Inside the Mind of Jennifer Jareau

-4-

Entry 5 - Tuesday, November 5, 2019:

We looked into both Shawn Riley and Michael Jerrik. Shawn was adopted and his age fit the profile, but nothing else did. Once we ruled out Shawn as the unsub, we dug deeper into Michael's life, or lack thereof. His driver's license was probably fake and Michael Jerrik was just an alias. But, we knew we had to go to his home address and look into it. We split up into 2 cars, like normal. Hotch driving one car with Rossi and Emily, and Derek driving the other with me and Spence. We split up when we got to the simple one story ranch, clearing the main floor. Michael definitely lived here, but he wasn't here now. As we were walking back outside, I noticed something on the side of the house.

"Hotch, what's that? It looks like a detached basement?"

"Derek, you, JJ, and Rossi go check it out. The rest of us will keep looking in the house."

And with that, Rossi and I were opening up the wooden doors for Morgan to clear. We followed his lead down the steps and into the small, dark area. We turned on our flashlights to find horror in front of us.

Lindsey Creed.

"JJ, help me get her down," Morgan quickly said. "Rossi, call the paramedics!"

I ran over and held her while Derek cut the ropes from her hands and wrists. She was hanging from the ceiling, unconscious. We carefully laid her down on the concrete floor. Her pulse was weak, but she was alive. I couldn't help but look around the room and see what kind of terror Lindsey was put through.

"JJ, you okay?"

"Yeah, Derek, I'm fine."

I know why he asked me, and I know he didn't believe me when I told him I was fine. I wanted to believe I was okay, but deep down I knew I wasn't. I couldn't help but see the similarities between this dungeon, Lindsey, her torture and kidnapping.

I shifted my focus back to Lindsey. I sat with her until the paramedics arrived. When they took her up to the ambulance, we all followed.

"H, help," a soft voice croaked.

I immediately looked down to see Lindsey's hand raised slightly. I grabbed her hand and said, "Lindsey, my name's Jennifer. I'm with the FBI. You're safe now, okay? We're taking you to the hospital." Hotch had seen what was happening. I motioned to the ambulance and he nodded, so I hopped in right behind Lindsey. I sat down on the bench next to Lindsey. "Sweetie, do you know the man who did this? Did you recognize him?"

"No," she said softly, "I've never seen him before."

"Was he pretty tall?" I wanted to know if this was Michael Jerrik or not. "Did this man have a beard?"

"Yeah, just like that. He kind of had a European accent."

"Yes, Lindsey. That helps us a lot, okay? My team is going to catch him." I smiled at her.

Lindsey looked up at me and reached for my hand. "Thank you, Jennifer."

Entry 6 - Wednesday, November 6, 2019:

The ambulance ride was touch and go. Luckily, it was fairly short so Lindsey was able to get to the hospital quickly to get the care she needed. Her left leg was definitely broken, maybe her right too. Her arms were weak from being held above her head for so long, Jerrik had her for nearly 36 hours. She was dehydrated, malnourished, and sleep deprived. She had burn marks and bruises all over her body. She was most certainly drugged. She crashed later on the ride over, but the medics were able to get her back when we arrived at the hospital.

"Agent Jareau, this little girl is very lucky, all things considered."

"Will she be okay? When will we be able to talk to her?"

"Our trauma doctors are looking at her now. She is critical, but her vitals are stable for now. Hopefully we can avoid surgery for that leg. We are working on getting the drugs out of her system. You should be able to see her in a couple of hours."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Later that day I went with Spence to talk with Lindsey. She was out of surgery for her leg and stabilized. They were able to negate the drugs' effects on her body so there was less strain on her heart. We were hoping to do a cognitive with Lindsey to find out where Jerrik may have gone.

"Hi, Lindsey. Do you remember me?" She nodded. "Okay, this is my friend Spencer. We work together."

"Are you going to find the man that did this to me?"

"We are going to do everything we can, okay Lindsey?" Spence said. She nodded again.

"Lindsey," I started, "can we ask you some questions?"

"Mhm."

"Okay. Close your eyes and just relax. Good. Listen to the sound of my voice." Spence and I made eye contact, then I continued. "So, think back to when you left your mom and dad."

"Mommy and Daddy were mean, so I took some clothes and I left."

"Where were you going?"

"I was going to my friend's house. I was gonna walk to school with her, but I didn't make it there."

"Is that when the man took you?"

"Yes. He came up out of nowhere behind me. I felt a pinch in my neck. The next thing I know, I'm tied up in the back of a truck."

"What kind of truck, Lindsey?"

"Like a big van, not a pick up truck."

"Okay, good. What happened next?"

"The van stopped. He opened the door and I tried to run but he hit me really hard on the head. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and went downstairs. It was really dark in there."

"Is this the place where we found you?"

"Yes. He forced me to keep my hands above my head but I got so so tired so he tied them there. He didn't let me eat or drink anything either." The monitors started beeping faster.

"Lindsey, calm down. I'm right here. Me and Spencer are right here okay? You're safe now."

She took a deep breath and continued. "The man kept saying I was perfect, but he would still hit me. But he wasn't as mean as the other man."

"What other man, Lindsey? Were there two people there?"

"Yes."

"What was his name?"

"I never saw his face because the first man but a bandana over my eyes, but I think his name was Askari, Tivon Askari."