"Have you thought about why you suddenly believe her?" Morgan wondered, and Reid frowned slightly. Already catching the hidden meaning behind his words, but not entirely sure of how wise it was to ask. But then Morgan continued. "Do you think it might be because you're a mother?"
If looks could kill, JJ would've been in handcuffs for killing Morgan. But luckily for both of them, she reigned in her anger, and used it to make her case. "It's because another woman just walked in here with the same exact ruse used eight years ago. I can't deny that, can you?" she asked Morgan.
"All I'm saying is, if we go from a single abduction to multiple abductions over ten years, that changes everything." He defended calmly. "We have to be convinced that's what it is based on an unbiased profile."
Emily chimed in. "Okay. Distraction of a lost child, eight-year-old victims, taken from public places with little to no security," she counted off. "That's not just the same ruse; that's a signature. And I'm not a mother." She concluded.
"And just because we haven't heard of other abductions, doesn't mean they didn't happen. I guarantee you that they did, and that Sarah knows each and every single one of them." Amalya interjected. "Sokolov had a crew who operated in a similar manner for decades without detection because law enforcement never connected the dots." She continued.
"Charlie would be sixteen now. We all know that preferential offenders typically dispose of their victims before they reach puberty." Hotch stated.
"Maybe he serves another purpose." JJ offered.
"If you take away the sexual component, that leaves about a couple hundred other reasons why kids get abducted – especially at that age – but let's try to focus on the ones with slightly less horrific outcomes. Parents hold on to hope for far longer than Sarah did, and in some cases they're right to. We can't operate under the assumption that Charlie is already dead, because he may very well not be." She finished.
"Amy's mom said the UNSUB was slight. It wouldn't be easy keeping a teenager under her thumb." Rossi pointed out.
"Except she's had him since he was eight years old. By now, he's completely submissive to her." Emily reminded them.
"Keeping him could explain why Charlie's body was never found." Reid offered.
"Hotch, an operation like this wouldn't be run a single UNSUB." Amalya almost pleaded.
Finally, Hotch seemed to be onboard with their profile, and gave out assignments.
"Amalya." He called, as they all got up from around the table, and she turned around to meet him. "Do you think it could be a similar crew to Sokolov's?" he asked.
"I can't say either way. We don't have enough yet for me to make that call, that's why I'm saying I'm sure Sarah already has that pattern figured out, so it might help move things along." She suggested.
"I want you to take a look at Charlie's original abduction file, and see if you can see something we didn't," he stated, and she nodded. "And do you think you can contact someone to see if Charlie's been on any other radar?" he asked, and she immediately understood what he meant. Be it victim or victimizer, Charlie may have gone international.
"I'll get right on it."
Amalya was hunched over her desk studying Charlie's old abduction file, while her teammates worked on sorting through the thousand abduction cases reported over the past decade. They knew there was a chance the crew had been operating for longer than that, but they decided that a decade was long enough to establish a pattern, and going back any further would only be done if the need arise.
Her phone vibrated next to her, pulling her out of her thoughts as she read through Sarah's statement. She frowned slightly at JJ's name on her screen.
"JJ?" she said as she pressed her phone to her ear.
"Hey, can you come over to Sarah's house? I need you to see something." JJ implored.
"Send me the address." Amalya said, as she got up from her desk, and headed to the elevator.
Luckily for her, Sarah didn't live that far away from FBI headquarters, and she made it to the house in no time. She knocked on the door, and Sarah opened the door for her.
"You must be the new agent Agent Jareau called." The woman said shakily, and Amalya smiled sadly at her. The toll her son's disappearance was easy to spot on the woman. The dark circles, the slumped posture, the defeat in her voice as she spoke, and the hope peeking through that maybe, just maybe, this time someone did finally believe her.
"Agent Dawoud." Amalya identified herself, as she stepped into the house. She walked behind the woman, her eyes studying the house subtly as she took her to one room in particular. Amalya always prided herself on having excellent control over her facial reactions, and people always complimented her poker face. And even though she'd predicted that Sarah would have a pattern already figured out, she was taken aback by what she saw. She felt her breath hitch, and she met JJ's eyes. Neither said a word, but they were both thinking the same thing.
"This has become an obsession!"
Amalya ran her hand through her hair, pulling it back from her face and holding it at the top of her head for a few seconds before she let it fall back to where it was.
Amalya stared at the wall for a few moments, not quite sure what to say. The details were incredible, and the organization was almost professional. Her eyes darted from one missing kid to another, her brain already sorting through who fit the pattern and who didn't based on the details written on the wall.
She finally found her voice. "The flowers are…." She trailed off.
"Their bodies were found." Sarah finished for her.
"Did you talk to the police about all of these?" Amalya wondered.
"No. A few of them." She replied, as she pointed to the ones she'd gone to the FBI about. To Amalya's surprise, they were ones that fit the pattern.
She fished out her pad, and furiously scribbled down the names.
JJ knew right then and there that they were wrong not to listen to Sarah all those years ago, and knew that Amalya was rightfully furious. Sarah had gone to the BAU with those cases, and she was dismissed.
"Am…" JJ tried, but Amalya interrupted her. "I'll meet you both back at the BAU." She said in a clipped tone, before she turned around on her heels and stormed out of the house.
A furious Amalya pulled into the parking lot, and saw Hotch and Emily exit the FBI SUV.
"Hotch!" she called, her tone a bit angrier than she intended.
Hotch turned around, and Emily was taken aback by the fire she saw in her eyes.
"I'll meet you upstairs." Hotch told Emily. He didn't need to be a profiler to know Amalya was well beyond furious.
Amalya waited until she saw the elevator doors close after Emily, before she rounded on Hotch.
"Sarah came to the BAU when those kids went missing, and was dismissed," she seethed, handing him her notepad with the names and dates of the missing children. "They saw a drunk mother who lost her kid, and made a snap judgement. This isn't profiling, this is prejudice." She continued angrily. "And before you ask; no, they're not part of an international ring. Which means they could've been caught years ago, and many of those children would've been spared." She finished, her chest heaving with angry breaths.
"Amalya, you have to understand that we have to make judgement calls, and sometimes it's a miss." He told her.
"Yes, but you look through the file before you make that call. I'm willing to bet my job that those files weren't even looked at. If there are ever files to begin with." She argued back.
"Let's head up to meet the team, and see what was done at the time." He placated.
Her angry eyes held his for a few seconds, but it was long enough for him to notice that the brown grew darker when she was furious, before she barreled past him and headed for the elevators.
Amalya stood at the back of the room, her back leaning against the door with her arms crossed over her chest. She listened to JJ as she walked them through the abductions with a similar pattern, her anger increasing with each passing second. All of the names on the board were names on Sarah's wall, some of which she'd gone to the BAU about and was dismissed. Hotch spared her a quick glance, and saw the fury on her face. He wanted to deny her earlier statements, but he couldn't. Sarah was dismissed without a second glance.
"I saw Charlie three years ago." Sarah declared, and Hotch heard Amalya mumble something under her breath. And although it was loud enough for him to hear, he still didn't understand. Which made him realize it wasn't in English.
"My husband didn't believe me. Why would you?" Sarah said in defeat, and Amalya fumed.
"Tell us what happened." Hotch demanded.
"At first, I saw him all the time, I thought I did. And from what I understand, that's normal. But you survive that way, so Jake and I promised that we would move on." She started recounting the story, and with each word Amalya's anger seemed to grow. She knew she needed to calm down a bit, so she pushed herself off the door and left the room.
She walked over to the bathroom, and splashed water on her face. She had to get that case out of her head, she can't let it cloud her profiles. She can't let it interfere with her interpersonal relationships with her coworkers. She looked up at the mirror when she heard the door open, and was surprised when she saw Hotch.
"You realize this is the ladies' room, right?" she said hoarsely.
"And you realize that I'm good at what I do?" he retorted.
She sighed loudly, closed the water tap, grabbed a few paper towels before she turned around to meet his inquisitive eyes. "I know those files never made it to your desk, Hotch. If they had, you would've made the connection, but they never did. And JJ is good at what she does, but that's when she has all the facts. I realize that what we do is an endless game of whack-a-mole, but this was poor judgment." She defended.
"That's not what I'm talking about." He shot back, and she kept her face neutral. "We both know your outburst earlier wasn't about this case. You don't lose it like this over an abduction case." He said bluntly.
"You know why I took this job, Hotch?" she asked him instead.
"Because of Foyet." He answered without hesitation. But frowned when she shook her head.
"That got me here for one case. I could've made it clear from the beginning that it was simply a one-time consulting thing." She pointed out.
"So why did you stay?" he asked, genuinely curious now.
"Because of Sokolov!" she deadpanned, and he frowned. "The crew that Sokolov had operating like our UNSUB, he went undetected for close to three decades," she continued. "And they didn't have a cooling-off period, they would grab a few kids a year but still went undetected because no one believed the parents when they claimed the kidnappings were connected. When we took him down, that's when I walked away. I joined the BAU so that I can stop the supply chain and nip it in the butt. If our UNSUB was a supply chain, then trust me death is a good outcome." She was seething by the last syllable, but the pain was easily spotted behind the anger.
"Do you want to sit this one out?" he suggested, and she shook her head.
"I'm a big girl, Hotch. If I took down Sokolov, I won't run away from this guy." She shot back, as she moved towards the door, but he blocked the door.
"That's not what I meant. I can't have you distracted. He has a decade head-start on us, and we're playing catch-up. I need your head in the game." He spoke firmly.
"I understand." She said simply.
She stood at the top of the steps leading up to the Roycewood house, and looked over their garden, the bile rising when she realized what they were.
Hotch came up from behind her. "We can't find the children." He commented.
"I think I just did." She stated darkly, her eyes on the flowers. "I think each flower bed counts for one." She elaborated.
"Agent Hotchner." An officer called from inside the house, and Hotch walked back into the house. She sighed sadly as she walked down the steps, and walked between the flower beds, as she hummed a prayer under her breath. She looked up from the flowers, and spotted what looked like an abandoned shed behind the house.
"Did anyone inspect this shed?" she called out, and at the confused looks she received, she got her answer. She made her way towards the shed, and knocked on the door. "FBI, open up." She called, and was only met with silence. She pulled her gun out of its holster, and knocked forcefully once more. This time she heard a faint sound coming from inside that sounded like a moan, as well as the sounds of metal scrapping against metal. She took aim and kicked in the door, her eyes taking a split second to adjust to the darkness, and her jaw dropped.
Mrs. Sullivan was crying hard against her husband's chest, as they both waited for the elevator. They nearly barreled into Amalya as she exited the elevator. She easily spotted Charlie standing with his parents.
"Sarah, can you tell me where the Sullivans are?" she asked urgently.
"They're the couple you nearly barreled into right now." Charlie replied. "I already told them that Steven died protecting Amy." He informed her.
"He's not dead. They beat him up, but he didn't die. They put him in a shed behind the house," she called over her shoulder, as she pressed on the elevator buttons, before she pulled her phone out of her pocket and ran towards the stairwell.
"This is Agent Dawoud. Do not let the Sullivans leave the building." She barked into her phone, as she ran down the stairs.
The day had finally come to an end, and they were all finishing up their paperwork and handing it over to Hotch before they called it a day. Morgan passed by her desk on his way out of Hotch's office, and stopped.
"You didn't think that Sarah's insistence that Charlie was alive was a reason to dismiss the case, and you were right." Morgan started. "And you insisted that the children being alive would change the profile despite it being against usual MO."
"I had parents who insisted their kids were alive for decades, and they were right to. You can't change a profile based on prejudice. Some of those kids could've been spared the fate they faced if Sarah hadn't been dismissed so many times." She elaborated.
"Have a great night." He said sincerely.
"You too." She replied, before her eyes found Hotch's office. She put the final touches on the last paper in front of her, before she closed the file, grabbed her things and headed towards his office. She saw the lights on in Rossi's office, and figured she'll say her good nights on her way out.
She knocked on Hotch's door, and he looked up from the file in front of him. She walked in and handed him the file, which he graciously took from her and placed on top of a file.
"Have a good night." He said softly, as he looked back at the file in front of him.
She contemplated her decision for a second, before she put her palm on the paper, forcing him to look up at her. He was surprised when he saw her bent at the waist with her weight supported on the arm placed on his desk. His hazel eyes met her chocolate ones, and immediately felt disarmed. He didn't know what it was about her, but something about her always disarmed him.
"I didn't save Hailey so you can go back to long nights at the office. I gave you all a second chance, and you're wasting it. After Foyet you considered retirement, but then went back to the way things were. It doesn't have to be black or white, there are shades of grey. There are things you can do to lighten your load, so you can spend some time with Jack on the rare days when we actually do go home for the night. The paperwork can be done after his bedtime. Let us do our share of the work instead of doing it for us. Delegate some of the things you have, so you can have the time you want with your son. Don't waste the opportunity."
Her words were firm and yet showed clear concern for him. She didn't give him much room to argue back, nor did she sugar-coat her words.
"You and I are a lot alike. We're not who we are because of this job. We do this job because of who we are. But we can't let it become our lives. You have to learn to walk away. So whatever paperwork you have to finish by tomorrow, pack it up and do it after Jack's in bed. Come on." She said the last sentence as she stood up straight, and pointed with her head towards the door.
He wanted to object, but he knew she was right. Truth was, he and Hailey still needed to talk about how they were going to move forward. He knew they weren't getting back together, but their previous arrangement wasn't working either. And a part of him was dreading that talk.
"Hotch, don't let me say it twice and don't think I will take no for an answer. Egyptians are notorious for their persistence, and we don't really care much for personal space." She quipped.
"So I've noticed." He joked, as he got up and put the files he needed into his brief case. "After you." He gestured at the door, and they both walked out.
They saw Rossi exit his office at the same time they did, and veteran profiler did not hide his surprise at Hotch's early exit from the office. "Our dutiful leader leaving so soon. Que the apocalypse." He chuckled, and Amalya laughed as she slipped on her coat.
"I didn't exactly give him a choice." She informed him.
"Where have you been for the past decade or so?" he asked, and she laughed as they all entered the elevator.
"Bossing around someone else." She replied, just as the elevator's bell chimed announcing their arrival at the parking lot. "Have a good night gentlemen." She said over her shoulder as she walked over to her car.
Rossi gave Hotch a knowing smirk. "I still have a hard time saying no to her." Hotch stated without prompt.
Rossi simply smirked at his friend, as he tapped his shoulder. "Have a good night, Aaron."
So I saved Steven because I hated that he died just one day before they were found.
And I realize Hotch seems slightly out of character here, but that's the point of the new character. She's not something he's used to, so she throws him off his balance.
Let me know what you all think of the chapter.