the girl who lost things

part fifty-nine

" it's ok; we all make mistakes."

" But mistakes don't get you kidnapped." she starts to sob even more.

" Sometimes, because of one bad choice, stuff like that happen." I tell her, rubbing her shoulder. " is there anything else you didn't want to tell your mom or the detectives?"

she looks at me again, like she was holding back a considerable secret. " you can tell me!"

" before I escaped, they were talking about changing our appearances and stuff." I look at her.

" what stuff?"

" h-how much we would sell." I let out an exhale. I know what we're dealing with. I smile and exit the room. Most of the team was in the round-table room.

" I think I know what we're dealing with." everybody looked at me. " we thought it was targeted kidnappers for like a vendetta for Kate or something, but it's not; it's a human trafficking ring." they all look at me.

" How did you-" JJ says.

" Makayla told me some stuff about what they wanted to do with them, it screams human trafficking, and they are changing her appearance."

" ok, so what do we do?"

" they're selling her online?" hotch ask, looking at me.

" most likely."

" ok, then we'll have Garcia go through possible rings and find her through them." we nod and disperse.

Penelope and I head towards her office. She got on the deep net quickly and started narrowing online trafficking rings.

I looked at the screen and see thousands of girls being sold. It made me so angry; there was a girl no older than seven on there. Penelope runs my thigh.
" it's ok. I'll send all the information to the human trafficking unit. they'll take them down."

" not everybody." she looks back at me and the screen. She continues to place pings for a new auctioning.

" When a new person gets added to the list, it will ping us!" a lady from the human trafficking task force walks in.

" is this?" Penelope nods.

" After we get Kate.. we're going to bust some of these, and I'm going to bring them here." I look at her. " and I'm going to need your help." she looks at me.

" of course."

—
It's been two hours, and everybody's on edge. Penelope was watching kitten videos, trying to ease her mind. But how could we trust if he was going to sell her now or on these specific websites?

The team worked on the ground trying to follow evidence and trace, and they were getting nowhere.

Then, a ding sounds on Penelope's computer. It was the third one in the past hour. But all of them had come back with different people, different children who had been taken.

Penelope quickly clicks on the link; it was a white female with black hair. I looked at the reference photo Hotch sent us. It was definitely Megan.
the ad read:

young caucasian girl
age: 14
virgin: yes
starting price: 13k
it made me disgusted reading it. Penelope was already breaking the code trying to locate her. It was going to take a while. It had tons of firewalls. But at least we were one step closer to having her back.

Then, a ping reads on her computer. Someone had placed a bid on her.
bid raised to 15k

this only made Penelope's code even faster.
" Take your time."

" We don't have time, Jessie!" she yelled. I knew she was too tense.

" if you go too quick, you might make a mistake, and we'll lose her." she looks at me again with pitiful eyes. Her typing slows down.

The computer screen dings again.
bid raised to 17k

then again,
18k

18.5k

20k
a dozen people were trying to buy her.

" done!" Penelope finally cracked the firewall and had the current address of the seller. she dials hotch and the team. " 4391 cranberry lane. It's a small cabin on the outskirts! Hurry." she hangs up the phone and hugs me. Kissing my forehead repeatedly.

I let out a half-smile.
—
It felt like hours waiting for a call, a call to tell me that they found her. Even though it's probably only been 45 minutes. Finally, I hear Penelope's phone vibrate, and she puts it on speaker.

" We found her; she safe." Derek says through the phone. " but we're going to need your help downstairs." before he was finished speaking, I leave Garcia's office.

The main room was filled with hundreds of girls. All scared, some barefoot and others shaking and speaking different languages. I could hear some Spanish, English, Arabic, and French. But that was all I knew. There was so much more being spoke.

I walk down, ushering the girls into rooms. Some staff members were getting heat blankets. I saw three girls covering their hair. Repeating " Allah, aghfir li." they were Muslim. I walk into the lost and found. I was rummaging through the box to find some cloth or fabric pieces for them to use as a headscarf.

I came out with five scarves. Hopefully, this is enough. I walk up to the girls, the youngest looking nine and the oldest looking about my age.
" khudh hadhih." I give the older girls the scarves, and they quickly wrap it over their heads, covering each other.

I quickly wrap that child's hair, making sure it was tight and comfortable. " no one can hurt you anymore." I say to them. She cries in my arms. Burying her head in my chest. I couldn't help but cry with her. I can't imagine what the girls had been through.

I detached from her and moved them into a room. I could see translators coming in and speaking. I wipe my wet face and walk into the different rooms. About 30 girls in each of the interrogation rooms.

Spencer and Penelope were bringing food to them. Sandwiches and water. I remembered a couple of weeks ago I bought sorbet for the bau's staff members, but not many people ate it. I walk into the break room and take out boxes of ice cream.

I give them to the children, the young ones. They smiled and laugh, which made me smile a lot more.

" excuse me?" I feel a tap on my shoulder. It was an African-American girl about my age.

" yes, what can I help you with?"

" m-my sister, she was taken with me, but we got separated. could you help me find her?" I nod and take her through the interrogation rooms. " my name is Ainsley Hatfield." I smile and take her to the last room. She immediately runs towards this five-year-old girl. It was her sister.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. It was the lady from the human trafficking task force.
"you're a pro at this." I smile, and we walk towards the break room. " I think you would do great at the task force."

"I-I can't; I'm 15."

" I could pull some strings. But, we would love to have you there. you interact so much with the kids."

" because I can relate," I say, smiling. that takes her off guard. " but, I can't. not now at least." I walk away back towards the children.