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"Hey Reid," Garcia said when she answered her phone. "Is everything okay with your dad?"
"Well, there's not really any change. It's a wait and see kind of thing. I wanted to talk to Hotch but I didn't want to call if they were still on Kimberly's case. How's that going?"
"She's okay; she's back home with her parents. It was the guidance counselor at her school, if you can believe it," the perky blond told him. "I guess it was in Kimberly's record at school that she sleep walked and the counselor had been watching her for some time. So they've got the skeezy perv and Kimberly's back home. She'll probably be afraid to sleep again."
Yes, he knew what that was like didn't he; not wanting to go to sleep because you were afraid of the dream world that awaited you, one you had no control over. The only control you had was to stay awake, Reid thought. "Okay then, I'll call Hotch, thanks Garcia."
Hotch picked up his cell on the second ring. "How's it going there Reid?" He said by way of greeting.
"Uh, hi Hotch, my dad's pretty much holding his own. It's just a waiting game now."
"Stay out there as long as you need to Reid."
"Yeah, about that, I think the team is needed out here. Captain Jim Brass is sending a request for the BAU, although I don't think he needs it." Reid went on to explain at warp speed the situation of Lou-Anne McDaniels, her death, the connection to William Reid, the disappearance of Rachael McDaniels, his communication with Captain Brass and the CSIs and the sand that indicated this might be a situation that extended over state lines without allowing Hotch to get a word in, even though the unit chief had tried several times.
"Reid!" Hotch finally yelled into the phone.
"Yeah Hotch," he replied.
"Why does Captain Brass think he needs our help?"
"He's got a murder, an attempted murder and a missing child, all connected. He doesn't have any answers. His team went home to get some rest. I told him you guys would be here by the time they got up."
"You told him what?" Hotch's voice rose beyond its normal degree of control. "We haven't even decided if we'll take the case yet."
"If," it was Reid's turn to yell into the phone.
"Don't take that tone with me Reid." Hotch's tone had reached the control zone again, dangerously controlled, as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "We'll look at the file, decide and, if we agree to take the case, I'll let you know when we're in the air. Have a computer on hand and be ready to present your case."
The unit chief walked down the hallway, still unsure of what to do. This case was personal to Reid. Could he justify using the resources of the FBI to indulge in what might turn out to be a personal vendetta. "You look like a guy with a lot on his mind." Rossi said as he exited his office.
"We need to gather the team," was Hotch's reply.
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"So Reid thinks these cases are connected?" Morgan asked from his seat on the jet.
"They certainly look like they could be," Prentiss said as she leafed through her copy of the file Captain Brass had sent. "I mean you have the McDaniels woman and then Reid's dad is attacked and their only connection is that they want to fight for her to have visitation with her daughter, who suddenly runs away."
"Someone obviously did not want anyone getting to that girl." JJ agreed.
Hotch leaned over and pushed a button on the computer, "You there Reid?"
"Yeah Hotch, I'm right here," the thin profiler came into view.
"He looks like hell," Rossi remarked, noting the slumped shoulders and red eyes.
"Are you all right Reid?" JJ asked.
"Yeah, I just haven't slept at all." He stepped up to the white board he'd put together. "This is Lou-Anne McDaniels, 26." He pointed his pen at the picture of a young black woman. "She showed up in family court yesterday with no legal counsel. She was trying to get visitation with her daughter who'd been removed from her care when she was a prostitute and using heroin. My d… William Reid happened to be leaving the courtroom at the time and offered to help her pro bono. As far as I know, they'd never met before. Last evening Miss McDaniels was killed in an alley on her way home from getting some new clothes, likely for court. The bag with the new clothes was found beside her body. She was killed with a .22 and the police initially treated it as a mugging."
"Later that night my d…" He paused and pointed to the picture, "William Reid was attacked outside his residence by an assailant with a knife. He tried to choke m… the victim; you can see the hand print on the photo here." He pointed to one of the photos he'd tacked up on the white board. The picture showed William Reid in a bed with an endotracheal tube in his mouth and the ventilator tubing attached. The blue hand mark was plainly visible. "He was then stabbed numerous times." He pointed to the other pictures Nick had taken that morning. "He sustained injury to one of his lungs, one of his kidneys and his spleen was removed. He's now in a comatose state." He turned his back to the camera momentarily and cleared his throat.
"The police had no idea these cases were related until they found one of … William Reid's business cards in Miss McDaniels jeans pocket. His office wouldn't say if Miss McDaniels was a client or not so I had Garcia look at the records. Although there's no permanent case file written up, since the case was continued so Miss McDaniel's attorney could familiarize himself with the details, Garcia was able to glean what happened by hacking in and reading the notation the clerk had made on her computer." He paused again momentarily. "I gave the information to Captain Brass and just at the same time an alert came out that Rachael McDaniels," he pointed to the picture of an eight year old girl, her black hair pulled up in pigtails, "had conveniently run away. I think someone didn't want authorities anywhere near that little girl."
"Captain Brass and CSI Willows went to the home of Wes and Tina Dinsdale, Rachael's foster parents, and told me they were not very forthcoming during questioning. CSI Willows went over the girl's room and she described it as being like it had been sanitized, not even a print to be found."
"When m…Miss McDaniels' attorney was attacked the assailant left a footprint on the sidewalk leading to the back door. CSI Hodges discovered two distinct types of sand from the tread. One with a quartz/feldspar ratio, consistent with the Las Vegas area and another sand, more quartz rich, found in the southeastern part of the California portion of the Mojave Desert, specifically the Kelso dunes near what, if I'm right and what I think is happening is happening," he tapped his pen on a map he'd tacked on the board and an area of southeastern California he'd circled in red, "is aptly named… the Devil's Playground."