Jonah Knox

 Trevor nodded his head at him, “Yeah, it is a fun age that is for sure.” He smiled, “I just hope things will be solved by the time she starts picking up on stuff more.” He told him truthfully. Trevor looked at him, “I guess it helps that we already kind of live together and that she is busy as well.” He told him, “But for sure. It does require extra work and commitment, but I am happy right now and I think she is too.” He said, willing to put in the extra effort to make things work. Trevor walked over to order himself a beer before he let his eyes wander over the crowd. “I guess whoever is alone is a good place to start?” He suggested.

“Enjoy it while it lasts. They grow up so fast.” Jonah chuckled. “Makes you realize how old you get even more.” He added, shaking his head. “Hopefully, let’s work on that. I’m sure we can catch them. We just need to dig deeper and find those missing puzzle pieces they have missed so far.” Jonah sighed. “At least she knows what she’s getting herself into, that’s good.” He reassured the other man. “That’s the most important.” Jonah agreed, nodding his head, before he took a sip of his beer, glancing over at the other figures around them. “Sounds like a good plan. See that guy to your right? He seems like he already had quite a couple of drinks.” 

jonah-knox​:

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“I tend not to stick around for things that don’t interest me in general” which was just her way of life, because why wait around for things that you really didn’t want to? She had way too much going on her life to be around for shit she didn’t need to be; “What if I didn’t know who it was though? Like say if I just saw a stranger - that I didn’t know of - talking to one of the missing kids just before he disappeared like-… does that mean I become a suspect or like what happens?” Chanel wanted to know everything before going through it because with what she is going through at the moment she couldn’t afford to be involved in any kind of extra investigation other than what she had at the moment.

Jonah chuckled at her words. “That sounds smart. “ He agreed with the young woman. “No, it doesn’t. It just means you may have given us a clue and we’d investigate. “ Jonah explained, carefully choosing his words to not scare her off. “Have you seen a stranger talking to one of the missing kids? Which one of them?” He tried to gather more information as it could indeed be a clue. “I’d appreciate any kind of information you’ve got. We need to figure this out as soon as possible before anymore kids go missing. “ 

Jamie nodded, “I know, that’s what I keep trying to remind myself. I guess, I just … I feel like if we could find out that they were hiding something, maybe that’s a connection?” he said carefully. “I mean, if they were all acting out, or causing some kind of trouble … maybe that’s why they were taken.” he added. He had tossed the idea around in his head a million times. There were certainly plenty of people who didn’t approve of the ‘trouble’ that had apparently started - or at least gotten worse - when both schools began taking in so many more students. He didn’t know if that would really narrow down all that much at all even if it was the motive.

“Honestly, knowing Emmanuel, it might not have been limited to just Ashton. He could have gotten word out to a few surrounding cities and just like … been doing fake ids for every underage kid in this part of Tennessee.” he said with a small shrug. He liked to think his friend was smart enough to have avoided getting himself involved in anything really crazy. “Ethan? Yeah, he was. That’s what I mean … another one of the perfect ones. Which is why it was weird that he was fighting with Shawn.” he said before nodding, “I think Sam might. We don’t always get along the best, so he might tell someone else more then me. I don’t actually think Shawn did anything even though he fought with Ellery and Ethan though, I think he and Esme just have awful luck. I know people that saw both of them around  until after people realized Ellery and Ethan were gone.” he added, shrugging as he spoke. It was all so hard to try to figure out. “Ellery was just really, really difficult. Mean, honestly. She treated her family really badly too, not even they got a break with her.” 

“That’s what we are trying to find out now. It could be something they were hiding, someone they met, or just something they had in common despite their age range.” Jonah agreed, nodding his head as he looked over the pictures. “It’s not the appearance or gender related, we can rule that out.” He added with a shrug. “Someone trying to clean the town by getting rid of the trouble makers? Possible.” Jonah nodded. “We’ll keep that in mind.” 

Jonah sighed at his next words. “That would certainly not make it any easier. If those IDs are related to the case, it might be someone outside of town. Which would make it even harder to find them.” He admitted. “It’s very well organized and planned out, I’m not sure someone underage would be capable of it to be honest.” Sure, there were exceptions, especially if they were highly intelligent but still, it seemed a little far fetched. “ Did all of them have a special talent? Like the two football stars, some of them were exceptionally smart, maybe they’re looking for gifted kids.” He thought our aloud, pondering if that might be the connection. “You think Esme or Sam had anything to do with it or maybe someone they’re close to?” More times than not someone close to the victims actually was responsible so he couldn’t dismiss that option either. “That would be enough of a motive but it doesn’t explain why the other kids went missing too.” 

(Text) Okay?

(Text) Should I be worried?

(Text) Hey! It’s nice of you to ask.

(Text) I’ve been alright, trying to find out what’s going on.

 “Special agent? Wow, what are an important guy like you hanging around a place like Ashton for? Especially if you are not even assigned on the case?” She asked him out of curiosity, although to her he seemed like a rather serious man, at least that was her first impression. “Oh, I am a writer. The book kind, not the journalist one.” She responded. “Okay, well I am glad.” She smiled back when he confirmed he had not felt like he had to, which to her was sounding rather promising. “No, no favorites. Surprise me.” She winked at him a bit teasingly. 

Jonah chuckled at her words. He never saw himself as an important person. He was just doing his job and tried to help as many people as he could. “I wouldn’t exactly call myself that. I’m doing what I can but I doubt that makes me anymore important than anyone else.” He shrugged, offering her another small smile. “I was going to say, those are usually a pain for us. Always first at the crime scenes and out for the next stories. What kind of books do you write?” He asked curiously. “I’m not much of a wine person, I’m afraid but I’m sure the bartender could recommend something, he’s supposed to know this stuff, right?”

 “She is three years old now.” He told him, not being too worried about her as she seemed to be very out of the age range of the kids that had gone missing over the past year and so. “Yes, well.. We have a long and complicated history to say the least, but things just seemed to be a bit different this time, so things just kind of fell into place naturally.” He shrugged. “A beer sounds good! I can do with a beer.”

Jonah gave him a small smile. “That’s a great age! They’re already very smart at that age.” He stated with a slight shrug of his shoulder. “I get that. It’s not easy to maintain a relationship with our kind of job. I’m not even sure if it’d be possible at all at least for me. “ Jonah admitted, before he nodded his head. “That’s good. I wish you the best of luck!” He told him honestly. “Beer it is! Let’s see who we can interrogate.” 

jonah-knox​:

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Chanel nodded agreeing; “I have heard something like that before but I didn’t know it was a famous saying though to be honest with you-…” taking a natural pause; “…-I don’t have time for arguments, like that shit is mentally and emotionally exhausting like-…” using a hand gesture to signify she’d be ‘done’ in that situation; “I rather just leave with my dignity and that’s it” because she wasn’t in for any drama or nothing.

“Exactly!” agreeing with his statement and positive mindset; “some people don’t have talents period so I should be grateful huh?” smiling in a cheeky manner in front of the other; “Sure thing” receiving his card though she did have to ask; “Hypothetically speaking here though-…” knowing internally she meant it on a more serious topic then she was leading on; “Say I do have something on this whole-… fiasco right?” circulating her hands so that she could reinforce the word ‘fiasco’ relating to the missing people; “what would happen? Would I become a suspect?”

“I don’t know how famous it is but I definitely read it a couple of times by now.” He told her, shrugging his shoulders. “That’s a fair point. Most arguments don’t lead to anything anyway.” He agreed with her. “Walk away from what no longer serves you. The best way to go.” 

Jonah chuckled at her words. “You should be, yeah.” He nodded at her once she took his card and raising one of his brows at the young girl once she started to speak again, he listened carefully since she made it sound like she actually did know something. “What would happen is we would follow up on the potential lead and it might save some lives or at least help us catch whoever did this. “ 

jonah-knox​:

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“I understand that” and she really did but on the other hand; “I think they need to understand that if they are going to do that, and I come barking back at them, they can’t get offended - which almost always happens - because they started it first” and lord did Chanel have bite to her, or at least she thought she did; the femme did not take any bullshit from no one; “Hey, no putting yourself down-.. your costume is great” complimenting the other;

“But don’t worry not everyone can get and be into everything you know?” like how Chanel probably didn’t know anything about Jonah’s line of occupation; “Exactly like I am really good at detecting toxic and manipulating behavior especially in my own life, and soon as I pick up on that shit I am out of there” just like she did with her parents, she was not going to hang around for that; “No people are definitely talking-… there are police here and everything but I don’t know if it’s a prank-…”

Jonah nodded at her slightly. “Sometimes it’s best to just walk away and be the smarter one of the two parties. Like the saying goes, never argue with idiots. People who are listening won’t be able to tell the difference.” He laughed, shrugging his shoulders gently. “Thank you, my sisters sent it to me.” Jonah admitted with a grin upon his face,

“It would be boring if everyone would be the same.” He agreed with her. “That’s great and the best way to go about it but sadly not many people have that talent.” Jonah commented with a sigh following his words. “Just take care of yourself! And if you hear or see anything suspicious that could be related to what’s going on, please contact me.” He told her, handing her his card to make sure she had his information. “I’ll check it out.” 

“Is that why you’re here, then? To be the best guy to catch whoever is doing the fucked up stuff? Because not to be mean, but you’re taking your time,” Sarah said. She would be lying if the kidnappings didn’t freak her out, because they did. As a woman she was already afraid to walk home alone, so she didn’t want some psycho killer to make her even more afraid. “What’s the weirdest and grossest thing you’ve ever seen? Don’t leave out any details, I love stuff like this,” Sarah said, apparently ignoring everything else he said. “You can like replace the names or something for confidentiality.” 

“Unfortunately not. We can’t officially work a case unless we are invited by the local authorities, which didn’t happen yet. “ He shrugged, trying to explain the situation. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t look into it during my spare time.” Jonah chuckled. “ There are a lot weirdest and grossest things but I’d rather not talk about them now.” He told her honestly. “You wouldn’t if it was one of your beloved ones this stuff was about.” 

 “Yeah, my niece is in Ashton at the moment, and I am just glad that she doesn’t seem to know what is going on at the moment.” He agreed with him. “Thanks! It took e a few years to realize that I wanted to be more than just her friends, but I guess that it was mutual somehow and the timing was just right this time.” He said with a slight smile on his lips. “I think that sounds like a plan. What is your poison?” He asked him out of curiosity. 

“How old is your niece?” Jonah asked curiously, figuring she must have been little to not notice what was going on yet. “A few years? At least you know for sure now. They do say marry your best friend. So let me know when it’s time to celebrate!” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ll just have a beer. I’m not the one we need to get talking.” 

 Rhea offered him a more sincere smile this time, “I am, don’t worry.” She repeated, appreciating his concern. “Ah, I take it you are a police officer then? Or a firefighter?” She asked him, figuring it had to be one out of the two seeing he mentioned a station. “Oh no, you don’t have to do that.” She said, smiling a bit brighter now as she loved being spoiled, but never one to at least not offer to pay for her own drink. “Hm, I think I am in the mood for a glass of white wine.” She said. “Nothing too fancy.” 

Now that second smile looked a lot better than the first in the profiler’s opinion, he returned her smile and nodded. “Good. There is enough going on around this town already. Wouldn’t want to add to that list.” He chuckled. “Special Agent at the BAU. But we’re not on that specific case unfortunately.” Jonah explained before he asked her curiously. “What do you do?” He could only hope it didn’t sound like he was interrogating her. “I didn’t feel like I had to. But it’d be my pleasure.” He reassured her with another charming smile. “White wine it is. Any favorite brand?” Jonah asked, perking one of his brows. “Fancy is overrated.” He chuckled, winking at her. 

Jamie nodded, “I know, I know. Finding them is the most important. It just sucks to have to dig into their lives like they are the ones that did something wrong.” he said with a small sigh before shaking his head, “I don’t know about all of them being smarter, but Emmanuel, Robin, and Cindy were. And since Robin and Cindy were two of the ones that just … well, everyone kind of thought they were perfect. I figured it’s at least a little bit of a connection.” he said, shrugging lightly. It wasn’t much to go on, but maybe it was something. “That’s what’s so weird, cause like … half of them were up to things they probably shouldn’t be, but the others didn’t seem to be. I’ve, ah, honestly, I’ve kind of wondered if the others were just hiding it better.” 

“From what the girl I talked to said, it might have been for whoever paid for them. Emmanuel’s kind of impulsive, like he’s super smart but … I get the feeling maybe he didn’t think all that through very well.” he said, running a hand through his hair. “After Emmanuel was another of the ‘perfect’ kids, Howard Jenkins. He was the Ashton Prep football star, I didn’t know him, but a lot of the Ashton Prep kids, or the Ashton State freshman did. He was super popular. Then Robin. I wasn’t really close to her either, but I do know her best friend, Sam Reed. I, ah, I kind of got the feeling that maybe they were more then friends. He might tell you more then he’s told me. Then it was just Ellery and Ethan, and it’s the same kind of pattern. Everyone loved Ethan, but he was fighting with his best friend that night, which was weird. Ellery was … well, not a lot of people really liked Ellery.” 

“I know it’s not easy but it’s really the only way to get to the bottom of this.” Jonah tried to explain once more. It was not the prettiest part of his job and he knew how hard it was for someone to dig into the lives of people they were close to but it was an essential part to solve a case. “Keep in mind, this is not about judging them, it’s more about trying to find the connections.” He reassured once more. “It definitely is.” Jonah agreed. “I wouldn’t rule that out just yet. Especially if they had the perfect image, that usually just means they are hiding something.” 

“But Ashton is a small town. There has to be a reason for a lot of people suddenly wanting a fake ID. Something about this doesn’t add up.” He noted more to himself. “Wasn’t the last kid a football star too? “ He asked curiously, folding his hands as he tried to connect the dots. “What about this Sam kid? Do you think he could have more information?” Jonah wondered as he shrugged his shoulders. “Why weird?” He asked, trying to get some more information on it. “Why not?” 

 Rhea offered him yet another slight smile, “Oh me? I am fine.” She said, still not sounding overly convincing. “Well, how much time have you got?” She asked him out of curiosity, “And I’d prefer to rant with a drink or two in my hand, so if you are up for it I’d love to take this conversation somewhere else.” She suggested, finding that at least then it would be a lesser chance of people running into them. 

He returned her smile although he could tell by the look in her eyes, she didn’t really feel like smiling. “I certainly hope you are.” Jonah nodded, before he listened to her words. “If all goes well all night until I have to be back at the station. If a case comes up, ten seconds but let’s hope that won’t be the case today.” He chuckled, not wanting to promise anything he couldn’t keep. “Sounds great to me! The drinks are on me, of course, since I offered.” Jonah reassured her with a wink. “The bar is just over there.” He added, pointing towards the sign. “What’s your poison?”.

 Trevor nodded, “For sure. Especially for the kids. I am glad they are doing this, in some ways, seeing most of them are perhaps not able to see the seriousness of it all right now.” He said, figuring ht was a good way to keep the younger generation distracted, especially right now. “Yeah, no I want to.” He said, “Especially now that I have an American girlfriend, I figure it is easier as well seeing we are doing more and more things together.” He smiled. Trevor laughed, “Alright, sounds like a plan to me.” He said before he started to move in the direction of the area they served drinks. 

“Which is good. They deserve a childhood without worries, they’ll find out soon enough. I just love to see them happy and healthy. Not a care in the world.” Jonah agreed, nodding his head. “That makes sense! Congrats on the girlfriend though. “ Jonah chuckled, giving him a slight pat on the shoulder. “Good, let’s start right at the source and get a drink for ourselves to blend it, what do you think?” He asked curiously, before he started walking towards the bar. 

“I don’t know why they didn’t ask for help before it got this far, to be honest. But I guess I’m not the one that gets to make those choices.” Damien replied feeling like some of the cops in this town were in over their heads. The Ashton natives had probably never dealt with much seriousness before this. “I will make sure to run some theories by you if I come up with anything more than just an inkling.”

“Unfortunately they usually see us more as competitors than actually a part of the team. They want to solve it on their own, it’s partly a pride thing and on the other hand also because they think the ones at the top might think they can’t do their jobs alone if they needed help and they don’t want to risk that. It happens more often than not. Even if we are already in on the case they try to work against us or don’t include as as much as they should.” Jonah explained with a shrug. “Anytime! If I hear anything, I’ll let you know. “ 

-

“Because believe it or not, some people take offence to you not agreeing or being on the same emotional level as them” knowing very well that there quite a few people on her mind when she said that; “is it though? I mean it’s just a occupation, at least to me-.. sure I’m in love with it but I don’t think it’s as interesting as I’m making it sound” laughing casually only because she hadn’t heard or thought of someone calling it ‘interesting’ before; 

“I just think that as long as I have people around me, then the people that birthed me don’t need to have a significance or a attachment to me you know?” pausing before continuing; “In my opinion, it’s okay not to like the people that brought you into the world” especially when they put you in the position that you were in right now; “Personally? No, but at the moment I don’t know what’s real and what’s not-… I’m hearing whispers here and whispers there like-… what is going on?” 

Jonah shook his head at her words. “Some people get offended because they’re insecure. They project their own issues onto you because they don’t know how else to deal with it.” He tried to explain. “It sure is, I’m not much into fashion as you could probably tell by my costume but my sisters are very big on that and talk about nothing else. “ He chuckled also that was not entirely true but he did get the you should be more fashionable speeches more times than he could count. 

“I’ve seen a lot of scenarios before and we don’t get to choose our biological family. If they are not a good influence on you, you are better off without them.” He agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. “You are hearing voices or actual people talking?” He asked curiously just wanting to clarify before jumping to conclusions.