Chapter 6

Hotch looked through the file JJ had given him.

"There were three sets of prints on the photos." said JJ.

"Yes," said Hotch, reading the report. "Reid's, an unknown, and ……" He looked at JJ. "Are you sure this is right? Has Garcia checked it?"

JJ nodded. "Definitely. The prints are from a woman named Kath Dowd. And we've got a current address."

"Send her picture to Morgan's cell, and tell them to meet us there."

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Spencer let the cuff take his weight. His stomach hurt, and standing hurt, and his arms hurt. He felt blood run down his arms from where the cuffs cut his white skin, pooling at his shoulders. He felt exhausted, wanting to sleep but afraid to close his eyes.

Couldn't sleep with his arms tied. Needed to lie down.

He didn't want to cry, but he had no power left. His body was doing what it wanted, he had no control.

He placed his feet on the floor, lifted his head and cried out. "Please! P-please…help me…"

Spencer's tears ran down his face.

"Please…." He sobbed softly.

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Brady sat in the corner of the room and watched. Finally, he approached Spencer.

Spencer hadn't realised he was still there.

"I-I thought you'd gone."

"I saw what you did." Brady's eyes were angry. "I saw you let her touch you. Why?"

"I'm s-so s-sorry, Brady. I c-couldn't help it." Spencer's eyes huge, meeting Brady's. "P-please let me down. I need to sleep."

"You know I want her. But soon, when she's finished, and you are dead, you won't touch her again."

"Brady. Please…please c-call my friends. If you…..if you c-can't help me, call them. Let them…" Spencer's voice pleading. If only he could get through.

"You murdered her father." Brady said, his face inches from Spencer's. "She told me."

"But he was a killer. He had killed two people, he was about to shoot my partner." Spencer felt again the pain in his body where Aaron had kicked him the anguish he felt when Philip Dowd had fallen.

Spencer lowered his head.

Brady turned from him and went to the door. Spencer watched as he opened the door. "Please." Hardly more than a whisper.

As Brady left, he pulled at the rope on the ring, and released it.

Spencer crashed to the floor as the door slammed.

He didn't hear a key in the lock.

If he could only make his muscles work…….

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"FBI!"

They crashed through the door of Kath's apartment.

"All rooms clear." Morgan said. "No sign that Reid has ever been here."

"Keep looking." said Hotch, picking up a pile of papers from the table. "There's got to be something here."

"There's this." JJ was holding a lap top. "It was in the desk. I'll get it back to Garcia."

"Emily and I will finish up here, and meet you back at the BAU."

As JJ left, Emily called from the bedroom. "I've found something!"

Emily was leafing through an envelope of photographs. "Some of these are the same as the ones we got from Reid's bag," she said, handing some to Hotch and Morgan, "But not all of them."

The pictures showed the young man from the other pictures, with Kath Dowd. They were not nice pictures. Hotch gave his back to Emily, who returned them to the envelope.

"So now we know they were definitely working together." Morgan said, his hands tightening on the photos.

"Have Garcia run his image through her facial recognition software." Hotch said, his voice was calm, but his eyes were worried.

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Spencer lay still on his side on the wet floor. His arms were still above his head, but the pain of moving them was too much. He knew that his brother and Dowd were still in the house. He had not heard a car, and sometimes he could hear them downstairs.

But they were not watching him.

Spencer gritted his teeth and slowly lowered his arms until they were at ninety degrees to his body. His muscles screamed and soft cries escaped his lips. But he knew that this might be his only chance to escape.

Painfully, he dragged himself to the door. Every movement shot pain through him. He was sure he was bleeding internally from his ribs, and his belly was one huge bruise, tender and hot. Something inside was badly damaged, he couldn't just lay there on the floor and bleed to death. But each movement was agony.

He had to get help.

He pulled himself up to open the door, trying not to scream in pain. The door opened, and he fell through onto his back. He rolled onto his side and whimpered.

Please, just don't let them hear me.

Slowly, his breathing shallow and irregular he inched his way to the top of the stairs.

He looked down from the top step;. His head swam at the thought of trying to get down without falling.

If he fell, there was a good chance that he would die, at the very least, Dowd would hear him.

Maybe Brady would help him. He had let the rope down.

But he knew he couldn't count on it.

He lay on his front and carefully lowered his legs over the edge. With his knees on the second step down, he rested his head on the floor. Concentrating on breathing, trying to stop shaking, terrified that Dowd would come and find him.

Using his elbows to take the strain, one at a time, he moved his knees down a step. The edges of the steps scraped the skin off his shins and chest and arms, soaking through his clothes, smearing his blood on the stairs.

He had to keep moving.

He listened. He could hear Dowd and Brady. He still had time.

Next step.

The stair creaked. Spencer froze.

Waited.

No-one came.

Next step.

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"Brady Reid?" Morgan was having a hard time with this one. "His brother?"

"Well, half brother, technically. Same father."

"It looks as if Dowd and Reid's brother are working together on this." said Hotch. "So we need to find where they've taken him. And I think we need to hurry. Garcia…."

She turned back to her screens. "I'm on it."

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Fifth step.

Spencer could not use his hands.

There was no way he could save himself.

Slipping in his own blood, he lost his grip and slid.

He tried to curl himself up, to protect himself, but it hurt too much.

He landed on his back, winded, in pain.

Unable to move. Hands above his head, still bound.

Brady had told him she planned to kill him.

Spencer lay there, waiting.

And there was nothing he could do.