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Chapter 12:
"She still remembered sitting for hours as a little girl and pretending to be a hassock. A foot stool. Because if she could just stay very small, and very quiet, her mother would forget she was there, and then she wouldn't scream about people and places and things that had gone wrong." — Eloisa James (An Affair Before Christmas)
"Emily," Dave approached her desk. "I did some thinking last night; we need to get Nicole again to ask her some more questions. Something isn't right in that house."
"I was thinking the same thing,"
"Meeting in ten in the conference room," Hotch said as he walked by, on the way to his office.
"Sure." Emily answered. She locked eyes with Dave for a moment. "I've actually got something else to say about Nicole when we get into the meeting." Falling into step with her partner, she announced: "She called me last night."
"What? Nicole?" Dave asked as they walked into the conference room. "What did she say?"
"There's something about that house." Emily sighed and shook her head.
"Do you think Nicole is in danger there?" Dave's eye held a mixture of anger and concern.
"Yes, but not in the way you think."
"What are you two talking about?" JJ inquired.
"Nicole called me last night - actually this morning."
"She called you?" JJ repeated.
"I gave her my card," Emily confessed. "You know yesterday how I said I thought she was being abused, but we didn't have any concrete evidence?"
"Yes."
"Well last night she called and said that one of her friends from her home school co–op was being hurt at home and she wasn't sure what to do. She also told me that her 'friend's mom'-" Emily used her fingers to make quotes "ignored her daughter and her friend's dad hurt her." She took in a breath. "Now from my psychology courses I remember hearing that sometimes children will say that their friends are the ones being hurt when it's really them being hurt, not because they want to lie, but because it's easier to handle."
"That's true." Reid spoke from his spot, he'd gotten into the round table room just after Emily and Dave had. "The human brain is very interesting in that it will only remember what it can handle. If something very traumatic happens, and the body can't handle remembering it, then the brain will forget it. That could be our brain's way of dealing with happened."
"Exactly. It might be something like that. Nicole can't handle being abused, but her need to get out of there is so bad that instead of it being her that's being abused it's her friend. I'd really like for Nicole to be brought in here for questioning. Maybe we can get the story from her if we bring her in and question her personally about this," Emily suggested.
"We can bring her in but since she's a minor we have to have a parent brought in as well." Dave said.
"I think our best bet would be to get her mother in with her,…unless what Nicole has said is true. Nicole's mother-" Emily blew out a breath, frustrated, "what is her name?"
Before anyone could answer however, Hotch started the meeting. The team went over their suspect's one by one: Wellington Dayton and Jared Morris. Unfortunately both men had had iron clad alibis for several of the stabbings. Wellington Dayton - a billionaire had been on the TV Show "The View" for an interview; nearly an entire film production crew was able to say that they saw both men on set at the time of the stabbings.
Emily felt her anger rise; they were so close; she could feel it. There was just something that they weren't seeing.
"What is it Prentiss?" Hotch asked.
"I've got a hunch that Nicole, Jared's daughter knows something."
"Do you think she's hiding something?" Hotch replied.
"I don't think she lied to us - not knowingly anyway," Emily corrected. "I'd really like to bring her in for more questioning."
"What about?"
"I think that Nicole is being abused by Jared. Now, I know that's not what our case is about, but…"
"We're bound by law to report any suspected cases of child abuse," Hotch interrupted her, finishing her sentence.
"Except, right now I don't have enough information to report anything," Emily continued.
"Okay," Hotch kept his features void of any emotion. "Prentiss, JJ and Reid, I would like for you to look into the possibility of child abuse, while the rest of us keep working on our current case."
Emily, Reid and JJ got up and left the round table room. Gathered around Emily's desk, they tried to form a plan of attack.
"I'll go bring her in from Aquai Harbor," Emily started, "she knows me, so she'll come."
"Why don't we both go?" JJ suggested, "Two female agents are less of a threat then one female and one male agent."
Emily nodded, as an idea formed., "Wait, Helen might know something about the case."
"Which case?" Reid asked.
"Both! The stabbings and the child abuse. Let's see if we can bring her in as well."
"Okay. Nicole would be starting school right about now, we should call ahead to her high school so they get her up to the office and we don't waste any time." JJ said, reaching for the phone.
"She mentioned that she was home schooled, so she's probably at the Dayton house," Emily corrected.
"Okay."
After relaying the idea to Hotch, he quickly assigned her and Rossi to go down to the Dayton House to go pick up Nicole and Helen.
"Since you are familiar to them, they'll be more willing to come in for questioning," Hotch explained.
Not wasting any time, they drove to the Dayton house. Emily looked around at the sprawling upper class neighbourhood and wrinkled her nose. They reminded her of the houses she had grown up in.
"You look disgusted," Dave remarked as he turned a corner.
"I grew up in this," Emily said. "I'm just remembering how snobby most of these people are."
"Not all of them are bad."
"True, but to the majority of the people who live in this neighborhood, we're dirt under their feet. These people are snobs. For them it's Ivy League or bust. Most of them start worrying about their offspring's chances of getting into Princeton the moment the stick turns blue."
"I worry that you know that," Dave stated as he guided the SUV around a zigzag curve.
Emily turned and raised an eyebrow. "I grew up in this, remember?"
"And look how good you turned out," he complimented her.
Emily shook her head as they pulled into the Dayton driveway. "I'm the exception, not the rule."
"See," he remarked and unfastened the seat belt, "anything can happen if you want it bad enough."
Shooting him a glance, Emily exited the vehicle. There was so much she could read into the statement, but right now she had to concentrate on Nicole.
Knocking on the front door, a butler answered. "We are looking for Helen and Nicole Morris," Emily announced as she and Dave flashed their credentials.
"Yes, ma'am. Please stay here and I will get them for you," the older man offered before turning and heading up the stairs.
Moments later, Helen Morris came into view. "Yes?" her tone was one of annoyance.
"Helen Morris?" Emily asked.
"Yes,"
"We met yesterday…"
"I was led to believe that your questioning was over after you departed with my husband," Helen snapped.
"We actually had a few questions for you," Dave corrected. "We would like to take you to Quantico to answer them."
"Nicole is studying," Helen snapped. "She's supposed to graduate in December."
"The questioning will only take a few minutes," Emily promised.
"Fine." Helen began to move towards the front door.
"We also have some questions for Nicole as well; we'll need to bring her as well," Dave said.
"Fine!" Helen snapped again. "Nicole Jessica Morris!" Nicole came out of her room, still in her pajamas.
"What Mom?" Nicole asked, from her position on the staircase she couldn't' see the the agents.
"Those FBI agents from yesterday are back. You and I are needed for questioning in Quantico," Helen's tone was sharp and short.
"I'm going to go get dressed first," Nicole mentioned, turning and going back into the hallway leading into her room.
Soon she was out though, with a purse and a hair brush as she quickly came down the stairs, trying to put her hair into a ponytail while she walked. She stopped in her tracks as she saw Emily and Dave though, her eyes widened in surprise. "Hi," she greeted quietly.
"Hi Nicole," Emily tried to keep her voice friendly. "We have some more questions for you but we need to be at Quantico to ask them." Nicole nodded and followed both agents and her mother out to the SUV.
"I have to call a friend of mine, we were supposed to get together for a home school get together this morning, I don't think I'm going to make it," the teen stated and got into the vehicle.
"Call her and let her know," Emily suggested.
"Hey Kellie, its Nikki," Nicole spoke into the phone. "I'm not going to make it to the get together this morning."
"Why not Nikki?" Kellie's loud voice bled through the speaker and Nicole held the phone away from her ear.
"Something else came up," Nicole answered with her hand over her mouth. She glanced at the occupants of the SUV. "I'll tell you about it later. I need to go."
"Okay Nikki, bye loves and kisses!"
"Sorry about that." Nicole apologized and hit end. "Kellie can be loud sometimes."
"That's okay. It sounds like she was upset. We'll have you back soon enough," Emily promised.
Nicole smiled faintly and the occupants of the car drifted into silence as Dave continued to drive them to Quantico.
"For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them." Thich Nhat Hanh (Being Peace)
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