Reckless
Chapter 8
Galina Kaldec was a walking stereotype. She was everything Spencer expected an adult film star turned entrepreneur to be, right down to her long bleach blonde hair and augmented breasts. He supposed there were men that found her attractive. There had to be, given how she made a living. But as far as he was concerned, she looked more like a walking science experiment than a woman.
Spencer hung back near the entrance of the store while Toni exchanged a greeting with her former sister-in-law. He didn't want to give the woman an opportunity to touch him. And if he was telling the truth, he was feeling more uncomfortable than he normally would given the circumstances. It wasn't unusual for there to be some sort of sexual element to the case he was investigating. Spencer was typically able to look at it from the eyes of a profiler. But he quickly found that being surrounded by sex toys and racks of raunchy lingerie in front of a woman that he'd previously bedded was awkward and uncomfortable.
There was a mannequin to his left, dressed in a lacy red negligee. Before he could stop himself, Spencer was staring at Toni's ass and wondering what she would look like wearing it. And whether or not she would even wear something like that in the first place. He wasn't sure if that was something most women did or just a weird fetish, akin to strapping someone's arms to a leather spreader bar. It would look better on her than it did on the mannequin.
"Who's this?," Galina asked, gesturing towards him. Spencer approached, thrusting his badge towards her before he tucked it away again. The blonde woman scowled at him. Or at least he was pretty sure she was scowling. Her forehead was frozen in position. "Where's your usual partner?," the woman asked. "The hunky cuban."
"Luke's not on active duty anymore," Toni snipped. "...because he was attacked by the man you sold all those spreader bars too, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Galina sighed, as though she only just remembered her part in a grisly string of murders. "I do remember. His face got totally ruined, didn't it?. He was hot too. It's really too bad."
Spencer couldn't tell if the woman behind the counter was just dense to how completely insensitive she was being, or if she was intentionally baiting Toni. But before Toni could jump across the counter and beat the woman into the next dimension, he stepped forward and took over the line of questioning.
"You sold a replica of that bar to another man, more recently. We need to know who he was," Spencer said.
"I remember. The leather work on those bars is a bitch. I had to outsource it." The woman locked eyes with Toni before she continued. "But after that unpleasant business last time, I keep records of any custom orders. Just give me a minute and I can get you a copy of his driver's license and his credit card information."
As the woman clicked away on her stilettos, Spencer turned his attention to Toni. Her hand was balled into a fist and her jaw was clenched. He would bet money that she was grinding her teeth. He lifted his arm as he shifted his body closer to hers. His hand hovered nervously in the air before finally coming to rest on her shoulder. There was an audible sigh as Toni released the air she was holding in her lungs. She lifted her own hand, placing it on top of his.
"My brother Carlos has the worst taste in women," Toni said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You should see the one he's married to now. Her jugs are bigger than her head."
Spencer's chest began to shake with silent laughter. It was Toni's use of the word jugs more than her description of the woman that he got him. Toni squeezed his hand with hers before she started to lower her arm. He shadowed her movement, skimming his hand down her arm until he could grasp her hand and squeeze it back. For just a moment, they were holding hands. But Toni jerked away when Galina reappeared from wherever she kept her paperwork. From the amused look on her overstretched face, it was obvious that Toni didn't pull her hand away fast enough.
"There's private rooms in the back," Galina offered. She raked her eyes up and down Spencer's lanky body and chuckled to herself, making it clear that she was wondering how any woman could find him attractive. He wasn't offended by her distaste. Because the feeling was more than mutual. Galina laughed louder before she added, "I could arrange some company for the two of you, if you want to spice things up."
Toni reached forward, snatching the photocopies from Galina's hand. "We're good," she barked. As Toni glanced over the papers in her hands, Spencer tried not to think about the cesspool of germs that would await him in one of the sex shops featured private rooms. Just the thought of it made him want to slather himself in hand sanitizer.
"We've got a problem here," Toni cautioned. She handed Spencer the papers so he could see for himself. "According to these, you're the one that bought the spreader."
Spencer stared down at the copy of what appeared to be a very well faked Arizona driver's license. His name was on it, but the picture was of Peter Lewis. And if that wasn't bad enough, it looked like the man used his credit card to make the purchase as well. "He bought two of them?," Spencer confirmed. This was a bigger problem than the fake ID. Because they'd only found one victim that was strapped into a stretcher. Which meant the other one was probably still in use.
"This wasn't my fault," Galina whined. "How was I supposed to know his license was fake? I'm not going to be in trouble for this, am I?"
Toni narrowed her eyes at the woman as she leaned forward over the counter. "Galina, I want you to listen to me really carefully," she ordered. "If you make or sell any more of those goddamn arm spreaders to anyone, I'm going to come back here and shove it straight up your ass. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," Galina huffed. "Geez, you act like it's my fault that some guy was using my bondage gear to kill people. Plenty of consenting adults engage in S ." She flashed Toni a tight little smile. "Maybe if you tried it, you wouldn't be such an uptight bitch all the time.'
"Galina," Toni repeated, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "As always, it was a pleasure."
It was obvious that Toni was ready to go. And Spencer couldn't get out of that place fast enough. He'd never seen so many dildos in his life. Next time they needed to investigate a sex shop, Rossi could do it.
Spencer called Penelope as Toni started the car and pointed them back towards the station. He could hear her fingers flying across the keyboard as she confirmed that Peter Lewis had been impersonating him for some time now. She let Spencer know she was going to dig through his financials and see if there were any other bread crumbs left behind. Then she ended the call.
Toni must have been as glad as he was to be driving away from that place. Because she had a little smirk on her face. She glanced at him, meeting his eyes for just a moment before she turned her attention back to the road.
"I'm not usually one to shame other people's kinks," Toni remarked. "But anyone that wants to get stuffed in the back room of that store is just plain disgusting."
Spencer burst out laughing before he could stop himself. Like her comment earlier about her current sister-in-law's jugs, Toni had a way of phrasing things that made him laugh. The dry sarcasm in her voice made it hard to tell if she was joking or not, which made it even funnier. A bright smile warmed her face as she shook her head at him. Toni was pretty even when she was scowling. But when she smiled, it was like she was lit from the inside. He loved her smile.
When Spencer's laughter faded, he became aware of what else Toni just said to him. "What's yours?," he asked. She glanced at him with a look of confusion on her face. So he explained his question further. "You said you don't shame other people's kinks. So that means you must have one. What is it?"
Toni snorted, nearly choking on her own spit. She cleared her throat as she tried to think of anything she could say besides the truth. If they were going to be working together, they needed to keep their relationship professional. Toni didn't think telling Spencer that she liked to close her eyes and pretend that the guy on top of her was him would help with that. "I don't have a kink," Toni said, her voice rising with blatant dishonesty. She pulled out her phone and unlocked the screen before shoving it in his general direction. "Why don't we pick up coffee for everyone on the way back. I have the Starbucks app on my phone."
Toni breathed a sigh of relief as Spencer tapped his thumb against her phone screen. He's just like Romeo, she thought. If her son was asking questions she couldn't answer, the promise of a fancy coffee shop drink was the one thing that was sure to distract him. As Toni realized the implications of her comparison, she glanced at Spencer from the corner of her eye and swallowed hard, her hands tightening on the steering wheel.
"Your order is saved in here," Spencer observed with a smile. "Double shot of espresso and steamed whole milk." He pressed his thumb against the screen. "That was Derek Morgan's drink order." The reverent tone in Spencer's voice when he mentioned his old coworker made Toni smile. She and Derek ran OPPS training together a few times over the years. Given that he was the complete opposite of Spencer in every way, she found it endearing to know that they were such close friends. The entire team was probably missing him. Toni wasn't sure if she would ever be able to fill the hole he left behind.
After they picked up their coffee, the car went quiet. Toni was thinking over the case. There were things about it that just weren't adding up for her no matter how she tried to frame them. She guessed her frustration must have been showing on her face, because Spencer turned in his seat and asked her what was wrong.
"I don't know," Toni replied. Being the new girl, she was hesitant to offer her opinion. Especially since it was contrary to the rest of the BAU's running theory. "I guess I have my own theory about what's happening." She took a sip of her coffee, looking at Spencer to gauge his response before she added, "...but I don't think you'll like it."
"Tell me," he encouraged.
Toni took a deep breath and another sip of her drink. Then she began with the team's current theory. " Peter Lewis wants a victim that he can manipulate into killing people for him. The two victims we found are his failed experiments. He has a third victim that you think is the unsub? Except there's no physical evidence to suggest that there is a third person. So maybe he's looking for his perfect victim…" Spencer nodded, gesturing for her to continue. "Here's the thing," Toni said. "He's a genius. A mathematician. Everything in Lewis's file indicates that he doesn't act on his plans until everything is perfect. Why would he call us here for two failed experiments? It doesn't make sense. He has to want something from the BAU or we wouldn't be here."
"He wants to show everyone that he's smarter than us," Spencer suggested.
"He already did that when he released over a dozen serial killers from prison," Toni countered, earning her another soft chuckle from Spencer. "He's got to be after something else." Toni was sure of that, she just didn't know what it was that Peter Lewis wanted. "And it's still bothering me that Brian Phillips identified Daniel Cullen as the man that attacked him. Why would he do that? I know Lewis could have manipulated his memory. But he didn't hesitate at all. Something wasn't right with him. He seemed too calm for someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder who was just tortured and attacked." Toni was still frustrated that she had to step out of the hospital room when JJ was questioning him. Her son came first. But this case was important to her as well.
"What does Peter Lewis want?," Spencer asked as he mulled the question over in his mind. He wasn't expecting an answer. But he wasn't surprised when Toni responded with sarcasm and a soft laugh.
"A double cheeseburger and more people to torture," she joked.
"Wait!," Spencer exclaimed. It was a given that Lewis wanted more people to torture. That's what all serial predators wanted. But his victimology was extremely narrow. In order for him to be able to manipulate his victims, they needed to already have some sort of existing psychopathy. Spencer's eyes went wide with sudden realization. "The list that Penelope is putting together. She's making a list of everyone that's been treated for DID in Austin. There's no way Scratch could get his hands on those medical files. Not without help. We're making him a list of potential victims right now."
Toni sped up the car as Spencer began speaking at a rapid pace into his phone. He had Penelope on the other line. But he was a few minutes too late. She already sent the list over to the local officer that was assigned to guard Brian Phillips. Toni could hear Penelope trying to call the young officer's cell phone. But he wasn't picking up.
"He's already in the fucking wind," Toni cursed. She slammed her hand against the steering wheel, letting out a few more choice words. "He couldn't have gone far with his ass hanging out of that hospital gown," she grumbled. Toni raised her voice, making sure the BAU technical analyst could hear her. "Give us his address."
"I'm sending it to the entire team now," Penelope said. Spencer ended the call, his fingers flying across the screen as he plugged Brian Phillips address into his phone's navigation system. The moment she heard the hollow computer generated voice fill the car, Toni pressed down harder on the gas pedal. The task force was used to her nascar style driving. There were a few of them that refused to ride with her. Toni was expecting a loud objection from Spencer as she started weaving in and out of traffic like a crazy woman. But his only response was to place his hand down on top of the portable cup holder that had everyone's coffee order in it to keep either of them from getting soaked or being burned by the hot liquid.
Toni knew the rest of the team, along with officers from the local precinct were on their way. But with her lead foot, they were probably still a few minutes out. She drew her gun as she exited the vehicle. She tugged on the doorknob first, checking to see if they might get lucky and find that it was unlocked. It wasn't. She could hear someone screaming in pain inside the house.
"Stand back," Toni warned. She took a step back herself, lifting her foot and aiming for the part of the door that was closest to the doorknob. Toni knew from experience that it took less force to break the strike plate than it did to break the door frame. The door popped open, with a crack.
Toni could feel Spencer behind her as she rushed inside. He wasn't leaving himself enough room to shoot, probably because he wanted to stay close to her. It wasn't the first time a male agent instinctively did the same. Her unit chief used to holler at her coworkers for it all the time.
Toni stopped, her dark eyes widening. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to find inside the house. But it sure wasn't this. The real Crimson King, Daniel Cullen, was strapped to the missing leather arm stretcher. His shirt was cut open, revealing the jagged letters that had just been carved into his chest. Brian Phillips had the knife he used to cut him pressed against Cullen's throat. Why did I drive so fast, Toni thought. We couldn't have gotten here after Phillips finished him off?
"Brian," Spencer soothed. "I need you to put the knife down." Toni leveled her gun at Phillips as Spencer stepped forward and gently talked the man into surrendering. She knew he was doing it for Phillips himself. The man had been tortured and manipulated into his current actions. But as far as Toni was concerned, when it came to killing Daniel Cullen, the poor guy was doing everyone a public service.
The rest of the team arrived as Phillips was surrendering. Toni watched as the EMT's cut The Crimson King loose from the same device he strapped Alvez into as he cut his eye out. She stepped to the side as they began to wheel him from the room. When they paused in the doorway to adjust the angle of the gurney, Daniel Cullen reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Thank you for saving my life," he croaked.
Toni jerked her hand away. "Saving your life?," she repeated. "No one here was saving your life! You're going back to prison!" Before Toni could scream anything else at the man, Hotch stepped between her and the object of her rage. His hands rested gently on her shoulders.
"He doesn't know who he is," he told her. His voice was soft and even, a tone meant to calm her. But in this case, it had the opposite effect. Toni turned, dropping down onto her knees. She clenched her fingers, her hands shaking with all the rage she felt towards the man that was being loaded into an ambulance outside. At this point, she was beyond caring who saw or heard her throw a fit. She sucked in a hard breath of air. And then she opened her mouth and screamed.
