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Back at the now parked SUV, Agent Grant Anderson was fielding a call from Unit Chief Emily Prentiss.
"Reid's mother is missing, Agent Prentiss." He cringed as she shouted her question—'What happened?'—and held the phone away from his ear, still able to hear her clearly with the device a foot away from his head.
"I don't know, Ma'am. Reid and Diana's nurse have joined the search, they just went north up the road here. I'm gonna go ask John and Stu. I'll call you right back."
He cringed again as Prentiss barked "You better!"
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied.
"And they're cutting the security detail," Prentiss fumed.
"Yes, Ma'am," he agreed with her tone of voice.
"I'm not blaming you, Grant," her voice softened ever so slightly.
"Yes, Ma'am," he said again, relieved that he wasn't the object of her ire but fully in accord with her assessment. He was making his way down the street towards the other security officers searching for Diana.
"Those jackasses!" Prentiss asserted.
"Yes, Ma'am," he agreed. "Here's John, I'll just talk to him and call you right back, Chief."
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There had been a light rain that morning and Grace and Diana hadn't gone for their usual walk. Spencer took Grace's hand as the two of them now raced up the street towards the park.
It was the oddest feeling. She was still angry that Diana had been left alone, she was anxious about the older woman's well being but she felt the strangest, sweetest tingle in her hand as she ran alongside Spencer toward the park entrance. They had to pause and wait for a streetlight to change before making their way across the road and Spencer never let go of her hand. As the light changed, he tugged at her to resume their run across the road and he asked, between gasps of breath, where exactly in the park the squirrels were.
"This way," Grace indicated, steering them in the designated direction.
There was a gently sloped grassy hill leading from the sidewalk down into the park proper. Several trails branched out from there and Grace led the way along the widest one, the one she usually took when she walked with Diana. They passed several botanical displays, all of which Spencer would probably have appreciated more had he not been preoccupied with finding his missing mother. As they rounded one bend in the trail, they found themselves in the center of a display of flowering bushes. The lilacs and cherry blossoms blessed the area with their beautiful scents but Grace pressed on.
"The section where the squirrels are is just up ahead, Spencer." A grove of maple and oak trees lay fifty feet ahead of them, and Grace knew the squirrel family made their home in one of the towering oaks in the center of the thicket. As they neared the tree in question, Grace held Spencer back, forcing him to slow to a calm walking pace.
Squeezing his hand, she said in a low voice, "We don't want to startle her if she is there."
He nodded in agreement.
"There's a bench we sit on, beside a couple of the trees. Your mom likes to leave the peanuts for them under the trees and then sit on the bench to watch them come to retrieve them."
"Why under the trees?" he asked, puzzled.
"Because your mother is brilliant and realises it's dangerous for the squirrels, so she leaves them right at the base of trees so they can escape up the tree if a loose dog comes along."
He smiled at that, thinking, Gee, Mom you are so smart despite the Alzheimer's and the schizophrenia. They approached the last fifteen feet or so slowly and Spencer was both relieved and elated to see his mother peacefully sitting on the bench under a tree, babbling at her little squirrel family.
"She's safe," Grace said in a relieved tone, and squeezed Spencer's hand. He let go of her hand, and for a tiny instant she was disappointed only to find her spirits soar when he enveloped her in an enormous hug.
"Thank you! You found her, Grace. You're the best," he kissed the top of her head and squeezed her once before releasing her and approaching his mother.
"Hello, Mom," he said with as even a tone as he could muster. He slipped onto the bench next to her and took her hand.
"Spencer," she began, "shhhh, here they come," as the baby squirrels neared the cache of peanuts Diana had put under the largest of the trees. Delight was obvious on her face as two babies approached and skittered their way through the peanuts. Their mother stood alert, about five feet away and she eyed Spencer suspiciously. Diana was enthralled; Spencer and Grace sat on either side of her. For several minutes the three humans watched the three squirrels and then a crow flew down, landing beside the peanuts. The bird's cawing alarmed the mother squirrel, disturbing the little family who quickly disappeared into the underbrush.
Disappointed by the intrusion, Diana yelled at the crow. She rose from the bench and shook her fist at the bird, which flew away.
"Diana," Grace said in a calm voice, "let's go back to the house now."
"Okay," the older woman agreed and allowed Grace and Spencer to take her arms. They made their way through the park and back to the sidewalk along the road. As they waited for the stop light to change, Reid texted Anderson to let him know Diana had been located safely and to call off the search party.
The trio walked calmly back to the house. Diana, oblivious to the concern she had caused, immediately asked for tea and cookies at their arrival, which Grace quickly moved to provide.
"Mom," Spencer started. "Why didn't you push your alarm?"
She stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment before realising to what he was referring. Diana fingered the pendant around her neck and appeared to be giving deep thought to a reply.
"I wasn't lost, Spencer. I just went to see Chitter and her little family."
"Mom, you can't just leave. Someone should go with you, but you have to let us know when you want to go for a walk. You can't just wander away. It's dangerous."
"I'm sorry baby," she said in a conciliatory tone of voice before reaching for a cookie and making it clear that this particular discussion was over.
Just minutes after having her snack, Diana rose from the sofa and told Grace and Spencer she wanted to go have a nap. After Grace had her settled, she returned to the kitchen and made lunch for herself and Spencer. He was sitting in the living room, with his computer open on his lap. Grace could see the FBI logo on the screen and figured he was in conference with Garcia or perhaps Prentiss. She brought the platter carrying Reid's ham and cheese sandwich along with a couple of pickles and carrot sticks and set it down on the coffee table in front of him.
He mouthed 'thank you' and Grace nodded, mouthing in return 'coffee?' to which he nodded and she returned to the kitchen to make it, leaving him in privacy for his conference.
She waited for ten minutes and then Grace returned to the living room and set Spencer's coffee down on the table next to the sandwich plate. He was just closing his laptop and set it aside, attacking the sandwich with gusto.
He realised Grace was sitting across from him and looking like she meant business.
"Grace? Is something wrong?"
"It's about your mother, Spencer," Grace decided not to mince words. "She's having more and more incidents. She thought Robert was an intruder the other day and went after him with a hairbrush. I thought it might be a one-off so we didn't tell you. And I apologise for that. But twice in the last few days she hasn't recognised me. Or you. Or didn't acknowledge us and it's another sign the Alzheimer's is getting worse."
He sighed and looked at the floor. Grace's heart went out to him and she reached over and touched his hand.
"And just now, she didn't even register the danger of wandering off by herself." She bit her lip before adding, "I'm sorry, Spencer, but today is just another indication of how serious this is becoming. We were lucky, we found her pretty quickly."
"I know," he said in a very quiet voice.
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"I can't believe this," Emily fairly growled as she slammed her laptop shut and reached for her cellphone.
"What's up, Chief?" came the smooth voice of David Rossi.
"Oh, Dave," Prentiss paused to let the angry tone disappear from her voice, "Acting Section Chief is pulling the security detail from the Reids. He's given me one more week for them to be in the safe house, but he pulled the agents."
Rossi muttered something vaguely rude sounding in Italian and then asked, "Effective when?"
"Apparently, now," Emily complained. "Reid's mother went missing this morning but luckily Grace and Spencer found her before too long."
"And they're cutting back Security now?" he asked, incredulous. Rossi thought quickly. "Do you want us to take turns staying with them, Emily?"
"Oh! That's a good idea, Dave. You guys are still in Nevada, I suppose I could take first watch." She pondered for a moment and continued, "Anderson's already over there. I could just make that his priority and have Garcia take over some of the clerical stuff he does here. Davis doesn't have to know," she plotted aloud.
"Davis? Roger Davis?" Rossi asked, rolling his eyes as he did so. Rossi was very familiar with Roger Davis. He could hear Emily's sigh and told her, "That jagoff has been angling for a promotion for as long as I can remember and he doesn't care whom he steps on in the process."
"Well he's got one. He's Acting Section Chief." She paused to let that sink in and remarked, "Rossi, I can hear you rolling your eyes."
"We will just have to go rogue to keep the Reids safe. Ain't ever stopped us before."
"I love you, Rossi. You knew that, right?"
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