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"You're quiet," Morgan said as the SUV he and Reid rode in ate up the miles heading east on the I-15 that led from Barstow, where their plane had landed, into the California desert. Rossi had suggested Reid and Morgan ride together and he'd ride with Hotch, JJ and Emily. An unmarked van carrying a SWAT team from Barstow made up the last of the raiding party.
"Yeah, well it doesn't pay to open my mouth these days. Okay, you've got your chance. You're the only one who hasn't given me the lecture yet," Reid replied as he looked out the window. "So, why don't you go for it? I'm sure that's why Rossi suggested you ride with me."
Morgan sighed. "I'm not going to lecture you okay. I understand a lot of what you're feeling." He glanced at Reid who still looked out the window, then kept his eyes glued to the road.
"How did you get over it so easily?" Reid asked. "You must have been upset at what they did."
"I didn't get over it that easily kid, maybe a little faster than you, but that's not to say it was easy for me. I thought of a couple of things. Hope is paralyzing. If they'd let us in on the plan, how would we have handled it day in and day out knowing Emily was out there somewhere, possibly in danger and we couldn't help her. It would have killed us inside. Hotch and JJ bore that burden together. The rest of us were free to grieve and then move on. I understand how that can be because I went through it with my Aunt Yvonne and I even told her that the unsub had identified Cindy when he hadn't so she'd be able to move on. Now I know how that weight feels and it's a tough load to carry. But I did it for her so I guess I could more easily understand how Hotch and JJ had done that for us. I guess because they thought that we'd never find out, they felt that what they'd done for Emily's protection and ours wouldn't be turned into an act of betrayal."
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"We need to talk about Reid," Rossi said from his place in the back seat beside JJ as Hotch maneuvered their vehicle down the highway.
"So that's why you suggested this little set up for travel arrangements," Hotch said. "I don't know what there is to say Dave. We've all tried to talk to him and explain things. He's just not listening."
"I called a friend of mine, a psychologist in New York while you were arranging the flight." Rossi replied. "I asked her what the best way was to help someone get over a feeling of betrayal like this and, no," Rossi stressed, "I did not give her any details."
"What did she say," Emily turned slightly in her seat so she could see Rossi.
"Well one of the big things she said is that what we've all been doing is wrong. She said you can't expect someone you betray will get over it as soon as you'd like them to. She said we shouldn't be giving him all these lectures and explanations for the actions that you three took. We should allow Reid to have his pain, to let him feel what he feels and not try to make it go away."
"You know he said something to me," Emily said, "about having the right to have his feelings."
"He's right. Lana said that as far up the food chain as we feel we are, we're still animals and she also told me that a wounded person, just like any other wounded animal, wants to strike out."
"So that's why he told me he didn't want me to call him Spence anymore?" JJ asked. "He was striking out at me."
Rossi nodded his head, "Likely, and she said we should accept the fact that, for a while, the people who betrayed him will not be very lovable to him." He stopped for a moment. "She also said, and this might end up being a big thing for Reid considering his past; that we carry deep wounds from one betrayal to the next, and when the next blow comes, those latent feelings from the past will come out. When I think of how many times Reid's likely been, or feels he's been betrayed, that's a lot of built up hostility that's suddenly come to the forefront and, in all likelihood, overwhelmed him."
"What do we do?" Emily asked.
"Lana said that, within reason, we accept his behavior for the time being. She said it will probably work itself out in one of two ways. Reid will come to terms with things and things will get back to the way they were."
"Or," Hotch said.
"Either he'll withdraw from us completely or leave." Rossi finished.
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"The Kelbaker Road exit is coming up ahead," Reid noted from the map he held. They'd been on the road for almost an hour. "It's about thirty-five miles from there to Kelso and just a little further to Cima."
"Hotch wants us to pull over," Morgan said.
"Pull over," Reid looked confused, "why?"
"He didn't say, he just said to pull over. I don't know what he's got to say that he can't say over the earpiece, but we're pulling over," Morgan said as he steered the vehicle to the gravel at the shoulder of the road; the two vehicles behind him doing likewise. "I hope as far as we've gone that he's not suddenly pulling the plug on this."
"Why are we stopping?" JJ asked Rossi.
Rossi shrugged, "No idea." He opened the door and began to get out of the SUV. "I guess we're about to find out."
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"You sure everything's safe?" Mitch asked Alex Menendez.
"Of course everything is safe." Menendez responded sharply, annoyed by Mitch's paranoia. All he wanted to do was get his hands on that little girl. He was almost going crazy with the anticipation of it. "Why do you always ask me that? I did what I always do. My car is in the office parking lot. My cell is in my office. I'm carrying the disposable. I took a cab to the rental place, rented my car under my other identity. To the rest of the world, I'm still in my office. Nobody's figured it out up to now."
"Yeah, well we haven't had to take anyone out until now," Mitch sniped. "And the fact that I didn't get to finish off Reid before the nosy neighbor came out isn't good for us, ya know."
"I know that, but I went to the hospital and saw him with my own eyes. William Reid's a vegetable. There's no way he could tell anybody anything even if he did suspect it." Menendez's voice almost pleaded.
Mitch looked at the man, noticed the sweat on his upper lip. The guy was worse than a junkie, but that was a good thing because that gave him the control he needed over him. "Yeah, yeah, it won't be long and you can get your dick inside the little bitch. Just promise me one thing."
"Anything," Menendez replied. He'd do anything to have sex with that little girl. Oh God, it was killing him to wait and then he'd get the DVD and he could go home and watch it and…
"You make sure you make her scream."
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"What's up Hotch?" Morgan asked as he and Reid exited their vehicle. The leader of the SWAT team was following suit.
"Reid," Hotch said, "this has more or less been your case from the beginning." He paused for a moment. "I want you to take the lead and organize the raid."
"Hotch, are you sure that's a good idea?" Morgan asked. "No offense kid, but Reid's never done anything like this before."
"We'll all be there. If his plan's totally off the mark, I'll say so; otherwise, he's in charge of the raid." JJ and Prentiss remained silent, watching Reid for his reaction. Rossi stood by the SUV, silently nodding his head and smirking. "Okay, let's get back on the road." Hotch and the others turned back toward their vehicles.
Morgan turned at the driver's door and looked back at Reid still standing alone on the roadside. "Coming kid?"
Reid turned to look at his teammate. "What just happened here?"