Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.
Andre Gide
"Mudgie will be fine," Dave was more confident this time. He closed the front door, they watched the van pull away with Mudgie laying in the back. It took Dave and two vet techs to carry him outside and lay him inside the van. "They'll call when they know something," he said, setting the alarm. The security detail circled the house and followed the veterinarian's van out of the neighborhood.
"I know," Erin opened the panel on the alarm. "I hate seeing him like that," she admitted. "At least when he's sedated, he's not in pain."
"He's in good hands," Dave came up behind her with his hands on her shoulders. They stood there for a minute, just breathing and taking comfort in each other. Erin's head leaned against his chest as he stood behind her. From the other side of the living room, Erin's phone rang.
"If it weren't for my kids, I'd turn that damn thing off!" She grumbled, her head began to pound behind her eyes.
"I'm starting to think your phone and Mudgie's accident are connected," Dave said. Tightening his hold on her. "Erin, this whole thing is my fault," he confessed. His desire to assuage his own guilt, took precedence over protecting her sanity.
"What?" She turned sharply in his arms. "Why would you say that? Dogs get into things they aren't supposed to, these things happen,"
"It's not like that." He proceeded to tell her what happened in the yard. "He went down the trail by himself, he was growling but I didn't hear anything else."
"What else would you hear? David, what aren't you telling me?"
"I saw string wrapped around his teeth-"
"String? She repeated, brow furrowed, "David, How would that happen?"
"I think he ripped into someone on that trail, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to be scared."
"Scared?" She echoed, "Scared? David of course I'm scared! I'm afraid of my own shadow. There's Bureau security on my kids, I can't trust the agents assigned to us, the dog is sick and my fucking phone won't stop ringing and there's no one on the other line!" She exploded, glaring up at him. Just to prove her point, her phone rang from the far side of the living room for the third time in 10 minutes, no doubt, another unknown number. "That doesn't give you the right to hide things from me. You don't get to decide what I can handle."
"You're right," he admitted, with his hands on her shoulders. "You can handle it, I'm sorry. Now, I need to check out that trail...maybe whoever it was left us something?"
"We'll go in the morning," she decided. "We're not going to find anything in the dark. How the hell did a fleet of security agents let anyone into the property?" She asked, suddenly furious, and her hands curled at her sides.
He wanted to stop her, tell her that she needed to stay inside and let him handle it, but that wasn't fair. Keeping her locked inside, when she wanted to leave, would exacerbate her anxiety.
"Okay," he nodded in agreement, "but we don't split up."
"Fine." She crossed her arms, turning away from him. "How can I fight back if I don't know what I'm up against? I'm not sitting on the sidelines here."
"You're not the one doing the fighting," he countered. His hands ran over her shoulders and down her arms, tugging her arm away from her chest until her hands were at her sides. "Just relax."
"Don't hide things from me, David," she hissed, through clenched teeth. "You wanted my help when it was convenient-" she snapped, thinking back to the cognitive interview. "Now, when I want to be involved, suddenly I'm too fragile."
"It wasn't like that-" he defended himself. "You're the only person who knows what happened in that room, I needed to know."
"And I need to know that I can trust you." She countered, her blue eyes shined as she stared at him. "Come on, David, don't make me doubt you, too."
"After tonight, there won't be any more secrets." He tugged her towards the pantry, "Come here, let me show you something." He demanded, ushering her inside the small room.
"What are you doing?" Erin asked, closing the pantry door.
"Watch." He yanked the cord that dangled from the ceiling, the small pantry was bathed in yellow light. Stacks of canned goods and shelf stable food surrounded them. To her, it was an ordinary pantry and it was smaller than she expected it to room was so tight that her back smashed against the door.
Dave knelt to the floor, holding to the edge of the bottom shelf. He ran his hand underneath it, chewing on his bottom lip. "I got it!" He declared, "look."
She knelt down beside him, letting him lead her hand down the edge of the shelf. "Feel that?" he asked, still holding tightly to her wrist. "It's a fingerprint scanner. Watch up there." He let go of her long enough to point to a panel in the middle of the wall. To the naked eye, there was nothing there, it was just part of the wall. Dave tapped his security code into the fingerprint scanner and the wall separated. The panel lifted away from the rest of the wall, revealing a sheet of security monitors embedded into the house.
They could see the property from every angle, Erin watched deer graze on the end of the trail from the screen in the top left corner, the driveway on the top right and every angle in between.
After this, I think I'll get a drone," he said, climbing to his feet. "That's the only view I don't have."
"Who are you?" She turned to him, surprised. "James Bond?"
"Please," Dave snorted. "He's English, I'm Italian."
"Not the point." She said, when she could pick her jaw up from the floor.
"Let's roll these back and see what we can see," he tapped on the wall next to the screens. The wall parted, the same way as before, revealing two joysticks that unfolded, giving him complete control of the camera angles. "It's like Pac Man," he said, pulling the controllers out of the wall.
"Is that why you set it up here?" She teased and grabbed a bag of chips from the shelf. "To be close to the snacks?" She smiled and yanked open the bag.
"Maybe." He nodded, "there's a set up like this in the bedroom too. Gideon put one in the cabin at Little Creek, but it was so damn obvious that everyone who walked in there knew they were being watched."
"Where did he put it?"
"The kitchen," Dave complained. "Just, in a cabinet. Wide open for anyone to see. What's the point in a camera system if everyone knows they're being filmed?"
"He's always been too trusting," she agreed.
"He thought it would deter thefts by appealing to someone's better nature." Dave said, without looking away from the screens. "This is the trail Mudgie was on," Dave pointed to the screen. They watched Mudgie through the green lens that only comes from night vision cameras.
"He's pissed," Erin observed, even without the audio, it was obvious. She watched the dog, his tail stood straight up as he barked, standing sentient in the middle of the path.
"He's at the end of the trail...about three miles from the front of the yard." Dave turned the screen slightly, "I don't see anything-"
Erin's stomach dropped, in disbelief. "They were so close." she whispered, half numb. "There!" Erin jabbed her finger at the screen. "Zoom in."
Dave narrowed in the focus, but it didn't help much against the shadows. The dirt trail was flanked by trees on either side. "There's someone standing there-" He flipped a switch to activate the audio.
Mudgie bounded into the frame, snarling. They could clearly make out a baseball hat, pulled down over the person's face, but not much else.
"Fucking dog, I didn't sign up for this! That bitch is handling her own dirty deals, from now on. I'm going to fucking kill Alex." A voice said faintly, they had to listen close to hear over Mudgie's growling.
"That's the moment," Dave jabbed his finger at the screen, "right there!" Mudgie pounced on the stranger, ripping their pants. A flash of pale skin was obvious on the screen.
"Pause it." Erin said faintly, with her heart in her throat.
"What?"
"David, he said her name."
"What?" He paused the tape and wound it back, squeezing his eyes shut to concentrate. "I'll fucking kill Alex Blake." The voice on the tape yelled.
"Well." Dave laid the controller aside. "I guess that tells us all we need to know."
"Can you see where they went?" Erin asked, watching the stranger diving down the path and out of sight. "Mudgie didn't follow-"
"He wouldn't." Dave cut her off. "He's trained to protect the property, the bastard crossed the property line," Dave explained, "I don't have cameras over there."
"Mudgie deserves a steak dinner when he gets back," she said.
"What do you think, Filet mignon or porterhouse?" Dave asked, flipping the panels closed. "I'll print this out upstairs and get it to Garcia, she'll enhance the image. Maybe then, we'll be able to see the face."
"Not her," Erin said, "Garcia is too vulnerable. She works with Alex, she trusts her more than she trusts me." Erin loved David, but she wasn't willing to put her life in the hands of someone who openly disliked her. There was too much to lose. "Not to mention that half your team resents me-"
Dave opened his mouth to respond, but Erin cut him off by laying her hand on his arm. "It's alright, David. I saw the way they looked at you when you walked inside the office with me," she shrugged, "It's obvious that to them, you're sleeping with the enemy. It's clear that you're okay with it and I am too, but I'd rather handle Blake alone than take the chance of being sold out."
Dammit, he'd already torn into his friends for their words, was it too much to ask that they control their facial expressions too? "Are you saying we're on our own with this?" He'd send Penelope flowers, by way of apology. She would be on their side, in no time, but Erin was right. Why take the chance?
"Does anyone else know about... this?" She waved her hand, indicating the secret panels and hidden cameras.
"No." Dave shook his head, "nobody."
"Well, someone knows how Mudgie is trained, they deliberately ran across the property line when they could have run into the woods."
"There isn't direct access to the main road from there," Dave mused, rubbing his chin.
"Could it have been an accident?" Erin asked.
"You heard what they said," he countered. "They knew what they were doing, but they didn't count on the dog getting in the way. The real question is, do you still want to call off security?" Blake was making plenty of moves, with and without them.
"Having security on us clearly doesn't do any good," Erin said. "Why are they even here, if someone was able to come onto the property!" The Unsub was three miles away and nobody stopped him, except for the dog.
Dave breathed a sigh of relief, "Mudgie's doing fine." He laid his phone on the table beside the couch. "The vet made him throw up and they want to keep him for observation for 24 hours."
"Did they find anything?" Erin asked, pulling the blanket further around her shoulders.
Dave shrugged, sitting down beside her. "Not much but there was some fabric in his stomach contents."
"I'd like to know how much damage he did. We only saw the pants rip but we know he caught some skin," Erin said, with a tinge of pride in her voice. She sat up and grabbed her mug from the coffee table. "Can we check the hospital records?" She took a sip of chamomile tea, waiting for David's response.
"Blake's behind this and she knows Garcia can track them down in 10 minutes with those parameters. She wouldn't let her patsy go to the hospital and risk being caught," Dave said.
"Good point," Erin said and sat her empty cup on the table beside her. She glanced up at the clock above the mantle, it was 2 in the morning and she was nowhere near ready to sleep. "I want to comb through her life, I want to know who she's involved with and whatever leverage she has on people." There was no way Blake was getting her hands dirty, not anymore. She wouldn't risk being identified.
"Garcia can-" he stopped himself, they needed to bring in another tech. He trusted Penelope, but he wasn't sure if she would be able to remain objective.
Erin leaned back, studying her manicure, the picture of phony nonchalance. "Blake's biding her time…Once Fickler shuts down the investigation, that's when she'll really turn up the heat."
"She'll get sloppy," Dave said, "right now, all we know is that Blake sent someone here. They're targeting us."
"Me," Erin interjected. "They're targeting me," She said, stubborn to a fault. "You're a bystander."
"It's personal, Erin. Whomever this is, came onto my property and poisoned my dog. They made us sick, put our son in jeopardy. This isn't up for debate, we're in this together. We don't have definitive proof that it's Blake, but her ego can't handle being ignored. She thinks she has the wool pulled over our eyes, but pretty soon, she'll want to be the center of attention again."
"How bad do you think it will get?" Strauss asked, suddenly on the edge of her seat.
"Well, she knows Hotch and Morgan were here...she might be suspicious that they know what she's up to...she'll cover her tracks."
"How?" She pressed, "do you think she'll hurt herself?" She thought of George Foyet and the horrors he committed, the trail of destruction he left in his wake, right under the noses of the greatest minds in the Bureau.
"She'll want to take herself out of the running as the prime suspect…."
"I think you are right…but how?"
A strange pause settled over them as they tried to come up with an answer to the question.
"That's what I haven't figured out," he got off the couch and went to the closet and grabbed a corkboard and a box of push pins. "Let's map the case again and figure it out."
An hour later, Erin stood over the dining room table, staring at the corkboard, pictures and notes were pinned to the board in chronological order. "Every single thing we have on this bitch, is circumstantial," she huffed. Fatigue was slowly sinking in, she wanted to forget about Blake and Curtis and move on with her life. The more time she spent pouring over the case, the more she wanted to run away and hide until Blake was apprehended. Everywhere she turned, there was something else reminding her that she wasn't an ordinary victim, she couldn't run away.
"Tell me about it," Dave took the corkboard off the table and leaned it against the wall. "She tried to get the security detail to leave and then a few hours later, I was covered in that poisonous concoction-" he said, sitting down in the leather recliner.
"CSU didn't find anything on any of the Bureau's cars?" Erin asked, arms crossed over her chest. Her heart hammered erratically against her breastbone. How the hell did three security agents let a stranger onto the property in the middle of the night? She stared out the window at the unmarked vehicle parked outside the house, the agent inside was completely unaware of what they missed.
"All it takes is a wet towel to destroy the evidence," Dave pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair.
"I'll make some calls tomorrow and get the security footage from the hotel," she said, barely holding back a yawn. She'd gotten a second wind after the vet picked up Mudgie, but her energy was waning. "I know Curtis was there, but who else?" Just because she thought she saw Blake, didn't mean it was true. "Anyone could have been in there." She said, "that's the part…" she stopped speaking and shook her head. She didn't know why she didn't want to tell him that she wasn't sure. She didn't want to tell him that she felt like she was making it up. Maybe she was completely wrong, up until now.
"What?" He stared at her, waiting for a response.
"That tape is the only solid piece of evidence we have," she said faintly. "Did you make a copy of it?"
"I made three copies, the system backs itself up into different hard drives." He didn't tell her that one of those hard drives lived in a lock box in Penelope Garcia's apartment.
"How the hell did this happen?" She asked hoarsely. Her hands clenched in rage, unconsciously digging her nails into her arm. "There's security all over the damn place!"
"I don't know," Dave answered, he would give anything to have the answers for her. "I think you were right when you wanted to scrap the Bureau agents," Dave said. "I'll make some calls and get a private security team over here." He scrolled through the contact list on his phone, "do you want someone trained by The U.S. Secret Service or Mossad?"
That was a decision she never thought she'd have to make, "U.S. Secret Service or Israeli?" She clarified, her eyebrows high in her hairline. "Jesus, David." Suddenly, their situation felt much more serious.
"There's a combination option, if you can't decide," he said, too glib for her liking.
"You shouldn't have to do that!" She turned away from the window, "They," she gestured to the window with a trembling hand, "should do their jobs and protect us. They aren't paid to sit in their cars and shoot the breeze, when there's a stalker after us! If they had done their jobs, Mudgie wouldn't have gotten involved. It's a poor situation, when the dog is the only one doing what they were trained for!" She said, suddenly vibrating with rage. Her eyes were wide, equal parts fearful and furious and her blood pressure was through the roof.
"This will not happen again," she stomped towards the front door, prepared to give the agents parked outside, an Olympic sized ass chewing.
"What are you doing?" Dave stood up, his legs eating the distance between himself and the door, just in time for her to turn the knob. The alarm chirped for a moment, with the door swung wide open. "Erin," he gripped her by the shoulders, just before she stepped out onto the porch. "You can't go out there," he hissed in her ear, holding her around the chest.
"Watch me!" She struggled against him, her elbow grazed against his solar plexus but it wasn't enough for him to surrender his hold on her, he was too strong. "Let go of me, Rossi!' She yelled, pulling away from him, his fingertips drug into her skin. "Let me go," she hissed.
"Stop!" He held her by the shoulders and turned them both towards the inside of the house and knocked the door closed with his hip. "They let it happen!" He growled, holding her by the shoulders, with his back to the door, blocking her escape. "If you go out there, you're putting yourself right where they want you. Are you trying to get killed?" He asked, furious. "There's nothing you can do to fix this!" He warned her. "Just keep your ass in this house." His dark brown eyes were fixated on her, pinning her to the spot.
"So, we let them sit there and do nothing?" She countered. "When there's a wolf in your hen-house, you shoot the wolf, you don't let it live in your coop and buy more chickens!"
"I hear you," he turned towards the alarm's panel and turned it off before resetting it. They didn't need local cops showing up for no reason, not yet. "If you're going to do something stupid, I'd rather you did it while you were packing heat." Running outside, barefoot, in the middle of the night to chew out a potential unsub, wasn't remotely in the realm of safety.
"So?" She held out her hand expectantly. Daring him to put up or shut up. "Are you going to give me your gun?" She'd left hers upstairs, but that was beside the point.
"No." He answered flatly, "you'll have your chance at revenge," he promised her, "but not tonight."
"Are we going to sit back and allow this?" She asked, equal parts flummoxed and pissed off.
"No, I'm handling it, right now." He picked up his phone and started to make a call.
"At three in the morning?" She asked, sharply and raised an eyebrow. "You won't get far."
Dave glanced up from his phone and blew out a breath. "Alright, fine. We'll have private security by breakfast." He went to the console table by the front door and opened the drawer. He pulled out his service weapon, preparing for anything.
"Where's yours?"
"Upstairs in the nightstand." She said, already heading for the bedroom.
Dave locked the door, double checked the alarm and grabbed the bag from the bookstore off the kitchen counter, before stepping onto the staircase behind her.
"Would you slow down," he huffed. "Jesus, Erin. We're going to bed, not running for our lives." At least, not yet.
"I'm just pregnant, David. You don't have to do that."
"Do what?" His palm brushed against the small of her back.
"Hold onto me like that," she answered. "I won't fall," she assured him.
"Why risk it?" His eyebrow lifted, "your center of gravity is going to change eventually."
"I know," she answered, stepping off the last step of the staircase. She understood his fears. "Of all the things you have to worry about, please take the stairs off your list."
"I don't know about that," he answered, following behind her as she stepped off the last step of the staircase. "But, for the sake of your sanity, I'll put the stairs on the low end of my list."
"Thanks," Erin pushed the bedroom door open and cleared her throat, but didn't speak. Instead, she went to the dresser and pulled out another shirt, the one she wore was damp with sweat. She tugged it over her head and tossed it in the laundry hamper.
"Fuck!" Dave bit out, coming up behind her. He sat his gun on the nightstand, before coming to stand behind her.
"What?" She turned sharply, holding the clean shirt against her chest. "It's hot in here, I'm changing my shirt, what's the problem?"
"Turn around." His voice turned to gravel. "Erin, I'm sorry." Dave gestured towards the full length mirror in the corner, it was angled just enough for her to catch a glimpse of her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Bella."
"Oh," she said, glancing at the black and blue marks across her shoulder. "It's okay," she assured him, and dropped the shirt she was holding. She stood in the mirror, in her sport's bra, with David behind her.
"I didn't mean to do that, I just…." His voice trailed off. She caught a glimpse of his guilty expression in the mirror, with his hand on her shoulder. The pad of his thumb gently stroked the pattern of bruises he'd accidentally left on her pale skin. "I'm sorry."
"You were trying to protect me," she said, reaching up to hold his hand. "I put you in that situation and you didn't hurt me." She knew without a doubt that he would never intentionally hurt her. "You're not abusive, Honey."
"Okay," he exhaled before kissing her cheek. "As long as you know, I'd never hurt you, on purpose."
Her lips pulled into a half smile, she loved it when they were on the same wavelength. "Of course you wouldn't. Now, stop worrying about it and go to bed." She turned away from him, yanking the t-shirt over her head. Then, pulled back the blankets on the bed. "Come on," she climbed into bed and patted the mattress beside her. "Show me what you bought at the bookstore," she beckoned him over, more to distract him, than anything.
The mattress dipped as he rested weight on the edge of the bed, "there are three categories," he reached inside the bag. "These are for Carlo," he laid a box on the mattress, "The Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Collection."
"Oh, these are classics," Erin said, nostalgically. She picked up the box and peeled off the cellophane. "Paul loved Green Eggs and Ham when he was little, by the time he was three, he could recite it word for word. He's the only one of my kids who really enjoyed Dr. Seuss. Allison's favorite was Stuart Little,"
"Another classic," Dave grinned, the lines at the corner of his eyes crinkled as he pulled out another book, this time a hardback copy of Stuart Little along with the DVD. "What about Cassie? What did she like?" He asked, thinking of Erin's oldest child.
Erin threw her head back with a laugh, "she never stopped running long enough to read! She liked Dr. Suess to a point, but she was always so busy. She reads 800 page novels for fun, now, but in the beginning…" she trailed off.
"Well, we're going to start this one off right," Dave pulled out another book. "This one's mine, he said and added another book to the pile.
She picked up the textbook and scrutinized the title. "A Dad's Guide to Pregnancy for Dummies?" She asked, skeptically, one eyebrow arched in disbelief.
"That's for me," Dave said, beaming with pride. "There's one more thing," he withdrew a small leather book and a package of his favorite pens and held it out to her. "This is yours."
"What's this for?" She took the journal and opened the clasp, studying the stiff paper between the covers of the book.
"I thought it might…well," he wanted to explain himself. "When I need to process things, I write. I thought you might want to try it." He answered, "I want you to have a safe place to put your feelings about all of this, so you don't have to carry them around."
"Thank you," she whispered, swallowing past the lump in her throat.
"I think it'll help." He stacked the books on his nightstand, next to his gun. "We have a library now, so what are we reading?" He asked, sinking down into the mattress, underneath the blankets, with one leg hanging over the edge. His eyes were suddenly heavy with exhaustion.
"Something short," Erin's face broke into a yawn. "He's been sleeping for a while anyway, he won't mind either way."
"I don't care, we're reading." Dave decided and took a random book from the stack. He'd been looking forward to reading to Carlo all day. Blake and her cronies weren't going to stop him. Carlo wouldn't know the difference, but Dave would. Reading out loud was the only thing he could do, to bond with his child and he wasn't going to get this time back. "Just a few pages."
"Okay," Erin shifted on her side closer to Dave so he faced her abdomen. "Go ahead." She got comfortable laying her head against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat as he read. Instead of rushing through it, like she did. He took his time. Savoring the words, drawing out each word. "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. Black fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish…" His voice trailed off and his breathing evened out. Erin opened her eyes, the soft light from the bedside lamp didn't disturb him, his left arm clutched the book against his chest.
She smiled slightly, he seemed so peaceful when he slept. For a while, they were safe and protected. She leaned across him, just far enough to turn off the lamp. Within a few hours, the sun would aggressively stream through the windows, the security team would change shifts and for a few hours, everything would feel normal. Erin picked up the book and laid it on her nightstand. If reading to her belly was the only thing he was capable of, when it came to bonding with Carlo, that was more than she expected. It was more than enough.
She crept out of bed, long enough to pull the curtains closed.
Dave jumped up, the sound of his phone rang in his ears, peeling his eyes open and then promptly closing them again. The sun poured through the curtains, he swiped his hand over his face and made a mental note to buy some blackout curtains, ASAP. He tried to piece together another coherent thought, but there were bees in his head that would only go away if he had more sleep. Still, his phone didn't stop ringing. His hand floated over to the nightstand and gripped the phone, without his consent. He was completely unaware of the empty space beside him.
Erin stepped off the staircase, an unfamiliar silence filled the house. She hadn't realized how noisy having a dog could be, until he wasn't there. Without Mudgie's footsteps, clicking across the hardwood floors; the house was eerily quiet. The sound of the coffee pot, dripping into the carafe, was all she could hear; while walking into the living room. David was upstairs sleeping soundly, she had laid beside him for as long as she could, without falling asleep. So, she got dressed and prepared for the day. Watching him sleeping so peaceful, when she couldn't manage a cat-nap, was an episode of torture. Rather than tossing and turning, she got up and started her day.
She found her phone on the living room floor and stooped down picking it up, unlocking the screen with one hand. She had to squint to read it, the battery was almost dead, but the call log indicated that the kids called, five times, back to back. What the hell was going on at 10am? She plugged her phone into the charger, so it didn't die, then she dialed Peter's number.
"Hey, uhhh..Erin. I'm sorry, I know things are crazy right now. I just...I'm a little lost here," Peter said.
She rolled her eyes, wishing he would cut to the point.
"What's going on Peter?" She asked, her fingers tapped anxiously against the arm of the couch.
"Um," Peter cleared his throat, awkwardly. "Allison."
"Is she alright?" She stood up, preparing for anything. "What's wrong, Pete?" She ground out, her tone ice cold. "Tell me."
"She, well…" he rubbed the back of his neck, "she's ten and she needs a woman."
Her response was as dry as the Sahara Desert, "I know how old she is, Pete. I was there when she came into the world, it only took her 18 hours to make her entrance."
"Good point," Peter relented, "anyway, your mom took Cassie and Paul to Hershey Park," he said.
"Hershey Park?" Erin echoed, flabbergasted. "Now isn't the time for my kids to be disappearing on field trips! Pete, I need to know where they are, why the hell are you letting them galivant all over the place?"
"Calm down," Peter huffed. "I'm not so checked out that I would let them leave unprotected. Your mom is there and she sweet talked her bodyguard into going with them," Peter explained.
"Oh." Heat crept up her neck, she'd overreacted. "Well," she cleared her throat, "in that case, what's happening with Allison?"
"Allie said she didn't feel well, so she stayed home with me. She got her period this morning and I don't think I handled it very well."
"What?" Her eyes went wide, "my poor baby, I don't think we ever talked about it, is she-"
"She's fine," he answered quickly, before Erin could ask. "Cassie talked her off the ledge and showed her what to do, but she needs her mother."
"Let me talk to her." She instructed her ex husband. Peter was a good father, but this wasn't his department. Allison would tell her what she needed. When Cassie's first period showed up, her mother was the last person the teenager wanted to see. It was a weekend of slamming doors and tearful apologies. With any luck, Allison wouldn't be quite so dramatic.
"Okay," Peter breathed out, "I probably should have started there." He opened the door to his office and went to the living room where Allison was laying on the couch in front of the TV. "Allie." He held out the phone. "It's your mom."
Allison nearly snatched the phone from his hand. "Mom!" Allison sounded scared.
"What's the matter, Sweetheart? Talk to me."
"Can you come over?" Allison whispered, afraid of the answer. "Cassie's not here and Daddy, well...he's my dad." Allie explained, tears filled her voice. "Can you please come hang out with me?"
"Of course, I will, Honey." Erin assured her, she unhooked her phone and found her shoes next to the front door. "Are you hungry, can I bring you anything?"
"I don't know," Allison shrugged, sniffing. "I feel rough. My body hurts."
"It's alright," Erin tried to comfort her youngest, "I'm on my way over. Tell your Daddy to get you some Tylenol and a heating pad."
"He'll be mad," Allison sniffed, "I don't want to bother him."
"He won't be mad, Baby." Erin said softly. "Your father loves you and he wants you to feel better."
"Okay," Allison took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
"Go tell him what you need, Honey." Erin said, on her way into the kitchen. She
pulled a mug down from the cabinet and poured David's coffee. God bless him, neither one of them had slept well in several days. Now, she had to go wake him up.
"I'm on my way," Erin lifted the coffee mug, "I love you and I'll see you soon."
"Love you," Allison whispered before hanging up. "You promise you're coming?"
"I promise," Erin assured her. "I'm coming."
"Ok." Allison hung up the phone.
Erin laid her phone on the counter, before heading to the bedroom with David's coffee in her hand.
"David," Erin sat the coffee on the farthest part of the nightstand. She found him, on his stomach, halfway hanging off the bed, his face buried in his pillow. His fist held his phone against the nightstand, suggesting that he'd grabbed it, but didn't have the wherewithal to physically answer it. "David, Honey…" she nudged his shoulder. "Honey, I know you're exhausted and I'm so sorry." She hated to wake him, for a brief second, she considered calling a cab. "David?" She gently stroked his back with her fingertips. "Wake up, please."
"What's wrong?" He didn't open his eyes as he turned toward her.
"I need to get my car from my house...Allie called, she isn't feeling well."
"Is she okay?" He sat up a little more, dragging his phone off the nightstand. "Oh...he checked his call log. She called me too, is she okay?" He sat up straight, concern seeped into his tone.
"She's fine, a little hormonal and emotional, but," Erin shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the edge of the bed. "She's alright."
"I'll drive you," Dave lifted his coffee cup and took a revitalizing sip. "She probably just misses you."
"Every kid misses their mom when they don't feel well." Erin stood up and went to the mirror, twisting her blonde hair into a clip. "Before you ask, the answer is, no. Peter won't be there." Even if he were, it wouldn't matter. They were divorced and nothing was changing that.
"I wasn't going to ask," Dave took another sip of coffee, before pulling back the blankets and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "I'm not worried about him." As far as Dave was concerned, Peter was Erin's ex-husband for a reason and she wasn't a forgiving woman. He slid out of bed and took the last sip of his coffee but didn't stand up. "I'll get dressed and we can go."
"Thank you," she bent down in front of him, pecking him on the lips.
"Any time," he smiled and kissed her again, "she's your kid. You're the mom and you're supposed to want to be with her. I'm here to help make that happen." He shrugged, "if I have to lose a little sleep, eh, it's worth it."
"I wish she could come here, but...with everything that happened last night-"
"We're not putting your kid in the line of fire so that I can sleep," She didn't want to inconvenience him, but that was pushing it. "Let me clean up and check the cameras, then we can go."
"You're the best!" She praised lightly patting him on the chest. "I-" she caught the word on the tip of her tongue, clearing her throat. Now was not the time to start declaring things she wasn't sure of.
"What?" He smirked, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "What were you going to say?"
Thinking quickly, she turned away from him and said, "I want to stop at Target on the way to Peter's."
"Consider it done," he got to his feet and went to the bathroom to freshen up.
Erin picked up her purse and checked it's contents; wallet, credit card, phone charger….she opened the drawer on her nightstand and pulled out her handgun, carefully removing the magazine, making sure the gun was unloaded before adding it to her bag.
"You need your gun to go to Target?" Dave raised an eyebrow, coming out of the bathroom. "Are you sure you're okay?" He watched her, as if he was looking straight into her soul. Staring into someone's soul only sounded good in a 1980's bodice ripper. In real life, it was disconcerting. Especially if you're keeping secrets. She turned sharply and went back to inspecting the contents of her purse. "I'm fine." She closed the clasp on the purse and swung the strap over her shoulder.
"You carry your weapon on your hip, no matter where we go." She pointed out, as she spoke, he was adding his holster to the waistband of his jeans. "What's the difference between you and me?"
"I carry it so I can protect us," he said, pulling on his loafers. "If you feel safer with yours, I won't stop you." With everything going on, he didn't blame her. That didn't mean that he wouldn't do everything he could to protect her.
"On second thought, while you're checking the cameras I'll place a pick-up order." Suddenly, walking through the store didn't sound like a good idea. If someone could come onto the property, who could say someone wasn't following their every move? It wasn't worth the risk.
"Are you sure? I didn't mean to change your mind-"
"No," Erin replied, shaking her head. "You didn't, it's not you, I just...for two minutes, I forgot-" she struggled for the right words. "I forgot that things aren't safe for us, right now."
"I think I did, too." Dave agreed quietly, "How much time do you need to place the order?"
"Maybe 10 minutes," she answered, pulling up the app on her phone. Half the things she wanted were already in her cart.
"I'll go check the cameras, then we can go," Dave said, as he turned the corner, out of the bedroom and down the stairs.
Fifteen minutes later, Erin stood at the front door with her purse hitched over her shoulder. "Did you see anything?" She asked as Dave turned the corner, from the kitchen into the living room.
"Nothing," he shook his head in the negative. "Apparently they only hit at night."
"They're trying to catch us off guard," Erin grabbed her keys off the console table beside the door. "I wish them good luck, they'll need it when they finally show their faces."
Dave nodded, "I can't tell if that's a threat or a promise," he flipped the cover off the alarm's keypad, he disabled the alarm.
"It's both," she turned the doorknob and walked outside, into the sunlight. Birds chirped, the sounds of spring filled the air. A bizarrely cheerful contrast to their situation. Carefully, she stepped down the two stairs that led to the front door, then followed the concrete sidewalk to the driveway. The Azalea bushes that grew beside the path, on the side of the house, were in full bloom. Their gentle scent drifted in the air. Erin glanced up at the unmarked car parked in the street, this was a bizarre situation, indeed.
The car assigned to her security detail, sat dutifully on the curb. The agent inside tipped his hat briefly and raised his hand, Erin didn't wave back. She locked eyes with him and didn't turn away.
Dave's hand grazed her shoulder as he came up the pathway, behind her. "Leave it alone," he warned her, but didn't drop his eyes from the car or its driver. "Just let this play out." He pushed the button on his key fob, unlocking the automatic doors.
"Why didn't you park in the garage?" She asked, getting into the passenger seat.
"Don't know," he shrugged, "I guess I didn't feel like it." He closed her door and went around to the driver's seat. He checked his watch, if he got home in the next two hours, he could slide in during shift change. He would park in the garage that time, as far as anyone would know, he wasn't home. He planned to spend some time planted in front of his security cameras.
She sat her purse on the floorboard beside her feet, "if we get my car, I can drive out to Peter's," she said, pulling on her seatbelt.
"I'll follow you," Dave turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the driveway.
"Are you sure? I know you have to pick up Mudgie-"
"The dog's fine," he assured her. "We've already established that you and I are on our own here. There's no sense in splitting up, if we don't have to. I'm going to make some calls and get new security agents. We can't trust The Bureau, so we're doing this my way." He kept a careful eye on the rearview mirror, the FBI's squad car followed behind them. "I'll tell him not to follow you," Dave said. Erin pulled down the overhead visor, keeping her gaze on the car behind them.
"We decided on the security team," she said. "Now, we're making up reasons to keep them away from us." She didn't know who to trust anymore, in a matter of days, their world had shifted on its axis.
"I know," Dave laid his hand on her knee. "We'll work it out. Just…"
"What?" She turned towards him, his jaw was tight as he chewed on his words.
"Try not to let this get under your skin. I need you to trust me on this."
"What are your plans for today?" Dave added the last of the Target bags into the backseat of her Lexus and shoved the car into the cart corral beside her car.
"Well, I'm sure you saw the stain lifter, the tampons, ice cream and chick flick DVDs," She said dryly, through the rolled down window. "I'm pretty sure Allison wouldn't get off the couch today for a million dollars and a pony."
"Did you get the Ben-gay?" He asked, through her driver's side window.
"Ben-gay?" Erin's brow knitted.
"It uhh..it helps with the back pain, hey don't look at me like that. I've had three wives, I've picked up a few things. Besides, it's just biology."
Erin laughed slightly and started her car. "David, Honey, you're too open minded sometimes."
"Hey?" He pulled his wallet from his pocket and opened it. "Take this," he offered her his credit card.
"What's this for?" She didn't take the card. Instead, she glanced at the pile of mail thrown haphazardly on the passenger side floorboard. Surely he'd caught a glimpse of a credit card statement or a bill from the doctor's office. Her ship was sunk, the secret was out and she would have to pay the piper eventually. This was his way of calling her out, she was sure of it.
"In case you need something," he insisted. "Don't tell me you don't need it, either because you needing it, is out of the question."
"Thanks," she took the card, sliding it into her wallet. She pecked him on the lips, "I should get going." Her hand twitched toward the gear shift, even if spending the afternoon in her ex-husband's house wasn't high on her list of things she wanted to do. "Allison-"
"Listen, I know you're looking after Allison today, but, make sure you rest a little too."
"Peter got the good couch in the divorce, I'm sure Allison and I will both be asleep by the second act of the first movie."
"You should have called me, before hiring your divorce attorney," Dave teased, shaking his head. "You would have at least gotten the couch."
"Your couch is better," she responded with a smile, "Now, I really need to go, the ice cream's melting."
"I'll catch up with you later," he patted the roof of her Lexus then went to his own car with a spring in his step. His couch was better, that's really all he needed to know.
Erin pulled into the driveway of her former home. It looked exactly the same as when she lived there, a year ago. The 4 bedroom colonial home, with perineal bushes on either side of the front porch, were starting to bloom; she'd planted those, when they purchased the home, eighteen years ago. The only difference was the unmarked vehicle parked on the curb.
She ignored the agents in the car and pulled into the two car driveway. Peter's Sedan was in the garage. She turned off the vehicle and tossed her keys in her purse before getting out of the car. She walked up to the front porch, balancing her weight with the hand rail and hitched her bag firmly on her shoulder. Her hand hovered over the doorknob, she clenched it into a fist and dropped her arm, steeling herself. A surreal feeling swept over her, as she rang the doorbell on the home that she purchased, but didn't live in anymore.
A minute later, the door swung open.
"Hey," Peter gave her a tight grin that didn't meet his eyes.
"Where is she?" Erin asked, stepping forward. She glanced over her ex's shoulder and caught a glimpse of the end of the sofa in the family room. No doubt, that's where she would find Allison.
"On the couch, what took you so long?"
"I stopped at the store," Erin said with a shrug. "If she's going to be miserable, she can have ice cream." She turned back towards her car. "Did you give her Tylonal?"
"She said she didn't want it," Peter said, his head shaking in the negative. "I offered, twice."
"Well," Erin shrugged, "I have things for her in the car-"
"I'll get it." Peter stepped onto the porch, uncharacteristically generous.
"I'll let you," Erin brushed past him and into the house. "Allison?" Erin walked further across the lightly colored hardwood floor, further into the house, leaving her purse on the hook beside the door. She followed the well worn path from the kitchen to the living room and peeked around the corner.
"Mom!" Allison swung her legs off the couch, she hadn't noticed how much she missed her mother, until she was standing in front of her. "I didn't think you would come."
"It took longer than I thought," Erin said and wrapped her kid in a hug. "I stopped at Target on the way."
"It's okay," Allison said, muffled against her mother's mid-section. "Thanks for coming. I'm not sick, I just...
Erin sat down on the couch, with Allison beside her. "Allie, you're my kid and I'd do anything for you. You don't have to be sick to need me." Maternal guilt swept over Erin, she obviously wasn't spending enough time with her youngest. "How are you feeling, Honey?"
Allison's head fell naturally against her mother, "I'm okay."
Erin brushed her daughter's long dark hair away from her forehead. "You feel a little warm, to me." Erin's cool fingertips brushed against Allison's forehead.
"I just want to lay here," Allison mumbled and I want you to play with my hair."
Erin picked up the remote off the table beside her, "I can do that, Honey. What are we watching?"
"You pick." Allison replied, closing her eyes.
A second later, the front door slammed closed. "Did you buy the whole store?" Peter complained, coming into the kitchen with his arms laden with Target bags.
"Stuff," Erin responded, ignoring his attitude. "Could you toss the ice cream in the freezer?" She gestured toward the child, snuggled against her side. "I'm a little preoccupied here."
"I got it," Peter started rummaging through the bags. "She looks pretty comfortable."
"She's asleep," Erin answered, stroking her daughter's hair. "Peter, did you say something to her to make her think I wasn't coming?"
"Of course not," Peter answered, with his back turned away from her as he put the purchases away. "Why would I?" He turned to face her and closed the refrigerator door.
"I didn't think you would," she answered, turning her attention back to her daughter. She stroked her hair, feeling her breathe. "Did I do the right thing?"
"When?" Peter gave her his full attention.
"Leaving the kids here, with you. Here, right now. I never meant to actually leave them, Pete. I just wanted to keep them safe. Allie thought I wouldn't come for her, what do Cassie and Paul think?"
"We all know you didn't abandon your children, Erin."
"I want them with me more than anything but-" she stopped, there were no excuses. Nothing she could say would restore her child's faith in her. "Pete, they're only here because you can better protect them.
"Well," Peter chuckled, "I don't know about that. You're pretty tough on your own."
"Somehow, I doubt that," she said wryly.
"Hey," his tone turned soft. He was in school counselor mode. He crossed the kitchen and pulled up a chair at the breakfast table, to sit closer to her. "Are you ok?" He appraised her appearance, the dark circles under her eyes caked in concealer and the way her smile didn't quite meet her eyes. "And I mean, are you really okay? Things are crazy, with this stalker and everything and nobody expects perfection, but-"
"I'm okay," she jumped in and held up her hand. "I swear."
"Liar."
"Maybe, but I'm sober, if that's what you're asking."
"But you're not talking about it."
"No." she shook her head, her hair had come loose from its clip. Her blonde tresses fell casually around her face.
"Well," Peter stood from his chair but didn't leave. "I think you should. Obviously, not to me, but.." he shrugged, uncomfortable with his ex wife. "You should talk to someone. Rossi, maybe? He'll listen to you-"
"Pete," she held up her hand. "Really, I'm okay. I don't need to talk to anyone."
Peter shook his head, typical, Erin. The longer he talked to her, the more he remembered simultaneously why they got divorced and why he married her in the first place.
"Where are you off to?" Erin kicked her shoes off and pulled her legs onto the couch.
"I don't know," Peter grabbed his keys off the counter and checked his watch. "I guess I'll go cut your grass at the townhouse."
"My ass," Erin snorted. "That's the one part of the divorce decree that you've steadfastly ignored."
"First time for everything." He grabbed a baseball cap off the table and yanked it on his head, then disappeared into the foyer and out the door.
"What do you think of this one?" Allison lounged on the couch, using her mother as a pillow. She balanced her I-pad in one hand and a pint of Ben and Jerry's in the other.
"I like it," Erin nodded, without paying attention, glancing at the set of onesies Allison added to their digital shopping cart. Dave wouldn't have handed her his credit card if he didn't intend for her to use it. "What's in there now?"
"Uh…" Allison scrolled through the cart, "there's 5 sets of clothes, diapers, a pack of bottles-" Allison stopped speaking, the chime of the I-pad interrupted her. "Ugh." a text message popped up on the screen, she closed it out without reading it and continued. "Bottles, blankets-" She dismissed another text, without reading it.
"What is it?" Erin held out her hand.
"Stupid text messages," Allison groaned and sat up. "Dad made us a family email account for our devices, I think it's one of Paul's friends."
"Let me see," Erin beckoned her daughter closer.
Allison handed over the tablet, aggravated that her time with her mom was being interrupted. "Are you going to turn them off?" She grouched impatiently.
Erin closed out the internet browser and opened the messaging app. Her blood boiled as she clicked through the messages and read them. Whomever this was, they weren't teenage boys. She could tell by the wording that there was a grown man on the other end of that screen. "Pete!" She got off the couch, jogging towards the kitchen door that led to the garage. "Peter!" Erin threw the door open, her ex-husband was tinkering with the lawn mower, grass stains smeared across his jeans.
"Come here, Pete, now."
"What?" Peter laid his screwdriver aside and followed Erin inside the house.
"Look!" Erin shoved the I-pad into his hands. He scrolled through the messages, with Erin at his elbow.
"Peter, did you know about this?" She accused, "What the hell goes on around here?"
"Hell no!" Peter thundered, furious. " Of course not. I don't even let them have cell phones until they can drive. Allie, come here and talk to us."
"What?" Allison stabbed her spoon into her ice cream.
"Are you texting this guy back?" Peter asked, he kept his tone neutral lest she think he was accusing her of something. If he jumped to conclusions, he lost all rapport with her.
"No!" Allie crossed her arms. Insulted and annoyed, her pissed off expression was a carbon copy of her mother's. "Why would I? I don't know who it is."
"I'll find out." Erin snatched her phone from her pocket, determined to get to the bottom of this.
"What are you doing?" Peter asked.
"Using my resources," Erin held the phone against her face. Suddenly, she didn't care how anyone felt about her. She knew Garcia had enough integrity that she would help her track down the man preying on her daughter. "Garcia?"
"Ma'am?" Penelope answered quickly.
"Garcia, can you tell me where these text messages are coming from?" Erin asked, just barely holding back her temper.
"I need to access your IP address," Erin could hear the clicking of keys as Penelope spoke.
"Do whatever you need to do," Erin paced the kitchen floor with the tablet in her hand, another text flashed on the screen. "Whoever this is-"
"Ma'am," Penelope cut her off. "The person sending these texts-"
"What?" Erin asked hurriedly, "what did you find?"
"I'm calling Rossi and-and Cooper-the whole cavalry-" Penelope stammered, already dialing phone numbers on her various phones.
"Why?" Ice flowed through her veins, shocked and angry, she knew the answer before Penelope spoke. "Can you tell who it is?"
"Working on it," Penelope said, clicking her way through her screens. "I got it! The phone is registered to an FBI agent. His name is Craig-that's- that's the guy! The guy you asked me to look into. It's Craig Edwards and he's...Ma'am, he's about 20 feet away from you. Parked outside the house."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely sure, Ma'am." Penelope hung up the phone and immediately dialed Agent Cooper. A bureau agent wouldn't be texting a kid they were assigned to protect, obviously something wasn't right. If Edwards was involved with Curtis, Cooper would want to bring him in.
"Hey,"
"David-" Erin cut him off, furious. "I need a favor."
"Anything," Dave turned the steering wheel slightly. "Did you forget something at Target?"
"No," Erin bit out.
"What do you need, Erin?"
"Bail!" Her phone clattered to the floor as she bolted out the door and into the driveway.
"Erin!"
She ignored her ex-husband, she was a tornado of maternal fury and nothing was going to stop her. "Get out of the car!" She knocked sharply on the driver's window.
"What?" Agent Craig Edwards stared at her blankly and opened the door. "Yes, Ma'am?"
"Get out of the car!" Erin commanded, with her hands on her hips. "Now."
Edwards unfolded his legs from the driver's seat and stood up. "Yes, Ma'am?"
"Where's your partner?" She asked, eyeing the empty passenger seat of the squad car.
"I sent him home."
"Why?" She asked, hands planted on her hips.
"Don't need him," Edwards bit out. "I sent him home."
"That's against protocol," Erin said icily. "Who gave you the authority to do that?"
"Excuse me?"
"Just because you're on a different assignment, doesn't mean you can ignore the chain of command."
"I made an executive decision-"
"You've made several stupid decisions." Erin said, eyes narrowed, "Agent Edwards, I wouldn't call any of them executives. You'll be lucky to keep your badge, when I'm done with you. Do you want to keep your badge, Agent?" She kept her tone low and pleasant. "I'm the only one who can help you, Craig."
"I don't know what you're talking about-"
"I'm sure you don't, that's what you're supposed to say, isn't it?"
"Ma'am, I don't know what you're talking about-" He stared blankly at her.
"Sure you do," she passed him the tablet in her hand. "These text messages didn't show up on my child's I-pad on their own, if you tell me who you're working for, I'll make sure you get to keep your badge and you won't be put on the registry-"
"They're not like that!" Edwards said quickly, without looking at the tablet. "I would never talk to a kid like that! I'm not a pervert, I have a daughter!"
"Who are you working for?" She hissed, fed up with him and his games.
"I work for The Justice Department."
"Bullshit, don't play stupid, Edwards!" Her fists clenched at her sides. "Why would you, a grown man, text my 10 year old and tell her to keep it a secret? You're not that kind of guy. I don't think you've ever even jaywalked, until now." She didn't wait for an answer, instead she seized him by the collar, shaking him.
"Erin!" Peter grabbed her in a bear hug, pulling her off of Edwards before he had a chance to physically defend himself.
"Who are you working for!" She screamed, in a blind rage. Sirens blared, cop cars swarmed the driveway, but Erin didn't hear any of that. Her sense of hearing was overpowered by the sound of blood rushing through her ears and the pounding of her beating heart.
AN: I'm having so much fun in this little world and I hope you are too. Thanks for indulging me.
-K