Strange Encounter - a Criminal Minds fic

Chapter 9

Rossi and Emily had been clicking through photos and bios of the people connected to the victims with Amelia for a little over three hours. They found one connection; one of Kelley Amada's co-workers shared a mutual friend with her. They explored that lead but hit another dead end. Looking down at her phone, she thought she could use another cup of coffee. 

"Uh, am I allowed to go get some coffee? I was thinking of that place down the street, I can get some for everyone?" She said the whole thing as a question, asking permission from the agents. 

Rossi chuckled at the young woman. "My dear, you are helping us. Of course you can go get coffee, you don't need to ask." He reached into his jacket and pulled out his wallet, handing her his credit card. "If you're offering to get coffee for everyone, it's on me. I'll go grab Derek so he can keep you company."

Amelia took her card from the man and put it in her purse, but had no intention of using it. These people were trying to save her life, the least she could do is get them a cup of coffee. She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started asking the other agents what they would like while she waited for Derek and Rossi to return.

_

Rossi walked into the office Hotch had commandeered and saw him and Derek looking at a computer screen with Penelope's face on it. 

"Bella donna, how are things on the homefront?" He asked her. He looked between the other two agents and realized something was wrong. "What have you found?"

"Well, I'm not super duper sure. But two of the victims, Anna Sinclair and Kendra Adams, both had front door cams. I was able to get into their security systems finally and found footage from the 24 hours leading up to their deaths" Garcia said quickly.

"Okay, and?" Rossi asked, looking at Hotch. He knew that expression, and whatever they found wasn't good. 

Hotch stood up and walked to look out the window. "We found one common person in both of the victims footage. Amelia. She walked by both homes, twice in the same day, both on Fridays. Once in the morning and once in the evening."

Rossi just looked at the man. If the woman they had been with for the past two days knew more than she was letting on..

Derek also stood, and Rossi remembered why he had came into the office. "Derek, I told Amelia you'd accompany her to pick up coffee for everyone. She has my card to get enough the team" he told him, realizing how pointless it sounded now.

"Guys, you could argue that walking by those homes at those times.. she could have been casing them" Derek mused out loud, not hearing Rossi. "I know, I don't think she did it either, but we can't ignore this. Damn, the kid is not gonna like this."

Hotch let out a low breath. "Okay Derek, go with her to pick up the coffees. Don't let on that anything is wrong. For all we know, it's not. But we are going to have to officially question her. Depending on how that goes, we're gonna to have to do a cognitive interview. We all know Reid is not going to like this, so keep Amelia at the coffee shop while I fill him in. He should be back any minute. Rossi, fill in Emily and JJ. I want Emily and Derek to conduct the interview, and JJ to conduct the cognitive. Reid isn't allowed to see her until this is finished."

Rossi and Derek nodded at their boss, and headed out of the small office. Hotch dialed Spencer's number and told him to come directly into his office when he arrived at the precinct. He watched Derek and Amelia head out, wondering where the hell this case was going. Because at the moment, he felt like he was running in circles. 

_

Spencer stared at Hotch across the desk, not believing what he was hearing. "Hotch, you've gotta be kidding. You know as well as I do that she didn't have any part in those murders, I saw her reaction when JJ and I met her and told her about the playlists. You saw her face when we went over the victims relationships yesterday. She didn't do this."

Hotch's face gave nothing away, but he knew the kid was right. "I know that her reactions have all been genuine. But that doesn't mean she isn't connected in another way, or does know something she didn't tell us. You have to look at this practically, you know procedure. You know we have to question her."

He stood up and held the door open to the office. "I don't want you speaking to her until this is finished, but if you want to watch the interview you can. As soon as she's back Derek is taking her to interrogation room B. We'll be starting in 15 minutes."

Spencer just watched him walk out of the office, not knowing what else he could've said. He trusted his gut, almost a decade on the job had taught him that those feelings were always right. And for that reason he just knew they were going the wrong way. Somehow, the unsub knew they would waste their time here. It was up to Spencer to figure out how. Figuring out the how would lead them to their killer. He stood up and braced himself to watch Amelia's interrogation through the two way glass. Would she know he was there? How scared was she was going to be? He could already picture her fidgeting with the ring on her thumb. He walked out of the office and headed to room B.