CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
6x14 Sense Memory
Emily walked up the stairs and to her apartment door. Her mind was racing, preoccupied with the conversation Sean and she just had. Making her way down the hallway into her bedroom, Emily threw her bag on her bed. With unsure hands, Emily leaned down to open the safe. She hadn't typed in the code to it for years now. It almost felt like a defeat - to have to open it again.
"Ian Doyle vanished from prison. Interpol can't find him."
She pulled out the folder and stared at the old black and white photo herself. Then, at the photos of her two friends. Glancing back at the bed behind her she thought of the last time she had been there with JJ. Ian Doyle was far from her mind that night. That night her mind was only on the future. On JJ. She longed for that simplicity.
"He's off the grid, Emily."
The phone rang and she jumped. Emily shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like this. The paranoia was creeping in. Emily sent it to voicemail. No one spoke but the line didn't disconnect. And then she felt it. That feeling again - that horrible gut feeling that something was wrong. That feeling she had the luxury of not feeling for years. It made bile rise in her throat and the hair on her neck stand up. She heard the line disconnect.
"Am I in danger?"
The cynic in her believed this day would eventually come. That it was inevitable that Ian would come after her for what she did. But the past few years with the BAU gave her a sense of hope. A sense of belonging. She felt herself relaxing - letting go. She preferred to live in the fantasy that she could be a normal person. Fall in love - forget about her past. Let people know her - love her. But not anymore. For the first time since JJ had left, she was glad she was gone. If Ian Doyle was trying to hurt her, JJ would be in the most danger. JJ being on assignment made her safer.
That was one of the reasons she never let anyone get close to her. Because if you didn't love anyone, you never have anyone to lose. But now she had something to lose… she had her team - whose lives were all in danger because she cared about them and they about her. But most of all she had JJ. If Ian wanted to break Emily beyond repair, he could. And he would - without thinking twice.
"We all are."