Chapter 23 –

Emily looked up and nodded her head as Hotch, Garcia and Reid entered the room before she bent down and spoke softly into the left ear of Mary.

"Hey sweetie I need you to sit up for a moment."

Slowly Mary sat up and looked at Emily, her eyes red and puffy from the tears she had shed.

"Hello Mary, I'm Spencer Reid, can I have a look inside your ear please, the one that you hear the voice in?"

Reid smiled as he spoke, Mary just nodded her head and laid her head on the table, turning it to the side so her ear was accessible.

"Thank you Mary, if you can just keep nice and still for me."

Reid picked up a head torch and put it on, shining the light into Mary's ear as he used a long pair of tweezers. The room was silent as Reid worked, Emily placed a gentle hand on Mary's shoulder while Hotch and Garcia stood back and it took a couple of minutes before Reid brought a small black device out.

"Well done Mary its out."

Reid smiled as he passed the device to Garcia who examined it carefully before she looked at Hotch.

"Its military spec but I should be able to trace the signal."

"Get on it Garcia, thanks Reid."

Garcia linked her arm around Reid as the two of them walked out of the SCIF room as Hotch finally sat down opposite Emily who was still sitting next to Mary.

"We need to ask you some questions Mary, do you feel up to talking to us?"

Emily got up out of her seat and grabbed a bottle of water, placing it in front of Mary before she walked around the table and sat down next to Hotch. Mary lifted her head and rubbed her ear before she gratefully took a long sip of water and nodded at Hotch and Emily.

"Is this the man who put the device in your ear?"

Hotch took a photo out of the file he had in front of him and slid it across the table, Mary didn't need to pick it up as she nodded her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Ok can you tell me how you met him?"

Mary dropped her head for a moment and Hotch could see that she was trying to compose herself so he waited patiently.

"I was going round to the back of a bar, he drove his car over to where I was and made me go in."

"Where was this, here in D.C?"

Mary shook her head as Emily reached across and put a hand on Hotch's shoulder.

"Hang on a minute, we need to slow things down a bit here Hotch. Mary how old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"What's your last name Mary?"

"Atkinson."

"Do we need to phone your parents and let them know that you are safe?"

"Dad's dead, don't know who my mom is."

"So you live on the streets?"

Emily kept up with the pace of the questions, not giving Mary the chance to think about her answers as they gathered crucial background information.

"Yes, so?"

"You live in D.C?"

"Fredricksburg."

"You were heading for a bar?"

"The guy who cleans the kitchen knew my dad, he gives me food."

"You hadn't got to the bar though?"

"I was walking through the car park when this pick-up truck drew up beside me, the guy thought I was a whore but I ignored him, guess that was a mistake."

Mary stuttered slightly as she reached across for her water and gulped some down, Hotch looked at Emily and gestured for her to continue.

"What happened next?"

"He grabbed me and drove out of town, I was screaming, trying to get him to stop, I tried to open the door but I couldn't. He stopped somewhere, just off a main road."

Mary stopped as she reached up and touched her face where the cuts and bruises were still visible. Emily glanced across and looked at Hotch who pursed his lips, a sure sign that he was angry but not at Mary, Emily turned and looked back at Mary who was staring down at the table, her voice unsteady as she spoke.

"The next thing I knew I was in a locked room, I don't know where, it was then that I first heard the voice in my head and realised what else he had attached to me."

"It's ok Mary, you're doing really well. He came and got you from that room, where did he take you?"

Emily kept her voice soft and gently, sensing that Mary was close to breaking down completely.

"He dropped me at a bus stop, gave me some cash and drove off but he kept talking to me, telling me what to do, where to go. If I hadn't done what he asked he was going to blow the bus up!"

Mary tried but failed to stop the tears from trickling down her face, instantly she reached for the water and gulped some down, her time on the streets had taught her not to show any signs of vulnerability.

"He told you to find me though?"

"He showed me your photo."

Emily swallowed hard, she knew that her next question wasn't that relevant but she needed to know the answer for her own piece of mind.

"Yet you ran away as soon as you found me, why?"

Mary glanced up at Emily and shrugged her shoulders as silence enveloped the room, both Hotch and Emily waiting patiently until finally Mary spoke.

"I heard you say about jamming the cell signal, I knew that I had to get out. I didn't care if I died but I never wanted to hurt anyone else."

Mary dropped her head down and rested her hands on her head, too exhausted to hear the whispered conversation between Emily and Hotch.

"Do you believe her?"

"I've no reason not to Hotch, look at her she's a mess, physically and emotionally."

"Well it's too risky to take her to a hospital."

"I'll patch her up as best as possible and then she needs to rest."

"We need to regroup, this was a completely new tactic, let's just hope that Garcia can track the signal."

"I'll see if Kate can look after Mary."

Hotch raised an eyebrow in response as Emily shook her head.

"Mary can sleep on the sofa and I want to be able to keep an eye on both her and Kate."

"Ok I'll leave you to it."

Hotch stood up and walked out of the SCIF as Emily walked around and bent down beside Mary.

"Hey I'm going to just make sure that all those cuts and bruises are ok."

Mary nodded her head as she felt Emily's soft hands gently touching her broken skin, the pain was immense but she was determined not to let it show. Emily watched carefully as Mary closed her eyes, there were some significant bruises around her left eye but Emily knew that most of the damage was hidden beneath Mary's clothes.

"If you want me to stop at anytime just tell me."

Emily's voice was a whisper as she gently felt around Mary's rib and saw the glimpse of pain etched on Mary's face.

"Sorry, it feels like you've broken a rib so you'll have to be careful. Did he do anything else to you?"

Emily pulled Mary's top down and waited patiently as Mary sat silently with her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Emily reached across and placed her hands on top of Mary's.

"I'll take that as a yes then, I promise that I'll get you to a hospital as soon as it is safe."

Mary shrugged her shoulders as she slowly opened her eyes, making eye contact with Emily briefly before she looked the other way. Emily moved closer and put her arm around Mary.

"Hey sweetie, don't worry you're safe, nobody's going to hurt you now."

Mary nodded head knowing that if she spoke she wouldn't be able to stop the tears.

"Come on then let's get you somewhere to get some rest."

Emily smiled as she stood up, standing close to Mary before she led her out of the room.

Kate had been sitting impatiently at her dad's desk, the blinds were open as she kept an eye on the bullpen, she had seen Garcia, JJ, Reid and Morgan but there had been no sign of either of her parents until finally she watched the familiar figure of her mother enter the bullpen.

"No!"

The words was whispered as it left Kate's mouth, her mom was heading straight up to the office but walking beside her was the girl who had tried to kill her just hours earlier. Kate shook her head as the door opened, pursing her lips as Emily settled the girl on the sofa, gently placing the blanket over her before she gestured for Kate to come and talk to her outside.

"What's going on mom? She tried to kill you!"

Emily took a breath as she saw the anger in Kate's eyes, she placed her hands on Kate's shoulders and looked her daughter in the eye.

"Kate stop for a minute and just look at her."

Kate sighed dramatically as she turned and looked in the office.

"Ok she looks like someone beat the crap out of her."

"They did sweetie and worse, she was forced to wear that bomb, Mary never meant to hurt me or anyone else. She's just a scared kid who is in a lot of pain, I need you to keep an eye on her while she sleeps and ring me if she gets any worse."

Kate opened her mouth to protest but then she saw the worry in her mom's eyes and thought better of it.

"Ok."

"Thanks Kate she's had a rough time of it so she might have some nightmares, I just thought that if anyone could relate."

Emily left the words hanging in the air before she embraced her daughter tightly.

"Don't worry mom I'll look after her."