"Ms.Jareau?" Familiar. Nervous, yet desperate. This wasn't going to be a quick conversation.
"Yes, how can I help you?" As I lifted my head from a case file, I gave a friendly, welcoming smile to the woman at my door. She relaxed a little.
"I'm Eleanor brooks, we spoke on the phone" her body jerked slightly, unsure whether to come into the room or to stay put. Jumpy, and not in a good way.
"Yes I remember you, would you like to take a seat?" She sat down yet her body remained tense and jittery. How did she get past security? She had a coffee stain on her white blouse, her hair thrown back into a messy bun. The deep purple bags beneath her eyes stood out a mile against her colourless, pale completion.
"Would you like a glass of water or-"
"No. I just need you to find my son" her voice broke on the word 'son'
"I know he hasn't run away, he wouldn't do that to me, he's all I have left" water began to build up in her eyes.
"Do you have evidence to prove your theory?" She hesitated, and didn't reply.
"As much as I want to take your case Ms.Brooks, you have nothing to prove your son has been abducted. We also have to be invited in by the local police department in order to take a case"
"But you don't understand, Kyle isn't the first to 'run away'. Three other kids have vanished in the past two weeks. Please Ms.Jereau, the police aren't doing anything about it." Her voice was shaking, a stream of tears running down across her cheeks. Four kids in two weeks! I don't need Reid's statistics to know something's off.
"Do you know the names of the other boys?" I snatched a piece of paper and a pen.
"Ben Deyes, Conor O'Hara, Dennis White and my boy, Kyle" no hesitation, shes done her homework.
"Brooks?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Slight confusion, the woman clearly hadn't slept in a good while.
"Women don't always take there husbands names" I quickly replied as I scribbled down Kyle's surname.
"I'll be right back, I have talk to my supervisor" I briskly walked around her and out the door. I felt her gaze on my back.
Colour caught my eye, a plump woman crossing the walkway, truly standing out from the crowd with her crazy, bright pink and orange outfit in an office overpowered by dull grays and dreary blacks.
"Garcia!" I called out, making her stop on her tracks, smile, before coming over to me.
"Walk with me" she obeyed, sensing I needed her to do something important. We headed towards the steps.
"Would you be able to do a background search on these boys? Medical records, juvenile records, school reports, anything that could be useful". She was more or less waddling trying to keep up with me in her 6 inch orange wedges
"Sure thing, can I ask why?" She asked as we stopped outside a door.
"We may have a case, I need to talk with Hotch first though"
"I'll get the files to you as soon as possible"
"Thanks Garcia".
Before I knocked on the wooden door in front of me, I thought to myself. What if Ms.Brooks was spot on with her theory? What are we uncovering here? Too many times my gut instinct has been right, and I'm really hoping now that it isn't now.
I drew a deep breath, raised my hand to knock on the door laybelled 'Chief Advisory Special Agent - Aaron Hotchner'
