>ROAD TO CHARLESTON
>1100HRS...///

Ava tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she drove her rental car down the modestly busy highway, taking the three of them to Charleston to meet with the CID. 

The drive from the Safehouse had been relatively quiet. The radio was set on a local country music station with the occasional bout of static as they drove through areas with spotty reception, offering white background noise to fill the silence between bouts of small talk between Dave and Agent Bhaat.

Ava didn't speak much as she focused on driving, using it to distract from her nerves. She was anxious, impersonating an FBI agent was hardly in her wheelhouse. She could make convincing FBI Agent fake identities, but pretending to be one...At least she had Agent Bhatt to coach her and Dave was in the same boat as her, which also helped.

“Um,” She finally spoke up as she glanced over her shoulder to merge into the next lane to head for the upcoming off ramp. They were getting pretty close, it seemed like a good time to offer up an idea she had been mulling over. “So, I thought I could research hospitals and clinics in the area? Find which ones would look the least secure and the easiest to steal from? Or which ones have a history of keeping spotty inventory? Maybe a lot of malpractice lawsuits?” She suggested, shooting a questioning look over to Agent Bhatt from the corner of her eye.

“Smart place to start,” replied Pari cooly as she set her gaze upon the scene outside of the window. “Anything that you’re able to do, discreetly, helps. Trust your instincts on it.” Her head turned to catch Ava - she didn’t want to encourage the girl to take her eyes off the road, but she offered her a smile of reassurance. 

A few quiet moments passed, until Pari broke the silence again - addressing the elephant in the room, so to speak. “You’re both not FBI, and this is all of our first day - we don’t want anything to go wrong. Simply follow my lead and we’ll be alright, if you have any specific questions then now is the time.” She took a glance in the rear view mirror at Dave in the backseat, and offered him a smile too. “Before we get to the appointment, we’re to make a stop at the mall in Charleston. First step to being an FBI agent is to look like one…” her voice trailed off, and her smile grew in the rear view to show her teeth. She hoped that Dave would be amused too, and not offended.

Dave quirked an eyebrow, lips twitching in a good natured smirk. "We about to play makeover?" He asked. "Ya'll are gonna have to help me with the eyeliner, I can never get it right."

He shifted his weight around, grimacing. His carry pistol, the little p320 Compact, was still in his bag up in the mountains. All he'd had on him when he'd been picked up was his 226, complete with tactical light. Unfortunately, that had ridden on a thigh rig, which was not at all suited for interacting with the public. Now he was perched on the edge of his seat, a full-size duty pistol jammed down the back of his pants and two spare magazines loose in his cargo pocket. Things were far from comfortable. 

"Hey, y'all think they got a huntin' store, or a gun store at this mall? Cuz I've got a pound-and-change of German steel stuck between a couple of vertebrae."  

“There's probably a Wal-Mart.” Ava suggested, glancing back at Dave in the rear view mirror. “If not, well, we are in West Virginia. There's probably no shortage of hunting stores or ammo stores.” She grimaced as she guided them onto the off ramp. “I need a shoulder holster anyway, if I'm getting a blazer I can finally wear one discreetly.”

For what it was worth, the feeling of being a fish out of water was not unusual for Pari. She’d spent much of her life forcing herself into the shoes of an all-American girl, and for a while they had fit - and she’d been happy. But now, she wondered if she wasn’t just happier in Mumbai after all. She glanced to Ava and Dave both, and in that moment she couldn’t have felt like she had less in common with either of them. She kept those thoughts quiet, and didn’t let them leak out onto her expression however. First day jitters, that was all. 

“You might make a nice woman, but it’ll take us a lot more than a slick of eyeliner - why don’t we just stick to the suit for now?” She smirked back at him,  over her shoulder this time - not through the reflection of the mirror. “Hunting store? I don’t know - let’s not be taking too many diversions all at once. Eyes on the prize, yes?”

Dave grinned at her, his steel-blue eyes bright among the dark bruises around his eyes. He'd never had a problem talking to strangers; he may not always know what was going on, but he was friendly enough to get by in most situations. 

"I think I can manage stayin' focused," he said, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.  

Pari chuckled before turning back to the front, “alright then Mr. MacCready.”

"You can just call me Dave," he said. "The 'mister' makes me sound old." 

“How long have you been with the FBI Agent Bhaat?” Ava asked the woman curiously as she slowed to navigate the city streets, glancing around for a sign pointing them toward a mall or shopping center.

“That’s a good question… I started as an analyst when I was around 26 or so, did a job. I had a… sabbatical of sorts.” Pari sighed, a finger tapped over her thigh, she saw no reason to hide the truth, but maybe she could brush over it for now. “Not long, really. I’m… more of an academic, truthfully. What is your background Ms. Moore?” She asked, keen to move on.

“Mostly computers and information, some mechanical engineering.” Ava answered with a stiff, embarrassed shrug. “I've been a contractor for Booz-Allen for almost a decade. The past two years I've been working for The Program.” She glanced back over to Agent Bhaat. “What field of academics do you work in?” She looked back at the road and perked up noticing a sign advertising a mall. “Should we try our luck there?” She asked, nodding her head in the direction of the shopping outlet.

"Fine by me," Dave said. "I'm just along for the ride. I think Donnelley mostly sent me as muscle, since I'm not exactly a scholar." He scratched the back of his head and felt a brief spark of irritation at his missing hat. His eyes ran over the outlet, checking for threats out of habit. Locals milled about doing local things, but nobody stood out as a possible danger. He certainly didn't see anybody in dark robes wielding sacrificial knives.

"I think this spot's okay," he said. "If they even got a suit store."  

“I’m sure you’re more than muscle, Dave, you might just be able to spot something we can’t,” Pari said as the car rounded a corner. “This mall should be fine too, we don’t need to make too much of a thing of it,” she added with a shrug of her own, crossing one leg over the other and placing her hands into her lap. “As for your question, I study religious iconography in crime, I’ve written a lot of papers - give lectures at my alma mater, in between my work with the Bureau, of course…”

“You think the murder might have been religiously motivated?” Ava asked curiously, steering the car over to the mall parking lot. She found an empty space easy enough and parked, picking up her small tan purse that contained her two phones, her wallet, fake FBI badge as well as her handgun and multipurpose tool.

"Not much other reason to cut people open on an altar," Dave said. "Least that's what they were doin' in my Ozarks."

He opened the car door eagerly, taking a moment to stretch before adjusting the gun jammed through his waistband. His eyes combed the parking lot again.

"Alright, let's try to make this painless," he grinned. "And no ties, that ain't negotiable. I hate the damn things, and I don't wanna get strangled because I had to put a ribbon around my neck."

“I think that Foster thinks so,” Pari said, “enough that he called me in to take a look over it all. From my conversation with Dr. Laine earlier, I’d say yes, but to what extent? I’m not yet sure.” She sounded thoughtful in her words, and once the car came to its stop she picked up her purse, checking for the third time that she had placed the wrapped bills in there. They were present. Pari also took her sunglasses out to wear. The large frames complimented her, and covered her eyes. She wanted to inconspicuous, and this way she could at least pass it off as a stylish choice. “Okay then, one hour or less for this - then we should be on our way.”

Ava nodded in agreement as she locked the car and tucked the keys away. “Wouldn’t want to keep this Detective waiting.” She said, the lenses of her glasses having darkened into sunglasses once the light of the sun hit them. She looked at Agent Bhaat, poised and professionally dressed as though she was about to step into a courtroom, and then to Dave, in rumbled flannel and worn jeans with a giant bruise taking up half his face. They weren’t the most subtle trio but hopefully people were too consumed with their own business to pay them much mind. 

This promised to be an interesting shopping trip if nothing else.

"In and out," Dave nodded. "Course, might be fun pissin' off a cop and gettin' away with it for once."

He laughed at the thought. His dislike of police officers went back a long way, and he'd developed a bit of a history back in Arkansas. Nothing too serious, but he'd spent a night or two in the drunk tank, and had taken a few lumps. The county deputies in his homeland were a baton-happy sort.

"So what am I lookin' for, anyway? Black? Grey? I feel like black is gonna make it look like I'm dressed for a funeral. Blue might go well with my bruises, though."  

“If you piss off a cop then it might well be your funeral…” Pari said only half-admonishingly, raising an eyebrow at Dave. He was joking, of course, and Pari was too - but still, she wanted to shoot down any notion of rebelliousness. “As for the colour, I’m feeling a navy blue too. Matches your eyes,” she smiled and turned on her heel to begin on her way in. “Is there anything that you need besides the blazer, Ava?” she asked, glancing to the colleague at her right.

“I don’t think so.” Ava answered, looking down at herself with a frown. “I need a shoulder holster but I guess that can wait since I have my purse.” She said while adjusting the straps on her shoulder. “Dr. Laine said a blazer would be enough to help me look more official.” Though she had always thought she dressed very professionally, it turned out there was a difference between IT professional and Alphabet Agent professional. [i]This is why I have trouble with fashion.[/i]She thought with a slight frustrated crease between her eyebrows.

She looked around to make sure no one would overhear them then look up at Agent Bhaat from beneath her tinted glasses. “Have you...worked on cases like this before?” She asked.

Dave edged a little closer. "I been wonderin' that, too. I ain't got a clue how to go about interrogatin' somebody. I mean I figure we won't be using car batteries, so you're gonna have to feed me some lines, unless you want me to stand there and look pretty." 

“You’re putting me on edge with all this talk, Dave,” Pari said sharply. Glancing to Ava for some assistance in reining him in perhaps. She followed it with a chuckle. “Stand and look as pretty as you can, and maybe take in the details of the room. How does that sound?” There was a confidence in her tone that she could sense the other two had been looking for, and suddenly she felt less out of place all of a sudden - she was the voice of authority here, to them, at least. She had the answers, she liked the feeling - it put her at ease and she felt decidedly less useless.

“Yes, I’ve worked cases like this - not… Not exactly like this, but I know the standard procedures and how to follow them, and so soon, will you both.” the Agent added with as reassuring of a smile as she could manage. 

Ava glanced down when Agent Bhaat took a sharp tone with Dave, awkwardness and worry of an argument bubbling in her chest. She tapped her finger on her necklace and only looked back up at the mention of the case.

“Okay.” She agreed with a slight nod before glancing over at Dave to see his reaction to the instructions.

Dave laughed at the sharp reprimand, the sound carrying with it good natured humor rather than mockery. 

“Alright, sorry,” he said, raising a hand. “I’m a nervous talker. Kinda outta my element. Didn’t mean anything by it.” 

“Don’t apologise,” Pari replied, mirroring him by raising a hand of her own, “we’re all nervous - and you have more reason to be than Ava and myself to begin with, so… just be nervous with [i]us,[/i]” she clarified, offering him a smile. “Shall we?” She said at last, turning on her heel to make her way inside.

[hr]

It was a wonder they had been able to find a tailor at all, it had taken some trial and error on their part - stepping into regular clothing stores hoping for formalwear, but it was in the inbuilt department store that they’d seemed to find a winner. The place was clean and bright with a heavily polished floor, there were women in the aisles offering samples of perfumes, and even more women coaxing customers into seats to try age-defying serums and other magical products for just about every worry a woman could ever have. 

Pari stood with Ava by the fitting room, the customer attendant over by the till also waiting anxiously it seemed. It was probably the first time she could say she’d been visited at her store by a bruised up gentleman, his Indian colleague, and quite possibly the shortest woman in Charleston. There had been raised eyebrows, and an attitude that would have made Vivian Ward’s toes curl. It wasn’t until she was shown cold hard cash that she understood the trio were serious. 

Some twenty minutes later, after some further trial and error, and quite a collected pile of unsuitable shirts, Pari called out to the navy blue velvet curtain. “Are you ready Dave?” She then glanced down at Ava at her side with a smile.

Dave studied himself in the mirror, fussing with his collar. The stiff dress shirt was already chafing at him figuratively; he figured the literal chafing would start after a couple of hours. He bit back a bit of grumbling profanity. 

“Yeah, I’m ready,” he called. After cracking his knuckles and giving the mirror a final glare he opened the curtain, pasting on a bright smile. “Well?” 

The suit itself was a simple charcoal number, conservative and boring enough, in Dave’s eyes, to fit the image of a Federal agent. He’d left the jacket just a bit large to accommodate his pistol, but otherwise it fit well, accentuating his broad, fit build. His feet were jammed into a pair of leather dress shoes that made him sorely miss his hiking boots. 

“Not bad, huh?” He spread his arms and turned in a circle. 

Ava returned Pari’s smile then looked at the curtain as Dave walked out, cocking her eyebrows up. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised Dave cut such a nice figure in a suit, he was a fit man after all. Even the glaring bruise on his noggin didn’t detract much from his appearance, though it did make her think of an action star that had just gotten into a fight.

She smiled at him. “You look very handsome.” She said and she meant it. “Can you give us a little Blue Steel?” She asked in a gentle teasing tone.

Pari immediately pinched at the arm of her sunglasses, pushing them down her nose so she could peer over the top of the frames. She leaned forward slightly to look at him, in just about as much surprise as Ava was, “holy cabooses,” she muttered, her mouth opened slightly, and she blinked several times as if doing so would break the mirage. “I’m sorry, I thought asked for Dave - not Clark Gable…” she joked with a sigh of amused disbelief. Where was the harm in making him feel good about himself, after all?

He grinned and made a show of brushing off his shoulders, clearly pleased with the positive reactions. 

“Alright then,” he said. “Step one accomplished. Glad y’all were here, or I’d still be starin’ at the racks. Or just wearing the same shit I was.” He picked up his old clothes, bundling them into a careless ball. He had already transferred the contents of his pockets to his suit trousers; the spare magazines he’d had to palm off to Ava to stash in her bag until he could get a holder for them. 

“Really though, thanks for the input,” he said as he joined them. 

“You’re welcome.” Ava said, adjusting her purse from one shoulder to the other, fusing with it to make sure that her new blazer didn’t wrinkle. It was a light cloud grey, a perfect complement of her skirt, shirt and her pale skin tone. “So, I guess all that’s left to do is go see the Detective?” She asked, looking between Agent Bhaat and Dave. She eyed his bruise again and wondered if they shouldn’t make a quick stop at the make-up counter.

“That’s quite alright,” Pari said, handing over the payment to the assistant, she waited for the woman to count the cash and provide the receipt, as requested by Laine. Once that had been done, she folded it and placed it in a safe pocket inside her purse. A structured navy blue tote, faux leather with two compartments, and a pocket in the front which housed her phone. She turned from the counter and gave another smile at her colleagues, looping the accessory over her left shoulder. The woman turned her wrist too, and looked at the hands on her watch - an eyebrow shot up and she bit down on her lip, exhaling from her nose. “Yes, we should leave about now. I don’t want to keep people waiting… I know you wanted to go to another store, Dave, maybe we can do that afterwards -- the three of us could even have lunch? For the purpose of work, of course” she suggested, eyes darting behind the dark lenses from Ava to Dave and back again. 

Ava bit her lip, thinking about the virus she needed to work on as well as the new identity for the witness. On the other hand, it would give them a chance to go over whatever they learned with the Detective. Maybe give her a better idea of where to start digging around for their drug dealer. “I wouldn’t mind that.” She said after taking a brief moment to think it over. 

Pari could sense a feeling of apprehension from Ava, and so to help level her confidence she raised a finger to the air as she had done earlier in the safehouse; “the agenda then, our meeting. We can then touch base with the cabin,” she added, leaving names out of the equation for now - they were in public afterall, “we’ll finish up in town for shopping-” her gaze moved to Dave, and the casual manner in which she spoke suggested that she was simply referring to a grocery run. “If there is time after that, we’ll find somewhere to eat together to decompress. Then head back to the cabin shortly after.”

Dave fiddled with his shirt cuffs as the women planned. Ava seemed sharp as a whip, and Pari clearly knew what she was doing. He was content to let them handle the schedule. This was mostly their gig, anyway; Foster had put him on the tactical team, which made the best use of his skills. As far as he was concerned, he was a bodyguard for the day. 

“That sounds good,” he said. He gave Ava a friendly nudge, and then caught Pari’s eye. “My shoppin’ list can wait, none of it’s that important. I think makin’ time for a bite to eat sounds better.” 

Ava looked up at Dave with a small smile at the nudge and then back to Agent Bhaat. “Okay, I like the sound of that.” She fiddled with the collar of her blazer. “We don’t...need to tell anyone we had to get this from the Junior Miss section, right?” She asked, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.

“I won’t say anything about it,” Pari said with a shrug as they moved through the store towards the exit. “At least not to the team, I can’t promise I won’t say something to you though,” she added with a measure of innocuous humour to her tone, laughing softly at herself. 

“Aw, don’t listen to her,” Dave said. He patted her on the shoulder. “I think the jacket looks great. Now what time did we have to have you home by?”  

It was they way that Dave executed his joke that cracked through the professional veneer that Pari tried her best to maintain, and she brought a hand to her mouth and laughed into it, stopping in her tracks to try to brush it off. She reached her free hand around Ava's back and gave him a light slap across the arm.

Ava blushed brighter but still had a slight smile on her lips from the gentle teasing. “Before the street lights come on.” She told him, trying to inject a grave note into her tone and not entirely succeeding. 

“Well, we better get a move on then. Daylight’s burnin’,” he said. He glanced over at Pari, quirking an eyebrow. “Unless you want to make it dinner instead of lunch?” 

“Oh, I’m sure the others would worry if we were out for that long, Dave.” Pari answered, once again able to find her level of composure. She began forwards, moving past the joke now - there was only so much she was willing to press Ava.

“I also have work waiting for me at the cabin when we finish with the Detective.” Ava reminded Dave gently as she followed along behind Agent Bhaat. “I don’t want to put it off for too long.”

[hr]

>CHARLESTON, WV
>STATE POLICE STATION, SOUTH CHARLESTON
>1220HRS...///

When the door opened, the State Trooper manning the desk lifted her eyes at the three oddballs. Glimpses of them offered between the passing officers and detectives bustling around. Ever since the Blackriver Case activity in the place had ticked up to an unlikable degree for some, and a satisfying fast pace for others. Another suit had come in before these three to see Detective Roy and the arrival of even more was not a good sign. Either for the arrival of them like the four horsemen of the apocalypse signaled something big in West Virginia, or just the very mundane and normalized eye-rolling of having Feds swing their dicks around in your neck of the woods.

They approached the desk and State Trooper Morales rose, not even bothering with a greeting, “Detective Roy, yeah? This way.”

In a few moments time, they were at the detective’s door. As if she could sense their presence, Roy answered, opening the door wide for the three of them. A slight hint of confusion on her face that it was not Laine or Davidson at the door. She waved them in anyway, closing the door after them. She sat at her desk and there was another suited gentleman seated at the other end of the room, adjacent to her. An older man, age apparent in the wrinkles and crow’s feet on his dark skin, tight curls of gray atop his head. He nodded at them, Manila folder on his lap.

Roy piped up, hurried tone but friendly smile, “Sit, there’s a lot to go over.” She gestured to the two seats on the opposite side of her desk before gesturing to the man that had preceded them, “This is Joe Dawant, a former Detective for the Washington State Police working with us on this case.”

“Hello.” Joe smiled and nodded again as the three investigators took their seats, “I’m here on behalf of the CMC, Center for the Missing Child. We are a non-profit organization that helps law enforcement in cases of violence and exploitation of young children and teens. This case has some… far-reaching roots. It crosses state lines, that is. A lot of them.”

He coughed into a fist, gravelly barks from years of smoking, “I don’t believe I’ve caught your names.”

“Good afternoon Detective Roy, Detective Dawant, I’m Agent Parinaaz Bhatt, these are my colleagues, Agents Taylor and Miller.” Pari said with a levelled confidence as she stood forwards, glad that they had gotten Dave in a suit, and Ava into a blazer. She hadn’t been expecting another presence in the meeting, and it just reaffirmed to her that anything less than perfect simply would not do. “I’ve liaised with the Washington State Police more than once. They run a tight ship.” she added, in as diplomatic a fashion as she could, her eyes bright and inquisitive in the room.

What he had followed with interested her - she knew of the existence of the CMC, to hear that he had a case in Charleston set something ringing in her mind. She glanced to Ava, as if to check the woman was alright and gave her a confident smile. “I’ve also heard of the CMC, Detective Dawant, I’m curious as to how the case has brought you all the way from Seattle…”

Ava responded to Agent Bhaat’s smile with a polite nod, opening her purse to pull out a hardcover black notebook. She had picked it up when they were shopping for her blazer. A small cache of school supplies had been set out in anticipation for the end of summer and it gave her the idea to take notes during the meeting. It gave her something to do, made them appear more professional and she could note down anything said that might be of interest to the case that wasn't in the files.

She looked up at Detective Roy and former Detective Dawant with a raised eyebrow. “I hope it's okay if I jot down notes?” She asked, trying not to stare specifically at Joe. To hear that this case may have multiple victims across state lines, especially children, made her stomach curl. 

“Of course,” Joe nodded, “So, as Detective Roy would be able to tell you, the dental records came back on your Jane Doe. It matched with a cold case in Seattle, Pacific Highway area.”

He frowned a bit deeper, shaking his head, “I’m sure most of you know that with the airport nearby it makes Pacific Highway a place ripe for abductions and sex trafficking. Rapes and drugs are prevalent in the area. Meth, coke, black tar, you name it.” He placed his  folder on the table and opened it to reveal pictures of a twelve year old girl, Hispanic, smiling at a birthday party with her parents and a few friends. Her first day getting ready for school in the US, playing in the park, hugging her mother. “This is your Jane Doe. Maria Vasquez has been missing for years. Five. And in those five years, CMC has been trying to track her down with everything we had at our disposal. Contacts in the FBI, US Marshals, ICE, because State Police is overworked as it is and Seatac Police?”

He snorted, “I don’t fucking trust any of them. If they’re not harassing people and ripping off drug dealers, they’re fucking hookers.” His eyes darkened as his head downturned, “I know this. But this,” his finger tapped one of the photos of Maria, “This is the first real break in this case we’ve had. And she’s not the only girl missing.”

“International Parental Abductions is what we’re looking at. Children with foreign born parents are taken from their mothers and fathers and shipped off someplace else. Cartels do it all the time in the southern states and as their meth and heroin travel north, they bring girls south.” He crossed his arms and nodded at the picture in the folder, “Maria Vasquez. Taken when she was twelve. I’ve been trying to bring her parents peace for five years, because everyone else but me and the CMC gave up.”

“We’ve been able to prosecute two perps working for the Sinaloa cartel around the Port of Tacoma and the Seattle area, five more in Los Angeles and San Francisco in relation to cases connected to Maria Vazquez’s abduction from Seatac and a fucking slew of other minors. We have reason to believe that Sinaloa and/or Tamaulipas cartel are operating in and around West Virginia.” He stepped back to his chair, “It could explain… the, uh, state… of Maria Vasquez. Cartels are ruthless and brutal to rivals and those they associate with. She could have been used as an example to what happens to drug mules or sex workers that belong to the other side. As the capitol city in West Virginia, Charleston has the population to support a drug and sex trade operation.”

Pari took hold of the picture of the girl, of Maria Vasquez, and she made sure to examine every detail of her in that picture. Her smile and the way that the photograph had captured happiness in a single frame. The look in her eyes of a future - that she had probably been too young to consider, because twelve years old is still about school and playing children's games. Her hairstyle - probably with her mother's assistance. She never reached the age of fighting back against her mother, rebelling just a little bit. Learning about herself. She stopped being twelve when she was taken, and that stung Pari but it was exactly that reason that made it so important to place Maria Vasquez in her memory, so she would be more than the girl stripped bare. More than Jane Doe, more than flesh. These photos were her soul, and Pari would honour that. 

She drew her eyes back from Maria, and then to Dawant and Roy in turns, the very same veneer that Dave had cracked earlier was mended, there were no signs of even a hairline on it now, just an inscrutable severity. She looked at Maria, and in a way she saw herself. Born of immigrant parents, it was status and circumstance that stopped them from being one and the same. She thought of Rohan too, but it had to be compartmentalised for now. So she placed the photograph down, glancing to Ava - she was doing well with her notes. Good. She'd pick up the exact language and phrasing, Pari was digging beyond that, and they needed both pieces to create a whole picture. Three pieces in fact, and her gaze shifted to meet Dave's eyes.

"You said there are other missing children," Pari said finally, cutting through the tension at last, "I'm guessing you have the information on them with you? Are there any links between these missing children? Communities, shared schools?" She didn't think that cartels were behind her murder - at least not leaving her body in such a state - but her theories were for Team UMBRA only, they were for Dr. Laine to filter through with her psychology expertise and find the truth of it, but cartels were a damned obvious place to start anyway. She squinted slightly, vexed that she hadn't thought of that herself. "And the information on the cartels, the perpetrators you've already put through - I might find those profiles useful within our investigation, too."

“Yes, of course,” Joe nodded, “I'll have to go through the channels, you know, but I can get them to you in reasonable time.”

He shrugged then, frowning slightly, “But I’m afraid profiles on the perps, their connections, everything like that, I don’t have on me currently. Detective Roy called CMC and CMC called me. Rapid Response, I can get you that information in time, but I’m also here to advise as well. First and foremost, really.”

"Please," Pari said softly, this had really hurt the man. Spending that long in a case. "Take your time, it just helps us to see the bigger picture, and we will, together." 

“I’m mainly here to tell you about Maria, a background on potential leads. Now that that’s done, well.” He left the rest unsaid, conveying it in his looks at Roy and the rest, “Feel free to keep the folder. It’s all copies from our database anyway. If you need me, just ring. Or Roy will.”

He handed over a business card, “Anything else?” He asked, “Parents’ number? They’ll want to speak to the people who found their girl. Thank all of you. I’m going to arrange for Maria to be brought back to Washington for a proper burial.” He had a smile that was heavy at the corners, “If any of you have the time, I’m sure I or CMC could tell you where the grave is.”

She held the business card in her hand, and placed it into her purse. Pari could feel the strain, that this was painful and personal for him, and she gave him a nod of her head. "I would appreciate that, Detective Dawant. If there is anything at all, we have your details." There was nothing much else that could be said on that matter, and as she had done already, she took a look at both Ava and Dave - it was heavy subject matter, and she wondered if they would want to talk about it once they left - to be emotional, in whichever way that manifested for them. 

Ava kept her head down as she jotted down notes, she may not be an investigator but she knew how to take detailed notes. It also helped keep her mind off the tragedy that befell Maria and her family. Five years. What had her life been like those horrible five years? And why kill her now? 

She glanced up feeling eyes on her and she met Agent Bhaat’s sympathetic brown eyes. She gave a ghost of a smile to show she was okay and then it was gone as she looked at the Detectives.

Part of her wanted to spare Detective Joe anymore of the gruesome details. He didn't need to know what kind of torture that little girl went through before she died. She could already see how much the case had weighed on him and for it to end like this…

She went back to taking notes.

Dave, true to his word, had sat quietly throughout the interview. Pari seemed to have things well in hand, and while the questions were more common-sense than he’d expected, he didn’t feel a need to interject. Everything was running smoothly, which made him feel much more confident in his role as Agent Miller, FBI. 

While Pari asked the questions and Ava took notes, he occupied himself by simply sitting back and listening. As the story progressed he had to make a conscious effort to keep his mouth shut and his face impassive. A twelve-year-old girl, kidnapped...It made his blood boil. He clenched his jaw tightly when he saw the picture, quickly finding something else to look at. Dave didn’t consider himself a violent man. He had always preferred talking to fighting, and despite his childhood (or perhaps because of it) his few bar fights had always developed after deescalation had failed. But this...It made him killing mad. It reaffirmed, in his eyes, that the people behind this had righteous judgement coming, and he was willing, perhaps even eager, to be God’s vengeful hand in this matter. Killing these men wouldn’t burden his conscience in the least. 

As the talk wound down a thought occurred to him, and he raised a hand to draw the attention of those present. 

“The drugs,” he said. “We found some...Uncommon drugs in the victim’s system. Stuff you wouldn’t find over the counter. You think y’all could give us a list of...You know… Local dealers, ones with a history of dealin’ hard-to-find stuff? Maybe some doctors who’ve been known to make some side money with their prescription pads?” 

Roy frowned, “Uh, define ‘hard-to-find.’”

“Well, the drugs we found were sedatives,” Dave said. “The kind that paralyze you, but don’t really knock you out. They wouldn’t be somethin’ you’d get from a cook out in the boonies. So...Anybody with a history of dealin’ stuff you’d need access to a doctor for. Pills, things you can’t synthesize on your own, that you’d need to have a contact to get?” 

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Roy nodded, “There’s a few people we’ve put away I can put you in contact with. It’ll take some time to schedule visits, but you can talk to them.”

“I can get you a list and send it to Special Agent Forrest or Davidson.” Roy said, “That good?”

Ava noted that down and looked back up, pushing her large round glasses up her nose after they slid down. “That would be perfect, thank you Detective.” She said with a small nod of her head. If she could get their names, there was little she wouldn't be able to dig up on them. 

Pari gave a thankful nod to both Ava and Dave, before turning back to Dawant; “I’d like us to stay in touch on this, I’m a Seattle native myself - when I’m back there we should touch base. I understand this has been tough and drawn out for you,” the woman said, a softness in her tone now, and a warmth in her posture as she relaxed into the chair. “We’re going to do all that we can for Miss Vasquez and her family,” she added, confidently with a nod of her head. “We’ll dig deeper into those drugs and their source, the information on the cartel will be of great importance - and those missing children’s files will help our psychologist in profiling. Thank you, Detective Dawant.”

“Oh, uh,” Dawant pulled his phone free from inside his coat, smiling at the three of them, “We could exchange contact information. I’d probably have a better chance at getting things to you more timely if it didn’t have to come down from Forrest or Davidson.”

“Plus,” The older man winked at Pari, giving her a grin, “Us Seattleites gotta stick together out here, huh?”

"Of course, I have your details on your card," Pari said with a smile, tapping the front of her purse, "but here - take one of mine too," she added - reaching in to take one of her own from inside. A plain white cardstock with fine font, standard for FBI agents - generic in detail. Pari took a breath in through her nose as she held it out, currently unsure on Dawant, but a contact was a contact. She made a mental note to tell Foster about the encounter, that the Detective seemed friendly, and they'd found a commonality. Something as simple as being from the same place was enough to make a useful bond in someone. It might yield more information for the investigation, she shook his hand.

The woman turned back to Roy, offering a polite nod and her hand. "We look forward to hearing from you soon," she finished, glancing to Ava and Dave, they might have had their own parting words.

Dave stood and adjusted his jacket. Pari’s willingness not only to use her real name but to hand over her contact information had surprised him, but he figured it wasn’t his business. She knew what she was doing. 

“‘Preciate the help,” he said. “We’ll keep y’all in the loop.” 

Ava nodded as she shut her notebook and tucked it back into her purse. “Yes, thank you.” She said with a smile as she stood. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you both.” Hopefully they would get those drug dealer’s names soon and then they could really get to work tracking this mad man down. 

[hr]

The ride back was waves of asphalt and blurred trees. Ava volunteered to drive again, it was her vehicle, and Dave was sat in the back as he had been earlier too - which left Pari in the passenger seat. After a moment, the woman broke from her silence, turning in the seat so that she could see them both; “you both did well in there.” Pari’s tone was, as usual, somewhat clipped but there was a warmth to it now. The pressure of the task was off, and she even found herself slouching slightly in the chair.

“I understand this was thrust on you both, it’s not something in the parameters of your regular roles. That said,” her head tilted, eyes catching the scene beyond the windows, a soft focus through movement of green, grey, and what little blue peeped from between heavy clouds. “You both did well, we got what we needed and more than that too. Thank you both,” Pari added sincerely, placing a closed fist on her chest.

Dave grinned at the description. [i]Not in the parameters…[/i] That was a hell of an understatement. 

“Hey, thanks,” he said, straightening in his chair with just a hint of pride. “But you did most of the work. You kinda carried the team on this one. I think you deserve the thanks.” He thumped the back of Ava’s chair. “You too. You did good in there, I’m sure you were even more nervous than me.” 

“Oh,” Ava jumped at the thump on her chair, her mind snapping out of the train of thought she had been locked in. She looked into the rearview mirror back at Dave with a small smile. “Thank you, I hope my notes will be useful for the others. And thank you for bringing up the drugs, they almost slipped my mind because of, well...” She trailed off and looked back to the road, thinking back to the little girl in the picture they saw and then the skinned corpse that was left of her.

Ava looked over at Pari, trying to push the thoughts from her mind as she gave her a grateful expression with a ghost of a smile. “Thank you for taking the lead, I learned a lot just listening to you talk with the Detectives.” 

“Thank you, but, no carrying by anyone - we’re a team. But thank you,” Pari smiled, chuckling softly too before turning back to face the front again. She found that she couldn’t sit still, however. There was something still clawing at her - and while it was most likely the elephant in the car, it still had to be addressed. “I know that it can be quite difficult to deal with some of the subject matter - if either of you wish to talk about it, then please…” she said, as tactfully as she could without directly having to say it all again. Maria Vasquez’s life. “It’s good to talk about these things, so please don’t feel like you can’t, and that you need to keep it all inside.”

Dave’s mind was cast back to the photographs; the young girl, then the skinned, abused corpse she’d become. He felt the rage return and he clenched a fist, taking a breath to master himself. 

“I just think...That we need to find these guys,” he said finally. His voice was calm, collected. Dangerously so. “We need to find ‘em, and then...We can make sure they stop doin’ this. We’ll take care of ‘em.” 

Ava nodded in agreement. “If we can get those names of the drug dealers and even just get their electronics, I’ll be able to find whoever they sold those drugs too. I’ll work on the hospital list too, just to cover our bases.” Ava said with a frown, trying not to dwell on the five year gap between when Maria disappeared and when she was found again. 

And yet… “Why wait five years?” She found herself asking out loud with a furrow to her freckle speckled brow. “Is there some kind of...occult significance to the number 17?” She asked, looking over to Pari curiously.

“I mean there are many if you turn over enough stones,” Pari began curiously, her eyes narrowing as her mind got to work in formulating words and theories. “I’m less concerned about the age and more about her background…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes closed. “Women have been used in occult rituals since they began - we all know the cliches - throw a virgin into a volcano, right? Witch hunting and burning,” She sighed, bringing her forefinger to her lips. “Her manner of death is curious, she was flayed. There are so many threads to this that we could clutch at. Ava, there is an occult significance to just about everything that has happened to her.”

Pari sighed again, gnawing over a particular thread that she’d pressed already with Laine. “Have you heard the story of Andromeda?” she asked them both.

“Oh! I love that story!” Ava said, her eyes suddenly brightening. “With the Greek Hero Perseus right?” Her mother had read her many classical myths and stories for bedtime, it was one of her favorite childhood memories. Her mind drifted back to that time, vividly recalling being bundled up in bed in her Batman pajamas, watching in wrapt awe as her mother excitedly told her stories of ancient heroes and demigods. Looking back on it, her mother really cleaned up a lot of the more...mature themes, but the heroics and excitement still got across. 

The excited light in her eyes quickly dimmed and grew wide as she realized where Agent Bhaat was going with this. “Oh.” She said, her voice dropping down to a quieter note.

Dave looked from one woman to the other, his confusion plain. Greek mythology had never factored heavily into his childhood, and his “schooling” hadn’t instilled much of a love of the written word. He read slowly, when he read at all, and that usually wasn’t unless it was directly related to something he was working on. 

“So uh...Let’s say, for a minute, that somebody didn’t know who Andromeda was,” he said. “You know, hypothetically. What would y’all tell him?” 

“Well,” Pari began, turning in her chair to face Dave. She paused again before speaking, thinking of how best to explain it, as simply as she could; “The King and Queen of… Ancient Greece, and they had a beautiful daughter, Andromeda.” She explained, her eyes were bright as she both thought and told of the myth, and a smile played at the corners of her mouth. “The Queen bragged so heavily of the beauty of Andromeda, claiming that she was more beautiful than the… Sea Nymphs! This of course angered Poseidon, and so he took Andromeda and chained her to a rock, so that a sea monster, could ravage her and satisfy his hunger.” 

Pari paused and glanced at Ava, she had watched the girl shrink following the realisation of the comparison. “Of course, in this tale Andromeda is saved by the great hero Perseus - there are several iterations and ways to tell the muth, but it is simply one of many stories of sacrifice, punishment, and ritual.”

“So...These guys are, what...Givin’ the girls to the monster, you think?” Dave’s frown deepened as tried to wrap his head around the parallels between the myth and their case. “Is that what you’re sayin’?” 

Pari shrugged in response, pursing her lips slightly. She wasn’t sure how much to say, how many theories to pull from her mind and make real by vocalising them. “I’m saying that I don’t believe it was simply cartel violence.”

“The Program wouldn’t be involved if it was just the Cartels anyway.” Ava voiced, as she spotted the familiar bright orange and white signage of a Home Depot approaching them. She thought it over as she tried to make her way over to the home improvement store. Her mind flashed back to the pictures of the crime scene, her photographic memory unfortunately recalling every vivid detail from the quick glimpse of the body. 

She sniffed and blinked her eyes, her chest feeling tighter as she steered the car over in the direction of the large box store.

“If it was just a Cartel thing I wouldn’t have spent two days in the mountains tryin’ not to get eaten by a giant-ass monster,” Dave added. He fought a shudder of his own, remembering the heavy footsteps, the unearthly roars, and Bear being ripped through a window like he was a rag doll. “Whatever the hell that thing was, it’s connected to all of this shit. Gotta be.” 

That gave Pari pause for thought, she’d been avoiding the other elephant in the room. As the car pulled towards the store, she glanced down, bringing a finger to her lips again. “Dave, if it’s not too strange a request - I’d like to speak to you privately about that… About what happened. If you’d like to, if you’re comfortable with that.” She blinked, suddenly hoping that Ava would not find offense in the request. She recalled Donnelley’s comment about sharing everything. It was not that she wanted to leave anyone out, more that - she wanted to make something of the conversation that travelled outside of words. “Could we do that later? I would of course find it beneficial to my research to speak to the others too,” she added as a formality, sweeping her bangs back again. 

“Yeah, we can talk,” he said. “Might be good to talk about it a little. I’m gonna need a beer or two, though. That was some…” He shook his head, trying to find the words. “It was some messed up shit.” 

Ava grimaced and looked back at Dave in the rearview mirror with sympathetic eyes. She didn’t fully understand what had happened to him in those mountains, but she wished she had some way to help him. It sounded like Agent Bhaat did though, that was good. 

“Hey, found a Home Depot.” She spoke up quietly with a slightly unsure smile, hoping that might pick his spirits back up as she pulled the car into the parking lot. 

“I’ll give you a knock later then,” Pari said in his direction, before looking forward again to the building, she could sense that Ava felt a little off - but that she was trying. Quickly, a smirk grew on Pari’s lips, turning her mouth up at the corners, almost deviously. “We should hurry Dave,” she looked back over her shoulder again, her countenance inviting, tone not serious in the least, “we don’t want to keep young Ava here out too late now, do we?”

Dave’s own grin was back in a moment, his blue eyes sparkling. “Yeah, she won’t be allowed to come play with us anymore,” he drawled. He drummed on the back of Ava’s seat, then opened his door. “C’mon, I got a list of stuff I need. I figure we get inside, split up, get the different stuff on the list. Makes it a little less suspicious than us all wearin’ suits, walkin’ out of a hardware store with fertilizer, metal pipes, and electrical kits.” He paused. “You think Foster’s got any of them pre-paid phones layin’ around? Cuz I can use those too. Ah well, we’ll figure that out.” 

He heaved himself up out of the car, taking a moment to adjust his gun. “C’mon, Cinderella, daylight’s burnin’.” 

Ava sighed, but smiled, happy with the lightening of the mood; especially for Dave. She grabbed her purse and opened her door to step out. “I hope my car doesn’t turn into a pumpkin. I don’t remember reading that in the rental agreement.” She said with a small grin as she shut the door.

A slight crawling sensation tickled the back of her neck and up to her hairline, making her reach up and rub it. She looked around the parking lot with a curious if slightly nervous frown. Nothing stood out to her as being out of the ordinary. 

It must have just been residual nerves and anxiety brought on by the meeting. She tried to push it to the back of her mind as she wait for Agent Bhaat to join them and she could lock the car.

If Ava had felt something, then Pari did too. A lingering sensation that something wasn’t quite right. A disturbing energy that washed in on the breeze and threatened her leveled confidence as she pushed the door closed, feeling it click. Her hand did not move from the handle, and she looked over her shoulder at her two colleagues. Eyes narrowed, and she gripped her purse tighter.

“Well… between the three of us, my list is all candles, bowls, trinkets of sorts. I think we’ll get away with it,” her words were spoken with a tapering cadence, and her smile was an uncomfortable one. “Just home improvements...”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Dave looked at the women with a frown, then played his eyes over the parking lot. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood briefly on end, but he shrugged it off, gave his Sig a comforting pat, and then jerked his head towards the Home Depot. “C’mon. Let’s buy some terrorist shit.”