NOTE: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters.

CHAPTER 4

The jostling in the trunk of the car finally subsided after what Reid calculated was an hour of driving on a smooth road, though many stops and starts had him rolling back and forth. This indicated to him that he had likely been on a highway in traffic, and was either still in Virginia, or close to leaving Virginia. The smooth road was followed by some rough terrain, suggesting that they had gone off-road. Reid tightly squeezed his eyes shut as the trunk opened, sunlight searing his retinas. The man was still wearing his balaclava so his face was obscured. He let out a small chuckle.

"Ah, so you're finally awake!" Reid snapped his eyes open and glared coldly at his kidnapper. The man grabbed Reid by his bound ankles and dragged them out of the car until his was in an upright position against the back of the car and closed the trunk. They appeared to be in a quiet opening in the woods. A beam of sunlight cracked through the treetops, directly on the pair. Reid continued to stare into the man's eyes before he thrust his head forward so that it connected with the man's. Reid groaned into the tape, instantly regretting his actions as pain blossomed in his head, reigniting the pain from his temple wound. The man stumbled, but quickly regained his footing as he held his forehead where a reddened area was forming.

The man folded his fingers of his right hand into a fist and drew it back, high above his shoulder, and then threw it forward so that it connected with Reid's nose. Reid felt his nose break under the force of the punch and his head snapped backwards, hitting from the metal body of the car. Blood poured from his nostrils over the tape. Another fist met Reid's stomach, sending him crumpling to his knees. The man took a handful of Reid's curls and dragged him to the wooden cabin nearby. Reid moaned in pain as his knees dragged behind him across branches and broken twigs.

The cabin was filled with typical earthy scents one would expect in the woods. The log fire had recently burned out, leaving ashes behind. A simple four-legged wooden chair was set up in the centre of the lounge. The man hauled Reid into the chair, wrenching his bound hands behind the chair. Still dazed from the hit to the head, Reid was barely able to resist. The man retrieved a flick knife from his back pocket and cut the zip tie holding Reid's ankles together. He pocketed the knife and removed two more zip ties from his jacket. He quickly bound the agent's ankles to the legs of the chair. Reid's head hung limply as he tried to breathe deeply through his nose to will away the pain. The man grasped Reid's jaw with his left hand, forcing his head upwards so that he could stare intently into his prisoner's eyes. Reid tried to wrestle his head away from the grip. The man took the knife from his pocket once more and pressed it to Reid's cheek, allowing fresh blood to mingle with the congealed blood from his head.

"He said he could get to you anytime, anywhere." Reid immediately stilled. There was only person who said that to him… Shaw… "That's right, Dr Reid. You didn't think you could get away from him that easily, did you?" Reid grunted in response. Shaw was in prison. He knew this- his cell was right next to him on D block. So how? Reid's mind was racing as he tried to make sense of the situation. The man laughed and removed the knife from Reid's cheek and his hand from his jaw.

"You'll figure it out soon, Doc. For now, it's time to let your team know where you are." Reid struggled against his bonds once more as the man took a smart phone from his jacket pocket and opened the video recorder, "Oh, don't worry. Your tech friend won't be able to locate this." Reid's eyes widened at the reference to Garcia. The man pressed record and turned the camera to himself, "BAU! Hello, friends. SSA Luke Alvez, I think you'll like this one. As you'll soon see, I have recently made acquaintance with a certain Spencer Reid. We're going to have so much fun. Let's see if you can find where I have your little doctor. As for tracing this, you won't. A Miss Garcia knows all about proxy servers and such like, so she knows she won't be able to trace this. Anyway, to our guest of honour- Dr Spencer Reid!" The man turned the camera so that it was facing Reid. Reid struggled once more, his eyebrows knotted together in anger as his curses were muffled behind his gag. "I believe you're acquainted with my boss, Agent Alvez. My understanding is that our friend here was a very naughty boy on D block". Reid continued his struggle, "you won't find your little doctor, but out of decency I'm giving you three days to try. Make no mistake, agents. He will be dead after three days".

The man ended the video and removed the memory card from the phone, depositing it into a beige envelope. He scrawled BAU across the front in black marker pen. Pleased with his work, the moved over to a small wooden table next to the fireplace, Reid's eyes following him in hatred. He set the envelope down and picked up a scratchy linen cloth and an amber glass bottle. The man pressed the cloth to the neck of the bottle and inverted it so that the cloth soaked with the contents. He turned the bottle upright, satisfied that the cloth was sufficiently soaked and turned back to Reid. The chemical smell irritated Reid's nose as the man drew closer. The man moved swiftly behind Reid and took a clump of Reid's hair into his right hand as he tightly held the cloth to Reid's nose and gagged mouth. Reid struggled against him as the chemical fumes burned his nose. Darkness was creeping into the edges of his vision and he had no choice but to succumb to it.

"Sleep tight, Dr Reid."