The main part of JJ's job description revolved around public relations, and she quite liked it because she had always been very good at public speaking, a skill that had served her well when she graduated egriga cum laude in high school, college, and the FBI Academy, and had to give speeches at each of her graduation ceremonies.
Being a pretty face and level-headed in the middle of a media frenzy wasn't all JJ was good for, though.
She also had a government-issued weapon that she had used many times in the field over the years and always kept in tip-top shape, and while JJ had never been a gun enthusiast or anything of the sort when she was growing up, when it came down to it, her weapon was one of her most prized possessions. JJ was also a crack shot with it, and the last time she'd gone to the shooting range with Derek, he'd nicknamed her 'Ace' when he saw her skill, although that was just a thing between the two of them.
All of that being said, JJ had also been properly educated on what to do in the case of her own abduction (because in the field, you never knew) but there was no part in that seminar about being abducted while pregnant.
Cooperation with a kidnapper was imperative, especially when the kidnapper was crazy, but now… JJ had to improvise because the stakes were even higher.
At the moment, JJ and Madalyn had pulled up in front of a Korean corner dollar grocery store.
"What are we doing here?" JJ asked.
Madalyn handed her a handful cash, and JJ quickly pocketed it.
"You've got fifteen minutes to collect supplies for yourself and the children." Madalyn told her. "If you go a minute over, I'm coming in after you. Understand?"
Quickly making note of the time on the car clock through her peripheral vision, JJ nodded. "I do."
"Good. Now hurry up and go."
Once in the store, JJ noticed that while most of the patrons and employees were Korean, and that was the main language being spoken, there were English labels listing the description of the products, as well as the prices for everything. Small favors were always a good thing.
Thanks to the easy-to-read labels, JJ was able to find food for her and Hope, and formula, bottles, and filtered water for Vivian. At the very last minute, she even found pajamas, new outfits, child-sized blankets, and particularly for Hope, a purple stuffed elephant.
Just before JJ made it to the checkout line, she counted the cash that Madalyn had given her and was quite relieved to see that it would cover everything.
To her surprise, though, she'd also pulled out one of her business cards and an ink pen. Upon sudden inspiration, and with some difficulty because she was right-handed now, she wrote a message on the back of the card and slipped it in with the bills she was going to pay with.
When she was finally at the checkout, the bag boy noticed JJ's handicap as he put her things away and double-bagged the first paper bag.
"Do you need help taking your things out to your car?"
JJ had to politely decline because Madalyn would probably shoot the boy on sight, and he didn't look any older than sixteen.
"No, thank you, but that's kind of you to offer." she told him as she paid the cashier. "I'll be able to manage."
The boy didn't press the issue and handed her the bags, bidding her a good night.
"Cutting it awfully close." Madalyn told JJ as she got back in the car and put her bag at her feet before she buckled her seatbelt. "Turn around."
JJ did as she was told and found herself getting blindfolded by Madalyn. The next thing she knew, they were off again.
The technical analyst was sure that Madalyn was taking her time with driving because by the time the car came to a final stop, she'd lost all track of where they were, although when the car was off and she stepped out, her instincts told her that they were in a domestic garage of some sort.
Though JJ couldn't see worth a grain of salt because of how thick the blindfold was, for some reason, when Madalyn gave her the grocery bag, it felt a touch heavier. That concerned her.
"Step lively, now." Madalyn told JJ as she began to frogmarch her in a certain direction.
The two walked into what felt like a house, and after a few moments, they stopped.
"Okay!" Madalyn called out to the room at large. "What now?"
In the next second, JJ heard a high-pitched whizzing sound and she hardly had time to process that the sound belonged to a bullet being shot from a gun with a good, but not top-notch silencer on it before she heard a second all-too-familiar sound: a lifeless body crumpling to the ground.
"Baylor, I know you're there!" JJ faced straight ahead as she spoke, as that had been the direction from whence the shot had come. "Your own twin, though? Really?"
Baylor holstered his gun, walked up to JJ, and then…
SLAP!
JJ cried out in pain and surprise as Baylor's hand made contact with her face. Baylor proceeded to take off JJ's blindfold and when they locked eyes, she stared him down, determined to look her own monster in the eye. She wasn't going to show him fear. Not this time.
"That's one strike already," Baylor warned her. "But as for Maddie, she was always disposable. You're here because I need you to take care of those brats upstairs until I figure out what to do; I had no plans to go down for kidnapping children."
Shuddering inwardly at the thought of what he'd do to her if Hope and Vivian hadn't been factored into this crazy night, JJ looked around for a way out of the room, but got distracted when she saw something delicate and metallic on the nearby countertop: a tiny pair of eyeglasses.
"You took Hope's glasses?" JJ shrieked. "She's almost blind without them!"
SLAP!
"We have neighbors, JJ, so I advise you to keep your voice down." Baylor snarled. "And that was your second strike. I took her glasses to make her stop crying, and it worked because she hasn't made a peep since."
JJ continued to stare him down. "Give me Hope's glasses. Now."
"A bit demanding, aren't we?"
"If you don't, I'll scream and that'll wake the neighbors. And you want me to care for Hope and Vivian, right? Part of that job is having their basic needs met, like sight!"
Rolling his eyes but realizing that JJ was right, Baylor put Hope's glasses in one of JJ's jacket pockets and then beckoned for her to follow him.
"Come on, but don't step in Maddie's blood. It's a shame I had to kill her in her own house, but it would be another shame if her blood got smeared here."
Carefully skirting around Madalyn's lifeless body as it oozed blood from the gunshot in the head, JJ followed Baylor.
The room that Baylor locked JJ into was on the second floor, and it was at first cast in gloom and moonlight. When JJ turned on a lamp next to the door, her heart sank at what she saw: a nursery, with one half meant for a baby girl while the opposite side was meant for a little girl in the Pre-K age range. A framed picture by the lamp that JJ had turned on bore a message: Welcome Home, Anya & Bella!
So Madalyn had been expecting children through adoption at one point, but judging from the look of things, Anya and Bella had never made it home.
A tiny "Ow!" followed by the loud sound of a baby's giggles brought JJ back to reality. She extracted Hope's glasses from her pocket, took off her jacket and extracted the comfort items from her shopping bag and approached the area where she'd heard Hope, although she didn't get too close. No need to spook the poor girl.
"Hope?" JJ called out as she laid the items in her arms on display. "My name is JJ, and I'm friends with your Aunt Elle."
At this, a small child bearing a strong resemblance to Elle emerged from behind the crib, rubbing a spot on her forehead.
"I bumped my head." she explained, although she was looking in the wrong direction.
She really is almost blind, JJ thought. "Wrong way, sweet pea. Just follow the sound of my voice, and I'll catch you when you come close… There's a good girl… Nope, that's a little too far…"
Through some trial and error, Hope found her to JJ's arms and was immediately thrilled to pieces when JJ helped her put her glasses on her face.
Hope gasped in delight when she saw JJ and planted a few delicate, little girl kisses on the uninjured side of her visitor's face.
"Wow!" she exclaimed.
"What is it, Hope?" JJ asked, genuinely surprised by her joy because she was now recalling Elle's comment about her niece having trust issues.
"You're so pretty." Hope caressed JJ's face, wanting to make sure she was there. "Just like Aunt Elle."
JJ didn't know what to say to that, but she could help but smile a little. Maybe having Hope and Vivian with her would make this experience less of an unbearable one.
"JJ? Vivian is making hungry noises!"
JJ got to her feet to see that Hope had already moved away and was now trying to soothe her baby cousin.
"Sweet pea," JJ said to Hope as she approached the crib. "Will you please go fetch that bag by the door for me? It's got food for you and me, and everything Hope needs for her own meal."
As Hope occupied herself with following JJ's request, JJ leaned over the crib to look at the baby. Vivian looked exactly how Elle must have at that age, and when she caught sight of JJ, she smiled a smile that was straight from her mother.
"Hello, sweet Vivian." JJ cooed. "I'm going to take care of you for awhile."
Vivian gave a happy coo, just glad to see a new face.
"You've just got to be patient with me," JJ told her. "Because I've only got one one good hand."
JJ managed to pick the baby up and carry her over to the corner and sat on the floor with her back against the wall. With help from Hope (and some encouragement when she noticed the handicap), JJ made a bottle for Vivian and began to feed her.
Once Vivian relaxed in JJ's hold, JJ turned to Hope to see that she had claimed one of the new blankets for her own, and had even found the stuffed elephant. She even found something else that made her just as happy as the blanket and the elephant: her inhaler pouch.
"You brought it!" Hope crowed, rushing over and hugging her new friend. "Thank you!"
Realizing that Madalyn must've nicked the pouch before leaving the station-house, JJ took the thanks in stride.
"You're very welcome, sweet pea. Why don't you come sit with me and I'll tell you and Vivian a story?"
Hope immediately parked herself on the floor next to JJ, her guardian angel, her anchor. "Then you and me will get food?"
JJ nodded. "Mhm, now stick with me, sweet pea. Ever heard the story of Robin Hood?"
"Nope!" Hope answered honestly.
"He stole from the rich to give to the poor, and he still wound up getting married to the princess at the end!"
Hope's mouth dropped open in surprise; she was immediately hooked.
"Ready? Here we go!"
JJ began telling her new friend her favorite childhood story, although mostly to distract herself.
She didn't even want to wonder if the cashier back the market had gotten her message, and she most certainly didn't want to wonder how long it would take for the rest of the team to realize that she hadn't made it back to the hotel at all.
Wondering would consume her.
