The Case of You and Me

Chapter 20.2 - Sisters for Life (Sentences)

Part 2

Aria's POV

I wonder what Lana would say if she knew her ultimate strategy would ultimately be used against her. When she first 'took me on the road with her' she would use me as a body double, either to watch a hostage or appear in public using her name so that she'd have an alibi. It all technically started when I was a child and she'd make me pretend to be here to get out of trouble. At least I have experience.

"We need you to negotiate as Lana with a serial killer duo she used to work with." Jj's the one briefing me and I'm putting all my energy into staying professional. "Keep them talking so that Garcia can track them, and try to get as much information on their plan as possible. They've taken three girls hostage in the past month."

I nod my head once. "Got it." My head still hurts a lot. "A fair warning, Jj, when I pretend to be Lana, I get into her head...and I can be a little scary when I do it." She raises an eyebrow. "I just want everyone to know that that's not who I am."

"Okay, I'll let the team know, the phone call is supposed to start in ten minutes."

She leaves me alone, I take a few deep breaths. I'm fine. I don't need the pain killers the doctor insisted I take from the hospital. I should flush them. I don't want them around Spencer. I wish he'd let me apologize, but I'd give him space. I'd let him cool off. I just hope he won't hate me forever. The thought of him hating me now makes my skin crawl—I hate the way I exploded. I hate that part of me...it just hurts people. And I need to tap into that right now.

I walk into the conference room and am told to sit next to Spencer. Great. I try to catch his eye, but he's dead set on ignoring me.

"You're going to speak into the phone, but when the red button is pressed, he won't be able to hear us, but we'll still be able to hear them," Hotch tells me. 

"Okay."

"Reid will analyze their speech patterns and if you get stuck, signal and we'll give you a que. You want them to set up a rendezvous location and time to meet with you in a way that makes it look like their idea."

Rendezvous? No one said anything about being face to face with them. "Okay. I think got this."

"Yeah you do," Garcia echoes.

I smile at her. Other people offer me words of affirmation, but the person whose approval I want most is silent. He's being a little childish, but I guess I deserve it. We're supposed to get the phone call at 6:00. It's now 6:03.

"At least one of them has intense OCD and is obsessed with punctuality, this doesn't make sense, if anything they would've been a few minutes early, not late," Spencer points out.

It makes sense to me. "They're testing me."

"What do you mean?" Hotch presses.

The phone rings at that exact moment. "Watch this and it'll make sense." I answer the phone casually, the lack of warning has a few people giving me concerned looks. I don't speak, everyone's staring at me, I hold a finger up to warn them that they need to be patient.