the blinking dots until they came to a stop on the side of the road, presumably when their car had been hit. "Something in the car that didn't belong to Emily emitted a transponder signal 24/7."
"You mean like a tracker?" JJ asked in confusion.
"Exactly like a tracker Sunshine."
"That doesn't make any sense." Rossi pouted. "That car was NYPD issued; there's no way anyone could have installed a tracker on it."
"Rossi's right, the car was in the department's lock up until someone needed it." Morgan added.
"What if it's not the car?" Hotch voiced. "What if it's something in it?"
"Something like what?" Reid asked.
"Like a person." The dark haired man responded, earning himself several confused glances.
"Not a person, Hotch." JJ shot out of her seat in excitement. "Something a person was wearing."
"How much do you wanna bet that Hail spent thousands of dollars on Mackenzie's wardrobe?" Morgan rose slowly and placed his palms on the table.
"Not just her wardrobe but her jewelry too." Reid pointed out.
"The outfit she was in would've cost at least $700." JJ added. "Not to mention the-" A thought struck the woman suddenly. "It's in the necklace."
"What is?" Morgan asked her.
"Whatever Hail's using to track her." Hotch chimed in. "There's no way she would have agreed to that so he had to have placed it somewhere she would never think to look."
"What girl looks for a bug when given a diamond necklace?" Garcia asked sarcastically.
"Garcia, can you track it?" Hotch asked the phone on the table.
"Only if it's still on Sir." She began to type furiously and each member of the team held their breath. "Damnit! He turned it off seconds after she was separated from Emily."
"Now how the hell do we find her?" Morgan grumbled and returned to his seat.
"Do we know what Hail used Mackenzie for?" Rossi asked only to receive raised eyebrows from his colleagues. "I mean, did the money she stole go to him?"
"Most likely." JJ rolled her wrist as she leaned back in the chair. "There's no way to find out since we don't have any official records on 'Mackenzie'."
"You can't find financial records on a person that doesn't exist." Reid mumbled to himself.
"Well what if we find her?" Morgan asked suddenly. "The real her. She can't be older than 20, someone has to be missing her."
"Not necessarily." Rossi pointed out. "She could be an orphan."
"Or she could've just run away from abusive parents who never would've reported her." Reid added.
"What harm will it do to turn it anyway?" Hotch asked rhetorically. "Garcia, get the footage from the station and run Mackenzie's face through every missing person's database in the country."
"Be back in a flash my loves." She said and hung up.
"Maybe we'll get lucky and she told Emily something." JJ shrugged, doubting the idea.
"It's worth a shot." Morgan agreed.
"Why don't you two go back to the hospital and see how she's doing?" Rossi told JJ and Hotch, knowing that the only thing the two wanted was to see Emily again.
Five minutes later, the two agents were back in the SUV and headed straight to 535 E 70th street. It didn't take long for JJ to fall asleep against the passenger window and for Hotch to place his jacket over her at the next red light. About a half hour later, thanks to a fair amount of traffic, they were back in Emily's room waiting for her to wake up. Neither spoke, both too afraid to wake the brunette, so they just sipped on their coffee and got comfortable. Dr. Kyler came in and reassured the two of Emily's condition about fifteen minutes after their arrival.
"These are her pain meds." He handed the bottle to Hotch. "She'll be in a lot of pain, especially her ribs, for the next few days so make sure she takes them at the slightest inkling of discomfort. Oh and I don't have to tell you to keep her out of the field for at least another month."
"You definitely don't Doctor." Hotch shook the man's hand and accepted the release papers. "Thank you." After Garcia had cleared the medical personnel, Hotch and Dr. Kyler had gotten alone swimmingly, both men obvious concerned for Emily's welfare.
"I hope you catch him." the smaller man said in a quiet voice.
"Oh, we will." JJ assured him with an intense stare. Minutes later, Emily was slowly waking from her deep sleep and greeted her friends warmly.
"How are you feeling?" JJ didn't miss how Hotch's lowered his voice whenever talking to the brunette, giving it a much softer tone. She smiled to herself at the thought.
"Better. When can I-"
"I have your release papers in my pocket." He assured her with a smile of his own and she enthusiastically swung her legs over the side of the bed only to regret the sudden action. JJ and Hotch each grabbed an arm to ease her into a standing position as Emily tried to find a comfortable way to breathe.
"This is going to be so much fun." The older woman grumbled as the two released her. Hotch held out the papers for her and she signed swiftly.
"I'll let you get dressed." Hotch shyly pressed a kiss to her lips, wary of showing too much affection in front of JJ but Emily would have none of it. She grabbed the man by the collar and yanked him forward, only managing to stay upright thanks to Hotch's hold on the small of her back. JJ silently giggled like a little girl as she waited for the kiss to subside. Hotch avoided her gaze as he strolled out of the room with a smile plastered on his face.
"You guys are just too cute." JJ gushed as she handed Emily the bag she had packed for her. The brunette playfully shoved her shoulder.
"Just help me." She ordered and began sorting through the selection of clothes.
"Whatever you say, Buttercup." JJ snickered and Emily frowned in confusion as she began the annoyingly slow process of getting dressed.