Unshed Blood | Criminal Minds

chapter thirteen - speak

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - speak

[third person pov]

AARON HOTCHNER continued to watch the interview take place behind the glass. He was mentally taking notes throughout, analyzing Soren's body language as Derek and Blake confronted her. Their first approach of 'good cop and bad cop' didn't work out well with Derek losing his temper, but he was confident in his teams' abilities.

Watching Soren Hale was like watching a mystery unfold. He felt as though he had half the pieces of the puzzle, but the other half was still missing - almost begging to be found - but every move that he played seemed to be backfiring on him and with the director breathing down his neck he needed full control of the situation and to handle it as quickly as possible.

He always observed how Derek was with her. He noticed the sympathetic look on the man's face whenever he would wait for her to answer a question or the look over, he would give her - like he was analyzing her as well. He continued to observe the interview along with Agent David Rossi and Dr. Spencer Reid.

Hotch had slipped his phone out of his pocket, calling Garcia and asking her to remind him of Soren's hospital report before he messaged Derek. Reid and Rossi watched, both sharing a confused glance before they shrugged and turned back to the interview taking place.

Derek's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out, checking the message before sliding it back into his pocket before looking back at Soren who still didn't make eye contact with anyone. "Soren, was your father the one who hurt you?"

Soren's eyes glanced down at the ground which gave him the answer that they needed. He looked back at Alex who also drew the same conclusion as he had, feeling proud of them for achieving something without even getting her to speak. Alex leaned forwards on the table, resting her arms on the table as she connected her hands together, lowering her voice. "Soren, are we currently being watched?" Soren didn't know how to answer, simply because she didn't know. "Blink once for yes, twice for no."

She furrowed her brows, trying to figure out how to reply before she simply just shrugged.

Still, Derek was risking it and messaged Garcia to shut down all of the cameras in the building immediately.

"Did you willingly go with your father?" Blake asked.

She blinked twice.

That made the Agents even more confused simply because Sybil had told them that she went willingly and it's what they had believed for five years.

Garcia messaged them back, not on my watch. No one hacks me, don't worry hot stuff, I will destroy them.

"Garcia managed to cut the feed." Derek announced to them, Soren's eyes snapped up as she glanced at the camera noticing that the red light was no longer flashing, and she was able to speak and move willingly. Her shoulders deflated as she opened her mouth to speak but found no words coming out of her mouth.

Derek noticed her hesitation and tried to console her. "Soren, I know you're scared by I'm not going to let anything happen to you. If you do this, you're going to save so many lives and you won't be punished, not if you didn't go willingly."

Still, she allowed her father's power to control her.

"Liar." She seethed, looking directly at him for the first time. "They'll find a way, I'm not stupid."

Derek's eyes widened ever so slightly as he cocked his head to the side, it was the first time he had heard her speak for a long time and her voice was captivating. It was cold and harsh yet had an underlying of innocence that was beginning to be shown.

"We're not lying to you." Blake attempted to convince her, Soren's eyes met hers and the gaze didn't break.

"Don't lie to me." She repeated more firmly this time. "My father taught me a lot of things, and one of them was to know when people lie. I mean, it's practically written on you face. So please, don't lie to me. I know how this is going to end for me, either I'm going to be locked up or my father is going to find a way to kill me, and my father always gets his way."

"He won't be able to get you, Soren. You're safe with us." Derek assured her. "Listen, I understand that you might be scared but I'm here to help, tell us what we need to know and maybe we can work something out that favors you."

Soren took in a deep breath, pushing away the horrific thoughts and images that littered her mind. It was now or never. "Keep Sybil safe, that's all I want. That's all I've ever wanted."

"We will." Blake told her confidently.

She nodded. "Thank you." She finally worked up the courage to speak about what had happened. "My father sent me on a mission, but what I didn't know was that he was planning on getting rid of me. That's how I ended up like this." Soren laughed. "I know you're wondering why I went instead of Sybil, but I needed to protect her."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Sybil has always been...sensitive? She's got a good heart and I didn't want that to be corrupted by our psychopathic father, so I forced her to stay. I was going to stay with her as we decided on meeting in the airport at the same spot you lot found her after I had told our dad, but he refused to let me leave and dragged me onto the plane. He threatened me with her life. I didn't have a choice."

"What's your father like?" Blake questioned, creating an image of Arlo Hale.

"The man is insanely clever. He plans everything perfectly and doesn't allow anything to get into his way. As much as I hate to admit it, his intelligence is out of this world but he's also psychotic." Soren told them, everything that she was saying was true but even speaking about her father brought bile to her throat.

"Do you know where your father is?"

"No idea. The man is probably planning his next mission or training my replacement. Like I said, nothing gets in his way." She replied. Hotch made eye contact with Rossi, both of them thinking back to her words as Derek and Blake continued to ask her some more questions when Hotch thought of an idea.