Chapter Text
Prologue
Evangeline Peterson was a woman of some means and more than a little power. Her family had been located in New England since shortly after the Revolution and had been wealthy for most of that time. Even the Depression hadn't really dimmed their status. Although not as wealthy as the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, they ran in the same circles. She had her clubs and charities as well as her friends to keep her busy.
She was currently waiting on her monthly call from her daughter Elizabeth who lived in Europe with her boyfriend. She called on the third Sunday of every month like clockwork. She had just received pictures of her granddaughter Skylar who was attending a boarding school the previous day.
She was sitting at the desk in the study when the phone rang. Picking it up, she answered, "Hello."
"May I speak with Evangeline Peterson, please?" a voice asked.
"This is Mrs. Peterson," she said.
"Mrs. Peterson, this is Dr. Daniel Holden of the Bancroft Institute," he said.
Bancroft Institute? Of course! That was her granddaughter's school. "How can I help you, Dr. Holden?" she asked.
"It's about your granddaughter Skylar," he said. "There was an accident here two days ago and she was slightly injured."
"Why didn't you call her mother?" Evangeline asked.
"I've been calling and leaving messages but she hasn't returned my calls," he said. "I needed to notify her about Skylar."
"I'll let her know," she said. She leaned back in her chair. "How is my granddaughter doing?"
"As well as can be expected," he said.
"How are her grades?" she asked.
"Her grades?" he asked, puzzled.
"Is she a good student?" she asked. "Has she made many friends at your school?"
"School?" he asked. "Mrs. Peterson, the Bancroft Institute is not a school."
"Then what is it?"
There was a pause. "Mrs. Peterson, we are an in-patient psychiatric care facility for minors."
Evangeline hung her head. Elizabeth, what have you done? she asked silently.
Chapter 1
Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi was tired. The BAU had had back to back cases for the past six weeks and they had taken their toll. The entire team was exhausted and on their last nerves. He sincerely hoped they didn't have another case for a few days at least.
He looked down at his desk and sighed. Paperwork. He liked his job but he hated dealing with the paperwork... he always had. They had been so busy that it had piled up and he was stuck at his desk, as were the others, until he finished it. He sighed again and continued working.
He didn't look up when there was a knock at his door. "Come," he barked.
The door opened and Agent Anderson stuck his head in. "Excuse me, Agent Rossi," he said, "but you have a visitor."
"Alright," he said. He would take any break in his paperwork. "Show 'em in."
Anderson opened the door and the last person Rossi ever expected to see walked into his office. Oh, this is not good, he said to himself. He nodded to Anderson and the man left, closing the door behind him.
"Evangeline," he said, leaning back in his chair. "What brings you here?"
"David, I'm sure you don't want to see me any more than I want to see you," she said. The immaculate looking woman crossed the room and stood in front of his desk. "Unfortunately, circumstances dictate my actions."
"And what circumstances are those?" he asked.
"May I sit down?" she asked. He motioned to the chair behind her and she sat.
"How's Elizabeth?" he asked.
"Living in Europe," she said. "I haven't seen in her in three years."
"Why are you here?"
"David, your little... tryst with my daughter had an unforeseen complication," she said.
"It wasn't a tryst, it was a relationship, albeit a bad one, that lasted almost six months," he corrected her. "That still doesn't answer my question."
"Whatever it was called, when it ended, Elizabeth was pregnant," she said. She saw no need for sparing his feelings.
Rossi sat up suddenly. "Pregnant?" he asked, stunned. He turned skeptical. "And you think the baby was mine."
"I know so," she said. "Elizabeth gloated about it. She thought it was humorous."
"Why didn't she tell me?" he asked.
"She hated you, still does," she said. "She thought it was wonderful that you would never know about your own child."
Flashback
"Elizabeth, why are you doing this?" Evangeline asked.
"It's the ultimate payback," the younger woman smiled maliciously. "A child he'll never know about."
"Are you going to have an abortion?" her mother asked.
"No."
"Then you're giving it up for adoption."
"No."
"You're going to raise the child yourself?" Evangeline asked.
"Good lord, no," Elizabeth said, horrified. "That's what nannies are for."
"Elizabeth, it can hardly be revenge if he doesn't know about it," the older woman pointed out.
"He'll learn about it one day," she said. "I can be very patient if I have to be."
End Flashback
"What was it?" he asked, quietly.
"Pardon?"
"Did she have a boy or a girl?" he asked.
"A girl," she said. "Her name is Skylar and she just turned eight."
There was silence for several seconds. "She doesn't know you're here, does she?" he asked, looking at her.
"No, she doesn't," she said. "I never liked you, that was never a secret, and would let her have her revenge but after what I found out several days ago, I cannot in good conscience let her continue with this. Not to my granddaughter."
"What did you find out?" he asked.
"When Elizabeth moved to Europe, she placed Skylar in a boarding school," she said. "Or so I thought."
"What do you mean"
"I received a phone call a few days ago from a Dr. Daniel Holden from the Bancroft Institute," she said. "That's where Elizabeth had told me she had placed Skylar. When I inquired about her schooling and such, I was informed Bancroft was not a boarding school."
"What is it?"
"A psychiatric facility," she told him, her gaze never wavering. "She placed your daughter in an asylum."
TBC