𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟏𝟐𝟓

"𝙸𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

     EMILY STANDS up straight when she hears a knock on the front door. She knows Noah would just let herself in, so for someone to be knocking this early makes her heartbeat pick up. She slowly makes her way to the door and looks through the peephole. She swings open the door and is met by a middle-aged woman in professional clothing with a man and another woman standing behind her as well.

"May I help you?"

"Is this the home of Emily Prentiss?" the woman standing in front asks.

"Uh, yes, who are you?" Emily questions her as she keeps the door close to her in case she needs to shut it quickly.

"I'm Jenna Bates from Child Protective Services," the woman says. "This is Grant Morris and Helen Douglas."

"Hello, ma'am," the man greets her with a nod.

"What is this about?" Emily asks, ignoring their introductions.

"We know that you recently adopted your daughter, Noah. We were told to come by and do a surprise check-in."

"Listen, I work for the FBI, so if this is some sort of act, you can drop it," Emily tells them and starts to get suspicious.

"Very well," Jenna replies. "We were informed that there was a report of possible child abuse in your home. We're here to investigate and since you are an FBI agent, we take this very seriously. All we want to do is ask you and Noah some questions. If it's for her safety, there should be no problem with that, I assume."

"Can I at least see an ID or a badge?" Emily requests and watches as each of them shows their badges. She eyes all of them carefully and knows that they are real. "Come in." she groans and opens the door wider. "She's not here right now, but I'll call her."

Emily steps into the kitchen and allows the agents to walk into the living room. She can see them looking at everything. She understands it's their job to look out for things, but she didn't think it would be this serious. She has no idea what's going on.

The CPS agents look around until Emily welcomes them to find a seat at the dining room table. Emily gets them all a cup of coffee and makes small talk. She picks her nails under the table so they can't see how nervous she has become. Time seems to slow down as they wait for Noah to arrive.

In the driveway, Noah quickly gets out of Josephine's car and waves her off. She rushes up to the front door and lets herself in. She quickly walks inside and sees her mother sitting down at the dining room table with two women and a man sitting across from her.

"Hey, honey," Emily says as she stands. "Come sit down."

"What's going on?" the teen asks.

"I'm Jenna and this is Grant and Helen. We're from CPS. Do you know what that is?"

"Yes, I know what that is," Noah says as she sits down in the seat beside Emily's.

"Good," Jenna chimes. "We just want to make sure that you're feeling comfortable in your new home."

"Okay...?" Noah trails off, confused about what brought this on.

"Have you been enjoying Virginia?" Jenna asks and sees Noah nod. "Did you feel any pressure moving here?"

"No, what is this?" Noah asks.

"Where were you this morning?" Jenna continues.

"At a sleepover," Noah replies as she furrows her brows and shakes her head. "Hold on. What is this really about? And don't ask me another question to distract me."