Chapter 51
Katy sat at her mother's kitchen table, drinking some chamomile tea. She watched Penelope closely as she sifted through information that was bouncing across the laptop screen. She sighed as Spencer wrapped an arm across her shoulder, leaning her head into his neck.
"What am I going to do, Spence?" she asked softly.
"We are going to verify that this is even true, before we do anything," he told her, kissing her temple.
"He told Brian I have a twelve year old sister, Reid... I have to meet with him to see her... I can't just let that go..."
"Scarlett, we aren't saying let it go..." Spencer rubbed her shoulder. "Nobody is saying that... but we need to make certain he's not lying, just to get you to meet him..."
Scarlett choked back some tears. "I can imagine what she must be going through..."
"No... Katy..." Reid turned her face up to his, meeting her eyes. "Don't go there," he told her softly. "Please don't do that..."
Penelope took Scarlett's hand. "I found her... Katy-bird..." she said softly, as she turned the computer towards her friends. Garcia reached back to hold Derek's hands when he rested them on her shoulders. Frannie moved to stand behind Scarlett.
Several windows were opened across the screen. Scarlett read the birth certificate for Noreen Rowan, first, noting the dates. A few school records were listed in another. A death certificate for an Angela Rowan dated two years ago, showed the fate of Noreen's mother. Cancer had taken her away from her daughter, leaving Noreen as a ward of the state. Scarlett heard her mother inhale a sharp breath at the court record showing Ian's paternal rights and the her release into his hands.
"How could they do that?" Fran asked, tightening her grip on Scarlett's shoulders. "Don't they check the backgrounds of people that they give these children up to?"
"Mama..." Scarlett's voice shook as she pulled up the picture of Noreen that had been listed in the file. When she met Fran's eyes, she saw tears there also.
"Jesus..." Morgan breathed out, looking at Reid. He moved out of the kitchen, returning quickly from the living room with a framed picture in his hand. He set Scarlett's picture beside the screen.
"Oh, my..." Penelope breathed out as she looked from the one to the other. They were virtually identical.
Scarlett squeezed her mother's hand. "Mama," she said again. "I have a sister out there..."
Frannie pulled Scarlett against her chest as she cried. She looked to the others.
"What are we going to do to help this little girl," she asked them. "And how are you going to keep my baby safe?"
"Reid..." Morgan stood up and moved to the back door. "Give us a minute Ma, to talk before we decide anything..." Spencer followed Derek outside, with one last look towards Scarlett folded into her mother's embrace.
Derek paced halfway through the yard and back.
"We can't let her meet with Rowan, Reid. It's got to be a trap. Why is he so desperate to get to Scarlett? This isn't adding up... you know it..."
"She's not going to give us a choice, Morgan. She doesn't feel like she has one. She'll meet him... but I don't know what that will mean- I don't know what will happen with that girl..." he stood at the edge of the lawn, looking out towards the yard. "But you know we aren't going to keep Scarlett from meeting with him, for her sake."
"Then we make a plan, for a public place... somewhere we can control the situation..." Morgan said.
"And Noreen?"
"We don't know for sure if Rowan's done anything wrong there... If we can get the girl to say it, we may be able to get her out, to safety, and put the bastard back in jail..."
"Why do I have this feeling it won't be that simple?" Reid asked softly, turning back to meet Morgan's eyes.
"We have to hope for the best, kid. And plan on the worst..." he told him.
Reid jammed his hands in his pockets. "I promised her I'd keep her safe, Derek. I need to be able to do that..."
"Then we're on the same page there. Scarlett is my priority too, Reid."
"Alright, then," he huffed out a breath, running his hands through his hair. "Let's go back in and try to figure out how to get this done..." he turned back to the doors.
Scarlett had moved into the front room. Fran noticed Spencer's eyes dart quickly around the kitchen before he caught sight of her and went towards her. She looked over at her son.
"He'll do whatever he can to keep her safe..." Morgan told her. "So will I..."
"I know that baby," she hugged him tightly. "I want you all to be safe."
"We're going to have to let her meet with him," he turned to Garcia. "Can you locate him, baby girl?"
Penelope nodded. "I'm already working on it... I've added Noreen and Angela's names to the search... and that other phone number..." she tapped information into her computer.
She looked up at Derek. "The number has had several hits, all inside Virginia."
"So he's already tracked her down..." Derek scowled.
"That couldn't have been too hard since Brian had told him she worked for the BAU..." Fran's dark look matched her son's.
Scarlett stood looking out the front window, half listening to the conversation from the other room. She felt Reid come to stand behind her and leaned back into his arms.
"You understand why I have to do this," she stated. There was no question in her tone. She knew he understood.
Spencer held her tighter. "We can make the arrangements to meet him," he suggested. "You don't have to show... we can keep him away from you..."
Scarlett shook her head. "No... if he figures it out and goes underground again, we may never find Noreen..."
Reid was ready to live with that possibility if it meant protecting Scarlett. But he knew she wasn't.
"Okay, then we let Penny do her thing, find out every move he's made and we do this together. On our turf..."
Scarlett closed her eyes and turned in his arms. Hugging him closer, she lay her head over his heart, listening to it beat under her ear.
"I can't let this go, Spence. I can't just walk away, not even for you..." she told him.
"I know, Katy..." he breathed in deeply, pressing a kiss to her crown. "I didn't think you could. But I need you to use your head, darling. Stay with us, let us help protect you..." he sighed and rubbed a cheek against her hair. "Trust us, okay?"
He felt her nod, even as she wiped at her eyes. "I do. You know that... I trust you, and D and Pens... and I don't trust Rowan..."
She turned towards the kitchen when she heard Penelope say she had tracked the phone number to Virginia. She reached out and took Reid's hand.
"Let's go make a plan..." she told him. She shook slightly, as if a chill ran across her spine and Spencer pulled off his sweater, zipping her into it. He took her chin and met her eyes, searching.
"Don't go anywhere on me, Scarlett," he begged her.
"No," she answered, touching his face. "I'm staying right here, with you. You are my home, Spencer Reid. You are my future. I've got to face the past, but I'm going to do that with you..."
"Okay, together then..." he took her hand and followed her back into the kitchen where the others were waiting.
"You okay, little one?" Derek looked from Scarlett's eyes to Reid's for confirmation. When Spencer gave a slight nod, he continued.
"Penny tracked the phone number," he told them. "It looks like it's very active... it's listed under Angela's name..." he told them. "And the hotel that it's being used most from has a guest listed as a Rowan Ryan."
"When did they check in?" Scarlett asked her tone defensive. She felt irritation fissure up her spine at his use of her mother's name in this...
"Last week."
Scarlett shook. "He may have been watching... he could have gotten close," she felt Reid's arms tighten around her again. She grasped his hand and pressed three fingers into his palm, reassuring him she was still with him.
"Okay, okay... I'm alright," she rubbed his arms. "I'm okay, farm boy," she told him.
"We need to take the ball... set up arrangements so we make the shots," Derek told her.
"Home field advantage," Scarlett smiled slightly, taking up her brother's euphemism.
"Yes. Katy-bird," he called her nickname softly, bringing her eyes to his. "I can make the call to set something up... but he may want to hear you so he knows you're with me."
Scarlett nodded. "Knowing it's you may satisfy him... he'd believe you..."she stated. "He knows wherever you are, I'm not far behind, D," she told him. "But if he insists on talking to me, I will," she leaned back into Spencer's embrace. "He can't touch me. I'm not a scared little girl anymore..."
"No, but you are still my little girl..." Fran moved over towards where Scarlett stood. "You set up whatever you need to on your end," she told her, framing Scarlett's face with her hands. "But I am coming with you. I'm not leaving your side either, baby girl..."
Scarlett felt her eyes fill with tears. "Mama, I don't want..."
"I won't be in any danger Scarlett. I need to be there too. For you, for me and if she'll let me, for Noreen too. I need to be there too..." she repeated, looking over at Derek. "So figure me into your plans..."
"Alright... you ready?" Derek pulled out his phone. "We'll set up a meeting for this week... Wednesday..."
Reid nodded. "The mall. Tell him she'll meet him at the mall. It's public enough for me..." he said as he held Scarlett tighter. "And if he insists she come alone, deal's off. I'm with her..."
"Spence..."
"No Katy," Morgan interrupted her. "He's right. You aren't going in alone. And Rowan won't expect us to let you... I'll tell him your husband insists on being there with you," he stated. "He won't suspect anything..."
Scarlett nodded and felt some of the tenseness leave Spencer's grip. "Okay..." she agreed.
"And Penelope and I can blend in with the crowd..." Frannie stated. "You aren't going to be alone, Katy."
"Right..." she blew out a breath and looked around at her family. "I know..." she smiled up at Spencer, hugging him tight. "Make the call, Derek," she told him, as she buried her face into Reid's chest and waited.
