DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds, nor and I making any money from this story.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and adds! I just noticed something – In Series One when Gideon is on crutches for an episode they say he's not allowed out in the field on crutches, but is Series Five when Reid is on crutches they let him go with them : / Oh well...
WANTED – Chapter Six
Prentiss glanced down at her mobile for the hundredth time since JJ had left. She'd promised to call as soon as she'd gotten to Garcia's apartment. Prentiss looked up at the clock on the wall. JJ had been gone almost half an hour.
She was sat at her desk in the Bull Pen. Morgan and Rossi had left to speak to Clarridge who had been discharged from hospital but was apparently at the Police Station talking with his Superior Officer about what had happened and when he could return to work. If he returned to work...
Hotch was in his office looking over the autopsy reports for the three victims and Officer Rothbarth. Garcia, being unable to hide her concern for Reid from the others, had locked herself away in her room.
Prentiss jumped when her cell rang and she saw JJ's name flash up on the screen. "Hey, JJ."
"Hey," JJ's voice came from the other end, sounding annoyed. "I'm not there yet. I got stuck in traffic. I'm moving now but I'm still about fifteen minutes away."
Prentiss sighed. "Ok. Well, I guess you'll still be there before any of us can be." Even if Prentiss left now and hit no traffic JJ would still be there before her.
"Do you think we should just call an ambulance to pick him up?" JJ asked. She didn't know what state Reid would be in when she got there and it scared her to think of what she might find.
Prentiss though for a moment. "I don't know, JJ." She said sadly. "Garcia doesn't really know how bad it is. She said it had stopped bleeding though." She sighed. She hated not knowing what to do. "Morgan and Rossi are probably at the station with Clarridge now. If they can get him to confess then..." She trailed off.
"Ok." JJ said, sighing loudly. "I guess we can wait. From what Garcia was saying he really doesn't wanna go to hospital until he knows he won't get locked up. But if I get there and he's in a bad way I'm taking him regardless."
Prentiss smiled at the motherly tone in JJ's voice. "I think that's a good call." She said. "I'll go and let Garcia know. Call me when you get there."
"Will do." JJ said before hanging up.
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Morgan and Rossi stood outside the interview room which currently contained Officer Clarridge. They had spoken to the Desk Sergeant, and then the Lieutenant, and eventually been allowed to speak to him. The two men shared a look before entering the room.
"Officer Clarridge," Rossi said, sitting down opposite him. "I'm Agent Rossi and I believe you've met Agent Morgan." He nodded towards Morgan who was standing behind him.
"Agents," Clarridge greeted, nodding them. "What's this about? I gave a statement to Agent Hotchner." He said, looking from Rossi to Morgan, then back to Rossi.
"Yea, about that," Rossi said pulling the still images from the two videos out of the file on the table. He lay them on the table so that Clarridge could see them. "What were you doing at Agent Reid's apartment the night Caitlin Harris was killed?"
"That's not me." Clarridge said, not even looking at the photo.
"Oh, ok." Rossi said, looking at him. "Can you tell me what you were doing renting an apartment in a false name the other side of town?"
"That's not me." Clarridge said again, still not looking at the photos.
"Must just look like you, eh?" Rossi said, putting the photo's back in the file. Morgan remained silent.
"How's your arm?" Rossi asked.
"Hurts." Clarridge replied simply.
"Sorry about your partner." Rossi offered. "Must be tough."
Clarridge shrugged. "I didn't know him that well."
"Come on, Man." Morgan spoke for the first time. "You work together all day, day in day out. You gotta be hurting that he's gone."
"I guess so." Clarridge said, shrugging a little.
Before anyone could speak, Rossi's phone rang.
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Hotch was sat in his office reading through the four autopsy reports. The three women had been killed the same way. All .38 bullets, all strangled. Officer Rothbarth had died as a result of his wounds. Hotch read through them again.
"Angela Roberts," He read aloud. "Based on the angle of the bullet the killer was left..." Hotch stopped reading. He picked up another file. "Based on the angle of entry the killer was left handed." He said, reading it aloud again. He picked up another. Left handed killer. He picked up Officer Rothbarth's file. "Based on the angle of entry the bullet was fired by a left handed killer." He read again.
He picked up his phone and called Rossi. "He was left handed." He said when the call was answered.
"Sorry, what?" Rossi asked, sounding confused.
"On the autopsy reports. All the bullets were fired by someone who was left handed. Reid is right handed."
"Ok." Rossi said, understanding. If Clarridge was left handed, it would implicate him more. The fact that it was his right arm that had been injured would suggest he had shot himself with his left hand. "I'll call you back."
With that, the two men hung up.
(((((())))))
"So," Rossi said, looking back at Clarridge. "Lucky he shot you in your right arm, eh?"
Clarridge glared at him. "Lucky?" He asked. "Lucky I got shot?"
"Grazed." Morgan said, quietly under his breath, but just loud enough for the others to hear.
Clarridge ignored him and continued to look at Rossi. "Why do you say that?"
"You're left handed, right?" He asked, pointing at Clarridge's uninjured arm.
"And?" Clarridge asked, looking confused. "What's that got to so with anything?"
"Well," Rossi said, leaning back in his chair. "The killer was left handed." He smiled a little. "The three women were shot by a left handed killer. And the bullet that killed Officer Rothbarth? That was fired by a left handed shooter too."
"And?" Clarridge asked again.
Morgan noticed the small flicker of worry in the Officer's eyes. "Agent Reid is right handed."
"There are a lot if left handed people out there." Clarridge said, clearing his throat a little. He was starting to get nervous and Morgan and Rossi knew it.
"It's only a matter of time before we find more evidence linking you to these crimes." Rossi said, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table, "I'm willing to bet you've got a .38 at home. Am I right?"
"So what if I have?" Clarridge said. He was trying to stay calm, but cracks in his demeanour were starting to show.
"You're a cop killer, Man." Morgan said. "You know what happens to cops who kill cops." Morgan leant forward and rested his hands on the table next to Rossi. "You help us, we can help you."
Clarridge looked down at the floor, but remained silent.
"We know it was you." Morgan said, his gaze not leaving the Police Officer.
"It'll look better on you if you help us out." Rossi added.
"I..." Clarridge cleared his throat again. "She gave me half a mil..." He said not looking up.
"Who? What for?" Rossi asked.
"I never asked her name and she never told me." He still didn't look up. "I... I killed the first two. Angela and Martina. She told me I could cover my own tracks, I just needed to frame this guy Reid." He looked up at them, but didn't speak.
Morgan shook his head. "So you set him up?"
"I followed him for a few days, to his apartment. I rented another one. She told me too." He looked down again. "I followed him in, drugged him. I scratched the side of his neck with a false nail. I glued the nails onto the girl, Caitlin, after she was dead." He looked up at Rossi. "That was her idea too. At the station, I...erm... I shot Rothbarth, drugged Reid then took him to the apartment. You can work out the rest." He looked down again.
"Can you tell us what she looked like?" Rossi asked. "The woman who paid you?"
"Thirties." Clarridge answered. "She was short and slim. Dark hair." He shrugged. "That's it."
"You're going away for a long time." Morgan said, before heading out of the room.
"You said you'd help me." Clarridge said, looking at Rossi.
Rossi nodded. "We did." He said, standing. "We helped you to confess your sins and be a better person." He smiled at him and left. They'd done it. Clarridge had confessed to killing the woman and Rothbarth. And although they didn't yet know who 'she' was, if there was a she, it meant that Reid was innocent. He'd been set up. Rossi pulled out his cell to cal Hotch.
(((((())))))
Reid stirred on the sofa. How long had he been asleep for? He tired to sit up, forgetting few a moment about his wounded side. His right hand flew to his side to hold it and he let out a small gasp.
"Easy, Spencer." He heard a female voice say, pushing him back down onto the sofa.
"Garcia?" He asked, opening his eyes to look at her. The woman smiling at him was not Garcia. Or JJ, or Prentiss. He had no idea who she was. She looked a little older than Reid, but not much. She was quite petite with dark brown hair that rested on her shoulders. "Do I know you?" He asked. Was she a friend of Garcia's who she'd called? And if not, what was she doing here? And how did she know who he was?
"Oh I'm sorry," She smiled at him. "I'm Elizabeth." She looked at the position he was lying in. "Do you want me to help you sit up?"
Reid didn't, but he felt quite venerable lying down. He made the effort to sit up by himself and let her help him with the last part. "Sorry," He said, looking at her. "But do I know you?"
She smiled at him. "No, you don't. But I think you knew my Dad?" She looked puzzled for a moment. "But you might not remember him too well." She went on. "I know your Mom knew my Dad, defiantly."
"And your Dad is?" Reid asked. He was starting to worry a little bit. Although Elizabeth hadn't done anything wrong so far there was something unnerving about her.
"Oh he's dead now." She said. "He died years ago." She smiled sadly. "But I only found that out a few months ago. When I was little, I was six," She went on. "My Dad disappeared. He and my Mom didn't live together and she said he'd just taken off because he was a looser." She shrugged. "But then I found out he died."
"I'm sorry." Reid said, not really sure what was going on or what this had to do with him.
"He was murdered, actually." She said, sadly. "But it was covered up because people though he was a bad guy. That's he'd hurt a little boy." She shook her head. "But he was my Dad, and I loved him."
Reid watched her silently. His side was hurting, but not as much as it had been. He was more confused than anything.
"They buried him in the dessert," Elizabeth continued. "Actually, I think you met him once." She said, looking at him.
Reid noticed her expression had changed. Her eyes had narrowed and her mouth had turned into a small frown. Reid though for a few seconds before the penny dropped. "Your dad was Gary Michaels." He said, looking her in the eyes.
She nodded. "And your family covered up his murder. That makes them no better than the man who killed him."
"Your dad killed and raped a six year old boy." Reid said, calmly. He didn't even know that Michael's had a daughter. And what did she want with him? Why was she here? He though about all the events that had happened that day. "Did you do all this?" He asked her.
She nodded. "I didn't want to kill your parents. I wanted to take away what they cared about, like they did to me. It took some doing, I don't mind telling you." She smiled a little. "Finding someone to actually do the dirty work for me was the hard part. I've been following you, for a while." She sighed. "And now, after all the planning, all the hard work, we've reached the end."
"Why?" Reid asked, trying to keep his voice strong despite the pain and worry that was coursing through him. "Why not just kill me if you wanted revenge?"
"Please," She rolled her eyes. "Look at me. Do I look strong enough to kill a man? I know you're not a big guy but you're like fifteen inches taller than me!" She laughed a little. "No, I wanted to destroy your life the way you destroyed my life. I spent years thinking my Dad had abandoned me."
"He was a killer." Reid said simply.
"He was my Dad!" She shouted. She sighed. "But now, we reach our conclusion. Wracked with guilt over killing the three women and that poor, unfortunate Police Officer, hurt and alone, you see no other option than to take your own life." She picked up a bag that was next to her feet. She pulled out a pair of gloves and started to pull them on.
Reid panicked. What was he meant to do? He couldn't run... he wasn't strong enough. The same was true if he tried to fight her off. He took a chance and kicked the bag out of her hands. It sent a shockwave of pain through his side, and caused Elizabeth to swear at him.
"You stupid, stupid man." She said, swiftly moving over to when Reid half lay, half sat on the sofa. "I'm going to enjoy this." With that, she punched him in his injured side.
Reid let out a cry of pain as he felt the wound start to bleed again. He tried to move but couldn't. Elizabeth moved to pick up her bag and pulled out a knife. She moved over to him and punched his side again. "Goodbye, Spencer Reid." She said, smiling as she lowered the blade to his wrist.
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Sneaky chapter while boys are all asleep (yes, all three) Hope you enjoyed! More soon, hopefully! Let me know what you think, or if you're still enjoying!