Case File

Back at Aunt Melanie's desk, I listen to the conversation flying around me. All four victims' pictures are lit up on a big flatscreen.

"Carter is in critical condition," Rachel says,"and Amelia hasn't spoken in days,"

"She talked to me!" I say. No one hears me.

"Do we think depression or PTSD?" Max asks.

"I'm not sure, maybe a bit of both," Rachel replies.

"She talked to me!" I say, a bit louder.

"Luna!" Aunt Melanie scolds, she is the only one who doesn't want my help, like ever. I sink back in my chair.

"The victims that are still alive aren't our main concern. It is the suspect," Daniel says crossing his arms over his chest.

"Statistically, we should find the next victim alive. If this guy is following a pattern," Max explains, "However, girl or boy victim we can't be sure."

"What if he's attacking girl girl boy order?" This time they hear me before Aunt Melanie shushes me.

"Then a girl would be next," Daniel muses. Max shoots me a grin.

"So a girl with a double E name?" Aunt Melanie thinks for a moment.

"We could send a plant into the kill zone," Max muses, "They were all killed within the same school district."

"So we send an innocent girl into the hands of a murderer? Hoping we can get there in time? I don't like the sound of that, it's too risky," Rachel says nervously.

Daniel goes to his computer and starts typing furiously after exchanging looks with Max. For a few minutes, all that can be heard in the office is the clickity-clack of his keyboard.

"We would need someone who could go deep undercover. And who has the knowledge of how to stay alive," Aunt Melanie says. "We don't have anyone like that,"

The typing stops and Daniel runs into the copy room, probably to get whatever he just printed. Rachel picks up a file from Max's desk. She opens and starts to read.

Daniel comes back into view, now holding a plastic card. "There's a school just down the road. Our two living victims went there, the dead ones went to the one across town." He tells us.

"That's great, but we still don't have anyone to go undercover into the school." Aunt Melanie says.

"Yes we do," Max says grinning.

Daniel passes me the card, it's a school I.D. for the school the living victims went to. "Meet Elle Evergreen," he says proudly.

At first, all it is a fake I.D. The FBI has plenty of those, constantly making them too. And the name, Elle Evergreen, is clearly what the killer is looking for. Then I see the picture. It's my picture. The very same picture on my FBI admittance card.

Aunt Melanie looks at me, then Daniel and Max, then me again. She takes the card from my hands. She looks at it closely, "Oh hell no," she tells them.

"Mel, it could work," Rachel says, not looking up from her file.

"Hell. No. I'm not sending my only niece into the hands of a killer!"

"Melanie, she's trained." Max tries to reason.

"She doesn't work here. She's not trained."

Max thinks for a moment, before saying to me, "What would you do if your hands were bound together and you were thrown into a car trunk?"

"Kick out the tail light. When the police pull the driver over, make as much noise as possible," I say without even pausing to think.

Daniel takes this as his cue to ask me a similar question. "What is the first thing you should do if you are drugged and wake up in an abandoned wear house with no guards?"

I blink, "Take off all bindings and gags and ropes. But, leave them in good enough condition to slip back on if need be,"

Rachel closes her file and sets it down. She quickly crosses the short distance to me and swings a punch at my head. I grab her arm and duck underneath it. Then swing her around until I have control of both her arms.

Then, I let go of her. Rachel brushes off her hands. "She could put up a good fight if she needed to,"

I sit back down in my chair and hug my knees to my chest. The adults continue to push Aunt Melanie to let me go undercover.

"Okay I guess," she finally caves, "But she's having a body camera and mike on her at all times,"

The rest of the team nod their agreement.

"Hey, kid," Max tugs playfully on my hair. "You okay?" He asks noticing how quiet I've been. When I don't say anything he asks, "Aren't you excited to help out?"

"I'm not sure actually. Amelia and Carter got so sick and Bethany and Delanie died. That's a little nerve wracking," I admit.

"You'll do fine," Daniels says, giving my shoulder a squeeze.

"As much as I hate to say it, we really do need you to do this Luna." Aunt Melanie says. "You fit the type of girl our killer is looking for. But, if you really don't want to, you can say no. We can't force you."

I take a deep breath that comes out shakier than I would have liked. "Okay,"

"Okay what? Yes or no?" Max asks.

"Yes, I'll do it,"

He smiles and so does Daniel. Aunt Melanie too, but hers is pained. And I get why. She never married, and can't have kids. She raised me. We're all each other's got.

Rachel pulls something out of the file and folds it to put in her pocket. She leaves the rest on the desk. She smiles up at me, but with concern clouding her eyes.

"I wanna talk to Amelia again, before I go completely undercover. She can give me some actual insight to this guy,"

Nobody rejects my idea, but Daniel says, "Chief'll wanna debrief you in thirty,"

I nod and quickly race to Amelia's room.