In Hiding (Final Book in the Boss's Niece Series)

New Recruit

I sat in my office, formally Uncle Aaron's office. The Christmas break was over and it was time to get back to work.

As I looked over my Unit Chief paperwork, which is a lot more than usual paperwork, I heard a soft knock on the door. I looked up to see Jessica, an old intern at the BAU.

"Hey!" I said, giving her a smile. "Come in. Don't be nervous!"

She slowly made her way into the office and sat across from me. I took her résumé out of my filing cabinet and looked over it for the third time, trying to look professional.

"Everything seems to be fine." I said. "Your graduated from the academy at the top of your classes, did your hours, interned here. I can't see why we shouldn't hire you."

Jessica beamed proudly.

"But, there's one thing."

Her smile went away.

"You want to work with Garcia. I'm sure she'd be fine with you working with her, but we're looking for another agent in the field." I told her.

"I can help out in the field, too, if you want me to. I just don't have any experience." she said.

I laid her file on the desk and bit the inside of my cheek, considering this. Uncle Aaron would probably tell her no because of the no experience thing. I can't just hire her, but I can't say no either.

"You're having a tough time deciding this, aren't you?" Jessica finally said.

I nodded. "I've been doing good so far, but I'm never good with this kind of stuff. You seem like a good fit, but it's just the experience thing. I don't want to send you into the field if you don't know what you're doing."

"I know what I'm doing." Jessica said. "I've done those courses as well. I can be mainly in the field, but if Garcia ever needs me, I can help her."

I leaned back on my seat and thought. What should I do? This is the Philadelphia job offer all over again. I'm not good with decisions like this.

"I have an idea." Jessica finally said. "Hear me out here. I know a few good people from the FBI Academy that would be great out in the field. I could convince them to come in and you can decide which of them is best for the job."

"That's a really good idea." I said. "Why aren't you the Unit Chief?"

Jessica laughed. "I'm not nearly as good as you."

"Flattery gets you...everywhere." I said. We both laughed again. "Okay, here's the game plan. You will be in the field for the next few weeks until I get a new member for the team. Then, you can work with Garcia for the rest of your job here at the BAU."

"Sounds great. Thanks so much Mel." Jessica said and began to leave.

"Wait." I said, suddenly. Jessica stopped at the door and turned back to me. "Would you mind doing me a favor? Nothing to do with work or anything, just a favor."

"Sure thing. What's up?"

I took my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my pictures till I found the one of the woman at David's funeral.

"Do you think you can do a background check on this woman?" I asked and showed her the picture. She took my phone and looked at it.

"Who is she?" she asked.

"I don't know. That's what I want to figure out. She was at Rossi's funeral and she was staring at me. I want to know who she is and what her deal is with me. You think you can do a background check?"

"Definitely. Send me the picture and I'll see what I can do. Should I keep this on the DL?"

I shook my head. "No. Reid already knows. I mentioned it to Uncle Aaron. At this point, there's no point of secrecy."

Jessica nodded.

"Thanks again for the job." she said.

"No problem. Thanks again for the background check. I hate to admit this, but she actually scared the crap outta me."

"There's no shame in admitting it."

*A/N: short chapter. Sorry!!*