𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟕𝟖

"𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘸𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘦, 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢

     "GOOD AFTERNOON, I'm Chief Miller."

"Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner, it's good to meet you," Aaron says as he shakes the man's hand, the rest of the team doing the same.

"We heard about Reef, he's not got a good reputation around here." Chief Miller states as they walk into the room he set aside for them in the police station.

"We heard about the spillage from the company," Derek says.

"It was rough, lots of people sick or dead.  We can't really narrow it down to one person who could've done this.  I know a lot of people in this town and don't wanna believe any one of them did this, but when you lose a loved one, it can make you do crazy things."

"We're looking for someone who's very connected to family," Emily tells the chief, "Possibly has long-time roots in the town, and is close with a lot of the people lost as well.  Someone who knows everyone."

"There's a few — we're a small town." Chief Miller mentions, "There are some people who may be out for revenge instead of vengeance."

"Do any of them live close to where the spillage occurred?" Aaron asks.

"Yeah, most of them do," The chief says, "I can have some of my officers get the list of people affected by the spills."

"That won't be necessary," Aaron stops him, "We have someone for that."

𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦

"Hello, my lovelies," Penelope says as she tries to lift the mood, "I have a full list of everyone who was affected by the spills, who lived closest, who has lived in the town the longest, and who has had deaths in the family due to the spills."

"Anyone stand out to you?" Derek asks into the phone.

"Not particularly, I have yet to do individual digging, but I'm sending a ping to your phones of the neighborhood that would be a good place to see first."

"Thanks, baby girl."

"Anything for you, my love," The blonde says with a smile.  She goes to hang up the phone, but Emily's voice stops her.

"Hey," Emily mutters as she steps away from the team with the phone, "How's Parker doing?"

"He seems a little quiet," Penelope tells her honestly, "I think Noah's trying to get him to talk, but this is unimaginable.  I don't think he's processed what could happen or what could've already happened."

"Just let me know if he says anything that can help," Emily sighs.

"So, your dad never talked about anyone in specific?" Noah asks Parker as they sit on the floor next to Emily's desk in the bullpen.  Noah had shown him that it was a low spot that tuned out the agents' chatter and working.

"I already told your mom—"

"I know, but it helps to really think," Noah tells him, pulling her knees closer to her chest at his tone, "You never know when something might come to you."

"I just don't understand why someone would take it to this length," Parker sighs as he sits his chin on his knees.

"Don't you wanna hurt the person who took your parents?" Noah asks him.

"I mean, yeah—"

"It's the same thing," Noah tells him, "When someone you love was put in danger by someone else, a lot of people turn to violence.  It's spiteful — gets your message across."