Chapter Twenty-One
Bobby Manning and Myles Leland glanced at each other. This was going to be even harder than they thought.
But they couldn't blame their new friend for being less than friendly. If he or Reid had hurt a member of their team they would have responded the same way.
"I came to talk to you." Bobby said, holding up the two pizza boxes in his hands.
"And I came to talk to Spencer." Myles spoke up quietly.
Morgan shook his head. "Not happening."
"Come on, mate." Bobby stuck out his foot to keep Derek from shutting the door. "We just want to explain."
"There is no acceptable explanation for that." Morgan jerked his head toward Reid's room.
Bobby sighed and looked over at Myles.
"Aren't you even curious about how we know what happened?" The tall, blond agent asked.
Morgan rolled his eyes. "I assume your 'sweetheart' has been gloating about how the nerdy genius thought she might be interested in him." He bit out sarcastically, glaring at Bobby.
Bobby's green eyes narrowed and his voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "You should know us better than that by now. Is that what you really believe?"
Derek dropped his head. "No, I guess not."
Bobby softened. "We're here because Tory showed up at Jack's house crying her eyes out. She cares about him, mate. She is just as brokenhearted over this as he is. Maybe even more so because she knows she hurt him. We're here because we want to help you and Reid."
Morgan studied the faces of the two men he had come to consider good friends and finally nodded.
Stepping back to allow them to enter the room, he held up a hand before they could come all the way in. "If you hurt him more there will be severe consequences."
Myles and Bobby nodded; small smiles tugging at their lips at the agent's protectiveness of his colleague.
"Reid?" Morgan called as he moved through the bathroom. "Kid, there's someone here to see you."
Spencer Reid shook his head. "No, Morgan."
"Sorry, Wonder Boy Two. I'm not giving you a choice about this. We need to talk." Myles Leland appeared in the doorway; holding a pizza box in one hand and a heavy bag in the other.
"Come on." Bobby peered over Myles's shoulder at Derek and inclined his head back towards the other room. "Myles and Reid can eat and talk in here and we'll do the same in your room. It will be okay."
Morgan glanced down at Reid. "Reid, I'm going to leave the door open. Anytime you want the conversation to end just call out to me, kid."
Myles studied the young man and his heart twisted at the obvious pain and confusion on his face.
Since Spencer showed no inclination to move from the couch, Myles tugged the small table over to it and placed the pizza box on it. He lifted the lid and the delicious aroma filled the hotel room.
Reid showed no interest.
Myles sighed. It appeared he had his work cut out for him.
Pulling the chair Morgan had vacated closer to the table, Myles set the bag he was carrying on the floor. It tipped over and the corner of a book poked out.
Myles held back a chuckle when he saw that Spencer's eyes were immediately drawn to the book; curiosity mingling with the hurt in the hazel depths.
Apparently books and coffee were the way to this man's heart. Myles filed away that bit of information to share with Tory if they ever got this situation resolved.
"Spencer," Myles broke the silence after finishing a bite of pizza. "Tory showed up at Jack's house tonight extremely upset about what happened. She never wanted to hurt you. She's worried about you. We all are. Jack asked me to come talk to you because he thought that I would understand where you're at better than the others."
A shift in body position told Myles that the young man was listening.
"You believe in things that can be proven. In things you can see and touch. In science. In testable theories. You don't believe that the existence of God has ever been proven or can be proven. The idea of God doesn't fit with the horror you face every day on the job. You have seen unimaginable atrocities committed against humans in the name of religion."
Myles paused. "And right now you're wrestling with yourself because you want to be able to believe for Tory, but you can't. You can't erase from your mind the things you have seen. You can't bring yourself to overlook what seems to you to be a lack of evidence. I understand, Spencer, because I've been there before. I would like to tell you my story."