CHAPTER 9

Reid was worryingly still in the chair. If it wasn't for the slow and uneven rise and fall of his chest, one would think he was dead already. His shirt and trouser leg clung to his skin with blood and the hair not trapped under the duct tape hung over his face. The blood on his face, wrists and ankles was now dried. His feet and ankles were alarming shades of black and purple and had swelled to twice their size, causing the zip ties to cut in further. Reid's skin was much paler than before and taking on a grey tinge, the dark circles around his eyes now much darker and shadows stretched out from under his cheekbones. His heart pounded rapidly into his ribs. Shaw watched his captive intently from the sofa, the last tendrils of the setting sun reaching through the window, casting a warm glow on the deathly pale face of Spencer Reid.

Garcia silently entered the bullpen. She had decided to take off her heels and leave them in her office as her feet were beginning to ache. She tightly gripped her laptop under her arm, flat against her cardigan that matched her dress. Emily, Luke and Rossi had returned from Michigan, realising that it was highly unlikely that they weren't going to get much from there, but left the profile for the PD. The team had gathered in the conference room where they had plastered photos across the evidence boards. Reid's photo grinned back at them, next to printed screenshots from the videos sent to them by the UnSub. Sanchez's and Shaw's photos were on the opposite end of the board. Garcia tip-toed up to the conference room and gave a small knock before opening the door. The team turned to look at her. They noted that she was beaming, her brown eyes sparkling behind her neon green glasses. Emily raised her eyebrows at the technical analyst.

"Everything okay, Garcia?" asked Emily as she turned herself so that she was fully facing the bubbly personality that was Penelope Garcia.

"I was going through security footage and found our delivery guy. Sanchez himself delivered the packages! So I did a little more digging, you know, as I do, 'cause I can't just stop there-"

"Penelope. Slow down and take a breath," responded Rossi calmly. Garcia took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Yes, sir. Well, I managed to see the car he got in. It was a grey sedan. I tracked the reg plate and found it to be registered to a Tom Stocks." Luke straightened in his chair, eyes wide and mouth gaping. It was as if something had clicked in his head.

"Tom Stocks! That was Shaw's alias when he was with the bureau! Sanchez was his informant. Garcia, can you track any properties under Tom Stocks?"

"Ugh, newbie! I can do anything," she responded as she set the laptop down on the table and took a seat next to Emily. She typed frantically as Emily's phone pinged. She slid it out of her pocket and pressed the menu button to open the screen. Her breath caught in her throat.

"A man matching Sanchez's description has just been clocked on CCTV approaching the building. I'll alert security. Matt, Luke? I want you to go down there and intercept him." Luke and Matt nodded and ran towards the stairs without hesitation. Emily dialled the number for security.

Matt and Luke took the stairs at speed, skipping a few steps at a time. They reached the ground floor just in time to see a Hispanic man arguing with security. He was heatedly waving an envelope in the air at the guard with the bushy moustache. Matt paused to catch his breath as Luke slid himself between the security guards that were blocking the way in. He held up his badge to the man. Luke immediately recognised it to be Alberto Sanchez.

"I'm SSA Luke Alvez. Is that for their BAU?" he gestured to the envelope. The man held it out to Luke who took it with a small thanks and set it down on the desk behind him. Luke quickly drew his gun and pointed it at the chest of Sanchez. Security and Matt followed suit. Realising he was outnumbered, Sanchez raised his hands. Luke holstered his gun and moved behind Sanchez, roughly grabbing both wrists and locking his handcuffs around them.

"Alberto Sanchez. You're under arrest for the kidnapping of a federal agent. You do not have to say anything that may harm your defence. Anything you do say may be given as evidence in a court of law. You're entitled to attorney. If you can't afford an attorney, one will be assigned to you." Luke guided Sanchez past the security by the upper arm. Matt holstered his gun and picked up the envelope from the desk.

Matt returned to the conference room with the envelope tightly gripped between both hands. He silently dropped the envelope down on the desk in front of Garcia with a soft thud and returned to his seat. He had already torn it open to see it contained another memory card. Emily glanced at him hopefully.

"Sanchez is in custody. Alvez took him straight to interrogation."

"I'll go help Luke," offered Rossi as JJ's mouth opened to volunteer, "I don't think you're in the right frame of mind right now, JJ." Rossi gave her a nod and came to his feet before exiting the conference room. JJ's mouth bobbed in disbelief.

"He's right, Jayje. Let's see what they've sent us this time." Garcia nodded and slid the memory card into the laptop with a click. Her laptop screen was once again mirrored onto the monitor on the wall. There were two windows this time- one indicating a file to be opened, and one video. Garcia clicked on the file first. There were three images- one showed Reid curling in on himself as far as his bonds would allow, his face pulled tight in agony. The second showed a hand plunging a knife into his shoulder. Blood spread across his shirt and chest as his eyes widened. The third showed Reid's head hung low the knife still jutting out of his shoulder. Garcia gasped and pressed a hand to her mouth as fresh tears brimmed on her lashes.

"Play the video, Pen," responded Emily stoically, already prepared for whatever horrors they were about to witness. Garcia shakily pressed play. The camera appeared to be just off to the side of Reid this time. Shaw was lounging lazily on a green sofa. The tape was now gone from Reid's face. Reid twitched and jerked as if in pain. His eyes flew open and he retched, his chest heaving. Blood ran from his nostrils, over his lips and down his chin. He licked his lips. The blood continued run down Reid's chin and drip onto his shirt. He turned to the side and vomited into the floor. More blood.

"Hurts doesn't it?" came Shaw's voice from the corner of the lounge. He was sprawled across a tattered green sofa, watching Reid intently. Reid turned his head slowly to face him, "The external bleeding will stop soon but the pain... Oh that pain will linger for a while yet as you bleed internally." Reid glared at Shaw in response as a new wave of cramping took over his abdomen. He squirmed in place as pains continued to plague him. Reid gritted his teeth and tried to breathe through the pain as he focussed on one spot on the floor "I told you I would find you anytime, anywhere." Reid continued to stare at the same spot on the floor. His gaze moved across the floor and met the camera. His brown youthful eyes, now appeared lost and agonized.

"What do you want from me, Shaw?" Reid asked, still clenching his teeth.

"I told you. I want you to pay for poisoning the drugs. And because I want to see Agent Alvez suffer for having me transferred away from my family."

"Family? What family? Everyone you care about abandoned you a long time ago," snapped Reid. Shaw quickly came to his feet and approached Reid. He took a handful of Reid's curls and pulled his head backwards.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that one, Spencer." The hand kept his head still as the camera moved around and was set against the stand on the table. Sanchez approached Reid from behind with the roll of duct tape and pressed it tightly over his mouth, digging into his flesh and wrapping it around his head once more. Shaw let go of Reid's hair. Another wave of cramping came over Reid's abdomen, making him groan into the tape as he curled in on himself as much as he could within his restraints. Shaw chuckled to himself as he returned to the sofa and threw himself into the cushions. Sanchez took up the flick knife and flipped it open. He advanced on the prisoner as he thrust it into Reid's left shoulder. Reid let out a desperate gasp of pain as blood blossomed across his shirt. Sanchez returned to his phone and stopped the recording.

Garcia choked on a sob as she turned to Emily. Emily's mouth was pressed tight in a straight line, her dark eyes still fixed to the screen. Matt knitted his eyebrows in thought. JJ was gripping her blonde hair in her hands as fresh tears streaked her face. Tara rubbed soothing circles on JJ's back. A new window popped open on Garcia's screen, accompanied by an alarm. The team snapped back to reality at the sound. Just as Garcia opened the window and began to speak, Luke burst into the conference room, slamming the door back against the dark grey wall and panting. At the same time, he and Garcia spoke,

"I know where he is!" Rossi had tried to keep up with Luke but his ageing knees slowed him down. He rested his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"He's just outside of DC in the woods. It's a cabin! I've sent the co-ordinates to the SUVs. Go bring out junior G-man back!" The mood lifted in the room as the team made no hesitation in racing to the lift.