Hard to Love {A Hotchniss Story}

Chapter 9

"When did you last see him?" It was the last question Aaron  asked Emily that night as they stood in front of her apartment door.

"I see him at least once a year at a family gathering. Sometimes at work parties too." Emily saw the look in Aaron's eyes but she couldn't quite put her finger on what he was feeling. "Why?"

"My father never sexually abused me, but I never looked back since I  left until he was dead and buried." It was the harshest thing Emily had  heard Aaron  say about his father, every once in a while he would make a  reference to him thinking the team didn't notice but they did and this  was the worst thing about him he had ever said and he wasn't to blame  for it.

"I'm so sorry." Emily whispered and it was for nothing, they both knew that nothing was going to change what had happened.

"You had it worse and you're here, standing. You have all my respect Agent Prentiss." Aaron   smiled, one of his rare smiles that she adored to see. "I should go."

"Thank you Agent Hotchner." She smiled right back at him. "Good night."

"Good night."

It was a relatively good night for Emily. She had a few scares for  example when Sergio decided to climb on her neck she was scared to death  even though he had done it before. But eventually she fell asleep again  until a bit before her alarm went off and she had to stop it before she  stood up and got ready for work.

The moment she entered the round table room everyone was there and  everyone acted just as before Foyet happened which was a relief to  Emily. "What do we got?" She asked as she sat down and started looking  through the pics on her tablet.

"Three girls found dead, all sixteen, each of them was killed about  two or three weeks after another. They were all found in a lake by  mistake, a couple tress passed for some swimming fun and ended up scared  for life." Penelope explained. "They're still searching, thinking they  might find more girls ."

"Have they been reported missing?" Derek asked and Penelope nodded.

"All three of them were reported missing but only a day or two after  they actually went missing. Each parent thought their kid was going to  have a sleepover at a friend's." Penelope kept showing them pictures of  the lake, the bodies, the families as she spoke. "Six missing reports in  the area match the description of our kids, there's also another girl,  looks the same but she's twelve, thought you might want to know. They  liked sports, dark hair, dark eyes, very lively and happy kids."

"Signs of sexual assault?" JJ asked.

"No, they were clean, no cuts, no bruises, but the ME says that they  might've been sexually assaulted, they were too clean when hidden into  the lake. They were smothered with a pillow before their bodies were  disposed of." Penelope finished and as usually she was rather glad. She  loved that she could do more for the team, but it meant seeing the  uglier part of things which she hated.

"No signs of them having been restrained. They must've known and trusted the unsub." Derek said plainly.

"And their parents must've not liked the unsub in their opinion  otherwise they wouldn't have lied about sleeping over at a friend's." JJ  pointed out.

"I'd say it's too clean for it to be a man, but they wouldn't have  lied if it were a woman. Parents usually trust women." Emily said. "It  could be a bad boy type of teenager or maybe in his twenties or even an  older man, thirties, forties who could keep them in his house, do  whatever it is he did with them and then dispose of them."

"Wheels up in thirty." Aaron  stood up. "Dave, a minute." He walked to his office followed by David.

"What is it Aaron?" David asked as he say down on a chair and Aaron  walked to his desk.

"I need you to keep an eye on Prentiss while we work this case." Aaron  didn't want it to appear as if he didn't trust her. "I trust her, I'm just worried after what she had told her."

"She's done her job perfectly up to now. Well with her normal amount of recklessness, but still." David smiled. "Why me?"

"JJ and Morgan would be too obvious, Garcia will definitely call her a  lot without me asking and Reid wouldn't be able to keep it a secret." Aaron  explained forgetting one person.

"Why not you?" David asked with a knowing smile on his face which was barely visible but was there.

"Too obvious." Aaron simply said but it wasn't enough for David.

"You're her boss." David pointed out, he watched Aaron closely. "You have been taking her home very often these past weeks."

"What  are you suggesting David?" Aaron mentally slapped himself, he had very  rarely called David 'David', he usually called him 'Dave'.

"It's been obvious Aaron for a while now." It was all David needed to say. "I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thank you."