Fate

Chapter 5: Home Sweet Home (Part 2)

Gideon was quiet, but I wasn't quite sure what that meant. He wasn't usually the type to show his emotions and rarely had I seen him do it. I was hoping for him to talk to me, to let me know what he was thinking, but he didn't. Instead he got to his feet and asked if I was ready to go back in.

"Gideon, talk to me. I need to-" I started.

"I can't. I just..." He pursed his lips and looked away. When he looked back he said, "I can't. Not right now."

I nodded, understanding, but disappointed. I didn't realize until telling him that I really needed to talk to someone about this. With the hope that he would talk to me soon, I stood and started back into the house.

While we were out on the porch, the sheriff had been working on getting the last three doors unlocked. The first two lead into the kitchen and bathroom. Upon a cursory glance, there appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary about them. Next we moved into the last room. It was small bedroom that three of us crowded into. There was a bed, a dresser, two small tables, and an unlocked door which I assumed was a closet.

"There's only one bed."

A lump formed in my throat as I heard the sheriff's quiet statement. I could see another eyehook drilled into the headboard, which left no doubt in my mind that Reid had spent time in here. Gideon drew my attention to a group of photographs on one of the tables. Every one of them contained Reid.

The first few I recognized from before he was kidnapped. There was one that Elle had taken on his twenty-fourth birthday. It showed him trying to blow out the trick candles on the cake. Another was of him sleeping on the jet. He was curled up like a cat with an open book laying on his chest. My heart ached, wondering if we would ever be able catch him in these careless poses again.

"He must have taken these first ones when he took Reid." I muttered, waving my hand at the small group of photos.

My gaze moved on to the next cluster of images. In them Reid's face showed a mixture of fear, annoyance, despair, and frustration. I noticed the background in these pictures was either the living room or the bedroom. Some were far enough away to see the handcuffs that incased his wrists. I could tell these ones hadn't all been taken at the same time because of the different bruises and cuts on his face and neck. In half of the photos his hair was brown, in the other half it was black. In the one that intrigued me the most Reid held a look of confusion on his face and a fuzzy orange kitten in his lap.

I pointed this one out to Sheriff Pryce, "Is there a cat here?"

He looked at the picture before looking back at me and shaking his head.

"Did you see anything that might suggest there was a cat here?" I asked next.

"Let me go check."

When Pryce left, I looked at Gideon and said, "Do you think he was replacing Reid's cat with this one? Maybe... as a present?"

"Maybe. That's not really the one that concerns me though." He replied, motioning to the last picture.

The black hair and bruises were carried over from the other's, but that was just background noise to me now. What grabbed my attention was the curve of Reid's lips. He was smiling. If I hadn't known him better I would swear he looked happy, but I've seen Reid happy and this wasn't it. It looked more like when he was telling one of us he was fine when he really wasn't. It was a smile put on for show.

Pryce re-entered the room saying, "I found a couple of bowls and about half a bag of food, but they were in a cupboard. No litter box." He focused on the photo we were looking at, "Is he smilin'? Why would he be doin' that?"

I shook my head, "I don't know." I looked to the other table, finding a lamp, an alarm clock, a bottle of water, and to my dismay a video camera. I made my way to the table and picked it up, showing it to Gideon and Pryce. Gideon sighed, his eyes showing the same thing I was feeling. Seeing this place and seeing Reid were different compared to seeing what was going on in living color. I didn't want to watch it, but knew I had to. The sick curiosity was back in full force. I had to know what Sibly thought he had to tape.

I handed the camera over to Pryce and said, "I think we're done here."

He nodded, "I'll give you a ride back to the hospital."

"I appreciate that. I just want to check in with Morgan, but I want to watch that tape with you."

"Are you sure you want to see this. Maybe I should watch it first. Then tell you if... well, to be honest... if you can handle it."

"I can handle it."

"I just want to make sure-"

"I can handle it."

He nodded and motioned for us to go out to the car. I looked to Gideon to tell him that he didn't have to come with me to watch the tape, but he shook his head, cutting me off. Maybe he needed to see this as much as I did, just to know what had been done to our boy.

A/N: There it was people. Tell me what you think.