Four
Wow! I would just like to begin by thanking everyone who's reviewed my story, I can't thank you all enough for all your comments and I dedicate all this hard work to you guys.
Second is the usual disclaimer, I don't own any characters in Criminal Minds (accept Spencer Reid in my mind) however my OC's are all mine as well as my story (if it happens to sound similar to another fic I'm so sorry but I'll swear on anything you want me to swear on that this is all my original work).
Alright folks, here goes nothing… enjoy and review please.
Selena POV:
The sun was up and the plastic alarm clock ringing painfully in her ear as Selena sat up in bed and gazed around the room. Swaying slightly from sleep deprivation and repeated drug doses she waited for the beige walls so stop spinning sickeningly before attempting to move out of bed. She swung her legs over the side and stood. Suddenly her stomach heaved and with a frightful groan she emptied her stomach's contents onto the floor beside the bed.
"Darcy!" Her 'husband' yelled in shock and immediately came to her side. He forced her back onto the bed gently and stroked her forehead soothingly. His face was creased into mask of distress, all traces of rage from last night gone.
"Oh my sweet Darcy, stay here I'll get you some water." He said and went to fetch a cold glass. He returned and handed it to her, watching her closely as she took gentle sips and placed the half empty glass on the bedside table. She smiled shakily up at him and stared down at the mess on the carpet. Following her gaze the man, she still didn't even know his name, clucked his tongue disapprovingly.
"I'll get the cleaning supplies from the restaurant." He said and pressed his lips to her cheek hurriedly before exiting the room. Staggering to her feet Selena moved to the door, clutching at the jamb to keep her upright. She collapsed not long after and groaned as a wet cloth was pressed to her forehead.
"There, there Darcy you're going to be alright." He said and Selena was too dreary to correct him.
"You have to clean up the mess my love; I won't have our children living in filth." He said suddenly, his soft voice becoming hard as he dragged her back into the bedroom. Through a haze of tears and fever-like fog Selena dropped the rough scrubbing brush into the bucket of warm liquid beside the puddle of vomit. It smelled strongly of bleach, masking the other unpleasant smell with its powerful odour. Slowly, on her hands and knees, she began to scrub the carpet, back and forth until the mess cleared away. She kept scrubbing until he was satisfied the mess was completely gone, flinching as he commanded her to scrub at the same patch again and again and again. Her breath came in shallow sobs and she collapsed against the bed when it was finally done. The bucket was taken away, as was the scrubbing brush but the harsh smell of bleach hung in the room like an older woman's cheap perfume.
"Get dressed, I expect breakfast within the hour then we'll have our photos taken for the album." He said and she nodded dazedly. Footsteps and the slam of the front door told her she was once again alone in the house with the children. Dropping her pretense of illness she immediately stood and walked straight to Karly and Jason's rooms, unlocking them and calling out for them to hurry. She moved with great urgency to the kitchen and began to tear it apart, looking for clues at to the name of the restaurant below her. She arrived at nothing and bit her tongue to hold in the scream of frustration welling in the back of her throat. She searched the lounge room next, searching the cupboards and shelves thoroughly for anything. The only thing she found were pictures. There were three family portraits, each one with slightly different members but they all shared two things in common. Her kidnapper, (whatever his name was), and the little girl Lucy.
"She's his daughter." She whispered in shock, staring at the photos she realised now exactly why the little girl refused to speak. Why bother forming connections to women who weren't going to stay with them for very long? Why bother speaking to 'siblings' that were destined to leave? Staring at the sad little book case she caught a single photo that contained no children. It held a man and his wife, in their wedding clothes, standing before a sign that read The Anelan Belle. It was her kidnapper and his original wife, the real Darcy. Selena paused, pondering what had happened to this woman before realizing she now had a name, and what a stroke of luck it was too. She fled to the bedroom calling to Karly to start making toast in the kitchen and for Jason to wake Lucy up. She heard the older children scrabbling to obey her commands as she shoved a hand beneath the mattress and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper and the pen she had hidden there the previous night. Smoothing out the paper until there were no traces of creases left she stuck her tongue out as she began to carefully write out the letter. Ciphers and code breaking had been one of the discussions she'd had with Spencer in the park… she just hoped he remembered this one. She folded the note and wrote Spencer's name on the outside and his number before running to the front window, which was in the kitchen. She wrapped her hand inside a tea towel before she smashed her fist into the tiny glass window above the stove. It smashed after the second try and she felt something pop inside the tea towel as pain flared up her arm.
"Son of a bitch!" She swore and clutched the hand to her chest. She had probably dislocated a knuckle or two but what mattered tight now was to getting someone to see her drop the letter. Karly was standing by the toaster, her hands clutched in her mouth and her lips moving in what looked to be a prayer. Peered through the smashed pane and down into the busy street Selena called out. It was still early and there was no one in the street.
"Please, somebody!" She called out and a distant voice answered.
"Please! Up here, we're up here!" She said and flung the letter down into the street. It fluttered, like a white butterfly before landing in the gutter. She had done all she could do now they had to wait and see if anyone would find the note. It was a long shot but it was all she had. She relaxed and pulled her hand out from within the folds of the tea towel to stare at the damage. Two knuckles looked swollen and red and pure agony flared at any miniscule movement in the vicinity of her hand. Gasping with pain Selena sat down and cradled her hand against her chest as Karly ran over to her with an ice pack.
"Did someone get it?" She asked and Selena shook her head. The ice pack felt marvelous on her abused knuckles and slowly, blissfully, the numbness took over.
"I just… I hope it gets to him." She said and Karly smiled brightly as Jason entered the room with Lucy hanging onto his hand.
"Of course it will." She said and turned to save the toast. Bending down in her chair Selena smiled at the small child.
"Hello Princess, what would you like for breakfast?" She asked and the little girl moved to the fridge. Pulling out a cartoon of eggs and a wrapping of what looked to be bacon she pushed them onto the table and looked up at Selena expectantly.
"Does that sound good to you guys?" She asked the older ones and they nodded.
"Will you set the table Jason?" She asked and he nodded. Fleeing to the bedroom Selena stripped herself of her night gown and, ignoring the lingering smell of bleach, dressed into another full skirted dress which was laid lovingly on the bed where she had slept. Her hair was pulled into a neat bun and she ran back to the kitchen barefoot, just as the door opened.
"Quick, sit down." She said and the children dived for their places around the dinning table as Selena hurried to the stove. The smell of cooking eggs and bacon filled the small flat and she froze as her kidnapper entered the room. There was total silence and she could feel his burning gaze on her body like an actual caress.
"Darcy, why are the children out of their room?" A soft voice called and she tensed, every muscle shocked into stiffness at the sound of pure menace emanating from the doorway of the kitchen.
Spencer POV:
It was heading into the second day and still they had nothing. No leads, no witnesses and no suspects. Tracing the drugs had gotten them nowhere and the man search of local business owners was taking far too long. Spencer sat in the conference room, clutching Selena's diary and his head in his hands. Soft voices were outside and he perked up a Morgan entered the room. His stomach dropped at his best friend shook his head and he returned his blank gaze to the floor.
"Come on, there's something we've missed." Morgan said and Spencer frowned.
"No. We've traced every possible lead: sex crimes, drug trafficking, door to door searches and we have nothing Morgan…" He said and stood. He stared up into the picture of Selena pinned to the whiteboard and cursed.
"Garcia was able to pin point only a few chemists that sold the same combination of drugs and cleaning products which helps us narrow down area even further." Morgan said and Spencer nodded tiredly, knowing the other man was only trying to help. He sighed and shoved his hand in his pockets. There was little any of them could do but wait so he went to make a coffee, needing the boost and the small hilarity that came with his traditional ritual of six sugars in the black-as-pitch beverage he managed to stomach each and every time. The team gathered in their conference room and waited for over an hour in total silence. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. A pregnant pause ensued then there was a semi-mad rush to answer. Hotch opened it and a police officer spoke to him.
"Spencer, there's a woman… said her name's Georgia and she'd got information for you." He said and Spencer stood up immediately. He damn near sprinted from the room and through the station till he burst out of the front doors. Georgia was leaning against the brick wall, a policewoman guarding her.
"Oi! Get ya fuckin' hands off me bitch or I'll bite 'em off." She said and her eyes fell of Spencer.
"Spencer!" She called out to him and he nodded to the police woman to let her go.
"I foun' this. Was in the gutter this mornin' and 'ad yer name on it so… here." She said and shoved a piece of paper into his hands. He writing was instantly recognizable. He looked down to the numbers still etched on his palm and knew it was Selena's writing. He opened it and gave a small jump for joy. Rushing forwards, in front of every member of his team he enveloped the young prostitute in a joyful hug.
"Thank you." He said breathlessly and she smiled.
"Glad I could help." She said and waved away further thanks.
"Its good t'see she's got a fella who cares for 'er." She said and walked off, but not before placing a kiss to his cheek and winking at him.
"'Owever I'm always available if it don' work out Spencer." She called over her shoulder and Spencer shook his head in exasperation. Heading inside he stared down at the paper in his hands with a growing sense of joy. Morgan snatched the paper from him and his face fell.
"It's rubbish." He said and Spencer shook his head.
"No it's code, someone get me a whiteboard." He said and one was quickly procured. The paper read as follows.
431265
SELENA
ISERNIYHEFIE LAARCSAIFUNR
HNLUEEZTHOEG CEPHPHAITRRN RESRRDKUAAX
DFSYECNNOSDX
ANNABELL LEE
To the usual eye it would mean nothing however Spencer remembered clearly the debate they had shared over ciphers and whether numeral or alphabetical codes were easier to break. This had been her favourite and he smiled as he wrote it out on the whiteboard.
"The code is in the numbers." He said to the team and they all sat down to watch him work.
"The name means nothing, it's just a way for me to recognize the sender or the general idea of the message. This is a relatively simple code to crack, all I need to solve it is right here…" He said and Morgan interrupted.
"Reid, we don't need to know just do it." He said and Spence nodded, smiling for the first time in days. Slowly the code began to crack. Moving all the codes into their appropriate columns the message looked something like this.
431265
SELENA
CHILDR
ENSAFE
PLEASE
HURRYS
PENCER
HEISCR
AZYAND
ITHINK
THEFOU
ROFUSA
REINDA
NGERXX
"Please tell me you guys are getting this too." He said and turned to see several blank stares. Sighing he turned back to the board.
"I'll give you a hint." He said and wrote the sentence out for all the read.
CHILDREN SAFE PLEASE HURRY SPENCER HE IS CRAZY AND I THINK THE FOUR OF US ARE IN DANGER XX
ANNABELL LEE
At the final result the room exploded and voices were raised over one another in an effort to be heard. Hotch's voice broke out over the rabble.
"The note says four, there are three children with this Unsub." He said and to room quieted. Rossi broke in.
"That's why none of Gracia's files matched, we profiled that the father alone survived but now it seems one of his children survived as well." He said and Garcia was quickly phoned.
"Garcia I need fatal accidents dating back two years where a father and child survived." He said and typing could be heard over the speaker.
"10." She said and Spencer held up a hand.
"Guys? At first I thought she was signing off with Annabell Lee, it's her favourite poem of Edgar Allen Poe's but now I think it's something else." He said and the whole room paused. Staring at the whiteboard he frowned and tried to think. She hadn't written in the code where she was which either meant she didn't know or she had already given the answer to him. The letters rearranged themselves in his head just as the name came through.
ANNABELL LEE becomes Anelan Belle.
He wrote it down and Garcia typed away. A second later a ping was heard going off.
"Oh my god," She said and the team crowded the phone.
"There's a 1950's style restaurant in downtown Quantico by that name owned by one Mr. Marcus Finley. Finley lost his wife Darcy, 10 year old daughter Cindy and 8 year old son Matthew when they were traveling home from a picnic at Mt. Vernon…" She said and Rossi looked over at Hotch.
"Oh it seemed he'd been reported for domestic abuse against his wife by neighbours but nothing was ever confirmed, Darcy Finley had a medical file filled with all kinds of emergencies even requiring major surgery three times in the space of five years. She filed for divorce and custody of the children that very week… their youngest daughter Lucy Finley was at a friends house and is his only surviving child." She said and Hotch picked up the phone.
"Can you send us a family picture Garcia?" He asked and a chuckle could be heard.
"Check your phones my lovelies as of 30 seconds ago." She said and the team drew shocked breaths as the family came into view.
"Address for The Anelan Belle being sent to your phone as we speak." Garcia finished and Spencer piped up.
"Thanks Penelope." He said and she chuckled.
"Anything for my darling boy genius." She said and signed off.
"Let's go." Hotch commanded and the team rolled out.
SRSRSRSRSR
The house was silent, the windows still with curtains drawn. He followed Morgan up the stairs that were located behind the restaurant till they came to a plain wooden door.
"FBI, open up!" Morgan called. There was no answer. Morgan stepped back and prepared to kick the piece of wood half way to heaven. Spencer stopped him by simply placing his hand on the knob, turning it and pushing the door open. They poured inside the flat, shouts of 'clear' were heard as all the rooms were searched and found empty of life.
"Reid I found something." Morgan called and pointed to the window in the kitchen which he saw was smashed.
"It's probably where she threw the letter out. Unfortunately Marcus has seen it and come upstairs, grabbed her and the kids and taken them away…" He trailed off. Spencer already had his phone out.
"Hotch, he's on the move… he's got all four of them and he's heading for Mnt. Vernon, he's spiraling." He said as he and Morgan left the house, returned to their vehicle and set off as fast as they could towards Mnt. Vernon.
Selena POV:
Shaking in terror Selena cowered into the kitchen bench. Her kidnapper walked through the living room and into the kitchen, a piece of white paper crunched in his hand.
"Karly, Jason; stay behind me." She whispered and the two eldest children rushed to stand behind her. Suppressing the trembling she faced him square on, placing her hands on her hips with way more bravado than she actually felt. Her defiance seemed to enrage him.
"Darcy, why would you do this?" He demanded, shoving the paper under her nose.
"Why would you betray your husband?" He demanded and she growled as he came steadily closer, pressing the two children firmly behind her and keeping her body directly between him and them. Lucy was seated in her place staring at the scene with quiet sadness. A thumb sneaked its way back into her mouth and she pulled her knees up into the foetal position and stared at the unfolding scene without another sound.
"Stay away from them." Selena said calmly and the man froze.
"You would deny me my own children Darcy?" He shouted and she flinched but stood her ground.
"We are not your family, my name is Selena Jones and this is Karly and Jason. We are not your family and I am not Darcy." She stated clearly and something snapped. He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her to him roughly before frog-marching her to the door.
"Children, if you want to see your mother alive you will follow and stay quiet… we're going on a family drive." He said and Selena turned her head to see Karly, Jason and, surprisingly, Lucy stumbling after her. There was a car awaiting them at the bottom of the stairs and she was thrust into the back. Karly cried out in pain as she too was forced into the back seat with Jason and Lucy, both of whom were beginning to cry. Clutching the three children to her Selena stared out the window with a rising hope, seeing that in his haste the man had dropped her letter into the gutter. A woman rushed forward and picked it up, glancing at the vehicle in shock and disappeared into the morning light. Selena prayed the woman was on her way to warn Spencer, it was their last chance. Her kidnapper slammed his own door shut and revved the engine, drawing away from the restaurant like the devil himself was after him. The children's sobs carried through the car and Selena drew the three of them as close to her as possible.
"Shhh, it's going to be okay." She whispered and placed gentle kisses on the foreheads of all three.
"It's all going to be just fine." She lied softly and began to struggle in her attempt to keep her voice calm. Karly sniffled into her shoulder, Jason held onto her waist as tightly as he could and little Lucy simply buried her face into Selena's mid-drift, whimpering with every violent turn her father made. They were on highway 95 and Selena panicked when she couldn't recognize where she was. Suburbs gave way to woodland areas and a sign welcomed her to . The car stopped and the man got out. He wrenched the back door open and hauled them out roughly shoving them down into the ditch beside the road.
"Oh god!" Selena whispered as realization hit her. He was going to kill them. She pulled all three children to her in an attempt to protect them, pushing them behind her as the crazed man stepped towards them with ominous intent blazing in his eyes. Whispering to Karly she squeezed the 12 year olds hand tightly.
"When I say now, I want you to take Jason and Lucy and run. Run as fast as you can for as long as you can…" She said and the girl nodded.
"What are you going to do?" She asked and Selena shrugged.
"I don't know… now!" She said and launched herself at the man with a feral snarl. Her dislocated knuckles collided with his stomach and even though the agony continued on like a tidal wave Selena kept lashing out as violently as she could. She managed to land a few good blows on him before a solid whack on her head sent her crashing to the ground where she struggled to rise again. In the distance she could see Karly, tugging desperately at a terrified looking Jason. Lucy was nowhere to be seen. As another blow landed on her Selena screamed. The kick had caught her rib and she felt the bone crack under the vicious attack. Rolling away she covered her head instinctively as she rose. Ignoring the flames of pain licking her head, side and arms Selena once again hurled herself on the man. Screaming with all her fury, she pummeled him relentlessly but she was weakening and it didn't take long for him to overpower her and hold her down. She struggled violently as his hand began to encircle her neck.
"Just a little longer Selena." She wheezed to herself and the man chuckled.
"You're not going anywhere, when I've dealt with you bitch I'll get those kids and then your precious Spencer can feel exactly how I felt when I lost everything." He said and Selena struggled to speak.
"But… you h-have… Lucy." She said between ragged breaths as the hands tightened. Her vision began to blur and tears leaked from beneath her eyelids. The hands relaxed slightly and she took a deep breath, gasping like a fish out of water and pressing a hand to her bruised throat.
"Lucy." The man said and his attention turned to fix itself on the little girl sitting nearby, her eyes wide with terror and her face streaked with tears.
"Princess?" He said and his eyes filled with remorse.
"Oh my Princess I'm sorry, Daddy's sorry he scared you." He crooned and the little girl crawled away, blinded by the violence.
"Marcus Finley put your hands where I can see them." A cold voice called and Selena felt herself being hauled upright and held in a choker hold to face the voice. Above her, on the embankment, stood a tall, dark haired man with serious eyes. He had a gun fixed on her kidnapper but hadn't fired. Next to him stood a pretty, dark haired woman with a furious expression on her face and an older man with salt-and-pepper hair and dark Italian looks. All had their weapons trained on her and her kidnapper but obviously couldn't get the shot. She scanned the crowd for Spencer, but he wasn't her yet. Her heart sank.
"Put Selena down, it's over." The man said but Marcus' grip only tightened on her throat causing her to whimper in pain.
"Lucy." She breathed and the little girl looked over at her.
"Please." She mouthed and the little girl struggled to stand. Her tiny face was full of confused conflict as she silently waged war inside herself. A new car arrived and Selena sank in relief as a familiar face came into view.
"Spencer!" She called out and the grip around her neck tightened once more.
"Shut up! So this is Spencer is it? This is who you betrayed me for, we'll you may have won today but this is never going to be over." He threatened and pushed himself forwards, knocking her feet out from under her and causing her to start choking.
"Daddy please stop it, stop hurting my Mummy!" Lucy yelled and both Marcus and Selena whirled to face her. The little girl stood, numb with shock, and Selena felt her eyes well with tears. Spencer stepped forward, his gun trained on Marcus' face as he spoke.
"Marcus please, I know this can only be causing you pain. Can't you see your little girl crying… you're hurting her mother Marcus. For the love of god please, please let Selena go." He begged and Selena felt the fight slowly drain from her captor. Slowly he pulled the arm away from her throat and shoved her towards Spencer. Stumbling she crawled towards him and his arms flew wide as he caught her and he clutched her to him tightly. Turning in his arms she bent and spread her own arms towards the little girl still waiting at the bottom of the ditch, watching as FBI agents slammed her father to the ground and cuffed him.
"Lucy." She called and the child ran to her. Selena enveloped her into her arms and lifted her clear of the floor to press kisses to the little girl's teary face. Settling her on her hip she allowed herself to be guided away from the scene by a gentle hand and smiled up at Spencer in relief, leaning against him heavily as he took them in the direction of an awaiting paramedic. He felt so stable and strong she began to cry all over again. A sudden thought struck her. She pulled Spencer to a complete stop by tugging on his arm gently.
"Wait Spencer, Karly and Jason are still out there. I have to find them." She said and placed Lucy on to the ground. Cupping her hands around her mouth she began to yell the children's names.
"Karly!" She screamed and her voice bounced off the ravine to her right.
"Jason!" She called and once again the echoes bounced around eerily. Then she heard it, faint cries of joy as the two little children came sprinting into view. They approached rapidly and she opened her arms as she knelt to the ground in anticipation and collected the two small children into her awaiting embrace. She squeezed them to her gently and pressed kiss after kiss on their faces and hands. Lucy as included and the small group held each other tightly until Selena stood. She clapped her hands and shooed them away.
"Alright! Everyone to the nurse." She ordered and the children jumped to attention, racing off towards the awaiting paramedics. As she watched them, the adrenalin suddenly began to wear off and pain began to seep back into her body. With a soft cry she collapsed and felt slim arms catch her around the waist before she hit the floor. Looking up she saw Spencer's worried face and smiled tiredly. Struggling to her feet she stood and waited for the dizzy spell to pass.
"You solved my puzzle." She said and he shrugged bashfully.
"Yes and your anagram." He said quietly and she grinned delightedly. She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned against him heavily. She tried to walk with him but her ribs began to shoot stakes of fire through her ribcage and this hampered her progress so much she simply couldn't move. Spencer saw this and stopped her.
"Here, I'll carry you." He said and carefully, mindful of her numerous injuries, he picked her up bridal style and carried her towards the final ambulance.
"I'm too heavy." She protested and he silenced her.
"You most certainly are not, I can carry you just fine Selena." He said and she smiled tightly. As her eyes closed, she snuggled against his comforting, warm chest. She placed her arms around his neck and leaned in close as the world around her finally fell into blissful darkness.
Woo hoo, she's alright… for now. Reviews are most welcome around he, the more detailed they are the better I make these chapters. Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed.
