Another review! Thank you kc1997kc for reading! I update chapters every day or every other day so the wait isn't long! I'm so glad you like the story it just makes me so happy . Plus I just checked out my email and found out more than three people have read my story! Thank you to everyone who added my story to story alert and favorite it means a lot! So, again I do not own CM. Blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda you know how it's done by now
Chapter 5
Morgan watched the teacher fidget in the interrogation room while he planned his next move. When it came to this part of the investigation you had to make them sweat, watch them carefully as they remembered every bad thing they've ever done. It was pretty amusing to Morgan. Finally he entered the room, causing the man to jump.
"I've done nothing wrong!" He shouted.
"And why do you think we think you've done something wrong?" Morgan questioned, toying with him. Gaining squirmed again and wiped his forehead. Classic signs of guilt.
"It has to do with, you know, that" Gaining muttered almost incoherently.
"Would you mind elaborating on what "that" is, Mr. Gaining?" Morgan questioned.
"You don't know?" Gaining asked surprised. "Then I'm not telling you a damn thing" he folded his arms and turned his head away like an angry child.
"I can tell you what I think you're doing here. And I think it has to do with a certain female student of yours." Morgan hinted. He watched Gaining immediately pale, his upper lip trembling. Oh yeah, Morgan had him.
"You-you have no proof" Gaining protested.
"Once we get the warrants to search your house then yeah, I bet we will." Morgan taunted.
"Do not look through my stuff!" Gaining screamed. "It's none of your business!"
"You just made it my business" Morgan smirked then left the room. The team was waiting outside for him, a freshly printed warrant in hand and an extra bulletproof vest for Morgan.
The two SUV's pulled up to the small one story house. They exited quickly, fast walking to the door. Hotch stood back allowing Morgan access. With a quick hard kick, the door busted open and the house was flooded with police officers and the BAU.
"There's a computer get Garcia on that" Hotch called out to anyone who was listening. JJ grabbed her phone and dialed quickly. Morgan cautiously stepped further into the house, Prentiss close behind him. He stopped at a door and opened it, finding the bedroom. Without a word the two agents fanned out and started searching. Morgan dug through piles of laundry and drawers full of clothes before he heard Prentiss make an excited noise.
"Morgan I found something!" Prentiss yelled, holding a thin square book. She was flipping through the glossy pages quickly, flitting her eyes across the page.
"What is it?" Morgan asked, peering over her shoulder.
"This year's yearbook. There are specific girl's pictures circled, including Mia's" Prentiss explained. As they dug deeper they found older yearbooks, each with girl's pictures circled or names starred.
The pair grabbed the yearbooks and regained the group in the living room. They handed the yearbooks to Hotch, who then passed them on to Reid. The doctor scanned them all quickly in order from oldest to most recent.
"There seems to be a physical connection between all of the girls circled. All are sophomores with blonde hair and brown or blue eyes." Reid observed.
"Hey guys, Garcia has something too" JJ announced.
"And it's big" They heard Garcia yell over the phone. "His trashcan? Filled with kiddie porn! All under aged girls, blonde, about 15 or 16. Nasty stuff."
"Looks like we found our evidence" Morgan stated smugly.
Morgan entered the interview room again, this time carrying the yearbooks and a folder.
"Hello Mr. Gaining. We found some interesting things at your house. I can see why you didn't want us to search it." Gaining just sat there quietly; not meeting Morgan's glaring eyes. Morgan slammed the folder onto the table.
"Our tech girl found these on your computer. Seems weird for an educator to have, don't you agree? Or did the pedophiliac come first?" Morgan accused.
"And then there are the yearbooks we found. All the girls circled match your little fantasy, don't they? Young blonde innocent girls, coming to their teacher for help-"
"That's enough!" Gaining shouted and banged on the table. "OK, it's mine, I'm sorry! But I never touched that Mia girl, not yet! I swear I did not do anything to her! She must have made it up! Or heard rumors!" Gaining shouted. Damn, Morgan thought.
"That's enough Gaining" Morgan growled then stalked out of the room. "He's not our guy" Morgan informed his team waiting outside the room.
"He didn't know the case" Prentiss sighed.
"Back to square one" Reid mumbled.
"At least we caught him, even if he wasn't our unsub" Hotch comforted. The team all turned towards the window as if they all noticed the man for the first time. It was true though. They had caught pedophile, even if they stumbled onto him by mere chance.
Three weeks later
Reid had become used to having Mia around faster than he thought he would. After they lost all of their leads the BAU stayed in Bayton to wait for any new ones and to protect Mia. The more time Reid spent with the girl, the more he felt he became attached, which was dangerous. He knew his days with her were ticking down. He just couldn't help it. She was funny, smart, she cooked or him, talked with him, and looked up to him. He always felt out of place everywhere he went. He was always too young, in between being babied or bullied. It was easier with the team, but he still didn't feel like an equal around them. With Mia it was different. He could tell by the way she talks and behaves around him. She looked up to him, depended on him. Slowly, Reid was becoming used to this idea. Driving her to school, picking her up, helping her with homework, eating meals, chasing away the bad dreams, these were all customs he's grown fond of. She was too old to be like a child to him of course; but a big brother most likely. It killed him to think about losing Mia to some distant relative who abandoned her when she needed them, when Reid had been there for her. Where was the justice in that?
"Spencer, what are you thinking about?" Mia asked waving her hands in front of his face.
"Hey don't do that when I'm driving" Reid joked.
"We all know how much you need to concentrate when you're driving" Mia fake grimaced and clutched her seatbelt.
"Hey!" Reid said in mock hurt.
"So what were you thinking about?" She asked, getting serious again.
"I was thinking about what's going to happen to you when we catch this guy" Reid answered truthfully. Her face immediately fell and he could see dark emotions cloud her eyes. On the outside Mia tried to be brave for everyone around her, but really, he could tell she was depressed. Watching your family get murdered, being stalked by a crazy man bent on making her his, struggling with being an outcast, and only at age fifteen. It's not like he couldn't hear her crying in the shower when she thought she was safe. It's not like he didn't have to comfort her every night from the torturous nightmares. How is a distant second aunt forth removed supposed to handle that? Reid was afraid that without him, these emotions would spiral out of control. He knows what it's like to handle these emotions by himself. It was hard for the twenty-four year old, but fifteen? It would crush her.
"Don't worry Mia I'll make sure everything works out, ok?" Reid told her, watching her reaction. Mia shrugged, her back turned away from him as much as possible in the car.
When Mia first got in the car she was happy. Now, those emotions were here. The black, suffocating emotions that choked her throat and controlling her thoughts. They were definitely hard to hide, especially from Spencer. He didn't need to worry about her. He had a job to do. He had already done so much by bringing her into his life and taking care of her. She felt like she needed to handle this alone. She was alone, in a sense. No one cared about Mia, just what happens around her. When people die around you, it marks you as the dangerous one. No one cares about your safety, just their own. Except for Reid. He cared about her, no matter how many times she tried to shield him from her emotions. It was so sweet, but it hurt. Mia wasn't stupid. She knew it was temporary. Soon she would be truly alone and that's what scared her the most. That and HIM. The man who put her in this place, took away everything she had until she was left with less than nothing. HE took away her family, her friends, her life, her innocence in a way. The world was no longer the safe place it used to be. She's seen the ugly, monstrous mentality of humanity and that's something you never unlearn. All of this build up into one giant see of depression, crashing over her, dragging her away from happiness. She felt herself weakening slowly, every day trying to fight it off. She was tired and almost ready to give up. The only reason she hasn't was the man sitting next to her. He was her lifeline, bringing her back when she was drowning. He was more than a temporary guardian. She needed him more than anyone. She knew what life would be like without him, but that only made her head spin.
"Mia…" Reid looked over at the girl. She looked so crushed. When she got in this funk, she looked so small, like a child. Broken. He hated what that creep did to Mia. He was going to catch this guy if it was the last thing he did.
"I'm fine Reid" She snapped. She only called him Reid when she was mad. He persisted anyways.
"You obviously aren't Mia. You're feeling alone, hated, mistreated. You feel like everyone blames you. You're also scared. You wonder who this man is and how and when he's going to hurt you next. You're living on edge and it's getting to you. It's hard to bare and I know. You're only a kid, Mia, you don't deserve this. You've done nothing wrong, you hear me? Nothing. And I promise I'll protect you." Reid wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. Mia's walls broke down and the wave subsided, allowing her to breathe a little easier. She hugged Spencer back, tears streaming down her face.
"I don't know what I'm going to do without you Spencer" she admitted. "I can't get through this without you."
Reid stayed silent because he didn't know how to answer that. The rest of the car ride was silent.
Back at the Police Station
Hotch stared at the bulletin board in anger. There has to be something he's not seeing, some piece of the puzzle he wasn't seeing. It didn't work though. After three weeks of staring at this board nothing new popped out at him. He sighed angrily and sat down at the desk he was temporarily assigned. At this point Hotch was thinking of bringing his team back to Quantico, letting the police take over this. Suddenly his phone started buzzing.
"Agent Hotchner?"
"Hello this is Mr. Wilder, Mia's teacher and advisor. I just remembered something that might be useful. Mia came into advisory a week before the first murder talking about a man who worked at the amusement park she frequented. He was bothering her and her friends while she was there. I believe his name was Joe Mathers or something,"
"Thank you Mr. Wilder." Finally, a break in the case.
"JJ, call the rest of the team. Tell them to all come down here. We have a new lead" Hotch instructed JJ whipped out her cell phone and started making calls. Hotch picked up his own phone and dialed Garcia.
"Oh finally sir! I thought you forgot all about me! What do you need?" Garcia almost begged.
"I need a name checked out. A Joe Mathers. He should work at an amusement park nearby."
"I don't have a Joe Mathers but there's a Joe Mathews! He works at a six flags two hours from your location. I've sent the address to your phone" She notified.
"Thank you Garcia." Hotch hung up the phone.
"Hotch, everyone's here" JJ informed her boss. The two of them joined their team in the main part of the station.
"Alright everybody; listen up! We have a new lead. A Joe Mathews was heard to be paying too much attention to her at the amusement park two miles from here. We have reason to believe he's or unsub." Hotch filled in his team.
"Hotch I can't go. I have to pick up Mia after school" Reid piped in.
"All right" Hotch agreed "The rest of you, get in the SUV's"
The amusement park was fairly empty because it was a Wednesday. It took them all of fifteen minutes to find Joe Mathews mopping up the food court.
"Mr. Mathews we're with the FBI" Hotch introduced his team to the man.
"The FBI? What's going on?" Mathews asked. His thick lens glasses fell down his nose.
"Have you ever heard of a girl named Mia Gardener?" Rossi asked, holding up her school photo. Mathews adjusted his glasses and stared at the pictures.
"Oh yes I recognize her! Nice girl, she comes here often. She always smiles at me when she sees me," he answered. "She reminds me of my daughter, Annabelle. Annabelle died when she was that age a few years ago."
"I'm sorry for your loss Mr. Mathews but we're here to talk to this girl" Rossi waved the picture of her. "What else do you know about her?"
"Not much. I just liked to watch her. She reminds me so much of my Annabelle. I never approached her, or even learned her name. She just gave me memories" Joe explained.
"Thank you for your time" Rossi sighed. The team left the janitor and stopped at the food court. "Now what?"
"We can canvas the area; see if anyone fits the profile. Mia did say she frequented here a lot" Hotch suggested. The agents split up to search the park.
Mia was not having a good day. The dark feeling from the car that morning never left her. It swirled over her head like a dark cloud. Finally having enough she pulled over a familiar face. The girl looked surprised, then fearful.
"You're in my next class right?" Mia asked the girl.
"Um, yeah" She said, confused.
"Tell the teacher I'll be there by the middle of class ok?" Mia instructed. The girl nodded then tore away, nearly running down the hallway. Mia rolled her eyes and started wandering through the halls. When the bell rung she ducked into a bathroom for five minutes, then continued drifting through the halls.
"Hey Mia" Mr. Wilder walked over to her.
"Hello Mr. Wilder" Mia responded cautiously, afraid of being in trouble.
"I wanted to talk to you about your Shakespeare monologue" He told her. "I thought it was magnificent. Your emotion, your power, I could finally tell what you felt. You picked that monologue for a reason, right?"
"It was a love monologue…" Mia said warily.
"Exactly! That's when I knew! I knew you felt the same way!" Wilder said excitedly.
"Mr. Wilder?" Mia asked surprised. No, it couldn't be. She knew him, talked to him about the death of her family…. It couldn't be him. But it made so much sense. He fit the profile the BAU created perfectly.
"Come on Mia, you're coming with me. Time to start the plan I have for us!" Wilder exclaimed in a hushed tone.
"Mr. Wilder, I'm not coming with you" Mia said quietly and forcefully.
"I knew you'd be hesitant at first. If you don't come, I'll kill your little friend Reid or whatever." Wilder threatened.
"Don't hurt him!" Mia shouted. Wilder shoved a rough hand over her mouth.
"Don't scream you're going to get me in trouble. Now come on" Wilder dragged her down the hallway, hand still over her mouth. He exited the building and threw her into the open door of his waiting car. He slammed it shut and ran to the driver's side. He strapped in and looked at the frightened girl next to him. He something out from his glove department and strapped it to her neck.
"It's to help me teach you to behave," the crazy man explained. Mia tugged at the electric collar on her neck when a painful shock zipped through her neck and through her body in a painful wave.
Reid was driving to Bayton High School when his phone rung.
"This is Dr. Reid," he said
"Hello Doctor, we're sorry to inform you that Mia Gardener didn't show up for her class. A student said she said she'd be there by the middle of class and other students heard shouting in the hallway a few minutes ago." A lady informed Reid in a monotone voice. Reid's heart dropped and his head seemed to freeze.
"Th-thank you" Reid managed to choke out before hanging up the phone. The unsub had Mia, and they didn't even know who he was.
Aha! A cliff hanger! Don't worry; I will have the next one up in no time! Imade this one very long though I hope you liked it!