Chapter 10

Reid scanned through Owen's school records quickly as he and Hotch walked along the corridor with the counselor.

"As Owen's counselor, what can you tell us about Jordan and Owen?" Aaron asked, looking over at the man.

"Not much. They started dating last year, when Owen was placed into Special Ed..."

"Junior year? Isn't that a bit late?" Hotch interrupted.

"Well, yes... it would have been if he'd been put there for academic reasons..."

"What was the problem?"

"Bad attitude, lack of effort... When Owen applied himself in some classes, he did very well- but it would never last," he led the agents into the main office. "Here we are..."

Spencer moved through the glass doors without ever picking his head up from the file.

"The problem wasn't a 'lack of effort'," Reid stated, becoming more frustrated at what he was reading. "Or even a 'bad attitude' – the A's in math and science, show us he was a gifted student..." his voice becoming tighter as the profile became clearer.

"The D's in English and history tell us he had difficulty reading... the F in Geometry shows a spacial relationship issue, which is further confirmed by his atrocious, illegible handwriting," Reid blew out a breath, aggravated at the whole system. He handed the folder to Hotch.

"All consistent with a brilliant but severely learning disabled student," Hotch agreed with Reid's assessment.

"But his standardized testing didn't support that kind of intelligence," the counselor explained.

Reid cut him off. "With a spacial relationship handicap, it affects your hand/eye co-ordination, he couldn't fill out an answer bubble any easier than he could, say, hit a baseball," he spouted out.

"Which is why he stayed away from sports," Hotch added.

"Sports were a sore spot with his father," the man stated, shaking his head slightly. "I mean, he, uh, joined the wrestling team his freshman year, just to appease his old man, but it didn't work out..."

The phone on the man's desk began to ring, so he stepped around the agents. "Excuse me..." he offered, moving away from them.

Reid paced a bit across the floor, stepping back over to where Hotch was still looking at the file.

"He was probably the smartest kid in class, but he just couldn't prove it," he muttered to his supervisor, looking back down at the folder. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he looked Aaron in the eye.

"Being the smartest kid in class is like being the only kid in class," he told him, trying to convey the level of frustration that the isolation could have brought onto Owen.

"Hotch... they missed all of it..." Spencer said accusingly.

"Schools like this can't meet the specialized needs of every student," Hotch reminded him.

"He gives it everything he's got, over and over and over again- and continues to fail- and the whole time... the whole time... they tell him it's his fault!" Spencer's voice pitched a bit in irritation, his brows furrowed in a frown. "I mean... it makes sense!" he said.

"No," Hotch shook his head. "No it doesn't. An undiagnosed learning disability doesn't add up to this level of violence. Not without severe emotional abuse, you know that," he reminded Reid.

Hotch's cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID.

"Morgan. You've got something?" he asked. Listening for a moment, Hotch nodded. "Okay, yes... have Garcia forward it..."

Reid looked at him.

"Garcia was able to open Owen's computer. They found an m-peg video file stored in there. Morgan says it may have been one of the stressors. We need to watch it..."

"Right," Reid sighed, knowing that whatever was on that file was going to have been traumatic to Owen.

Hotch scrolled through his phone, checking his texts, and then put in another call, setting the phone on speaker. "Ryan... have you and Dave arrived at the school yet?"

"We are actually walking through the doors as we speak, sir..." Scarlett responded.

"Good... JJ has one of Jordan's friends in the school library, to your left. I want you to talk to her also so we have record of what she had to share. Tell Dave I need him in the main office. We've found a video file stored in Owen's computer. I want his take on it."

"Right, yes, sir... Library is right here, now..." she disconnected the call, looking over at Rossi. "Hotch wants you at the main office. I need to listen in on JJ's convo with Jordan's bff..." she tilted her head towards the library door.

"BFF?" Rossi raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, text talk for 'best friends forever'... Maybe she'll have a clue where they are at…" she told him.

"Let's hope so," Dave nodded, starting to head for the office. Scarlett turned, pushing the library doors open.

JJ was standing in front of a desk, talking to a younger girl. They both looked over at Scarlett's entrance.

"Hello, sorry I'm late..." Scarlett offered as she moved to stand beside JJ.

"Eileen, this is Agent Ryan... She's working directly with the local sheriff to try to find Owen and Jordan," JJ told the younger girl.

"Agent Ryan..." Eileen held out her hand.

"Please, call me Scarlett," Scarlett said as she took Eileen's hand in hers, giving it a quick squeeze, holding on to it for a moment. Scarlett looked the girl in the eyes.

"Eileen, more than anything, I want to keep Jordan safe. We want to bring Owen in without anyone else being hurt... Anything you can share with us might help us do that," she explained.

"Eileen was just starting to tell me about Jordan. How she and Jordan became friends," JJ said, looking over at Eileen again. Scarlett leaned back against the desk, relaxing her stance.

"Please, continue..." she offered a smile to Eileen.

"Well, I mean, Jordan is the gentlest girl in the world," Eileen began speaking again in her soft southern drawl. "She'd never hurt anybody," the girl stated emphatically.

Scarlett nodded. "Can you tell us anything about Jordan's father?" she asked.

Eileen sort of shrugged. "He thought Jordan was dumb. She wasn't… I mean, she'd get the answers if you gave her time… but he never did."

"Did he ever hit her?" JJ asked.

Eileen nodded sadly. "She thought that she deserved it, at least until Owen came along," she explained.

"Were they in love?" Scarlett asked.

"Oh, yes ma'am," Eileen stated emphatically, with a smile. "I thought she was going to die when her dad took her phone away… she didn't have a computer, so Owen bought her a smartphone, so she could get email and everything? He even paid the bill, and set it up so it wouldn't ring unless it was Owen or me…"

"Owen took care of her…" Scarlett said softly.

"He tried. Whenever anyone said anything bad about her, he'd stick up for her… Always," she told them.

"What would people say about her?" JJ asked.

"Uh, well, when Jordan was a freshman, there was this senior who took advantage of her," Eileen explained quietly. "He told everyone about it… that's how she and I became friends… I thought she needed someone to look out for her…" she looked away sadly. "I guess I didn't do a very good job…"

"No," Scarlett interceded. "You're wrong… She's lucky to have you as a friend Eileen."

"Yeah?"

"Yes," both Scarlett and JJ assured the younger girl.

"We are done, for now…" JJ told her. "Thank you…"

Jordan picked up her book bag and started to leave.

"Oh…" Scarlett remembered something. "Before you go, could you tell us anything about Kyle Borden?" she asked, bringing up the latest victim's name.

"Uh, Kyle was the senior who took advantage of Jordan," Eileen confirmed. Scarlett closed her eyes, seeing the picture of the scene in her mind. The rage fit, now.

"Thank you," she stated, looking over at JJ. After Eileen left, she filled the other woman in on this piece of information. JJ shook her head.

"Owen is still protecting Jordan," she told Scarlett.

"Let's hope it stays that way…" Scarlett nodded. "The others are in the office, we may as well tell them."

"Right," JJ followed Scarlett through the corridors.