The team was still gone on Thursday but Garcia called me and told me come to Quantico and we would have Domino's deliver pizza. I couldn't resist; the apartment was getting somewhat lonely, even though Emily called several times a day and Reid called me at least once. I especially enjoyed his calls because he always seemed so down when I answered the phone, but by the time I finished the conversation, he sounded happier. It made me feel good to know that I was boosting his spirits.
Emily had told me that they were working a case in Augusta, Maine, so when I got home from school on Thursday, I hurried through my homework and then got on the computer for a few minutes before heading to the FBI office to hang out with Penelope.
I Googled newspapers in Augusta, Maine and found out that someone was kidnapping stay-at-home moms while they went about their mundane, everyday tasks. Three women had already been discovered in the woods nearby. I swallowed hard and resisted the urge to cry when I saw that one woman was still missing. It made me feel sick to my stomach.
Turning off the laptop quickly, I grabbed my bag, Emily's car keys, and my cell phone, then headed out to Quantico.
Garcia was ecstatic when I arrived. "Thank goodness you are here!" she exclaimed. "The team hasn't needed my genius in several hours and I'm bored to death. Besides, everyone has already gone home here at the office."
I hugged her back, genuinely happy to see her. I had been getting lonely at night and I didn't particularly like being home alone. "Well, I'm glad I could help. Pizza sounded too good to pass up and I brought some freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies." I held up the Ziploc bag of cookies that I'd baked while doing my homework.
Penelope's eyes lit up. "Yummy! Those are my #2 weakness in life."
"What's the second?" I asked curiously.
"Derek Morgan, of course! Have you ever seen anyone so gorgeous in your life before?"
I followed Garcia to her office. "He is pretty hot, I have to admit. But, Hotch is nice looking and Reid's pretty cute." I blushed when I mentioned Reid, but luckily Garcia didn't notice that.
"Morgan is my ray of sunshine on a stormy day. He has been since I met him. We're always teasing one another and he calls me 'baby girl' all the time. It's so sweet and sexy!" Garcia giggled and twirled a feathery pink pen in her fingers.
"So, do you two date?" I wanted to know. Emily hadn't mentioned anything about that, but I didn't know.
"Oh no, sweetheart. Derek loves me and I love him, but we're just like brother and sister. And trust me, I would never date my brother!"
"What about Spencer?" I asked, trying to appear innocent. "Does he have a girlfriend?"
"I'm not entirely certain that our boy genius has ever even been on a date," Penelope declared, kissing a picture she had of her and Reid together. "But he's so sweet and incredibly smart."
I smiled, thinking about what she had just told me. Reid had never really dated. Maybe he didn't like to date. Maybe I was reading too much into the invitation to go see Star Trek.
"Okay, so I was thinking we could go ahead and order some pizza. What kind do you like?"
Thirty minutes later, as Penelope and I demolished an entire medium pepperoni pizza and drank Coke from the machines in the break room down the hall, her phone rang.
"Wouldn't you know!" she exclaimed. "I have company and they need me." She hit a button on her headset and answered her phone, sending me into a chorus of giggles.
"You've reached the FBI's office of sheer brilliance. What can I do for you, my beloved Hotch?" she wanted to know.
"Garcia, I need you to check your email," he told her. "I sent you some photos that we just got in."
As I sat finishing my third slice of pizza, Penelope typed something into her computer and before I had a chance to give her some privacy, pictures of a brutally mutilated body appeared on her screen.
I gasped and almost choked on my pizza when I saw them. What stood out the most to me was the face of a woman, her blue eyes wide open, lying in a pool of blood, her body mangled beyond belief. My stomach churned, but I swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
"Oh my God! This is the woman that was missing! You found her." Despair and gloom filled Garcia's voice and I felt myself starting to gasp for air.
I looked at the woman, thinking about how I could have ended up like that—bleeding out and dead. Garcia would have seen pictures of me, just like she was of that woman now.
Without a word, I got up quietly and walked out of the room. In the hallway, I leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor, burying my face in my hands. I couldn't make myself breathe normally. I was panicking—having an out-of-body experience.
After a few minutes, Penelope came out of her office. "Stella, are you okay?" she asked anxiously. "I didn't mean for you see that. Hotch gave me no warning."
I looked up at her and shook my head. "No, it's okay. I…just…can't…breathe."
"I'm calling Emily," Penelope declared, pulling out her cell phone.
"No!" I exclaimed. "Don't do that. She'll just worry. I'm okay, really." I stood up shakily, leaning against the wall. " I should probably get home, though. It's getting late and I know you have work to do."
Walking almost as if in a daze, I grabbed my bag, keys, and phone and walked out of the office, barely hearing Garcia's goodbyes. I knew she was worried about me, but I couldn't get the images out of my head. They weren't just of that woman though; They were of me just like that—mutilated and disfigured. Lying in the woods, with the team looking at me and sending my photos to Garcia.
I didn't even know when I got in the car, or how long I sat there before my phone rang. I didn't even realize that I was sobbing until I answered it.
"Hello?" My voice was broken and unrecognizable.
"Stella? Is something wrong? Where are you?" Reid asked me.
I sobbed quietly. "I'm in the parking deck at Quantico. I…I didn't trust myself to drive home just yet."
"What's wrong? Garcia said you left in a hurry. She said you saw some photos on her computer." His voice was soft and gentle. He understood what I was feeling.
"I can't stop thinking about how that could've been me in those pictures,
Spencer," I cried. "How you guys could've found me in the woods, bloody and destroyed."
"But we didn't," Reid pointed out very plainly. "You're safe now."
"No, cause there are always other serial killers out there. You're trying to catch one right now. Do I pass them on the street or in the bread aisle?"
Spence was silent for several moments and I knew he was contemplating what to say to me. I hadn't exactly asked easy questions.