Chapter Six
When they arrive at William Reid's work, Reid turns around and tells them to hang back that he just wants to talk. He goes in and he's immediately taken back to his dad's office.
"Spencer,"
"Dad."
"Why are you here?"
"I just want to ask you some questions about my childhood."
"You aren't going to try and detain me again are you?"
"Depends on if you cooperate."
"What do you want to know?"
"Did you know I was being molested?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You came into my room, told me it would be okay, and let another man in."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do. I talked to mom."
"Your mother isn't well Spencer." He shoots up out of his chair and slams his fists down on the desk.
"Don't you talk about her! Tell me why strange men were in and out of the house. All she knows is you had friends over at all hours of the night."
"Spencer this is ridiculous."
"The statute of limitations is up. I just need to know. For me. If you ever once cared about me, then tell me. Tell me what you let those men do to me."
"It was around the time your mother had to stop working. Before she was able to draw a check. I was approached and…"
"You thought you would make a few extra bucks exploiting your son?"
"I'm sorry Spencer, those were hard times."
"Imagine how hard it was for me."
"Why are you asking these questions after all these years?"
"I was having a nightmare, My girlfriend went to wake me and when she touched me in my sleep it triggered something and I remembered. Did you ever?"
"No. God no. I held you while…"
"You held me down while strange men touched me?"
"Yes." He drops his head in shame and Spencer storms out.
…
Reid gets back out to the SUV and gives Morgan and Rossi the run down. Afterward, it's a silent drive back to the hotel. They realize they need to regroup. Spencer can't have been the only victim of this group. They decide to make the hotel room kind of a home base and Rossi tries to get two more for him and Morgan but they don't have anymore.
"Well if they don't have a vacancy until tomorrow can't they just stay with us. I mean it's only about twelve hours at this point."
"As long as it's okay with you…"
"Yeah it's fine. I'll…make myself scarce."
"You don't have to do that we can work on this somewhere else."
"No that's fine. Just text me when you're ready for bed." She kisses him on the cheek and quickly leaves the room. Morgan gives him a sly grin.
"Text me when you're ready for bed, lova," he winks and Rossi laughs.
"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, Morgan. I'm sharing a bed with a beautiful woman and you're sharing with Rossi."
"Touché, Pretty Boy." They settle around the small table in the corner of the room and pull out a laptop to call Garcia. They get her digging into abuse and molestation reports dating back thirty years just to be safe. Reid recounts again what his father told him. He and Morgan have always had a connection, but this was different. They worked for a while longer before Spencer decided they should call it a night. Morgan and Rossi went down to the bar and Ashleigh came back up to the room.
…
Ashleigh
I get back up to the room and find Spencer changing his clothes.
"Where's Rossi and Morgan?"
"Sent them to the bar. Needed time with you." He crosses the room and takes my pajama shirt out of my hands.
"This camisole isn't going to cut it. Morgan sleeps with the air conditioner on full blast," he holds out his t shirt to me and I smile, slipping it over my head. I wrap my arms around him and we stand in the center of the room for a few minutes, just holding eachother.
"My father let two men molest me. They paid him. He held me down and kept me quiet. My mother had her suspicions but it never amounted to anything."
"Oh my God…Spencer…" I hold him tighter and he buries his face in my hair.
"My mom got so suspicious that it was one of the reasons he left. But he lied and said the reason she was so paranoid was because she wasn't taking care of herself. Nobody else believed her either."
"Please tell me you're going to nail the bastards who did this to you?"
"The statute of limitations is up for me. I know the statistics though. Once got too old for them they moved on to another and another. If I'm right, and I hope that I'm not, there's a little boy out there suffering right now." We curl up in bed and it's not long before Spence is asleep. I lie awake, seething. He mumbles in his sleep and I run hand through his hair to calm him. Half of me wants to just break down with sadness. The other half of me wants to kill the men who hurt him and kill his father for not only allowing it but participating. I hear Morgan and Rossi in the hallway so I quickly shut my eyes and pretend to be asleep.
"Hey, I'm gonna, get cleaned up. I think I'll get out of here before Reid wakes up. I want to follow a lead and he can't be there for it."
"What kind of lead we talkin'? You can't arrest him. Reid wants that pleasure."
"I'm not going to arrest him. I do know how to get him to talk though."
"Ah yeah? How's that?"
"If he was pimping his child out and taking money for it then a case can be made on grounds of sex trafficking. Statute of limitations on sex trafficking is 20 years. So, he might want to cooperate or else I tell Reid about that little loophole." Rossi's voice is almost sing-song as he's fading out of the room.
"He told you, didn't he?"
"Oh, come on Ashleigh I know you're awake."
I open my eyes and see him sitting on the bed beside ours.
"I hate profilers. And yes, he told me."
"So, what's on your mind?"
"I just want that son of a bitch to pay."
"I understand, he hurt someone you love."
"Spencer already knows about the loophole by the way."
"So why hasn't he arrested him yet?"
"He wants it to come out of nowhere. His dad doesn't know about it either."
"I'll let Rossi know."
…
I wake up and Spencer is getting dressed.
"Hey, Where's Morgan and Rossi?"
"Checking up on a lead Garcia found this morning. We're going to see my mother."
"Do you need to ask her something about the case?"
"No. I want to visit her everyday while we're here, even if it's just for a few minutes."