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The senator whose daughter Nicky hadn't been able to save.
Nicky's stomach bottomed out. What was she doing here? She could see the resemblance between Amara and Masie, and it made her insides twist.
"I'm glad you could join us, Agent Lyons," the chief said.
Amara didn’t meet Nicky's eyes.
"I'm glad to be here," Nicky said, although she felt uneasy. "What's going on?"
Chief Franco glanced around the room. "First, I want to say that I appreciate each of your being here on such short notice. I know you're all busy, and this is an unusual move to call all of you in at once."
He sounded nervous, which wasn't like Franco at all. Nicky had no idea what was going on here--but she had a bad feeling about it. It was very rare that they'd call their two top profilers into their office, and seeing Kate, the prosecutor, was like seeing some sort of rare species. She was exceptionally busy most of the time but had slotted away time for this meeting. That must mean it was important.
"You're all aware of what happened to Senator Gregory's daughter, Masie," Chief Franco said.
He glanced at Amara, who was sitting at the table with a grim, but stoic expression.
"Agent Lyons here was able to apprehend the killer, but unfortunately, Masie was already lost." A pause. Nicky looked down at the table, clenching her fists, trying to keep it together. "But she's not the only victim."
Nicky's stomach plummeted. She had to say something to Amara--she had to tell her how sorry she was, but Nicky couldn't find her voice.
Chief Franco said, "Officially, Masie Gregory’s case had been labeled as cold, but we didn’t give up, and we found the truth. That’s all thanks to you, Agent Lyons.”
Nicky didn’t reply. She knew she didn’t deserve any sort of praise. She’d solved the case, sure, but she hadn’t been able to save the victim, so none of it truly mattered.
Chief Franco looked at Amara. "Senator Gregory, perhaps you'd like to take it from here."
Nicky forced herself to glance at the senator. Amara's dark eyes were like a laser, focused on Nicky. But then she paced across the room, keeping herself elegant and poised.
“My daughter is not the only girl to have gone missing in this county, and for her case to be labeled cold,” Amara said. “We’ve conjured up a list of ten missing women who have either been declared cold cases or are on their way to becoming declared cold. The women who have gone missing are Meghan Salinger, Amanda Smith, Megan Osterlin, Clara Jones, Paris Connor, Linda Phillips, Delilah Roberts, Brianna Wilcox, and the last two are sisters: London and Paris Knight.”
There was a short silence in the room as the team took this in. Nicky didn’t know what to make of this—but she had a feeling where it was going.
"That's... a long list," Ken said.
"They all went missing within the last three years," Amara said. “Like my daughter was missing."
The senator walked over to the whiteboard at the front of the room. She picked up a marker and started writing.
She faced the room. "The work isn't over. There are still so many missing girls," Amara said, her voice grave and sad. “Based on recent intelligence we’ve gathered, we think there could be hope that some of these women are alive.”
Nicky's mouth went dry.We're back on this.
"I’ll keep this simple and get to the point. I want you to form a new task force," Amara said, her voice low and serious. "I want you to go over these cases and try to find clues. Anything that will help us find out what happened to these women."
Nicky's heart hammered in her chest. After all her doubts yesterday—the doubts that still lingered in her mind—she was being given a task far greater than even the Masie Gregory case.
"This is a special mission that I'm organizing with Mr. Franco here," Amara said. "The first woman we are looking into is Meghan Salinger, as we think she's the most likely to be alive--although if our intelligence is correct, she may not have much time left." Amara's eyes hardened on Nicky. "And Agent Lyons, I want you to lead it. I read about your past... and I think you're the perfect person for this job."
Nicky couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd never been put in charge of an entire mission like this before. And it was so close. So personal.
She thought of Masie's dead body in her arms. She thought of Rosie, still lost out there after all these years.
Nicky's job at the BAU made her a specialist in understanding the motivations and patterns of killers, kidnappers, and other violent criminals, and her speciality was a focus on missing girls. But she typically tackled one girl at a time. Sometimes she could save them. Sometimes she couldn't. It came with the territory.
But to be in charge of ten, high-profile missing women? That was a lot of responsibility. She was already feeling so many doubts about her abilities as an agent. What if she failed them like she’d failed Masie? What if another agent was better suited for the job?
Nicky's stomach twisted. Her hands and face flushed hot.
