Author note: These next few chapter have been really challenging to write. I'm building up to a lot of big things but laying the ground work feel like such a chore. Hopefully this makes sense. Thanks again to everyone that been reading and reviewing! If anyone is a Beta or knows one that might be able to offer a second set of eyes that would be really helpful.
Chapter 3
The room felt stifling, crammed with shadows of unease that stretched across the oak table and clung to the walls. Around it sat the team, strained eyes scanning scant reports, coffee turning cold. With every tick of the clock, the hours blurred into something interminable, almost accusatory, the spectre of Benjamin's medical condition pressing its way into their silence. A sudden buzz sliced through the tension as Garcia called in, her voice edged with anticipation, urging them to see the footage she'd unearthed. Faces pivoted to the screen. Hearts clenched as the children appeared, pixelated and haunting, revealing truths far more complex than they had dared to imagine.
The scene flickered into view, painfully alive with the innocence of a playground. Emily leaned forward, gaze intense as she absorbed every frame. On screen, Robyn darted around the jungle gym, her white jacket like a beacon. The periwinkle hat bounced atop her dark ponytail, each step captured in stark pixels. Benjamin, visible in the background, swung on the swings, yet his eyes followed his sister's every move, a sentinel even in play. Just as their lives seemed untouchable, a dark sedan coasted into view, altering everything. The children paused; Robyn ran toward the vehicle with unhesitating excitement. The swing slowed, and Benjamin sprinted after her, protective even now.
From where she sat, JJ barely blinked at the screen, unable to pull her focus from Emily's reaction. The growing distance of her secret wound itself tighter around her heart. Beside her, Morgan watched with a concentration that mirrored her own, his jaw set with unsaid things. JJ could almost hear his thoughts, their shared knowledge thudding like a second pulse in her ears. On the footage, Benjamin and Robyn were close to the car now. JJ's breath caught; the children spoke to the driver with an ease that sliced through her. She stole another glance at Emily. How could she ever tell her? How could she not?
Robyn was chattering animatedly at the car window, a sudden turn of her head capturing her features in devastating clarity. JJ felt the world around her slow, a leaden heaviness filling the space. Benjamin maneuvered himself between the car and Robyn, spoke, nodded; they clambered into the back seat. As the car pulled away, JJ flinched at Emily's unyielding focus, the scene looping endlessly in her mind even after the screen dimmed to black.
Silence followed, dense and oppressive until Hotch cleared his throat. "They knew the driver."
Emily was quick to reply, her voice clipped with the tension she refused to show. "And the car—it looked like an early 2000s Buick. Dark color. Maybe black?"
"A black sedan," JJ heard herself echoing numbly, each word like an accusation she couldn't refute. She turned, meeting Emily's eyes, guilt lurking in the corners of her own.
Morgan leaned in, forcing his voice into the space between them. "They didn't even hesitate," he added, a forced steadiness in his tone. "Not for a second. This is someone they trust."
"Family or a friend of?" Rossi offered, his brow furrowed, drawing lines into thought. "Or maybe someone pretending to be?"
They were speculating; JJ knew that. She also knew it could all be wrong. Her fingers curled tightly into fists beneath the table, her frustration growing as they continued to throw out possibilities.
Hotch spoke again, his voice low but insistent. "Garcia," he called into the speaker, "Can you enhance the plate? Get us anything more on the car?"
"There might not be an angle but I'll try my best, sir," Garcia replied, her voice an electric hum of activity. "I'll send everything over as soon as I have it."
JJ fought to keep her expression neutral, fought against the urge to scream the truth into the suffocating air. Emily was back at the screen now, replaying the footage in her mind, her teeth worrying her lip in a way that betrayed the concern simmering just beneath her composed exterior.
"We're looking for someone with a connection to the family," Hotch said, folding his arms as if to contain the uncertainty. "Let's narrow it down."
His words hovered ominously as JJ met Morgan's eyes across the table, a silent battle of conscience flaring between them. The room felt no less stifling as they turned their attention to the task at hand, urgency pressing on them from all sides. JJ struggled to suppress the tide of panic rising within her, the clock ticking a cruel metronome to her fear.
The press conference had churned the air with urgency and broadcast it across the city, pleas for help bleeding into the night. Back in the makeshift office, exhaustion spread its roots through the dimly lit room. They barely had time to breathe before Hotch's voice drove them forward again. "The children's father will be landing in a few hours," he announced, the burden of the unknown making its home in his features. "I'd like to tell him we're making progress when he arrives." As if on cue, the phone crackled to life with Garcia's voice, her excitement brightening the space as she delivered her news.
"Talk to me, Garcia," Hotch directed, his impatience straining against the edge of each word.
She was ready. "Okay, so I wasn't able to get a clear shot of the license place but I've been digging into the family. The kid's aunt, Cora Duvall, has a pretty colorful record. A couple of DUIs, some embezzlement back in 2007, and she's a snitch. Got off on illegal gambling charges by ratting out her co-conspirators."
"You think this is revenge?" Morgan leaned against the table, his expression a mirror of the thoughts wrestling inside him.
"Sounds plausible," Rossi interjected, his tone cautious yet intrigued.
Emily frowned, lines of worry sketched around her eyes. "Was she ever violent?"
"Not according to her rap sheet," Garcia chirped, the rapid clicking of her keyboard audible over the line. "But here's the kicker: Cora and her brother had a falling out. Big financial trouble on both sides. He cut her off, and then bam, things got icy."
"So she's desperate," Emily concluded, her voice tinged with urgency. "Could she be in over her head with the wrong crowd?"
"I'm looking into it. So far, all her ex-friends are still in the slammer."
JJ's mind spun, her concentration split between the developing lead and the secret she shared with Morgan. The fear that gnawed at her seemed to creep into her voice as she asked, "Anyone on the outside that could help her out?"
"I'm working on it, girl. But here's another little nugget—she's about as broke as a piñata at a birthday party. Could this be a ransom thing?"
"A kidnapping for ransom," Hotch mused, his fingers steepled in thought. "Have you found an address?"
"Last known is in Detroit."
"She might be in town. I overheard an Officer on the scene telling Darla her daughter would be there soon," Emily added.
JJ swallowed hard, anxiety crowding her thoughts as she recalled Darla's words at the scene, her fears amplifying with every second they wasted. Morgan stood too still beside her, his silence an echo of her turmoil.
Hotch surveyed the room, his gaze fixing on Emily and Rossi. "Find her. Bring her in."
The clock's relentless ticking filled the space, each second a reminder of what was at stake. Morgan and JJ exchanged a glance, their mutual understanding both a comfort and a curse. As Emily and Rossi moved toward the door, a charge of urgency trailed in their wake, leaving the rest of the team to grapple with the shadows of possibilities that filled the room. JJ's thoughts spun like a storm—unpredictable, destructive—leaving her to wonder how long it would be before the truth they were hiding tore everything apart.
Garcia's voice chimed back in, eager to continue her pursuit. "I'm digging into associates. Someone's gotta know something. I'll be in touch soon."
Hotch nodded, his expression unreadable yet firm. "Keep us posted."
With a resolve that pushed back against the strain, JJ watched the scene unfold around her, Morgan's stillness beside her a constant reminder of the conflict that they both carried, silent and consuming. They needed a break; they needed it fast.
Cora sat in the stark room, the hum of fluorescent lights doing nothing to dispel her restless energy. Her foot tapped out a rhythm of nerves against the linoleum, and she shifted her gaze from Emily to Rossi, her features tight with defensiveness. "Whatever my brother said, I've got nothing to do with this," she insisted, her voice pitched somewhere between defiance and plea. The table separated her from their steady scrutiny, but not from the truth they sought. They were relentless, precise in their questions. Her foot stopped tapping. She braced herself.
Emily leaned in, her calm demeanor a striking contrast to Cora's agitation. "We haven't spoken to Marshall yet," she replied evenly, "but why don't you tell us what he's going to say?"
Cora's lips pressed into a thin line, words held back by stubbornness or fear. She finally released them, her tone edged with frustration. "Probably something about the people he thinks I sent to intimidate him."
"Can you elaborate?" Rossi's voice cut through her deflection, leaving no room for evasion.
"He called me in April, out of nowhere," Cora said, arms crossing defensively. "Furious about some guys parked on his street. Said they were watching the house. Accused me of trying to send him a message."
Emily caught the flicker of truth beneath Cora's bravado. "Why would he think that?"
Cora shrugged, as if her indifference might free her.
Emily slammed her hand against the table, and the crack of skin on metal startled even Rossi. "Why Cora?!"
"I don't know," Cora snapped, then exhaled sharply. "Maybe because I asked for money a few days before. He turned me down, and I might have said some things I didn't mean."
"You threatened him." Rossi's words were not a question but an assertion.
Cora shifted uncomfortably, eyes darting to the blank walls, the closed door. "I would never hurt his family. I didn't send anyone to scare him. I don't know what that was about."
Emily exchanged a look with Rossi, a silent agreement passing between them before she pressed on. "We think you do."
"I told you, I don't know!" Cora's voice cracked under the weight of accusation. "I'm telling you the honest truth. I didn't take those kids."
"Do you recognize this car?" Emily slid a screenshot across the table, capturing Cora's attention.
Cora glanced at the image, confusion knitting her brow. "No. Why?" Her response was quick, almost too quick.
Emily's eyes remained steady on Cora. "Your niece and nephew were seen getting into this car this afternoon."
Rossi leaned forward, his expression unyielding. "Are you sure you don't know anyone who drives this vehicle?"
Cora shook her head, a tinge of desperation in her denial. "No, I don't. The only people I've ever seen driving one of those are dealers or my mother's age."
"Did he describe the car that was watching his house?" Emily asked, circling back to tie loose ends.
Cora hesitated, the tension visible in her clenched jaw. "No," she admitted reluctantly. "Didn't say what it looked like, but there were two men inside."
The rhythm of her foot resumed, faster now, an outward sign of the pressure that was building inside her. Emily watched it, her mind working to connect the patterns Cora tried to leave scattered and meaningless on the table between them.
Thank you reading!