Chapter 3: Freedom?
Reid chewed on the bandage that was tied round his mouth and struggled against his chains. His wrists were handcuffed to a pipe on the ceiling and he dangled painfully.
"Stop struggling Agent Reid." Jimmy said confidently. "No one's ever escaped before." He slapped Reid in the face before wiping the blood off of his gun.
After about an hour of hanging there being beaten with pistols Reid and Claire were drifting near unconsciousness. Reid had ten broken ribs, he knew because Jimmy actually counted as they broke, and Claire had three on the left side, just as he'd read in the notes back at Quantico.
"Be good, children." Jimmy snarled before leaving the small metal room.
Reid looked across at Claire who was in the same position as he was. Reid looked up at his handcuffs then along the pipe, then he was suddenly grateful that he spent his childhood dreaming of being a magician. A couple of clicks and pulls and Reid's hands came loose of the handcuffs. He slammed to the floor and coughed as his chest thundered off the concrete. He stood up slowly and ripped the bandage from his mouth, the broken ribs really took a toll now after that hard fall and he breathed hard.
He rushed over to Claire who was sobbing in pain. They'd been hanging there for about an hour so her arms must've been in total agony, as were his own. Reid fumbled around with a large box before he pushed it underneath her feet and she groaned in relief as she stood on it. Reid stood on it too and took her face in his hands.
"I'm gonna get you out of here." He said quietly.
She nodded and he began to work on her handcuffs. He removed the bandage from her mouth and gave her a shush gesture before they both hopped off the box quickly. Reid put his back to the wall and pushed Claire beside him. He peered round into the small window on the door. There was no one there so he opened the door silently, grabbed Claire's wrist and slipped out of the room. Reid and Claire stalked through a long corridor before they came across some stairs with a small kind of trap door at the top on the ceiling.
Reid looked around at the bottom of the stairs and saw the pistol that Jimmy used on the floor in the corner. He rushed over and grabbed it before taking out the clip and seeing 7 bullets in it. He loaded it up and returned to Claire, he made sure that she was behind him and held the gun at a ready position. He made his way up the stairs slowly and opened the trap door with hesitation.
He climbed up with his gun ready and quickly scanned the area. They were in a large warehouse behind a couple of crate and the three of the men were standing next to a large lorry talking. Reid sat down behind the crate and closed his eyes. He was so scared and had no idea how he was going to get out. He looked at Claire as she peered out of the small door. He had to get her out of here, it was still his job wasn't it? He gestured for her to climb up and hide beside him. She crept up out of the hole and hid behind the crate next to Reid.
Reid crept to the side of the crate and looked round it. Jimmy and Tommy had their backs to him and Frankie was in front of Jimmy, just out of sight. Reid gestured for Claire to stay where she was before he raced quietly across a gap and behind a bunch of crates that were closer to the exit. He looked round to the men and sighed in relief when he saw that they were still chatting amongst themselves.
He looked at Claire and gestured for her to join him. She looked worryingly at the three men before rushing to join Reid. She slammed into him and whimpered in his arms and he shushed her quietly and looked up again. They were still safe, so far.
Reid out his finger to his lips and Claire nodded before he grabbed her hand and moved round the crate so that he was almost visible to the men. He rested the back of his head on the crate and took a deep breath before keeping a tight grip on Claire's hand and running to another group of crates and dropping to the ground behind them. He hid behind the crate in silence for a moment before looking up over the crate to see if they had been heard, luckily they hadn't.
He sat back down and looked at Claire, she was scared but she stayed quiet which he was grateful for. He peered round the crate at the open garage door, he could get to it in seconds but the men could shoot him in seconds too so it was pretty risky. He let go of Claires' hand and looked at the gun he held, took the safety off and placed his finger on the trigger. His mind searched desperately for a plan and he looked around the space he was in for something useful.
Just then he saw a small brown sack on the floor, he picked it up and looked inside to find that it was full of nails and screws. He tightened the string around it so that it was closed and held it to him.
"What are you doing?" Claire whispered, so quiet he almost didn't hear her.
"Trust me." He breathed.
Reid looked forward and closed his eyes, he counted to three under his breath before launching the sack to the opposite side of the room away from the door. The metal crashed against the wall and the men began to shout. Reid peered around the corner and saw the men run towards it.
"Come on." He whispered to Claire, before gripping her hand and yanking her up. They sprinted for the garage door and got out of it into the sun.
"Hey!" He heard Tommy yell.
"Faster!" Reid said to Claire and they ran faster.
Reid turned to see Tommy and Frank chasing them. Reid aimed the gun and shot Frank in the leg, Frank crashed down and screamed as he held his leg. Reid turned the gun to Tommy before he heard a bang and his shoulder began to burn. He cried out and looked at his bloody shoulder before aiming the gun at Tommy again but then his knee began to burn too and he fell to the ground.
"Spencer!" Claire screamed.
"Run Claire!" Reid barked. Claire nodded and ran, Reid looked at Tommy who aimed his gun at Claire. Reid dropped his gun when he fell so he couldn't shoot Tommy, he stood up on his good leg and tackled the huge man. Tommy was caught off guard and fell down as Reid crashed into him, Reid began to punch Tommy to try and buy Claire time to get away. Tommy was in shock so he allowed himself to be hit before he came to his senses and threw a hard right hand into Reid's gut. Reid grunted hard before falling to the ground, Tommy crouch on top of him and rained down with a flurry of punches to Reid, each one more devastating than the last.
"That's enough Tommy!" Jimmy yelled as he approached them.
Reid gasped for breath as he suddenly felt the broken ribs that he aquired while he was chained up.
"Very sneaky agent, I'm impressed. You even managed to get the girl out alive." He bent down and smiled in Reid's face. "You won't be quite so lucky."
Tommy chuckled before punching Reid in the face, knocking him out cold.
"So what you're saying is that we've got nothing!" Morgan barked at Hotch.
"I'm sorry Morgan." Hotch raised his brows.
"Sorry's not gonna get Reid back!"
"Do you think you're the only one who wants him back?" Hotch hissed. "The only one who wants to see these sick bastards pay for what they've done to him? Morgan we all feel the same way, and we're all doing everything we can to try and find him but..." He stopped as the sheriff walked in.
"I'm sorry to bother you folks but there's a woman here who claims she escaped from the Torture Teachers." He announced.
Morgan and Hotch exchanged glances before rushing out and following the sheriff.
"Claire?" The sheriff approached the frightened girl who was sat on a bench in the police station. "These are agents Morgan and Hotchner, they'd like to talk to you."
Claire nodded and held the blanket that was around her closer.
"Claire? Did you see the men who did this?" Hotch asked and Claire nodded. "Do you remember where they took you?" Claire shook her head.
"Was Reid alive when you last saw him?" Morgan butted in. Claire nodded again.
"You have to find him soon, they got him." Claire whimpered.
"We will." Hotch nodded to JJ to come over and talk to Claire. "Tell us anything that we don't already know and get her to sketch artist fast." He said to JJ and she nodded.
Reid woke up with his hands tied round a pole behind him. His eyes opened slowly and he tasted blood in his mouth.
"Good morning agent." Jimmy smiled as he stroked a knife in his hands.
"What's next then?" Reid croaked. "Let me guess, you're gonna stab me in the abdomen about...8 times? Is that what's next?" Reid scowled at the man. He knew he was going to die so it didn't really matter what he said now.
"Well, you've done your homework." Jimmy chuckled.
"Yeah, its my job to study sickos like you." He hissed.
Jimmy growled and thrust the knife into Reid. Blood poured out of him and Reid cringed.
"You better watch your tongue." Jimmy warned.
"Why? You wanna cut it off and eat it? You sick son of a bi..." He groaned as Jimmy pulled the knife out again.
"Shut up!" Jimmy hissed before stabbing Reid again with the knife.
Pain shot through Reid and he cringed hard. Jimmy brought the knife back before thrusting it in again.
"What's tat? Three times now? Just five more to go." Jimmy chuckled as he brought out his mobile and dialed a number.
"Hotchner." Reid looked up as he heard his boss' voice.
"Hotchy baby, how's it going? Jimmy here." Jimmy grinned menacingly.
"Hello Jimmy." Hotch replied confidently.
"That agent of yours is a pain in the neck Hotchner, he's lasted a long time and is still kicking."
"He's a good agent, we're lucky to have him." Hotch nodded.
"Were lucky to have him." Jimmy pointed out. "He's not going to last much longer."
"You never know, he might last long enough, have you extracted a tooth yet?"
"No, but I've decided to kill him today, right after I stab him a couple more times." He said before pulling the knife from Reid and pushig it in again, slower this time. Reid cringed and grunted painfully as the knife slowly pierced his skin and the blood poured out.
"But what about your order? Why would you change it?" Hotch asked, panicking a little now.
"Because I can." He said simply before bringing the knife back to him and stabbing it into the area where Reid's lungs are.
Reid screamed weakly and Morgan grabbed the phone.
"We're gonna find you you son of a bitch." He hissed.
"Oh Derek, How are you going to do that exactly?" Jimmy smirked.
"You remember that girl that escaped from you? She remembers your faces...and when you combine a victim, a sketch artist, and a really good technical analyst...We got an address." Morgan hissed.
Jimmy threw the phone across the room and it smashed.
"Boss!" Tommy yelled as he ran down the stairs to the basement. "There's police cars outside!"
"Get rid of them!" Jimmy yelled.
Tommy grabbed a shotgun out of a box on the floor and headed back up the stairs. Jimmy turned to Reid.
"Looks like neither of us are gonna make it out of here." He smirked as he wiped the blood from the blade with one finger.