Chapter 7 A Second Visit
In the morning, Prentiss had met Reid outside of his apartment and went in to work with him.
They took an indirect route to work. They watched for anyone following them or anything out of the ordinary. Nothing stood out, so they proceeded to the office.
The flight to Colorado wasn't leaving until later.
At the BAU the team talked about their game plan with Settles. They would use Reid to focus on Settles. Because Settles had an obvious attraction to him, he would open up more.
No one on the team discussed the stalker. Until she made contact again, they didn't have anything else to go on.
Before noon, Agents Rossi, Reid and Prentiss flew directly to Colorado. After landing they made their way to the prison. There was no reason to waste time.
When they arrived at the prison they were met again by Warden Carson.
"I can't say I am surprised to see you back so soon." Carson said greeting Agent Rossi.
"What can I say, we enjoyed your hospitality," Rossi said flirtatiously, accepting Carson's hand.
"In that case, I have the same room and set up for you." Carson said return Rossi's charm with a smile.
"Well thank you." Rossi said.
"Maybe you can give some more family members closer." Carson said walking with the agents to the interrogation room.
They arrived at the interrogation room. The agents sat down inside.
"Settles will be in momentarily." Carson said.
A moment later a guard came in with Settles.
"Hello again, Agent Rossi," Settles said taking a seat across from the Agents. "Where's the blonde?"
"Agent Jareau couldn't make it." Rossi answered.
"More important things I suppose." Settles said. "I saw the ring. If I had something that hot I wouldn't let her into a place like this."
"No, you preferred leaving them out in the woods." Prentiss said. "You discarded your victims like they were worthless trash."
"Very true. They weren't much use after they were dead." Settles said. "They lost their beauty in a way. Not at all like this one." He turned his attention to Reid. "Did you miss me?"
"We need to talk you about the three victims we found in the area you showed us." Rossi said.
"You should have found all three." Settles said still studying Reid. He smiled slightly as though he had heard a joke.
"We wanted to ask about one of your victims." Prentiss said.
Settles leaned forward in his chair. "There is something different about you Dr. Reid. Something that wasn't there before."
Reid remained silent. He did not want to feed Settles' ego.
"Something changed something new, what's her name?" Settles tilted his head. "No him. Do you play for that team? If so I could help in that."
Reid maintained eye contact and did not speak.
Prentiss opened the file to show Settles. "Her name was Gloria Bright."
"According to the missing person's report she was in Utah when she disappeared." Rossi said.
Settles kept his eyes on Reid while Rossi and Prentiss talked.
Rossi took the file and held it up, blocking Settles' view of Reid.
"No, nothing to do with that state." Settles said grabbing the file.
"Why don't you look at her see if you remember." Reid said. "It would have been in May seven years ago."
Settles looked away from Reid for a moment and looked at the picture. "Yes, I do remember her." His attention was again placed on Reid.
"Tell us about her." Prentiss said.
"Why her?" Reid asked. "What made her special to you?"
This got a reaction from Settles. "You know what was funny? When she pulled her car over she looked sick. I didn't know why she was. I will tell you that I didn't give her that black eye. She had the shiner already."
"Where was she pulled over?" Rossi asked.
"Side road not far from Denver." Settles answered. "She got off the highway and was going down the two lane."
"What did you do with the car?" Rossi asked.
"I sold the car to chop shop. Made a bit of money of of that thing." Settles answered. "Not to bad of a ride. I would have preferred my truck. It got me around."
"Is that all?" Prentiss asked.
"Had bags in the back. I guess she was running from something." Settles answered. "You got more files there. Do I get more pictures city boy?"
"Are there more victims?" Reid asked.
"You brought them, at least let me see them."
Rossi responded by getting up and placing the files back in the box.
"The only thing you are going to see today is the inside of this prison." Reid replied.
"Don't worry I think you will get more than that Dr. Reid." Settles said. "O yeah Spencer you will be crying out. I know you are a screamer."
The agents started walking out.
"I will be keeping my out of for you." Settles said. "Come back soon and I might tell you about half the things I have heard since I have been in here."
None of the agents said a word as they closed the door on Settles.
The three knew that there weren't any further victims. At least they got an answer about Gloria Bright.
When they got out of the prison the three quickly came to a conclusion about the victim
"Gloria Bright was trying to escape an abusive relationship." Prentiss said.
"Rather than finding freedom she had found Settles." Rossi said.
"If we had Garcia look into it, I am sure we would find evidence." Reid said. "She probably found an opportunity to run and she took it.
At the hotel, the team had called back to BAU. They would catch a flight back early in the morning. No matter how brief the actual interview was, the situation was exhausting.
Rossi told Hotch that there weren't any more victims. Settles had only hoped to see additional crime photos.
Prentiss told Garcia to run a search on Bright.
It did not take long before Garcia had found something. Bright was married. There were a couple of questionable trips to the emergency room in her history. Garcia had also found that everything was in her husband's name. Gloria did not have access to the bank accounts or any other of the martial assets. She was wife in name only.
What Garica had found would have made even the most novice of profilers suspect spousal abuse.
Reid in the meantime made a phone call.
"Hello," a calm voice said on the other end.
"Hello, Amy." Reid said. "It's Dr. Spencer Reid."
"Spencer!" Amy said excited. "It's been a long time."
"Seven years." Reid answered.
"Sounds right." Amy said. "Are you still with the FBI?"
"Yes I am," Reid said. "How about you? How are you?"
"Twins actually, they are three now. I got married about five years ago." Amy answered. Her voice then turned serious. "Now, unless something has changed, you never called me Amy unless you want something."
"I came across a book and I thought I saw your name, A.M. Young, as a contributor."
There was a silence on the other end.
"You only used that name for other purposes," Reid continued.
"You had an interesting case, something that appeared other worldly." Amy said.
"That is accurate," Reid said. "Lycanthrope."
"What do you need to know?" Amy asked in a serious tone. She knew what Reid was asking about.