Disclaimer: See chapter 1
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Allie hurried over to the table although the movement was still somewhat painful, having not yet fully healed from Joanna's delivery. "It's a picture," she said.
"I can see that," her husband replied. "What is it doing on our dining room table with pictures of our daughter?"
"Well," Allie responded, "I thought we should have one. I mean, we have all kinds of pictures of my family and Evan so I asked Janice if she had one and when she came over she brought a couple."
Reid looked at the smiling image in the photograph which was obviously taken in a happier time. "Why would I want a picture of my father? The man left me when I was ten. He didn't care whether I lived or died. He tried to kill me for God's sake and you want a picture of him?" He looked incredulous.
"I was actually thinking of Joanna. She'll know about Mom and Dad and one day she'll want to know about her other grandparents. She'll want to see pictures of them. What were you going to do, lie and tell her that they're dead?"
"Whatever happens," his voice rose, "Joanna does not need to know my father. Do you think I want her to know he's in prison for trying to kill me? What if she thinks that once he gets out, he'll come after me again or worse yet, what if she thinks I'm like him and I'd try to hurt her someday? That's quite a legacy to give our daughter isn't it?" he said angrily as the baby in his arms began to cry.
"Oh damn," he said, "sh Joanna, Daddy didn't mean to scare you." He kissed her forehead and carried her to the nursery. "Let's turn the funny animals on," he said brightly as he switched on the mobile and the colorful animals began to move while a lullaby played. Reid sat in the rocking chair talking soothingly to the baby. "There, we're just going to sit here and rock quietly. Joanna doesn't need to cry. Daddy loves Joanna, yes he does." Reid quietly rocked his daughter until her crying ceased.
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William leafed through the two pictures Allie had sent him. His sons were so handsome in their black tuxedos, blue vests and bow ties with fancy pleated white shirts. Allie was a very lovely woman clad in her beautiful white gown. He could see how happy they were. Their smiles did not seem posed. He'd been happy like that once, twice in fact. There was a difference between himself and Spencer. Spencer wasn't weak like he was. Spencer was strong. He looked at the picture of the wedding party, the smiling bride and groom surrounded by family and friends. Without realizing it, he smiled back at them. He was so glad his daughter-in-law had sent them to him. He thought of his conversation that morning with Dr. Raymond. He got up off his bunk and went in search of Chico.
Chico was reading a newspaper, another new activity for him. He saw William approaching. "Hello professor," he smiled. "I was just reading an article about these little girls who have gone missing in Topeka. It's such a sad thing."
"It's an awful thing Chico," William agreed. "Tell me, are you going to be talking to your grandmother tonight?" he asked.
"Sure professor," the burly young Latino replied. "I always talk to abuella once a week."
"Good, will you do a favor for me?"
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Reid came out of Joanna's nursery with the baby monitor in his hand. "She's sleeping," he said quietly to his wife who was sitting at the dining room table labeling pictures and putting them in the photo album. The picture of his father was nowhere to be seen. Allie nodded. "I'm sorry I got angry before. It's just, when I saw the picture; a lot of hurt came to the surface. I know you want to understand but you couldn't possibly. You grew up with the best father in the world and I grew up with or without is a better word."
"Can I ask you something?" she said. Spencer nodded and she continued. "What was it like between you in the ten years before he left? You've never talked to me about that."
Reid looked down, unable to raise his eyes to look at Allie. "I've never talked about it to anyone," he said barely above a whisper.
"Was it really bad?" she asked.
"No, it wasn't bad at all until my mother's mental health started to decline. Until then, I thought we had a pretty normal father/son relationship. When Mom started to get worse, Dad started to spend less and less time at home and so all the relationships in the house became more strained."
Allie nodded absently as if trying to figure something out in her head. "I'm going to say something and you may disagree totally but let me say it okay?" Her husband nodded raising his head to look at her. "Your father said in his letter that he couldn't handle your mother's illness. He didn't say anything about having a problem with you. You yourself just said that you'd never had a problem with him until your mother's condition deteriorated and your father started to stay away more. I don't know why he didn't take you with him. I'm sure he had his reasons." She put her hand up when he was about to protest, "Reasons, that seemed right to him at the time. You said you had a normal relationship. Did you think he loved you?"
Spencer nodded but Allie waited. "Yes," he finally conceded, "I thought he loved me."
"Okay so," Allie carried on, "he left you for a reason other than his not loving you. I think it always had more to do with your mother than you."
"Are you forgetting that he tried to kill me?" Reid asked.
"Of course not, I would never forget that. His lawyer was talking about defending him on the basis of mixed antidepressants causing a violent psychotic episode. You're the psychologist, you tell me, is that possible?"
Reid nodded his head. "Yes, it's been known to happen," he replied.
"I'm going to suggest something and you may get mad at me but your father is like the nine thousand pound elephant in the room. We can't ignore him forever. You're a behavioral analyst. You get inside the minds of criminals to find out why they do things. In this case, your dad is the criminal. Why don't you profile him and find out why he tried to kill you. The answer can't be worse than what you're thinking now and, who knows, it may surprise you."
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Chico found William watching the evening news with other inmates in the recreation room. "I talked to abuella and here is what you wanted." He handed William a piece of paper with a name and some phone numbers written on it. William looked at the paper and read its contents.
Lloyd Graham
Attorney at law
Office 740-263-4792
Home 740-268-9321
Cell 740-371-2856
He folded the paper and put it in his pocket, "Thank you Chico."
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Reid was loading the dishwasher with the dinner dishes when his cell phone rang. He looked at the call display. "Hi JJ," he said, "okay, I'm on my way." He looked at his wife who he knew was entirely prepared for his next words. "We have a case."
Reid walked down the hallway to the bedroom he shared with Allie. He changed his clothes, retrieved his ready bag and punched in the combination for his gun safe and took out his glock. He didn't put it on but instead set it on his ready bag which he put at the top of the stairs. He tiptoed quietly into Joanna's room and lowered the crib bars. "Daddy has to go away for a little while," he said as he caressed the sleeping baby's head. "I love you." He bent and kissed the infant softly on her cheek and raised the crib bars again. Walking back down the hallway he grabbed his gun and attached it to the right side of his belt. He took Allie into his arms hugging her tightly. "Are you okay," she asked as she felt him trembling beneath her touch.
"Yeah," he nodded. "It's the first time I've left her. I didn't realize it would rip my heart out. I guess I'll have to get used to it, huh."
"We'll be fine. Don't worry about us, okay." Spencer nodded embracing her again and kissing her deeply. He grabbed his ready bag and headed out into the darkening Virginia night.