Cold Hands ✔️

three

chapter 3; seven seconds

"So she and her cousin came in here about 30 minutes ago, And that was the last time anyone saw Katie?" I asked the woman guiding Dr. Reid, Agent Morgan and I to the arcade. She agreed.

"10 minutes after the assault is generally the molester's lowest point of self-esteem." Dr. Reid blurted out.

"He could be panicking right about now, realizing he's got a witness." Agent Morgan mused. Dr. Reid studied the area around us. I followed his gaze, noticing the camera angle and the surrounding features.

"Richard Allen Davis strangled Polly Klaas just to prevent her from identifying him. A single abduction like this would normally be classified as a snatch-and-grab, But with the Jessica Davis abduction, it's more likely we're dealing with a preferential offender." I told the woman. The cousin, that's who we need to talk to. I saw the cousin standing next to the aunt and uncle, and headed towards him, leaving the two behind.

I crouched down in front of the kid. He was small, but looked like he was in the typical middle school phase. His hair was covering his eyes and he wore all black. Despite his wardrobe choices, his head hung low.

"Hey buddy, can I ask you a few questions?" I asked, and he nodded. The two adults loomed over him.

"When you and your cousin were going in and out of stores, did you notice anyone? Did anyone try to talk to Katie?" I asked, hoping he saw someone. With the security cameras being a bust, he was one of our last rays of hope to know what happened to her.

"No." He shook his head, eyes refusing to leave the floor.

"Did anyone compliment her hair, or hold the door open for you guys?" I asked, trying to get him to remember.

"He wasn't paying attention" The uncle interjected.

The trio went back and forth, the uncle blaming his own kid, Jeremy, for not watching her and the aunt saying they shouldn't have come to the mall. People grieved differently, I have to remember that and not make rash decisions.

I could hear the search team calling out Katie's name. Every time they did, Jeremy tensed up. 

~~~

Agent Morgan and Dr. Ripper talked with the kid. He had a panic attack, making Morgan and her confident that he was holding onto something. Meanwhile, JJ comforted the stressed mother in addressing the mall over the intercom, hoping to find her daughter.

Outside the arcade where Dr. Ripper and Morgan were, the mother of Jeremy became erratic, demanding to know why her son was being questioned without her presence. 500 feet in front of the arcade, search dogs found Katie's necklace.

~~~

"Dr. Ripper and I here." Morgan said, his phone on speaker phone.

"Katie's wetting her bed." Dr. Reid said into the phone. "Not only that, but her dolls are destroyed with blackout eyes, and cut hair." 

"I know those signs, we need to get to Agent Hotchner." I said, looking at Prentiss. We hurried to our Unit Chief in the food court.

"Katie's in a lot of pain and she isn't telling anyone. Dr. Reid and Morgan found her toys destroyed and she's been wetting the bed. I think she's being molested, and odds are..." I trailed off, hating the end of the sentence. 

"It's someone under her rough. Mr. Jacobs bought her a necklace, no one thought twice about that. But why did Katie lie?" Prentiss questions. A feeling of dread pooled in my stomach, hating the answer, thankfully, Hotchner answered for me.

"We need to get to the uncle, separate him and his boy." He ordered.

~~~

After being questioned about Katie, the uncle got very defensive, but he swore up and down that he would never touch Katie like that. From his body language, I didn't believed him, he hurt Katie, but I don't think he had anything to do with her disappearance.

Jeremy said he didn't see her leave, but we know he was lying, his nervous tic gave him away. The parents weren't far away, the uncle was in a shop a few stores down, and his wife was getting a lighter engraved. I looked at him closer. He didn't seem to show any signs of smoking. He didn't smell of it, nor did I see any nicotine patches, or him sneak out to smoke the whole time we've been here.

"Mr. Jacobs, when was the last time you had a cigarette?" I asked him. Hotchner and Prentiss looked towards us, breaking their quiet conversation.

"Uh, I don't do that anymore. I quit about, about a month ago." He said.

I looked up towards the two agents. The aunt was not telling us everything, and we needed to move now.

~~~

"What did you do with Katie?" I asked, my anger growing as the time passes.

"Did you duct-tape her mouth, too? You know, if you do that to someone with asthma, they could die. But I guess you already figured that out." Dr. Reid spit out, gauging her response. The woman had tears in her eyes, her chin quivered.

"It didn't just happen, Susan. You took her. A 6-year-old vulnerable child who trusted you, who trusted your husband." I said, leaning towards her. She could hardly meet my gaze. Her bag held tightly against herself as if guarding herself from me, a sign that she's hiding something.

"This is how Katie sees herself, self-loathing, dirty, disgusting. That is what your husband made her feel." Dr. Reid slammed the doll from Katie's room on the desk.

"Those nights that she would stay at your house, he would sneak into her room and tell her not to make a sound." I played it out for her. I wanted her to feel guilty, and the only way to do that was to tell her out loud what she's always feared. She needs to know its the truth, and that Katie was the victim here. She began to shake her head in protest.

"Do you have any idea how terrified she must have been, because I do. She felt confused, scared, helpless, while you lay awake protecting an animal who will always have those urges and always has." My tone grew more aggressive as I interrogate her, but she just kept muttering 'no' in protest and shaking her head, tears falling.

"You have robbed Katie of her childhood, are you gonna steal the rest of her life from her as well?" I yelled at Susan, trying to get her to break from her shell. I couldn't control my anger anymore, all the pent of frustration was letting go.

"Enough! Enough." Susan yelled. I didn't budge, still leaning over the table towards her.

"Tell us where she is." Dr. Reid said from behind me, thumb hovering over the call button to report a location.

~~~

Dr. Reid, Morgan, Jeremy and I watched as his mother and father got placed into the police car. Morgan and Jeremy were talking, and I couldn't stop watching Katie as she got brought out of the building.

"For a first case, it sure was stressful." I said towards Dr. Reid, trying to lighten the mood. He didn't answer me, just kept staring at Katie.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I think there's tension between us, and there doesn't need to be. I won't bite." I joked, looking up at him. He wasn't that much taller then me, but after a long day he seems so much taller.

"Good work." He said aloud. If there were other people around, I wouldn't think that would be directed to me. He turned on his heel and followed Jeremy and Agent Morgan away from where we were standing.

So, saved a kid and put away a pedophile on my first day at work. I'm pleased, don't get me wrong, but as a people pleaser I can't help but feel uncomfortable at the current atmosphere between Dr. Reid and I. It seems childlike not to be at least a little civil to someone new, but I guess I can understand where he was coming from.

I can deal with not having him as a friend, but I hope to at least find some common ground between us.