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Chapter Two:
It had been the worst four days of the team's lives. Reid was abducted from the parking lot of the Sioux Falls sheriff's station by their unsub, Levi Roy. Then almost every six hours, new videos were posted, each more horrific than the last. Using a white van with different plates, he crossed state lines repeatedly. An anonymous tip let them to a cabin North of Omaha.
They sat in silence in the hospital waiting room. They were lucky Reid was alive, they kept telling themselves. How Reid was going to move forward, was anyone's guess.
Prentiss's phone beeped.
"They recovered video from the scene," she said.
"I'm not sure I want to watch," J.J. said.
"We need to find out who saved Reid," Rossi said. "And possibly offer him a medal."
"I'll fast-forward through any torture," Prentiss said.
Slowly, they all gathered around her, fearing the worst.
Levi stabbed Reid three more times, he also raped him again. Reid only let out a faint whimper. Then Levi left. Reid looked dead, his chest only moving ever so slightly. When Levi came back, he looked like he was ready to kill him.
A woman appeared. She quickly dispatched of Levi and proceed to treat Reid. She glanced at the camera once with a look of sadness. She hurriedly left. Then they saw J.J. appear with SWAT.
"So," Simmons said. "Who is Josie Brent?"
"Not a name I've heard," Rossi said. "Even the killer she mentioned doesn't ring any bells."
"Gideon had recruited her," Prentiss said. "Would Hotch know of her?"
They heard the sound of footsteps. A doctor appeared with short blond hair.
"I'm Doctor Pope," she said. "You're here about Dr. Spencer Reid?"
"Yes," Prentiss said. "How is he?"
"He sustained multiple life-threatening injuries. He lost a large amount of blood, and required a transfusion. Only two wounds appear mildly infected. The next twenty-four hours are critical to his recovery."
"Can we see him?" J.J. asked.
"Only two people. He is heavily sedated."
"J.J. and I will go," Prentiss said. "Tara, text Max what the doctor said."
"Come with me."
They followed the doctor.
"Whoever patched Dr. Reid up did a superb job," she said. "He or she may have saved his life."
"We're trying to figure out who it might be," Prentiss said.
"Doctor," J.J. said. "How does he recover from this psychologically?"
"I'm recommending in-patient psychotherapy. He may not feel like it, but he will be a danger to himself without proper psychiatric treatment."
"Understood," Prentiss said.
They entered his room. His skin was the color of paper and his hair was still greasy with sweat. The expression on his face was miserable.
J.J. touched his hand.
"Things are going to get better now," she said calmly. "I promise."
"We're going to learn more about who saved you," Prentiss said. "We're going to take care of you."
They watched him in silence while filled mentally with questions.
…
Ed McCarthy picked up his phone at the first ring. There were few reasons for David Rossi to be reaching out to him, so he had a pretty good guess as to what it might be about.
"Hi Ed, did I wake you?"
"Only from my time with Marilyn Monroe."
"So yes."
"You want to know about Josie Brent, don't you?"
"How—"
"Lucky guess. I caught her trying to hack back into the system after she left the bureau. I taught her how to break in without being caught."
"Why?"
"Because the techies never get their due. Josie was the only one who ever looked past the fact my lair looked like a rat's nest and treated me with respect. There are only four people who know the whole story about what happened in Albertville, Wisconsin: Josie happens to be the last one standing."
"Are you going to help me or not?"
"A year before Hotch came, Josie was Gideon's Reid before Reid. Bright, young, socially awkward, and the smartest person in any room. They were tracing a killer who liked to rape and then pierce women's nipples and leave them in the toddler zone of parks in Albertville, a hick town twenty miles south of the border. I isolated the possible locations down to five according to Josie's geo-profile. The last thing in the case file is that the fact that they found the killer, Samuel Cole dead. Josie never came back to work. She formally quit two weeks later."
"Did she tell you what happened?"
"I never asked because she never offered. All I know is, the woman I found crudely hacking from a laptop in a public library wasn't the same woman I knew three months earlier. There was something hard in her eyes."
"When's the last time you spoke with her?"
"Last month she appeared at the bar I visit to warn me about how she thought someone might be hunting her."
"Are you scared?"
"Not really, if the grim reaper comes, he comes," Riley said with a shrug.
"Is there anything else you can tell me about her?"
"I could, but I won't."
"Why not Ed?"
"Because people worshipped Jason Gideon! No one asked about what happened to Josie. No one tried to put the pieces together. The Director died of liver cancer three years later. Liam Wilder transferred to the IRT afterwards, only to end up dead in Cairo two years later. This led to Hotch coming on and then a year later, Gideon comes in with Reid! That scrawny little kid, sitting at Josie's desk. No one told me anything. I tried to do some digging on my own, and ended up with an offer of early retirement."
"Come on Ed. This woman saved Reid's life. We want to know more about her."
"You're only on interested in her because she saved your guy's life. That isn't good enough for me."
"Ed!"
He hung up. There was a figure in the shadows of his bedroom, watching him.
"Can I say a prayer before you kill me?"
The figure seemed to nod.
"Dear lord if you exist, tell Josie there is nothing feel sorry for, and f**k my killer in the—"
A bullet was lodged in the center of his forehead before he could finish his thought.