Piece of Mind (Criminal Minds FF)

5. UnSub Named

The Detective

I was walking back into the police station when I get a call. My phone starts to vibrating. I slide it out of my pocket, answering it. The caller ID told me it was my neighbor's daughter.

"Hey, Jessica, what's—"

"Jacob is missing!" she shrieks into the phone. I freeze, my eyes wide with shock.

"What?" I ask, before my feet start carrying me quickly through the hall. I can hear her crying through the speaker. I burst into the conference room, startling the team of FBI agents inside.

"What do you mean Jacob is missing?" That makes their confused faces turn serious. "Jessica, I'm going to put you on speaker. I'm at the police station right now, okay?"

My fingers fumble for a second to hit the button before I set my phone in the middle of the table.

"Claire, we were just at school!" Jessica exclaims. "I picked him up from his a classroom, and now he's gone! And I- I don't know w- what to say to our p- parents!"

Jessica and Jacob's parents were out of state visiting an ill family member. They trusted Jessica to look after Jacob, but gave her my phone number in case of an emergency.

And this was an emergency.

I look up to see Hotch step forward, closer to the phone.

"This is Agent Hotchner from the FBI. Can you tell us exactly what happened?" he asks in a calm voice, face emotionless. The model FBI agent, not letting his emotions get in the way. In fact, I don't think I've seen him smile once since I've met him.

"Yeah, I- I went to his building to p- pick him up from school. We barely g- got outside the building w- when he said he forgot something f- for our parents, a project of s- some sort. He's only n- nine. After t- ten minutes, I- I went inside to check on h- him. When I g- got to his classroom, his teacher said h- he never came back to c- class," Jessica explains. "I have to go. My m- mom's calling."

"Okay. Good luck," I say.

"B- bye," she says before the line clicks dead.

"I got the call when heading inside," I say without emotion. I don't even know what my emotion is: anger? Determination? Sadness?

"It's good. With the information you've already given us, we'll probably be able to catch this guy before he does anything to Jacob," Morgan says. My brain has gears turning with new information.

" Jessica said Jacob never came back; he went in, but never came out. When did the other victims go missing?" I ask, turning to look at Hotch and Rossi. It's Reid who answers.

"They were all taken when they were supposed to come home from school," he says, coming to the same realization that I had.

I nod quickly, trying to ignore the fact that I was agreeing with Reid.

"They were all at school when they were taken. Someone from the school is taking these kids. Probably a teacher, custodian, lunch worker, or someone from the administration," I say.

"The UnSub is taking these kids , and it looks like they're not putting up a fight. The UnSub would have to be comfortable with kids. Someone they know," Morgan adds.

That took out the custodians and lunch workers. Most of the administration, as well. I watch Morgan get his phone out of his pocket.

"Hey, baby girl." So it's this Garcia woman again. "I need you to look up names for me. Off this list, how many work at the school?" He listens to her response. "Okay, have any of them watched the video excessively? Too many times to be normal?" He listens again before nodding and smiling. He hangs up after saying goodbye and looks at me.

"One name matched these descriptions," he utters, looking at me. "Do you know a Damion Taylor?"

Shock goes through me. I slowly nod.

"Principal Taylor."