Within minutes of their arrival in the area, the rest of the BAU team had arrested Mike LaBoerelle. They found him trying to steal a car, and brought him into custody immediately.
When Reid hung up the phone, and relayed the information to Zoe, he'd never seen her look so relieved.
"One step closer to this being over." Reid said, and she put her hand over her mouth, trying to contain her smile. That was the thing about her smile, Reid noticed, it was like once it started, it was hard to stop it. It was so wide, and bright, her entire face lit up. "He knows where the unsub is. He's got to. Listen, once we know where he is, you can get back to normal. I mean, what is considered normal after all this."
She sighed, wiggling her nose. "What do we have to do today? I mean, am I stuck in that hotel another night, or can I start looking for an apartment?"
"I think that's fine. Right now, though, how about you call your insurance agent, I need to call Garcia really fast. I'll be right outside."
She left her on the couch, shuffling through her purse for her insurance information.
"Hey, Garcia, can you do me a favor?" he asked her as soon as she picked up the phone. "Only if you have a second."
"I'm free as a bird, my dear, what's up?"
"I was wondering if you could compile all the listings for apartments in the area, if you do it through your engines you can probably find it faster than, like, craigslist right?"
"Psh, I thought you had a real challenge for me. Standby. Do you want me to send this to you?"
"Could you actually print it out and I'll get it at the office?"
"Yeah, what's this for anyways?"
"Thanks, Garcia." he said with a smile, snapping his phone shut.
Mike LaBoerelle sat at the interview table with Morgan across from him. His eyes remained shifty, and he couldn't keep his hands still. He was balding, already, even at 22, and had black stubble across his face.
"Listen, I got paid to do this, I ain't do this lady any harm."
"There's a sexual assault charge against you by her from high school."
"Psh, that was ages ago. And my lawyer said those charges were dropped, so it don't matter."
"It does matter, actually." Morgan said slowly. "Let me ask you something, did this man hire you to rape her, or did he seek you out after you already did it?"
"I didn't rape nobody!" the man said.
"Answer the question, was it before or after the alleged assault?"
"After." the man admitted. "He came to me after I did it, saying he was proud of me, that only real men had the courage to take what they wanted. I said I didn't do nothing, but he didn't believe me. He said he'd be in touch with me someday. That he'd need my help." the man shrugged. "6 months ago, he called me. Paid me good, too."
"What did he have you do?" he said.
"Look, I don't think it's a good idea if I say anything without a lawyer."
"We can get you a deal if you help us. We need to know where this guy is."
"Why, whadd he do?" Mike asked. "I thought he was just following this chick, whatever her name is. Said he wanted to help her, to show her the light."
"How much did he pay you to harass her? The rocks through the windows, the house being burnt down. You installed cameras in her home, or paid someone to do it."
"You can really help me out if I tell you this stuff?" he leaned forward, sniffing loudly.
"We can get you a deal." Morgan said begrudgingly. "Now tell me what you know. I need a name, address, contact information, description. Anything you know, we need to know too."
Spencer and Zoe packed up at the hotel and headed for the SUV. Once they were safely in the car, Reid's phone rang.
"We're on our way to the ubsub's current location, a farmhouse he rented outside the city. LaBoerelle gave us a name, Dale Thomas, ask her if it sounds familiar."
"Dale Thomas ring any bells, Zoe?" he said. She thought for a moment, and then shook her head, her ponytail swinging. "No, she doesn't know him."
"Alright. I'll let you know what happens. Bring Zoe back to the BAU. Get her statement, she might have to stand trial in court if we find this guy. I'll let you know."
"Okay, good luck."
"Is Dale Thomas the man who did this?" she asked after he hung up.
"Looks to be that way."
"And they found him?" she asked.
"They've got an address, but they haven't physically arrested him, no."
She swallowed, tucking her legs underneath her and propping her arm on the windowsill.
"It'll be okay soon, though, don't worry."
"Yeah, I hope so." she said. "Hey, can we maybe stop at my house, actually? I know it's kind of a big favor, but look, if there's anything to salvage I want to see what I'm up against."
His brow furrowed, and then relaxed. "I don't think it'll be an issue. I'm hoping the damage isn't too bad."
"Trust me, so am I."
He detoured, taking a turn to get towards her house. He glanced in the mirror behind him, seeing if the car that was following him a moment before would make the turn. Nope.
He was familiar with the streets now - his memory helped but so did the experience of navigating them a few times.
Her house was taped off, although nobody was around. He pulled into the driveway, and she jumped out, him close behind. She quickly walked up the steps, ducking under the tape, and through the charred door frame. The front of the house seemed to have gotten the worst of it - there were no walls left, just blackened pieces of furniture. As they crunched through the rubble, Reid didn't hear the near silent footsteps approaching him from behind.
The cold barrel of the gun touched his neck, and Reid froze.
"Zoe-" he began, adrenaline rushing through his veins and his hand instinctively reaching for his sidearm.
"No, no, no Agent Reid." the voice said from behind him. A hand grabbed his gun and tossed it away. Zoe spun around, and nearly fell over.
"Spencer," she whispered.
"Run, right now, just run."
"If you run, Zoe, honey, I'll blow this guy's head right off. And you seem pretty attached to him, don't you?" Dale said.
She couldn't move. She looked at the man's face - old, wrinkled, with dark cold eyes and a sneer.
"Zoe, it's okay, just go." Spencer said slowly.
"No. He's not taking anything else from me." she said quietly. Spencer closed his eyes. He knew if he tried to disarm him the gun would fire, and that he didn't want to risk his life, or, more importantly, Zoe's.
"Let him go." she said. Her voice shook as she spoke, but her fists were clenched and her eyes screamed with anger.
"I need you before I can let him go." Dale said.
"Well, you have me. I'm right here. Let him go, point it at me, not him."
Dale pushed Spencer aside, and pointed the gun at her face. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Make any sudden move, Agent, and I'll kill her." he said. "But you probably already figured that out, huh?"
"Look at me Zoe," Spencer said calmly. "Remember what I said a minute ago, in the car?"
"Shut up," Dale said, irritated. She closed her eyes and nodded. "Come here, Zoe." Dale ordered, walking towards her. He pressed the barrel against her temple, and spun her around, so he was behind her. "We're going to take a little field trip, and you can see what I was going to do to your mommy all those years ago."
She stayed silent, tears in her eyes. Reid was shaking, at a loss of what to do.
"Before that moron LaBoerelle got caught, I was planning on taking the both of you, so your new boyfriend could see everything I'm going to do to you. However, I'm not stupid, and I know that I would probably be overpowered, so instead, I'll make you a nice little video, alright, Agent? Play it for your grandkids someday."
He turned around, backing out of the house. Spencer didn't move, his eyes remained locked on Zoe.
Remember what I said Zoe's ears rang with the words. It'll be okay soon.
They reached the car across the street, and with a sudden movement, Dale smashed Zoe in the back of the head with the barrel of the gun, and she slumped onto the pavement.
"No!" Spencer shouted, beginning to run towards her.
"Not another step, Agent!" Dale screamed, pointing the gun back down at Zoe. "She'll be dead in seconds and I'll still have her body to have fun with. So don't move."
Spencer stopped, reaching again for his sidearm, but then remembering. Dale opened the car door and lifted Zoe into the backseat, pushing her head in first. A moment later, he stepped into the drivers seat, saluted Spencer, and tore away.
Reid never moved faster in his life. He ran to the SUV and jumped in, backing out, but instead of following the car, he went in the opposite direction.
He mentally noted the interlocked grid of the suburban development, mapping out Dale's escape route. He needed to hit him on the driver's side, hard enough to render him immobile but soft enough so no permanent damage would befall Zoe. He calculated about 30 miles an hour, since Zoe wasn't buckled.
Left, right, left, left, again, and he was ahead of Dale. He waited for a second, his brain working out every speed and possible outcome, and then sped towards the intersection.
BAM
Right on target, the SUV hit the small car with sudden force, launching it across the intersection. He saw Dale's face, and knew he had surprised him.
He leaned over, grabbing the gun from the glove compartment, and jumped out. Dale had left the window rolled down, so Spencer could see him clearly. Slumped over the steering wheel, the man laid unconscious. Reid grabbed his gun and tossed it behind him, and then quickly reached for his handcuffs, and attached one of Dale's wrist to the door.
Then, he reached for the back door. Zoe also lay unconscious, but he could see her chest moving up and down with breath. Her forehead was bleeding. He reached over her body and grabbed her under her arms, and lifted her out of the car, laying her down on the side walk. He checked her pulse, and then pulled out his phone.
"Garcia?" he said helplessly. "Can you please send some squad cars and an ambulance to my current location, my hands are shaking too much to dial anyone else."
He set the phone on the ground, pressing speaker, and tried to assess what injuries she had. A moment later, Garcia's voice spoke up.
"They're on their way. Oh, babyboy, what happened?"
"I just...I got him now." he paused. "And it's over."
A/N: Conclusion very very soon, everyone! Sorry for the long chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. The next series title will be announced in the upcoming chapter, following Reid and Zoe's relationship, which I assure you, will be just GRAND:) Review, please, and I should have the next chapter up tomorrow. Thanks again for reading!