Chapter 8 -
Luke slammed his hands hard on the bonnet of the SUV, Tyler was walking out of the house as he frowned at his friend but he too felt the same frustration.
"Come on Luke not in plain sight."
Tyler nodded to the door of the vehicle as the two of them got in, with Tyler driving away from the house in silence until they parked up in an empty lot under a bridge.
"Let's ring Rossi."
Tyler reached and dialled the familiar number, he could see the anger still in Luke's eyes, he felt the same, he was just hiding it better.
"Tyler, how are you getting on?"
"The first one wasn't the house and then the second was wiped clean Rossi, they were expecting us."
The anger was evident in Luke's voice as he loudly spoke.
"Well that was to be expected, they know that Libby got away and could identify the area of the house. Ok head back to the FBI office, Agent Barnes is going to help us track down the other girls we have photos of."
"No worries, we'll keep you updated."
Tyler reached and ended the call, he knew better than to try, at that moment in time, to talk to Luke, instead he drove away in silence.
Tara walked around and put her hand on Emily's back, rubbing it softly.
"Come on let's go and see Libby."
Emily nodded her head as she slowly got up, taking a breath and chewing her bottom lip as she composed herself before the two of them walked down to Tara's office. Tara quietly opened the door, the two of them smiling gently as they saw Libby asleep, her head resting on JJ's lap. Emily walked over and crouched down in front of JJ, firstly looking at Libby before she raised her gaze up towards her friend.
"Thank you."
The words were whispered as Emily stood up and gently reached over as she gave JJ a light embrace. JJ reached up and placed her hand on Emily's cheek, softly brushing the tear that had escaped from Emily's eye.
"Come on Emily, you don't need to say anything."
Emily gently nodded her head as Tara put her arm around Emily and led her to sit down on one of the chairs as they waited quietly. Emily's gaze was fixed on Libby and it wasn't long before a soft whimper left Libby's mouth.
Quickly JJ moved her hand and placed it on Libby's back, rubbing it gently as Emily moved swiftly and sat down on the floor, placing her hand on Libby's cheek and whispered softly.
"It's ok Libs, Libby you are safe. Open your eyes for me."
Emily smiled as she saw Libby's eyes slowly open, she managed to keep her smile in place as Emily saw the tears begin to trickle down Libby's cheeks.
"That's it Libby, it's ok, we are all here for you."
Emily stood up as she watched JJ help Libby to sit back upright before Libby got up from the couch and wrapped her arms around Emily's waist, burying her head into the crook of Emily's arm, the young girl's sobs audible to all in the room. Emily held Libby tightly, closing her eyes she didn't hear any movement until Emily felt hands on her back and sholders, slowly she opened her eyes and saw that both JJ and Tara were standing beside her, holding her and Libby.
Garcia had heeded Rossi's words and had sat outside with a large mug of herbal tea, she had thought of going to go and see Emily but she had been in a meeting with Dave and Rebecca. Instead Garcia took in some fresh air, closing her eyes as she listened to the bird song. But after 30 minutes Garcia knew that she needed to head back to her office, she had set the photos of the girls running through all known systems to see if she could identify them, though as she walked back into her office she wasn't expecting the results to be already showing on her screen. Leaning forward Garcia raised her eyebrows, there were three definite matches, instinctively she reached for her phone, the results determining who she was going to call.
"Luke where are you?"
"New York."
Luke grinned as Tyler rolled his eyes beside him, they were sitting in a spare office alongside Agent Nick Barnes.
"Ok smarty pants, I have some information that you might be interested in."
"Ahh sorry Garcia, we're with Agent Barnes looking at the photos of the other girls."
"Well my over eager friend, that is why I am calling you."
Luke put his cell on the table and flicked the speaker button.
"Ok then Garcia, you're on speaker to all of us now."
"Right, finally I can speak to some skilled agents!"
Luke rolled his eyes as Tyler shook his head and grinned.
"So I put the three photos through my babies and they have come up with hits for all three girls. They are all under the care of social services and live in two separate group homes."
"That's great Garcia, can you email us over the details please?"
"Already done Luke, sorry I need to go and update the others now, Garcia out."
Garcia puffed out her cheeks and stood up, locking the door behind her.
Luke brought up his laptop and quickly found the information Garcia had sent across, he turned the screen so that Tyler and Nick could also see.
"So Nick, do you know anything about these two homes?"
Agent Barnes frowned as he looked at the information.
"Yeah they are on our radar. We have had reports of abuse and neglect. Unfortunately they are not the only two on our radar."
Agent Barnes opened his own laptop and brought up some information that he shared with Luke and Tyler.
"We are investigating several social workers and have seen large amounts of money deposited into their bank accounts, there are links to child trafficking and the Russian mob here in New York. Unfortunately we haven't got enough evidence yet as none of the children will cooperate with us, social services have always been present in the interviews."
Agent Barnes looked angry and frustrated and he saw the same look on both other agents.
"Yeah but Nick this is definitely a federal case now, I think I have an idea that might work."
Luke raised an eyebrow as Tyler looked quizzically at him and waved his hand for Luke to continue.
"We need to speak to Rebecca, she's our DoJ lawyer Nick. We could look at protective custody for the three girls, take them down to Quantico and talk to them there, without any interference."
Both Nick and Tyler nodded at the proposal, all hoping that those higher up would agree with Luke's suggestion.
Garcia knocked gently on the closed door, she had seen the results of the information that Libby had given so she could only imagine the trauma Libby was feeling, but she needed to check on not only Libby but her friends as well.
"Come in."
Garcia quietly opened the door, a smile creeping across her face as she saw Libby curled up on the couch, her head on Tara's shoulder while her unhurt hand was on JJ's stomach with JJ's hand on top of Libby's. The three of them close together as Emily sat at Tara's desk, reading emails on her phone.
"Hey Pen is everything ok?"
Emily looked over at Garcia, concern evident on her face as Garcia smiled and wandered over to the desk, taking a seat as she looked at Emily.
"I just needed a break and to check that all of you were ok."
The two women smiled at each other as Emily put her cell down and reached across and took a hold of Garcia's hands.
"Thank you."
Garcia smiled and nodded her head and leaned over the table and spoke quietly so that Libby wouldn't hear.
"I managed to identify the other girls, they are all from New York, I passed the information onto Luke and Tyler."
Emily closed her eyes for a moment and nodded her head.
"How did you find them so quickly? Are they in the system?"
Garcia nodded her head and dropped her head as she felt Emily's thumbs stroking her hands.
Emily let out a heavy sigh as she looked over at Libby, the tiredness evident in her eyes. Garcia moved her hands and placed one on Emily's cheek.
"Why don't you two go home Emily, you both look exhausted."
Garcia smiled as Emily closed her eyes once again before she took her hands away and turned and looked at Libby.
Emily sighed as she stood up and walked over to her young niece, crouching down as she smiled and put her hands on Libby's legs.
"Hey sweetie, ready to go back to mine?"
Libby brought her head up from Tara's shoulder and nodded in response.
It was still light as Emily drove, it had felt like the day had lasted a lot longer but it was only 3pm. The physical and mental tiredness affecting both Emily and Libby as silence enveloped the car. As Emily pulled up at a red light she turned and looked at her niece.
"Did you want to stop for anything to eat Libs?"
"No I'm ok Emily, I just want to get back and rest."
"Not a problem sweetheart, only about ten more minutes."
Emily smiled as she turned her attention back to the road as the lights changed. Pulling away Emily heard a loud engine noise too close for comfort. Turning her head sharply Emily's instincts kicked in as she reached across and pushed Libby's head down.
"Get down and stay down Libby!"
Panic was evident in Emily's voice as she suddenly turned the car around and sped up. The back windscreen shattered as a bullet hit it. Libby screamed out in fear as Emily turned the car around again and hit the accelerator once again.
"Keep down Libby, don't worry I'll keep you safe."
Emily swerved her head around and looked in the mirror, keeping the vehicle moving fast and back towards Quantico.