Elysian [Book 1]

ten

"Access to the rooftop, via the north and south stairwells. We have 7 restaurants with seperate kitchens and 4 elevators." She said and looked up at Derek. "Every team is going to need a copy of this." He said and she nodded.

" What's do you think about Azalea being back?" Spencer asked Derek as he grabbed the map. I looked down at the map trying to not butt into their conversation.

"She won't be back until next year."He said clenching his jaw. I peeked up and I heard my name being called. "Hadley LaMontagne?" A voice said and I turned my head, along with Morgan and Spencer. 

"Yes?" I asked and the officer came up to me. "You're wanted by Agent Hotchner. He said that you could possibly help with your knowledge in Cold Cases and missing people." He said and I breathed out nodded. "Yeah, I'll be going. Excuse me." I said walking away from Derek and Spencer and followed the Officer down to where Hotch was which was inside a small room.

I knocked and opened it up. Two pair of new eyes looked at me. "Paul and Beth Jacobs, this is Crime Scene Investigator Hadley LaMontagne." He said introducing me and the father stuck his hand out to shake mine which I returned the favor. The mother- Beth started to cry.

"Crime Scene Invesitgaor? She's dead? NO my baby!" She wailed and I bent down to her level.

"Ma'am. Your daughter isn't dead." I said but she didn't look at me and continued to cry. "Ma'am," I said sternly. "My name is Hadley LaMontagne. I work with the FBI. I also work Cold Cases, ones that include missing children." I informed her and she stopped crying looking me in my eyes.

"Now, tell me, was there anyone that you see in that picture that you recognize?" I asked looking at the screen and Paul shook his head getting frustrated. "No." He said shaking his head.  "Katie has asthma. She needs her inhaler." Beth said and I sighed. "We are going to find your daughter." JJ said promising the parents and Paul looked at us.

"How are you going to do that?" He asked and I stood up looking at him. "By retracing Katie's steps, going over surveillance footage." I said and Garcia nodded, looking at the parents.

Hotch pulled me aside and stared me down, with his cold brown eyes. "As far as I'm concerned, Hadley, this is your case now. You give out the commands. You've had more in field experience than any of us. " He said and I gulped. "Hotch-" I said but he cut me off, giving me a warning look. 

I blinked and nodded, knowing I was doing this for Katie, and not for myself, and if I was right about this, then that means our UnSub is a molester, and that just made things more personal.

I walked to where Prentiss and Ivankov were and I saw them talking to the uncle, aunt and nephew. I walked up to them, smoothing out my pencil skirt. "Hi, I'm Supervisory Special Agent Hadley LaMontagne." I said and the uncle threw his arms up. "So now we need more FBI agents talking to us." He said and I shook my head. 

"Sir, I'm trying to help you guys here. I'm one of the agents in charge of this case." I said and Emily looked at me with a joyful smile. I gulped and looked at the nephew.

"Hi, I'm Hadley, what's your name?" I asked and he looked at me, taking in my features. "Jeremy." Was all he said and I smiled.

"Jeremy, do you remember someone who seemed, sketchy or someone who followed you into the arcade?" I asked and he shook his head. "I-I can't remember." He said and I nodded. I heard the uncle tell Emily things about Katie, which seemed odd to me. 

He knew that she liked to read, and that she loved to just sit in a corner and read all day. It was weird because when we asked the father, he couldn't give Hotch anything.

Emily walked up to me and nodded her head in my direction." What's next boss?" She asked and I shot her a glare. "Stop." I said and she smiled. 

"Do some more digging on the uncle. There's something off about this." I said and she nodded, and walked away talking with Agent Ivankov. " I'll go find Hotch, see what he needs me to do." I said looking at the two woman and they nodded.

It had been about 20 minutes since I started looking around for Hotch. It felt like I was walking in circles, around the mall. The voices of people chattering became loud and obnoxious. Blood began pounding in my ears, my heart beating faster in my chest, as my hands shook, down by my sides . As I was walking on the marbled floor of the mall, my feet tingled. My vision began to disfigure as if she were looking through a fish-eye lens.

My breathing became uneven as I turned a corner and I bumped into a firm body. I looked up and saw Hotch. "Hadley. I've been looking for you." He said and I nodded, trying to calm myself down.

"Yeah, I, uh was looking for you too. " I said and he began looking at me. " Are you okay?" He asked and I nodded quickly. "You're paler than normal, your body-" He said but I cut him off. "Don't profile me, Hotch." I snapped and walked past him to find Derek and Spencer.

"Our guess is that Jeremy either heard or saw something that could be useful.But the guilt has manifested itself into an acute stress disorder." Derek said and I crossed my arms looking at him, thinking back to my other cases. Derek looked at me waiting for my order.

I sighed and scratched my forehead. "Take him back to the scene and preform a cognitive interview, we have to find out who took Katie." I said and he nodded, as well as Spencer, they both walked away.

I looked at the knot in Hotch's eye to avoid contact. " I'll go see if I can help in some way." I said, and walked past Hotch. 

I knew what he was doing. He was profiling me, he watched the way I walked up to him, my facial expressions and everything. And I knew it wouldn't be long until he figured out the one thing I didn't want anyone to figure out.