"Are you sure that both you and Paige are okay?" Hotch questioned gently. "If you would like, I can make arrangements for the two of you to be admitted for the night."

It was later that evening and Hotch, JJ, and Rossi were with Laurel and Paige in a conference room at the hospital. Laurel was sitting at the table talking with the agents while Paige played with some paper cups on the floor.

"No," Laurel turned down the offer. "That would create even more of a paper trail and I can't risk that."

"Your husband?" JJ guessed.

Laurel nodded.

"You don't have to worry about him," Rossi assured her. "We can take care of him."

"The last time I saw Bradley, he threatened to file for full custody," Laurel explained. "And, with my job situation where I have to take Paige to work with me at both my jobs, he would probably get it, despite the fact that he hit both me and her – hard – on several occasions."

"I wouldn't count on that," Hotch assured her. "If he did try to get custody, the judge would look at a multitude of factors."

"Don't worry," Rossi added. "If you need a lawyer, I have one on speed dial." He held up his cell phone as he smiled at the distraught woman.

"Now," JJ began, "If you can talk about it, we need to know exactly what happened with you and Paige – From the beginning."

"And, if it is alright, I will be recording this," she added as she set a small recorder on the table.

"That's just fine," Laurel assured her. "What they did to us was unconscionable and someone needs to pay for it. Also, steps need to be taken to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else." She paused and took a deep breath.

"It was Sunday afternoon," she began her story. "And, Paige and I decided to walk down the road to the discount department store to do our weekly shopping."

"You do this every Sunday afternoon?" Hotch questioned.

"Unless the weather is really bad, yes," Laurel replied.

"Okay," Rossi gave her an encouraging smile.

"We had finished our shopping and were on our way back home," Laurel continued. "But, because of the heat we got kind of tired and decided to sit down and rest for a few minutes on some decorative rocks that were at the entrance to an industrial park. While we were sitting there, a police car drove up and stopped in front of us. The two officers got out and started asking questions."

"I told them that we had just stopped for a few minutes to catch our breath and that we lived just down the road, but they kept insisting that we were homeless and needed to go to a shelter. I kept telling them that if they would just go 50 feet down the road and speak to the receptionist at the Inn's front desk they would find out that we did have a home."

"They didn't believe you?" JJ asked.

"NO!" Laurel spat out. "They took away our shopping bags and they took Paige's stuffed bunny and then they forced us into the back seat of their car like we had done something wrong! Then they drove us around for a couple of hours before finally pulling up in front of that shelter. After they shoved us through the front door, I tried telling the people there that we needed to get home so I could go to work, but they wouldn't listen to me either. They just told me I was making up stories."

"They waited until after dark," Rossi said thoughtfully. "When no one would see them."

"They might have collected a bounty from the shelter for bringing in some new, more desirable residents," JJ suggested.

"What happened then?" Hotch asked quietly.

"They took us to a room and told us that it was our new home," Laurel continued. "And, they threatened that if we tried to leave the shelter they would take Paige away from me. During the next three days I cooperated with the shelter manager and his assistant, after all they are both bigger than me and I was worried about Paige. But, I was constantly looking around trying to find a way to escape. However, all the outside doors were either securely locked and/or guarded and the fence around the backyard had razor wire on top of it. I was seriously thinking about trying to tunnel our way out when you showed up."

"Bunny!" Paige said suddenly from the floor. "I want my Bunny!"

"I am sorry, Sweetie, but Bunny isn't here," Laurel got up and walked over to her daughter. "I don't know where he is." She sat down on the floor next to the child and put her arm around her, hugging her tightly.

"You said they took your daughter's stuffed rabbit," Rossi recalled. "They didn't give it back?"

"No. Not the rabbit and not the clothes we had bought or the food or anything," Laurel replied as she pulled her daughter into her lap. "And, I have probably lost both my jobs as well." She blinked her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears.

"We'll have to see what we can do about that," Hotch declared, standing up. "Now, about tonight – "

"Can we go back to the Inn?" Laurel asked. "Please? Even if I don't have my job any more, they do owe me for a couple of day's work and I am sure it is enough to cover a room for the night. Plus, the breakfast buffet tomorrow morning will get us fed. And, hopefully, what few belongings we have are still there so we can get them, too." She looked up at him.

"I WANT MY BUNNY!" Paige again insisted loudly as Laurel put her hands over her eyes and began crying uncontrollably.