Shadow Dancing: Chapter 14
By Helena Fallon
"Hi Reid…So you're interested in my Rebecca Wolfe case…" the familiar voice stated in her no-nonsense manner and Reid felt a warm glow of pleasure at hearing Elle Greenaway speak to him again.
"Elle it's good to hear you again…But your name came up in a preliminary search to see if there really was a case to investigate. You told Detective Ranger of Silver Spring that you felt there was a serial killer at work but no one was going to take you seriously without bodies."
"Yeah…that sums it up really…So where have you got?"
"I've talked to two detectives with missing women on their books who appear to fit a similar profile, the most recent went missing between Monday and Thursday…She was due back to work on the Thursday. It was Anderson who caught the enquiry of the latest missing woman and he did some checking before getting back to me. He has identified other possible victims but our suspicions are hampered by the lack of hard evidence to connect the women and actual bodies…The team isn't involved yet."
"So Hotch doesn't know you're talking to me…Who's the senior psych on the team these days?"
"I am," he calmly replied.
There was a momentary silence before Elle responded, "Of course you are…Gideon had trained you up for the job. I read about his suicide, it must have shocked the Unit."
"He'd not been emotionally stable for some time, Elle, so it didn't surprise me or Hotch. I think we just wished Gideon had taken early retirement some time ago but the Frank Breitkopf case really was the final straw for him and he shouldn't have been allowed to return to field work…but that's another story. I've been appointed to replace him and we also have a new Section Chief arising from the Inquiry that the Bureau had into Gideon's death. The psych dept. didn't come out very well either, and people are retiring at the top and new staff are being brought in, so the whole psychological services are being re-organised."
"Wow…I didn't realise that Quantico was being shaken up like that," replied Elle who sounded genuinely surprised about the changes.
"The psychological services had not been run properly for long time. It was very hit and miss the sort of help you got …I was lucky to have had very good people assigned to me but Gideon ran rings round them over his own problems and they should have been much firmer with him for his own good."
"You had needed help?" she asked with surprise tainting her voice.
"It's a long story, Elle, and actually I really do need your help to see if there is a viable case here…I got the impression that you have come up with your own theories…Do you want to meet on neutral ground?"
Elle sighed, Reid was still the sensitive profiler and psychologist. He had braved her anger to force her to talk to him that night in Dayton and sensed that he knew that she wasn't ready for the undercover work that was later assigned to her.
"I'll meet you on the condition that we don't discuss my departure from the Bureau," she said laying down the ground rules.
"That's fine by me, Elle. Where do you suggest?"
"Do you still live in Alexandria or its outskirts?"
"In Alexandria because it's nice here."
"OK… How about Martha's café in the square, near the station, at 9:30 tomorrow morning," she suggested.
"Good, I'll be there…and Elle you will have to convince me that there is a case or I won't get Hotch to support me with the team."
"Yeah right, the self righteous Unit Chief…I'll tell you what I've got and if I can get the team on to this it will at least benefit the families of the missing women to know that I helped to bring it to the BAU's attention."
"I'll give credit where it's due, Elle, surely you know that?"
"Thanks Reid…It's a tough job working cases on your own out here. See you tomorrow."
The line went dead and Spencer smiled to himself. It was typical of Elle to end the call so she could feel in control of the situation. He pushed himself upright from the chair and stretched, he could smell cooking and his stomach rumbled at the tantalising aroma. Spencer went to see what Susie was preparing for dinner.
The next morning was overcast and as Susie and Spencer sat at the breakfast bar, munching toast and honey, the rain began to dance across the windows.
"So you're meeting the gutsy Elle this morning…." Susie pronounced as she sipped black tea.
"Yeah, she may be able to help me decide whether there is enough to start a case…But it will be difficult," conceded Spencer.
Susie stared at him with her shrewd pale grey eyes shining bright, "And you really want to see her again after her sudden departure."
"That too…But Elle was once a good agent and I suspect that she's still a capable operator and one who still scares the hell out of most men."
"You included?"
"I'll try and stay on Elle's good side. She used to have a reputation for being very macho, a female with balls…"
"Ex inner city cop I suppose," remarked Susie.
"Right on the nail! Perhaps you ought to take up profiling?"
"Very funny," Susie said in a flat voice but the eyes were alive with intelligence. Reid knew that his wife had to use some 'profiling arts' of her own' to understand the computer hacker or the terrorist plotter, who was using embedded material to pass on future plans of terrorist atrocities to sympathisers. Recently in her work, she had been used to decode files that hid the details of a massive fraud on the New York Stock Exchange, but all that had been kept quiet due to the very nature of the world of Stocks and Shares and high finance. Susie had dealt with similar situations since joining the Bureau and if any details had slipped out, about such incidents, then the financial markets could have plummetted with the rumours and billions would have been wiped off pension funds and shares as global confidence took a big hit. Susie had to get inside the head of the programmer, or the encoder, in order to break into any secret system of programmes. But equally, you had to understand human nature and the 'opposition' in order to be a successful cryptographer and Spencer didn't doubt that Susie was valuable and that was why she was carefully, and discretely, protected. Susie was really a cryptographer and her skills protected many national secrets.
Susie's phone trilled and he knew that she was being summoned to something important at work. Spencer recognised the unconscious straightening of her back while the left hand, at the same time, would sweep through her short hair. He'd never told her about these simple 'tells' but they seemed even more pronounced when she was relaxed at home. Susie slipped off the stool and walked away as she listened to the caller…
Finally she said, "Yes, give me five minutes, " in a resigned voice with an audible sigh as she ended the message, "So much for Sunday being a day of rest."
"You would only have been riding in the rain," Spencer consoled.
"Better than having to work," she replied as she left the room to get her jacket and purse. Spencer was pleased that she had been called into work because he didn't feel so guilty himself going to see Elle. Although meeting Elle might merely confirm that they didn't have enough to start digging out a case. He watched the black sedan park outside as moments later Susie re-entered the kitchen and came to kiss him on the left cheek.
"Take care, Spencer…I want you back all in one piece after seeing the Amazon," she whispered.
Spencer smiled, "I'll be fine…Hope you're not away too long."
Susie shrugged her shoulders and grinned back, "You never know…it could be an hour or a few days if its super urgent!"
The room lost its special spark as she left and Spencer felt the change in atmosphere and the loss of the sense of companionship as he heard the front door close. He watched through the slated scarlet blinds, from his perch at the breakfast bar, as Susie ran to the car in an attempt to avoid the rain. It was a cold uninviting day but Spencer smiled as he saw Susie was in her favourite black low heeled leather boots, dark blue denim jeans, that she liked to wear for riding, and her hooded crimson jacket. Susie liked to dress comfortably but smart for work during the week. However, disturbing her on a Sunday meant that she would often turn up in her riding gear as if to remind all those, who came into contact with her, that they had disturbed her plans.
An hour later, Spencer was sitting in the café staring out across the deserted square. He had ordered his coffee and chocolate brownies and could hear the waitresses chatting about how slow the morning was because of the weather. Then his attention was captured by the familiar figure of Elle Greenaway, dressed in a dark brown leather jacket and dark grey pants, striding across the square holding her blue and white striped umbrella close to her against the sudden gusts of wind. The weather was already implying an early beginning to winter and as she got nearer he could see that she wore a chunky sweater beneath the jacket.
When Elle entered, she put the umbrella to drain in the stand provided by the door and smiled at him as the waitress was approaching with his order.
"What would you like Elle, it's on me?" Spencer invited with a grin.
Elle couldn't resist that grin, "Same as you, will be fine, but without your addiction to sugar in the drink."
He shrugged, "I need it, I just burn up energy and never put on any weight."
Elle slipped into the seat opposite and unzipped the jacket revealing a navy blue thick sweater with a broad band of emerald green around the neck, cuff and bottom ribbing.
"Good to see you again Elle," Spencer said and hoped she believed his sincerity. However, he silently noted that she looked a lot thinner than when she was an agent and he thought that wearing the chunky sweater may have been as much to disguise the weight loss as to keep her warm. He saw that the leather jacket also had a thick quilted lining that alone would have been warm enough for today. He also observed that the hair was very short compared with the last time he'd seen her. Susie had short unfussy hair too but Elle's was now bordering on a crew cut and it revealed that she had lost too much weight as it only served to emphasise the leanness of her features and the sunken eyes. The dark eyes attracted further scrutiny because they looked a little too fragile with a certain runny look about them. It made Spencer's heart plummet as he suspected that Elle was drinking even more these days. The closeness now, with only a couple of feet between them, and he could smell the 'minty' breath; he hoped that she had not drunk too much that morning for breakfast.
"So Dr. Spencer Reid has married. I always suspected you had someone tucked away but you were always very secretive about your life outside the Unit…That and not wanting Morgan to give you his words of wisdom…" said Elle making her own observations.
Spencer smiled, "Spot on Elle. Susie is a consultant in Computer Forensics with the Bureau so she understands the work ethic demanded of us."
"Did you know her while I was with the Unit?"
"Yes," he confessed and Elle's dark eyes twinkled in delight that he had fooled them all.
"We actually met a long time ago, while at the same college, but we were not romantically involved then because we had other partners at the time. I met her when she was assigned to Quantico and one thing led to another…"
"Obviously!" Elle laughed and the waitress placed her coffee and brownies before her with a smile as she sensed the good vibes from the two customers.
Elle picked up the large cup with both hands and placed her elbows on the table and stared at him over the plain white cup.
"You've been profiling me again!" she accused.
"Just as you've been profiling me, Elle. Once a profiler, always a profiler…that's the curse of the work; you just can't switch it off."
"No, you just have to keep the mouth shut," she agreed and Spencer noted the hidden warning.
Elle took a sip of the coffee and seemed momentarily thoughtful. Spencer let her take this meeting at her pace.
"I was contacted at the beginning of February by the father and a friend of Rebecca Wolfe, she had just disappeared on a Friday or perhaps early Saturday morning in October. They had reported the fact to the police at Silver Spring but they were not very interested. There was no sign of a struggle, her apartment was in good order and nothing was missing…even her passport was in the drawer where she normally kept it. The police rolled out the usual explanations like she had met someone and was having a long weekend with them despite the family and her friend saying that Rebecca wasn't the sort of person to have one night stands. The detective assigned to the case did have her computer checked and there were no obvious messages coming from dating sites or secret assignations. I've interviewed the family and friends; they all stressed that Rebecca was a quiet and cautious person who took friendships with men very slowly at first. She had several past boyfriends but I believed them when they said that their relationship just died a natural death within a few weeks, mostly because the men wanted a more sexual relationship sooner and Rebecca wanted to make the pace not them.
The police had also dug into her financial affairs and there was nothing suspicious. I went over the same ground and agreed with them. In fact, I think Detective Ranger has been very thorough in his investigations but he had nothing concrete to go on other than she had just disappeared. They did the usual publicity in the Silver Spring area and her work colleagues helped her parent's hand out leaflets containing her photo at Washington's Union Station….
What we do know is that three commuters definitely remember seeing her on the usual 5:45 train out of Washington on the Friday. Rebecca shopped at her local supermarket on the walk home and bought a small carton of milk, an individual 'Margarita' pizza from the freezer section and a pack of 'Oreo's'. She paid cash and was seen entering her street 10 minutes later."
"Any CCTV footage?"
"From the station at Silver Spring, the supermarket and jewellery shop near the corner of her street."
"Not her apartment block?"
"No, but it does have an entry phone system that activates a video camera so you can see who wants to enter but not continual CCTV."
"And none of the residents of the apartment building noticed her that Friday evening," stated Spencer already with a picture of Rebecca Wolfe's quiet existence. Elle shook her head and took a sip of her coffee.
"And her friend's all check out?" continued Spencer.
"Yes, they all seemed very decent people who had known Rebecca for years, four women and two men. The two men and three of the women were from High School days but they went to different colleges and kept in touch through emails and just met up during vacation time to keep in contact. The other woman, Chelsea Glasse, was a work colleague. Rebecca worked in the financial department of the United Medical Centre, and she and Chelsea were both involved with the billing of patients and had worked together for over four years. It was Chelsea who told me that Rebecca had confided to her that she thought she was being watched when she went home in the evenings. Chelsea had listened but thought that she was imagining it due to tiredness because they were all working overtime to keep up with the work in an understaffed department."
Spencer sipped his coffee, it all confirmed what Ranger had said to him and yet the detective had been correct that the investigation had stalled because there were no firm clues, no body and no eye witnesses for Rebecca after that Friday evening when she turned into her street.
"So what makes you think that there is a serial killer at work?" probed Spencer.
Elle smiled and her dark eyes suddenly blazed with an intensity that reminded Spencer of Agent Greenaway.
"I began to dig through missing persons for educated single women, living on their own and in their 20s who had suddenly disappeared. I think I've identified three more who all worked in Washington," Elle stated with pride at her achievements.
"You followed up on them?"
"Of course, and annoyed at least a couple of police departments in the process," she replied and drank more of her coffee.
Spencer calmly took a bite of the brownie; this was proving to be an interesting morning so far.
Elle paused for a few moments to gather her thoughts before she began to talk about her searches and findings.
"Lucy Keplar, almost aged 28, a quiet and hard working graphic artist with a small graphics company, who lived in an apartment in Wilmington, Delaware. She left work on the Friday 26th August last year, all very contented with her life at work in the small office, and just didn't show up on the Monday. Concerned colleagues tried to contact her and went to the apartment. The 'Super' eventually let them in but found that her apartment was as neat her office desk. There was no sign that she had even been home because the Super had taken in a parcel from her sister on the Friday morning. Her sister lives in Dallas and had sent her birthday present early; she would have been 28 on the Monday. Lucy's sister, Anna, had tried to ring her but got no reply. Anna then concluded that Lucy had been taken out by her friends as a birthday treat. I contacted the three friends Lucy regularly saw and they each said that they had tried to contact her on the Friday evening, and throughout the weekend, because they had wanted to arrange a dinner date. This was later confirmed by the policeman I spoke with who said that there were several messages from her girlfriends, all inviting her out for a meal, and asking her to ring them when she got in. Again, everyone I spoke to at her place of work, apartment building, friends and family all painted the same picture of a reliable, quiet but compassionate woman who at that time didn't have a boyfriend. The previous boyfriend had lasted two years but they had parted when he went to work in Brazil on a forest conservation project and according to the website of the project, he's still there," explained Elle who now paused to drink more of her coffee.
"The parents are both dead and there just seems to be Anna and Lucy who kept in touch although there is a distant cousin, called Monica Bayliss from the maternal side, who lives in Canada. Monica just sends the usual Christmas card these days but I did talk to her on the phone. She said that she'd not seen either of the sisters for over ten years, in fact since her wedding, and she then moved to Canada because her husband is Canadian and they prefer the life there."
"So interest in the case fizzled out because there was no one pressuring the police in Wilmington and no one to hire a P.I.?"
"Yeah that's about it really with Lucy. Although again, she had mentioned an odd feeling that she thought she was being watched in Wilmington. Lucy had told this to a female work colleague, about a week before she disappeared, although the colleague didn't believe Lucy was that concerned because Lucy laughed it off saying that she must have drunk too much wine at a recent office party," explained Elle.
"What was the colleague's name?"
"Megan Howles and she did make a statement to the police," stated Elle.
Spencer nodded thoughtfully and waited for Elle to continue.
"Then there is Lorraine Chase from College Park, Maryland, aged 25 and she disappeared in February last year. Again she left work as normal on a Friday evening and didn't show up on the Monday. Lorraine worked in the staff Creche attached to the Georgetown University, she was a qualified Kindergarten teacher and had responsibility for the older children. Again, she appears to have been a quiet, well liked woman who often put in extra hours to help look after children if their parents were giving late tutorials or lectures during the week. But Fridays she always left at 5:30. Lorraine didn't seem to have the circle of friends that the other women had and as far as I can ascertain spent her free time on her own indulging in her hobby of bird watching and painting birds. I thought that perhaps she would have been seen at the local beauty spots and reserves but the local ornithologists, who recognised her photo, didn't seem to recall seeing her the weekend she went missing. However, I think this is the weak link to pursue further because if she was being watched then who ever was stalking her would have followed her to the usual bird watching haunts. Those people know who are the genuine ornithologists and that's the thread I'm concentrating on at the moment You know what those people are like…Remember how Gideon liked bird watching and could talk enthusiastically for hours on the subject!"
Spencer couldn't stop the chuckle, he remembered the passion for bird life that Gideon had and he seemed to love to see a bird in flight, almost as if Gideon envied their ability to just take off and escape the problems on the ground.
"Mmm…You got lectured too about the seasonal visitors to Virginia?" Spencer teased.
Elle gave an exaggerated sigh and shook her head simultaneously. "I quickly learnt about that hobby of his."
"Gideon had a great interest in the paintings of Audubon too and his friend Samuel, who works at the Smithsonian, would show him Audubon paintings as a treat."
Elle became very still and her guard went down as she said quietly, "You miss him don't you?"
"Yes, I miss the Gideon who was my friend. I think the final months of his life were very special between us because he accepted the decisions I'd made in my private life. I also felt that he began to trust me as an equal so our relationship shifted away from the mentor/ pupil but even so I couldn't prevent the way he ended his life."
"Did you think he would take his own life?" Elle suddenly asked almost in a whisper as if afraid to disturb difficult memories.
"Yes, I thought it a strong possibility but you always want to keep hope alive for as long as possible. Gideon was a very special man but eventually the job took away too much from him and he paid too high a price for his dedication to the work. It's something that will always be at the back of my mind because I don't want to travel the same path as Gideon. I have my Susie and she is essential to my ability to cope with the pressures because being with her takes me away from the dreadful cases we deal with," replied Spencer and then fell silent as he mentally filed away the memories that had risen to the surface.
"So, who reported Lorraine missing?" he suddenly asked and Elle's professional mask once more snapped into place.
"The Creche Director, Kathy Maddox, she contacted her family back in Albany and her brother and father came to start looking. They informed the local police but again the same pattern of no evidence other than a disappearance."
"Any mention of stalking?" Reid probed.
"Not to her colleagues but about a fortnight before she disappeared, Lorraine had stayed late to care for a 3 year old called Belinda, the daughter of Dr. Judy Lister. She was giving a late lecture and so needed some one to care for the child. Dr. Lister apologised because questions following the lecture made her later than expected, but Lorraine didn't seem upset about it and said that she was sure that she would enjoy having a different set of commuters on the way home. Dr. Lister thought that perhaps some male commuters had left her standing or made unflattering crass remarks within her hearing. But Lorraine said that she suspected that one or two were deliberately following her part of the way home to make her feel uncomfortable because she had earlier that month upset a few of the males by loudly stating that seats were for passengers, not briefcases. They then had a general moan about how men tended to hog the work space there was at a table between seats or at airports if their flights were delayed," Elle carefully explained.
"Finally there is Valerie Younge, a pharmacist at the Central Pharmacy in Washington, who was 30 years old when she failed to show up for work, on a Tuesday in June, two years ago now. She had worked there for over four years and was considered very reliable until that day. Everyone at the pharmacy were bewildered because she didn't seem unhappy, she had mentioned nothing about having any worries and had been looking forward to becoming an auntie later in the summer. Although she had dated in the past, there was no boyfriend at the time of her disappearance. She had recently moved to a better apartment, three months before, and colleagues said that she was spending her spare time redecorating and making new drapes. At first they though perhaps her sister had gone into premature labour and she had travelled to Dover to be with her, but it was unlike Valerie not to inform her colleagues so they could find cover for her absence. Valerie had become friendly with a new neighbour, called Janice Harper, who was recently divorced and moved to the apartment block about the same time. Janice had confided to Valerie that she was worried about her ex being troublesome and mentioned that he had tried to follow he home after work one night but she spotted him and he got scared when she made a scene at the station. Janice said that Valerie then remarked that there had been a couple of occasions recently when she thought that she was being followed home from Woodbridge station. However, she then felt silly when she had tried to see who it was and didn't see anyone who was obviously looking suspicious…But the next week Valerie disappeared."
"When did the police get involved?"
"The pharmacy was contacted by the sister, Jessica Watson. She rang asking to speak to Valerie because she'd not been answering her phone and wondered if everything was all right. The sister then rang the Woodbridge police and Rick Watson arrived the next day to make a formal statement and initiate an inquiry. The police went through the usual procedures and came up with nothing other than confirming a sighting with CCTV footage, at Woodbridge station, on the Monday evening at her normal time. To date, none of these missing women have had any money taken from any bank accounts, their social security numbers have not been activated and no one within the family, friendship or colleague circles have been contacted…They have all just disappeared into thin air without a trace…."
Spencer nodded, there were superficial connections but despite some similarities in the possible victimology it could all be just co-incidence. Yet his gut feeling told him that there was a definite pattern but he couldn't do much without a body and that might never turn up. The country was vast, the Bureau didn't know how many victims had met their deaths at the hands of Frank Breitkopf because the area he travelled gave him the ideal opportunity to bury victims and for them to remain undiscovered in his life time.
"The present common threads are that all the victims were single and worked in Washington. They were all train commuters, and they sensed being watched even if they didn't think it serious…. The police haven't made any connections because several states are involved and no evidence of foul play…." Spencer summed up the situation.
"Yes, Reid…it's quite frustrating but the more I look into the lives of possible victims, the more I'm convinced that these missing women are dead."
"In a mass grave or buried at different sites?" Reid probed Elle's intuition.
"Different sites means less chance of making connections and would the murderer, or murderers, bury the body in the same state or cross state lines to confuse any investigation should bodies begin to turn up?" Elle stated taking a thoughtful bite into her brownie.
"You said murderer or murderers?"
"Yeah…It was Lorraine's remark to Dr. Lister about a couple of men. Also we tend to think of a stalker being on their own, a singular obsession, but what if a pair are hunting a woman who they spot at Washington's Union station? It would be easier to bungle a woman into a van if two men were working together. Well that's my explanation for the apparent vanishing into thin air of four women," explained Elle feeling that the small circular table she now shared with Reid was equal to the round table in the conference room of the BAU.
"But these were fit women, they would probably have put up a struggle and commuting… there would be a lot of people about. They all seem to have lived in well-populated areas and have taken care to choose their apartments for their own security. However, like you say, that all implies that because there was no indication of a struggle in their apartments that the women had vanished on the street or at some pre-arranged venue. But again, these were not the sort of women to go off with strangers," Spencer Reid said softly as he verbalised his thoughts
"I suppose the 'National Enquirer' would claim alien abductions!" quipped Elle and Reid looked sharply at her but saw only saddest in her eyes, not insensitive humour.
"Sadly, I can't see that I can use the team on this until an actual body turns up. Even geographical profiling doesn't help at this stage because it's all too wide an area covering three states."
"Yeah…Like I said, I'm still digging but I wish I had something more definite to tell the families and friends of these missing women."
"Keep me informed on your findings and if a body does turn up then I'll have a good excuse, with all the background work ready, to bring it to the BAU's attention but, as it is, Hotch won't run with it."
"So you think there's something in it too," pressed Elle for his opinion.
"Yes, and that's my gut feeling so I'll keep this on the 'back burner' and patiently wait for a break through. I agree with you, I think they are dead. However, the most recent disappearance is an Amy Woodley and she's from Fredericksburg and perhaps she's still alive. There appears to be several months between the cases you have unearthed and that may imply that the victims are kept alive for a while. The detective on the Woodley case is a friend of Ranger, in Silver Spring, and made the connection with Rebecca Wolfe. He rang the BAU to run it by a profiler. I've spoken to him and I think he's a conscientious man who will keep in touch with any findings."
"Will you tell Hotch and the others that you have seen me?"
"Only if you want me to," Spencer assured the woman who seemed suddenly strangely vulnerable to even ask the question.
"I'd prefer that you didn't but if something does break on these cases, and my investigations can help speed up any enquiry, then that's different," confessed Elle.
Spencer sensed her need to end their meeting.
"That's fine by me Elle, but keep in touch by e-mail or phone if something important turns up about these missing women…It's our special investigation but you may have to put it on your own back burner. Do you have other cases to pay your rent?"
Elle smiled at his concern.
"Oh yeah…Seriously, I'm building up quite a reputation for finding missing older teenagers, particularly those that escaped to New York thinking it would be easy to hide in the Big Apple."
Spencer nodded, he believed Elle. He thought that she would be good at finding the missing young adult and giving hell to any adults whom might be involved in any exploitation.
"I've gotta go. You take care of yourself, Reid," Elle suddenly said pushing back her chair. She zipped up the jacket as she stood and stared down at him with a familiar defiant look, "Thanks for the coffee and we must do it again on a rainy Sunday morning!"
"My pleasure, Elle, bye for now," he replied and suddenly she turned and walked away without a backward glance.
Spencer Reid watched his former colleague retrace her steps across the square towards Callahan Drive and the station. She once more held her large umbrella close to her torso as she walked along with a confident step. He felt sad that she was no longer with the Bureau but the psych department had failed Elle; they had not seen through her bravado of wanting to return and prove herself still a competent agent after being so badly hurt. Agents who had been hurt in the field were all the same, Spencer mused to himself, even he had not wanted to appear vulnerable to the psychologists who had been assigned to help him after the torture by Tobias Hankel. However, Spencer had soon realised that they understood how vulnerable he had felt by being taken hostage and he began to co-operate, as the psychologist within him knew that it was the only way to truly conquer the lingering trauma. It had been Spencer's conscious decision to lower his barriers that led to his recovery and, by doing so, he also learnt more about himself and his strengths that had helped him to survive those dreadful few days.
He drove home and entered a quiet house. Susie was not back so he made a pot of tea and looked into the fridge for lunch. Spencer decided upon a chicken sandwich with homemade pickle. He prepared it but then covered the plate with cling film and went to the lounge with his mug of tea. He sank down on the sofa with his lute for a think. He liked to play his lute when he was thinking about a problem because it was a quiet instrument that was also quite sensual to hold, with its feminine curves in warm wood, and it's very intimate sound. Soon his favourite Dowland pieces filled the air as his long slender fingers danced across the strings.
Spencer reviewed all that he had learnt from Elle. He was grateful that his Susie was discretely watched for her own safety by the Bureau because the few facts of the cases emphasised just how vulnerable some very ordinary nice women could be if preyed upon. Tomorrow, he would be able to review the files of similar missing women that Anderson had found during his trawl of the 'missing' data bases. Spencer had not wanted to share with Elle all that Anderson had told him because he wanted to scrutinise the material for himself to see if there were really points of similarity for the victimology and how they disappeared.
Amy felt sore all over and disorientated. She knew that she was being drugged and as a consequence had no idea about the present time of day or even how long she had been in this windowless room. Amy just wanted to sleep and rest her battered body but then another tiny part of her brain chastised her…It was her father's voice welling up into her fearful consciousness to remind her that only she could make a difference to her destiny.
Amy forced the sleepy brain to work, it was reluctant to even think about what had happened. However, Amy sensed that she had to confront the few facts that she could remember and perhaps by doing so she would begin to regain her inner strength. Amy tried to remember her journey home; she had been just walking her usual route and looking forward to a few days of unexpected paid leave. It had been kind of Christa, but typical of her boss and the thought made Amy suddenly wonder if she had been missed, if any one had noticed, if Auntie had been told? Amy suddenly felt a huge wave of despair engulf her and she couldn't stop the warm tears that soon soaked the thin pillow her head rested upon.
End of Chapter 14.