Author's note: first, thank you for the comments. Second: you will notice that I used a character whom we came across in the show. I kind of changed the ending for him - if I remember well, he died in the real episode.
Chapter 5: Pieces of the puzzle
Hotch was pacing back and forth, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to see the distressed look of JJ and the deep thoughts plastered over Reid and Morgan's face. He had to let them a minute, just a minute, to let the news sink in, before they went on with their profile.
"Does Emily's family know?" JJ suddenly asked, returning to the reality of things.
"I don't think so. Strauss wanted to let us in the confidence first."
"You should call her mother. It would be best coming from you…" Rossi added.
Nodding in a very mechanical way, Hotch retreated in thoughts for a moment. Fortunately, his last encounter with Elizabeth Prentiss had been concluded with a family reunited and a general satisfaction of a good job done. But still, the Ambassador didn't like her daughter being in the field, and would probably bite his head off if he was the one to tell her about Emily's disappearance. On the other hand, she might know more about Lizzie and the reason for her presence in Washington.
"I would like to know where Emily is first…" he almost whispered, brushing a tired hand over his face, soothing the wrinkles on his forehead.
"Baby girl, can you find any connection between Emily and this Jeffrey Richards? Or Lizzie Prentiss' family and him?"
"Sugar, you have to feed me with a little more. What am I searching for?"
Reid leaned forward. The way his hands were intertwined and his eyebrows furrowed, everyone could see the young doctor' mind was racing much faster than the others'.
"Well, if this guy is a prison guard, maybe he fraternized with one of the inmates. Crosscheck the names of people we put in prison over the last… five years Emily has worked on the team."
Morgan nodded but raised a hand to interrupt the analyst. The younger agent had made a good point although he had not gotten to the end of the reasoning.
"Hold on. Widen the search to Emily's files before she joined the BAU. She had been in the field almost five years before coming here. There is no reason we should concentrate on our own doing."
"On it." With a single nod, Garcia turned fully to her computer and became oblivious to everything and everyone around her.
"Okay, about the girl now. Did Emily say anything about her plans last night? Was this visit programmed?" As he asked, Hotch looked more particularly at JJ, guessing that the two women in the group would share more of their personal life than with their other team mates.
"Nothing that I know of. We landed past midnight. I can't imagine this young girl waiting for Emily at this hour of the night." JJ answered, avoiding her superior's gaze.
"So maybe she showed up unannounced or she was with someone."
"Jeffrey Richards?" Rossi added, following the reasoning to its end.
"Which means she was abducted? Where did Lizzie live? Garcia?"
"Sorry, Bossman, only got two hands… So, no match still for the prison guard. You guys deal with far too many maniacs and murderers for my likings… As for Lizzie Mayers… Davenport, Indiana."
Hotch resumed his pacing, his hands propped on his hips to give himself some sort of countenance. Everything was spinning too fast around him. Emily had a daughter and an unknown connection with a prison guard, a former inmate probably had a grudge against her… In the state he was in, Hotch didn't manage to think clear anymore. Simply linking A to B was beginning to prove difficult.
"Oh, oh." His eyes focused on the blonde analyst when she uttered these two words.
"What is it?"
"I found no less than six matchs in Central Kansas Prison Facility."
"That many?" JJ widened her eyes as the number sank in. Well, it seemed logical: if they were dealing with one case per week, this would make an awful lot of people over five years, not even counting the numerous perpetrators the brunette had put behind bars while a tradition field agent. JJ just hoped that Reid wouldn't jump in with some more statistics, but the doctor seemed too stunned to say anything.
"We are listening." Hotch's eyes locked with Garcia's.
"Joseph Schrader, three counts of murder and three counts of abduction. Timothy Williams, five counts of rape and aggravated assault. Blair Jeffrey, aggravated assault on officer of the state. Matthew McDolanney, professional arsonist and three counts of rape. Then we have… Michael Gyder and Johnny Callaway, both deceased."
"Any of the names ring a bell?" Rossi's eyes were carefully observing his colleagues. Although he had read a lot of their case files before joining the team, the man had never had a good memory for names.
"I remember Schrader all too well…" Derek groaned, leaning back into his chair.
"Fill me in." Garcia asked without looking up. In the course of the last months, and although she had always stayed reachable for the team, the analyst had tried to get some distance from the cases, only taking in the necessary details to do her work properly.
"The guy had killed his wife as she filed for sole custody, and abducted his 13-year-old daughter. We hunted him down, he escaped and killed a cop… And got Emily into a car accident. In fact, she played a major role in finally arresting him."
Garcia nodded, continuing to type frantically on her keyboard to find any other detail that could confirm Schrader's implication in Emily's disappearance.
"Matthew McDolanney also was a case we worked together, I would say three to four years ago." Reid interfered. "He was attacking single women of the upper class, raping them then burning down their house. We found him thanks to the latest victim, who had survived the blast."
"Have any of these men been released?" Hotch was holding onto the back of his chair like a lifeline. He feared that, if he let go, he might just let his emotions take the better of him and slump onto the ground.
"Apart from the two above-mentioned who left the prison feet first… Blair Jeffrey was released six months ago for good conduct."
As hard as he tried to remember every Unsub's name – and victim's name, for that matter – Aaron Hotchner could not find any clue leading Blair Jeffrey. He assumed that the man must be out of Emily's past as a field agent. Given the silence Reid had drifted in, Hotch guessed he was right, or the younger agent would already have stepped in and recited the report as though he had written it himself.
"We will have to talk to Lizzie's parents to know in what circumstances she disappeared. JJ, you are in charge of that. Reid and Rossi, I suggest you go with Garcia and track down Jeffrey." Now that they had a lead, they had to act quickly and swiftly. "And as I said, this has to be kept quiet, understood? Otherwise we'll be shut out completely."
"And what about Emily?" JJ had stood up to leave, deciding that 9.30 was late enough for her to call the parents and announce the bad news, as well as gather some useful information.
Emily. What about Emily. Hotch pursed his lips, looking successively at his agents to gather some strength from them. He had yet to compose himself before facing the hierarchy and Erin Strauss, not even mentioning Elizabeth Prentiss. Maybe dressing into a suit would be a good idea.
"Bossman… Emily just turned her phone on."
She had not even finished her sentence before the chief unit eagerly grabbed his cell phone and hit the speed dial. He hesitated a while between having this conversation in front of the whole team or giving his agent a little more privacy. Finally, he went for the middle way and retreated into a corner, away from the listening agents. The phone rang two times before a tired voice answered.
"Hotch."
"What is going on, Emily? Are you alright?"
"I am fine. I take it you know what happened."
"Why didn't you call me? I could have helped there."
His statement was followed by a brief silence, and he could feel that the woman at the end of the line was fighting off the tears. She sounded tired and under great stress, which was no wonder.
"Hotch, listen. I don't want to drag you into this."
"Emily, let us help. Where are you?"
"I'm dealing with the problem. I'll call you back."
"Em…" When he realized that she was gone, Hotch fought the urge to smash the cell phone against the nearest wall. The same old stubborn Emily.
"Did you trace the call?" He asked without turning around. He didn't want to face the rest of the team.
"What did she say?" Derek's voice came up from behind, as expected.
"Garcia, did you trace the call?" He could hear her fingers dancing lightly on the keyboard although she did not so much as speak in return. After a minute that seemed an hour, her light voice finally spoke:
"She is near Kansas City."
No one said a word, but their shared thoughts were so strong that anyone who would have entered the room at this moment would have known: Emily Prentiss had gone to get justice.
