Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.
A/N: Shout out to Natasha, Charis, Tayla, and tannerose5 for reviewing chapter 9.
With the mention of a holiday weekend in this chapter, I decided that this chapter takes place around Martian Luther King Jr. Day since I know that there are schools that are closed on that day.
I found out from my mom that she dated my father for two months before they got engaged, and they were married for over 15 years before they got divorced (I was born a year and a month after they got married.).
My family and I ended up adopting an 11 month old female mutt named Zubie (Orginal name Rachel) who's a refugee from Hurricane Irma to give Zoey (the white puppy in my avatar photo) a playmate since losing Cleatus and then Rootbeer caused Zoey to become depressed.
Spencer looked at Maeve as they worked on packing books that they didn't need.
"As much as I enjoyed living in this apartment, I'll be glad when we move." said Spencer.
"Due to the rough year you had last year?" asked Maeve.
Spencer nodded.
"It will be good to make new memories in the house we bought instead of this apartment where I have dark memories." said Spencer.
"Speaking of new memories, I need to tell you something." said Maeve.
Just before Spencer could respond his cellphone rang, and a few minutes later he looked at Maeve.
"You'll have to tell me when I get back since there are two missing teenage girls in Chula Vista." said Spencer as he rushed towards his gun safe.
A few minutes later Maeve was giving Spencer a kiss.
"Stay safe." said Maeve before she watched her husband leave the apartment.
Later on that night Spencer got out of the SUV and headed to the crime scene with his teammates.
"Have you ID'd the body?" asked Hotch.
"It's a girl." said Detective Payton.
"One of the missing girls?" asked Hotch.
"All I can tell you right now is it's a girl." said Detective Payton.
"Did you draw up a list of those involved in the search?" asked Morgan.
"You're gonna find the parents of the girls on that list." said Detective Payton.
"Please tell me they didn't discover the body." said Emily.
"No. As soon as our dogs caught her scent, we kept them away from the scene." said Detective Payton.
"She'd been missing 18 hours?" asked Spencer.
"That's correct. We found the body 5 hours ago." said Detective Payton.
"The parents have been here all this time?" asked JJ.
"Yeah. And I'm running out of excuses." said Detective Payton.
"I'm gonna go talk to them." said JJ.
"JJ, I'll come with you." said Morgan as he followed JJ.
"Thanks. I gotta be honest, guys. I'm glad you're all here, because I have never seen anything like that." said Detective Payton.
"Her face and her hands have been obliterated." said Hotch.
A few minutes later Spencer was crouching near the girl's body with Emily near him.
"Developed bruises, cuts, layer upon layer." said Emily.
"Bindings cut deep into her flesh." said Spencer.
"And around her neck there's heavy bruising. She was strangled to death." said Emily.
"A belt was used. You can see the indentation marks of a buckle." said Spencer.
"But why destroy her hands and face?" asked Detective Payton.
"It indicates she knew the attacker." said Hotch.
"By destroying her ID, They're hoping to delay you making a connection between the victim and the unsub." said Rossi.
"It gives him time to get away." said Hotch.
"Do you think the other girl's still alive?" asked Detective Payton.
"Until we find her body, we should assume she is." said Rossi.
"One thing's for sure- this is only the dump site. We need to figure out where she was killed." said Hotch just as Jack Vaughn came into view.
"And which girl we're looking for." said Rossi.
Spencer dipped his head a bit as he watched Jack console the grieving father before Jack led Owen away before Hotch looked at Detective Payton.
"I want Lindsey's picture everywhere." said Hotch.
"What they did to Katie took a long time. It was very violent and we know Katie screamed. Yet no calls from complaining neighbors. Why?" asked Rossi.
"They're weren't any." said Detective Payton.
Spencer started heading towards the room that held a clear board map of Chula Vista.
"The abduction site is nine miles north of the dump site on the edge of town. Both are indicators of a comfort zone, so I'm assuming the kill site is somewhere between these two points." said Spencer as he pointed at the map.
"That's a wide area." said Detective Payton.
"Do a grid search. Narrow it down to wooded areas, industrial sites, abandoned houses. He needed privacy and he needed a controlled environment." instructed Hotch.
"What's critical right now is a heavy police presence." said Rossi.
"Rossi, in the morning I want you, Reid, Morgan to go in and search Jack Vaughan's house. Prentiss, you and I will go to where the girls were last seen." said Hotch.
Spencer was going through one of the nightstands in Lindsey's bedroom while Pat and Jack stood watching Spencer, Rossi, and Morgan.
"What happened to Lindsey's mother?" asked Rossi.
"Does it matter?" asked Pat.
"It does to Lindsey." said Rossi.
"It's called victimology. It helps us understand more about Lindsey." said Spencer.
"How?" asked Jack.
"How she carries herself. How she interacts socially with others." said Morgan.
"She's just like any other 15-year-old." said Jack.
"No, she's not." said Rossi.
"I'm sorry?" asked Jack.
"Everything in our house is an externalization of ourselves." said Spencer.
"This room isn't what you'd expect of a teenage girl. No JT posters. No framed pictures. No journals, no cuddly toys. The walls are a mute tone. All this suggests that Lindsey keeps herself hidden. She's shy and... Shares very little with others." said Morgan.
"Except to one person- Katie." said Spencer as his work cellphone rang causing him to see a call from Garcia, "Garcia?" asked Spencer as he made his way out of the room.
"Reid, I ran a check on the folks involved in the search. All good. Nice neighborhood, no sexual offenders. But, here's the big news. I found a blog Katie ran on Faceplace TV. She talks a lot about Lindsey, and, boy, she did not like Lindsey's dad. Lindsey and Jack moved to Chula Vista 6 years ago. Up until 9, according to Katie, Lindsey lived in Maine. Jack owned a fishing boat with his 3 brothers, mom stayed at home. But then, tragedy struck. Fish stock went down, dad was forced to sell his boat, the family fell apart, mom died in a car accident." said Garcia.
Spencer looked at Jack's laptop as he sat down by as he thought about a familiar book.
"It sounds familiar." said Spencer.
"It should. It's the exact life story of a girl named Lindsey in a book called the "Emerald Sea of Dreams". I've read it like 5 times." said Garcia while Spencer looked behind him before focusing on the computer again, "If Lindsey stole her name and her story from a book, why didn't her father say anything about it?" asked Garcia.
Spencer looked into Jack's computer.
"And his computer's set to automatically clear the web browser history and wipe the temp file on a daily basis." said Spencer.
"Give me his IP address." said Garcia.
Spencer quickly looked up the information.
"374..." said Spencer before turning around to check his surroundings, "54.12.3." finished Spencer.
"Nothing. Must be using a gray box proxy server. It makes tracking his internet history impossible." said Garcia.
"Um." said Spencer just as he heard a voice from behind him.
" I help you?" asked Jack.
Spencer quickly turned around to look at Lindsey's father.
"Reid?" asked Garcia.
Spencer quickly hung up.
"I was just, uh, checking to see if Lindsey had contacted anyone on the internet. Predators tend to- tend to do that." said Spencer as he stood up.
"Is that right?" asked Jack.
"Yes. Statistically, actually, 43% of predators-" rambled Spencer.
"Lindsey doesn't like computers." said Jack.
Spencer thought about his own aversion to technology despite using computers when he had to.
"Oh. Cool. Excuse me." said Spencer before walking away so he could tell Rossi what he found out.
A few minutes later Spencer was standing by Rossi who was looking at Jack and his friend Pat.
"Doesn't look much like a home. State-of-the-art security system, but the furniture looks rented." said Rossi.
"The walls are bare of any real art. The shelves are devoid of any family photos." said Morgan.
"Spyware wipes your computer file history daily." said Spencer.
"What are you getting at, agent?" asked Pat.
"In the recording, Katie said what you'd expect of any teenager about to die. She begged for her life. Lindsey did exactly the opposite." said Rossi.
"Which is what?" asked Jack.
"Lindsey's emotional response and the- and the words that she chose to say in a situation as violent as the one she faced... Strongly suggests-" said Spencer.
"Look Lindsey was either coached or she's experienced sexual abuse before." said Rossi.
"You son of a bitch!" yelled Jack as Pat grabbed him, "No! Let me go!" shouted Jack.
Morgan quickly noticed the gun tucked into Pat's back.
"Gun!" shouted Morgan causing Spencer and Rossi to pull out their Glocks, "Put your hands where I can see them, both of you! Do not move!" ordered Morgan.
Jack put his hands into the air while Pat looked at the three agents.
"Stop! OK? OK, just calm down. I'm gonna reach into my pocket... And I'm gonna take out a badge. Just calm down. OK?" asked Pat as he held up a badge, "United States Marshal. Jack and Lindsey are under my authority." said Pat as he held up a badge.
"Which is what?" asked Rossi.
"Witness protection." said Morgan as he holstered his gun causing Spencer and Rossi to follow suit.
Hotch came into the house.
"What's going on?" demanded Hotch.
"Jack's in witness protection." said Morgan.
"10 years. Must be real important." said Rossi.
Hotch looked at Jack and his protector.
"Why didn't you tell us immediately?" asked Hotch.
"Because he's a state's witness whose identity needs to be protected at all costs." said Pat before looking at his charge, "You know, Jack, this may not have anything to do with-." said Pat.
"With what? His past?" asked Rossi.
"Jack, every person in this room, with the exception of him, is here for your daughter." said Hotch.
"If this does have anything to do with me, they'll be coming out of Boston. Irish-American. Two or more men." said Jack.
"Let's get them back to the station and keep them there until this is over." said Hotch.
A few seconds later Spencer was following Morgan and Rossi as they escorted Jack to an SUV while Emily, JJ, and Detective Payton kept Owen from going towards Jack.
The next morning Hotch looked at Jack.
"Who do you work for?" asked Hotch.
"The McCrelan corporation, from Boston." said Jack.
"I love how you guys sell that. By "corporation, " you mean the mob, don't you?" asked Morgan.
"No one's been able to get anything on them." said Pat.
"Until now." said Rossi.
"That's because they murdered anyone who was a threat to them, civilians and cops alike." said Emily.
"Is that what you did, Jack? Did you eliminate the threat? Do those pills help the memories, or do they just hide the real Jack?" asked Hotch.
"The only thing that keeps me alive is Lindsey." said Jack.
"What they did to Katie, do you think that was a message to you?" asked Hotch.
"If it is, it's working." said Jack.
"Do you recognize the method?" asked Hotch.
"I didn't send messages. I just went straight to the source." said Jack.
"In two weeks' time, the McCrelan brothers will face trial." said Pat.
"It looks like the McCrelans are gonna walk." said Morgan just as Detective Payton's cellphone rang.
"Where?" asked Detective Payton causing everyone to look at him, "All right. Thanks." said Detective Payton before hanging up.
"You were right. We just found something in an abandoned house." said Detective Payton.
"Lindsey?" asked Jack.
"Where, exactly?" asked Hotch.
Detective Payton pointed at the map.
"Here. On the outskirts of town." said Detective Payton.
"It's still in the comfort zone." said Spencer.
"What does that mean?" asked Detective Payton.
"It means the unsubs are local. Still here." said Rossi.
"Let's go." said Hotch.
"Agent Hotchner. Whatever you find, I want to see her." said Jack.
A Kevlar vest clad Spencer got out of the backseat of the SUV that Hotch was driving when Hotch looked back at Spencer.
"What is it to the dump site, five miles?" asked Hotch.
"6.2 miles south." said Spencer as he headed towards the house.
"Why?" asked Detective Payton.
"Why didn't they dump Katie's body on the other side of town?" asked Morgan.
"And risk heading out on the open road while everyone was out looking for the girls." said Emily.
"Something forced them to move on." said Rossi as everyone donned gloves.
A few seconds later Spencer was heading into the back of the house before rejoining his teammates.
"Why obliterate the ID, and hide the body?" asked Rossi.
"Why not go straight to the source?" asked Hotch.
"Garcia checked all the names against the ICE database and nothing." said Morgan.
"Katie and Lindsey may have left the movie theater of their own free will, but they sure didn't count on coming here." said Hotch.
"So this has nothing to do with the mob?" asked Detective Payton.
"Hey, guys, this blood trail goes all the way out the back here. Must have run out this way." said Morgan as everyone followed him.
Spencer ducked a bit so he could go through a broken fence.
"Maybe it was Lindsey." said Rossi.
"Well, whoever it was, they lost a lot of blood." said Emil.
Spencer looked at the trail.
"It's thinner the further we go." said Spencer.
"It's an arterial bleed. And it stops here." said Emily.
"OK, spread out. Search the grounds and every house." said Hotch.
Spencer quickly pulled out his gun and quickly went off to do his own search, and a 10 minutes later Spencer heard Hotch's voice in his ear.
"Guys, the last house on the left, second floor. I've got something." said Hotch.
Instead of presenting the profile with his teammates, Spencer was working on the geographical profile while talking to Garcia.
Check every high school in the Chula Vista area, males between the ages of 15 and 18." said Spencer.
"OK. Chula Vista has seven public schools and three private schools, so I'm gonna need more than that." said Garcia.
"Uh, let's see here." said Spencer as he grabbed the picture of the dead teenage unsub, "Brown hair, 5'9", approximately 142 pounds." said Spencer.
"More." said Garcia.
Spencer looked at the map.
"Most of the activity's in the southeastern district. The socio-economic dynamic's predominantly working class. Look within a three-mile radius of the castle park area." said Spencer.
"Two high schools." said Garcia.
"Start with the largest." said Spencer.
"OK, let's see what we got. I got, like, five faces." said Garcia before she recognized a face, "Jinkies. Doug Silverman, 18 years old." said Garcia.
"Thanks, Garcia." said Spencer before hanging up.
A minute later Spencer entered the room where the rest of his teammates were.
"And the dominant male, in order to maintain control, attacked him." said Hotch before he saw Spencer come forward.
"Douglas Silverman, 18 years old." said Spencer as he posted a photo of Doug onto the bulletin board.
"We need to interview kids in his class, parents, teachers, find out who his friends were." said Hotch.
"It's at least two or more boys. One older, early to mid-20s." said Rossi.
"He'll think of himself as a real badass, somebody who broke the rules, defied the system." said Morgan.
"And have flunked or gotten kicked out of high school, possibly the same one. He'll also have a record- petty theft, larceny." said Emily.
"But Douglas Silverman's been missing for two days. How come no one's called?" asked Detective Payton.
"It's a three day weekend. His parents are out of town, or he called, said he's OK." said JJ.
"And now that the weekend's over, I can tell you with what's happened, it's gonna end violently." said Hotch.
Spencer stood by the bulletin board listening to Jack talk to Rossi.
"I had to. I can't afford to forget a face. His I've never seen." said Jack.
"Maybe these guys, she didn't want you to meet, afraid of what you might say or do." said Rossi.
"Lindsey and I don't have any secrets." said Jack.
"That's not quite true, though, is it?" asked Rossi.
"No, it is true. She knows who I am, what I was." said Jack.
"10 years ago your wife died in a car accident. Is that why you turned state witness?" asked Rossi.
"I promised my wife on her death bed that I would do whatever was necessary to protect Lindsey." said Jack.
"Did you tell Lindsey it was supposed to be you in that car and not her mom?" asked Rossi.
"Yes." said Jack.
"Why, then, with all that you taught her, would she allow herself to get caught up in this?" asked Rossi.
"She wouldn't." said Jack.
"What about Katie?" asked Rossi.
A minute later Spencer pulled out his phone and called Garcia.
"Go back to high school boys who flunked out or got kicked out. Go back 10 years." said Spencer.
"I think Katie's talking about him right now." said Garcia.
"Thanks, Garcia." said Spencer.
After Spencer was given a name, he was talking with Garcia through video chat.
"OK, I got three Ryans." said Garcia.
"The Ryan we're looking for probably went to high school with Lindsey and Katie a few years back. He got expelled or at least flunked out." said Spencer just as Katie's father entered the room.
"Ryan Phillips. He was expelled for smoking pot years ago." said Garcia.
Spencer quickly got up and went into the room where Owen was in and saw a pill bottle while the room was empty.
"Oh, no." said Spencer.
"Reid, what's going on?" asked Garcia.
A beaten up Pat Mannan entered the room.
"He's taken my car. The bastard took my car." said Pat as he grabbed his radio, "This is Pat Mannan. All units, all units, I want an APB out on Jack Vaughan." said Pat while Spencer used the land line to call his teammates.
Spencer was quickly working on the geographical profile when Pat came over to him.
"You gotta find him, and fast." said Pat.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" asked Spencer.
"Coloring in a map." said Pat.
"All the activity is focused in the southeastern district. The abduction site, the dump site, Ryan Phillips' house." said Spencer just as an office approached Pat.
"There's gunshots coming from Jackson street." said Pat before looking at Spencer who was furiously working on his geographical profile, "Are you coming?" asked Pat.
A few minutes later Spencer got Hotch on the phone.
"Reid, good news, please." said Hotch.
"After inputting all the sites, I've come up with a 2-dimensional probability service overlay map that indicates the offenders' operating area." said Spencer.
"Reid, where is he?" asked Hotch.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I think he's taken her to the Mayford High School two blocks from here." said Spencer.
"I'll meet you there, and Reid..." said Hotch causing him to think back to witnessing Spencer's temporary death nearly a year ago, "Be careful since you have a wife who's expecting you to come home safe." said Hotch.
Spencer instantly knew that Hotch was thinking about his near death experience that happened over 11 months ago and how long it took him to get back to his normal self.
"Thanks." said Spencer before hanging up.
A few minutes later Spencer was driving one of the cars to the high school, and a few minutes later he found the room where Ryan was holding Lindsey.
"Kill him! Kill him, daddy!" shouted Lindsey.
Spencer quickly stormed into the bathroom and pointed his gun at Jack.
"Put the gun down!" ordered Spencer.
"Please! Please help me!" said Ryan.
"Jack, put down the gun." ordered Spencer.
"She begged him to stop and he laughed at her! He laughed at her!" cried Lindsey.
"I didn't laugh at her. I would change it if I could. But I can't. Please... Just don't kill me." pleaded Ryan.
"Jack... You swore to your wife you'd protect Lindsey. Listen to her, Jack. Listen to what she wants. She's- she's begging you to kill somebody right in front of her. What do you think your wife wanted you to protect her from? Jack... Your life has been, uh... It's been about violence, and if... You do this, Lindsey's will be, too. Do you want that?" asked Spencer.
"No, you don't want that!" said Ryan.
"When does it end, Jack?" asked Spencer.
"Put down the gun!" cried Ryan.
"Kill him." cried Lindsey.
"When does it stop?" asked Spencer.
Jack looked at his daughter.
"Tomorrow." said Jack before shooting Ryan in the head.
Spencer stood in shock as he took in the scene in front of him, and two minutes later Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan were in the room with him before Morgan looked at him.
"You OK, Reid?" asked Morgan.
Hotch looked at his youngest agent who was in shock causing him to make a mental note to contact Maeve and have her wait for Spencer at the BAU.
"I-I tried. I tried, really. I couldn't..." whispered Spencer before looking at Hotch and Rossi, "What's gonna happen to Jack?" asked Spencer.
"It depends... How important a witness he is." said Rossi.
Morgan looked at Spencer as he rested a hand on his shoulder.
Hotch watched Spencer who was trying sleeping on the couch on the jet when he heard Spencer mumble.
"I don't want it." mumbled Spencer as he tossed and turned on the couch.
Hotch quickly got up and crouched down by Spencer.
"Reid wake up." said Hotch as he shook his youngest agent, "Your not in Georgia, but on the jet with the rest of the team and me." said Hotch.
After spending a minute of trying to wake up Spencer by repeating the mantra, Hotch sighed in relief when Spencer woke up.
"Hotch?" asked Spencer.
"Your safe." said Hotch.
Spencer looked around and sighed in relief when he saw that he was on the jet with his teammates who were either still sleeping or giving him concerned looks.
A few seconds later Spencer surprised Hotch by pulling him into a hug causing Hotch to hug the young agent back, and after Hotch released Spencer, he looked at his youngest agent.
"Do you want to tell me about the nightmare?" asked Hotch as he used a tone to warn Spencer that he wasn't taking no for an answer.
Spencer quickly told Hotch about the nightmare, and when he was finished, Hotch looked at his youngest agent.
"We have two hours before we land, so do you think you can go back to sleep?" asked Hotch quietly.
"I think so." said Spencer before looking at Hotch, "Sometimes I really hate having an eidetic memory." said Spencer.
"I know, and you should think about making an appointment with Dr. Moss." said Hotch.
Spencer nodded before he laid back down and fell asleep.
A minute later Hotch was sitting across from Rossi who opened his eyes.
"Did something happen to Reid before I came back?" asked Rossi.
Hotch looked around to make sure that Spencer, Emily, JJ, and Morgan were asleep.
"Over 11 months ago Reid was abducted and held captive by an unsub in Georgia for nearly three days." said Hotch as he started to explain the details of the case while not mentioning the Dilaudid, and when he was finished he looked at Rossi, "It took a long time for Reid to be back to his normal self, and since Gideon left I was worried about the possibility of him distancing himself again until he told me about Maeve." said Hotch.
"She's definitely good for him." said Rossi.
"I'm glad he met her when he did because if he didn't, I would have had Reid sleep on my couch tonight." said Hotch as he watched his youngest agent sleep.
"You really care about him." said Rossi.
"Despite the nearly 10 year age difference he's like a second son to me, and I started working with him when he was a 21 year old cadet in the academy." said Hotch before looking at Rossi, "If I ever see William Reid, I would really punch him for leaving him with his mentally ill mother." said Hotch.
"I would too." said Rossi.
"So you know about his parents?" asked Hotch.
"He told me in Montana." said Rossi.
Hotch's phone vibrated and he saw a text from Maeve.
"I ended up calling Maeve and asked her to wait at the BAU for us since Reid's not in the condition to drive or take the train home." said Hotch.
"Probably a good idea." said Rossi.
Spencer entered the bullpen with his teammates, and a few seconds later he was being engulfed in a hug by Maeve.
"Aaron called me and asked me to be waiting here for you." said Maeve.
Spencer looked at his boss who was standing with Rossi, JJ, Morgan, Emily, and Garcia.
"Thanks." said Spencer.
Maeve looked into her husband's eyes before leaning towards his ear.
"You should think about being more careful because I'm nine weeks pregnant." whispered Maeve.
Spencer broke out of the hug and looked at Maeve in shock as he did the math of the possible conception date.
"Really?" asked Spencer.
"I was trying to tell you before you got called in." whispered Maeve before smiling a bit, "Even though it might be too soon for us, we both know the statistics about how effective birth control can be." said Maeve.
Spencer quickly hugged and kissed Maeve.
"What's going on?" asked Garcia.
Maeve looked at her husband.
"Should we tell them?" asked Maeve.
"Tell us what?" asked Garcia.
"We're surrounded by profilers." said Spencer before looking at his teammates, "I'm going to be a dad." grinned Spencer.
A few seconds later Spencer and Maeve were being hugged or patted on the back by Spencer's teammates before Maeve was bombarded with questions before Maeve took Spencer home.
A/N: At first I was going to have Spencer and Maeve give birth to their first child the day after Henry is born, but I decided that with what Spencer witnessed in 3rd Life, I decided that Spencer needed good news much sooner which will be a reason why he will attend Beltway Clean Cops.