Tortured Poets || Aaron Hotchner

Chapter 9 - Aaron

I didn't see Ally after that day. At first, I assumed that she was working out of state. But my anxiety grows as the days pass. No one has seen or heard of her. Is she even ok? Was I too straight forward? Did I destroy everything by opening my mouth?

"Aaron!" I hear a female voice call as I enter the bureau

"Mrs. Lively", I recognize Ally's mother.

I've met her plenty of times, and she's always been the sweetest. But after what Ally told me about her parents supporting her sister when she slept and got pregnant by her ex-husband, I'm anything but happy to see her.

"Can I help you?" I ask nicely

"I heard Ally is back in the States. Is she working today?" she wonders

"I believe she's working away this week. Is there anything you want me to tell her when I see her?" I offer.

"I just wanted to check up on her. How have you been?"

"Good, good. And to my knowledge, Ally's is good as well" I say, in my attempt to get her out, because I am sure Ally will not be pleased to see her. But, at the same time, Mrs. Lively wouldn't have traveled across the country from Seattle for nothing.

"Has she stopped drinking?" she asks in a lower voice, and I feel my stomach drop.

"I rarely drink. I don't like losing control of myself" Ally tells me after I confessed to her that my father was a drunk that beat my mom.

"She drinks?" I ask in disbelief

"Unfortunately, that's not the only thing I've caught her doing. I mean she hadn't had it easy lately. But she's an adult, I can't control what she does with her life" she confesses to me.

"I'll check up on her, Mrs. Lively" I reassure her

"Thank you", I barely hear her as I walk away.

She's drinking, she's getting high, and no one has heard from her in a few days. That is not a good combination.

I see Garcia in the bullpen and call her to meet me in her office. "What can I do for you, sir?" she asks

"Can you track down Agent Lively's location?"

"I can try" she answers me as she sits in front of her computer. "She is..." she speaks as she types. "...home" she completes tracing phone

"Crap", my heart rate jumps.

"No, wait. Actually, she bought a ticket to Athens, Greece 4 days ago" she finds

"Did she board that plane?"

"Yeah"

"Ok. I have to go. You go ahead and present the new case to the team. And while they are flying to the location, I need you to find me a place where Agent Lively could be staying in Greece. Hotel, rental, friend's house, anything" I explain

"Yes, sir"

"Thank you".

I grab a couple of files, my go-bag and head to the airport. By the time I boarded my flight, Garcia found that Ally's credit card was used multiple times during the last 3 days in Ios, a small island in Greece. And apparently, an old coworker of hers has a vacation house there. So, that's where I'm headed.

Our wedding invitations have arrived and we've started to send them out to our list of guests. I am responsible for sending the ones for my side of the family, but I have one extra left. Haley doesn't know who it is for exactly, I just counted her in with my friends.

Until yesterday, I thought she was still working in the Netherlands. But turns out that she's transferred to the US Embassy in Greece a couple of months ago. I got her address information from the bureau and just wrote it down on the envelope with the invitation.