Psychosis

Chapter 35- Miraculous

Ciara settled into a seat next to Reid, and Ciara noticed that Akilah had immediately sat next to Morgan, and the two were bantering back and forth as usual, but there was something different about Morgan's side of the conversation, but what was it? Was it the tone of voice? Was it his word choice, or perhaps the body language? She couldn't put her finger on it exactly, and she had a feeling that Akilah didn't even see it. Or maybe she did. They were both profilers, after all. JJ and Hotch were the last two on the plane, and JJ immediately started talking as soon as she entered, two pictures showing up on the screen in the jet. Time was of the essence here.

"Two hours ago, eight-year-old Kortni Aldaine and her five-year-old brother Tehl were reported missing from their home in Sisters, Oregon. However, it is uncertain as to when the siblings were actually taken," JJ said, and Morgan spoke up.

"So we actually have no idea how long we have before we have to assume the kids are dead?" Morgan asked, and JJ nodded her head, and Ciara shook her head in exasperation. In every child abduction she had ever worked in L.A., they had a working clock. They didn't have that here. JJ explained that the parents had gone out that night to celebrate their anniversary, and had reported the kids missing once they arrived home again, meaning the kids could have been taken anywhere during that time. Ciara was about to bring to attention that the kids had either been left alone, or there was a babysitter that could have a lead, when Hotch spoke up.

"It's also important to know that this is not only an abduction case, but a murder case," Hotch said, and everyone gave him a questioning look, when another picture was put on the screen, and Ciara's eyes widened.

"Seventeen-year-old Maliya Aldaine, Kortni and Tehl's aunt, was watching the children while the parents were out. When the parents, Arthur and Naomi Aldaine, returned home in this morning, they found Maliya dead and their children missing," JJ explained, and Ciara looked at the girl in the picture. She had been sleeping on the couch that night, and she was on her stomach, one arm hanging off of the couch, blood staining the couch around her head, the dripping of blood down her arm frozen in photography. Her eyes were closed, but Ciara saw from the picture of living Maliya that had been pulled up next to dead Maliya that her eyes were a nice shade of brown, her hair matching exactly. However, dead Maliya's hair did not match. It was stained with blood, and Ciara could see why. The girl's head had been bashed in, the bloody metal baseball bat on the floor next to the couch. Ciara saw several things in the picture that actually made a few things make sense.

"Did police check the bat for prints?" Ciara asked.

"There were none. Whoever did this had gloves on."

"I'd say the children were taken no more than an hour before the parents returned home, if even that," Ciara said, and all eyes were to her, making her look down.

"Why do you say that?" Hotch asked.

"Look at her hand. Ye can see the blood going all the way down at her arm, but zoom in on her hand," Ciara said, and they did so, automatically seeing what she saw. "The blood was still dripping when this picture was taken, meaning she wasn't dead long before she was found. If she had been dead all night, the blood would have dried. But it didn't. It was still wet enough to drip."

"Actually, I have an explanation for that," Garcia said, the video chat popping up quickly.

"What is it, Garcia?"

"So you know how we were told that Maliya was dead?" Garcia asked, and everyone nodded their heads, except for her. She slowly shook her head.