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The Suite Life of Spencer Reid

The bellhop inserted his key card into the hotel room door marked Suite 4500. Reid glanced around at a man dressed in a pair of tan shorts and an orange tee shirt as he waited for the door to his room to be opened. The man nodded to Reid and smiled. Reid gave him a tiny wave and followed the young bellhop through the door.

The room overwhelmed him when he turned from the door. It had an entryway just like a home with a small, round, claw-footed table at the left. On top of the mahogany table stood a tall crystal vase with four long stemmed white roses. An oval shaped mirror hung on the wall so that the vase and flowers reflected in its surface.

His shoes whispered over the navy blue carpet as he followed the bellhop down into the sunken living area. The bellhop, with the name Steve on his nametag, carried Reid's bag into a room to the left. Reid turned slowly, checking out the living room. An eleven foot, L-shaped gold upholstered sofa dominated the center of the room. A huge coffee table, a thirty-two inch flat screen, and a desk completed the living area.

"There you are sir," the bellhop startled him out of his thoughts.

"Um… Okay," he rummaged in his pocket for a tip.

He laid a few bills on the man's outstretched palm. "Thank you!" Steve smiled and tipped his royal blue and gold tasseled hat. He gave Reid his key card and left the suite to its silence and its new occupant.

He headed into the bedroom. The huge, canopy draped bed, had a bench in front of it like some Victorian style room. It had its own flat screen television and sage green pattern carpeting. The bellhop had left his suitcase on a small stand in one corner of the room. His ancient, light blue terry cloth robe lay on top of the bed. The rest of his clothes were in the closet or placed in a very large mahogany armoire across the room from the bed. It was weird to have someone go through his clothes and unpack.

He couldn't think why JJ had booked them fancy rooms like this. The bureau wouldn't be happy with her splurging on the corporate card that way. He shrugged his shoulders, at least it wasn't his signature on the expenditure paperwork. Hotch still had to sign off on the expense voucher and he was sure to be unhappy.

He went down the stairs to the sunken living area and perched on the edge of the large sofa. He looked around the room, trying to keep his mind off this whirlwind of a day. The fancy décor of the room couldn't keep his thoughts off his father.

They'd hit a dead end. There had to be a way to find him. They needed to get into his father's home. He got up and went to the window. The evening was fast approaching, making the long shadows lean over the streets of the city. So many people hurried along the street below him even though they looked so small from the fifteenth floor.

What did they have to do that kept them so busy all the time?

No one ever seemed to slow down in life. Everything had such a frantic pace. Why could no one just learn to take things slowly, to breathe once in awhile? Was it the lack of oxygen to the brain that made everyone so uptight or the crazies go psycho and kill. He shook his head… He was being a little nutty himself.

His hands started shaking again as he went back to the living area couches. A large part of him wanted to run far away, to hop the next commercial flight back to DC. His dad probably did go to Reno. Perhaps the coded file was his way of initiating some kind of weird game. Hotch wouldn't be happy if Reid had come all the way out here on the bureau dime for a wild goose chase. He left the couch again and went back to the large bedroom.

He put his bag on the bed and went to the closet. He'd taken most of the clothes out of the closet and folded them up before his brain stopped him. He couldn't just take off back home and let his father down. As much as he didn't want to be William Reid's son, the man was still his father. He had to help him. Maybe when it was all over, he would have to talk to his dad and try to find some way around all the pain and the hurt or else it would go on forever. He couldn't face the rest of his life without some kind of confrontation even if he didn't believe in closure. He unfolded his clothes and put them back in the closet.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Rossi. "Hey Rossi," he said when the older agent answered.

"Reid…"

"What's up with these rooms?"

"I just talked to Hotch… Apparently, The Venetian has a special on their business class rooms."

"This is business class!" Reid squeaked.

"Yes… So what's our next step?"

"I was thinking of going back out to my dad's."

"We can't enter without cause."

"I know, but I'm his son. What if we find a key because dad told me where it was when he invited me to come out here months ago?"

"He didn't invite you or tell you where the key is." Rossi said, and Reid could hear the smirk in the older profiler's voice.

"Well sure, but how would they know that."

"True enough… Why don't we grab a bite as it's getting late and then we'll go out there?"

"I don't know if I can eat."

"Then you can watch me. Meet me downstairs in twenty minutes," Rossi said, and clicked off the phone.

Reid sighed… If he hurried, he could have a shower and change clothes.

Mason Parker snapped his briefcase closed and pushed away from the huge rosewood desk. He went to the closet at the far end of the room and opened the door. His royal blue overcoat, worn because the morning had been cold, hung alone in the large closet. His secretary had informed him that the afternoon was very warm. He flung it over his arm and left the office.

"Sherry…" He addressed the fifty year-old woman that kept his office running smoothly.

She lifted her head and smiled at him. "You leaving Mr. Parker?"

"Yes… I have that dinner with Senator Smart."

"Of course… I lost track of the time."

"You can finish the letters later. Go home and enjoy your evening."

"You're always so good to me." She smiled.

"You remind me of my mother. I miss her very much."

"I know…" She signed off the computer and pulled her keys out of her suit pocket.

"Thank you for keeping my mind off her." Mason said as she locked up her files and her desk.

"You're welcome… It's wonderful working for someone that doesn't push you till you drop like some bosses."

He laughed as they made their way to the elevator. "I think other bosses are stupid if they push employees to the breaking point. It doesn't foster productivity and you're the most productive secretary I've ever had."

Sherrie blushed to the root of her salt and pepper hair she kept piled off her face and on the top of her head. "I believe you just may be the wisest man I know." She kidded.

"Thank you gentle lady." The doors to the elevator opened and he let her precede him onto the car.

"You're welcome kind sir."

He rode down to the first level of the parking garage chatting of inconsequential things with his gullible secretary. She had always been so easy to fool, which was why he kept her around. It was much easier to keep up the mask he had to wear if you didn't have a nosy personal assistant.

"I'll see you bright and early in the morning Mr. Parker." She said, waving to him as he went one way and she went the other.

He pulled out his cell phone as soon as the old bat was out of hearing range. He dialed the first number on his speed dial. "What did you find out?"

"You're going to be very happy Mr. Parker. Dr. Reid and an Agent Rossi from the FBI just checked into "The Venetian."

Mason's hand relaxed around the phone. "Tell me why I should be so unhappy about that?" He snapped at man.

"The Venetian is your hotel… Isn't that a little too close for comfort?"

"That's why it's perfect. We can keep an eye on him." Mason pulled his keys out of his pants pocket and pressed a button to deactivate the alarm.

He knew that some people wondered why he drove himself when he could have limousines at his disposal at all times. He found that driving an American made car made people think he related to them.

"What if the rest of his team shows up?"

"They have to be invited in. There's no reason for the local police to ask them to come to Las Vegas. They won't show up until it's too late."

He ended the call and turned the ignition of the car. "Everything's falling into place. It'll all be over soon." He said to himself and to someone else he had to fight for now.

Reid and Rossi pulled back into William Reid's driveway an hour and a half later. The sun had nearly set and replaced the gold light and shadow with light blue sky, dark black tree silhouettes and purple and pink clouds.

"So how are you going to get in?" Rossi asked the younger profiler.

"He used to keep a key under the mat at home." Reid said as they followed the concrete pathway back up to the front door.

"Isn't that a little obvious?"

"Yeah… I think he always thought others would think that and not look there because they would think he'd keep it somewhere else."

Rossi smirked. "Kind of convoluted logic, don't you think?"

"Probably, but let's see if it's there," Reid said as he bent to take up the hooked welcome mat in front of the black door.

"Hm… Looks like I was wrong." Reid said staring at the bare concrete. He stood up and felt along the top of the door. "Nothing up here either."

"What do you want to do?"

"Let me think."

He turned in a slow circle looking carefully at his father's yard. He noticed that his dad had incorporated even more desert flowers in his landscaping than Reid had noticed his first time there. Of course, he had been too shell shocked to take a good look around when they'd made their first visit. There was also the fact that the landscaping had the look of randomness, but he noticed that whoever had done it had done a remarkable job making it look random.

"Over there," He said suddenly.

He crossed the yard, passing a couple of purple sage bushes to a small granite rock. He picked it up and removed the key from inside.

"A hide-a-key?" Rossi said skeptically.

"I almost missed it. You see the color of the rocks. The pattern is the same with all of stones in the landscaping which is by design." He held up the fake rock to Rossi. "See the color is different on this rock."

Rossi stared at the light cream-colored rock, which couldn't be more than a shade different from the rest of the rocks in the landscaping. He opened his mouth, shut it, and then said. "You know what… I'm not even going to ask."

Reid grinned at him and they went back to the front door. He inserted the key and turned it. The door opened on silent hinges. Reid saw in the fading rosy-red light of the day that a switch for the entryway lights was at his right. He flipped on the light. The yellow glow of the lamps illuminated the entryway and another room to his left. Rossi followed him inside where they both stopped and stared.

"Well…" Rossi said looking around. "This isn't what I expected at all."