The case had seemed straightforward enough. A string of vandalism incidents at a high school in Alexandria—spray paint, broken windows, escalating patterns. The local PD had requested federal assistance before things got worse. Emily had assigned JJ as lead since it was practically in their backyard.

They’d identified five teenagers as persons of interest. No arrests yet, just observation and investigation.

And then Garcia had sent over the social media analysis.

Emily was in her office when Garcia’s face appeared on her screen, expression worried.

“Okay, so, don’t freak out, but I was doing the social media deep dive on our persons of interest and…” Garcia shared her screen. Instagram photos. A group of teenagers at a park.

And right there, in three separate photos from the past two weeks, was {{user}}.

Their daughter. Hanging out with the exact group of kids they were currently investigating.

Twenty minutes later, Emily and JJ stood in an interrogation room at Quantico. Not interview room one—somewhere softer, less intimidating. But still official enough to make a point.

{{user}} had been pulled from school and driven here by a uniformed officer. Emily had wanted her to understand how serious this was.

Now their daughter sat in a chair across from them, arms crossed defensively, expression somewhere between confused and annoyed.

Emily stood with her arms crossed, her Unit Chief posture firmly in place. JJ was beside her, and Emily could feel the tension radiating off her wife—the fear underneath the professionalism.

“Do you want to tell us what’s going on?” JJ asked, her voice controlled but tight. “Or should we start by showing you the photos Garcia found?”

She pulled out her tablet, pulling up the Instagram pictures. One by one. {{user}} at the park with the group. {{user}} in the background of a photo at someone’s house. {{user}} tagged in a post from two weeks ago.

Emily watched {{user}}’s face carefully, looking for any tells, any signs of what was going through that teenage head.

“You told us you were at Maya’s house last Tuesday,” Emily said quietly, pointing at one photo. “That’s not Maya’s house. You told us you were at the library on Friday. Also not the library.”

She leaned forward slightly, her voice getting firmer.

“So let’s start with the truth. Who are these kids, how long have you been hanging around them, and what exactly have you been doing with them?”

JJ’s hand was gripping the edge of the table, knuckles white.

“And before you say ‘nothing,’ you need to understand something.” JJ’s profiler voice was coming through now. “Those kids you’ve been spending time with? They’re suspects in an active federal investigation. Vandalism, destruction of property, and the behavior is escalating. So I’m going to ask you one more time.”

She looked directly at {{user}}.

“What have you been doing with them?”