AN: Thanks for reading, This chapter happens 11 months after JJ first was abducted.
Detective Elizabeth Kate gagged as she entered the filthy hotel room; a shiver ran down her spine as she took a quick glance around and knew multiple horrors had occurred right in this room. She had been on the force long enough to know a room when she saw it; and this was one. A john had just been snatched up for trying to buy sex from what he thought was a twelve year old girl he had met on the internet.
Elizabeth had gotten pretty good at pretending to be a preteen girl, but damn she was glad she only had to pretend and wasn't one anymore. The moment the john had suspected the cops were in on this, he had pulled a gun and aimed it right at her; he was dead before he had time to blink. Her brothers in blue had her back as they always did and had dropped him with a single shot.
But as they began to look further into him, Elizabeth got the uneasy feeling that they had just killed a big one; the hotel room where he asked for Elizabeth to meet him had been set up so that everything could be filmed.
Deep down, Elizabeth knew at the very least, they had just neutralized a child pornography producer; the lowest of the low in her mind. Everything had been categorized by crime scene and Elizabeth shook her head and noticed that a small TV was on and had been paused in a back room.
"Leo!" She called for her partner as she carefully entered the room; it had been swept and she was confident nobody else was in the room that could pose a threat, but her training kicked in and she entered the room with her hand on her sidearm.
He was at her side immediately, and he saw what she had just as quickly. "Jesus Christ" he muttered under his breath; both of them realizing what was on the screen. With a silent nod to each other, Elizabeth stepped forward and pressed play, allowing the footage to roll on.
Elizabeth's job required she watch the worst of the worst, she had seen atrocious acts done to people, filmed and sold for the profit. She was a sex crimes detective, very few things shocked her anymore. But was playing on the screen stopped her dead in her tracks. And she couldn't help gasp.
"The time stamp, do you see it Liz?" Leo whispered to her, seeing the same thing she was.
"This was a few hours ago…" She replied, pausing the video. There was no need to see anymore.
Leo nodded and looked at his watch before shaking his head. "We just missed her, she was here…"
Elizabeth bit her lip, "If that is who we think it is, we need to call the FBI right now." She paused again and looked to her partner. "She's alive; somehow, Agent Jareau is still alive." She had been following the case; anytime a member of law enforcement was hurt or killed, no matter what capacity or branch they served, they stood for one another. The women in law enforcement had a special bond and while most of them would never cross paths, they were all sisters; so when Jennifer Jareu went missing just over eleven months ago, everyone had vowed to never give up. Her picture was aired all across the nation, major national news outlets covered her case, she was featured on billboards scattered strategically across the country. But there had been no sightings of the agent; and deep down, as much as she hated to admit it, Elizabeth knew the woman was dead.
Time had damped the case, and now, Elizabeth rarely heard much about the woman, although her picture was still featured in many locations. Including in San Antonio just off the highway… right across the street from the hotel she and Leo were presently standing in.
Five minutes later, Leo came to stand by her side again, this time with a number jotted down on his palm. "Do you want to make the call or me?" He asked, showing the number.
Elizabeth looked at him and pulled out her cell phone.
Hotch sat on the plane, staring straight ahead. The rest of the team had fallen asleep quickly after take off, but Hotch had been unable to sleep. He hadn't been able to sleep since JJ's disappearance, his mind constantly wondering where she was, who had her, and would they ever find her. They were on their way back from a grueling case in Nebraska and had spent any spare moment of free time looking into JJ's case, but all had agreed they needed some sleep, just a little, if they wanted to be of any use to their agent. And they had agreed to do it on their flight back, just a few hours and they would be back to work, all volunteering to give up their free time to bring home their friend.
Hotch licked his lips and shook his head, he was no closer to finding JJ today then he had been the minute he had arrived at her home that day. They had nothing besides the truck; and the truck itself had turned out to be a bust. There had been no phone calls, or ransom notes, no tips or leads, there was only silence. With any other victim, Hotch would understand and believe that the victim was dead, especially with the amount of time that had passed, but he couldn't bring himself to do that with JJ. Not yet. Not ever.
He had picked up more information to reread regarding the abduction when his phone rang; not thinking, he reached down and answered it.
"Agent Hotchner, I am Detective Kate from San Antonio" Hotch closed his eyes, not ready to take on another case. There was a pause and then she spoke again. "agent, I believe I have evidence that your missing agent is alive, and most likely in the San Antonio area…"
Hotch didn't hear much of the conversation, instead, he requested the plane be diverted to San Antonio. They might finally have something.
