Hello!! I'm overwhelmed with the response I got for the last chapter! Thank you very much. I'm in all of your debt!
This chapter is a bit shorter but it's a pivotal one so I wanted to get it out tonight. I hope you enjoy it!!
Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews and for the helpful advice. I'm taking it all to heart, honest!
Susanne
CHAPTER TWELVE
The BAU took over Sheriff Hicks' office to set up their command center. J.J. was trying to keep the local newspaper and the TV stations under control. The last thing they needed was to advertise the fact that a Federal agent had gone missing while investigating a missing person's case. She would have thought that since she was dealing with a smaller city that it would have been easier to keep things under wraps. She quickly learned that she was wrong.
Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss were trying to develop a profile on the kidnapper. There were so many conflicting aspects to this case that it made creating a profile more of a challenger. While they worked and threw ideas back and forth, Rossi tried to keep his thoughts off of Hotch. It was now three o'clock. It was time for him to take another of the pain killers but Rossi didn't want to phone in case he was sleeping. Unfortunately, at the moment, Hotch was going to have to fend for himself.
OOOOO
Now that Mary knew there were more FBI agents in town the chances of getting caught had become astronomical. She wasn't finished yet. There were still so many things that she wanted to do to her boys. Damn. Getting caught would really screw things up.
Mary's regular staff had shown up for work. There weren't very many customers yet. At the moment she was in the backroom, her purse open. Within its confines, she fingered the ID. She wanted to go back to the cabin. Visions of what she was going to do and what she had all ready done played through her mind. Then a new thought rose to the surface.
Agent Hotchner's face floated before Mary's eyes. The pallor of his skin, the pain in his eyes spoke to her. The pain from losing his subordinate was so obvious, it virtually eclipsed the physical pain the man was in. That appealed to her. Well, who was she to keep him wondering what was happening to his friend? Not only did she have young Reid's ID in her purse, she also had his hotel key.
What if Hotchner wasn't in the hotel room? Mary wondered. What would she do then? Well, the same thing she intended to do anyway, going to the cabin. Her mind made up, Mary went and told Sandra, her most senior worker that she wasn't feeling well and was going to go home for the day. Mary added that she was going to take Monday off as well and asked Sandra to cover her shift. It was the first time in all the months Sandra had worked for her that Mary had taken a day off. She was more than happy to let the other woman take a few days.
The trip to the hotel had Mary on the edge of her seat. Would he be there? Would she be able to get Hotchner out of the room without getting caught? The anticipation was almost intoxicating. While she drove Rachel's SUV, Mary beat the tempo of the song on the radio on the steering wheel. This was just too much damned fun!
The parking lot was relatively empty. Most of the guests had all ready checked out and the new crop had yet to arrive. Mary parked the SUV by the back. She wanted to be able to go out the back either way. She was hoping it would be less obvious.
Being a small town, the security in the hotel was all last century. There were cameras in the halls but they went to VCR's whose tapes were recycled daily. The owner had never had a problem and honestly didn't expect one to show up now. Mary walked up to the side door, pulled it open and stepped confidently inside.
Getting up to the third floor was easy. All she had to do was take the stairs. No one saw her slip in the door or slip out. She walked up to the door with the number that was on the key. Holding her breath, hoping that they hadn't changed the key or done something else sneaky, she swiped the card through the reader. The little red light blinked green.
As quietly as she could manage, Mary opened the door and slipped inside. The room was dark except for the far bedside table lamp. In the dim light, she could see Agent Hotchner's profile as he slept. Completely unaware of what was going on around him. On the table beside his bed was a vial. Mary recognized it instantly as a vial of medicine.
Apparently Mr. Hotchner really was sick. That struck a chord with Mary. She knew she was doing the right thing by giving him the chance to see what had become of his young friend. The thought of trying to use valium on the man played through her mind. But no, that would take too long. Mary knew that if the man woke up there was no way she could restrain him. She'd come completely unprepared.
A quick inventory of the contents of the room didn't help her a lot. Until she spotted Agent Hotchner's gun sitting on the table beside the drugs. It was in a dark holster that had blended in with the surface of the table on her first examination. Well, it would be a whole lot easier if he walked out of here under his own steam.
Padding over to the table, Mary watched the dark haired man carefully. The last thing she needed was for him to wake up. She reached the holster and quietly picked it up. The gun was snapped into the holster. She was going to have to undo it in order to threaten the man. Her fingers shaking ever so slightly, Mary undid the snap as quietly as she could. She was just inches from his face. He was lying on his back with his head turned toward the light. Sleeping like this he looked so handsome and young.
It was a shame to have to wake him up. Mary slid the gun out of the holster. It felt cold and heavy in her hands. Despite all the big talk from her brothers, none of them had ever trusted her with a gun. Not even a pellet gun. Not that she blamed them. Given her feelings, she might have taken the gun after her brothers.
"If you want to see your friend, wake up," Mary stated as loudly as she dared. Looking down the barrel of the weapon that she held in both hands, she watched as Agent Hotchner's dark eyes opened and the blinked. Glee flowed through her when she saw his eyes widen as the situation registered.
"What are you doing here?" Hotch asked. The headache was still there, pounding behind his eyes but he pushed it to the back of his mind. The only thing that mattered at the moment was the woman with the gun pointed at his chest. Thoughts and possibilities raced through his mind. How could he have not seen the insanity burning in her brown eyes?
"I'm here to show you your missing friend. If you come quietly, I'll show you where he is. If you make a sound or a move that I don't like, I'll leave him there to rot and blow a hole in your heart," Mary said. She loved the feeling of power holding the gun on this man was giving her. It was almost as good as when she played with her boys. Almost.
"I will need to change into my street clothes," Aaron said. He was lying perfectly still. He didn't want to take a chance that she might accidently pull the trigger. The fact that the safety was still on could be remedied in a moment if she moved the index finger of her right hand. In his present state, with the drugs in his system, Hotch wasn't sure he could take her before she shot him. Besides, if she was really willing to take him to Reid he had to take the chance. "It will look out of place if I go outside with my night clothes on."
"Fine. You change right here where I can keep an eye on you," Mary said. A smile crept across her face. She was going to enjoy watching him change. Under Mary's intent scrutiny, Aaron carefully pulled the blankets off his legs and swung them over the side of the bed. The last thing he wanted to do was to change in front of this woman but he didn't see another choice.
Luckily Aaron's clothes were on the foot of the bed. He tentatively reached toward them. Still watching him like a hawk, Mary took a step backward to give him a little more room. She didn't want him to touch her. His only purpose was to suffer while he watched what she did to young Spencer. He wasn't going to be allowed to participate at all. That would ruin the whole effect.
Once Aaron had changed into his pants, shoes and white shirt, Mary motioned him toward the door with the gun barrel.
"Any funny business at all and you'll never find him," Mary warned him. When Aaron reached the door, Mary turned to the night table and pocketed the pills. They could come in handy. Then she caught up with the man waiting at the door. "Nice and easy, Agent Hotchner, I'm parked along the back of the building. We'll take the stairs and the side entrance."
Numbly, Aaron allowed himself to be steered out of the room and down the hall. Mary had hold of his right arm and was pressing the barrel of the gun against his side. None of this was making any sense to Aaron. He wasn't sure if it was the drugs or the headache that was making it so hard to think straight. Ultimately it didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that she'd managed to fool him with her ease and innocence. There was something that he should be taking from those qualities but it wouldn't come to the surface of his mind.
They made their way down the stairs. Again the stairwell was empty. Hotch had trouble putting one foot in front of the other. It was as if he'd suddenly lost his depth perception. He couldn't tell how far way the next step was. By the time they reached the bottom, Mary was becoming frustrated. The barrel of the gun was bruising Aaron's side and her hand was going to leave long, narrow bruises along the upper part of his arm.
By the time they reached the SUV, Aaron was all ready exhausted. He knew that he should be doing something to get away from her or to talk her out of her current actions but the words just wouldn't come. His free hand shook as he wiped it across his eyes, trying to get them to work better. Mary steered him to the back of the vehicle, popped the hatch and told him to climb in.
"I won't cause any trouble," Aaron tried to reassure her. The last thing he wanted to do was climb into the back of the vehicle. It would reduce the likelihood of him being able to find his way back to wherever she was going to take him.
"You're right about that," Mary stated. She waved the gun in his face. "Get inside. Either you do it willingly or I'll do it for you."
Turning his back toward the hatch, Aaron saw on the edge of it and then shimmied backwards. Despite being an SUV there was still only so much room in the back of it. Mary kept looking around to make sure that no one was watching. Her frustration boiled over when it seemed Aaron was taking forever to get his tall body into the hatch. With one last glance around, Mary brought the butt of the gun down on the back of his neck. Aaron fell limply onto his side. It only took a moment to lift his long legs up and slide them inside. Then she threw a blanket over him.
Mary knew this had taken too much time. She needed to get away from the hotel. Then she'd deal with securing the agent's arms and legs. She doubted that he was going to be any trouble anyway. It had been all he could manage to get down to the vehicle in the first place. Slamming the hatch shut, Mary stepped quickly to the driver's side door and climbed inside. She turned the engine over and carefully drove away.
