A/N I don't own Criminal Minds.

Thanks again for all the reviews, they are indeed helpful.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The new information Garcia had imparted gave the group a lot to think about. Kyle said he would talk to Elaine Clisby in the morning and find out if she knew anything about Jeff having another son that was born before she and her husband moved to Brookdale. With all this new information to think about, they decided to call it a night. They said good night in front of the station and said they would see each other in the morning.

Reid arrived back at his motel room but, even though he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, he was too wired to sleep. He showered and sat down with a couple of paperbacks he'd bought. He'd finished the first one after about ten minutes and decided to save the second until tomorrow.

He laid back and tried to sleep but all he could do was think about his situation. Hotch had forced him to take this vacation so he could get back to his old self, or that was the rationalization Hotch had given him. Reid wondered if Hotch did not feel secure having him as part of the team now and who could blame him after what had happened.

He'd tried so hard to hide his addiction. His intent at first had been to slowly wean himself off the Dilaudid, at least that was what he'd told himself, but the withdrawal symptoms were so brutal that he felt he had to use it so he could function normally and his withdrawal wouldn't be obvious. However, as with most drugs, he found he needed more just to get the same effect and soon he was injecting regularly.

He had managed to never take the Dilaudid while he was working. Then one day, they were away on a particularly difficult case. They had been up day and night hunting for an un sub, who was abducting and horribly molesting little girls. He had not had any downtime and had not been able to take any Dilaudid so he was experiencing full blown withdrawal. He was feeling extremely weak, nauseated and dizzy. Finally they had found the un sub's lair and were going in for the raid. JJ looked for the little girls as they thought the children would be less frightened with a woman. They had thought the children were alone but after JJ found them, the un sub snuck in behind her. He himself had come in soon after and pointed his weapon at the un sub but suddenly his vision began to blur, the room spun and he couldn't see well enough to get a shot off without perhaps harming JJ or one of the children. Hotch came behind him at that moment and fired at the un sub taking him down. Had Hotch not been there, JJ or one of the children could have been killed.

That was when he decided that this could not go on. JJ or one of those precious little girls could have been killed because he was not up to his full capacity due to his drug addiction. He went to Gideon that evening and told him what had been going on. He knew he needed help, but he had just been so ashamed and so afraid of the ramifications of admitting to the drug use. If anyone had been hurt because of him, he would never have been able to live with himself. The bureau, realizing that the drug addiction had started when Dilaudid was forced on him as a consequence of his being kidnapped in the line of duty, were willing to be a little more forgiving than usual, but not much. He still had to face regular drug tests and more frequent performance appraisals but at least he got to keep his job.

But now it seemed that Hotch did not want him back. Was this enforced vacation just postponing the inevitable meeting where Hotch would tell him he could no longer be trusted as a member of the BAU. He guessed he'd have to wait and see. Eventually, exhaustion overtook him and Reid fell into a deep sleep. Four hours later he sat bolt upright in bed. He had an idea. Reid jumped up. He had to talk to Garcia. Then he remembered the time. He couldn't call her now. Damn, he'd have to wait until the morning.

The morning dawned sunny and very warm as Reid got into his SUV to head into the sheriff's station. He stopped at the diner for some coffee and breakfast. Colleen and Miriam were busy with the breakfast routine. He sat at the counter and Colleen greeted him with a warm smile and a cheery hello. As usual she looked delightful in a pink top with thin straps and a pink skirt that showed off her feminine form beautifully. The contrast of beautiful brown tresses flowing down her back took his breath away. He asked for some coffee and pancakes and Colleen said she would be right back with them. Miriam noticed how her daughter suddenly had a huge smile on her face and a dance in her step. She didn't know whether to thank the young man or throttle him for what he was doing to her daughter. Colleen returned with his order and he watched her while he ate. The diner was hot as it was wont to be in June in Kentucky, especially with all the heat from the kitchen. He could see Colleen wipe her brow now and then. He spotted a little bead of perspiration on her neck and he watched it wend its way downwards until it finally disappeared into the depth of her splendid cleavage. He had the urge to take his napkin and… Jesus Spencer, get your head out of your pants.

He was startled back to reality when he realized Colleen was speaking to him, "Earth to Reid, earth to Reid." She stated giggling.

"Oh sorry, I was lost in thought."

"Obviously, it must have been a good thought, you had a grin on your face," she said causing him to choke on his coffee.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah. It just went down the wrong way." Reid said, his face suddenly flaming. Well that was embarrassing. "Uh, what were you saying?"

"I was just saying that this hasn't been a very good vacation for you."

I didn't want to be on vacation; I wanted to be at work but Hotch obviously doesn't trust me to work with the team; this is the next best option. However, he said, "Oh I don't mind, I didn't have any particular plans."

"Well, we were fortunate you came into town when you did."

Looking into her beautiful brown eyes, he said, "It must have been fate."

Colleen was about to agree when Miriam yelled, "Colleen, customers."

She smiled at Reid, "Later."

Garcia was hard at work with her computers. Reid had called early wanting some information and she told him she'd work on it. She hadn't found much yet but she'd keep digging. Hotch had just come by asking about Reid. She felt she should hold a daily briefing as someone was always stopping by to see if she'd heard from him. Even Gideon, who tried to hide it, was curious. She kept assuring everyone that he sounded fine and seemed to be doing a good job for the town of Brookdale. She knew how much everybody missed Reid and how much they all cared about him. She guessed she should feel lucky; at least she got to talk to him and hear his voice. The others just got news of him second hand.

Gideon joined Hotch in the conference room. "What troubles you my friend?" he said noticing Hotch's grim expression.

"I was just thinking about Reid. I hope he's not in over his head in Kentucky. I mean he's just come back from two harrowing experiences and I was hoping he could ease back into work."

"Aaron, nothing that's happened to Reid has been your fault. Quit blaming yourself. "

"That's easy to say Jason, but I was the one that sent them to the Hankel farm, and everything that happened afterward, how could I not have seen it and helped him before the problem got so bad he needed rehab." Hotch argued. "Maybe if I had worked more closely with him beforehand and tried to teach him how to deal with things better, nothing like this would have happened. But I didn't and then he came back the other day, all ready to start work and I was so afraid that something might happen to him that I told him I thought he needed more time and made him take vacation. He accused me of not trusting him, if he only knew. He has no idea how much I care about him as a mixture of part son, part brother and part friend. I kept thinking that if he wasn't here, he couldn't get hurt. Now I find he's thrown himself into this situation in Kentucky and he could still get hurt, because Reid is Reid and he will always jump in where he's needed, won't he?"

Gideon touched Hotch's shoulder as he got up to leave saying, "And isn't that one of the things we love most about him."

Hotch could only nod at Gideon's departing figure.

Reid along with Kyle and the deputies had been discussing what they had on the case. Cory had just gone to pick up some lunch. Kyle had talked to Elaine Clisby that morning and she was shocked to hear that Jeff had another son. She said they had been together since they were sixteen and she had never had a child before they came to Brookdale, which meant that if what Kyle was telling her was true, then her husband had been unfaithful at some point in their relationship and fathered a son with another woman. She couldn't believe that, Kyle must be wrong. Kyle told her DNA didn't lie and it said the second blood sample found at the murder scene belonged to a son. Elaine had no idea what the answer was and Kyle left her, knowing he had broken the woman's heart. Maybe he could ask Miriam to pay her a visit.

Cory finally returned with lunch and the guys sat down to eat an extra spicy sausage pizza sparing the Rutherford women from another day of preparing a meal for them. During a lull while they waited for word from Garcia, Kyle decided that he and the deputies should do a quick patrol of the town, leaving Reid with some time on his hands. He decided to go to the bookstore since he had finished the two books that he had. Following Kyle's directions he turned onto Market Street where the book store was located at the bottom of the hill. Intending to slow down near the end of the slope, he applied his brakes but nothing happened. He pressed his brakes again, again nothing happened and Reid suddenly realized his SUV was barreling downhill with no means of stopping!