The Hunting Hour - A Criminal Minds Fiction

Chapter 36: Before The Storm

****3 months later...

It had been 3 months since Bella had gotten the dog and almost 4 since Emily's death.
Emily had a hard time moving around France trying to be safe and not lose her mind with the fact that time was ticking and she was miles away from her daughter.
She kept in touch with JJ and they chatted almost every Saturday night. JJ was always telling her how Bella was doing and Emily always stared at the computer anxiously waiting for a reply.

In DC, Bella was doing well. It seemed like Lulu helped her way more than Derek had expected. The girl was a little bubbly thing again. She loved going to the park with her dog and teaching her tricks. She was truly doing amazing.
Of course there had been days she was really sad about her parents. There were days that she would just cry herself to sleep. But most of the time she was alright. And even when she was down and just really sad, Lulu was always there with her.

That Monday night, Bella got home and nothing was different. Lulu was laying on the couch waiting for their arrival. The dog ran to the door and was super excited to see Bella, Derek and Penelope again. They showered, had dinner and sat to watch tv.
That night Bella laid once again next to her dog, who now used a bigger part of the bed which Bella loved even more.
It turned out that Lulu was on the crate once. She "cried" a lot and of course Bella took her out and let her sleep on the bed.

Derek tucked Isabella in as always and she fell asleep feeling okay because of another great day.
Little did she know that her life was about to change all over again.