Little Gold Stressor
Disclaimer: Own nothing… just a story for fun.
CHAPTER TWO
Elle had a sinking feeling all morning. Spencer hadn't called her at all last night. He wasn't on a leash or anything, but he wasn't home when she had managed to drag herself away from JJ and Penelope. The two women were determined to squeeze the lucky man's name from her via martini after martini. Thank god it was a Friday and Elle could hold her liquor or they would have one pissed off boss to answer too.
It wasn't unusual for Spencer to meet a few old college friends and catch a lecture or seminar and the college in Alexandria, but he always made it home or let her know he was crashing with someone. And he had never-not answered his cell when she called, even before they got together.
Elle grabbed her keys and scribbled a note for him to call her if he came home, with plans to hit the library and university, maybe the coffee shop they tended to frequent in hopes of finding her man. Her cell going off in her hand stopped her cold.
The display said it was Gideon. It should have been reassuring. If she was being called in, so would Spencer. They could have a quiet tiff about his recent lack of communication, and give each other the silent treatment for a couple of hours. Then he would bring her coffee, or she would grab his hand as she passed him and they would make up when they got home.
So why did this feel so… off, somehow? There was only one way to find out.
"Greenaway."
"Elle, we have a case, you need to be here ASAP." Gideon's tone left no room to argue, but then it never did.
"I'm on my way." She fought the urge to ask about Spencer as she closed her phone. 'I'll get to work, and he'll be there, and everything will be fine.' Elle rolled her eyes as she made her way out the door. 'When I actually believe that, I'll feel better.'
When she got to the bullpen she ran into Garcia. "We're all supposed to be in the round table room in 5!" The tech hollered as she ran to gather the last minute essentials for the briefing.
Five minutes later, Reid was the only member of the unit still not present. Elle was visibly agitated. This was not right. Where the hell was he? She flicked her eyes up to the clock, 7:15am. She turned to face her colleagues at the table and met Gideon's steady gaze.
'He's been watching me since I walked into the room,' she realized. Startled, but never one to back down, Elle held her own and returned the steady stare.
Hotch broke the tension by entering, "Everybody, listen up." He called to gain their attention. He nodded at Garcia, who turned to her computer.
Any and all of Elle's worries were confirmed. Her stomache dropped, and she felt like there was no air in the room. Garcia had posted a picture of Spencer Reid on the screen. Hotch's next words struck her cold.
"We have reason to believe that Reid was abducted last night. We need to work fast here. We have no idea, as of yet, just what we're dealing with. The only real evidence we have is a security video of an unsub driving Reid's car, with Reid appearing to be incapacitated in the backseat and the fact that no one has been able to reach him since. Usually, we have to wait at least 24 hours before we can report some one missing, but with the current circumstances we're being cut some slack." Here Hotch paused, letting the information sink in.
"What do we have to start from?" Gideon asked quietly.
"Garcia has been using facial recognition software to try and track down the driver, he's been identified as a Dr. Peter House. He's a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He quit five semesters ago and has fallen off the map. No credit card uses or payments, no plane tickets, no bills in his name anywhere. The only thing that we've got is a Virginia driver's license.
"Our next course of action is to head to Reid's house and see what we find while we have agents tracking down Reid's car." Hotch answered.
"Did Reid take his class? His first doctorate he earned while he lived at home in Vegas." Morgan inquired.
"Yes, and House also provided quite a recommendation on Reid's application to the FBI. This is shaping up to be a case of obsession. If this guy has actually followed Reid across the country, he has to have left something. We have no idea just how long we have to find it."
"Well then lets not waste any time!" Elle piped up. "What's our next move?" Her head was reeling. Someone took Spencer. She was out drinking, and someone took Spencer.
Hotch gave her an assessing look. "We go to his house and see what we can find and Garcia stays here and sees what she can dig up."
Elle was happy for the knock on the door. It took her out of the hot seat for a moment. Gideon was hard enough to deal with, now she had put Hotch on guard for her too.
"I'm sorry Agent Hotchner, but I thought you would want to see this first thing," the tech said, handing Hotch a business envelope. After the tech left the room Hotch tore into the parcel. Reid's badge and id fell on to the table.