Say It Again

Chapter 18: Atypical

"That is really odd," I nod as I run my hands through my hair.

"What makes it even more suspicious is that the parents of Jackson Lewis, the second child that was abducted, mentioned seeing a man fitting the same description the morning their son went missing,"

"Alright, do I mention this guy in the press conference?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't mention that he's the suspect. If there's any chance Marilyn is alive, I think too much pressure will make him end things much sooner."

"Alright. I'm going to go brief the parents and coach them as much as I can over the next 40 minutes or so. Keep me updated if you find out anything else," I tell Hotch as I turn away and walk toward the small room where the Jones family is waiting for me.

I take a deep breath, steeling myself before facing the distraught parents. I finally twist the doorknob and walk into the room. "Mr. Jones, Mrs. Jones, I'm Jennifer Jareau with the BAU," I introduce myself as I shake each of their hands. "I can't even imagine what you're going through right now, but I'm here to do everything I can to bring Marilyn home," I continue, sitting down across from them.

"I still can't believe this happened to us. This happens to other people, people on tv shows, not my family," Mr. Jones says, wiping a tear from his cheek. His wife reaches over and squeezes his hand softly before brushing a strand of his dark brown hair from his forehead.

"I know it's a lot to process, but there is something you can do to help us find your daughter," I keep my voice gentle and steady, even though my heart is breaking for these devastated parents.

"We'll do anything," Mrs. Jones says, sitting up straighter and focusing on me.

"I'm going to hold a press conference. Getting help from the public is the best thing we can do right now," I begin.

"Okay, and what do you need from us?" Mr. Jones has composed himself, but his voice is still a little bit shaky.

"I want you to speak and try to appeal to the unsub. Remind him that Marilyn is a little girl, not an object. Do everything you can to remind him of that. Say her name as often as you can, make him see her as a human being."

"Okay, I think we can do that," Mrs. Jones nods as her light green eyes meet mine.

"There's one more thing," I hesitate for a second, already knowing how this may sound to the couple in front of me. "I want you to mention the man you told Agent Hotchner about, but speak of him as an important witness. Don't make it sound like he made you uncomfortable or that he did anything wrong," I keep my voice as even as possible, even as I see anger flash in both parents' eyes.

"Are you kidding? This guy was a creep to my little girl, and you want me to make him sound like some hero or something?" Mr. Jones' face darkens with each word he speaks.

"No sir, you don't have to make him sound like a hero, exactly. You just can't make him sound like a suspect," I begin before I see Mrs. Jones lean forward.

"I trust you completely, and I know your team is the best chance we have at finding our daughter. But I still don't understand why this is necessary," her voice is starting to shake, but I admire her strength and logic during a time like this.

"If we make him feel like we're on to him, he may feel trapped. And if he feels trapped, Marilyn's chances are not very good," I reply. "Plus, we don't know for sure that this man has anything to do with the abduction. He could just be a kind of creepy guy that happened to be in the same place as your family." She nods, satisfied with my answer. I turn toward her husband, and he looks at his hands for a moment before meeting my gaze and nodding too. "Okay, let's talk about some specific phrases to use."

...

After the press conference, the team meets in a small conference room in the security office. We all sit down at the table, and I try my best not to look at Agent Prentiss. I feel her eyes on me a couple times, but I don't acknowledge her.

"Alright team, Marilyn has been missing for seven hours now. The chances of us finding her alive are getting more and more slim with every minute that passes. I know we have a lead, thinking about this guy with the scar, but we still need to build a profile since we don't know for sure that he was involved," Gideon speaks first, and we all nod in agreement when he finishes.

"Morgan, Prentiss, did you find anything at the abduction site?" Hotch asks.

"We ended up visiting each of the five sites, actually. Three were in Magic Kingdom, one was in Hollywood Studios, and one was in Animal Kingdom," Morgan begins. "Prentiss noticed some similarities in all five locations."

"The first and most obvious similarity is that all the abductions occurred at the exit of a ride. A number of people are usually all exiting the ride at the same time, so it could be easy for a parent to lose sight of their child for a moment. But what struck me was that each of the abduction locations had two common denominators as well: employee entrances/exits and a gift shop near the exit," Prentiss says, making eye contact with each of us as she speaks. Her eyes linger on mine for a second longer than everyone else's.

"Okay, but that's pretty much every ride here," I interject.

"Yes I know that, but the exits for each of these rides are also a little bit dark. The doors leading backstage are in shadow. I think it would be pretty easy to sneak in and out of one of those doors," Emily explains patiently.

"Yeah, that's actually a good point, Emily. It would allow easy access to and from each of the locations. But wouldn't someone notice a random kid backstage?" Reid asks, chewing his bottom lip.

"That's what I was wondering too,' Hotch says, sitting back in his seat.

"It's still a place to start. Let's get the tech girl to run background checks on the people working at all five of those attractions and their corresponding gift shops," Gideon chimes in.

"Wait I just remembered something," I say, looking up at my team.

"What is it?" Emily asks after a beat of silence. I swallow down my surprise at being addressed directly. It's been a while since we've talked at all.

"My sophomore year of college, I did an internship here at Disney World. I worked in merchandise," I pause as a confused look crosses Morgan's face. "I worked in a lot of gift shops all over property because you can pick up shifts in almost any store..."

"The unsub could be someone that worked in the gift shops, then. We need to check to see if anyone was working at all five gift shops on the days of the disappearances. I'll call Garcia, then we can deliver the profile," Hotch says, standing. 

Author's Note: Thank you so much for your support so far. I love reading your comments, and I appreciate all your feedback. I hope you have a wonderful day, friends! :)