Hey yall! A new chapter posted today! As always, the next chapter will be posted next Tuesday so don't forget to return. I love how engaged you guys are with this story in the comment section. As always, enjoy and be safe.
Chapter 22
It was an early Saturday morning. Emily woke up to the sound of her alarm. It was six in the morning. The agent got up from the hotel bed and took a quick shower. After she finished, she grabbed a pair of black dress pants and a dress shirt and wore them. She then combed her raven-colored hair. Before she headed out to get a quick breakfast, she called Dani to check up on her. It was an early Saturday morning so she knew the teen would most likely be asleep but she had to make sure she was okay. The phone rang a few times before Dani answered.
"Hello?" the teen answered with a yawn.
Emily let out a small chuckle. "Hey sweetie, it's me. I just wanted to know if you were okay."
"I was until you woke me up," Dani murmured.
"Sorry," said Emily while grabbing her keys. "Did you finish all the homework that your teachers sent you?"
"I did, don't worry. It's not like I have anything better to do," responded the teen sounding tired. "My options are very limited due to me being under house arrest."
"You are not under house arrest, Dan. You are just grounded," said the agent while rolling her eyes. She knows how dramatic a teenager can be.
"I see no difference," Dani said. "I'm surprised you didn't give me an ankle bracelet."
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I will keep that in my notes," Emily said playfully.
"I should have kept my mouth shut."
Emily laughed at Dani's remark. "Hey, I feel like the team and I are really close in catching this guy. I should be back in no more than two days."
"Alright," Dani said with a yawn.
"I will let you go back to sleep now before you start snoring on the phone," Emily said.
"Why thank you, agent," Dani said. "I hope I can go back to my delightful beauty sleep that was rudely disrupted."
"I said sorry," said Emily. "Talk to you later. Love you."
"Mmm-hmm," Dani said and she hung up. She wanted to fall back asleep but she wasn't sleepy anymore. She stood up and headed towards the kitchen. She wasn't really hungry so she just fixed herself a bowl of cereal. After she was done eating, Dani washed her plate and went upstairs to go change. She put on some black joggers and a white shirt. For the rest of the morning, she went on in doing chores. She cleaned up her room and went to tidy up the living room.
After finishing, she decided to go play some tunes with her guitar. It was a matte natural color with a red strap. Her favorite part of her guitar was the small puma that was carved at the front of her guitar. She remembers when she first got her guitar when she was 12. Her friends encouraged her to buy one so that they can play music together. She saved enough money to get herself one at the music shop down the street where she used to live. She remembers how excited she was when she finally held her guitar for the first time. Dani grins at the memory.
While playing, Dani received a call. At first, she thought it was Emily but then she noticed that it was her friend Camila. She picks up the phone and answers.
"Que Onda, Cami. What's up?" Dani answered.
"Hey, Dan. The guys and I were wondering something," Camila said.
"Sure, what is it?"
"We have this gig at this party tonight. We were wondering if you want to join us," Camila said. "Just like old times."
"I umm. I don't know," Dani replied with a sound of doubt. She knows that she is grounded and isn't allowed to go anywhere.
"Cmon, Dan," her friend said. " It's this really cool party where we will go. I know the guy who is hosting it. Apart from the money he is going to pay us, he will let us enjoy the party. I'm talking about dance, food, and drinks! And I am not talking about any regular drinks. I am talking about good drinks."
Dani paused and thought about it for a moment. She knows that if she gets caught she will get into even more trouble than she already is in. At the same time, it didn't really matter. Dani was still mad at the fact that she got in trouble for things she didn't do. She also was holding a grudge against Emily for what she has said about her mother. Dani needed to relax and cool off. If she was going to get punished for something she didn't do at least she won't be stuck at home being miserable for one night.
"Alright. Send me the time and address and I will be there." 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Emily was in an office reviewing files from the latest crime scene. Pictures of the crime scene showing a dead man corpse on the ground. Both arms and legs cut off but not found in the scene. The unsub had various dump sites located in the woods where he disposed of the bodies. Emily analyzed the pictures carefully, noticing that the unsub was a person who had some sort of experience when it came to dismembering the limbs. This unsub must've had some sort of medical training or worse. This unsub could have acquired these skills by doing this for a while. There could be bodies that the police haven't discovered yet.
Emily feels her phone vibrate and takes it out of her pocket. She reads the caller ID and sees that it was Penelope.
"Hey, Garcia. Anything new you found?" Emily asked.
"Yes! I couldn't find anything that connected the first two victims but listen to this, the last three victims, Mark, Garry, and Cindy, all were a part of this fitness group in the city. They participated in tournaments in the state and sometimes even went national. These guys were hardcore fitness addicts. They exercised like they breathe."
"What happened to the group?" Emily asked.
"Well, it looks like they just stopped the group abruptly a year ago. None of them have been in contact with each other since then," Garcia replied.
"We need to know why they disband the group. This can be our key to finding the unsub," said Emily. "Is there any other member that was in the group?" she asked.
"Yes. Her name is Gina Rose. She lives in a town in Baldwin, Pennsylvania. I will send the whole team both work and home address."
"Thank you, Garcia. Anything else?" asked Emily.
"Yes, but it has nothing to do with the case."
"What is it about?" asked the agent with curiosity.
"It's about Dani and the fight she was involved in," said the tech analyst. "I checked the footage of when the fight broke out."
"So you're telling me you hacked into the school's security system," Emily stated. She had a feeling that Garcia would do something like this.
"Uhh, maybe but that is not the point of this conversation," Penelope replied. "I sent you a copy of the footage. Check your tablet."
"Okay," Emily said while unlocking her Ipad. She clicks on the video that Garcia sent her and starts to watch it. She sees Dani and her friends talking to another group of teenagers. Dani says something and her with her friends turn around heading towards the cafeteria, leaving the group of teens behind. Emily sees how Dani abruptly stops walking and turns around looking angry. She walks towards a girl and says something. The only thing Emily could decipher from what the teen said was "What the hell did you just say,". The camera angle was at a position where she can see Dani but only sees the back of the other girl. Emily wonders what she said which made Dani so angry. She then sees Dani throwing a strong punch at the girl. Out of nowhere another girl pops out of the locker and lunges at Dani. She watches as all the commotion goes down until security appears and escorts them out.
"Unfortunately, the video has no audio but whatever the girl said made Dani angry and I mean very, very angry," Garcia said through the phone. "Even though Dani is at fault with the fight, she is innocent when it comes to the drugs that were found in her folder."
"What do you mean?"
"Zoom in on the boy wearing the black sweater in minute 1:20," Garcia told Emily.
Emily moves the video to the time Garcia told her and saw that through all the commotion that there was because of the fight, the teenage boy took a small bag out of his pocket and quickly crouched down on the floor where Dani's folder was. He slid the small bag inside her folder and quickly backed away.
"He was the one who planted the bag in her folder," Garcia stated
"Yep. It's him alright," Emily said with a sigh. She rubbed her face and shook her head. Dani was right, that bag was not hers. Emily felt like a total imbecile after watching the video. Why did he do this? Why didn't she believe Dani from the beginning? Emily felt bad for immediately accusing her daughter instead of listening to her.
She had to fix her amends.
Emily wanted to apologize. She had to tell Dani that she was sorry for doubting her but she didn't want to do it by phone. Emily had to do it in person.
"Do you think this footage can decrease the amount of time Dani is suspended?" asked Garcia.
"It will help. I will send this to the principal and make sure the truly responsible person pays for what they have done," Emily said with full determination. "Thank you so much, Garcia."
"Not a problem at all. Did you really think I was going to sit down doing nothing after hearing about this? I know Dani. There was no hecking way those things were her's," she told Emily. "As her self-appointed godmother, I had to work up some magic. My sugar bear needs to know that at least one person believed in her and that she is not alone."