CHAPTER THREE

Laurie Anderson. Age seven. Lived in a two bedroom house with her mom and dad. Played piano. Disappeared from her first floor bedroom in the middle of the night.

Kaylie Briggs. Age five. Her mother came in to wake her up for her first day of preschool. But she wasn't in her bed.

And Abby Shannon. Age six. Lived in a five-story apartment building with no outside access.

In all three cases the doors were locked. They found fingerprints at the first two scenes but they had no match in any database. Abby Shannon's case was the most unique, as there was no way for this little girl to disappear out her window. Yet it looked like that's what had happened. Normally, with no forced entry suspicion would turn to the family members, but all signs pointed to a loving family. This case was driving me crazy. And no amount of caffeine was helping.

"You look like you're about to fall over, Reid," I heard Hotch say from behind me.

"I'm fine," I said, embarrassed that he'd noticed. "Just need another shot of coffee." I winced at my choice of words. I don't ever want a shot of anything ever again. Let's just say caffeine is the tamest thing I've been addicted to.

"Go home," Hotch said. "You didn't sleep on the ride home from Olathe yesterday, either."

"I'll give you a ride, kid," Morgan offered as he shrugged into his jacket. "I gotta go feed the dog. I haven't seen him all day."

"Thanks, but I'll just catch the bus from Lexington," I replied. "There's actually a midnight release party at a bookstore I want to go hit up."

"Not another Harry Potter?" Rossi groused from the water cooler.

"What's the matter, Rossi?" JJ teased from over by Emily's desk. "JK Rowling beat you on the Times bestseller list too often?"

"Please," Rossi scoffed with a grin. "She's good, but she's not that good."

I laughed. "Technically, they would be competing on two separate lists," I said. "Fiction versus nonfiction. And I've read Harry Potter through six times already. No, this is the complete Star Trek encyclopedia, with a total floor plan of the Enterprise and an atlas of the universe, along with a full crew listing and a list of all the deceased red shirts from every season."

Emily held up her hand in the Vulcan peace sign. "Trekkie," she accused.

I looked at her solemnly and returned the hand gesture. "Guilty." Emily laughed.

"Come on Reid, it's late. The creeps are out," Morgan said. "Let me drive you."

I raised an eyebrow. "You want to go stand at a bookstore full of costumed Trek fans in the middle of the night?"

He grimaced. "That's what I thought. I'll be fine." I shouldered my bag. "I'll see you all in a few hours."

"Sleep, Reid," Hotch ordered from the stairs.

"Aye aye," I muttered from the doors. From behind me, I could've sworn I saw Hotch smile in the glass.


I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me. I'd been feeling it since the crime scene. Probably should've let Morgan give me a ride after all, I thought. I didn't even want to leave the BAU tonight, I could've slept at my desk. I really wanted to get back to work on the profile. Clearly we were missing something. But Hotch was right, I needed to sleep. I figured I could sleep for three hours, and be recharged enough to get going again. So now here I was, walking down to the bus station to get on a bus downtown, then to my apartment. I have an aversion to cabs since the vigilante in New York City.

I heard something. I froze in place. Something was behind me. I turned around.

Nothing. The sidewalk was dark. The street was empty. The only sound was my heavy breathing and the wind blowing leaves down the street.

My fingers shook as I punched in Morgan's number on my cell phone. Maybe if I just had someone to talk with on the walk back, even if it was going to be Morgan reaming me out for not hitching a ride, I'd feel less paranoid. But as I hit the last digit, I tripped on a ridge in the sidewalk. The phone flew out of my hand and crashed and thunked its way to the platform below.

I looked down. Don't even think about it, Reid. It was pitch black-even the homeless guy who usually busked down there with his Chihuahua was gone by this time of night. This was stupid, Reid, I told myself. Damn it, I should have just gotten that ride. Morgan would say something like, Not so brilliant move, for the smartest guy I know. It seems like I'm always the one that gets into trouble. Like it's attracted to me. If humans have nine lives I know I'm running short. The statistics speak for themselves, I probably should be dead under normal circumstances. I've been held hostage, been in more bad situations than I can count on both hands. It's like the Powers That Be have it out for me. And in the words of Han Solo, of Indiana Jones, of Obi Wan Kenobi…I had a bad feeling about this.

But I needed my phone. Or the pieces of my phone, I had a sneaky suspicion it wasn't all one unit anymore. I sighed, and started down the stairs. In the light of a neon advertisement for a gentleman's club, I spotted it on the platform. Remarkably, it was in one piece. Cracked, but in one piece. I reached to grab it.

This time I heard it-footsteps behind me. A hand grabbed the back of my jacket. My head went forward and met something hard.

Before I passed out, I thought, I wonder what life that was? That was the last I remembered. Well…at least I sort of saw it coming this time.