Even the cloudy London sky was too bright for Reid right now. His head was throbbing and the more he moved, the worse he felt. If he hadn't already suspected where he was, he would have been completely lost. Not that it did him any good. Eden hadn't picked up on his hint and there was no way to get word to the team now. He didn't need to reach into his pocket to know what the jagged plastic and metal meant in his pocket; another result of the car crash.
As they started down a set of steps, Reid could take no more. He bent over and vomited on the cement, only remaining up right from the help of his captor.
"I'll get you some water when we get inside." Bridget said, patting his back soothingly.
Reid heaved and gagged for several minutes, his hand leaning against the wall for support. Once the last of it was up, he stood and wiped his mouth. "Why bother if you're just going to kill me?" He squinted his eyes, the better to see her. A few more steps and they'd be in the darkness. At least it wouldn't hurt so much to see then.
"I know you can't understand, Dr. Reid, but I have to do this." She informed. Her eyes pleaded with him to understand, to appreciate the pain she was in. "I can't live with this anymore... and this is the only way."
"And what about my wife?" He wondered. "Are you going to kill me first and then go after her? Or stash me until you can drag her here and kill us together. If I get a request, I'll take the ladder."
"I'm not going to kill your wife. I don't need to anymore." Bridget replied with a smile. She seemed so at peace as she said it, like she'd been waiting for this moment for a long time. "I'll explain everything once we're inside... we have plenty of time to talk."
Confused, "You're not going to kill me right away?"
"That wouldn't be how it goes." Was all she said. "Come now, Sarah's waiting. We'll have a nice talk, we'll have supper... and then we'll go to bed."
And with that, she began to carefully descending the steps again, guiding Reid along. He wanted to resist her, but it was taking enough energy just to move with her. He knew he had a concussion and it wouldn't be long before he wanted to go to sleep. He needed to save his energy so he could stay awake. But he had a bit more hope now. If Bridget wasn't going to kill him right away, it would give the others time to find him.
At last at the bottom of the steps, she pulled Reid into a long tunnel. The last ray of daylight disappeared as they walked, continuing into the cold darkness.
Eden was not looking forward to this conversation. She felt a great responsibility for letting Reid go with that girl, even though there was nothing that suggested she had ill will towards him. And even if she had suspected something, Reid probably would have gone anyway. He wouldn't risk putting an innocent girl in danger for a simple suspicion.
"You alright now, Evie?" Paul asked as she came back in.
Looking around, the BAU team was still present, but Riley had stepped out. "Where's Mrs. Reid?"
"She went to the Ladies' Room." JJ replied, concerned. "Why, what's wrong?"
With a deep breath, she gently laid Riley's cell back on the table. Leaning on the back of the closet chair for support, she admitted. "Reid's... with the unsub."
"What?" Hotch asked.
"When Agent Prentiss began to theorize that the killer was a female... I thought of the woman that Reid stepped out with... Bridget Murphy. She's taken him."
The team was suddenly tense, not wanting to believe this was true. Morgan stood up, speaking fiercely. "You can't just automatically assume someone is a suspect because she's the same gender. You have no proof."
"When we spoke, he said he had the same theory right before I rang him." She explained. "I may not have proof right now, but it's true. Your friend is danger, we have to do something. She's going to kill him."
They wanted to just believe Eden was jumping to conclusions. After all, she wasn't a profiler. She didn't have the expertise to be able to asses a suspect after several hours, let alone thirty seconds. But they couldn't dismiss her theory, especially considering Reid's history.
"Let's look into it." Rossi said. "Garcia, find out what you can on Bridget Murphy."
"I'm like the wind, sir!" Garcia announced, immediately starting to type on her laptop. She wished she was back in her lair in Quantico, with her state-of-the-art technology at her fingertips. After all, there had to be a lot of Bridget Murphys in the world, this could take awhile on her portable computer.
"We need to speak to your techinical staff." Hotch said to Bradbury. "Garcia's system has to go through the FBI to track his phone, it'll be faster if we use your system here."
"Paul and I will take care of that." He answered. "We'll be back as soon as we get a handle on the signal."
Morgan pulled out his own phone, "Why don't we try calling him?" He said, searching through his contacts until he found the right number. "It might save us some time."
"If he is in danger, we can't risk too many people calling him all the time." Emily cried. "She'll suspect we know, she could kill him faster."
"Maybe not." Rossi replied. "Why risk capturing him if she's just going to kill him quickly? She has to have something planned."
Morgan's face grimaced as he rolled his eyes. "It's going straight to voicemail, his phone must be off."
"I just spoke to him a moment ago." Eden cried.
"Maybe she made him turn it off." JJ suggested. "Or maybe he turned it off to protect himself."
Hotch spotted Riley down the hall, returning from the restroom. "Guys, until we have some solid evidence, let's... keep this from Riley. Getting her upset is not going to help anyone."
"How can we search for Reid if we're keeping this from her?" Emily asked.
"JJ, why don't you take Riley back to the hotel and stay with her there. Just tell her we want her to get some rest. We'll be able to work here." Hotch ordered.
"And we're supposed to just... lie to her about what's going on with Reid?" JJ asked. "We did that before, Hotch, and I still don't feel right about it."
"Me neither," Garcia cried. "And she talked with Bridget, couldn't she help us track her down?"
"That's true," Rossi said. "She's the only one of us who's remotely familiar with her, Riley could tell us things we'd never find on our own."
Hotch considered it, and it seemed keeping Riley close by would be more helpful than getting her out of the way. "Alright, but... let me explain this to her privately. She's going to be upset enough, she doesn't need everyone here watching her reaction."
"Who's reaction?" Riley asked, catching the last bit. She glanced around the room, letting out an annoyed sigh. "He's still not back yet?"
"Riley..." Hotch muttered, choosing his words carefully. "Do you want to go get some coffee?"
"No thanks, the coffee here's horrible." Riley joked, going to take her seat.
"You're absolutely right, so grab your coat and we'll go out and get some. For everyone." Hotch stated.
Since when did the boss offer to run out and get everyone coffee? Especially in the middle of a case. "What's going on?"
"We'll talk about it in private." He stated, unmoving on his decision to get her alone.
Suspicious and slightly bothered, she nodded. "Okay... let me get my things."
At that, she spotted her phone on the table and grabbed it. Checking it, she sighed with relief and smiled. "Well, it's about time."
"What?" Morgan asked.
"I got a voicemail from Spencer." She said happily. "Let me just listen to this and I'll meet you out there."
Everyone looked around in panic, unsure what could be in that message. Eden stepped forward. "You know, I think that message is for me. Could I listen to it?"
"My husband left you a voicemail on myphone?" Riley asked. She'd had just about enough of this. She was tired of sacrificing what little time she had on this, of having no time with the man she loved. All her anger was boiling to the surface and it was all focused on this woman. "Look, I know you've monopolized most of his time on our honeymoon, but I am still his wife. He called my phone because he wants to speak to me, not you. I'd appreciate it if you could maybe give me a little more respect than that!"
"Riley," Emily hissed.
Riley wouldn't listen, however, glaring at a despondent Inspector Eden as she listened to the message. The room was silent as they waited, second by second... and Riley's tired face went to a sickly, ashen color.
"Oh my God," Riley whispered, her eyes filled with tears.
"What is it?" JJ asked, terrified.
Riley was shaking so bad, she couldn't work the phone. Eden stepped forward quickly to take it while Morgan hurried over to help the horrified bride into a chair. Following the commands on the phone, Eden quickly put the phone on speaker and replayed the voicemail.
"How did you figure it out?" The Irish voice of Bridget Murphy asked.
A hesitant pause lasted for some time until Reid's voice replied, trying to remain calm. "Your wearing my wife's rings. I knew our killer had taken them."
"I see..." She growled. "Well, I am glad you got to say goodbye to her. I know how much you love her."
"You don't have to do this, Bridget." Reid said, almost pleading with her. "I can tell you're in pain... let me help you. You can make this right by coming forward, we can get you some help."
"I don't need help." She muttered, choking back tears. "After tonight, it will all be over. The pain will finally be gone."
"Bridget," Reid called sternly. "Please... stop the car."
There was no more talking at that point. Only the hum of the car's engine soon followed by a crash. At that, the line went dead. Eden took the phone and removed the speaker. "He must not have... hung up correctly after we spoke... the phone automatically redialed, went straight to the answer phone and left that conversation."
"She crashed the car," Morgan said, solemnly. He didn't want to think what could have happened in that accident. "Was that her plan all along?"
"Probably only in the effort to subdue him." Rossi replied. "Injure him enough where he would be at her mercy. She's building up to something intense... as her final message."
"But where is she taking him?" Eden asked.
"He didn't give you any kind of clue of where they were heading?" Hotch questioned.
"None that I could pick up immediately." She replied. "I can try and brainstorm a bit, but I can't promise anything."
"JJ, why don't you help her with that. You're good at questioning people. The rest of us need to figure out what we can about Bridget Murphy."
He glanced at Riley, who sat at the table, her head in her hands. He hated to put her through this, all of them did, but what choice did they have?
"Riley, I know you're upset, but we need your help right now." He announced.
"I should have been here." She moaned, taking her hands away. Riley looked to Emily, so guilty and ashamed. "We should have just come right to the station... I would have been here when she showed up."
"You wouldn't have thought to stop him, Riley." Emily exclaimed. "If you look at the facts, if you were with Reid when Bridget got here, you probably would have gone with him. And then we'd be searching for the both of you."
"And instead you're here, able to help us." Morgan added.
It took a moment for his words to register. Riley slowly got back to her feet, looking at him in amazement. "I can't help you." Her grief was quickly being replaced by fury, feeling so helpless in the for her help made her feel worse. "I'm just here for a psychological opinion, you're the ones who actually catch the killers. You're the ones who do this for a living. I'm useless to you."
"Not this time." Hotch corrected. "Riley... you are the only one here who encountered Bridget. You had a conversation with her, you can tell us more about her than Garcia will."
"You're asking me... to profile her?" Riley asked, stunned. "I can't do that."
"Why not?" Rossi wanted to know. "For reasons beyond my understanding, you're in love with that eccentric genius, so I know you want him back in one piece. More than any of us."
"It's not a matter that I don't want to help, I do!" She argued. "I just can't! I wouldn't even know where to start."
"We'll help you." Emily assured. "You can do this, you just need to think."
"No, I can't do it! I cannot do it!" Riley yelled, as if the louder she spoke, the better she could get her point across. Tears were forming in her eyes, trying not to think of the time they were wasting by pleading with her. I can't analyze clues, I can't read people's body language, I can barely remember the conversation I had with her. If you rely on me, Spencer will die!"
"Riley, whatever Garcia finds isn't going to tell us nearly as much as what you can." Hotch explained. "You may not know a lot, but without you, we have nothing. You have to do this, you are Spencer's only hope."
"Aaron," She squeaked, tears streaming down her face. "I am therapist. I am not a profiler."
Hotch was not in the mood to argue, to listen to her insecurities about this. He stared deep into her frightened brown eyes, his so cold and grave. "Today, you're a profiler."
And that was the end of it. Riley had no more room to argue, the only sound was her labored breathing as she silently cried. At last, she gave a subtle nod and Hotch turned to Emily. "You and Morgan, take her to the break room and work with her. Eden, work with JJ, you can use the board. Rossi and I will wait for Garcia's results with the other inspectors."
Without another word, he stepped out of the conference room through the opposite door. Emily glanced at Morgan carefully, trying to silently determine how to handle this. She took a tentative step towards Riley, lightly brushing her arm. Without a word, the two agents led the terrified psychiatrist out into the hall. There was no time to lose.