Chapter Thirteen

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Emily, Rossi, and Fallon were chatting amongst themselves when JJ's stand in, Agent Jordan Todd, burst through the middle of their group. Agent Todd was taking over while JJ was on maternity leave, with her new son Henry, who was one of the cutest babies Fallon had ever seen, save Carson and Gracelyn.

"Excuse me," she said, ignoring the greetings from the three of them.

"Oh that's not good," Rossi said as they watched her rush into Hotch's office. Less than a minute later, Hotch was walking out of his office with his go bag in hand.

"Dave," he said as he came down the stairs and stood next to Fallon. He rested a hand on her arm, something he had been doing a lot since the explosion months ago. That and whenever Fallon seem off, he was always highly concerned, and he would ask her multiple times if she was alright. It wasn't that Fallon didn't appreciate the concern, because she did. It was just that recently it had put a strain on Jackson and Fallon's relationship. Fallon had been thinking more about Hotch than she had of Jackson, and that was bad because Jackson was her boyfriend, not Hotch. Plus Hotch was still in love with his ex wife, and he was her boss, she couldn't have feelings for him. It wasn't actually allowed.

"What's going on?" Rossi asked, snapping Fallon out of her thoughts.

"We've got a missing ten year old girl, home invasion. Parents were killed in their sleep," Hotch reported.

"Where's our clock?" Rossi asked.

"Eight hours and counting," Hotch replied.

"I'll find Morgan and Reid and tell them we're on the move," Emily said.

"Good, wheels up in thirty," Hotch said. Fallon grabbed her go bag and then walked out with him, heading for the jet, hopefully to save the girl before anything else happened to her.

***

Thirty minutes later, the team was all strapped into their seats, and looking over the files as the plane took off.

"We got the uplinks of the crime scene photos," Todd told them as she walked over to them and sat beside Fallon. Todd set her computer down so that the entire team could see the pictures. "This is Jeff and Nancy Hale. Both their throats were cut."

"Any evidence of abuse?" Morgan asked.

"Nothing," Todd answered.

"Slitting someone's throat is quick and efficient," Spencer said, making his way over to join the group.

"That's because the real target was down the hall," Emily pointed out.

"She has a name," Todd snapped.

"What?" Emily asked.

"She's not 'the target', her names Cate, she's ten years old," Todd told her, and Emily exchanged a confused glance with Fallon before nodding.

"Alright," Emily conceded.

"Amber alert in effect?" Rossi asked, breaking through the awkward tension in the tiny space.

"Since seven a.m. this morning," Todd confirmed.

"With the unsub's head start, he could be anywhere within a four hundred mile radius. Make sure that they're casting a wide enough net," Hotch said.

"Got it," Todd said, writing down what Hotch had said on a small notepad.

"Who discovered the bodies?" Fallon asked the agent, who already looked flustered. The case wasn't the first one Todd was standing in for, but it was certainly the worst they had seen since she had been there. Fallon was expecting her to chicken out by this point, but she was proud that she hadn't. Most couldn't stomach seeing the things she and her team saw on an daily basis.

Ghosts • Aaron HotchnerWhere stories live. Discover now