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"I have to go right now but when I get back...we'll have that lesson okay?"
The man grazed his thumb over Sloane's cheek, twisting his other four fingers in her sun-kissed curls. He stared straight at her, waiting for her reply, but all she could do was nod, with a forced smile appearing in the corner of her mouth.
He kissed her hair before rising from his knees and making his way towards the exit, Sloane's gaze following his every move, her hands gripping the arms of the rocking chair she sat in. Before he reached the door, he turned back to her, an excited glint in his eyes.
"I'm really glad that you're here, Mrs. Garner."
It took all Sloane had to play into his fantasy tonight.
Even though it would be the last time.
"Me too, Charlie." She said.
The man smiled at his name coming from her lips, opened the door, and pulled it tightly closed behind him.
Sloane craned her neck so her ear was pointing up to the ceiling, listening to his departure. She heard his steel toed boots clunking on the hardwood floors above her and the creek of the closet door opening as he got his rain coat. She closed her eyes as she imagined him slipping it over his broad shoulders, adjusting it as he looked in the mirror, and running a hand through his black hair. It wasn't long before she finally heard him walk out of the house, locking the front door behind him.
The familiar roar of his 1979 Ford truck engine vibrated throughout the house, shaking the panes of the tiny basement window. Sloane held her breath as the vibration eased until it was gone altogether as the truck rumbled down the bumpy dirt road. She let out a sigh of relief and forced herself to become focused on the task at hand.
It was time.
He thought that he had finally established complete control over her.
After almost a year, he thought that he had her.
He couldn't be farther from the truth.
Sloane stood up and crept quietly to the door, twisting the rusted handle to see if she was lucky and the lock hadn't clicked into place. Predictably, her luck was nowhere to be seen and she knew she would have to stick with her original plan.
So out the window she went.
Sloane dragged the rocking chair across the room and stood on it as she examined the window. After a couple of test knocks, she crouched down, brought up the lamp and smashed the base of it through the glass. She cleared out the shards and hoisted herself up onto the window ledge but stopped before she crawled through it, wanting to survey the room she had been held in these long months.
She had to look at it one last time.
In the middle of the room was the rainbow squared carpet where the man usually sat as she taught or read to him from her purple rocking chair, with him gazing fondly up at her. The four floor to ceiling bookshelves didn't seem as tall from her perch, the books that he rotated her through packed on the shelves.
Sloane knew that those books were the only thing that she would miss about that place.
The play table still had clay on it from their 'lesson' earlier; it will probably be dried out by the time he gets home tonight Sloane thought. She scanned the many posters on the walls and paused at the one the man had her quote to him everyday.
"The more that you read, the more things you'll know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."
Sloane scoffed at that.
She had learned a lot within the last 11 months but hadn't been anywhere in a long time.
With one last glance, Sloane turned and crawled through the window, taking care to watch the glass as she went. She stood up in the hole and stood on her tiptoes as she grabbed ahold of the metal grate above her. Sloane's fingers curled around one of the bars and she leaned her forehead against the brick wall, thanking God that he had allowed her access to heavy duty tools as she helped him out in the garden; she had loosened the screws on the grate a few days earlier.
Sloane pushed the grate up and out of the hole before hoisting herself up after it. She placed her feet gingerly on the grass, feeling the blades tickle her soles, and breathed in the brisk night air. She had never been out of the house at night and had no way of knowing where to go; all she knew was that she had to get out of there.
Immediately.
Sloane glanced around, skimmed her hands up her arms, and decided on the direction she would go, hoping it would lead her to safety.
Anywhere seemed safer than there.
Then, she ran away through the night.
"Alright my super friends, we have a doozy for you this morning." Penelope Garcia chirped as she brought some images onto the tv screen and their tablets.
"This is Sloane Bowman." Garcia pointed to the DMV photo of a young woman with curly, dirty blonde hair. "She's a 27 year old elementary school teacher. She and her husband, Scott Bowman," another DMV photo, this of a young man with blonde hair and bright green eyes, swished onto the screen. "A prosecutor, were abducted outside of a movie theater almost 11 months ago in Solana Beach, California. The local PD investigated but were left with no leads and so the case ran cold; until today."
The face of the same girl, though slightly older and paler, came on as a different image. This time she was sitting on a hospital bed, her white gown bringing out the yellow of her skin.
"A few hours ago, a family driving back to New Jersey from DC found Sloane on the side of the road, claiming that her husband had been murdered in front of her and she had been held captive by the same man who committed said murder. He called himself Charlie and had her teach him like he was a student in her class. Sloane brought the local PD to the house where she had been held but the man, Charlie, was in the wind."
"It's very uncommon for an unsub to bring a victim across state lines, let alone hold someone for that long." Tara said. "It's obvious that Sloane was a target and that Scott was killed because he was in the way of the unsub's fantasy; of having an in home teacher."
"Is Charlie his real name?" asked Emily.
"I have no idea," Garcia sighed. "Sadly, I have been unable to find anything on the creep. The last person to own the house was an 89 year old widow named Betty Peterson," an image of an older African American woman popped up. "But it appears she died over a year ago, going by the mummified decomposing body that was found buried in the backyard that matches her description. Another one was found matching Sloane's husband, Scott; both were shot in the back of the head."
"So why is this a BAU case?" Luke asked. "I mean, it's terrible what happened to this woman and she needs protection but what are we being brought in for?"
"Ah, thank you Cool hand Luke for asking the million dollar question!" Garcia paused. "Apparently, Sloane believes that this man is not only a threat to her but to the DC community. He told her after the many times she tried to escape that if she ever left, he would make another woman take her place. So eventually, she agreed to not try again as long as he didn't harm anyone."
"Looking at these exam photos, it doesn't appear that she was being restrained. So,Sloane gained his trust enough that he gave her freedoms." JJ observed. She casted a side-eye at Spencer, his eyes were glued to his tablet. "But what made her suddenly desperate to leave after all that time?"
"Something had to have changed." Simmons chimed in. "Something about this guy must have alarmed Sloane so much to make her go back on her promise."
"Sloane is a teacher, most likely a natural protector. It's easy to see why she would agree to something like that if it meant that no one would get hurt." Rossi added. "A change would have to have been big enough for her to fear for herself and others so much to risk that."
"If we find out what that was, we can have a better chance at catching this guy before anyone else is taken." Emily said as she gathered the case files and tablet into her arms. "Rossi and Matt, I'd like you to go to the Coroner's office and talk to the ME and see if there's anything else on both Mrs. Peterson and Scott Bowman." The two nodded in agreement. "JJ, Reid and Luke, I want you guys to go to the house where Sloane had been held to get a read on this guy; figure out why he took her and what her role there was. And Tara and I will go talk to Sloane-"
"I want to talk to her," Spencer interrupted, his eyes were still fixated on his tablet.
The whole team exchanged glances at Spencer's abruptness.
"Reid, I think after this ordeal, Sloane will feel more comfortable talking to two women." Emily asserted. "You know that female victims are more willing to open up to other women about their trauma then-"
"You're right but I know I can talk to her." Spencer insisted. "I don't know how or why but I just know." He looked up at Emily. "Please, trust me."
Emily was at a loss for words but she did trust him. She knew he was probably onto something that she hadn't caught yet and because this was so out of the norm for him, she decided to go with it.
"Okay...Reid, you and JJ will go and talk to Sloane. Luke will come with Tara and I to the house. Garcia, keep digging into Betty's life to figure out if she knew the unsub and any overlap into Scott and Sloane Bowman." Garcia saluted as Emily got out of her chair and looked at her team. "Let's get going."
She walked out of the room with Rossi at her side while Tara and Matt rose from their chairs and followed, already talking about the case. Luke went up and helped Garcia clear the remaining files and JJ strode over to Spencer who had yet to rise from his chair.
"Alright, what are you thinking in that head of yours?" She asked with a grin.
Spencer remained silent, zooming in on the image of Sloane on his screen.
"Spence?" JJ covered the victim's face with her hand. The action snapped Spencer from his daze and his brown eyes met hers. "Are you okay?
He blinked.
"Yes, of course, why?"
JJ let out a soft laugh.
"Because we just had a case presented to us and you hardly said a word, or a random fact or statistic the whole time. Plus, you questioned Emily, and that's not something that has happened very often since she took over for Hotch." Her face looked concerned. "Is there something wrong?"
Spencer mussed his hair and shrugged.
"No, no, nothing's wrong. Sorry, I guess I have other things on my mind." He finally stood from his chair and shoved everything into a messenger bag. "But, we should probably go right?"
Spencer strode from the room without waiting for a reply, leaving JJ gaping after him. She turned to Garcia and Luke, who both wore similar expressions on their faces, not knowing what to say.
Spencer and JJ got to the DC hospital and were met by Sloane's doctor, a petite Hispanic woman named Dr. Stewart.
"Dr. Stewart, it's nice to meet the both of you." She said, shook JJ's hand and nodded at Reid when he didn't offer her his.
"I'm Jennifer Jareau and this is Spencer Reid. Thank you so much for talking with us."
Dr. Stewart signaled for them to follow her as she walked down the hall towards Sloane's room.
"Sloane Bowman's mother just flew in from California and is with her now. I've let them know that you'd like to talk with her and she seems to be fairly responsive and open."
"How is she? Medically, I mean." Spencer asked.
"She's lucky is how she is." Dr. Stewart said, her hands burying themselves into her coat pockets. "Sloane is relatively healthy, with hardly any malnourishment, degenerative muscles...this guy actually gave a damn about all of that. She does have some old sprains and plenty of cuts and bruises but it looks like it's been awhile since he touched her."
JJ looked puzzled.
"Any signs of sexual assault?"
Spencer's slight cringe at the question didn't go unnoticed by JJ.
"Actually, there were none." Dr. Stewart answered, shaking her head. "I'm not saying that I am an expert in these type of cases in any way but keeping her all that time and not laying a hand on her? She's got to be the luckiest woman alive."
Spencer's gaze darkened.
"Oh yeah. If being held against your will for 11 months by the man who killed your husband is lucky than Sloane really hit the jackpot didn't she?" Spencer responded sarcastically before moving past the doctor and knocking on the door to Sloane's room.
JJ gave the speechless doctor an apologetic look and quickly followed Spencer.
"Come in," Sloane's voice came from the other side of the door.
JJ took the lead into the room with Spencer close at her heels.
Sloane was sitting cross-legged on her bed with an open book balanced between her legs while she spoon fed herself red Jell-o. Her dirty blonde curls had been hastily piled on top of her head with little wisps escaping, slightly covering her hazel eyes. She looked up as they came in, her interest immediately piqued.
An older version of Sloane, the only difference being darker hair and eyes, took up a small chair at the end of the bed. She stood up and approached the agents.
"You must be the FBI." Her voice carried a thick Spanish accent. "I'm Raquel Simon, Sloane's mother."
"Mrs. Simon," JJ shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, though I wish it weren't under these circumstances."
Mrs. Simon nodded and clutched the handles of her small purse.
"Do you two need to talk to Sloane?..."
"Yes," Spencer answered, his gaze moving to Sloane. "It would be best if you weren't here to hear it though."
"But-"
"Mom." Sloane spoke, low and soft. "I'll be fine. Can you get me some more Jell-o?...Please?"
Mrs. Simon exchanged a glance with JJ and Spencer. She then went over to her daughter, touched her cheek with her hand, and gave her a slight nod. With her eyes on her shoes, she left.
When the door swung closed, JJ and Spencer moved in further into the room.
"Mrs. Bowman, my name is-" JJ started.
"Stop." Sloane cut her off, raising her hand to her. "Please, don't call me that."
"I-I don't understand." JJ stuttered.
Sloane placed her book beside her, the Jell-o on a tray, and sat back onto the bed, obvious pain reflecting in her eyes.
"I stopped being Mrs. Bowman the day that that...monster, killed Scott." She bit her lip and attempted to hold back the tears. "That day, our family died and I was no longer Sloane Bowman anymore...I'm not Sloane Bowman without Scott." She took a deep breath. "So please, just call me Sloane."
"I'm sorry, Sloane," Spencer said quietly and sat on the foot of Sloane's bed. "My name is Dr Spencer Reid and this is Agent Jennifer Jareau. We didn't mean to upset you."
JJ waved lamely and watched in amazement as Spencer held his hand out to Sloane. She hesitated before accepting his hand in hers, giving it a firm shake before dropping it and twining her fingers in her hair.
"It's okay." Sloane turned away, wiping the few tears that had escaped with the back of her hand. "I've had to tell all of the officers since I got here so I guess I'm just getting a little annoyed by the repetition."
JJ pulled up the single chair in the room to the side of the bed and sat down.
"Sloane," JJ said slowly. "We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about the man who kept you."
Sloane's eyes narrowed cautiously.
"Why? I already told the officers everything." Sloane had now begun braiding a small piece of her hair; something to keep her hands occupied.
"We know, but…" Spencer cleared his throat. "We are from the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI. We study the behavior of criminals in order to figure out who they are and what their motives and intentions are. Some of the questions we ask you will probably be different than what you have been asked before and it's all so we can generate a profile and stop this man before he hurts anyone else."
Spencer looked at Sloane questioningly.
"Would it be okay if you told us about it? We can stop whenever you are feeling overwhelmed but it would just really help us catch him."
Sloane let go of her hair and pulled the book she had been reading into her lap instead.
"Okay...what do you want to know?"
"Could you start from the beginning?" JJ asked. "Start from the day that the man took you and Scott."
Sloane's grip on the book tightened and she nodded.
"Scott and I were walking back to our car after watching this action movie. The theater was packed and we got there late so we ended up having to park at the farthest part of the lot." She gave out a little laugh. "Scott was always making us late for things because he would underestimate the traffic.
"We were almost to our car when I felt something pull me backwards from behind. And then I felt metal pressing against my head. From the look on Scott's face, I knew that we were in trouble and I knew it was a gun.
"Scott kept telling him to calm down and to not hurt me but the man didn't say a word, didn't stop, just made gestures for us to follow him-"
"And did you say or do anything?" Spencer asked.
Sloane bit her lip and shook her head.
"It was like I was frozen," she said, her voice cracking on the word frozen. "There were no thoughts in my head and I just didn't think that it was real."
"What did he look like?" JJ asked. "Had you seen him before?"
Sloane nodded.
"He was white, middle aged, balding, reddish hair. I saw him watching me from the other side of the fence at the playground at my school a few times. I told my principal but I never saw him there again after that."
JJ tried to get Spencer's attention but he kept his eyes on Sloane.
"Then what happened?"JJ asked instead.
"So I just went along with what he wanted, hoping Scott would get us out of it." Sloane continued. "Then the man walked us to the truck bed of an old Ford and opened the door.
"He had me put a zip tie around Scott's wrists and Scott did the same to me. Before I even knew what was happening, the man hit the butt of his gun against the back of Scott's head and shoved him into the truck. He pointed his gun at me and waved it at the truck so I got in and sat next to Scott."
Sloane blew out some air and brought the book to her chest.
"And afterwards?"
Sloane's gaze met Spencer's at his words but then quickly flicked away.
"He started walking to the driver's side of the truck and that was when I started screaming and stood up; it was like I found my voice again.
"But no one was close to us and all of the sudden, he was there with his hand over my mouth, shoving me back down into the bed. The way he was looking at me, I could tell he was begging me to do what he wanted. I had some fight back in me though so I tried getting away from him but then I felt a hard hit and then everything went black."
Spencer tapped the side of his head in thought.
"So he never once spoke to you?"
"No," Sloane said. "Not at first anyways and not during that. He didn't start speaking to me until much later. He just pointed and grunted…"
She closed her eyes to work on steadying her breathing.
Spencer reached out and grabbed her forearm. He could feel the leather from the book she was holding under his fingertips; he could also feel her trembling.
"We can stop right now if it's too much-" Spencer began.
"N-no." Sloane stuttered, trying to act more confidence than she was feeling. "The things that I tell you...they can make sure that he doesn't take another girl right?"
Spencer and JJ looked at one another.
"Right?" Sloane repeated with more strength in her voice. She took her free hand and gripped Spencer's, forcing him to focus back on her.
Spencer swallowed, his gaze moving to their joined hands, and then back to her hazel eyes.
"Any information that you can give us will give us a greater likelihood of catching the man...yes," he responded reluctantly. "But we also want you to know we are considerate of the emotional state that you must be in given the trauma that you have experienced."
Sloane released her hold on Spencer, and instead laced her fingers on her lap.
"Thank you for that but um...I believe that the life of another woman is more important than my 'emotional state'...I'd like to keep going."
JJ gave her a small a reassuring smile and Spencer sat back, waiting for her to continue.
"I woke up strapped to a chair with Scott kneeling in front of me and he was gagged...he looked really scared." Her voice broke and her hand came to her mouth. "The man came out with the gun and then spoke the only words that he would say to me for months…"Now you can give all of your time to me."
"I cried out to Scott and the man brought his gun to the back of his head. I told Scott that I loved him...I kept saying it over and over again...and then he shot him."
Tears flowed freely down her cheeks at this point. Sloane knew there was no point in trying to hide them anymore.
She didn't want to treat Scott's memory that way either.
"I started crying and it seemed like it made him mad. He shook me and hit me until I blacked out." Sloane sniffled. "The first two months that I was there, that's all I was good for: crying. It made him so frustrated."
Suddenly, Sloane's breaths came out shorter and shorter, sweat built near her hairline, and her eyes became panicked. Spencer stood up and shot a worried glance at JJ.
"She's having a panic attack, can you get her some water?"
JJ rushed to the water pitcher beside the wall and poured a glass. Spencer moved to Sloane's side and placed a hand on her back.
"Put your head in between your legs and concentrate on your breathing. I'm going to count to 5 and I want you to take a deep breath the whole time and then let it out slowly; can you do that?" Spencer instructed Sloane. She nodded, brought her knees up, and did what he said. JJ handed Spencer the water and he brought it to Sloane lips, talking soothingly to her as she drained the cup.
"Thanks," she muttered, and patted her forehead on her sleeve, her breathing settling into a normal rhythm. "You do this often in the BAU?"
"Do what?" Spencer asked.
"Coach crazy women through panic attacks like it's your job."
Spencer smiled. One of the biggest smiles JJ had seen him give in a long time.
"Yes," he chuckled, lightly. "It's one of my specialties...though I don't think you're crazy; far from it actually"
Sloane gave out a tearful scoff and reached for her book again.
"Well I think we've gotten enough information for now," JJ said, glancing between the two of them. "But we'll be in touch. Thank you."
"Sure," she replied, her voice heavy. "Thank you for all you guys are doing to get him."
JJ nodded and began walking out the door when Spencer's voice stopped her.
"Is that a first edition of Sense and Sensibility?"
Sloane dabbed her eyes and held it out to him to examine.
"Yeah." She cleared her throat. "It's one of my favorites...my dad bought it for me for my 18th birthday."
Spencer inspected the spine of the book and opened it.
"I haven't met too many people who would claim that Sense and Sensibility was their favorite Jane Austen book...why is it yours?"
"I'm not sure...I think I related to Elinor a lot growing up," Sloane answered thoughtfully, as Spencer's fingers ran between the book's pages. "She's always putting the needs of her family before her own and is so deserving of love; I didn't think much about love till I met Scott."
Spencer settled on a page and began to read.
" "But remember that the pain of parting from friends will be felt by everybody at times, whatever be their education or state. Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience; or give it a more fascinating name: call it hope.""
Sloane's eyes looked Spencer up and down, as if she were sizing him up, and remained silent. Spencer returned her gaze with compassion, a small smile on his lips. JJ took that as the cue to leave.
"Thank you Sloane. Let's go Spencer," she gently wrapped her hand around his arm and tugged him toward the exit. He returned the book to Sloane and went to follow JJ. Suddenly, the door was flung open and a black dog ran into the room, heading straight to Sloane.
"K-9!" she squealed as the dog jumped onto the bed and began to cover her with kisses. "I can't believe you're here! I missed you so much!"
"That's your dog?" Spencer asked incredulously. "K-9?"
Sloane brought K-9 into her lap, scratched his ears, and shrugged.
"You're totally going to make fun of me but uh…one of my favorite shows of all -time is Doctor Who...I'm sure you don't know too much about it but the main character, the doctor, has a robotic dog named K-9 at one point...not the species Canine but the actual letter and number K-9 and I always thought it would be cool to name my dog that..." She paused. "And you don't really care that much and I'm just rambling… I'll stop now."
Spencer's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened, completely at a loss of words. Soon after, a young man in his early twenties burst in and joined Sloane and K-9 on the bed.
"Did you miss me too?" He asked Sloane, his tongue hanging jokingly out of the side of his mouth.
"Of course I missed you Cammy!" She exclaimed and threw her arms around him, K-9 being squashed in between them.
"In all seriousness though, I'm really glad you're here," Sloane said when she ended the hug.
"Where else would I be?...you're my sister and Scott...Scott was my brother." He reached out and squeezed her hand. "I'm so sorry Sloane."
She nodded, not able to say anything in response, and returned his sympathetic squeeze.
Raquel returned then, seeing both of her children and K-9 on the bed and sighed.
"Dios mio Cameron, the hospital is being nice enough allowing K-9 into Sloane's room. Let's not do anything to disrespect their kindness such as letting the dog on her bed!"
"Sorry mom," Cameron said, letting go of Sloane's hand and standing up, pulling the dog into his arms. He placed K-9 onto the floor and turned to JJ and Spencer, who were still both awkwardly standing in the doorway. He appeared to look more like his mother than his sister, with the same darker coloring, but stood much taller than the both of them.
"Are you guys the Feds?" Cameron asked, eyeing them curiously.
"Uh, yes," JJ responded, pulling on Spencer again, this time with more strength. "But we were just leaving. Excuse us."
JJ finally budged Spencer from the spot and out of the room and didn't stop or release her hold on him until they had reached the end of the hallway and rounded the corner.
"Spence, what was that about?" She asked, her brow furrowed in concern.
"I don't know what you mean." Spencer argued clenching his messenger bag strap in one fist.
"Oh come on," JJ countered. "You've been acting weird since we got this case this morning. And the way you were with Sloane in there...I've never seen you reach out to a victim like that before."
Spencer pursed his lips and shook his head, not knowing what to say.
JJ sighed and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I know that was probably hard for you...listening to Sloane talk about her husband being killed. I can't help but wonder if it's hitting you hard because it's similar to the way that Maeve was killed."
As usual Spencer flinched at the sound of her name and ran a shaky hand through his hair as JJ went on.
"I know the anniversary of her death was last week and no one would blame you if you needed to step away-"
"No," Spencer interrupted, shrugging out of JJ's grip. "That's not it. No offense JJ but you have no clue what you're talking about."
"Yeah, maybe I don't but it's because you're not talking to me Spence!" JJ threw her hands in the air in frustration. "I want to help you but I can't unless you talk to me. This is what friends do, they talk, so please...talk to me."
Spencer sighed and leaned against the wall, his eyes glossed over in thought.
"When I saw the picture of Sloane this morning...it was like I knew her. It was as if I had met her before because she just seemed so familiar. And then just now when we were in there," Spencer put his hands in his pockets, his hair fell into his eyes. "I wanted to take away all of her pain. I mean, you're right; the murder of her husband did remind me of Maeve…how couldn't it? I watched the woman I loved get killed right before my eyes just as she watched the man that she loved be murdered right in front of her. I can relate to her but it's something more than that- that I just can't find the words to convey how I feel exactly."
Spencer pushed himself away from the wall and moved closer to JJ.
"All I know is that I will do everything that I can to find the man who did this. If anything, meeting Sloane has given me greater motivation and better focus to put all of my best efforts towards this case." Spencer cleared his throat. "I know I can do this JJ. I'm sorry for not being honest with you before..I wasn't even ready to be honest with myself."
JJ hugged Spencer before he even knew what was happening and he returned it with a laugh.
"What was that for?" He asked.
JJ laughed with him.
"It's just nice to see you so human for a change; not knowing something is a new one for you. Just...be careful okay."
Spencer nodded and pressed his lips together in a line.
"So...should we let everyone else in what Sloane told us?"
JJ pulled out her phone and after a few clicks on the screen, put it against her ear.
"Yep. I'm hoping Garcia can help us out with something."