Gracelyn Estlin is your typical queen-bee teenager. She thinks her father is a complete loser, as he is known as a strict math teacher. Then one day he is abducted, and she learns about his whole secret life as an agent hiding from his past.
This is kind of dark for me, but in a different way. I'll come back to Heir in a few days.
The Past Always Finds You
Prologue:
It is a nightmare I'll never wake up from. Max and I were having our first "dress-up date," at a nice restaurant. She was wearing an elegant red dress and I was in my best suit and tie. A man we thought was our waiter came up and shot Max point-blank in the head.
"A message from Cat," he told me as I tackled him. "You're loved ones will never be safe so long as you try to find happiness."
Minutes later, as I sat on the curb watching the CSIs enter the restaurant, my phone rang.
"Rossi was just killed!" Prentiss cried.
"What?" I asked numbly.
"It was a sniper shot," she sobbed.
"Emily. Cat Adams is behind all this," I said. "Max was just shot dead."
"Oh god, Spencer," she said. "I'll get extra security for the rest of the team, right away."
"Okay," I said.
But there would be one more casualty that night. There was a busy signal on my phone. It was the center where my mom lived.
"I've got to go," I said and transferred the call.
"Dr. Reid, I'm sorry to inform you that an intruder got in Diana's room. I'm sorry, she's dead."
"Did you apprehend the intruder?" I asked.
"He surrendered to us," she said. "It was like he knew he wasn't going to get away with it. I'm so sorry."
"Thank you," I said. "I'll be in touch."
"Take your time, Dr. Reid."
I hung up and felt dizzy. David, my mom, and Max. I turned on my side and violently threw up.
…
My mother's funeral was first. I had been planning it for some time, but never expected it so soon.
"To quote Chaucer: 'Love will not be constrain'd by mastery. Beateth his wings, and, farewell, he is gone. Love is a thing as any spirit free.' You are free Mom. I will love with my dying breath."
I had to keep it simple, otherwise I would have collapsed at the gravesite.
My team patted my back. Even my father tried to reach out to me with a hand, but I ignored him. Eventually, everyone cleared out except my team.
"Thank you for being here," I said. "I love you all."
"I'm coming back to the BAU, Spencer," Garcia said. "This investment fund Cat set up for hitmen, I'll find it and make sure no one we love gets hurt."
"Thank you, Penelope," I said.
"Spencer, is there anything you need?" J.J. asked.
"I want to be alone with my mom for a little while," I said.
Prentiss touched my shoulder.
"Take all the time you need," she said.
I looked at my mom's grave as I listened for the sound of their cars to fade.
A man approached me.
"Are you ready for this?" Dan asked.
Dan was a friend of mine in MIT whose idea of fun was figuring out ways to avoid recognition on cameras. We met up at a security conference after my conviction. He said if I ever needed to disappear, he could help me, for a price.
I nodded.
"Yes," I said. "Is ten thousand enough?"
"That's for my premier customers. There's no coming back from this," he said.
"I know," I said.
I got into the back of his white van and took a seat.
I left a note in my car. I had kept it simple:
"Don't try to find me," Love, Spencer
Chapter One:
Nineteen years later:
Glen, Idah
I swallow a pair of pills every morning. An anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drug. I looked in the mirror and see a fifty-nine-year-old face staring back at me. I feel ancient. My hair is completely gray, and the gold in my eyes is gone. Looking away, I proceed with my routine.
After washing up and getting dressed, I knocked on my daughter's door.
"Are you up?" I asked.
"Fifteen more minutes," she moaned.
"Five," I said.
"Whatever," she said.
I went down and make breakfast and coffee. I prefer it black these days, no sugar.
Fifteen minutes later, my daughter appeared. Gracelyn Ann Estlin. Dressed in a red sweater and jeans, she gets her blond hair from my ex-wife Emma, and the waves in it from me. Gracelyn was truly beautiful.
"You made eggs," she said with a look of disgust. "I told you I was going vegan."
"I saw you eating a club sandwich Beverly's mom made yesterday," I said.
"What are you, spying on me?" she said.
"Your table was throwing spitballs at the drama kids again," I said. "I had to keep an eye on you."
"Whatever," she said. "That was a moment of weakness. I'm vegan for life now."
She took a piece of toast and drank some orange juice out of the bottle.
"Open your backpack," I said.
She ripped it open.
"Happy?" she said.
"If I find you have changed into a revealing outfit at school, you're grounded," I said.
"Whatever," she said with a sigh. "Annie's picking me up."
I sighed.
"Are you that embarrassed to be seen with me?"
"The toughest, math teacher in the school, yes. I wish we weren't related."
"Gracelyn, that's not nice," I said.
"It's the truth, bye," she said and walked out.
I threw out the eggs and cleaned up.
I thought I could find at least fine peace in Idaho. Then I met Emma who convinced me I could feel love. I did after the birth of our daughter. But when Gracelyn was three, Emma began an affair with the man I hired to renovate the house. She stuck around long enough to sign divorce papers and then she and "Steve" moved to Los Angeles, so she could try acting and he could become a handyman to the stars. Emma sends cards with money to Gracelyn every once and while.
I picked up my satchel to go to school.
I miss everything about my former life. But everyone is also safer if I stay. That is the only thing that brings me peace.