A/N: Trigger warning for references to sexual assault.

xxx

The following morning, Van Pelt relieved Cho and Rigsby of the task of staking out Danvers. Cho and Rigsby reported to the office to check in with Lisbon before going home to sleep for few hours.

Lisbon leaned against her desk and addressed Cho. "Anything?" Rigsby, standing behind him, attempted to conceal a jaw-cracking yawn.

"No," Cho said. "Danvers stayed home all night. No signs he had anyone on the property with him."

Lisbon sighed. "Okay. Go home and get some rest. Jane's cooking up a plan to try to get Danvers to confess, but he said he has some work to do before he'll be ready to confront him. Maybe you can catch the big finish."

"Sounds good, boss," Cho said. "Call us if you need anything."

Lisbon waved them off and headed back to her desk chair with the intention of following up on the issue of Michelle's father—it still bothered her that they hadn't been able to reach him since Michelle had gone missing. But no sooner had Cho and Rigsby left than her desk phone rang.

It was an officer from California Highway Patrol. "Ma'am? I picked up a kid in a vehicle with plates reported missing from Sacramento this morning just outside Merced. I called Sac PD and they said I should talk to you. What do you want me to do with him?"

Lisbon frowned. "They told you to call me? What's the kid's name?"

There was a rustling over the line. "Anthony Watkins," the officer reported.

Anthony. "Where is he now?"

"At the Merced police station, ma'am."

"I'll be there in two hours."

xxx

She took Jane with her.

When they got to the Merced police station, they found Anthony in the main waiting area looking angry and embarrassed.

Jane sat down with Anthony while Lisbon arranged with CHP to have custody transferred to herself. When she returned to Jane and Anthony, Jane looked up and suggested, "Why don't we take Anthony out for ice cream?"

Lisbon could think of a few reasons, but she trusted Jane's judgment when it came to recalcitrant teenagers, so she gestured her assent. "Let's go."

Once they were settled in the finest ice cream parlor Merced had to offer, Lisbon raised her eyebrows at Anthony. "Wanna tell us what happened?"

"I didn't steal anything!" Anthony protested immediately, around a mouthful of sundae. "That's my mom's car. I didn't think she was going to call the cops on me!"

"You ditched school and took off with her car without telling her," Lisbon pointed out. "Most mothers would do the same."

"She usually takes the bus," Anthony said, scowling. "I didn't think she'd miss it until tonight when she got home. And I left a note!"

"Your note said, 'Mom, gone to L.A. for the weekend. I've got to take care of something. Will call later.'"

Anthony gestured as though to say, 'see?' Like that was a perfectly reasonable note and his mom had entirely overreacted.

"What is it exactly that you have to take care of in L.A.?"

Anthony fidgeted. "Well, I was thinking about what you guys said," he said, stirring a small pool of melted ice cream with his spoon. "About Michelle's friends in L.A."

"Specifically, the ex-boyfriend," Jane said to Lisbon meaningfully.

"So I sent him follow requests on his social media accounts," Anthony said. "And he accepted."

"Go on," Lisbon said.

"He was talking all about how he had big plans with his girl this weekend," Anthony said, scowling. "So I thought—maybe Michelle was down there after all. I thought I could go down there and find her through him. And convince her to come back, because everyone was really worried."

"That's a long drive," Jane said. "Where were you planning to stay once you got down there?"

"My grandma has a place in Glendale," Anthony said, picking the cherry off the top of his ice cream and slurping it down. "But she spends most of her time in Sacramento, so it's empty most of the time. I know where she leaves the key."

"Why didn't you call us, if you thought Michelle might be in L.A.?" Lisbon asked.

"He didn't want to get her in trouble," Jane told her. "Besides, it's more dashing and romantic if he goes down there himself."

Anthony said nothing, but his silence told her that Jane had hit the nail on the head as usual.

Lisbon sighed. "All right." She called Van Pelt.

"Hey, boss," Van Pelt greeted her. "No movement from Danvers yet. He's having a lazy morning."

"You up for some multi-tasking?" Lisbon asked.

"Sure, it's been pretty boring here."

"Can you send me your notes from the interviews you did with Michelle's friends in L.A.? And do a follow up call with one of them?"

Van Pelt assured her that she could. Lisbon hung up, then nodded at Anthony. "Finish your ice cream."

By the time Anthony finished his sundae, Van Pelt had texted Lisbon the information she was after, and Lisbon had made two additional phone calls.

"I let your mom know we're bringing you back to Sacramento," Lisbon told Anthony. "CHP will bring the car back. My agent talked to Jaydn. He has a new girlfriend. Her name's Lacey. That's who he was talking about in his messages."

Anthony brightened. "Really?"

"My agent confirmed that he's in L.A. and hasn't had any contact with Michelle," she said.

"Oh." Anthony looked at her. "So…am I in trouble?"

Lisbon shrugged. "We'll leave that up to your mom."

Xxx

After they'd dropped off Anthony at his mom's house back in Sacramento, Jane turned to Lisbon and said, "I'm ready to go talk to Danvers again, but I need to go back to the CBI to get something first. Can we stop by there for a few minutes before we catch him at the studio?"

"Sure." They drove back to the CBI and Jane disappeared up to the attic. Lisbon headed to the bullpen with the intention of checking in with Cho and Rigsby, who were back at their desks now. Chris and Daniel, both seated on Jane's couch, jumped up and crossed to meet her when she entered.

"Any word?" Daniel said anxiously.

"They said you were out pursuing a lead," Chris added, nodding to Cho and Rigsby.

Lisbon shook her head. "False alarm. We're on our way out to follow up on another line of investigation in a couple of minutes."

"I want to come," Daniel said immediately.

"It'll be better if you stay here," Lisbon said. "We'll let you and Olivia know if we find anything."

Daniel raked a hand through his hair, vibrating with frustrated energy. "God. This waiting, doing nothing is making me crazy."

"The best thing you can do right now is be there for Olivia," Lisbon told him. "Really."

He exhaled. "Yeah. Okay."

"Hey." Lisbon put a hand on his arm. "We're gonna find her, okay? I promise."

Jane returned then, brandishing a pink notebook. "I'm ready now, Lisbon. Shall we take my car this time?" He stopped, catching sight of Lisbon standing with her hand on Daniel's arm.

Lisbon removed her hand from Daniel's arm, an unpleasant sense of déjà vu washing through her. He'd found her just this way with Chris yesterday, and the aftermath hadn't been pleasant. "Sure, Jane."

"You've got a plan?" Daniel said to Jane, worry in his voice.

"Yeah," Jane said shortly. He made a visible effort and his expression softened. "We'll call you in a bit, okay?"

"Thanks," Daniel said gratefully. "We'll wait here," he said. Then looked to Lisbon. "If that's okay?"

"Sure," Lisbon said. She turned to Cho and Rigsby. "Rigs, can you stick around and cover things here? Cho, you're with me."

Rigsby nodded his assent. Cho wordlessly stood and put on his jacket, then came to join them.

Xxx

When they reached the studio, Danvers' last class had just left. They found him alone in the studio, putting on his street shoes.

"Hello, Paul," Jane said pleasantly.

Danvers looked up. Took in Jane, rocking on his heels. Lisbon, severe behind him. And Cho, expressionless but intimidating in his regulation government suit. "Uh, hi."

"Question for you," Jane said.

"All right," Danvers said, wary.

"Where are you keeping Michelle?" Jane asked, still in that deceptively pleasant tone.

Danvers turned red. "What? I'm not—"

"We know she's not at your house," Jane continued. "Do you have her stashed away with a friend? A relative, maybe? What did you have to tell them to let them go along with it?"

"I didn't—"

"We know you've been harassing girls at the studio," Jane interrupted.

"Minors," Lisbon said, glaring.

"Possibly some of them go along with it," Jane mused. "But that's still statutory rape, isn't it, Lisbon?"

"It is," Lisbon confirmed.

"But young Callie—she wasn't receptive to your advances," Jane said. "She didn't like it when you tried to touch her, when you said those certain things in her ear after class."

Danvers went very still. "I didn't…" he said feebly. "You're mistaken."

"You got mean when she didn't go along with your suggestions, though," Jane said. "Threatened to tell her family that she'd come onto you, that it was all her idea. It worked, too. She didn't say anything to anybody. Only trouble was, Michelle heard you."

Danvers face lost its color. "No. No, that's not true," he croaked.

"So you had to take her to keep her quiet, didn't you?" Jane said. "She's not like the others. You knew you wouldn't be able to bully her into remaining silent."

"I didn't take her!" Danvers said. "This is ridiculous. You don't have any proof of any of this."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong," Jane said, making a show of pulling a pink notebook printed with yellow daisies out of his breast pocket. "Michelle wrote it all in her journal. Every last detail, while she tried to decide what to do. Tell her mom? Tell Ms. Windgate? She tried to get Callie to speak up, but Callie was too scared. I'm betting, though, that if we go through the studio's files, we'll be able to find other girls, over the years. Ones who are all grown up now, and won't be so scared anymore. I'm betting they'll talk, once we come knocking. So Paul, you see, it will really go much easier for you if you tell us where you have Michelle now, rather than later."

"He's right, Danvers," Lisbon said. "Confess now, help us get Michelle back safely, the D.A. might be willing to request a reduced sentence. But if we have to drag it out of you, if anything's happened to Michelle, you're on your own."

Danvers eyes were riveted on the pink notebook. He swallowed hard. "Okay, look. I might have made a couple—ill-advised remarks to one of the students. And maybe Michelle thought she saw something, but I didn't take her, I swear!"

"Tell me when I guess the right number of underage girls you've harassed over the years," Jane said. "Five? Ten? Twenty? More than twenty? Ah. More than twenty. Did you have sex with all of them, or only some of them?"

"Only," Danvers whispered. "Only some."

"Did you rape Callie Mitchell?"

"No!" Off Lisbon's hard look, he swallowed again. "I just—I told her I wanted to be with her. Asked her if she wanted to come over to my place sometime. And said…some other stuff."

"And Michelle?" Lisbon demanded. "What did you do with her?"

"I never touched that girl," Danvers insisted. "Last I saw her she left class with her friends. I never went near her after that. But I…I know who might have done it."

"Who?" Lisbon said suspiciously.

Danvers quailed under her look. "Linda."

Lisbon frowned. "Linda Windgate? The studio director? Why would she want to take Michelle?"

"Because…because she's been doctoring the books," Paul said. "Maybe…maybe Michelle saw something, or heard something, and Linda wanted to keep her quiet." He nodded at the pink notebook. "Maybe there's something in her diary on that," he said hopefully.

"What, this?" Jane said, holding up the notebook. "There wouldn't be anything about that in here."

"Why not?" Danvers said. "Maybe you didn't read it all the way through, there could be something—"

"Oh, I don't need to read it," Jane said. "I already know everything that's in it. I wrote it, you see."

Danvers was at a loss. "You…?"

"Yeah, this was never Michelle's diary," Jane said. "I bought it yesterday from a stationary store for $12.95."

"But there's writing in it," Danvers protested. "I can see it."

"That's the secret to a good con, Paul," Jane said. "Attention to detail. It's mostly filled with 'Paul Danvers is a lying, sexually perverted, worthless excuse for a man,' in case you were wondering. It took me several hours to fill in an adequate number of pages, and to make it look appropriately worn. I'm pleased to hear that my craftsmanship is appreciated."

Cho looked at Jane. "So did he take Michelle or not?"

"No," Jane said with a frown. "He's telling the truth about that. I suppose we'll have to check out the director, then."

"All right," Lisbon said. "Cho, arrest Mr. Danvers and take him back to the CBI for further interrogation and coordinate with the D.A. on the charges. Jane and I will talk to Ms. Windgate."

Cho nodded curtly and crossed the room to cuff Danvers. "Mr. Danvers, you have the right to remain silent…"

Lisbon heard Cho intone the rest of the Miranda rights as he led Danvers down the hall and out of the building. She called Van Pelt as they walked down the hall. "Van Pelt, you still outside?"

"Yeah, I thought you might need me to tail Danvers again once class was over," Van Pelt confirmed. "What's up?"

"We arrested Danvers, but he didn't take Michelle. Cho's coming out with him now. Can you come inside? I think we're going to need you."

"Be right there."

Lisbon hung up as they reached Windgate's office. She knocked on the open doorframe. "Ms. Windgate?"

Windgate looked up from her desk. "Agents. What can I do for you?"

"Did you kidnap Michelle?" Jane asked.

Windgate blinked. "Kidnap... No. Why would I want to kidnap Michelle?"

"Maybe she discovered your financial impropriety," Jane said. "That's what Danvers thinks, anyway. We just arrested him, by the way."

Windgate stared. "You arrested Paul? What for?"

"For statutory rape and soliciting sex from minors," Lisbon said. "Ma'am, can you please step away from your desk?"

"Sex with minors? You mean he was having sex with my students?" Windgate said, appalled.

"That's right," Jane said. "He just confessed."

"Oh, my God," Windgate said, sagging back in her chair.

"Ma'am, please. I need you to step away from your computer," Lisbon said.

Van Pelt came in behind her. "Hey, boss. What's up?"

"I need you to look through Ms. Windgate's computer files. See if there are any irregularities in the financial records."

Windgate looked up at this, the reason for their presence in her office only belatedly sinking in. "Me? I haven't done anything. You just said Paul is a suspect in the kidnapping. This has nothing to do with me."

Van Pelt crossed over to the desk and stood expectantly, waiting for Windgate to get up.

Windgate crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "I'm not turning over my files to you. You want to search my place of business, I'm going to need to see a search warrant."

"Oh, we don't need a warrant. You're going to allow us to search the place voluntarily," Jane said.

"The hell I am," Windgate said indignantly.

"Sure you are," Jane said. "Otherwise, we'll tell all the parents and any press who might be interested that you knowingly let Danvers harass your students in exchange for keeping silent about you siphoning cash off from the business for your personal benefit. A little embezzlement here or there, who really cares about that? Collusion with a sexual predator, on the other hand—that's a whole other kettle of fish."

"That's a damn lie," Windgate said, outraged.

"So what?" Jane said. "Suspicion and fact are so difficult to tell apart once something like that gets into the press. And Danvers would jump at the chance to implicate you so he can divert attention from his own case. But you let us take a look at the computer, we'll let the press know you put us onto Paul in the first place and we won't issue a press release about your financial dealings. If the press find something on their own, that's their lookout. But wouldn't you rather take a slap on the wrist for some nice, respectable white collar crime than be embroiled in months of scandal because of some creep you made the mistake of hiring?"

Windgate's nostrils flared, but she must have seen the sense in Jane's argument, because she stood up abruptly and stepped back from her computer.

Van Pelt sat down in Windgate's desk chair and started clicking keys.

"Now, where were we?" Jane said. "Michelle. What do you know about her disappearance?"

"Nothing," Windgate said, annoyed.

Jane frowned. "That's not quite the truth," he said slowly. "You know something."

Windgate pressed her lips together. "I'm not saying another word until my attorney is present."

She was true to her word. Jane tried a few of his usual tricks to get her to crack, but she remained stubbornly silent.

Van Pelt looked up from the computer. "There are definitely irregularities in the accounts," she said to Lisbon. "But I'm going to need to take this computer back to the office and run it against our software to get the full picture."

"Okay." Lisbon turned to Windgate. "Ms. Windgate, you're under arrest for suspicion of embezzlement. I'm going to need you to come with me now."

Windgate came peacefully.