"Are you kidding me?" Agent Winslow Veracruz glared at the Deputy Director as she stood across from his desk.

The Deputy Director of the FBI was a tall and thin man with slightly balding hair and a very large mahogany desk. He held a file out to her, a manilla folder with the words 'River Creek PD' written on it.

"With all due respect, sir. River Creek, Massachusetts is in the middle of nowhere, you can't send me there."

Deputy Director Hagan raised an eyebrow as he stood up and placed the folder in Veracruz's hand. "I'm the Deputy Director and you're a Probationary Agent with a zero out of five track record. You go where I tell you to go and you go with who I tell you to go with and you absolutely won't complain about it."

Winslow's fingers curled around the manila folder involuntarily. Her eyes were wide. She hadn't expected Hagen to go off on her like that but he had and she had to deal with the repercussions of that.

"I'm sorry sir but–"

The Deputy stood up, his eyes stern. "Go find your Supervisory Special Agent and go over the case." She stared at him, unsure as to what he was saying. "Now, Veracruz."

She inhaled and walked out of his office and down the hall to the bullpen. Her cubicle was waiting exactly as she'd left it, her jacket draped over the seat and her FBI-branded coffee mug on the desk.

Winslow threaded her hands in her hair as she flopped down in the seat. She was so fucked. Talking back to Hagen like that? Her abysmal case rate. She hasn't solved anything since she joined the FBI three years ago. It was fucked up.

She'd been good in the Academy but the real FBI was different and Winslow wasn't as good at this part.

Sighing again and untangling her hands from her long hair, Winslow pulled open the manilla file and started to read.

~

Agent Ruby Johnson sat in the conference room across from Agent Madan, a shorter south asian woman with dark hair and warm eyes. On the third side of the circular table, Agent Veracruz sat, her long chocolate brown hair and deep eyes staring into Ruby's.

Her teeth grit as Agent Madan opens the file folder in front of her and gestures for Ruby to do the same.

"Alright guys," Agent Madan began. "We're on our way to River Creek, Massachusetts. We've got four teenagers gone missing on the same night."

"And are we sure they didn't run away?" Ruby asked, flipping the page in the file to the page on information on all four teens.

Agent Madan looked up at Ruby. "Yes, We're fairly certain. We've got a 911 call from one of the kids, James Robinson's, cellphone. We also have testimony from multiple people that say that these four are the most unlikely people to try and run away together."

"Do we have the 911 call on file?" Agent Veracruz asked, already jotting down notes in a small black notebook.

"Look, I would appreciate it if you two would allow me to present this case the way I am used to. Preferably without interruptions. I can get to the evidence we have as it pertains to the case," Madan said, her eyes still just as warm as when they walked into the room.

Ruby could tell that Madan felt like she and Veracruz were trying to undermine her. It wasn't a bad observation. Ruby wasn't exactly trying to undermine Madan but, well, she was used to getting her information in a certain way.

"Alright," Veracruz said, looking back down at her file. "Keep going, Agent Madan."

"Right. So we have a 911 call from James Robinson's cell phone. It's geotagged to River Creek High Gym. The 911 call is from 6:50 pm. The transcript is on the second page of the file."

Why the fuck did Madan make a big deal about it if she was just going to go over the call a minute later? God, she's got to be some corporate stuck-up because there was no way she was actually that anal about her case presentation?

"Is there an audio recording?" Veracruz asked, her tone questioning as she read the transcript.

Ruby flipped to the next page and read over the transcript. It was mostly silence with two words, indicated as being whispered. Please help.

Madan nodded, "The audio recording is in the online file. We'll get a better recording of it at the RCPD."

Veracruz huffed, crossing her legs and tossing her hair over her shoulder. "This is ridiculous. You know the Deputy is just punishing us by sending us off to the middle of nowhere, New England."

Ruby gritted her teeth. She hadn't done anything that needed punishment. At least not in her eyes. It was the right thing to do, even if it wasn't following procedure. And she knew, like everyone did, that Veracruz hadn't solved a single case in three years and that Madan's brother's death a year ago had clearly made her sloppy on the job.

It was punishment now that she looked at it.

"Veracruz, I am still your Superior Officer and you are still a Probationary Agent. We're heading to River Creek in four hours. Absolutely no arguing about it. These are just the facts." Madan stood up. Her eyes ran up and down Ruby and Veracruz. "Finish reading the files. Catch yourselves up on the case. We'll talk more on the train ride to Massachusetts."

~

Kayra Madan had Bodhi, her labrador, leashed up and walking diligently to her left when she arrived at the train station. She had her suitcase rolling behind her as she walked through the station, her head held high.

This job, making her move around so much, definitely had Kayra considering quitting. Bodhi sniffed the air and huffed, Kayra knew he was just as tired as she was. Every move, every out-of-state case, Bodhi was there with her. At least for the last three years.

Kayra entered the train and walked to the train car, placing her ticket inside the window, indicating she'd claimed the car. "Alright, Bodhi. Get comfy. We're gonna be here for a few hours."

She watched as Bodhi settled down, sniffing every corner of the room and then lying down under the seat.

Kayra sat down, pulling out her cell and sending her car number to the other Agents, requesting they meet her in the next ten minutes. Kayra pulled out her laptop and file from her messenger bag, setting them up on the small table in front of her.

A knock sounded on the door and Kayra saw both Veracruz and Johnson through the glass. She opened the door, gesturing for them to enter. "Come on in." She watched carefully as Bodhi got up to sniff the two Agents. "This is Bodhi."

Agent Veracruz bent down to allow Bodhi to sniff her hand, introducing herself to the dog. "Oh, I love puppies. My roommate has a golden retriever that we co-parent. Her name is Akira."

Kayra observed the way that Agent Johnson skirted Bodhi and sat down, clearly unused to dogs. "I've never had a dog." Agent Johnson pulled out her file folder and moved slightly further away from Bodhi. "My parents were both cat people."

Kayra sighed and sat down, patting the top of her thigh. Bodhi pulled away from Veracruz and curled up under Kayra's legs. "Sit down, Veracruz. Let's go over theories and evidence."

"I think we should still consider running away as a valid theory," Johnson said, writing it down in her notebook. "It's impossible to discount it."

Kayra noted it down in her notebook and watched out of the corner of her eye as Veracruz did too. "I think we should speak to the parents when we get there. The abduction sites, all being in the high school, point to a teacher or parent at the school as a suspect."

Veracruz nodded, "I think we should also start working on identifying people in the kids' lives who could have done this. Often kidnappers are someone known to the victim."

"It's also important for us to gauge why exactly the RCPD discounted the running away theory," Johnson said, noting it down in her notebook as she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. She sat in the inner corner of the train car, Veracruz, on the outside of the seat.

"True," Veracruz said, her eyes running up and down the paper in front of her. "We need to know who these kids are so we can figure out who might have a reason to take them."

"Friends and family need to go on our interview list," Kayra said. She took note of it but was more interested in the way Johnson was eyeing Bodhi and Veracruz was eyeing Johnson. "Sorry, does Bodhi being here bother you, Agent Johnson?"

Johnson shook her head. "No, sorry. Like I said, I'm just not used to dogs."

"Okay, if there's anything I can do with Bodhi to make you more comfortable, please let me know," Kayra said, sitting back in her seat. Bodhi's body was warm against her legs as she focused back on her work.