Yup, it's very very late posting. But better late than never!
Hope you've not forgotten this story!
I hope I will be more faithful in posting regularly.
So…on with it!
Enjoy!
10th Muse
….
Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF
Chapter 21
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Emily was on the phone with Derek, "…so I'm to break this to him? Hotch just initiated BAU Protocol 1." She looked up and saw Priscilla walked into the large kitchen with a tray and set it down and turned to watch her. "Roger that…I'll update you later." She placed the phone back into her pocket and walked up to the house keeper. "Where's Dan?"
Priscilla pointed upwards, "He and Mr. Lester are in the Study…"
Emily nodded, "Oh yeah…the 2pm meeting."
Priscilla nodded, "That's right. What's going on?"
Emily sighed, "There's been an accident." She hesitated for a bit before she continued, "Don't be alarm but my Section Chief Strauss, Agent Rossi and Isabelle are missing on their way to his Lodge."
Priscilla sucked in her breath as she placed a hand on her chest, "Oh dear Lord! The sweet child!"
Emily patted her shoulder, "Don't worry, we are trained professionals, they will keep her safe."
The older lady nodded, "Of course, they'll protect the poor baby."
Emily nodded, "With their lives."
She looked up at her, "I have all the confidence in your agency, Agent Prentiss…Emily. But you have to tell Mr. Reader…" Her eyes were reddening. "I'm sorry, Emily but Isabelle is precious to me like my own…just like my Sonia even though she is an adult now but she will always be my baby. Isabelle, I have taken care of her since she was born as well as other nannies she had been with. But I was with her the entire time as well as Sonia…she helped take care of Isabelle when we're in between nannies."
Emily nodded, "I understand, Priscilla, no worries. I'm on my way to break the news to him. Just…keep this to yourself for the moment…especially to Susanna."
Priscilla nodded, "Are you kidding me? That will give her more ammunition against Mr. Reader if she finds out!"
Emily grinned, "Exactly my thoughts. I'll see you."
As soon as Emily left the vast kitchen, Priscilla took out her cell phone…
…..
When the dark SUV pulled up at the house formerly owned by George Foyet, the agents quickly hopped out and converged quietly around the large building, their weapons drawn.
"How well do you know the inside of this place? And do we wait for back up?" O'Neil asked Derek, her voice shook slightly.
Morgan noticed her nervousness instantly; he had told her what Foyet had been capable of, Paris swallowed hard and said she was glad he was dead. Dead in the hands of Hotch.
"Shh…did you hear that?" She raised her hand up to stop Morgan from moving any further or replying to her questions.
Derek tilted his head and soon he heard it as well; it was whimpering. "Sounds like someone is crying."
Paris nodded.
Derek keyed into his mic and informed Hotch what they heard.
Proceed with caution. SWAT is on their way. ETA is 15 mins.
"Roger that, Hotch." Derek replied and turned to O'Neil and smiled grimly, "Ready?"
She nodded, "Oh yes…whenever you are."
He nodded and pointed to the door of the basement and whispered, "Let's knock on door number one."
"Not funny Agent Morgan." She hissed at him as he kicked the wooden door.
It broke instantly into bits as the agents rushed in, their flash lights shining into the large room.
"FBI! DON'T MOVE!" They shouted amidst the cries and screams within.
Morgan shone the flashlight around the room and frowned, "What the…"
O'Neil followed through, "What's going on, Morgan? What's this?" She shone the light on a particular machine. "It's a tape recorder."
Morgan nodded and kicked at it in a rage, "I think we've been played."
"I don't understand…"
The tape recorder noise stopped, Derek keyed in his mic, "Hotch…this is a false trail."
No answer.
"Hotch." Morgan key'ed in his mic but there was no answer again.
Paris frowned hard, "Please tell me this is a joke."
Morgan gave her a hard look as he shook his head, "I don't think so, let's get out of here!"
They began to jog hard out of the basement but continued to call out to Hotch.
"Fuck!" Derek cussed out loud "This is not good, not good!" He smashed his hand against the siding of the house in frustration.
As they finally reached the SUV, they saw that it was empty. No Hotch.
And they spotted his cell phone on the driver's seat.
"Oh fuck!" Derek cussed again. "James Foyet took Hotch."
…..
Emily took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
"Come in."
She opened the door and stepped in and looked around and saw that they were alone.
"Oh it's you!"
"Uh…yes Sir." She nodded as she walked further into the room. "Where is Eric?"
Dan shook his head, "He said he had to run some errands."
"Errands?" Emily felt uncomfortable suddenly. "Did he say what kind of errands?"
Dan looked up from his work, "Hm? No…He didn't specify…in fact I did ask him the same question and he looked kinda elusive."
Emily frowned, "Elusive?"
Dan nodded. "Yes…he's been acting kinda strange lately." Then he shrugged. "But I figured he's been stressed out being my assistant and all this moving, so I told him to get out of here for a while and stretch out…go see about the area. You know, get himself familiarize with the city and all." He grinned at Emily. "After all, we're going to be here for a while."
"Dan," Emily rubbed her face as she sat down uninvited and sighed heavily. "I have some bad news."
Dan sat his pen down and leaned forward, "What is it, Emily?"
"It's Isabelle…and Agent Rossi, and Section Chief Strauss…"
Briefly she related to him what happened to them and the phone call Garcia received.
Dan, looking pale, "So you think this whole thing has something to do with Eric and Susanna?"
Emily nodded, "And Steve."
Dan leaned back his chair and closed his eyes and opened them again, "I … I don't see the connection, Emily."
Emily shook her head, "I know it's not making any sense, Dan but it all tied to what happened to the incident a month ago."
"A month ago?" Dan frowned. "The kidnap attempt on Isabelle? Oh my god! No…" His hands covered his face.
Feeling sorry for him, Emily stood up and went around the desk and gently touched his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Dan."
He shook his head, "It's all my fault…my fault."
"No…I don't…you mustn't blame yourself, Dan." She consoled him as she continued to rub his back gently. "We'll keep her safe. Agent Rossi is our best agent and Chief Strauss is our best Chief, you can be assured Isabelle will be safe. They will do their best to protect her, she is their priority." Emily tried to keep her voice from breaking.
He nodded, "I hope so….I hope so. Just find my Isabelle…my belle."
Emily nodded, "Will you be okay, Dan?"
He straightened up and nodded, "Of course. I have to be."
She gave him an encouraging smile, "Good, that's the spirit Dan. I'll be going…if Susanna calls, do not give her any details about Isabelle."
Dan nodded, "I'll act as though nothing's going on."
She nodded again, "That's right, anything she says might go against you. Don't give the game away."
Dan frowned, "So this is a game now?"
"To them it is." Emily said as she headed the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Uh…the…I have some things to take care of…"
He gave her a smile, "Now you're sounding like Eric…elusive."
Emily shrugged, "Dan, I'm just doing my job."
He nodded, "Okay…I'll buy that but you'll have to promise something in return."
She tilted her head slightly, "What's that?"
"Bring her home safe and sound, no matter what."
Emily frowned slightly, "Er…how do you know what I'm doing?"
He gave her a straight look, "Emily, I'm about to be nominated as the next FBI Director, remember that."
Emily hesitated and nodded, "Er…yes sir." She backed away from the room and was gone.
He turned towards his desk and glanced at several framed photos of his little girl; they were all at different stages of growth from birth to her current age of seven.
He spotted one particular photograph; it was of Isabelle and a young lady laughing at each other, they were at a park, blowing bubbles. He remembered that day. Isabelle was 5 years old and they had decided to take stroll and packed a basket full of toys and things. And one such thing was a big bottle of bubbles, it was one of Isabelle's favorites.
How she had laughed when they blew bubbles and Isabelle tried to chase and pop them. Dan had took some pictures and captured the moments. Memories.
And Susanna was not there.
It was Sonia Pines who was with them; they had so much fun, more fun than if Susanna were to be with them. Susanna would have complained about the dirt and everything. She would ruin everything. Susanna was not an outdoorsy type of person. Dan sighed as he stared at the photograph; Susanna was not Sonia Pines or Emily Prentiss.
He missed Sonia very much at the moment; she used to make him laugh. They used to spend long afternoons talking about her interests.
And now, she was off exploring what she was most interested in; helping others in need.
"Oh, Sonia…I'm in need of a friend." He uttered to himself.
His cell phone rang, and he glanced down at the Caller ID and almost jumped out of his seat!
….
End of Chapter 21